Projects Galore

 selling sunflowers (again)- this time to help raise funds toward a short-term medical missions trip

Sadie has taken over chicken duty (all 15 made the photo)

 It worked! Two years after planting three vines, we're harvesting and eating red, seedless grapes (with no spray).

 settling in- the smoke house now has a porch, post and stone foundation, stone step and slide. Because what smoke house is not complete without a slide?

this year's garden- mostly weeds and a few vegetables (with a new gate)

preparing for new siding: tearing down an old, unused chimney 

 slowly turning a multi-use barn into a buggy shed (for cars)

assembled hand-me-down trampoline 

the last two weeks of summer- finally some time to start quilting it

constructing a "Children's Zoo"- very important work, indeed

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Bees, Ducks and Chickens, Oh My! (The Reality of Having Animals)

I would like to begin this post by saying that being able to live in a place where we can raise and enjoy animals is such a gift.  They are fascinating (and entertaining), useful (think eggs and meat), beneficial (they eat bugs and turn soil), and are often just plain fun (think pretending they're babies).

my girls (younger) with their girls (also, younger)

But sometimes, they drive me bananas and all I want is to drive them to the other side of the county and drop them off.

There, I said it.

I take part of that back.  I really don't want to drive our bees anywhere.  Actually, right now the bees aren't causing any trouble.  We were very disappointed that after all our work with them last year, all five colonies died over the winter.  As much as I am in awe of bees (ask my kids' friends- if any of them ask a single question about bees, I launch into a 4-part lecture series on the topic), part of me wondered if we should give up.  But we didn't.  We ordered two more packages, watched them build up over the summer, left their honey alone, and we now have six colonies as we head into this winter. Jamey made moisture quilts to hopefully insulate them from condensation which can be fatal.  We'll say a little prayer, tuck them in and hope that we see at least a colony or two alive this spring.

The ducks.  We bought four Khaki Campbell running ducks from a farmer we know.  We wanted them for their eggs and expressed that we wanted hens. Well.  Either they weren't hens or they just didn't like us because we got one and only one egg (and it could've been a chicken egg- it was hard to tell) and that was it.

The very first night we had them, one of the four went missing.  We're thinking predator.  The other three fell into a cute routine of quacking around the chicken yard each day, splashing in their water and then hunkering down in the chicken tractor out in the yard.  They never followed the chickens into their coop as they need their own water source (so they can scoop-drink).

Well, after a few weeks of this pleasant (albeit non-laying) life, they discovered they could get out through the holes in the fence (they were small enough).  Over a few days, two walked their way out onto our road and got hit by cars.  Bless our dear neighbor who scraped them off with his shovel.

So there was one duck left.  Without his friends, he no longer stayed in our yard and instead wandered the neighborhood becoming a bit of a nuisance.  He's no longer with us (and that's all I'm going to say about that).  So the duck project was a fail.  I feel yucky about the whole thing but we couldn't spend hundreds and hundred of dollars installing new fencing and other attempts to solve the problem weren't working.  Frankly, non-laying ducks were just not worth it to us.

Moving on to my most recent nemeses: the chickens.  We haven't bought chicks the last couple years so our chicken population has slowly been aging and dying out.  We're down to around ten.  At one point, we had 40 (that included some meat birds we later butchered).  Of these ten, about 3-4 consistently get out of their yard and into our neighbors' yards.  Turkey has learned to ignore them, thank heavens, but they wander around, digging up everyone's flower beds and newly planted grass.

Here again, if we spent a lot of money, we could fix the fences (they've been patched COUNTLESS times).  We could buy a lot of organic, free range eggs with that money.  But we don't have the heart to get rid of the chickens.  So, for now, they're locked up in their coop.  It's not a terrible place to be. I'll be adding leaves and straw to give them something to scratch and maybe on really nice days we'll let them out for awhile to enjoy their yard.  You know, on good behavior.  In the meantime, I want to price out fencing and see if we can't re-fence part of the yard or make something work.

So, there.  I know this wasn't a very uplifting animal post but I just needed to say all this.  It's not all wine and roses.  Instead, it can be a lot of whine and thorn-ses.  Such is life- a life I still wouldn't trade with anyone (just look at that first picture in this post again). Pin It

Chicken Drama

Oh, isn't there always drama with chickens?  Well, there is at our house.

Ordeal #1:  You may remember that we bought six chicks just before Easter.  We set them up in what we thought was The Hilton- a movable rabbit tractor tucked in the corner of the wood shed. They had a heat lamp, water, food, straw, and a cardboard box to hunker down in if it got drafty.

Shortly after getting them settled one died due to impacted poop problems.  Poor chickie.  Then two more died and we couldn't tell how or why.  But one of those two was missing a head.  Okay- so there was a predator involved but we couldn't understand how it got them.  Our only thought was that maybe the chicks were sleeping near the side of the tractor and whatever-it-was was reaching in and grabbing them- scaring them to death and/or eating off their head (which it pulled through the chicken fencing).  A weasel?

So we moved the remaining two chicks (now pullets) into the larger chicken tractor outside thinking that they would be able to roost up off the ground, out of the reach of pesky, little predator hands.  Then two more died- one's neck looked like it had been chewed on.  Lovely.  So the chickies were not roosting out of reach.

One chick remained.

Friends of ours let us borrow a mini-fortress- a small wooden cage covered in metal screen.  So, we set the fortress inside the chicken tractor and put the remaining, sole chick (now a pullet really) in the fortress each night, letting her out into the larger tractor each morning. At the time of this writing, she remains alive.

the fortress inside the tractor

So what's been killing our chicks/pullets?!  We have never had this problem before with chicks.  Sure, an occasional hawk has killed a full grown hen in the yard.  Skunks and opossums go after the eggs.  Once we had an opossum that developed a taste for chickens and killed a few before we caught it but never before had we ever had problems protecting our chicks.

It makes me sick.  Our chickens aren't pets to us (sometimes they are to our kids) but I still feel responsible. You shouldn't have animals if you're not going to care for them properly.  I didn't like what was happening one bit.

Well.  The other morning, Sadie went outside first thing to let the chick out of the fortress and into the chicken tractor.  She came back in and said, "Mom!  Before I let the chick out I saw a huge rat inside the chicken tractor running around and then it went out through the side."  Bugger!

We never thought rat.  They certainly would be after the feed and could get through the wire but not only have we not seen rats around here in years but we didn't know they would kill pullet-sized chickens.  About five years ago, Jamey saw a rat in the chicken feed bin in the hen house so he killed it and then hung a feeder from the ceiling to avoid the whole feeder-bin situation.  No more rats were seen.

our lone (and very loved) pullet

We had heard that a nearby neighbor was having some trouble with rats but knew they were attempting to fix the problem.  We wonder if some didn't migrate over to our place.  A poison trap has been placed and our lone chick seems safe in her fortress but four chicks are gone thanks to the rats.

Boooo rats.

Ordeal #2:  Meet my nemesis.

While Americaunas lay beautiful blue-green eggs, they are the most problematic breed of chicken for us. We only have two but these chickens are flyers and are always the ones getting into the garden and up and out of the yard no matter how often we clip their wings.  This one in particular likes to scratch up my flower beds, poop all over our walk and patio, and just started EATING MY UNRIPE BLUEBERRIES.

That was the straw that almost broke the chicken's back.

She was immediately quarantined in the unused rabbit hutch.  Am I secretly hoping she'll have a run-in with a rat? Yep. Of course not. Once I can determine that she is still laying (at least one of our Americaunas is), I will offer her up free to local friends.  Friends that have a secure space, that is.

This girl is has a record a mile long. Pin It

Hard-boiled Eggs: What Works for Me

If your chickens are like our chickens, their laying has taken off with the longer days and warmer weather. We're collecting around ten eggs a day and that's enough to keep us and our egg-buying friends plenty satisfied.  Over Easter weekend, we enjoyed many an egg- pickled, in breakfast dishes, casseroles and even my sister-in-law's delectable chocolate mousse!

Years ago, when I first started this blog I remember asking for advice on how to hard-boil eggs in such a way that I wouldn't lose half the egg when I peeled it.  Over time and after trying several different methods, I've found a way that works really well- as in, about 90% of the time the eggs are nicely peeled. That's a rate I am very pleased with after all my failed attempts and frustrations.

Here's what works well for us:

1) If your eggs are store bought, you're set to go.  If they are fresh, they won't peel as well so I pull from the bottom of my full-egg-carton-stack in the fridge to make sure they are a week or two old at least.  For our Pickled Easter eggs, I even labeled some a couple weeks in advance to be sure we didn't use them for other things by mistake.

2) Fill a large pot with water (more than enough to cover the number of eggs you want to hard-boil), cover it and bring it to a boil.  Once it's at a rolling boil, gently add the eggs.  I use a pasta spoon to lower them into the pot, setting them gently on the bottom.  If they crack slightly, it's not the end of the world, but it's nicer if they don't.  Adding the eggs will slow down the boil.  Watch the water and cut back the heat until you see a steady stream of small bubbles coming up from bottom of the pot.  A full boil may bounce and crack eggs that aren't firmed up yet, causing leakage.  Set the timer for 15 minutes.

3) Once the timer goes off, turn off the heat and remove the eggs from the heat.  In the next 5 minutes or so, carefully pour off the hot water and replace it with cold water, setting the cooled pot in your sink.  When the eggs are cool enough to handle (and still covered in cold water), take one at a time and crack them gently on a flat surface (the counter works well).  Crack the eggs gently all over and return them to the cold water. This allows the cold water to seep in between the eggs and egg shells. I'm only mid-way through cracking these below.

4) After all the eggs are cracked and in the cold water, let them sit there until the pot and the eggs have completely cooled.  Drain out the water and place the eggs in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Leave the shells on until just before you want to use them.  Gently tap the shells all over again to loosen the shells and then peel the eggs, using the side of your thumb instead of finger nails which can gouge the soft eggs. Don't forget to get under that thin, transparent layer between the egg and the shell- it will make for an easier time of peeling if you're peeling that layer off with the shell. Rinse with clean water and prepare or eat as you wish!

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Promised Picture Post

 

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A Letter to Our Chickens

Dear Flock,

We love you dearly and thank you for your dedicated service as our egg providers.  The current ten eggs a day are wonderful!  And we commend your bravery as you venture out even when there is snow on the ground to search for bugs and grubs instead of hanging out inside and gorging on feed all day.  You are truly exceptional chickens.

While we know you have enjoyed carousing in the garden- scratching around in the straw among the trellises and using straw covered cages as forts- this fall and winter we're soon going to have to ask you to leave.

We know it may be hard for you once the gates are shut and your wings are re-clipped, but it has to happen and you're going to have to accept it.

So please don't try to fly over the fence or gate. Please stay out of the garden and my flower beds. Please don't torture yourself by looking longingly into the soon-off-limits areas.  Please just be happy with the lovely chicken run and yard that we've provided for you and be content.

Because if you act up, I may not be able to protect you.  You may end up in the stew pot.  The choice is yours.

Love,
Your Appreciative (and very serious) Owners Pin It

Sweat in My Eyes

Sure, when it's hot, I sweat.  But I don't think I've ever experienced sweat running into my eyes before like the other day.  Can you tell I'm no athlete?

So, what was it that kicked my behind?  The hen house.  In July.  It had been a couple years since it had been cleaned out well and it was time.  Sam was a big helper.  Using our snow shovel, I scraped and scooped, scraped and scooped, scraped and scooped.

left hanging bucket holds feed, right hanging bucket holds water and has a chicken nipple (yes, there is such a thing) underneath- this keeps the water clean

Using an old broom, I took down so many spider webs, you could no longer see the broom.  We patched holes that the scrapping and scooping uncovered.  

This hen house was (obviously) here when we bought the house over 8 years ago.  It's old and large, so it works well for our 25 or so current residents.  The chickens spend very little time in here, actually.  They have access to the great out-of-doors 24/7.  No, we do not shut them in (not even at night) unless we're introducing two groups of birds or on vacation.  The only predator problems we've had have been hawks and the occasional opossum.  A couple times a skunk was eating eggs.  These problems are rare enough that we prefer to take our chances and let them get up and out as early as they like and let those who enjoy dusk stay out a little later than the others.

One hen, who had gotten out of the chicken yard earlier in the day, took advantage of the open doors when I was cleaning and sneaked in to lay.  She (and others) seem to prefer laying with some privacy thanks to the hinged fences that keep them from roosting (and therefore pooping) in the upper nesting boxes.

We cleared out old hay (which does get replaced more often than every couple years- I promise) and replaced it with new.

The roost was raked and scooped,

uncovering an old glass bottle which cleaned up nicely and will now become a little flower vase no doubt.

Even with the doors open and the natural ventilation that comes with drafty old buildings, it was dusty, hot and stinky. I banished the girls from the hen house because I still have to help with their baths.  Sam was my right-hand man since he can take his own shower.

view from the roost into the rest of the hen house through the chicken door

In the end, the house was possibly as tidy as it's ever been and we had collected a lot of chicken manure for the garden.

It's wet under the windows because Miriam's mom-needs-me-to-be-busy-so-I-don't-wander-into-the-dusty-hen-house job was to "wash" the windows with sponge and bucket of water.

The hens?  They didn't seem to notice.  But since they all agreed to poop in the outhouse now, we're good.

And what ensued ranks near the very top of my favorite cold shower list. Pin It