Project List

Sunnier Days

It seems that the blog world is crammed full of posts on new year's resolutions and lists of accomplishments from last year. I'm not a huge resolution maker, whether that's good, bad or otherwise, I have no idea. But, in keeping with the spirit of the list-making season, I do like to start penciling out ideas that I have for projects, to see which ones may or may not be reasonable for the coming year.


In no particular order, here's what I'm thinking these days:

• Goats and/or Sheep. I'd really like to start looking seriously at how we could bring in some more animals. We'll have to spend some time looking around the property for a suitable site for a fenced off area and a shelter. Once that's nailed down, we can start thinking about specific breeds- since everyone here has a purpose, these will have to be fiber breeds, to keep my spinning habit supplied. 
• Bees. I really enjoyed having my neighbor's bees around last summer. It seems that the cold snap we had a few months back killed them off, though. I believe he's looking at getting another hive set up, but I'd also like to have one of our own. The question is, what type of hive do we want to manage? More on that, to come. 
• Ducks. I've been wanting to add ducks for a number of years, and since we don't need to add any chickens to the flock this spring, I believe it's time to get that ball rolling, so I'll be picking up some duck books on my next trip to the library. 
• Broiler Chickens. Depending on the work situation, I think this is the year where we'll try our hand at raising broilers. (Heaven knows we have enough beef in the freezer, still.)
• Rabbits. We need to overhaul the rabbit colony. The gals keep digging out and seem to be going through an excessive amount of food, with their current set up. We're going to have to completely move their enclosure and move a bit of dirt around, in order to fish out the concrete pavers that they managed to squeeze past, and back fill their dens.
• Chicken Coop. This is going to require a major cleaning in the spring, so while I'm at it, I think I'll move their next boxes and roost bars around. Since the rat issue started, they won't use the next boxes any more, and roost all over the place. So, we need to fix that. I'd love to get rid of the greenhouse coop altogether, but that's probably not in the budget right now. We'll see. 
• Veggie Garden. Last year was a good year in the garden, but there was room for improvement when it came to the rabbit damage. I'm going to need to either reinforce the perimeter fence with some chicken wire, or set up individual panels for the beds that need them. I'm leaning towards shoring up the perimeter. I'm also in the process of planning what we'll plant and where... but that's a totally stand-alone topic. 

I'm getting tired just thinking about this stuff. What about you? Do you have plans to add any livestock or garden areas this year? Do you have any projects that you want to take on, but aren't sure where to start? I'd love to know!

Rats!

Templeton the rat, from Charlotte's Web. Click for Source

We've been lucky so far, I suppose. In the four or five years that we've been keeping chickens and rabbits, we haven't had any real rodent issues. We keep our feed in bins, clean up any spills promptly, and in general keep as tidy a chicken coop as is possible (without being OCD about it.)
So, I'm a little surprised and disappointed that we're seeing a bit of a rat problem right now.

At first, I didn't know it was rats. The chickens started acting oddly, roosting as high up off the ground as they could possibly get. This meant off the roost bars and up onto my stacked cubbies, where I store some of my garden supplies and tools. Sleeping up there means poop in places that I can't easily clean up- I really need a dry day to pull everything out of the coop and do a deep clean. Usually I do one in the spring, but they're not leaving me much of a choice.  Egg production got a little off-kilter as well. They refuse to lay inside the coop now, instead preferring to make a nest in Steve's hutch. We've also had some really thin-shelled eggs, which in my experience are a really good indicator of disturbances in the coop.*

Initially, I thought it was a predator issue: we've seen some more coyotes on the game camera, the neighbors have a new dachshund, and I'm still seeing our eagle, hawk and owl on a regular basis.  So, I started paying a little more attention during the day, and that's when I saw it... the rat. Not the biggest one I've ever seen, thankfully, but a rather aggressive one. I watched as it chased more than one squirrel out of the chicken run, nipping at it's heels while it scrambled up a tree to escape. I went out with the pellet gun, but between the fencing, Steve and the girls, a clear shot just wasn't happening.

I don't like traps. I'll just put that out there right now. I got my hand caught in a mousetrap when I was maybe 4 or 5, and I can still picture it, clear as day. OUCH. However, I like poisons even less, so I do think that traps have their place. I went out and picked one up from Lowes; a molded plastic job with teeth and a really heavy spring. The thing gives me the willies just looking at it. I baited it with peanut butter and set it up outside one of their holes, and placed a plastic milk crate, upside down and weighted down with a couple of bricks over the top of it to keep Steve and the chickens out of trouble.

I didn't have to wait long, and we've probably caught one mouse and four rats total, so far. I say total, because we've had a few odds and ends in the trap, which were creepy as well as gross, so I'm not going into too much detail on that. Suffice it to say, I still don't like traps, and I sure as heck don't like rats. Not one bit. (Oddly, pet rats don't bother me. Also, Templeton up there was one of my favorites in Charlotte's Web... but let me see a rat outside and I go into full-blown home defense mode.)

In speaking with some of the other neighbors over the holidays, it seems that everyone on our "block" is seeing rats this year. We have at least two houses that I know of, within a quarter mile of us, that just started keeping chickens and/or other barnyard birds since this past spring, so I suspect that has something to do with it. On one hand, I'm relieved that it's not just my coop that's having problems, but on the other hand, this is a pretty widespread issue and we can't control what happens anywhere but here... so they're going to be tough to get rid of completely.

For now, we'll keep the trap baited and set, until the problem seems to dissipate, but I don't see that happening any time soon. Fortunately, we do have the hawk and owl in residence, who I'm sure will lend their talons to helping us get the problem under control. I'm also keeping an eye on feeders and our grain bins to make sure there aren't any rats getting a free meal.


What about you? Have you experienced rodent issues in your coop or barn? What did you do?


*Thin-shelled eggs are sometimes referred to as "fear eggs". If you feed your birds a well balanced layer feed plus whole grains, and have oyster shell always available for them, and you occasionally see thin shelled eggs, look for something bothering your birds. 

I Spoke Too Soon

Graphic courtesy of Accuweather.com. Click for source. 

It looks like the Fraser Valley up in Canada is building a cold weather system that's due to hit us early tomorrow. Generally, when one of these systems sets up in mid-winter, that means we'll have freezing (or below) temperatures for a solid three to five days- since this one is early in the season, we're just looking at freezing nights for the next few days. (Our days are forecast to be in the 40s. Not balmy, but I'll take it.)

Good thing I have my frost blankets and stuff prepped already. Once I finish in here, I'll be outside for a good part of the day- getting the plants all tucked in, turning off and draining outside water lines, putting those little styrofoam covers over spigots, that sort of thing. Oh, and I can't forget the firewood... I'll bring a couple wheelbarrow loads over so I can get the pile by the back door stacked up nice and high.

I'll also be putting down extra hay for the rabbits, and making sure my backup supply of water bottles are ready to go, so that in the mornings I can just swap out the frozen ones with fresh ones from inside. Really, that was one of the best "work smart, not hard" decisions made over the years. Anyone who has ever dealt with frozen waterers would likely agree. That's got to be one of the least pleasant tasks to attend to- I almost always end up getting soaked in the process of breaking ice, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. 

The chickens are in pretty good shape already, so thankfully I don't have much to do out there. I will need to keep an eye on Flo,however, since she still hasn't feathered back out completely. I'm sure she'll be fine, though- since she's the alpha, the other birds will keep her plenty warm at night when things are at their coldest. 

What about you? It looks like this cold front is going to hit most of the country- even places that aren't used to this kind of weather. So, I want to know: What tips and tricks do you have for taking care of things when it gets super frosty? Let's share what we know with our friends who don't usually experience this king of thing... head on over to FB and tell us what you do!

PS: A&T passed TEN THOUSAND pageviews over the weekend... another huge milestone! Thank you so much for being a part of my world!!

Florence and The Molt

Poor Flo... she looks like this right now:

She looks awful. Her feathers are completely jacked up... well, the ones that are still there, anyway. I've been trying to get photos of her for a couple of days, but she seems to know how bad she looks and won't hold still if I come anywhere near her with a camera. I can't say I blame her, really... I wouldn't, either.

Molting varies from chicken to chicken, it seems. Some of my birds- the Americaunas, specifically, just lose a few feathers at a time, and simply look a little ragged for a couple of weeks. Last year, the Barred Rock lost almost all of her head and neck feathers at once, but that was pretty much it for her. Historically, Flo just loses her poofy nether feathers, and runs around with a bare bottom for a couple of weeks while things are growing back in. This year, however, she's jettisoned easily a quarter, if not a third, of her feathers altogether. She's got a strip missing down the back of her neck, as well as a matching one on the front. Her rump is mostly bare, her tail is long gone, and I've even found primary flight feathers scattered around. She looks moth-eaten, to be nice about it. (But not so bad that I'm knitting chicken sweaters, or anything.)

It's completely normal (however abnormal it may look) and is something that happens to chickens around this time of year. Personally, I think that seems like poor timing, but I'm sure there has to be some genetic or evolutionary reason for ditching all the outerwear just as colder weather rolls in. If I had to guess, I'd say it likely has something to do with ditching external parasites, or maybe just trading out the old feathers for newer ones, before the weather gets really bad. That's just my supposition, though... I haven't found any definitive answers, yet.

Along with molting, comes a cessation of egg laying. Flo hasn't laid an egg in at least two weeks, because her body is putting energy into making new feathers -fast- as opposed to making eggs. So, if you have a chicken that's molting, make sure you're getting extra protein to them, to make the process go as smooth as possible. Once her feathers are back in, she'll start laying again- but at a much reduced rate - maybe one or two eggs a week, now that the dark days are here. Since the egg-laying cycle is governed by hours of daylight, chickens naturally decrease production in the winter.

Commercial egg producers (and some home chicken keepers) use supplemental lighting in the coop to keep eggs coming through the winter. We don't do that here- I believe that if a system is designed with a built in rest period, there's probably a good reason for that and it should be honored. I stockpile eggs when everyone is laying daily, and if we need to ration them towards the end... well, so be it. I'm not running a sweatshop, after all. Besides, now that the girls aren't foraging as much, the eggs aren't as awesome as they are in the spring and summer months. (They're still great; much better than store bought, though!)

What's happening in your chicken run- are your feathered friends molting now, too?

Winter Care: Chicken Edition

Hell no, we won't go... out. (February 2014)

If the weather keeps going the way it is, this year will go on record- and by 'record' I mean our kitchen calendar- as having the latest frost since we moved here 9 years ago. Our 10-day forecast appears to be holding steady with highs in the 50's and lows in the 40's for the forseeable future. 

While I'm not complaining whatsoever, I do find it a little bit weird. After last year's mild-ish winter (minus that ridiculous freezing spell we had) I've had the feeling that we are in for a chilly/snowy one. The Farmer's Almanac disagrees with me, calling for a wetter and warmer winter... which, so far, is precisely what we're getting. 

Winter weather brings a whole new level to taking care of the animals, whether it's freezing cold out or just soggy- there's no one-size-fits-all solution in our maritime climate. Each weather system brings its own set of challenges: freezing weather means extra food, breaking ice and monitoring for warmth, and the dampness means wet animals, soggy bedding, and the increased potential for respiratory issues. 

While I personally dislike freezing cold temps (they aggravate my fibromyalgia) I think that for taking care of the animals it makes things a little bit easier. The way our weather patterns set up, freezing means dry: we'll have sunshine during the day and icy cold nights with almost no humidity whatsoever. This helps keeps the bedding in the chicken coop nice and dry, which makes for cleaner conditions all around. 

When we have extended periods of rain, however, things get messy really fast. The chickens don't want to sit outside when it's pouring, so more time inside the coop equals more manure to deal with. Good ventilation is essential here- not just for keeping things from getting super stinky, but chicken poop is high in ammonia- those fumes can make the birds sick, if the air isn't moving around enough. 

I find it's necessary to put down additional wood shavings pretty regularly, to help manage the increased manure load. This year, I'm also trying an enzyme product that is supposed to help break down the manure faster and keep the odor level down. (More on that later, once I've had some time and experience with it.)

Depending on how warm our temperatures stay, I also have to watch for mold and mildew in the coop, which can some on really fast with all that extra moisture in the air. From basic respiratory irritation like coughing and sneezing, all the way to life-threatening fungal infections like aspergillosis, chickens definitely need to be monitored for illness during the soggy months. Good hygiene in the coop can help minimize problems with respiratory issues. Clean and dry... it's easier said than done, but really, it's what has to happen. 

In tomorrow's post over at GRIT, I'm going to talk about some additional steps I like to take, in order to keep my flock happy and healthy over the winter. I hope you'll check it out! Until then- what challenges do you face with regards to weather and your animals, during the winter?

Friday Photos

The fun just keeps coming! 

Pink Heirloom Beefsteaks on Monday

When life gives you eggs... make french toast! It freezes well!

Foraging in the evening light

A new friend at the farm!

We're getting about 8 eggs a day, now, give or take. 

Links Make the World Go 'Round

Happy Thursday everyone! Oh, and if you're a fan, Happy First Day of Football Season! Go 'Hawks!

I've been running around outside in between rainstorms trying to get things buttoned up for the season. Now, they're calling for sunny days and temps back up in the 80s again, through the weekend. I don't know about you, but 20 degree swings in temperature from one day to the next really throw my system out of whack. I stacked firewood by our back door yesterday, which is going to feel (and look) kind of goofy come Saturday when it's hot out. No harm done, I suppose; at least it's off the list for now- and I needed to make room over in the main stacking area for when Alex brings home the rest of this year's wood, which should be soon.

Here's what's caught my eye online, this week:

• I was just talking about this the other day, after reading some of the comments after the butchering day posts. (By and large, the comments were very positive- and the overall tone stayed civil. That's awesome.)
• My dehydrator is packed full of pears and plums, at the moment. Here's a handy reference sheet for drying fruits and veggies, at home. 
• What the heck? Fake cell phone towers??
• I use a version of the Deep Litter method in my chicken coop, year-round. Properly managed, it's a clean and efficient way of housing the birds, without all of the fuss of cleaning poop boards daily or emptying out the coop weekly. Here's another article on DLM, from Mother Earth News on it, too. 
• I love stacking firewood... it's like my own personal game of homestead Jenga. 
• Does anyone out there freeze kale or other greens? I have a ton of it right now, so I'd like to preserve some for the winter. I've just never tried it, myself. 
• I know we have a few die-hard cast iron fans among us, so this one's for you! Check these recipes out... the pizza is on my list to try, for sure.
• As if feral pigs weren't bad enough. (Totally random, I know.)
• Simple and Beautiful. This photographer sees things in a way I absolutely relate to. 

Well, the morning fog has burned off, so it's time for me to get outside and tick off a few more chores from my list while the sun is shining, but before it gets blazing hot out there. Have a great day, folks!

Dealing With Illness in the Coop

Barred Rock (not sick)

Now that a couple of the new girls have started laying eggs, we're seeing a bit of a shift in the pecking order of our flock. Flo's still in charge, make no mistake- she's the oldest bird we have and she's been on top for a very long time. The other ones -the Barred Rock and the two Americaunas- have been adjusting their behaviors ever so slightly in these past few weeks. I noticed last night that all of the birds were trying to roost over on the new girls' side of the coop, so things should be mellowing out soon.

Outwardly, besides a few pecks and a little chasing here and there, it appears as though this phase is going smoothly. However, if you add in our unusually hot weather and some kind of respiratory infection, it ends up being pretty stressful on the chickens. Today, I found two soft-shelled eggs under the roost; they must have been dropped during the night. In my experience with these birds, the soft shelled eggs are a sure indicator of stressed out chickens.

This brings us back to the respiratory infection. The morning after we came home from our quick trip, I heard two of the chickens "honking" when they were breathing: the light-beaked Americauna and one of the Rhode Island Reds. The Americauna has had issues on and off her whole life. I'd picked her up along with 2 others from a private seller, after losing some of the original chickens to that coyote or whatever. Both of the other two died due to respiratory issues along the way*, so I just resigned myself to the fact that she'd never be a super healthy bird. Aside from some laying issues (she's as inconsistent as they get!) she's been well enough for a couple of years.

The Rhode Island Red is quite possibly the friendliest bird we've ever had here, so it was particularly disappointing to have her start showing symptoms of being ill. I keep a bag of Duramycin 10 (D-10)- it's a tetracycline antibiotic- on hand for emergencies such as this, so as soon as I heard the honking I was able to mix up a  batch and dose the sick birds. I'm not going to get too preachy here, but if you're going to use antibiotics, please do so cautiously and in accordance with all labeling. Misuse of antibiotics has serious consequences that extend beyond just your own yard. (End of Rant)

The label on the D-10 gives instructions on how to put it in their drinking water, but since there were only 2 sick birds, there's really no reason for me to dose the other 8 at the same time. So, I did the math and scaled down my batch in order to target only the sick ones. Some folks recommend using a syringe to administer the medicine, much like one would with a baby. I have never had any success with getting a chicken to cooperate with that method, so instead of fighting the birds and stressing them out more, I mix in some oatmeal and feed that to the sick ones- a tablespoon at a time, a few times a day. They love it, and the hardest part is keeping the other birds away because they want some oatmeal, too.

By the next morning (and four doses later) both of the sick birds had stopped honking and were back to normal. Since the D-10 loses potency after 24 hours, I dosed them one more time to make sure I used it all up while it was still active. We have 21 days now where their eggs are not suitable for eating- another excellent reason not to dose your whole flock unless you absolutely need to. I also sanitized the coop, and will continue to do so weekly, for at least another month. Maybe longer, since we're coming up on the rainy season and they'll be inside more often.

So, for now, I need to keep an eye on the flock and watch for other birds who may be showing symptoms. Chickens, being low on the food chain, are experts at hiding illness- but since I spend the evenings outside supervising their last forage of the day, I'll have plenty of opportunities to observe any odd behaviors and act accordingly. I've also been adding some electrolyte and vitamin supplement powder into the main waterers, just to boost the overall health of the flock. I'll do that for a week or so, and then I'll switch to apple cider vinegar for a little probiotic boost. I will also feed the previously sick birds some plain yogurt, as a treat, to help rebalance their systems after the antibiotics.

Hopefully, this bump in the road isn't too disturbing for them, and they'll get everything settled before long. Have you ever had to deal with a sick flock? What did you do?




* This is a good time to say that you need to be careful when you're buying birds from a private seller. Since all three from this seller were/are ill, it's safe to assume that they all came here carrying whatever illness they have. New chickens should always be quarantined before being added to the flock so you can monitor their health. Respiratory infections can spread quickly from bird to bird, so bringing home a carrier can have devastating effects on your overall flock health. For more info and some tips, read this from Australia's Department of Environment and Primary Industries.

Friday Photos

Good morning and Happy Friday! I just found out that there's a news crew coming to film at the farm this morning, so I need to hurry over to get things tidied up before they get there. The fund-raising goal wasn't met, but there's been some extra publicity in the local media lately, so perhaps that will help save the farm. Cross your fingers!

Apples, apples everywhere...

Tiny rabbit in the weeds

Reflections of a car show

First egg from one of the new girls! (The darker of the two)

One of my friends at the farm

Zucchini: Pickles in Progress

What did your week look like?

Around the Web

Peeping Chicken. One of the lesser-known
perils of having a home office. 

One of the (many) nice things about making apple butter is that it takes a long time to do it right. Cooking it slow and low, until all of the sugars and flavors condense down...not only does it make for good food, but having a pot on the stove means I can justify staying inside and surfing the internet for interesting stuff.
Plus, the house smells heavenly...

• Some of the new girls should start laying eggs for us any day, now. Read this piece from The Chicken Chick to see how I can tell. 

• While we're talking about roasted tomatoes- I totally want to make up a batch of this salsa.

• I have big plans for the spring. (Seriously, I try to live in the moment, but... there's always a list!) This post from Chism Heritage Farm is going in my prep file for raising meat birds next year. 

• Do you make your own yogurt? I do, and I've often wondered if heating the milk first was really necessary... check out NW Edible Life for the answer.  

• I'm always on the lookout for new blogs to read... CraftyPod is my current rabbit hole. Check out her tutorial videos on English Paper Piecing!

• It's peak blackberry time here. This scone recipe from Fat of the Land looks wonderful!

• Here's another new-to-me blog, called Twill Power. Lots of great weaving info and inspiration! Speaking of weaving... I'm going to be warping my loom today, for a new project. You know, since I'm tethered to the stove and all. ;-)

Time to process some more apples. Oh! Speaking of apples... the cider is starting to ferment- there's foam building and I even saw my first bubble from the airlock today. The test batch is totally old school- wild yeast only. Cross your fingers!

Have you come across anything interesting this week? Share it with me over on Facebook!

It's Like Easter, But in July

Easter is fun, right? You wake up early, maybe sneak in a piece of chocolate before breakfast, and then go hunt for some eggs and other hidden treasures... and there's ham, later. That's always a plus. It's like that here, except I'm not getting any chocolate out of it. Or ham, darn it all.

I don't know what's up with the big girls, but all of a sudden it seems like no one wants to lay their eggs in the coop, where they're supposed to. Add to it that the new ladies should be starting to lay eggs as well, and I'm starting to have fits.

On the plus side, I did get a cool picture of a frog this morning, when I went to check one of the alternate nests. (That's the nest in the background. Under our deck, where we park the mower and store the hay for the rabbits. Just like Easter.) The barred rock was out there making noise like she'd just done her job, so I went to look- but this guy was all I found. Harumph.

We found a secret nest a couple of weeks ago that one americauna was using- our neighbor dog, Rosie, alerted us to its presence. We were sitting out by the fire, enjoying a couple of beers, when she strolled over to a patch of ivy at the base of a tree and comes up with an egg in her mouth. Totally nonchalant, like it was a trip to the grocery store. There were probably 8 eggs in there, and they weren't new... I put them in some water, just to check and see. Not like we were planning to eat them ourselves, but the dogs are always down for some scrambled eggs. These floated about halfway up, and were a teeny bit funky, so straight into the compost pile they went. Gross.

The irony that Americaunas are also called Easter Eggers isn't lost on me. Not one bit.

So, short of penning everyone up in the coop and run for the next couple of weeks, I need to figure out a) where all of our eggs are going, and b) how to get the new girls laying inside the coop where they're supposed to. I like letting them free range in the summer; not only are the eggs better and the yolks brighter, but it saves us some money in feed. And it's summer, for cryin' out loud! Everyone should be able to wander around in the sunshine when it's nice like this.

Have you found any secret nests from your free-range chickens? What did you do to get them back on track? Stop by Facebook and let me know- I'd appreciate the help!

Friday Photos

Curious!

The softball-sized wild bunny who is currently terrorizing my garden. 

Rat's Tail Radish flower. At least the rabbit doesn't bother them!

Tiny frog in the rhubarb- barely an inch long, if that. 

Sweet little lamb at the rescue.

This guy was my shadow, on orientation day.

Yellow zucchini- the first one this year!

Mmmm, raspberries!

Golden Laced Wyandotte and Rhode Island Red pullets. They're moving in with the big girls this weekend!

Taking the time to recap the week in photos is an easy way to keep track of how a garden is performing from year to year- it's much less work than keeping a journal! Looking back at my photos from last year, I can see that we're about a month behind where we were at this same point in time. We've had more rabbit damage, cooler temperatures and more rain than last season, but far fewer cabbage moths and a bumper crop of strawberries.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and don't forget to take a few minutes to snap some photos of what you have growing, if you haven't already! While you're at it, share them with me over on Facebook- I'd love to see what you have planted.

Friday Photos

Berries and Eggs

Blackberries in bloom. Invasive as all get-out, but tasty.

Peek a Boo

Girdled for future firewood

Happy houseplant in the sunroom

A giant! Yum.

They're still Everywhere....

...but I finally found out who will eat them. Hooray for trout!

Red Huckleberry

Silvana Grain Co. 

Thimbleberry

Eye on the prize...

... and JUMP!

Dragonfly exuvia (the shell that gets left behind)

Have a great weekend, everyone! Don't forget to help me pick a Craftsy class... I'm taking suggestions up until this coming Monday morning. Feel free to leave a comment here, or over on Facebook- I'd love to hear from you!

Friday Photos

Well, I sure had a nice week- and I hope you did too! Between the beach trip with Alex and the sunny weather, I couldn't have asked for much more. Here are some of the things I saw, while I was out and about:

Someone lost half her tail this week. Pretty sure it was the neighbor dog again.

...and as a result, we've had some funky eggs show up. Normal one on the left.

Sand-dollar view

Walking the beach at sunset.

A carrot, about to flower. 

Sunny Daisy

The first eggplant flower!
That little hothouse is working like a champ. 

Ladybug

Not a tent caterpillar... still working on the ID. Love the blue!

The peas exploded while we were away...
courtesy of the rabbit manure I put down before we left.

I totally have a thing for sand dollars. 

Have a great weekend, everybody!