I’m still here! Haven’t posted much this week due to the time change (I think!). I seem to be stuck in my old schedule and going to bed much later which means I’ve been dragging and tired all week. We’ve also been pretty busy, so I thought I’d fill you in with what we’ve been up to: I know the video is a little dark but can you hear the little lamb sounds!? We had twins born yesterday. The mama had me worried as she started to have a vaginal prolapse a couple weeks ago. We fitted her with a harness truss, which is basically baling twine tied around her in a way that encourages her insides to stay in. The harness truss worked well, so well in fact that it was trying to hold the babies in! Brian came home to find feet poking out, cut the twine, and helped to deliver the first baby. Then, when he had me on the phone, another set of feet appeared! Both mama and babies are doing great, and she is showing great natural mothering instinct. So, we only have one ewe left to lamb and I think she’s getting close. She
Continue readingCategory: chickens
Git ‘Er Done 2009
As many of you know, Brian & I bought his family’s farm around Labor Day of 2007. We’ve been working on the house and yard since the early spring of that year, even before we bought it. Things are far from finished as we start 2009, and I don’t want to deal with this again in 2010. I’ve made a detailed list, room by room, of what projects need to be completed this year. I first posted about all this work in this post. I wanted to share my list but wasn’t sure how to set it up. After reading over at Green Resolutions I really like the way she sets up her checklist and shows updates. I’ve decided to use a similar format for my project list. Thanks for the inspiration GR! I’m going to title this segment “Git ‘Er Done 2009”. This will mostly be for my benefit, to keep me motivated and accountable. I’ll try to include some before and after pictures and maybe even offer some good how-to advice. I avoid debt like the plague so these will all be pay as you go projects. Feel free to read along. If you would like to join
Continue readingNew Egg Cartons
We’re still not selling eggs but our small flock usually gives enough eggs for us plus an extra 2 dozen a week. We’ve been giving them to friends but haven’t had much luck getting the cartons back. I went to the farm store and bought what they had. I paid .39 a piece for about a dozen cartons. I can buy them in bulk cheaper but don’t need a lot right now. I wanted our name on the new cartons but there wasn’t a good spot for a business card so I printed out a little thing with our logo and contact info. I put quite a few on a page, cut them in strips, and glued them on the front of each carton. They’re not perfect but are a little more professional at least. I think I’d like the flat top cartons when we’re actually selling eggs. I would like to charge a $0.25 or $0.50 “deposit” for cartons at that point. I’m not sure what our prices would be but for example, $2.50/dozen or $2/dozen with each carton you bring back. That way we would probably get lots of cartons back but wouldn’t have to raise the prices
Continue readingOreos and Rain
Most of the snow is gone now and it has been raining since sometime last night. Once lunchtime came at work all I could think about was coming home and cuddling up with a book, a movie, 3 dogs, and a cat. Brian is working late tonight as he is on lookout for flooding across the roads. After working my way up the wait list I was able to pick up Multiple Blessings from the library on my way home from work. I did chores and got attacked by the mean Leghorn rooster. I am so fed up with him I’d like to make him dinner but that would be a lot of work for 1 rooster. Plus, I just don’t like the idea of the hens being out there without him. Today was the first time he’s managed to get me good with his spurs and my hand was bleeding the prove it. Oh the joys of farm life! About the oreos: I just love oreos. I think they’re great. However, I sacrificed my oreo habit when I started trying to eat mostly local and mostly without HFCS. I found this great homemade version online and use it to
Continue readingFarm Update
No particular topic today, just thought I’d fill in with the latest happenings in our life. I thought this blog would be more of a day to day journal of the farm but it seems like every time I sit down to type I feel the need to find a specific topic. Well, not today. I considered titling this post “The Downside of Farming” because things haven’t been the greatest around here lately. Brian found 7 baby Holstein calves for sale last week and we bought them. They were cheap and we thought it would be nice to have some calves around again since we still don’t have a place to bring our bigger cattle home to. Anyway, cheap isn’t cheap when they all die on you. Brian’s sister took 2 and we kept 5, but we only have 2 left. The other 3 basically died of scours which is a broad diagnosis in calves. I fought hard to save the last one, taking his temp and tube feeding him milk and electrolytes. Didn’t work. I am pretty sure now that they probably never received any colostrum which gives them very low chances of survival. They remaining two are doing
Continue readingSelecting Heritage Breed Chickens
I’ve been pouring over my new Sand Hill Preservation Center catalog since it arrived. You wouldn’t think that a black and white text only book could demand that much attention but it has. My goal for the poultry sector of the farm is to expand the laying flock and add some broilers this year. We started in the spring with 25 conventional straight-run chicks from the farm store and through a disastrous attack from the dog, housing issues, culling some roosters, and losing one “outsider” last week, we now have 6 hens and a rooster left. The flock consists of: 1 leghorn rooster, 1 leghorn hen, 1 barred rock hen, and 3 rhode island red hens. The Rhodies are by far my favorite. They are friendly and seem to be doing well in the cold winter weather. The barred rock rooster we had was very mean and I don’t think the hen is the friendly bird either. The leghorns are flighty and the hen doesn’t lay incredibly well. After researching heritage poultry I have found 3 breeds that I would like to try out in the laying flock. I like the idea of helping to expand some of these old
Continue readingBack 2 Basics and Other Challenges
I’ve decided to start the Back 2 Basics Harvest Keeper Challenge for 2009. Chicken eggs will be the only thing on the list for now but I am excited to see things rack up once spring arrives. This will be very good for me because I kept no records from all of the farming and canning I did last year. Check out my sidebar if you’re interested, and go visit Farm Mom for a better example. Other challenge updates: We haven’t been using our corn burner at all due to it malfunctioning and refusing to keep a fire going. Brian is trying to track down the problem but in the meantime we’re blowing our budget with all the fuel oil we’re burning. So much for keeping track of the corn we use! We do keep the thermostat set low (58-62 F) and I finally found the controls for our dual heated blanket so we use that every night to take the edge off. I covered most of our windows with the clear plastics kits in the fall and although I don’t how much that is helping I do like that I can’t feel a breeze when I walk by the
Continue readingConferences and Seminars
We have a busy month planned so I thought I would share the long list of conferences going on this winter in my area. I’m not sure how many Michigan readers I have but in any case maybe this will motivate others to look for educational opportunities in their area. I’ve included links when I have them and a little more about why each applies to our operation for those interested. Jan. 3,4: MSBA (MI Sheep Breeders Asso.) Michigan Shepherd’s WeekendWhere: Sheraton Lansing Hotel; Lansing, MICost: $30/person or $40/family + $20 to join if you’re not a member, assuming you didn’t register before Dec. 26th.Highlights: What is the optimum size for YOUR flock?, Recycling nutrients from manure (hoping we can apply what we learn to all our animals), Getting Lambs to Market on Grass.Why it applies: We have 4 Suffolk ewes and expect our very first lambs in late winter/early spring. We’d like to learn a much as possible to help us produce high quality lambs whether they go to 4H kids for show or directly to buyers as meat.More Info: www.misheep.org Jan. 17th: Michigan Family Farms ConferenceWhere: Lakeview High School; Battle Creek, MICost: $35/adult $25/children $30/MIFFS memberHighlights: How to
Continue readingSunday Stroll
Here’s found I saw today as I walked around the yard. The garden freshly mulched for winter: Lots of hay ready to be fed: The last of the new landscaping, until spring: Chickens happily eating apple scraps: And then later, it snowed!!: Check out who else is stolling today over at Quiet Country House. Today I’m thankful for the space we have here to call our own. It is so nice to relax at home on a weekend and take a break from the rest of the world. I love having the yard to decorate the way I like and the house that feels more like home every day.
Continue readingLiving Like A Pioneer
So in honor of Crunchy Chicken’s Pioneer Week I’m doing things a little different this week. The idea is to live as much like a Pioneer as you can by using local, non-processed goods and giving up some modern conveniences. For me this means no TV this week. I did watch the election coverage last night and I’m not avoiding my husband by leaving the room when he watches TV, but I am keeping my attention on my book (currently reading You Can Farm). I’ve also been baking like crazy. Honestly, I just pulled the last breads out of the oven and now the entire length of the counter is lined with homemade goodies. Today I finally got my first order of locally grown & ground flours from Hampshire Farms. Perfect timing for this challenge! The flour is definitely more coarse than store bought. The whole wheat bread flour didn’t work too well with the dough hooks in my mixer so I kneaded it by hand for the whole 10 minutes. I also got some pastry flour and cornmeal, so I made a pan of cornbread with dinner. I cooked pork chops from our local meat market where most of
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