Part 1 of 4: 'chased around' and 'figuring out a plan'

Tory came down to help me butcher. And celebrate Ben's birthday :) :) :). Ben was able to help, if he wanted to, but he opted to go see Grandma. :) We reviewed the article one more time, and headed out. No table, since the one we used before was smushed into the ground by the trailer roof. No worries, Tory backed her car up to the fence posts we decided would work. (We also went on a treasure hunt and found blue nylon rope and 2 S-hooks.) Re-taught Tory how to do a slip-knot ;) and caught the first two broilers. Tory got the first one's head off before I brought the second one out. I stood back a bit while she killed the second one, and threw it. At me. I ran back, and it chased me. I zigged right, as did it. I circled to the left, and it did, too. For waaaay longer than it ever should, a headless chicken chased me around the yard. Once it finally fell over, and we caught our breath--me from running, and Tory from laughing, we hung it up, and dove in. There are more feathers than you'd think, and I am ashamed to say that Pampered Chef Forged Cutlery, while a fine kitchen knife, are not a good butchering knife. They got the job done, though, I am happy to say. :)

Not a 'wing' person myself, I was content to not even mess with them, but Eric does, so we tried. No. Maybe next time, but we did not get the wings this go-round. Tory is creepily good at carving out the breasts, and I am really good at... well, I'll tell you later. ;) Other than nicking the intestines and ruining a thigh (me) things went pretty well!

The 'french doors' was by far the best tip--it really does!!!

Part 2 of 4: comeuppance and another one of my scream attempts.

Doing pretty good, now that we knew what we were doing, the next ones went pretty fast. #5 and #6 were... okay, so Tory has said this before, but this time, as she was cutting out the breast she says (again) "I HATE it when the muscles twitch!" To which I poo-poo-ed her, saying she's a weenie, and then, I made my first cut. *twitch* *scream attempt* what was that?!?!?! I went to cut again, and it happened again! Tory, is laughing so hard, she's had to stop working on the chicken, and made mention of something about comeuppance. I get around the middle and top (we have them upside down) with a few more twitching and scream attempts while Tory laughs when I reached in and felt... ba-bump. ITS HEART JUST WENT BA-BUMP!!!!! "Cool!" Now, not only does Tory work in the ER, she loves it and, really, belongs there. I flash to the time she was allowed to touch the instruments that were *with reverence* just inside of and touching someone's heart! (This is really a good thing, that she loves what she does--it means that you don't have to. :) "Fine, stick your fingers in there, and maybe it'll beat for you." She was over before I finished saying 'your'. :) Nothing. I cut along the bottom, touching it as little as possible, and as quickly as possible, grabbing onto as I made the final cut-- ba-bump. AAAAA!!! While I shake my fingers, trying to get the feeling off, Tory is pouting (while she's trying to reach in and touch it's heart) because it just won't do it for her--she finally gave it a squeeze (I think) because it gave one last beat! A kid in a candyshop with a whole dollar to spend had nothing on her.

Part 3 of 4: out-witted by a rooster?!? and 'I did it!'

Down to one broiler. And she's laying an egg. :) I took the blue-nylon ties and headed over to the sheds, to get the roosters. Since we had originally planned on taking out 4 of these chickens and 8 of the ducks, I had not let them out for the day. One rooster on the chicken side, and one on the duck side. (They apparently did not get the memo, or they just do not care--probably that one. :) Fine. Blue nylon on the ledge, and chase the rooster around the duck's area. A few to many times. :) I got him, got the 'rope' on his feet, tightened, and knotted! Out the door we go-- and up onto a nail, while I get ready to catch the other rooster. At the door of the chicken's side, I happen to glance up and watch the rooster pull a total Jackie Chan--he purposefully, and with force, bent his legs and shoved off the side of the shed with his wings, as he came off of the wall, he straighted his legs with a swoop, and the rope came up and off of the nail. He landed, on his feet, and took off towards the field. Cows. (this is our swearing--it was not quite a bucket of cows, but it was close!) Fine. Whatever. I totally just got bested by my supper. Fine. I still have the other nylon rope, and the other rooster is still stuck in this area! After a few times around this side, I caught him, got the rope around him, and headed out the door. I heard a noise--and went to investigate. Somehow, Jackie got the one side off, and caught it on a nail. HA! Um... what to do with this rooster?? I let him go, figuring I could catch him easily enough (okay, honestly? I was pissed at Mr. Chan, and saw an opportunity and acted before I thought it through all the way.) Now, he is actually out in the field, under the fence and out a good 8 inches. I got up to the fence, reached underneath as he pecked away at the rope still around his foot. He got the knot undone, but he would not out-smart me!! What he has around his leg is a slip knot!!! Almost there... got it! I triumphantly pulled the rope towards me... as the rooster ran off into the field. He'd gotten his just before I got mine. Fine. Whatever. I have another rooster... up here somewhere... that I can't catch!!! TORY!!!! I NEED YOU!!! Well, we did not catch either of the roosters. We went back up to the chicken coop, (yes, leaving the rope on the one rooster--he had gotten one of them off by this time) and I started getting the knees off of the legs on the car. (Tory is AWESOME at getting the breast off, but I'm better at the knees... we are man-y parts... :) :) :) Talking, figuring out the next thing, what time it is, etc., when we heard a noise. HA! Now THAT rooster is caught! "I'll go get him" Tory says. I am not sure exactly what all happened with her, but I went in and got the last broiler. I set her head down onto the brick, and stepped on her neck. I figured all I had to do was pull, so I did a YANK! and threw the body. With the head still attached, and headed at top-hop for the trees. Oops. Well, not to get into gory details, but I did get her head off, by myself, got her hung up just about the time Tory came back empty-handed. :) So, I did it! And I know I can do it again, and I am sure there is a better way! As we were finishing up, the guy that has cows in the back pasture came up... and stood around chatting while we finished up. :) Not phased at all by the surgical scrubs on us, or the chicken bits in the pot. He even offered to have me come help when they butchered hogs later this year. YES!!!

Part 4 of 4: the car and a flashback

Well, needless to say, using the car as a table was ingenious, or was it? Let's look back; killed the chickens and threw them... wiped off gunk into towel... yea, Tory's car needed a bath! No, it was not probably the best idea to use her car as a table, but it was very convenient. This car has come in handy the whole time! When Tory arrived, we were eating supper, then they played Candyland, while I put the animals away. When I got back, there was a commotion at the tree.
"There's something attacking the dogs!" With various babbling, and incoherent running around, Ben helped me find the bullets, and I got the guns. Unfortunately, when I have gone shooting with Eric, he's the one in charge, and he does all of that stuff. "Tory!?! which gun do these go to?" "I don't know!!!!" She kept asking where the flashlights were. (Too high for her, but that is beside the point, I was on a mission for a gun!) She finally took matters into her own hands, and pulled her car around, shining the headlights on the fray. Meanwhile, Ben really wants to help, so I grab two pans, and spatulas (Pampered Chef Execuitive 10" Skillet, and the 10" Saute Pan, with Bamboo Spatulas ;) handed one set to Ben, and banged away as I walked towards the dogs and raccoon. Oh, it was a raccoon. :) Gunner came from the side, the distractor, while Kodiak watched for her opportunity to get in there and kill the thing---finially, she made her move, and grabbed the raccoon around the throat, while Gunner ran around, yipping, and nipping at it. In the meantime, I have a cow femur in my hand, asking "Where's the bat?" Because, I gotta tell you, even though this bone is a good 12-15 inches long, that is waaay too close to some teeth and claws for me! Ben had grabbed a length of wood (not a bat ;) and was right behind me. :) Once it stopped moving, Tory offered to run it over with her car. :) So, what a few days! Raccoon attacks, Candyland, butchering, bee sting. How did Tory put it? There is never a dull moment at the Kilpatrick house!

Some days. :)

where have I been?

In a word: Hiding.

The broilers are still alive. There, now you know ;)

The chickens are down to 10, ducks at 12, and broilers at 7.

For now.

:)

Duck EGGS!!

The ducks have started laying eggs--three days ago, to be exact. One on Tues., one on Wed., and THREE today! Unfortunately, they are laying them in wet poo, so we haven't eaten any yet. As soon as it stops raining today, we'll start the nesting boxes for them. (Tip: have nesting boxes ready BEFORE they start laying ;)

It's such a good, feeling, to know you're alive!!!

The broilers are still here. I guess that would be the 'frog' in my life right now---that, and calling the electric company to fix the outside light... :)

But, this morning, in all of it's sogginess was very wonderful. The cherry tree is ready!!!--and I, in my store-bought life seem to have acquired a taste for the not-quite-ripe-yet. I have 8 cups of cherries we picked last week, and this week, they are finally all ripe. Whoopse. So, in the heat of today--it's supposed to get up to 82 degrees, and with the rain...

The mulberries are ripe, too, and oh, so yummy!! They are also chicken treats, that are free!! If you want to see something just delightful, give some chickens fruits for the first time. Or a worm, or a cricket. They are so funny!!! One will grab it, and run, making this noise... the 'I've got something' chicken noise that attracts all the others. :) They also like cherries. :) The hens pick off the fruit, but Penguin (our rooster) just swallows it whole. :)

Since it was soggy, the goats were still in their hut at 6:00! The sun rises around 4:30, and they are usually out and engorged by the time I get there around 6. They don't like the damp so much. :) I let the chicks get their first peek at the goats. They seemed to like each other. Okay, not really, but the goats didn't try to butt them, and no kamikaze chick tried to take out a goat. *shrug* so I'm good. :) :) :)

The goal for this weekend is to have all 7 broilers in the freezer, well, just their meat. Harass me if I don't. (and you'll know--I'll type all about this new method!!!)

Saturday

The broilers are still here. But, if you have ever even considered butchering, I recommend you go here. 20 minute butcher. No guts, no singe, no feathers, no boiling water. I'll let you know how it goes!

Our dogs are kind of a proof of lack of leadership here. They come when they're called, sit and well, that's about it. They will lay down, and heel on occasion. On walks, they will turn around and head back when we yell "HOME!" so I guess, it could be worse.

This whole farm is kind of that way. Yes, we are learning as we go, but I can't help but wonder if maybe we're in remedial farming. I can't remember the last time I researched something we actually have. So, today, we spent time with every animal group we have. The day went by waaaay too fast, and I have never seen Ben more engaged/engaging for the whole day. He never once mentioned the television. Amazing.

We have also plotted a path to Grandma's house. It's 4.5 miles away. We walked down to the dirt road and back (.3 miles x 2!) on Tuesday and then we've walked another .2 for sure--or more, I don't have anything to measure it by for the past few days--- (you know where I take people up the dirt road on the 4-wheeler, and point out our house--that hill? Yea, we walk almost to the top of that and back.) It's 2.3 miles to Hwy 169 and back, so once we can do that, we'll head to Grandma's house (and grab a ride back ;)

The cherry tree is almost ready--I'm guessing less than 2 days!!!! (we still ate a bunch of them--they are pie cherries, and oh, so deliciously tart!!!) AND, we discovered some strawberries in some grass (in the garden--I haven't been out there since before the storm... :) two were ready, and by far the best strawberries I have had in a long time!!! I love the summer. And it's not hard at all to go to sleep at 8, when you've had such a full day!!!

It's such, a beautiful night...

Tornado pictures

The captions are above the pictures. :) The inside pics are coming--they are in the process of moving, and let's face it, it's really kind of awful all over Iowa right now! (and WI, and KS, and NE, and IL, and MN--all over the Midwest...)

This is my favorite--if you look through the doorway, you can see outside! The thing on the ground is the roof--that was peeled off; about 10 feet from where we were. :)In this one, you can see the side of the trailer was ripped up a bit. There were a few broken windows in the trailer, but luckily, they had plastic over them, so it was more contained than the ones from the house!! The electrical line was torn off, too, but it's hard to see. (there should be wires coming from the house... and they're on the ground.) This is facing west. We (Ben and I) were in the bathtub in the NW corner of the house. yea.This is the Oliver shed. The wall that is over by the bins was sling-shot there by my clothes line! That did NOT break!!! YEA!!!!

The corn crib is down. The goats are very happy. :) It's kind of cool, in that it gives the animals shade, but it sucks, since the main wind-blocker is now gone. This was the Shed-on-the-concrete. We'll miss this one. But now we have a nice slab of concrete. I don't think you can see it, but the poles were pulled out of the ground, and the concrete around it was flipped over--one of them onto a window, that didn't break!!

You can see the barn has some extra opening in it as well. The tin on the W side was taken off--and over to our neighbor's house.

We're 0-2 on the trampolines now, and will not be replacing this. :( But the coop is just fine (the building on the left) and the clear spot in the middle, behind the tree?? that was the Oliver shed.

If I had had more sleep in the past week, I would have found you pictures for before/after, but I didn't, and I'm not going to. :) Look at earlier posts, to see how things were! :) Ooo... I could link... maybe later. :) :) :) Oh, we also lost one of the hog huts, but no one took pictures of that... there's really not much to see--just where it was.

The thing is that sitting in the bathtub, I prayed and prayed, that we and the animals would be okay. Before that, while doing dishes, I prayed for the people in the path of the storm, so they would stay calm and do what needed to be done. (I didn't mean US!) Still, prayers answered! Not only were we protected from the worst of it, so were all of our animals. The huts that the ducks/chicks and goats are in are fine. Better than fine--the tree that was broken above it still had enough of a hold on the limbs that it didn't smash in the roof(s). To the east, to the west, destruction, but the huts themselves---just fine--in fact, one window was blown out--OUT, not in. Out. The coop, our house, we are very blessed. And grateful. Very grateful!!!

Hello, and thank you for your patience

Well, we have been busy. The farm is going... I haven't written because I have to tell you, we really don't know what we're doing. :) The duck pond (out of a cattle-water-er) is very disgusting, but they really love it.

The goats are LOVING the corn crib. It was one of the building that got knocked down when we got hit by the tornado. They climb all the way to the tippy-top, it's crazy. When I find my camera, I'll show you!

The baby chicks are doing fine. They are out of the kennel, and survived not only the storm, but we do not have electricity down there, so they are roughing it, I guess. They seem to be fine.

The chickens are doing great--we lost one of the crested breeds, Bernice, but we don't know why. Rat? Maybe.

The broilers are still alive. I know, I know, but they are huge!!!

The garden was soaked very thoroughly, and now is overgrown with weeds, but is still very soppy, so that's a fun time.

One of these days, I'll not make a list, and you can know the ins and outs a little better, but the thing is, it's not glamorous, or even fun, sometimes... Guess I'll be working on kamikaze-ing the farm, eh? :) :) :)

A-hoy-hoy

We have been... just going. The duck pond leaks, but I think it'll be alright for this summer. The goats are really jump-y---they get into everything!!! They can jump a 4' fence, no problem. And today, Deer jumped into the chicken coop!!!!

We have lost 4 babies, and have 2 in the kitchen right now. I am not sure what's going on, but so far, it only takes half a day for them to perk back up, and are ready to go back, but if I leave them in, they die. *shrug* mostly, they sleep, so it must be kind of stressful in there. We will divide them up, as soon as we get another red light for the other kennel.

The broilers are still alive. I know, I know, but I really don't want to butcher without Tory. She's my excuse, since I know she can't come down here for a while. I am worried about butchering with Eric and Ben, so I may just get up one of these mornings, and have it done by the time Ben gets up (yea, right!). There are 10 left, and they are getting huge.

Henny Penny is doing great. She is a treat to have around here--she follows us all over the yard, and lets us pick her up. She comes when you call, and goes right back into the coop when you ask her to. :) :) :) Oh, and she lays an egg a day. Every day.

Is that everyone? I think Penguin is a rooster. He's not being very nice to Mommie. They seem to have a love/hate relationship. The crested breeds are pecking at each other's crests. Duh, come on!

We seem to have waaaay too many ticks lately, so the guineas will be nice for next year. We'll get them in August, and they should be full-grown and ready to go by spring!!

The garden is... well, it's fenced in and tilled up. Tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, and eggplant are all I have gotten in so far. But do not fear, we'll do some more... one day. :)

As far as the house goes... I think we decided on getting the windows out/replaced, put up the foam board, and wrap the house. *high-pitched-unnatural* hahahahahahahaha that's the plan, anyway. :) Seems very similar to the plan I recommended last year, but that's not very productive, so I'll keep that to myself ;)

Parenting With Love and Logic has been my sanity-encourager of late. Eric being gone seems to get harder, not easier. I have been HATING Mondays, as Ben has been just--missing his Papa, and I have, too. So today, I Love and Logic'd him until he gave up!!!!!!!!! WHOO!!!!!!!

Not a lot, really

Oh, well, not really.

We are down to one egg-laying hen. She is apparently the smartest one, so that's nice. Eric killed a raccoon on Sunday, thinking it had a chicken in it's mouth. It was a pigeon, so I was bummed; pigeon/raccoon--if it kills pigeons, I say keep the raccoon. It was really big.

Eric got the pond up and running--the filter system has not been tested yet, but we think it should work ;). The ducks finally figured out how to get up into it (it's an old cattle water-er with a liner in it.

The other baby chicks are doing really well. They are not as friendly as the last set, but we haven't spent nearly as much time with them.

The goats are really friendly. Gabby and Deer are wonderful, and will nudge you to pet them (they LOVE a good scratch behind the ears!)

The 10 broilers are loving life--we ran out of time this weekend to finish the butchering, but we did get the garden all ready.

I ended up writing Gurneys an e-mail, asking them to cancel my order. They have all of the information changed for my seeds and plants to be shipped out the 26th of May. :( But, the good news is that I have been given/have found enough seeds to get this garden more than full. I think we'll try to go to the nursery in the next few weeks, and see what they have to offer... for tomato and pepper plants. Oh, and Eric gave me the go-ahead to get Guineas. So I'll be looking into that!

Busy, busy, busy, but oh, so satisfying!!

Butchering, take two! (or 12 in this case)

So here's the skinny on the butchering. Tory, Miah, and Erin all came and helped. Someone that will remain nameless (*cou-me-gh*) talked a wee bit too much, so we got started a little later than we wanted. We took 3 hours for the first 6, and the three of them did 6 in one hour while I went to go get Ben. While in Winterset, Josh saved the day--even though he doesn't speak hysterical woman, he can get you calmed down enough that he can talk you through what you need to do ;) ((The radiator hose popped off and spewed antifreeze (red!) all over the ground))

We opted to put the chickens into the bathtub, and clean them off in there. (All 12) So Ben was able to see them the night before, in the bathtub. There's actually a really cute story.

I wish I had a better camera, or at least a program that would make my camera a little more lovely, but here is my cousin and his fiancee. The reason this is really funny is because his pants are pink-pink, and the top is a lovely purple.

Good morning.

We are sick. Again. Last night was rough, and we finally threw in the towel at 4:00, and just got up. Dishes half done, three loads of laundry, and we got an enclosed area for the ducks done. I took pictures, but I don't know where they went. Does anyone else have a Polaroid PDC 5080? We seem to have lots of troubles with it---things stop working, then miraculously start working again... pictures disappear, and reappear weeks (or years!) later.

Anyway, I kicked the broilers out yesterday--literally forced them to go out the hole into the big outside. (It's all enclosed now!) They don't seem to like it too much. They'd much rather stay sitting, thank you very much. Then, at the end of the day, I had to herd them back in. Yea, that's fun; chicken herding. I would like to go on record here. We will not be getting broilers again. I'm thinkin' the end-of-the-year chickens for $.50/piece, then butcher in Jan. you know, those nice days we seem to always get. You'll know if that's what we did, if it doesn't get nice in January ;).

The big chickens do not seem to tolerate the little ones as well as we would have thought. Ben has been 'training' Amelia to sit on his arm. She is very good at it. The picture below was taken about 8:00 this morning--none of the other chickens were out (they all came out at 6:30) so, I'm a-thinkin' the big ones kicked the little ones out. Ben can sympathize; it's rough being the little one. Now that the crested breed is big, I kind of think of them as either classical musicians or part of a Big-hair band. What do you think?

Well...

It's been a while. I have to tell you that things are going really slowly. The broilers are disgusting. We clean out their area everyday, and it's still really gross. IF we ever have broilers again, we're putting them in a chicken tractor (it's a mobile coop, so when they make a mess, we just move them to a new area---if we plan it out right, we can have them prepare our garden for us! or just clear out some land... hmmm.).

The ducks are kind of the same way, but that's because of their dabbling. We have the ducks outside as much as possible, but we don't want them out by themselves just yet. Eric has been getting the rest of the hut ready for the chickens. Ah, the chickens.

We have 6 of the babies left, and 4 of the chickens. ha. It was kind of funny, when the last 2 disappeared, Eric was around, and wanted revenge. :) Must be a guy thing. I remember him telling me after the decimation that it was a bummer, but there was nothing I could have done. Pat, pat, you know, but when HE'S here, KILL THEM!!!!!

Somewhere along this winter, Gabby became the head goat. She has also shed her fluffy coat, and is really pretty. She also loves a good rub-down, on her terms, of course. Deer is just as friendly as ever, and even Slash seems to be coming around, slowly, if you have corn. They seem resigned to the ducks, and enjoy going into the duck hut when we aren't looking. The ducks give them away, every time. The bummer about them being so friendly, is that they'll follow us right out of the gates. And aren't the slightest bit scared of us, so waving our arms to keep them away just has them cocking their heads and staring at us. 'What are they doing now? Where's the corn???'

Gunner follows Eric around, and stays with him through all of his chores and whatnots and goings ons. Eric really likes it, and Kodiak leaves him alone, so that's nice.

Squeak goes outside at every opportunity. There are more now, than before the huge hole in the screen door appeared. He really likes it outside. Oz? Not so much. It's very funny--when I had Squeak, he didn't act much like a cat until after we got Oz.

So that's that. It was supposed to be 68 to day as a high, but they changed it to lower 50s sometime overnight. Tomorrow is still supposed to be in the 70s... for now.

Overall, things are fine. It's very wet here. Everywhere.

What a beautiful day!

It's a little windy, but really, it's always a little windy here.

Everything is doing really well--here are before and after pictures of the ducks (they were in two dog kennels at one point, but we don't need to focus on that... :)

Here are my beautiful chickens, out and about. I went in to move the waterer over to the broiler side (it holds 3 gallons, so we'll only have to fill that up once a day, instead of the 2 gallon-sized waterers three times a day--and they can't knock this one over!!!) and when I came out, the chickens were gone. Gone. Hmm. So I called them, and did the comfort clucking, and over by the burn pile (that is now a huge pile of brush) I saw a neck and head crane out to take a peek. They were all in and around the burn/brush pile. :) Here they are mowing down on the fresh grass and bugs.

The goats didn't know what to think of the ducks. They tried to get into their hut, but I stopped them. I called Kodiak over to see what she would do with the ducks, but as soon as she came into the cemented area, Gabby chased her out. I felt kind of bad--I had called her in... the goats are lined up very nicely, hoping for some corn, probably. :) They tried to get positioned to butt the ducks, but the ducks wouldn't hold still. If I were to interpret the goats it would go a little something like this; how am I supposed to get my head low enough to charge effectively... and on a moving target... ah, forget it. :) :) :)

Hey :)

Sorry about that... with the nice weather, and well, lots of other excuses, I haven't made time for blogging :)

But, we have the ducks out!!! Yesterday we spent almost the whole day working on the hut, getting it ready!!! And, we did it! :)

We have had 197 eggs so far this month! YEA! We've given away more than half of them, but we found some people that really want to buy them. Without advertising, we could sell them all, no problem. So we've ordered some more to make up for our losses. (I actually finally got the order in last night--so May 19th is the expected date!) This is crazy, as it will be our third set of chickens in the past 12 months.

The goats are so approachable, now, and are unsure of the ducks. The broilers will be out of the way in plenty of time for the new chicks, so do you know what that means??? OUR HOME IS NO LONGER (OR EVER AGAIN GOING TO BE) A BROODER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! so that's cool.

This picture is from, well not today or yesterday... see, the chicks are in a kennel in with the adult chickens as of sometime earlier this week. If you'll look closely, you'll see that one of our Khaki Campbells decided it wanted the chick's food. Must be one of Eric's :)

Ducks... out!

We just, and I mean just got the ducks out of here. With Eric's schedule, they've been here about a week longer than I would have liked.

We took the hog hut next to the goat's and fixed it up. While at The Family Center, Eric got to chatting with some of the guys there, and told them about how we keep losing chickens. One of the guys told Eric he'd had the same problem, until he put his chickens down by his goats. Hmmm. So we're trying it with the ducks, then the plan is to put the chickens in the other 2/3, and have the guineas in the current coop. Our next batch of chicks should get here the week of May 12th. We need to decide if we'd like the guineas this year or not soon, and their arrival would be the end of June.

Sorry this isn't longer or more detailed, but I'm exhausted, and we're off for Panora tomorrow...

The broilers are outta here!

I should wait until tomorrow, so I can have some pictures for you, but I was so excited (and finally had half a second... and then Ben came in :)

Anyway, Eric and I finished up the coop--we put flashing in where there were gaps (okay, where something made entrance holes, and in anticipation of where they might try to again), he cut the exit holes bigger. I have the dividers secured, we put in the DE (diatomaceous earth) and hay. The hens are happy, and went outside on their own today (we've re-enclosed an area for them). Five eggs today! The broilers are all on the east side of the coop. They look so tiny!!! Oh, and the best of the best, Eric wired the coop! (I helped a little yesterday, but it was too cold by the time we started wiring, and today, Ben is sick, so Eric finished it up.) So, now we have a light switch, and outlets! :)

The seven from the living room are in the broilers old kennel, and just look confused--they can see out the sides!!! The ducks have to share their light, so I had to put the kennels close together, and they are currently pecking at each other. The chicks are huddling close to the ducks, and the ducks are checking them out. Lizzie, our big Khaki Campbell doesn't seem to like them, but Hercules, our biggest Pekin doesn't seem to mind. Oh, and we've named them.

The Cochin is Penguin ('cause it looks like one) the Polish Crested are Amelia, Bernice, and Travis. (Amelia would fly out a lot. Bernice just looks like a Bernice, and Travis is, well, you'll have to talk to Tory about that one.) The Silkies are still all Mommies (except Chirpy-Chirpy-Chirps-A-Lot that is the most vocal). The Pekins are (biggest, bigger, big) Hercules, Pegasus, and Meg. The Cayugas are Avatar, Katara, Sokka, and Jet (he's the loner one). The Khaki Campbell's are Lizzie (the biggest one) Gus (the blond-beaked one), Juanita (the one that sleeps with it's one leg extended) Gretchen, and Trout. The first set are from Hercules, the next from Avatar (Ben named these) and the last set if from The Boyfriend School (I say this instead of Don't Tell Her It's Me, because Juanita is in the book, and not the movie, and it's Gretchen-not Emily.) And the only one that will understand is my Laura. Who doesn't read this. :) Ah, well, it's a good book, and a good movie. Now I'm a-waitin' for Eric's laundry to get done. A very busy weekend on the farm.

And another one bites the dust...

Today, in view of yesterday's festivities... we stayed with the chickens almost all day---I made lunch, and they were fine. (~20 minutes) I stepped inside to grab some tools, (less than 2 minutes) and came out to Kodiak running off with Lacey. Screams, flails, growling (all from me) I ended up in the middle of a bunch of downed branches wondering how I was going to get out. Something used this as an opportunity for something else to run off with our Cochin.

So, what did we do with ourselves the whole time we were outside... here, you have before you , the less glamorous side of farm life. It was oh, so satisfying, though! AND, Ben came over, about half way through, and asked if he could help, and he did!!! Now, before you chuck your ideas of raising animals, know this: 'they' said to not keep adding hay---'they' said that a few bales would last the chickens the whole winter. I, however 'knew' better :) So, I put in bale after bale--I thought it was starting to smell, so I'd go get another bale. It was nothing compared to the work to get it all out... it's funny, Ben's most recent Click (magazine) had stories about how scientists look at things and learn from them--as I went through the various layers, I remember the past year with startling clarity; when we put some sand it, pine shavings, the different stages of how to get them their grit and oyster shell, all unearthed today. :)


Oh, and guess what? I was so wrong--apparently the Arcana's are laying brown eggs--for we had 9 hens this morning, and 9 eggs were laid and collected today--I don't know about you, but I only see 1 green egg!!!

Overall a good day. Oh, and for those of you that are new to us, Eric and I used this song to walk to at our wedding :) it was very awesome, since it has that long intro--we were halfway down the aisle before dun-na-nun-dun-dun, another one bites the dust. :) Almost everyone was laughing, as soon as the intro started. It was great. Thanks, Matt!!!

We had a decimation occur here. Eric said 'massacre' was too graphic. Yesterday, the dogs brought one hen up to the house, and one disappeared. Today, there were 5 dead around the yard, and one missing. I am soooo glad that we did all the things we did to get them through this winter. Both of the roosters are dead. We are down to 4 RIRs, the Cochin, and 4 Arcanas. This sucks. No babies for next spring. I hate my dogs. I held Genie in their faces, and if they twitched towards her, I yelled NO! and then held her some more, hoping to get some of the rage to go away, but it didn't really help. I tromped over to the machine shed, specifically to get the BB gun, to shoot them a little. But they followed me, stopped and sat when I stopped. I couldn't. And you know what gets me?? They didn't eat them. They didn't even try to eat them. The chickens were very beautiful--no blood. You know, when I butchered, I had a nice montage of their life, and it was very moving. As I carried Cricket to his final resting place, I had a montage, but this time, it was just done. No stew for him. Not even a fair death. I'm just... drained. I called Laura. I told Eric, and now I'm putting it here.

Our little teenagers...

I can't believe the feathers coming in on the babies already!--the broilers are almost completely feathered, and the smaller ones are doing really well, too!!! The ducks are just adorable--they swim in their water dish, and make a spectacular mess, everyday, so I am double-excited about getting them outside!!!!!

We lost 2 chickens yesterday--only found 1. Miss Peeps is dead. And another of the Aracunas. It was really a bummer---but that's life. Now we have 2 roosters, and 13 hens--8brown layers and 5 green layers. This morning, there were 12 eggs. TWELVE!!! 4 green, and 8 brown. Alright, now i have to find a place to put these eggs... (These are today's eggs!!) The top left green one, and the bottom right green one were still warm when I took this picture.)

V I C T O R Y ! ! !

Today, I drug the wee one out with me to do chores. We gave the goats their corn by hand, out in the field (we're trying to keep them on their toes *shiftily look around* you never know what'll happen next!) so, if they wanted their corn (they always want their corn :) they'd have to put up with me looking at their hooves. The snow? or something has softened them!!! To the house! Collect; Cutco Scissors :), toothbrush, and in my pocket already was some needle nosed pliers. I'm not sure what I'd need them for, but I already had them in my pocket :). To the barn! They came, and I caught Slash, held her up to the barn, and cleaned out and trimmed all 4 hooves. *HUGE grin* YES!

These guys are almost a year old, and have never had their hooves trimmed. I've been waiting for... some guts, I suppose.

Today, we had all 12 ducks dive under!!! Which may or may not have been partly due to the broccoli we put in the water. The past 2 days, we've put in lettuce (it floats), so they kind of had to dive a bit to get all the broccoli. :) Ducks (ours, at least) LOVE broccoli (chopped up, of course!).

Oh my gosh, I forgot, I took out the 7 chickens that will make it past May this year last night--they are in a tub, in my living room, which is also our bedrooms and Ben's play area. They are doing fine. They are quiet, subdued little ones, but hopefully they'll perk up. The bonus for us is that we do not have another heat lamp, so they are as close to the heater as possible, and it's turned up a bit--I think it's probably close to 70 in there!!! (warmer as you get closer to the heater :)

What a difference a week makes!!

The new baby ducks are here!!! The 3 are but a week older. Crazy!!! We dipped their beaks, took a picture, put them back in their box, and covered the bedding with paper towels! The new ones would eat the bedding instead of their food---kind of funny what you can forget in a week, too, huh? :) The little black ones are the Cayuga. The older Khaki took to the babies right away, I am amazed at how well they all get along already!!!

Why do they have to grow up so fast??

The chicks are already feathering! They have quite a few of their wing feathers already!!! The broilers are getting HUGE! I hope it gets nice out sooner than later!!! I need to take out the non-broilers--they are noticeably smaller, and are the last to eat and drink... and they get to live through the summer. (I'll put them out with the other chickens as soon as it warms up, in a kennel, until everyone gets to know each other a little better.)

We were advised to put in something for the ducks to be able to hide in---see how much they like it?? I am starting to get a little concerned about 10 more ducks...

I find this amusing--I am taking these pictures from my chair in front of the computer. :) See, you can raise poultry, even in small spaces! We originally had the ducks on top of the chicks, but they make such a mess, so, this works, too. Just for fun, the picture below is my immediate right :) Office/basement/laundry/brooder :) You just have to use your imagination. "Heaven, too, is our creation, all that's required is imagination!"

Firsts are always fun!!!

On to the good stuff. We let the ducks into some water today. It was AWESOME! First of all, it was 55 degrees outside (really warm! :) so, after being outside until we were soaked, and a little chilled, I threw Ben into the tub. Then, in the pre-warmed tub (I drained his water!) I put the heater nearby, and water into a cat-litter pan. I had the great idea of filling a container with water, but it still floated, so I put our generic mouth-wash on, to hold it down (you have to make it so they can get out!) I then took a rolled-up towel for the outside, and in the upcoming days, I'll put a rolled-up towel on the inside, too! Ramps. They're always fun! They seemed a little hesitant, but then again, they really don't seem to have warmed up to us much, yet. The Khaki LOVED it! The bathtub is naturally at a slope, and she quickly realized she can touch the bottom at the back---she also dove under water, twice! to the chagrin of the other two---it splashed, you know. :) It was probably less than 5 minutes, I did not time it, but we were pretty enthralled a their 'first swimming lesson' as Ben kept saying. :) I dried them off, and Ben took them right back to be under their heat lamp. They are all asleep as I type. :) And we, at 29 and 5, were able to experience something new together!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What was paved with good intentions??

I am disgusted. At the senseless waste we were forced to witness. This morning, we got the call that the ducklings were here. When the chicks got here, the only baby chick food we found was medicated, not that big of a deal for the chicks (not what we wanted, but that was our fault.) but you can't medicate the ducks, unless you want them dead. Well, I 'found' BB&P Feed Store. I have passed it many, many times, but never even considered it... :) They have Flock Starter that is unmedicated, so we had to go to Winterset first.


Well, short story long, when we got to the post office, there were 7 dead ducklings in the box. Not from that morning, no, there was one that was less than 12 hours dead (looked very similar to the one I found dead in our kennel this morning--that was fine at 8 last night!) but the others? They looked like they drowned. And, the really weird thing is that there was a styrofoam bowl in there. I have no doubt that the post office where they overnighted put it in there, with the purest of intentions, but come on! 1) STYROFOAM??? 2) you can't give them open water. I would like to think this would be common sense, but I guess not. *slowly shake head*


So, we brought the 4 live ones home, got them into the warmth, fed and watered (properly), and still lost one. It's one thing to find them already dead. To have them die in your hands is not my favorite thing. Now, if you do the math, they did send us and extra one. The Pekins are doing really well--there is one that just freaks out every once in a while. I wonder if they had imprinted on a bigger one that died on the way... I feel really bad for it, but I can't do anything, unless I want to make it a pet, which I don't. :( Well, you know, this kind of comes with the territory, but it's not the pleasant part.


As long as I'm being honest, I should tell you that we lost 4 chickens. We have no idea what happened to them, they just disappeared. Also, as the RIRs have the single comb, both of our roosters had frostbite on their combs and wattles. The Aracuna rooster is really a weenie, and he has a rose comb, and so far has no frostbite. It happens, and they are fine. Speaking of, we get from 5-8 eggs everyday. We also opt to leave them in their coop, 'cooped up', to help conserve heat. The other day, it started out really nice so we opened the small door. It turned cold rather quickly, so we ran out to close it up, and in peeking in at the chickens, they were fine, fluffed up, but fine. :) So, we still have our feather-footed cochin, 1 Aracuna rooster, 7 hens, 1 RIR rooster, and 7 hens. We have lost 2 chicks due to piling... so we have 25 broiler chicks, 3 crested breed, and 3 silkies, and the rare breed they put in is another feather-footed cochin. And, we are expecting our whole order of ducks again next week... to go with our existing (and week older!) Khaki Campbell and 2 Pekins. The brown one is the Khaki.

For you curious ones, we burn them. We burn our trash, anyway (the burnables!) so we put them in a cardboard box in the middle, and it usually does a good job. Not to be gross, but if it doesn't burn all the way down, something will get it and finish it off. Circle of life and all that.

Gorgeous!

For such little things, they sure poo a lot! We have the chicks here in the 'office', in one of our large dog kennels. I've put a wrap around the top in addition to the cardboard around the bottom. I didn't remember how darned cute they were, either! Ben is so gentle with them, and I just couldn't be prouder of him. We have 3 silkies, to hatch out our own eggs next year (RR), and Ben calls them the "Mommies" :) we had a really good talk today about the circle of life. It's hard to comprehend these cute little bundles being big, and talk of butchering seems heartless. I sometimes have a hard time wrapping my head around it, which makes it just that much better that Ben is around all this now; that we can give him this learning opportunity.

I know I spoke of this on my personal blog, but this is kind of part of farm-life, too. We have been having troubles with our dryer, and had been advised to hang things outside! Crazy! Naw, just smart, and not the norm. I recommend getting a pair of really good, waterproof gloves. I have some gauntlets (they are 2 inches longer--up my wrist! :) from Duluth trading company. They work really well. Yes, the clothes stiffen up before you can get them all up, and I haven't been brave enough to hang my socks outside, but a good pair of gloves stops your hands from cracking!!! So far I've tried pants and towels. Today, obviously, was pants. :)

There was snow in the chicken coop, but they were doing just fine! The goats were very happy for some fresh hay, and alfalfa. Oh, and the corn was alright. :) Corn is like goat chocolate. They'll go and do just about anything for it.

The drifts were amazing, and humbling. :) And hard to get through!!! Some came up mid-thigh, and I'm 5'10"! We'll go let Ben get lost in them later today--although he'll probably be able to stay on top...

Well, that was a little unexpected.

Today, after being in DM yesterday, and having a friend come from DM to here this morning, we got a call from Amanda at USPS. Our chicks were in, and had been there since 2:30 yesterday, and if we would like, we can come get them! :) So, since Tory was already here, Eric and Ben ran up to get them. While I frantically got things together for them. We were, as usual, not quite ready for them. Luckily, these are our second batch of 'guinea pigs', so we had a good idea of what needed to be done. I don't remember them ever being this small!!! (or this LOUD! :) We have a very vocal Silkie, now named Chirpy-Chirpy-Chirps-Alot (Chirpy for short). The crested ones look like they have mullets to me. The Silkies are tiny!!! The sent us an extra 2 of the broilers, and our rare bird is a feather-footed!!! My guess is it's a black cochin, but it may be a partridge--it looks like a little penguin, so, that's why I'm guessing the black... and I am boring you. (I wore two magazines out, flipping through them!!!) The ducklings will be arriving later this week!!!

We have three of the crested breed, and Tory suggested that we should call them Travis--since the people that seem to hold onto the mullet also seem to be all named Travis. :) ((No offense to anyone named Travis, with or without a mullet ;) ))

Hey.

Well, I have been rather bad at blogging (der) so here is an update--

The weather has been horrid the past few days the lowest temperature -11, and with wind-chill, -24. We put a heater in the chicken coop, at the lowest setting (32). That was two days ago. Yesterday we had 4 eggs, and some rather clucky girls, and today? Seven.

A while ago we poured over the Murray McMurray Hatchery magazine, and decided to get some ducks. Ben would like to eat one, so we have 2 Peking ducks coming. I picked out the Khaki Campbells (4) and Eric chose the Cayuga ones, as they were made here in America (Cayuga, New York, actually). (4) We also have 25 broilers that we'll hopefully have big enough to butcher before The Wine Party, and 3 Silkies (for hatching out our own broods in the upcoming years) and, just for fun, 3 Golden Polish Crested chickens. :) They are just to help us smile everyday--the crested breeds look like they have a huge puffball on their necks. :) I am grinning, just thinking about them!!! All girls this round! Although, if we hope to hatch some duck eggs, we may need to get a drake. Alright, we definitely will have to get a drake :) (I know how it works!!!) We tried to talk Eric into some geese as well, but he would have none of it! Maybe we'll get some turkeys for next year! (Eric is quite petrified of turkeys, but I'll let him tell that story!)

We all made it through this weather just fine. We ended up bringing the dogs in for a few nights. They were quite happy to be inside!!!

Tonight, while Eric is out, I'm hoping to have things ready for the babies, and then we'll have this whole weekend off!!! Whoo!! Then just wait for the post office to call!!!!!!!

Life is grand!

Well, here we have Eric helping Ben into our new swing :) and the blur is Ben, swinging!

Also, there is Ben and our girls. I can't believe how big they have gotten!!! The one right next to Ben is Gabby, Deer is the one looking right at me, and then Slash, double checking to make sure everything is alright! It's amazing.

Silly chickens...

Yesterday morning, it was -4 degrees out, and I needed to leave for a show. Luckily, we have some basic know-how (we are 'hands people' :) so we tried everything we knew to get it started in the bitter cold. And what should be out and about while we trudged around in out winter gear? Those silly chickens. Running around in the snow like it didn't hurt to breathe. They are doing just fine... we think they came out because, well, they are chickens. :) That'll have to be a good enough reason, 'cause it's the only one we have. :) 7 eggs today, 5 the day before. And the best thing... no more splatter eggs!!! Maybe we embarrassed her on the blog...

No eggs this morning...

we were really bummed to find ZERO eggs this morning. Well, at least there was no 'splatter egg' today. :) Oh, no moping--this afternoon, Eric went to check on them, and found 7 eggs. No cracks, no splatter eggs---seven beautiful eggies!!!

The goats are hanging out in the shed with their hay, mineral block, and their heated (above freezing) water. They seem to be quite content. They are getting bigger!!

We were looking through pictures, and the dogs actually look a lot healthier this year than they did last year. Hm. That may not look well for us... they have been staying inside with these cold-cold temperatures. As should everyone in my opinion.

Inside, things have taken a turn. Not really, I'm kamikaze-ing the cats now. :) Squeak needs one food, or he can't pee. This food has Oz puking everywhere. The food Oz can handle has Squeak's insides protesting in a truly smelly way. I know, but I didn't want to be that person that had to feed the cats separately. Plus, they will kill us when we get the stairs in. They trip us now, and have access to their food 24/7. So that should be interesting.

That's it for here. Everyone is alive, has fresh, melted water, and sufficient fat to get us through this winter. :) So we're good.

I do need to note that since Eric has been home, he gets up and has been doing most of the chores. *YEA, ERIC!!!!* I do help him, but come on, -8 degrees??? He's a saint, and I had to shout his wonderful-ness to both of you. ;)

Well, howdy.

A lot has happened. The most exciting is that we are consistently getting 4 eggs a day from our girls. With this bitter cold, we do not have long to find said eggs before they crack. The dogs, however LOVE when we find the cracked ones. :)

The warm weather earlier this month had the chickens laying their eggs in the doghouse. We wondered why the production went down when the temperature went up!

The goats are doing very well. They mostly hang out in their shed, and we have been giving them hay everyday for a while now. We also put in a bucket warmer, so they have access to water all the time, not just the three times a day we brought it down to them before. :) Also, we no longer have to haul 5 gallon buckets of water three times a day. :) (We didn't, really--in the morning, and then 'refreshed' it with hot water twice more.--we have some nice new muscles. :)

Our dogs are cold. Poor Kodiak--she is our Doberman, and has short hair. We have been giving them as much fat as we can, and are feeding them twice a day, but they just don't seem to bulk up very well. Gunner seems to be doing just fine, although he is a bit on the thin side as well. They LOVE that we have the heater down with the goat's water. Now they don't have to wait for us to get their water, either!

Oh, speaking of, we decided to get a pet-water-er for the chickens. It's just a blue bowl that you plug in, and it keeps the water from freezing. Then everyday, you take an empty bucket and a fresh gallon of water down. The gunky water goes into the empty bucket, and then fill it back up. One gallon seems to last them just fine. We take an extra gallon down with us in the afternoon, but usually it just goes into the dog's dish.

The fish have passed on. This was entirely my fault. I was talking on the phone while changing their water. This is two days after they survived the ice storm. Well, I wasn't paying attention to the water temperature. They had been in 56 degree water, so I put them into a quart jar with some room temperature water in it. And by room temperature, I mean in the kitchen. Which was a surprising 65 degrees. Then I filled up the tank, and put in the water treatment stuff, and waited for the 20 minutes. When I went to put the fish back in the tank, they were acting funny. 10 minutes of being in the tank killed all but one of them. He died about 10 minutes later. Weird. So I looked at the temperature thing on the side of the tank, and it said that the water was at 72 degrees. I fried them. Not fried-fried, but the poor things couldn't handle my intensive 'warm-up' program. :) Now I have to put a disclaimer on it "Not for the cold-blooded." :)

Cats, good
People, staying warm.