Giant Black Snake Terrorizes Mount Nebo!

Paul holding up the Monster of Mt Nebo

Nah… not really but it did scare the snot out of two huge farm boys. Yesterday was another lesson in just how different my life has become in the last year. For those that missed my Facebook post yesterday I will share again.

My uncle sold $200 worth of hay to a nearby farm and the farm hands came over to pick up the hay. While they were loading it they discovered a black snake that was over 5ft long. Can you imagine lifting a bale of hay and seeing something like that coming at you? Well they knocked on my door and said it was embarrassing but they were very afraid of snakes and could I help them. I said sure, let me grab the .22. He asked if I was afraid and I replied… not really. But I for sure would have been startled at the least seeing something that big coming at me!

I walked down there and shot the snake. I admit it took three shots before it finally died. Before you make fun of me, I hit it all three times. I’m a fair hand with a gun thanks to Paul. The men were very grateful and surprised that I was such a good shot and so calm. Looking back on it I guess I surprised myself a bit too.

I never would have thought a year ago that while sitting at my desk in my skirt and high heals booking travel that I would be doing anything like this. But I was determined to stop working for other people and start working for my clients and myself.

It’s been an amazing journey so far. I’ve learned a lot about farming and myself. I hope to continue to learn about both for the next 70 years!

Last night I found myself researching how to humanely kill chickens. I have a chicken that just isn’t like the others. She is ill and I can’t seem to help her and the only way I can see to put her out of what I see as misery is to cull her out of the flock. She was literally gasping for breath last night while I was holding her. I guess I still have a tender spot and I never want to see an animal of any sort suffer even if it was meant for food. I think I can do it but I have to admit I want Paul by my side the first time for support.

I have been trying to spend equal amounts of time on my small business ventures. This week I have started looking into pricing in the yellow pages for my travel business. I love working with people to plan vacation & honeymoon trips. But, I have to admit the corporate business that I do is very rewarding as well. I’m so blessed to work with a large company who has some great employees. I have to admit sometimes I still find it odd that people call me at 10pm to book travel but now that I don’t work in an office from 9 to 5 it is important for me to help them at any time. I would love to work with just one more large account like that. If anyone knows of a company that would like a travel goddess at their beck and call … let me know!

The other thing I worked on this week was my egg & poultry business. I contacted the WV Department of Agriculture and I was amazed at how helpful they were to me. I talked to a gentleman in the meat processing division who not only gave me great tips on how to keep my start up costs low but offered to come out for a “dry run” inspection before the actual inspection takes place. I wish all government agencies would be so helpful to small start up businesses!

Anyway, I learned that as a small producer I don’t have to jump through all the hoops as the big factory farms do. I can sell up to 1500 dozen eggs per week and 1000 birds per year to commercial businesses. While I have no intention of getting that big it is a relief to know that it seems they are behind the small farmer in my state.

Well, at least when it comes to poultry & eggs. Dairy is another matter all together and I was shocked to learn that in the state of WV it is illegal to buy shares in dairy cows and it is also illegal to sell raw milk. This is sad as I remember as a kid getting milk in large mason jars from a lovely older couple who lived close to us. I can honestly say that it didn’t kill me and I learned a lot.

That is when I first became curious as to where food came from as the milk in that jar looked nothing like the stuff we got at the grocery store! It got me so curious I decided to learn how to make buttermilk and even my first ever batch of home made butter. I realized that if I could do that then I should try other things and I made my own home made wine with supervision from my mom and I started learning to cook. I’ll never forget the first time I made coq au vin.

I guess when I moved to the city I forgot all about those things and concentrated on starting my career. I can’t begin to share how bone deep happy I am at rediscovering this other passion in my life. It is rewarding to eat something you helped to produce.

This week was also the start of the garden. I have 1 full row of potatoes, 1 row of 2 types of onion, garlic, 2 types of carrots, radish, 2 rows of candy corn two rows of tomatoes & peppers. I still need to get in there and plant another row of late potatoes and my beans & peas. It has been so muddy the past two days I haven’t been able to get back in it. I hope that one day we will see a whole week without rain.

Paul suggested we start a rain collection system for watering in the heat of the summer and I agree. Why not put all the incessant rain we’ve had to good use. It was such a great idea I started collecting all the rain that leaks through my living room ceiling!

I'm a late bloomer... are you?

Future home of the Keeley All You Can Eat Veggie Buffet

My dilemmas: I am finally going to start planting my garden today. We have our first break in the rain in probably 10+ days. I’m probably being over ambitious for my first garden but nothing ventured, no back ache and sunburn gained! Normally, I am a know it all about everything (or so I pretend) but this is my first ever “big girl” garden. I really want it to go well. Since I don’t actually know it all I would love some guidance. I have actually had a volunteer who swore “he would make a farmer out of me yet”. I do look forward to his advice but I know he will be busy getting his garden started too.

It’s late for everyone here to get in their gardens because of all the rain we’ve had. I complained last spring of the rain and just to show me that it could rain even more I’m sure the Rain Fairy decided to smite me! Basically, everyone I know is getting a late start on their garden.

OK. My first dilemma is that I was told that I need to have a tiller to run between my rows to mow down all the new weeds that are determined to smite me even more than the Rain Fairy. The only problem is that I was going to borrow a friend’s monster tiller until it met an untimely death caused by a 900lb tire that rolled over it. Are you starting to see a trend or is it just me that seems that everything is in fact “out to get me”?

Well my answer to this, my theory let’s say, is why not just put down something that will help to retard the growth of future weeds. I know for a fact there will be a LOT of unwanted things popping up out of the dirt as the plot of land in question has been mowed for hay for many years.

I’ve been saving all my feed bags for months with the thought of cutting them down the sides and laying them flat between the rows. Then I got to thinking why not also try news paper? Paper is a brown matter that will break down over time and enrich the soil so it’s got two good points. I do worry that the polypropylene feed bags will break down and birds and other small animals will get the shreds of it caught in their digestive tract. That is why I haven’t thrown any of those bags in the trash. I pretty much think they are evil but that is a different soap box for a different 4am on a different day.

So what do you think? Do you think my idea of miscellaneous feed bags between the rows will help save me?

My second dilemma is my chickens. I “think” I have something in place that will prevent them from digging up all the seeds behind me as I plant them. The same said trick I hope will prevent them from wreaking further havoc on any tender new shoots as they pop up out of the ground: A chicken tractor. Paul & I built one last weekend with some simple plans I found online for a pvc / chicken wire structure. However the “door” was just made of plastic sheeting with a weighted bottom. The designer clearly did not have my chickens in mind with that flimsy door!

How I plan to entice the chickens to give up their freedom by entering the chicken tractor hasn’t come to me quite yet. I suppose I could put some of their favorite drug inside and they will run in and voila! Or… they will have suspicions that it is a prison and they will refuse to enter even though their fix is waiting inside for them. By the by… I don’t actually give them pharmaceuticals but their drug of choice is cracked corn or scratch grains. Even the Mallards I raised are addicted. Every morning they are waiting for me jonesing for their fix. When I mentioned rehab to the Mallards they just looked at me and sang: No, No, No! I promise to look into a rehab program in the future but I really must stay on track with the garden!

Dilemma three is the groundhogs and bunnies. They will mow down every green thing in their path. Now, for the most part if they are playing fair and only eating at the Keeley All You Can Eat Veggie Buffet during the day I have the trusty .22 to help control the situation. However if they are as devious as I suspect they are they will be watching from the shadows and run into the garden as I go inside to book flights and vacation packages. It is a long held belief of mine that groundhogs are in league with the devil… but I digress.

Dilemma four is my personal favorite. I must confess I am at war with myself on this one. There is a part of me that wishes that the millions of deer that live on the farm will come to the Veggie Buffet so I can fill my freezer. However, the part of me that understands how devious these smart animals are is frit scared they will come.

They are no ordinary foe. Oh no. The animals I mentioned earlier are benign as they come in comparison to Odocoileus virginianus. They are by far the most dangerous predator to the Keeley Veggie Buffet. I am going to my local DNR this week to get my permit so that I can “go postal” on them if they enter the confines of the garden. I must admit that the thought of filling my freezer with yummy venison is thrilling!

All of this said, I have about 20 metal posts that I can run around the perimeter of the garden but they are only 6ft posts. Ok… granted the first 15 were given to me free of charge but nobody told me that they aren’t 6ft once in place. Seriously, how was I to know this? I thought I was being so clever. I was going to put a 6ft fence around the garden and while it may not keep them all out, (I have heard they can jump 50ft in the air!) I was planning on it keeping out the large herds that I’m sure are waiting to come to dinner.  Now it seems my fence will only be a mere 4-5ft. What is the point of calling it a 6ft post? Why not call it what it is when it is being used for its specific purpose? 

Anyway… should I try the “deer netting” that seems cheap or should I run an electric wire about 3 inches off the ground and at middle & top? So I will at least get a feeling of satisfaction that I gave them a “stimulus on their package”?

Should I get a motion sensor light for that side of the house linked to the alarm on my iPhone so it wakes me?

Do they make an app for that?

"Hen Spa" menu now offers basil exfoliation and 375 degree sauna...

Yesterday I discovered my red devils love basil. They ate my two plants down to nubs. I was so angry I could have sent them to the 375 degree sauna but I no longer had fresh basil to rub on their freshly exfoliated skin.

It’s a lovely day on the farm and I had to stroll down to the coop and take some pics of the teenage chickens. Some of them are looking very grown up indeed! So much so that Rocky is “trying it on” with the White Leghorns and
Silver Laced Wyandots and he even thinks the Ancona’s are cute but they are still too young. 

Some of them are very curious and come running when they see me out side. So I had to just slip off my flip flops, sit in the grass and take a few photos of them.


Poor basil plant!

 Most of them are designated as egg layers but most of Jonesey’s offspring will wind up as dinner. Ditty is safe however. We became attached to him when he had a hard time hatching and I had to help him hatch. He unfolded in my hands and was so teeney weeney. He/she is growing up nice and strong and has now joined the other juvies down at the coop.


Young Anona (white egg layer)


It’s funny to watch the young chicks figure out their pecking order. They will mock charge each other. This completely cracks us up! They will be at opposite ends of the brooder and suddenly run towards each other and chest bump!

My pretty weather turned cool and rainy again. I know in theory that all of this rain makes it lush and green in West Virginia but I have to admit it’s getting old. It really seems we can’t go more than 3 days without rain.

Black Australorp x RIR young roo

I’ve planted flowers at the front of the house and I’ve thrown down grass seed. I can’t seem to keep the chickens out of the grass seed. What did I really expect? They are chickens. They eat seeds. I need to get over it.

Fergus did manage to "get busy" with two of the Red Devils as I had two large brown eggs hatch red chicks with feathers down their legs. They are lovely chicks and I can’t wait to see what they look like when they grow up. I’m guessing they will look like Fergus but be full size like the Red Devils.

This week I also took a few photos of the gang in their natural setting. Rocky up on the roof of the barn and the teenagers hanging about foraging. The grass is starting to get pretty high with all the rain we have had and it will be time to mow for hay soon, nearly time for the first cut. Sometimes I will be walking around the farm and I see a little head pop up out of the tall grass and it makes me smile. I love the fact that they eat all the nasty buggies up!

Juvy White Leghorn

Summer will officially be here for me when I see the first lightening bug light up over the front field. I can’t wait!



Paul's young
Speckled Sussex rooster



NPR Facebook article:

·                                 The USDA USDA Encourages Schools To Partner With Local Farms

·                                

This was a Facebook post by NPR. I know I have a small audience but this is such an important issue. I’ve basically copied my responses below. While my mother didn’t do the best in terms of making good food choices for me she did instill one thing that has stuck with me to this day and I love her so much for it. “Just because you don’t like it today doesn’t mean you won’t like it tomorrow! Give foods you don’t like a try at least twice a year and I promise you that you will change your mind one day.”

She was right. I now love coffee, onions, raw spinach, bell peppers… the list grows more each year.

The excuses I read in the NPR comment section really surprised me. I blame most of my weight issues with processed food and the lack of education and parental choices being made for me when I was most impressionable. I am addicted to sugar and my body literally craves it. I’m 45 years old and I only just realized it. Like any addiction it wants to be fed or it will make you cranky! I am determined to beat my addiction. As I stare out at the little patch of land that will be growing my first real veggie garden I feel the excitement of turning a new page in my life.

I’m also happy that I finally have regular egg buyers now! Yeah! My hobby will turn into a nice side business that I hope will one day break even! J

Why would anyone automatically assume that local food would be more expensive? I can see where it might cost more in time by contacting/selling but I don’t think it has to actually cost more $$ I operate a small farm with 50+ free range chickens and a 100 x 80 veggie patch. I sell my eggs for $2.00 a dozen and they are way more healthy for you than store bought eggs. I will be selling any extra produce I have to a local restaurant. Then it doesn’t go to waste and I can help recoup some of my expense. I would have this expense no matter what because I prefer to have my food pesticide free and not injected full of antibiotics.

Why not take the kids on a “field trip” to an actual field?

The expense in theory could be less also if you take into consideration there is less expense associated with transporting it across the country or from another country! I can promise you that I wouldn’t charge more for my carrots than what could be bought in a 5 pound can and children might get a chance to see that carrots don’t come out of the ground in perfect round slices.

Yes, I have read all 200+ posts. This is an important issue for the country and most people don’t even realize it yet. My sugar cravings are the biggest reason I have started growing my own food. I realize that not everyone can do it. However, we can teach the next generations a difference. Here’s a classic example: my mother never really pushed me to eat a ton of veggies. She gave us what she liked and was familiar with. That turned out to be a bit limited to corn, peas etc… When I met my British husband’s children for the first time I was amazed at all the veggies they ate. They eat rutabaga, brussels, cabbage, collards… I can’t think of a single veg they don’t eat. I was 35 and had no idea what a rutabaga or a parsnip even was!

When I took them to the store once they were hungry and asked if they could open up the bag of raw carrots I had just bought. A lady turned to me and asked me how I got them to do that…. It is simple I said, they were raised on whole food (not processed) from the get go and we encourage their choices. The oldest even prefers baby carrots over ice cream as desert. They are now teenagers and their choices have never changed and we continue to support that. By the way… they live in a city.

Isn’t it time we start making excuses for passing on our bad habits? As parents you can actually make smart choices for your children. If you don’t allow them to run with scissors you can also make the choice of giving whole foods and not processed foods.

I also read concerns regarding seasonality issues. That is something that working with local farmers can not change. Your fresh fruits & veggies from local producers in the northern states will be an issue but would it not be better to offer it when available than not at all?  Then the rest of the year you can buy the 5 lb containers of mushy spinach which they don’t eat anyway. When available give them fresh spinach.

One other comment that stuck in my mind was food holding up in hot chafing pans. Once again I refer to my fresh carrots … I bet they hold up better than the 5 lb can of already mush soft carrots.

When people speak of concerns regarding traceability issues have you never noticed it is the large scale producers that seem to be more problematic? I may be completely wrong here and I am NOT afraid to say it but with the food bourn illness we have seen from eggs, spinach, tomatoes etc… they all seem to be from mass producers. When was the last time you saw the small farmer on the news because his veggie patch or apple grove had a huge contamination issue?

What are we afraid of really? No matter what side of the political fence you are on I encourage you to learn more about the food you eat.

Chicken Gangs – What to do when you discover the dark side of your birds.

I could not believe my eyes yesterday when I walked into the living room to check on my chicks. One of the brooder pens had a food dish that the birds flipped over onto a chick. They were taking turns standing on top of it pecking at the poor chick trapped under. 

Poor chick being bullied!





After I nearly wet myself I realized that I have to keep a close eye on them. I don’t have that type of food dish in any of the other pens thank goodness as the other pen floors are solid and the poor chick wouldn’t have any air! So if it was going to happen then it was good it happened in this pen.

The other problem I had this week is the darker colored month old chicks had started pecking at my white Leghorns. They were very nasty and did it all around their tail feathers. I couldn’t believe how fast it happened. I went to the store came back and checked on them and there my four Leghorn’s were with bloody bums!

Once there is a red target like that the other birds find it irresistible. It is a bulls eye to them that they do not have the will to resist. I had to separate them immediately to stop the pecking. I put some Neosporin on their boo boos and they seem to be doing very well. I hope this doesn’t affect their feather development.

The dogs are very happy with me at the moment. While shopping the butcher had some huge cow leg bones full of marrow that they just love. I picked up a couple of them and all I can hear over the peeps of the chicks is the dulcet sounds of … klonk… lick… crunch… klonk. The bones are rather large and make a lot of noise when they drop them. It scares the dickens out of the chicks!

 

While I was in Ohio picking up Paul we stopped by a friends house to pick up Natasha. Well, that is what I have decided to name her. Rocky is her boyfriend and while I thought about calling her Adrian it seems such a cliché. I am undecided… time will tell. Rocky instantly fell in love with her. He threw his wings to the ground and instantly started doing his mating dance for her. Poor hen however wanted nothing to do with him after a 5 hour trip in the truck! Now it is day 4 and she is very happy to follow him around and let him feed her choice bits of grass and bugs. Ahhhh… Love is in the air! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1yzIeBRh5o          

The Mallard pair that is mating in the kitchen pond (named not because it is located in my kitchen but because I can view it out my kitchen window!) is very shy and will not let me get close to take pics of them so I took a pic through my window. It made me realize I really, really need to clean said window! They instantly fly off to the big pond. I worry about the ducklings they will hatch as that pond has water snakes in it. While they won’t mess with a full size bird they will take a duckling.

I’ve been working on getting the brush cleaned away from the edges of the pond and hopefully that will make it easier for us to get into it. We really need to get some waders and get in the mucky pond to clean out some of the trash that the nasty renters before threw in there. Plus it would be good to get a lot of the weeds cleared back etc. We don’t have any algae problems there which is good but I want it nice for the 3 female Mallards that we have. Now that I have blown up the pic I took it does not seem to be a Mallard but a Wood Duck... oops!

Yesterday was really special. I know this will sound such a simple thing but it was wonderful to me. I kissed my husband in the morning and sent him off to work… then he came home from work the same day. I made a nice dinner to celebrate him no longer being on the road for weeks at a time. Salmon topped with crab, baked in parchment paper so it was nice and moist. Then roasted tatties and peas. I even had some béarnaise sauce to top it off with. YUMMY~!  It was a lovely way to celebrate my husband being home.

Now… on to my adding things to the Honey-Do list now that he is here to actually do the things on it!







They grow so fast!

March 29, 2011

Where has the time gone? I got the first new chicks on March 1st. The last of the ones to hatch was yesterday morning. It has been a month of newborns!

The ducklings were pretty much the same size as the chicks. However, they seem to grow like Edgar did. The rate seems to be double their size each week.

While the chicks have become more brave the ducklings are just terrified to bits of me. I handle them every day but it doesn't seem to matter. I think the difference is that there are three of them. If there was only one, it would bond to me. But they are social birds and I want it to be more natural for them. I want them to build their home in the pond behind the kitchen. Last week I started to clean the brush from around the pond.

Klink doesn't care for chickens!

I can honestly say this farm is riddled with an enormous amount of plants with sticky and prickly things attatched. I am forever getting scratches on my arms, hands, legs and any stray bit of skin that shows. Oh.. and my hair isn't safe either!

Last week I had my first crisis with the chicks. Two of them I noticed had a sneeze. One of the two was actually gasping for breath. I was certain it would not last the night. I went online to try and get some advice at midnight from BackYardChickens.com. I happened to have some antibiotic I could treat them with. After a week of treatment all was well.

Must...sleep...now!



 Tonight I heard one of the chicks I received on Tuesday sneeze. I'm glad I couldn't sleep and I caught it. It seems to put them in distress very quickly. The chick happens to be in with the new hatches from Jonesey. This is of extra concern to me as the youngest is just 24 hours old. At first I thought it was because the ducklings were being kept in the same area and they splash so much water that it can cause respitory infection in the chicks. But I removed the ducklings.

Today I did let the ducklings loose and they hung out in the living room close to the chickens however they did not have access to any water to splash and they were nowhere near the container with the new babies. Could it be the smoke from the wood stove? I've started the new babies on antibiotics just in case. I've never had to give any of the adult chicks antibiotics and only believe in giving them if actually needed.

I wish I knew what was causing the problem. For now I will do what I can to make sure it doesn't spread to the little ones.

A Very Late March 14th Post!

March 14th

Poop, eat, poop, drink and then poop some more. I must admit this is exactly what it feels like when you have 22 baby birds in the house. I spend an excessive amount of time cleaning after them and making sure they have food, water and are warm enough. Most importantly, I have to make sure that Lucky & Zoe don't mistake them for tapas. Lucky noticed right away they make the perfect bite size snack. He even tried to pop one in his mouth. 

Today I put some water in the tub and let the ducklings have a play in the water. I received a work call and had to make a bunch of reservations... I could hear them splashing about and having a nice time. Next thing I know they let out an alarm call. Lucky had wandered into the bathroom to watch them and I'm sure it was too much of a temtation so I had to firmly discourage him from plucking them out of the water for lunch. Bad Lucky!!!!

Three days ago another hawk came for a visit and killed my Bantam Buff Brahma hen. I find it so odd that only the Buff Brahmas were killed. Out of my bantams they are the largest and blend into the background far more than my teeney white bantams. It seems they stand out so much more and since they are smaller would be a more desirable target. It could be more to do with the natural pairing up of the hens with the roosters. For example the head rooster is Fergus. He also happens to be the oldest. I can't imagine a better example of a rooster than my little Fergus. He is very protective over his two girls, the white banty hens. He stays with them even when they are laying an egg. When they are bent over in the fields eating he is on high alert looking for predators.

Jonesey is the largest of the roosters but he is also the youngest. Five of the 6 Red Devils hang out in his harem. He does keep a watchful eye but the problem is that his hens have a huge independant streek. They will go where they please without giving him any notice. They also have no problems wandering around the farm on their own. That I find very odd considering they have seen of their flock "murdered" before their very eyes! Some women are too strong willed for their own good!
 

There are wild Jonquils that are cropping up all over the fields and they are finally starting to bloom. They are just lovely. They make me think of my mother. Yesterday was her birthday and she always loved the Jonquils and Daffodils. They are the flowers of spring, a sign that the long hard winter is finally over. I miss her so very much and I always will.
 

We had the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Mt. Nebo on Saturday. I was really surprised at how many people were there. I decided to take Zoe with me to the end of the driveway to watch the big excitement. I think next year I will have to participate in the parade with travel banners on the side of the truck or something. I'll think on it...

So far I have 4 Black Sex Link hens, 4 White Leghorn hens, 4 Ameraucanas, 4 Production Red hens, 3 Silver Wyandotte. The shipment of the 2 Ameraucana hens, 2 Welsummer hens, 2 Ancona hens, 1 Black Copper Maran rooster & Speckled Sussex Rooster will arrive this week. I can't wait for the end of the summer when the new hens start laying eggs. Did I really just say I wanted to rush summer? Smack my hands!!!

Lions lying down with lambs.

March 5, 2011



Well.... not exactly lions or lambs for that matter but more like chickens and ducklings. Day three with the babies has come to a close. I am really surprised that the chickens and ducklings are quite content to cuddle together in one large pile. At this stage they even sort of look alike with their coloring, the black and yellow combination. However I as I've watched them I'm sure I can see little quote bubbles form over individuals heads at times. For example one of the chicks was watching, transfixed as the ducks were doing their very messy ritual with their food and water.

To the untrained eye it looks like they are just crazy messy fowl going back and forth between their water dish and food dish. They are also very noisy while doing this. They first go to the water and rapidly run their beaks back and forth like they are eating the water. Then they turn to the food dish where I'm sure they drop buckets full of water (really only a drop or two) into the feed. They make their own sort of mash mix. when all three of the ducklings are doing it at once it is something to behold!

Why ducks? To be honest, I just really miss Edgar. He had such an amazing personality. I wouldn't want to replace him even if I could. It just seems a nice fit since the farm does have 3 ponds on it. They aren't sexed so I've no idea if they are all boys or girls or a mix. We could never figure out how to sex Edgar for that matter. We did try once. Edgar was very put out with us over the attempt. It required him to be in a very undignified, un-goose like pose. He was very firm in his expressing how much he disliked what we did we just never bothered to try again. It didn't really matter in the end if he was a boy or girl, Edgar was "his" name, end of.

The goslings were quite taken aback when I stuck my hand in the cage and one of the chicks flapped it's tiny wings and flew up to a perch. They all stopped at once and stared at the little chick up on the perch. You really can see the gears turning.

There really are a couple of different things that I missed without realizing... I miss the peeps and squeeks that Edgar made his whole life with us. For months after I would be walking or driving and I could swear I heard his soft little peeps calling me. Once he became an adult he did realize that his mom and dad slept inside the house while he slept outside with the dog. He would do this thing when he couldn't see us for a period of time, he would let out a call. It was just a couple of honk, honk sounds. I would answer back, "honk, honk" and he knew we were still close by. Aside from the odd proper honk it was always these constant, soft peeps and squeeks.

One of the other sweet things the ducks do that I adore is turn their head sideways to look at you. They do this mostly so they can just get a good look at you since their eyes are really on the sides of their heads. I prefer to not think of it as a thing they must do to see me well but would prefer to think of it as curiosity and understanding of what I am communicating to them. Hey... you live in your world, and I'll live in mine!

I forget how rapidly the chickens wings develop. It was just Wednesday they were little fuzzy nubs. Now they have proper feathers. It's amazing really. You can see them if you look close at some of the pictures.

Though I did not actually forget how much their little poopies smell I can say I did block it out of my mind. When I walked into the house yesterday afternoon I could swear I smelled sour milk. Nope... it was the wood shavings mixed with the water the ducks splashed and the feed and poop. That was the end of the wood shavings in the tray. I thought the pine shavings would have a nice smell. I was wrong. I did fold up a puppy pad and place it in the back. The cage I have them in is wire and I worry about them having to stand on it all day. I wonder if it hurts their ity-bity feet.

I'm sure I will continue to fuss over them for the next few weeks. I hope I can place these four chicks with the rest of the flock in the next couple of weeks so that I will have plenty of space for the arrival of the 8 chicks that I ordered. Plus..... I hope to have success finally with the fertilized eggs I have collected in their new incubator. Note... while I was willing to hand turn the eggs originally I realized it wasn't practical for me to stop whatever project I was working on outside to run in the house to turn the eggs. The automatic turners do it for me and I don't constantly lower the temperature by opening and closing the lid to the incubator. Automatic egg turner is as essential as the incubator itself.

It's 530am and I think I can drift off for a little nap. The sound of the water dripping in the living room is finally manageable. I'm sure that among the other constant projects that need doing, we will need to build an ark for all the rain we have received. The roof needs to have the new aluminium panels installed and that is something I just don't know how to do. Plus I think it actually needs to stop raining for a bit so that Paul can climb up on the roof and start installing them.

Oh... did I mention that I had a revelation in bed last night? Yep... I sure did. I rolled over, cuddled my husband and whispered.... "I don't think the coop you built is big enough now". Please keep in mind the coop was built in January. Never mind... there is plenty of room inside the barn to expand it as we need to. I feel like hwy 62 in Minneapolis... obsolete before construction even began.

New Babies In Da House!

Ok... just a couple of quick photos of some new additions to the family. I have 4 black sex link hens and 3 mallard ducklings. I got them all from Tractor Suppy. They are having Chick Days going on and it's a great time if you have considered chickens to stopy by and learn more. Also... I would be happy to talk about pros/cons of having a small flock.

The Red Devils are trying to do away with me!

March 1, 2011

I've said it before and I'll say it again... If April 1st is April Fool's Day... can March 1st be mandated as Yell At A Fool Day?

Good Hen

  



What crazy weather we've been having! I have even felt a bit like Dorothy the last couple of weeks...but instead of flying monkeys I have flying chickens. It is not often I get angry with my chickens but I can honestly say I got angry yesterday. In all fairness though, it is not all the chickens I'm angry at... just the Red Devils. They really do go out of their way to think up ideas to torture me. This week it is the square hay baler. Yep... they are now conspiring with farm machinery to see how much I can take.

You wouldn't think they could be very smart to look at them. They really do have small heads so they must have a small brain. Which leaves me to wonder how much of their brain do they actually reserve for their diabolical thoughts?

I want to start off by saying we (me, Paul & Uncle Wayne) built them a lovely coop inside the barn so they could be safe, warm and dry. It is quite nice and for the first month everything seemed to be working out just perfect! I believe they have tried their hardest to express how much they really do love their new home. But... the Red Devils must have gotten bored and decided to stir things up a bit.

Bad Red Devil

We have kept the square hay baler in the barn over the winter. One night one of the Red Devils didn't make it into the barn. I just could not find her. It was my fault for going outside to "put them to bed" after dark. After doing a bit of searching with the flashlight I glimpsed a movement from inside the baler. Sure enough the hen was tucked inside the baler in a nice pile of hay. I picked her up and put her in the coop with the others. I really thought that would be the end of it.

It wasn't.

She clearly decided she liked the spot and would commit it to memory. At some point over the past few weeks she decided to lay her eggs there as well. She neglected to tell me this and to make matters worse she decided to share the spot with some of her BFF's.

What tipped me off is that over the past few weeks when all the snow melted they all decided it was safe to go back to free ranging all day long. Normally when they do this they produce more eggs. Like me they suffer from SAD in the winter months. We are kindred spirits me and the girls. When they are suffering from SAD they just don't lay very many eggs. So when I went out to collect eggs yesterday at the end of the day... I expected to have at least 5-6 eggs waiting for me. There was two. Two, teeney weeney banty teaspoon size eggs. 

Where on earth were my full size eggs? And so the great egg hunt began. After about 20 minutes I discovered over a dozen eggs tucked away inside the baler. Hmmmm... well how in the heck am I supposed to get myself inside there to get them out??? I stretched myself across the baler and over the row of "nails" to get my arm inside to get them. When I told my friend Jonathan about it he said he wouldn't have been able to do it for fear it would turn into a Steven King movie. Indeed... if ever there was a moment for the Red Devils to band together and collectively wish me ill, that was the moment!

As I am still able to type you will have surmised that I narrowly escaped with my arm intact. Not so much my jeans however which did suffer a slight mishap.

They jump out of the hay loft!

I put up a plank of wood to block off their new nest and I thought myself so clever. And this afternoon I was proven wrong again. My ability to be clever in no way nears their ability to think up new ways to vex me. They are masters at it!  So today I also had to go on another great egg hunt around the barn. The rotten hens were leaving them EVERYWHERE!  I literally had to climb into the loft and through all of the hay bails to pull out their secreted stash.

Might I mention I got a huge fright when one of the Red Devils decided to fly out of the loft hatch to avoid capture? I thought for sure she would be a flattened pile of feathers on the ground but nope... these things are worse than cats for lives!





A good Red Devil





Tomorrow is a new day and I must come up with a new plan to out smart my free range Red Devils.

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Lesson Learned... 'Nough Said

February 23, 2011

Lessons learned.

This week I learned a hard but important lesson. I learned that if I wanted to order a rare chicken breed I better get an earlier start than waiting until the end of February. 

In August last year I came across The Chicken Whisperer on the Tractor Supply’s website. I started listening to his show because it was only luck that someone gave me three bantam chicks. I had no idea how to care for them or what to look for in case I thought something was wrong. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/backyardpoultry      

(I will try very hard to list correct photo credits for these pictures in captions.)

I still listen to the show regularly as even though I feel pretty confident now that I’ve had my chickens for almost a year the show offers more than just chicken info. Twice a month they have Christine Heinrichs, historian for the Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities. From her I have learned of so many breeds that I have never heard of. She did a segment once on French breeds and I learned of the Black Copper Maran. I was fascinated by the thought of a chicken that could lay dark brown nearly chocolate colored eggs. How beautiful they are!  http://albc-usa.org/    



Should be obvious but Maran eggs from FeatherSite.com



They are a very rare breed here in the US and the blood lines continue to be thinned because the lack of fresh bloodlines coming from France. The USDA does not ban fertilized eggs from entering the US but they do make it difficult which has contributed greatly to their scarcity.




Ameraucana eggs from http://www.mypetchicken.com/

  My goal is to have a true rainbow carton of eggs to sell. Can you imagine waking up to beautiful colors for breakfast? Such a small thing but I promise you when you see them there really is an Ohhh Ahhh factor!

The other problem I’m finding is the Speckled Sussex Paul wanted me to get. He has shown virtually no interest in the chickens until he picked up a hatchery brochure and discovered English breeds. It only makes sense since he is after all, English. So he asked me to order them for him. He said he would want to spend time with them as long as I was still going to be the one to care for them. I was able to easily get the rooster but if I wanted to get the Maran & Sussex hens I would have to wait until May. That simply will not due! As it is, I will have to wait until fall until I start getting eggs from the new chickens that I did get.

 This is going to force me to get creative and research much more on breeding. Since I was able to only get a Black Copper Maran rooster I decided to order two Welsummer hens to try and breed with. I don’t know as of yet if it will work in carrying the dark brown color gene. The Welsummer also has a dark brown egg shell color, just not as dark as the Maran. http://www.zooeasy.com/en/



Welsummer eggs from FeatherSite.com



I decided to order 2 white egg laying hens (Ancona) and 2 Ameraucana hens in addition to the Speckled Sussex & Maran Roosters & Welsummer hens. It’s my first ever “chicken order”.  http://www.meyerhatchery.com/       



Last Friday I went to Southern States & Lowe’s to start buying seeds and starter trays for the garden. It felt so wonderful to get my hands in dirt again! In another life I worked on weekends at a nursery close by my home, The Greenhouse in Glen Allen, VA. I did it to learn about plants and so that the money I earned there I could justify spending on plants. Very rarely did I ever bring home an actual paycheck.



One of the things I loved most about the place was going there in the winter months when everything was brown and dull. Just walking around in the greenhouses smelling the soil and living plants was very therapeutic. I could get over the worst day in just a few minutes walking around in there.



One of my favorite rites of spring was the Maymont Flower and Garden Show. That would be the final sign that winter really was over and I could finally start to plant again. I never had a big vegetable garden, just a small raised bed with lettuces, tomatoes etc… but I would buy plants for the outside of the house and inside. I planted wisteria on both ends of my front porch that slowly but surely climbed up the lattice fence, over the railing and made it across the roof. How lovely it was to see it come to life once again each spring.  http://www.maymont.org/Page.aspx?pid=419       



There are bulb flower greens peeping up out of the dirt around the house and I look forward to seeing them all bloom. I bought a bag of shady grass seed for the front of the house where the huge Maple tree shades the front. I have dusted off my planters and washed them out ready for new flowers. If I do all of this do you suppose I will force spring to come sooner?