Tag: chickens

All closed up

Our entire region is shut down. No school, many businesses, and community services are closed today. The region doesn’t handle more than a couple of inches of snow, especially when they can’t pretreat the roads. Our 4 wheel drive SUV would probably be able to get up our gravel driveway and our gravel road but the paved road is likely an ice and snow covered downhill slick.
The sun is trying to come out, broken clouds still flurrying, the wind is howling and blowing the snow we got everywhere. The official count for our community was 9″ but going over to do chicken chores, the snow in the yard is over my barn boots and they are 11″ high.

Because the chickens have been cooped up for three days, I attempted to get them outside. Spoiled hay was spread in the run and food put outside in a pan so it wouldn’t disappear 11″ down.

Yesterday they fouled their water pan I used so I could knock the ice out of it each time I went to give them more, so today I hung a waterer inside and spread a new foot of straw in the coop. Between scratching for feed and kicking it out when the coop door is open, the foot thick layer from last week was only a couple inches deep of finely broken straw.
In spite of my efforts, they would go out the return immediately to the coop. They are still laying, we are getting 6 top 8 a day.
The grands want to go play in the snow, but with it in the teens and the wind blowing, it is a bit too cold for much time outside.
We have had our good snow, now I’m ready for spring. I can’t even imagine being in Boston this winter.

February 17, 2015
Rough week on the farm

This week has been marked with disruption and illness. There was no school midweek for a teacher workday then a 2 hour delay that turned into a closed day because of a light snowfall and strong wind on Friday. We have been experiencing cold nights and damp cold days and Romeo, our Buff Orpington rooster, a calm gentle fellow had a serious case of comb and waddles frostbite. He may not be such a handsome fellow by the end of winter.

This was taken before his frostbite. He is a good guardian to his hens and gentle to them in his ardor. As the days are lengthening, we are beginning to get more eggs, up to half a dozen one day. These are welcomed, with 5 of us in the household now, we use many more than I did before.
Yellow Cat, a rescued barn cat, obtained as a sickly kitten lived out his life this week. We had been told he would likely only live a couple of years as he had feline Aids and it finally took its toll on his fragile immune system. I found him on his bed on the porch yesterday with no life left.

RIP Yellow Cat.
For a couple of weeks, we have noticed our German Shepherd licking herself more than routine cleaning would require. A vet trip to have her checked out and to get her nails clipped as it takes two people to hold her down while one clips, revealed that she had malformed lady parts that have become inflamed, likely infected so she is receiving antibiotics once a day and pain meds twice. This sounds like an easy process, but she doesn’t take pills, even flavored chewables and you risk your digits to try to force them. She can remove a pill from cheese, peanut butter, meatballs, any trick in the book. Daughter who used to be a vet nurse was going to be the pill giver, but the Vet gave us a can of prescriptive canned food and suggested putting the pill in a small meatball of it and magic, she gobbles the pills right down. A solution to a three year old problem, yay.
I was to leave on a bus today to Northern Virginia to babysit Grandson #1 tomorrow and return home with my car on Tuesday. Last evening, Son#1 sent a text and suggested that I try to change my reservation for the bus as they had a stomach virus spreading through their region and he had come down with it. Not wanting to catch it myself nor bring it back to our household, my car will have to stay for another bit. I hope they don’t all catch and suffer the virus.
Another week on our farm, I can’t believe it is February and in two short weeks, Mountaingdad and I will celebrate 37 years of marriage and in three weeks, our baby will turn 28. It can’t be so.

February 1, 2015
Things I don’t buy anymore

Tortilla’s for tacos and enchiladas

Ricotta cheese

Mozzarella cheese

Pasta noodles

Bar soap, shampoo, laundry detergent

Eggs

Chicken

Tomato products, salsas, jams, chutney

Mustard

Yogurt and cream cheese

Hand and body lotion

The longer we homestead, the more products have been eliminated from our shopping list, more products are made at home. As the garden and orchard grow and my desire to be more aware of what goes on and into my body, the more items are removed. Hopefully, the day will come when we are growing a couple of pigs on our land and at least some of the lard will replace the oils that I buy for cooking and soap making. If Son #1 or 2 raise bees, we will be able to have honey and beeswax too (I am allergic to bee stings, so I can’t tackle that task.)

I love being able to make these items, our bread and chicken feed, grow most of our vegetables and have the health and time to do it.

January 27, 2015
Winter Disappointments

By this time in winter, we have seen several snowfalls. Sometimes a dusting, others a real snow, but this winter has been mostly rain or freezing rain We went to bed last night listening to the dire warning being issued in the Northeast USA and a forecast for snow to fall beginning around midnight and accumulating up to 5″ here in Southwest Virginia. We awoke to no snow on the ground, no snow falling and broken clouds. Granddaughter hoping for snow later in the morning but wanting to wear her short sleeve, frilly “Frozen” dress, created a most interesting outfit.

Her leggings are black and white with zigzags, hearts and other patterns, the boots as you can see are black and pink with multicolored polka dots. She was ready to go out.

Daughter has commented that she needed slippers and warmer taller socks to wear, so we decided to venture out early to return something we purchased yesterday on our girls afternoon out while Mountaingdad and Grandson went to a movie. We also were seeking socks and slippers for her. Did you know that slippers are an item like gloves that are purchased by stores for Christmas and are not available year round? We finally found her a pair at the third store we tried.

While we were out, the chickens were free ranging, but when we returned home a bit after noon, she and I lured them back to the pen so the dogs could wander. Our dogs don’t mess with them usually, but their Golden Retriever by nature wants to chase them and barks at them even if he sees them coming and going from the coop. When we went to lock them up and check for eggs, the coop smelled damp and too strongly of ammonia. My two large round bales of hay that were set aside for coop use this winter and garden use in the spring have gotten wet and moldy and can’t be used in the coop anymore. The local feed and seed had square bales of straw so I drove in to purchase two. We are due for more very cold weather and I have already seen some frostbite damage on Romeo the rooster’s comb, so I had to do more cleaning than just adding layers to the coop and stirring up the layers. Trying to leave at least some of the composting layer in the bottom, most of the hay was shoveled out and tossed into the run and into the compost bin, including the nesting box hay. About a third of a bale of straw, clean and dry put a nice deep layer in the coop so hopefully the gang will stay warm and dry in the upcoming cold.

Though I don’t like to put food or water in the coop, I have been tossing a handful of scratch into the coop in the late afternoon to encourage the chooks to keep the bedding stirred up and broken down and the corn they eat helps them stay warm.

I guess the spoiled hay will be used to keep the run drier and less muddy and in the spring to mulch the garden. I hate having to buy straw when we harvest 80 to 100 round bales of hay each spring. Next year, I will find a better way to store it.

This afternoon, it has begun to rain off and on with a snow flurries expected as the temperature plummets to the teens tonight. More is expected later this week and weekend, just as I have to ride a bus to Northern Virginia to babysit Grandson #1 and pick up my car from Son #1 who has been using it for a bit.

I really hope we have at least one good snowfall for the kids.

January 26, 2015
A Week of Adjustment

Tomorrow evening will mark a full week since Daughter and children arrived with me and their trailer full of household goods that we have been incorporating into our mountain home. All but one box from the garage has been brought in and mostly unpacked. On Thursday, the first day that the school counselor was to be back from the holidays, we scheduled to enroll grandson in 2nd grade, but the weather played havoc, treating us to unseasonably frigid temperatures and strong winds with sub zero wind chills and school was cancelled.

The Principal and bookkeeper were there, so we went by to pick up paperwork and take the necessary documents to try to expedite the process the next day. I worked as a school counselor for most of the 37 years as an educator and never in all of that time did we refuse to register a child who had a valid school physical form from another state, if they had all of the necessary vaccines. This school said that the info had to be on the Virginia form and signed by his doctor. His records had already been transferred to the new Pediatric practice in this area, so a quick appointment was made for the next morning and instead of starting school, he went to the doctor. Once the forms were complete, he did get to go meet his new teachers, see his 14 classmates and get to ride the bus home.

On Wednesday, in the frigid weather, we drove two towns over and bought a twin over full bunk bed for the room the kids will share. It was delivered on Friday and we realized that the foundation under the mattress made the bed too tall for the three year old, so back to the furniture store to get a full size bunky board. Their room is more spacious with the bed turned 90 degrees and pushed up against a wall, our huge heavy headboard and footboard with the rails and foundation stored in the basement.

Daughter realized the bookcase that we brought from Florida would not hold all of the kids books and the board games, so she purchased a second bookcase and we put it together yesterday. She and grandson are sorting and arranging the books on it.

After an initial moment of intimidation with the big dog, granddaughter has decided that she loves “Stranger” (Ranger) and he loves her back. A very tolerant beast he is, fortunately.

We are getting used to the activity of having little ones in the house again, they are getting used to not having Daddy here yet and living in a different place. All of us are trying to get used to the cold, though it does look like we might see more seasonable temperatures this week with a bit of rain and then snow, followed by a few even warmer days.

The chooks are laying a few eggs again, though they aren’t happy about the frigid weather either, spending much more time in the coop.

January 10, 2015
Happy Chaos

Our household is in turmoil, but happy, giddy turmoil. About a dozen years ago, our very young adult daughter left Virginia and moved to Florida. The why is unimportant now as are all of the ensuing dozen years. For a few years now, she and her family have longed to move back to Virginia, this time away from the coast and to the mountains near us. Much has had to be done to allow this to happen and much still must be done for all of them all to be here, but daughter, two grandskiddos and the dog will be here before school starts up again after Christmas. SIL will stay in their house and his jobs until they get a firm offer on the house and then he will transfer his job here as well. For now, daughter and grandkiddos will live with us, and though we have the extra bedrooms in the house, we have been using most of both closets for storage.

Yesterday, in delighted anticipation, I tackled a major clean out and reorganization, finding items that we moved here 8 years ago and didn’t even remember having. Large shopping bags were lined up in the hall and items I never use went into a bag for donation. Party items that are rarely used were relocated by reorganizing the hutch, jelly cupboard, and kitchen cabinets to find places for it all. One of the closets held the boxes of Christmas decorations. When we moved in, they were stored in the basement, but when the basement finishing began, they moved to that closet and have stayed there. The under-the-stairs closet in the basement was cleaned up and space made to store those boxes back down there, empty now of their decorations, but full after the holidays. Dresser drawers that held seasonal linens were emptied, some of them stashed in another big plastic bin in the basement closet, others such as table cloths and napkins folded and stored in part of the hutch. A shelf is going to be added to one of my base cabinets in the kitchen to allow for more organization.

Bags and boxes were donated yesterday and more will likely follow. Closets and drawers are being made available. Holiday decorations that were being neglected are being displayed. Excitement is in the air.

We hope for a quick successful sale of their home so SIL can come up too, for a job opportunity that has evaded daughter in Florida will come up, that we will get to know those grandkiddos better than twice a year visits have allowed and we are grateful that all three of our children will be back in one state.

Yesterday and today have been perfect weather for working in the house. The sky is like a dark curtain hanging over us, raining off and on for days now. The creeks are roaring.

The chicken pen, having a slight downward slope from the gate has been treacherous to enter to let them out and close them up. Though it is gray this morning, I uncovered one of the huge round bales of hay and threw down a layer from the gate to the pop door of the coop and a fresh layer in the coop. This is always new entertainment for the chickens as they scratch through it looking for treats and spreading it farther and farther away from the gate, but at least I will be able to enter the pen without fear of falling.

Two days ago, we came home to find this…

half of the wood that Son#1 and I stacked in the snow at Thanksgiving had toppled. I don’t know if something tried to climb it or if as he suggested, the ground thawed in the rain just enough to cause it to shift. It has been much to wet to want to go out and re-stack it. If we get a dry day, I may begin on it . . . or wait for him to come back at Christmas to help me.

For now, I must get back to household preparation to keep my excitement under control. I booked a flight after Christmas to go down and help her drive back with the kids, the dog and a trailer of kids clothes, toys, sports gear and hopefully bicycles. The rest of their goods will be moved upon sale of the house.

December 5, 2014
Effort, Disappointment, and a Delicious Surprise

Mountaingdad and I began our morning with a group of others from our county to form the core group of Preserve Giles County to oppose and fight the proposed pipeline. We met for two hours, introduced ourselves and I found that this made me very emotional as we each spent about 5 minutes giving our name and why we were there. It was the first time I have introduced myself to these people and talking about the fact that I was born here, my grandfather was born here and though I grew up in the eastern coastal Virginia, retired here. That our home is a labor of love, Son 1 spending two years of his life doing carpentry and stone work on our house. I installing wood siding, beadboard, cedar and doing flooring and baseboards. That we are invested financially, physically and emotionally in the home we built. The meeting was productive and will move on to a point where we feel we are fighting as a group, not as individuals with a common goal.

The disappointment came when I realized that of the 5 1/2 quarts of broth that I made with the turkey carcass, even though they were chilled overnight in the refrigerator with plenty of head room in wide mouth jars, all 4 that I put in the freezer, broke the jars and all 4 quarts of turkey broth are ruined. The remaining quart and a half were used to make gravy for turkey we have eaten since Thanksgiving. To try to salve a disaster, the remnants of the thighs and the meatier parts of the wings that weren’t really done enough to suit me are currently simmering in another 3 quarts of water. The meat will be made into pot pies and casseroles, the broth frozen in vacuum sealing bags this time for use in soups and future gravies.

The delicious surprise came just a few minutes ago as I went to collect eggs and do a quick survey of the garden plot after last week’s 20 something degrees and the wet snow. The row cover over the garlic had blown free from one end and I wanted to re-secure it. There was kale that had perked back up, not a lot, but certainly enough for a meal, maybe my favorite African Chicken with Hot Greens. And a berry bucket of turnips that weren’t large enough to harvest a few weeks ago. I’ll bet they are as sweet as honey after last week. We will enjoy them within the next day or two as well. The chard is gone, the wormy cabbages went to the chooks with the turnip tops that were too wilted to try to cook. With any luck, we will get one or two more meals of kale, then I guess it too will be pulled for the chickens or heavily mulched with hay for maybe some spring regrowth.

The chooks laid just enough eggs while the kids were here to provide us with a delicious breakfast each morning and to make the pumpkin pies. Yesterday there were only 3 and today 6. It seems that the dozen hens are not really going to be laying enough for me to sell many this winter, but should keep us fulfilled.

Love our life on our mountain farm.

December 1, 2014
Dreariness

It is cold and raining. Not the biting cold of last week, that is due again tomorrow, but cold enough to make procrastination on outdoor chores inevitable. I cuddled in bed with my book until the Shadow, the German Shepherd was dancing cross legged by my side of the bed, Ranger, the big guy still lazing on his pad on the floor by Mountaingdad.

It is wet enough that the pups didn’t want to stay outside very long, not long enough for me to finish prepping their eggs, so they hovered around and behind me while I cooked. The recalcitrant hens producing barely enough eggs to have for home use and as I used one of yesterday’s 3 eggs to make cornbread last night for a meal we shared with our recently widowed neighbor after the Pipeline Opposition meeting, there were only two to cook this morning. Once I carton a dozen and put them in the refrigerator for neighbors or friends, I leave them alone and only use from the bowl on the counter. This left me with no egg today, but I had leftover cornbread, a wedge lightly buttered and toasted in a cast iron skillet is a treat to be savored, with or without an egg. The pan was heating to cook the pups eggs, so I got my cornbread first.

With the house critters (including me) fed, it was getting harder to stall about layering up in gumboots, coat and gloves and finally making the wet, chilly walk over to let the chooks out and to feed and water them. Their sloped run, bare of a single blade of grass and with the hay scratched and washed off was as slick as ice. It is too wet to uncover the big round bale of hay to throw more down at the gate, hopefully later it will quit raining long enough to accomplish that task. Their coop hay tossed to loosen it up for insulation and turned to facilitate the deep litter composting that produces heat for them, their feed served in two metal dog bowls to keep it from being trampled into the mud and a quick check of nesting boxes for cleanliness and I found a surprise.

Three fresh, warm eggs to keep my hands warm as I slogged back to the house. I haven’t seen morning eggs in weeks and am luck to find 3 or 4 cold eggs in the evenings. It would be nice to get back to going out and finding more than I can carry in without a basket, but maybe not until springtime.

If it is going to be wet and cold, it should at least be white. I’d settle for the mountain snow flurries that fall for days on end with no real accumulation, just the dusting on gardens, roofs and cars. Cold, rainy winters remind me of winters on the coast, you are supposed to have snow in the mountains. I know, I should be careful of what I wish for, we may find ourselves snowed in without power later in the winter and we haven’t laid in wood for the stove and fireplace, having only a bit left over from last year. I suppose we should set in an emergency supply at least.

November 17, 2014
Sunday Thankfulness

Last night it got cold, down in the 20’s cold. The morning was bright and sunny and the two together created frost shadows.

Every trip out to the garden area reveals a few more pumpkins. I think I have harvested in the neighborhood of 100. At this point, there is a small pile collected on the edge of the garden to throw to the chooks. They aren’t producing many eggs lately. Of the dozen hens, we are only getting 4-6 eggs each day. One is in a serious molt, one just got over her broodiness, but that leaves 10 that should be giving me a few more than I am getting. It is enough for us, but not really producing for my neighbor and knitting buddies.

On the knitting front, Granddaughter 1’s sweater for Christmas is progressing well.

The pattern is In Threes which has a cap sleeve, but I am modifying it to add long sleeves. I need to find some buttons and finish the sleeves. I still have two more kids sweaters to get knit before Christmas. One of them is another 3T, so it won’t take too long, but the other is for an almost 8 year old and it will take a bit more time.

We are due for two beautiful days before we are faced with a few very cold days due to the Polar Vortex headed our way. I need to get some extra hay in the coop and figure out how I am going to keep their water thawed. The heavy barn coat has been moved back to the utility room near my gum boots for dealing with the coming winter woes.

November 8, 2014
Flip flop

Today is gray,
Cold is back on it’s way.
Granola is baking.
Chickens are grazing,
Residents are lazing.
A good day to knit, read, drink tea.

Sorry, not much of a poet:D

November 5, 2014