Narragansett Turkey Chorus

Caedon was playing with Jon's guitar tuner and the Turkeys LOVED it. We managed to catch the last verse

Clinck here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2qrhxTc07Y

DIY Fodder System

With the drought and winter coming on, I was trying to figure out how to get my animals fresh greens. Greenhouse? Dumpster diving? Take out a loan for feed?

I came across this interesting youtube video .

From there I began my research on sprouting, not just for livestock but also humans. Research shows a dramatic increase in vitamins and digestibility. It sounded like something I would like to try but I couldn't find anything done on a small scale. I wasn't about to spend 1000's on a system to "try out" for my pigs, chickens, and eventual cows.

So we bought a bag of barley seed, the most common seed used in fodder systems. I poked some holes in hard plastic zip lock sandwich containers and made my first batch of sprouts. It was pretty easy. The animals weren't thrilled. I figured it was probably like eating a Mcdouble everyday and then someone putting a salad out.

Now we needed to try it for an extended amount of time and see what results we got. The problem was we needed a low cost system. This is what we came up with.(click the youtube link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwdvHH_vspg

We have plans to move it to our utility room and hook up a mister systems on a timer to the cold water for the washing machine. It will drain to the washing machine drain. We also plan at some point on recapturing the water to water the garden.

This is a work in progress but so far our chickens are LOVING it and the pigs are liking it too. One drawer feeds the pigs for a whole day with supplementing a little pig feed and chicken eggs. Our nursing sow also gets some corn to keep her weight on. It has already cut our feed cost substantially in just the few weeks we have been using it. It takes about 10 extra minutes each morning to clean and reload the drawers.

I will do more videos later on the specifics of how we built the system and the seed amounts etc.

We Got Milk! (pig milk)

Lois is due tomorrow. In my extensive reading (not experience), when you can express milk easily from a sow, it is 12-24 hours before she will farrow (give birth). I've been checking Lois at every feeding, plus other times during the day. At the evening feeding I expressed milk from her teat!!! Yeah!!! Piggies are on the way!!! I noticed today that she drank A LOT of water. That was my first indication something was different. I usually have to fill up her water 2 or 3 times, but today it was no less than 5. I guess she needed it for the milk!! Hopefully tomorrow I will have video of some cute.....er....soon to be yummy.....babies!!!

Piglet Count Down

Lois is due with her first piglets in 2 days!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uzZcnCgfNM

Really Cool Commercial

Hey Folks,

You need to see this commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfSGt6rHos

Our Frankenstein Experiment

YouTube
This is a Cuckoo Marans X White Leghorn. It was the only one to hatch so far. I had incubator problems so I'm not hopeful for the rest. I guess we'll call him/her Frankie.

Are you kidding me?

Let's just cut out the middle man shall we? Lay the eggs right on the cooking surface.

Poor, poor Chicken.....

OK, that's not really a chicken egg. WE HAVE GEESE!!!

We just got them last night. A friend of ours needed a new home for hers so she brought them over here. We put them in their "little goose coop" for the night.

They got out by accident this morning and Smith and Wesson thought we had bought them the best present EVER. I'm sure half the country side hear us screaming at dogs and geese honking wildly. After that, I certainly didn't expect and egg, but there she was. We already scrambled the sucker up and it tastes pretty much like a chicken egg. Maybe a little richer, but since we're pretty used to our rich Marans eggs there wasn't much of a difference.

So welcome John, Kate, and Deanna to the farm!

(get it....John and Kate Gosslin....and Deanna since there are two females and a male.....ok never mind.)

Guess What This Is?

This is hard evidence, that in raising chickens, I can make a prof.......

Well break ev........

Ok, NOT go broke.

I sold one of Barry's boys this morning for 10 smakers!

Woo Hoo! Let's go crazy and buy.........

More chicken feed.

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Yes. Yes I am Insane.

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This week.....

Little Lana is not pregnant. She may have been, but is very much in heat right now. This is not terrible. What IS terrible is that Clark wants nothing to do with her. He will smell her then go try and be amorous with Lois. Lois, who is glowing and looking very much pregnant, wants nothing to do with Clark. And tomorrow on Days of Our Lives..............

What Kids Should Look Like

At the end of the day.........except this was about noon.

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YOU WON'T TAKE ME ALIVE!!!!!!

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I'm outa here!!

Are you KIDDING me?!?!

Clark in.....Lois OUT!

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Solitary Confinement

We worked from 6 am to 2 pm on this new, Clark proof, enclosure. We lead him in. Jon and I hopped on the tail gate ready for a show. All we needed were a couple of beers for real hillbilly entertainment! I tossed some scratch (his favorite morsel) on the oposite side of the fence where the chickens attatcked it with vigor. "Here we go!" I said followed by a devious and satisfying laugh. Clarck approached his new fence. Gave it an unceremonious sniff then went back and laid down. "WHAT?!"

3pm- still in and not trying to escape his solitary confinement.



Stupid pig.

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Clarks Big Adventure

I really haven't wanted to blog for a while. I just didn't know where to begin...or end. So I'll start with the big story and move on to other farm happenings. A few weeks ago, when the blogs stopped, Clark got out. That in and of itself is not uncommon. Clark gets out all the time. Actually, it's more uncommon to find him IN. He has been a pain in the.....well....back because of all the extra fence work we have to do, since he got here. But this time was different. He got out, went down the driveway, across the street, and into the neighbors yard. Apparently he was eating old pecans off the ground. The little girls who live there heard him and told their uncle. Now remember. These girls know and LOVE Clark. They feed him, pet him, and know him They TOLD their uncle it was our pig. Their uncle didn't believe them and thought it was a wild hog. Their uncle shot Clark. He shot Clark twice. Once straight through the nose and once straight through the back, above the front shoulder. He ran all they way home. The girls, very upset, jumped on their 4 wheeler at 10pm and drove across the street, up the driveway and knocked on door hysterically to tell us what happened. We ran out with flash lights to find him. He was breathing heavily with blood coming through his mouth and nose, and from the shoulder wound. There was nothing we could do for him right then. We considered just putting him down, not knowing the extent of his injuries. At the time we didn't' know about the wound to the nose and thought maybe his lungs were compromised. After a long night, we rose with the sun to check him out. He was still alive but had very raspy breathing. However he ate happily and took a mud bath. PERFECT for open wounds. We still considered putting him down because we had not discovered the nose wound. Once we did we put him on antibiotics and b-12. He survived.....and continues to be a pain the .........back. We can't keep him out of the chicken nursery (I haven't blogged about that yet, but I will soon). Needless to say a structure made for baby chickens is not faring well against a 100 lb pig. He has completely destroyed their enclosure. He is scratching himself on the cars too and eating everyone elses food. He's a pest. BUT he hasn't left the property since he got shot. Just fair warning. We are going to erect a new enclosure for Clark this weekend. IF it works....YEAH! If it doesn't......he's going to be breakfast. I'm just sayin'........

So Apparently......

My mobile posts have not been showing up. I had some really cool pictures for you around the farm. I'll try and repost them over the next couple of days.

Deuce

This little guy is quickly becoming a favorite here on the homestead. About a month ago I started hearing a strange sound from the garage. It was Deuce learning how to crow. It was soooo cute. But he was very camera shy. FINALLY I got him yesterday. Now remember he is only two months old. His older brothers are 5 months old and DO NOT crow. That makes Deuce (a.k.a Barry Jr.), a very manly...er...um....roostery bird. He also tries to mate anything with two legs.

So I present Deuce Crowing!

I Knew It!

I had a funny feeling the leghorns had started laying eggs under the house. I blocked them out today. I hope Smith and Wesson have been cleaning up after them.

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TURKEYS!

OK, I'll spill the beans. The little birds we got a few weeks ago are TURKEYS!

In the video you can see one of the males, doing the turkey mating dance and he is only a month or so old. They are the cutest things. WE LOVE THE TURKEYS!!! They are much smarter than the chickens and MUCH quieter than the guineas (who are making the God awful sound on the video). They make a soft cooing noise and we actually heard one gobble the other day when it was frightened. Right now they remind me of miniature ostriches. I can just sit out there for hours and watch them. So can Jon. I would never have imagined just a short year ago (yes today is our year anniversary of living in Davis!) that I would be sitting in front of our baby chicken pen falling in love with turkeys.

But these aren't just any turkeys. Like the American Guinea Hog and Dominique Chickens (of which we have only 2 left), this breed of turkey is an endangered one. They are called Narragansett Turkeys. This breed is most likely descended from the wild turkeys eaten at the first Thanksgiving. They are a cross (like the Guinea Hogs) between wild and domestic at least way back down the line. We will be having some of these turkeys for dinner. One male and all the females will be retained for breeding stock to make more Thanksgiving dinners and help the numbers of endangered American Breeds.

To learn more about endangered breeds please visit http://www.albc-usa.org/ .

Can you guess what they are now?

Little Big Man

Piglets?

So it's been, not 21, but 28 days since both of the girls last heat cycles.  I have not noticed any signs of heat in either of them.  Could they be knocked up?  Buns in the oven?  Cookin' bacon?  With piglet?  Preggers? 

EEEEK!  I"m so excited!!!

For the Bible Tells Me So.....

Cling to God like tighty whities to a man.

Jeremiah 13:11

My Dragonflies

I was walking Jon out to the car as he was leaving for the day.  Something caught my eye above me.  I looked up and the sky was filled with Dragonflies!  We walked across the yard to discuss our current project and there again the air above us was filled with dragonflies.  I went inside to grab Andy (my android).  When I got back outside there were no dragonflies.  In a few seconds of standing there they appeared again!

The dragonflies were following us!!!  How cool is that?!  I thought we probably wouldn't have dragonflies this year because of the drought.  Guess I was wrong.  I love my dragonflies.

Farewell Ploppy

Or should I say Mary.

I was completely correct in my assumption that Mary (aka Ploppy), was a 4-H project and some little girl was home crying over her lost cow.  Except in this case the poor little girl was away at church camp so she didn't know Mary was missing yet.  IF she had been home she would have been crying over her poor lost cow.  We did get to meet another neighbor though, and one who will have milk in September!  What's better than a milk cow?  A neighbor who has a milk cow and is extremely grateful for you keeping his daughters prize winning milk cow safe!  Yippee!!  I can taste the cheese already!

On another note, I'm not sure I will ever get used to small town people (not trying to be condescending)thinking that I know everyone that they know.  It's always extremely awkward when someone you just met refers to a third party as if they were both of your closest friends yet you really have no idea who they are talking about.  In a way it's quite endearing and I'm sure in a few years I may actually know who all the players are and be in the same game.  I also don't like it when people refer to THEIR mother as mom in a sentence.  It really bugs me.  They should say MY MOM, not just mom.  But now I'm just rambling.

"PLOP"

It's a running joke around here....well not really a joke....that if we want or need something then "PLOP", It falls from the sky.  God is nifty that way.

We wanted a nicer house...PLOP

Wanted a fort. "PLOP". Nature had made one already.

Wanted Horses. "PLOP". "PLOP".

Wanted a rolling desk. Jon was on his way to Wal-Mart to by one. "PLOP" The exact one was on the side of the road.

Wanted Livestock Guardian Dogs. "PLOP"

Well the next thing on my list was a milk cow. I really want a milk cow. Remember the 3 cows in our front yard on Sunday?  Well they got close enough that we could see their brands.  They were our landlords so we put them back in.  The next day I was out weeding in the garden.  All of the sudden I hear: clop, clop, clop, clop.  I look up to see another cow out.  I was kind of confused at first because the area of the fence she would have escaped from was right next to me and I for sure would have heard her jump it.  Oh well, I thought.  I'll just put her back in.  On the way to the gate I got a good look at her.  She didn't look like any of Mr. Lancaster's other cows.  She had a distinctly "dairy" look about her.  I've been studying up on cows, but what do I know?  The next day our landlord came by and we got to talking.  I asked if he found where the cows were getting through and he said yes but he was still missing two.  He also said he had a stray in there!  I said which one, the one that looks like a Jersy?  He said yes, but that it was a Brown Swiss.  Then he said "I guess you have your milking cow." 

"PLOP!!!!"

And yes we are trying to figure out who she belongs to.  Either God delivered her to me fully trained and socialized or someone has put a lot of time into her.  She doesn't mind being approached or pet.  She's very sweet and we will love her forever if she stays.  Maybe I should name her "Ploppy".

A little Insight and a Soap Box

Ok...In response to so many people calling and emailing asking me if I'm ok.  Yes I'm fine.  I'll always be fine.  My hope and strength is Christ who is greater than I.  That post wasn't written in the depths of the pit, but in reflection over 20 years of falling and being rescued.  I'm fine and I will be fine.  I'll have my moments, days, months.  But I'll be rescued.

My reaction to these questions in typical melancholy (the personality) form is: "I guess I need more writing classes."  Although I was compared to Hemingway and he has a collection of furniture dedicated to him now.  My intention in writing the previous post was to be encouraging to others who might feel that they are the only ones who feel that way, or that there is no hope.  

Now the soap box.

Our culture is afraid to feel.  Not only are we afraid to feel pain and sadness as indicated for the wide variety of drugs available to eliminate them, but we are timid in joy and pleasure as indicated by the typical Sunday Morning church service. Someone mentioned that I always seem so happy and carefree in my posts and that this one seemed such a drastic difference.  How could two such extremes follow each other?  They don't!  I feel them both at the same time!  One might think they would explode experiencing such extreme emotions simultaneously. CORRECT!!  You do explode....into song, the written page, canvas, or a dance floor.  Don't be afraid to feel, even if it's sadness.  Some of the most moving symphonies, beautiful paintings, and touching hymns were created in the midst of turmoil and pain.  Yet they were able to feel the joy and peace that passes understanding all at once.  FEEL!  Embrace your emotions.  GOD GAVE THEM TO YOU!  We are special and unique among creation.  CREATE!  Creation itself was born out of longing for relationship.  How much can you feel at once?  What can you create from that?

*Quarter Turn Arabian Soap Box Dismount*

(disclaimer:  I do acknowledge that there are conditions and circumstances that warrant medication and I'm not suggesting that anyone stop their meds not seek professional help for a serious issues.)

For those of you who struggle......

Where did I go?  Where have I been?  What dark hole swallowed me up?  I feel like the girl who fell down the well.  There I was playing happily in the safe, sunlit world and then I was falling into darkness and loneliness.  Swallowed up by the night and squeezed in on all sides.  I couldn't move.  I couldn't breath.  I couldn't see, and there was no way out.  There was pain and panic.  For a long while I struggled and slipped back.  Then, my strength depleted, I resigned myself to live out my life in the unyielding pit.  Because unlike her, no one was looking for me.  No one looks for you when you fall into yourself and into a hole of depression.  To everyone else you look, feel, sound the same.  They don't know that you're really trapped and broken somewhere needing rescue.  They don't know that you screamed for help so long you lost your voice.  It's not their fault.  You couldn't tell them. 

But help was on the way.  It didn't come from the tiny point of light far above me that had been my hope.  It did not come how I expected it.  Someone had been carefully, oh so slowly as to not cave me in, digging along side of me all along.  He was prying away and removing, piece by hard packed piece, the dirt and rock that surrounded me.  Suddenly He was there.  It was only a small breech of my suffocating prison, but I wasn't alone.  There was air.  There was hope.  Hope renewed my strength. 

There's still work to be done.  Sometimes the excavation hurts, pushing in on me tighter.  Sometimes things are knocked loose and the air chokes me.  I have to trust that it's for my good and not my harm.  He's coming to save me.  I will walk in the light and air again.  I will be free.

New Additions

The thing about farming is that everyday...nay....every hour can bring a surprise. These guys were in our front yard this morning. We can't find out where they got through the fence so there is a possibility that they just wandered up the driveway from someone elses property and not our landlords.

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Freedom Celebration

We had such a good time this weekend.  There was a great group of family and friends here.  We ate, went hiking, ate, swimming in the river, ate, popped fire crackers, ate, talked, ate, sang, and ate!  I'm officially exhausted.  We did reserve some fireworks for yesterday to do on our own when people left but it was actually threatening to rain and there was lightning!  So we will probably have a late 4th fireworks show tonight.  Lots of news on the farm though.  I'll try and get pictures to do it justice though.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Best Nephew EVER!

Hiking and swimming at Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

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After Bath Aftermath

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Peeping Roo

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Look What I Got!

Do you know what these are?

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Party Prep

I've been gearing up for our big party this weekend.  Well...it was going to be big.  Everyone we asked said they would love for us to have a big blow out on the 4th.  But in reality it is going to be a small affair with just a few family and friends.  Still, I'm trying to spruce things up around here.  It's not an easy task alone. The kids are out of town, Jon is working overtime, and Caedon....well Caedon.  This week I've managed to bath the dogs, power wash the outside of the house, scrub toilets, and pick up every piece of debris from the yard.  The dogs have inevitable rolled in the mud.  The inside dogs decided to shake it all off in the bathroom. The chickens have now soiled the back steps again and after washing the the dogs there is mud splash all over my washed house.  To add insult to injury not only did the dogs pull a sack of trash from the yard out of the burn pile, but they found a sack of old cloths and tarps left from the previous owners in the barn.  That is now all over the yard as well.  I think I'm actually making negative progress. 

Kosher

I never understood why God told the Israelites that they couldn't eat pork or keep pigs.  I mean lets face it.  Pork is AWESOME!  You got bacon for BLTs.  Ham for Easter (which is ironic considering the holiday is in celebration of a Jew).  Sausage gravy and biscuits.  Pulled pork sandwiches.  RIBS!  It definitely wasn't God protecting them from a foul tasting beast.  Some argue that it was because pigs are filthy.  Not true.  Pigs are filthy if they are forced to live in filthy conditions.  You know what's filthy?  Chickens are filthy but perfectly Kosher.  So why on Earth did God forbid the Jews from eating or touching pork?  I know the answer.  CLARK.  If the Israelites had had one CLARK in every herd of pigs they tended then they would have spent 80 years wandering the wilderness instead of 40 trying to find their pigs.  If they had had one CLARK they would never have won any battles because they were so tired from building new contraptions to keep him in.  Just one CLARK in every pig herd would have cause the entire spiritual down fall of a nation because the ANGER that ensued from trying do deal with wily pigs.  Yep.  God knows what He's doing.  He loved the Israelites so much he forbade pigs.  But they never had a BLT.  It's all worth it for a BLT.  Right?

Makin' Bacon

If you looked on my Animal Tracker page you may have noticed something very exciting.  I witnessed a breeding between Lois and Clark on Friday!!!!  We will know in 21 days if it took.  Pigs go into heat every 21 days so if she doesn't go into heat then she is PREGNANT!  If she is expecting we can expect piglets 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days from last Friday.  That will be October 18th.  Sweet!

Lana has not shown much sign of going into heat although she was standing for Clark too when Lois was.  Lana is a month younger so she may be going into her first heat right now.  I'll let you know!  Keep an eye on Animal Tracker for updates too.

New Page on my Blog

If you haven't noticed, there is a new page on my blog.  It's called Animal Tracker.  This page is mainly for me, but I thought others might enjoy keeping track of who's being born or bred!  I've got to now!

Squmpkin

Remember Squaccini?

Well after we cooked him up he actually tasted more like Squacumber.  It had a distinctly cucumber tang but looked like the above picture.  Not my favorite taste but perfectly edible.

When I got home from Dallas there was a surprise on the same plant.  This monstrosity.

Yes....it's orange.  I figured it was edible too so I sliced it up for a stir fry of sorts.  It was very hard to slice.  My first thought was I had picked it too early but I left it on the vine for days and it never got bigger.  That wasn't the answer.  So I cooked him up and tasted it.  I had to spit it out!  It was tough an just plain weird tasting.  So my weird plant just got weirder.  I dub this vegetable a Squmpkin.  A mix between a squash and pumpkin (I do have pumpkin growing near too.). Of course it could be a Zuccmkin or a pumpkinni.  Or even possibly a pumpkuash.  Who cares.  You can't eat it.  I wish I had saved some seeds though.  It's kind of exciting to see what weird thing will grow next!

I Hate.....

THAT STUPID PIG!!!!!

I know I said they were a joy.  But that ONE!  That stupid Clark!!!  He will not stay in his stupid pen and it's a piggy freakin' wonderland in there!  He better get to makin' bacon pretty quick or he runs the risk of BEING bacon.



But he makes the most precious squeaks.  I can't stay mad long.  Until he disapears again anyway.

Food

I never really got a chance to brag about this meal.

It started out like this:

And this:

With this intermediary step:

To wind up with this:



The only things that were not grown on our place was the rice and BBQ sauce but I got those for free from couponing.  That looks pretty good for a "free" meal if I do say so myself.  I can't even describe the incredible taste. 

Piggy Pleasures

I got home on Saturday and first thing I went to check on the pigs.  I got into the pen finally after being accousted by a flock of chickens and a pack of dogs.  I didn't see any of them at first but I figured they were staying out of the God aweful heat in their pig hut.  I peeked in and saw all three laying there.  At first they startled a bit but then the cutest thing happened.  They dashed out of the hut and began rubbing up against my legs like cats.  They were making this rapid fire "sqeak-oink" that I could have sworn was laughter.  I never in a million years thought these next words would come out of my mouth.  Pigs are a joy.

Onions

I love onions.  When a recipe calls for onion I put twice as much in.  I love onions raw on hamburgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches.  My Dadadee loves onions even more.  He will eat them raw all by themselves.  I can't do that.  I have indigestion just thinking about it!  There is one thing I don't like about onions though.  The tears, the snot, and the pain.  Slicing an onion and it's fume production are no fun.  One time I heard someone say that if you don't remove the papery shell from the onion while slicing it will not make you cry.  Brilliant!!  The next onion I sliced I tried the new technique.  The slicing of the onion, indeed, did not produce the mucous response from eyes or nose as advertised.  No tears, no snot, no pain.  There was one problem though that was no mentioned in the new cutting technique.  What to do with the papery shell!  It was all in pieces within the usable onion.  I started picking it out piece by piece.  It was painfully tedious  and frustrating.  I decided then and there I would take the tears and pain over this any day.  I could have been done cooking by now!

It was then that God spoke to me.  Yes, while picking onion pieces.  It wasn't the burning bush or thundery voice kind of words.  It was the "knowing something all at once" kind of word.  Suddenly I knew that growing in God, and getting healing for our wounds was like chopping onions.  Sometimes we become aware of a weakness or hurt in our lives.  Depending on the person and the hurt, you can dive right in, remove that protective layer, experience the pain and the tears and get it done.  Then you can move on with the next part of the project (ie life).  But some hurts are so painful and powerful that they will take time.  Or maybe time is what has caused them to be such.  When God brings them before you, all the pieces are mixed in together, the good and the bad.  It takes time to pick through and get out the protective layer to reveal the tender usable part  Neither approach is good or bad.  It's just a way to deal with growth and pain.  Sometimes you may feel confident about an issue or a moment has presented itself for instant triumph.  Or you may spend an lifetime on one issue picking and picking away until finally, only in the presence of the King can it vanish completely.

If you don't like onions, to bad.  Onions are in everything.  Learn to like them, or at least grin and bear it when you are served!

Passion Horse Rescue

I am so sore, sunburned and exhausted.  I took the opportunity while in Dallas to visit with a friend who volunteers at a horse rescue.  I use the word "visit" lightly.  Yesterday I helped put up part of a new fence, hauled feed sacks, wormed horses and walked about 100 miles following the hay tractor to open and close gates for it.  I had a BLAST!!!!!  I'm not being sarcastic in the least.  Really I'm not....you should know me better by now.  Ok it still sounds sarcastic but I'm not being sarcastic.  I loved working with Sara and Deb out on the ranch.  I loved getting to meet some of the most special horses in the world.  I learned so much about horse behavior and sadly about the dark side of human behaviour.  Passion Horse rescues, primarily, PMU horses.  PMU is short for Pregnant Mare Urine.  It's the main ingredient in a popular menopausal hormone replacement drug (name brand Premarin).  Yep!  Horse pee.  I won't go into the grizzly details of the plight of these horses.  You can google that and depress yourself on your own.  I will tell you of the great work that Passion Horse is doing.  I can tell you that the horses in their care are receiving all the love, training, and nourishment they require and deserve.  I can tell you I tried to stuff a 2 month old draft horse named Moose in the back seat of my car.  Well that would be a lie, but I was trying to work out the logistics in my brain.  At one point I was trying to calculate how long it would take to WALK him back to Oklahoma.  That's just how darling this baby is.  You can see pictures of him on their website.  http://www.passionhorse.com/  He's on the home page under newcomers.  His real name is Bullseye.  You can also see other horses they have for adoption along with stories of heartbreak and triumph.  I know like me, most of you can not afford a horse right now...or maybe ever.  but if you have a couple of bucks to donate on their website, or for you Dallasites even a couple of hours to get some fresh air and hammer a few nails in the new fence they could probably use some volunteers too.

I just thought I was getting out of chores this week!

Reappearing Chick

Jon called yesterday afternoon and said he started hearing peeping from Eythan's room.  After an, I'm sure comical, chase he managed to return the flighty guinea to his family in the brooder.  Now if they will stay in and predators will stay out.

The Mysterious Case of the Disapearing Chicks

Last week I was admiring my baby guineas and my two baby Marans when I realized, there was only ONE baby Maran in the brooder.  Then it dawned on me that I used to have WAY more white guineas.  At first I thought that they had flown the coop.  But then I realized that one of the baby baby guineas was missing.  There was no way it could have gotten out.  Jon and I talked and decided that most likely when the kids were taking the 4 wheeler out, the cat was getting in and snatching a snack.  We were still left uneasy with the whole situation though.  Our babies were vulnerable.

I headed off to Dallas yesterday leaving Jon in charge of the daily workings of the farm.  I was sound asleep last night when my phone started ringing at about midnight.  It was Jon's ring tone and I was terrified at what it might be.  I answered and he says, "Check your email right now!".  Still a little groggy and confused I hung up and looked at my email.  This is the picture he sent me.

Mystery solved.  Jon said he was just about to go to bed when he heard noises coming from the brooder he had never heard before.  He said it sounded like a car alarm going off.  He ran in there to find on chick constricted to death, one in the process of being constricted, and the snake on the prowl for another bite.  Most of the chicks had flown out of the brooder (in spite of our attempts to wire them in as seen in the picture).  When Jon killed the snake with a near by shovel, several of them flew into the garage and one actually flew into the house and is till unaccounted for!  He managed to round them all up, except for the one in the house, and put them back in the brooder.  We lost a blue guinea.  That makes me sad because we only hatched 3 blues and they are really pretty. 

Hopefully this was the only snake visiting our buffet.

Squaccini

I picked this this morning. It's yellow like a squash but shapped like a zuccini with a little zuccini green at the top.

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Baby Got Backs

We spent all day (literally from 7am to 6pm) butchering, plucking, gutting, and icing our 17 cornish cross.  It was a dirty, wet, messy, and back breaking affair.  My mom offered to run down to the store and buy us chicken as she watched the labor go on.....and on.  The hardest part of the whole thing was how the chickens would walk right up to you when you went to go pick out the next one.  They always expect something good from me.  Saturday they were all disappointed.  I actually enjoyed the time with Jon though.  A lot of married couples we know don't have the same working relationship that Jon and I do.  We work well as a team and sitting next to him for 12 hours on Saturday was a blessing.  Having my mom there to watch the kids was a blessing.  It was almost like an extended date......with guts and feathers.  I'm sure there's a website for that.

And moving along...

Sunday Jon worked all day and I had to finish processing.  Doing it without him wasn't much fun.  I cut all the wings off the birds and put them in freezer bags of 10 each.  I quartered the birds and put a whole bird in each freezer bag and put the backs, about 5 each, into freezer bags for making broth.  I also separated the gizzards, necks, hearts, and livers into separate bags.  Lots of broth making in my future.

Monday I headed out for Dallas and left Jon at home working.  He also had some guys coming over later to do some work for him.  He called me part way through the day and said he was going to fix the guys some bbq as a thank you and wanted to know how I packaged the chickens.  I relayed the information and got back to my nephews party.  I didn't get home until quite late on Monday but Jon was still up and we talked for a while.  I asked him how the chicken tasted as I had not had a chance to eat any yet.  "It tasted fine." he said with some hesitation.  "But I'm just not sure about the way you cut it up.  There didn't seem to be any meat on the breasts."  I told him that there was a LOT of meat on the breast and wanted to know what he was talking about.  I spied the pile of bones from his cook out on the counter (still).  As I picked through them I couldn't contain myself.  "THESE ARE THE BACKS!"  I laughed.  I couldn't stop laughing and he still didnt' get it.  "There was wasn't much meat because this was the bag of backbones!" 

I'm so glad my husband has a sense of humor otherwise this story would be the death of me.

Dear Diary

Diary of a Factory Chicken....

April 15

Dear diary,

Today I was born.  After some rough handling I found myself with others like myself in a vast, dusty, dim area.  We found food, water, and each others company.  It's warm and I feel safe.  I think I"m gonna like it here.

April 29

Dear Diary,

It's so dark.  There are some streaks of light across the floor for part of the day.  I wonder what makes them.  It would be nice to find out someday.  Speaking of the floor though.  It's pretty bad.  It's good we're all together,  but it makes a mess.  I don't really like standing in it.  We still have food and water though.  It could be worse.

May 13

Dear Diary,

I hurt.  My legs hurt and it's hard to breath.  Everyone else feels the same.  It must have gotten to some of them because everyday there are less of us.  The farmers come and give us food and take away the dead, usually.  I guess it's good some of us don't make it.  There is less and less room for us.  The food and water are steady though.  I'd really like to see the light.

May 20

Dear Diary,

I can no longer walk.  I just lie here in the stream of light thinking about what might be out there.  I scoot myself to food and water when needed.  The pain is immeasurable.  I don't feel well at all.  I"m tired of darkness and the closeness of the other birds that used to be a comfort.  I don't think I can go on.

May 27,

Dear Diary,

Today I saw the light.  For a moment as I was tossed from the dusty, dank, feces coated hole I'd only know into a truck I saw a green and blue world. I thought I would FINALLY get to see where the light comes from.  It was only a fleeting glimpse as my brothers and I were squeezed into tiny boxes and were again in complete darkness.  It is very hot.  There is no food or water.  I can't breath.

May 29

Today was a good day.  After days without food or water, in the dark, and dieing of heat they took us into another building.  I felt myself going as pain rushed into my body over and over and over.  I feel nothing now.  Today was a good day.

Diary of a Homestead Chicken

April 15

I was born today.  I saw other chicks like me and faces.  The faces were those of the farmer and her family.  I'd been hearing their voices for a while.

April 17

Today the farmer gave me sweet water.  YUM! and food.  She put me in a warm box with my brothers.  I like it here.

April 22

I hate that farmer.  She took my food away at night and I like to eat.  But I'm still here in this warm box with my brothers.  She does bring the food back in the morning.  And I like the smell of fresh wood chips.  And I still have water (although it's not sweet anymore)  I guess it's not all bad.

May 5

Today was kind of scary.  Farmer took us out of our comfy box.  She put us outside where there was light!  We stood on this green stuff called grass.  GRASS!  Grass is soooo good.  It was scary but our box was getting a little cramped.

May 12

Bugs are GOOD!  It is so fun running around chasing them.

May 19
Farmer gave us scratch!  I LOVE scratch, and grass and seeds and bugs.  I love sunlight and trying to fly.  I will fly one day.

May 28

Today was a bad day.  When the farmer came to us in the morning she didn't leave FOOD!  Instead she picked me up.  I didn't mind that.  She did that often.  She said, "Thank You."  I'm not sure what that was about.  But then she did the oddest thing.  She flipped me upside down!  It startled me, but was a little relaxing.  Then there was an awful pain in my neck for a moment.  I was sleepy then and went to sleep.

What a week!

So things did not slow down after the accident last week.  Friday came and so did dress rehearsal and being a room mom for that event.  Jon is also on double overtime for all of the tornadoes that came through last week so trying to juggle parenting is not easy.  Then Saturday Jon "took off" and we literally spent the entire day slaughtering chickens.  I might post about that later when I have time to process it a little more.  Then Saturday evening was Charis' recital.  Sunday I spent all morning quartering chickens then took Charis to her last Ballet recital.  THAT was anther issue because Jon was working in OKC and they wouldn't let me bring Caedon into the backstage area because he was a boy.  I couldn't help my little girl get ready for her recital.  I was bummed.  We got home and I finished quartering chickens.  Then I got a call from Jon.  "Come down to the driveway and go make a copy for me."  WHAT?  I look out the window and see emergency lights from several vehicles.  I hopped on the 4-wheeler and sped down there thinking someones dead.  Jon had had a fender bender with an older gentleman as he was turning into our driveway.  Everyone was fine, but apparently all the emergency workers in the neighboring cities had nothing to do.  There were 2 county sheriffs, a highway patrolman, and 3 fire vehicles from 3 cities!  There were also several citizens who stopped.  They hadn't seen the accident, but I guess they had nothing to do either.  It was a regular party.  It was well past dark when I towed Jon's work vehicle up the driveway BACKWARDS!  THEN we're on to Monday.  I drove to Dallas for my nephews first birthday, leaving Jon to work his butt off.  I didn't get home until after 10pm.  Of course Tuesday came around and they still hadn't done Wesson's surgery and said they wouldn't do it until Wednesday.  I took Charis early to her girl scout camp and got home in time for Jon to tell me I had to drive him to Ada to pick up a rental car.  Drove to Ada and back just in time to pick Charis up from camp which was just in time to head off to OKC for a girl scout reward outing for earning her bronze award.  We didn't get home until after 10pm.  Up again this morning to take her back to camp.  I'm home now and I had a few minutes to blog.  Sorry if I made you tired.  We are waiting on word from the Vet.  Pray for Wesson and us.  We visited him yesterday and his recovery will not be fun.  Doc said he won't be able to stand for a month, so we will be cleaning up after him.  Yuck.

Of Meat, Salad and Accidents

Well yesterday started out great.  I headed out early and bought our steer to go in the freezer.  I learned a lot about meat.  I think.  Then I headed back home to finish cleaning out the brooder for our surprise guineas.  Of course then I played Dr. and made the prosthetic for Wibbles, who by the way is walking fine now with out it!  Then there was house work and an amazing breakthrough.  I had a salad made fresh from our garden!

The lettuce, onion, and eggs are all from the sweat of my brow.  It felt great to eat it.  To bad I really don't like lettuce.  I find it's the best way to eat salad dressing though.
Then it was off to Paul's Valley for a park day with other homeschoolers.  I was only there for about 5 minutes when I got a phone call.  It was a stranger who had tracked me down to tell me one of my dogs was hit by a car.  I rushed home (about a 30 minutes drive) to find the good Samaritan who called me, one of the neighbor kids, and Wesson on the side of the road.  Blood was streaming from his mouth but he was sitting up.  I went up to the house to get a blanket to move him in and Smith was wining at the front door.  When I approached he ran at me hysterically as if he needed to tell me something.  I calmed him  down and chained him up.  I didn't want two dogs hurt.  Me and Tracy (the good Samaritan and my next door neighbor) moved Wesson into the van and I drove to town and the Vet.  The Doc didn't seem to think he had any internal injuries, but the xrays revealed a fractured pelvis and the ball of the femur was broken.  The pelvis will heal....the femur won't.  They are going to do surgery and remove that part of the bone and the muscles should form a false joint.  Not sure how that works.  Anyway, Wes should have 80% use of the leg after that.  This will be expensive, but he's worth it. 
At this point in my day it was time for Charis to be at Ballet rehearsal.  Her recital is this weekend.  I had about 30 minutes to kill so I took the kids to the park.  Not a few minutes there and Charis announced that Eythan had made her laugh so hard she peed her pants.  WHAT!  There was no way I was taking that girl to Ballet with wet pants.  So I went to dollar general and bought a "cheap" pair of $13 pants for her.  Then we had to sit through her rehearsal in the auditorium.  Caedon of course was in rare form.  It was not a fun event for me.  Finally we headed back home and got there just in time to help Jon start putting in the new pig enclosure.  We are expanding....again.  I just wanted to crash after that but we had two chicks stuck in their shells.  You know you are not supposed to help them but I could tell something was wrong.  They were different than the others.  I finally got one out and it was like a clown car act.  This chick is twice as big as all the others!  Crazy.  The other one was coming out the wrong end but all he needed was a nudge.  I still have one Keet trying to make it out.  We'll see if he needs help tomorrow. 

What a day.  Time for bed.
 

Paging Dr. Havens

The Guineas are here!!

So far we have 13 and still counting.  We already love them.  How could you not love little puff balls.  But what do you do when something isn't quite right with newborns?  Ask the Internet of course!
Here's the problem.

This is Wibbles.  He wobbles.  He can't stand up and is incredibly annoying spinning his feet across the newspaper that lines their little brooder in our bath room ALL night long.  I had recalled an article I read in passing about making chicken prosthetics a while back so I looked up how to fix splayed chicken legs (even though this is a guinea).

Here's the process.  Take a pipe cleaner (thank you Susan for all the craft supplies!  You saved a guineas life!!!).

Cut it in half (although I found a fourth to be better suited for the small guineas).

Now shape it into a staple shape.  Bend one side of the staple around one of the guineas legs, and other side around the other leg.  Viola!!

The chicken stands!  It could take as little as 24 hours for his muscles to adjust and he won't need the prosthetic anymore.

Here are some more cuties.  (Wibbles is the bluish one on the bottom right)

Aaaahhh...the things we do for baby animals.

Oh Crap!

I just went in the bathroom to get ready for bed and looked in at the guinea eggs. 

HOLY CRAP!!

One of them was almost out of it's shell!

I thought I had at least another week.

So we scrambled and got all the eggs out of the turner, add more water for extra humidity, and now we are just praying that the ones hatching survive and the ones that aren't slated to hatch for a couple of weeks survive the early hatch.  I tried to get a picture but it's just too hard through the little window.

We should have guineas tomorrow!!!

P.S.  We are just fine.  No bad weather came through.

My Cup Runneth Over...

My memory is not the best.  I have trouble sometimes recalling small details from childhood, adolescence and even as recently as last month that some people find important.  But this one image will forever be etched in my memory:  The smiling, laughing, contented faces of 30 men, women, and children reflecting the soft glow of the campfire.  I will forever be able to recall the boisterous murmur of the eclectic crowd punctuated by the zealous shout of a child requesting more smores.  I will remember the moment when I realized the reason each one of these people had traveled hundreds of miles to be here.  They all had beautiful campgrounds, excellent fishing, and pristine parks both those from the north and the south.  They all had family and friends to share their weekends with, but they were here.  They came because we were here.  30 people -friends from our entire timeline- were here for no other reason than because they loved us and each other.  My heart swelled.

Then I am reminded of a not so long ago gathering at my home where 4 generations of my family were represented.  They ALL drove 2 hours to be here.  God has blessed us with a beautiful home and land, but they did not have to come.  It would have been much simpler for us to have traveled to them.  They came because they wanted to share in our joy and celebrate a birthday.  They came because they loved us.  My heart swelled.

Basking in the glow of friendship, memory wandered to another gathering of our friends around a fire.  It snowed that night.  They came to celebrate a new year. These friends were not the same ones whose company I enjoyed now.  These were another 20 or so people who had traveled to be with us.  Another 20 people whom we loved dearly and who loved us.  My heart swelled.

The warmth of the fire and love envelope me and I think of all that He has given me this past year.  I think of how much we lost the years before.  The weight of knowing fills my heart to bursting as I compare riches.  God loves us.  He is here because He loves us.  The damn is breached and my heart overflows with love and joy and peace and contentment.  I am so rich.  My cup runneth over.

Expecting.....

Guineas!!!

The BIG dark eggs are more Marans eggs.  The tiny white speckled eggs are Guinea eggs!!!

I'm so excited!  I really, really wanted guineas.  I don't really like the look or sound of guineas, but they are very useful to have.  They eat TICKS!!!  Lots and lots of TICKS.  That's a good thing because we have lots and lots of ticks.  The problem with getting guineas is that they are expensive.  Even their hatching eggs are expensive.  I called a friend from down the road that I knew had guineas and hatched guineas.  I asked her if she would be selling guineas this year and she wasn't sure.  A few days later she called me and asked me if I had an incubator.  I did not have one, but I thought might be able to borrow one.  She told me a mutual friend of ours had guineas and that they had made a nest and were sitting on the eggs but not in a good place.  She wanted someone to try and hatch them.  I DID get to borrow the incubator again and it is FULL of guinea eggs.  Half of them are slated to hatch in the next two weeks or so...maybe.  The mother guinea had sat on them for a while and we are not sure how long.  It could be two weeks.  It could be 28 days.  The other half had not been sat on at all so they are slated for 28 days.  I candled them at 9 days yesterday.  The first batch seems very viable but the second batch didn't seem to take well.  Either way....we will be crawling in tick eating guineas before July.  The only thing I paid for these guys will be my time and labor.  I'll have to give the owner a few of them if and when they hatch. 

Yeah for Guineas!!  If you don't know what a guinea is or what they sound like........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=705vg1IkF38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMUQckEa_ME&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Updates

Well blogger is finally working again.

The Crosses are growing, the Leghorns are maturing, I still have a Dominique Trio and a Marans foursome.  The baby Marans are definitely 4 males and 6 females.  Lois, Lana, and Clark and getting fat and happy on grass. 

Smith and Wessson are amazing and annoying.  I have NO eggs because they have decided to eat them.  They follow the hens around until they lay.  I have no chance of beating them so we are going to have to modify the coop.

The garden is coming in....sort of.

And a surprise.

I'll have pictures tomorrow.

Flat Stanly Takes a Ride

If you don't know who Flat Stanley is, he is a boy who got squished by a bulletin board and now travels the country in an envelope.  My niece sent me her Flat Stanley and this is what I sent back to her class.

Flat Stanly Takes a Ride




Flat Stanly was VERY excited the day he arrived at Bethany's aunt's house. The second Bethany told him her aunt was a Farmer, there was only one thing he could think of doing. He wanted to go for a ride!

"Hello there Flat Stanly!" The farmer said cheerfully. "We are so glad to have you on our farm. What would you like to do first?"

"I want to go for a ride! I want to ride every animal you have!" Flat Stanly shouted with glee. The farmer looked concerned and said, "You know Stanly, everyone here on the farm has a job including each animal. They are pretty busy, but you may ask them for a ride."

Flat Stanly was sure that the animals would say yes, so he ran to the first ones he saw.

"Mr. Pig! Mrs. Pig! May I please have a ride?!" he asked.

"Oh no, no, no, no." snorted the pigs. "WE are American Guinea Hogs. WE are very important you know. There are very few of us left. We are so very busy eating grass and keeping snakes away from the house. We are much too busy to give you a ride."

Flat Stanly was not upset a bit. There were plenty of animals on the farm so he went to the next animals he saw.

"Mr. Chicken! Mrs. Chicken! May I please, please have a ride?" he asked a little less hopeful than last time.

"Oh, no, no, no, no." squawked the chickens. "WE are much too busy eating bad bugs and laying eggs. We cannot give you a ride."

Flat Stanly walked a little slower to the next animals he saw. He began to think he would never get a ride.

"Mr. Dogs? May I please, please, please have a ride?" Flat Stanly asked with little enthusiasm.

"Oh, no, no, no, no." woofed the dogs. "We are livestock guardian dogs. We are much too busy guarding the animals from hawks and coyotes to give you a ride."

Flat Stanly was sad. He walked slowly to where the farmer was working in her big garden. "What's the matter?" asked the farmer. "No one will give me a ride. They are all too busy." Replied Stanly. "Well" said the farmer with a grin, "Maybe you should find a job to keep you busy on the farm." Flat Stanly thought for a moment. "Ah ha!!" he exclaimed. "I have it!"

He ran straight to the pigs and asked, "Mr. Pig, Mrs. Pig. How would you like help looking for snakes and the best grass? If I sit on your shoulders, I could be your look out!" "That sounds just fine." Said the pigs. Flat Stanly rode the pigs for most of the morning until they decided it was time for an afternoon nap. Flat Stanly took a little nap too, resting on Bethany's pig called Lana.

Then he ran to the chickens. "Mr. Chicken, Mrs. Chicken. How would you like help looking for bad bugs and safe places to lay your eggs? If I sit on your shoulders, I could be your look out!" "That sounds just fine." Said the chickens. Flat Stanly rode the chickens until the evening when they went in their roost for the night.

Then Flat Stanly ran to the dogs. "Mr. Dogs! How would you like help looking for coyotes and hawks? If I sit on your shoulders, I can be your look out!" "That sounds just fine." Said the dogs. So Stanly rode on the dogs shoulders well into the night. He was so tired and wrinkled by bed time, that he hardly noticed the farmer tuck him into his envelope. Flat Stanly had not only gotten his ride, but he had found a way to be useful on the farm, just like everyone else.

I'm Back!!!

Ok.  I have a computer now.  I'll try and get back in the swing of things next week.  I haven't taken any pictures and have been just plain worn out anyway.  Some news.  I'm down to 18 cornish cross.  They keep wandering off.  I have one pile of feathers to prove they are being eaten by something, but only one.  Don't know what happened to the other 4.  We lost another leghorn too.  I actually found that body though  and I'm not sure why it died.  Pigs are staying in!!!!!  What a relief.  Smith and Wesson are both over their illnesses but are about to learn a "shocking" lesson on staying on our property.  The Marans chicks are growing like weeds and we'll probably introduce them to the great outdoors in a week or so.  BTW....6 girls and and 4 boys in the marans bunch.  I was going to offer an all expense paid luxury trip to Hawaii for the person who guessed their sexes the closest, but since I'm the only one who guessed I guess I win!!!  Nosey started laying eggs again and at first they were PINK.  Yes!  Pink!!!  To bad I lost the picture on the stupid computer that now will not even turn on.  Hmmm....guess that just about covers it...oh, and the exterminator is coming to take care of the carpenter ants/termites.

I Take it Back

I don't like the rain. It's wet and cold and it leaves the ground muddy and my hair clumpy. It's not fun to feed the animals in the rain.

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After the Rain

The world is different. Everything is softer. The soil underfoot, the bark on trees. Even sounds are softer. Somehow dampened by the soaked landscape. Or maybe it's just that everything that makes noise can finally relax after the long dry spell. And though thier tone maybe softer, noise itself is multiplied after the rain. Just a few days ago the evenings were quiet with only the wind to hear. Maybe carrying the stray bray of a donkey from across the big pasture. But tonight, after a stretch of rain. Noise. Sounds of animals, insects, birds, and water running somewhere unseen. It's different after the rain. The whole world comes alive singing a greatful chorus. And the colors are brighter. Even in the fading shadows of sunset the muted fields have become emerald carpets and pastel wildflowers are vibrant as if freshly painted. The air I had paid no mind to in the past I am acutly aware of after the rain. I can feel it. It's the opposite of wrapping up in a warm blanket on a cold night. But just as comforting. After the rain everything is different. There is hope. And peace. And the land agrees.

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This Weeks Shopping Trip

The cost for these groceries (plus a package of chinet napkins I forgot to put in the picture) is $38.41. I paid $7. 46.

I'm really liking this game and I learned a new move today. The rain check. Homeland was out of more than half of what was on my list. Since this homeland is about 45 minutes from me, I needed this trip to be worth while. I got rain checks for 8 items. The neat thing is I'll be able to use them the next time I go even if that item is not on sale so my trip wasn't wasted. The not so neat thing is that they have to write them by hand and it took over 10 minutes for me to check out. Now, to my credit, when the couple got in line behind me I TOLD them it was going to take me a really long time. There were plenty of other places to check out but I guess they didn't belive me. They were definitly not pleased to have to take all their stuff off the belt and move to a different stand. I said I was sorry but I got pretty nasty looks. I TOLD them though.

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Everything but the.......

I'm about to put that kitchen sink in the pig pen. It's heavy enough. It might just deter them!

The last few days have been a constant struggle and worry trying to keep these guys in. I've used every piece of scrap everything to try and keep them in. It's really not working.

However there is something keeping them in the property (other than my constant offering of food): Smith and Wesson. I first witnessed an act of their instinct yesterday. The pigs were wandering and had gotten aweful close to the pasture fence. Smith and Wesson were, to my estimation, lounging by the garage. I saw Lois and Clark breech the fence line. Before I could get "Pig! Pig! Pig!" out of my mouth, Smith and Wesson bolted and began hysterically barking. They crossed the fence line and barked at the pigs until they ran back squealing into our property. The dogs quit barking and resumed their lounging by the garage. I stood there utterly stunned. I could not believe what I just saw. I almost wanted to believe it was a fluke. It was not. I've witnessed the same act two other times in the last two days and Eythan reported another. As much as these dogs frustrate me, they more than made up for it this week. Now as long as they don't bring home anymore half decomposed.....thing, they will remain in my good graces. Lana is still in my good graces. I would gladdly make her a lap pig. She is so sweet. Lois and Clark? They need to learn the word bacon.

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