The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
So, this new blog has had it's technical headaches, but all in all I think it will work. Still doing… [more]
A Honey Bee’s Hive Is Her Castle
And the girls will defend their castle to the death, literally. I found that out the hard way. It… [more]
Mother Nature’s Timepiece
Having lived in multiple regions of the country, I have to say, I love having four seasons. Mild… [more]
Dance of the Mudless
I put on my dancin' shoes this morning... well, actually my sneakers... There is no rain. The… [more]
My Honey Bees are Pigs
Who would have guessed? Feeding honey bees.... well, now that I've been keeping bees for all of a few… [more]
The Tenth Rabbit Hole
I have to wonder how many "Rabbit Holes" I'll write about before I get these rabbits in the freakin'… [more]
5 Ways to Promote Positive Mental Health
Positive mental health is a great way to ensure you lead a long, happy and healthy life. Maintaining… [more]
Pastured Rabbits
Honeybees
A Honey Bee’s Hive Is Her Castle
And the girls will defend their castle to the death, … [Read More...]
This & That
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
So, this new blog has had it's technical headaches, but all in all I think it will work. Still doing some tweaking. I decided to add some advertisements on the right side for those companies that I've done business with and found their products to be good. Well, except for the Google ads that I just took off. Google is supposed to "read" your site and place ads based on your subject matter, so it is relevant to your readers. Sounds good, right? As an avid Internet research freak, I thought it would produce … [Read More...]
Quotes that Speak to Me
Going with the Flow
"Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark." ~Agnes De Mille … [Read More...]
Who ARE You?
Some of us take a little longer than others. L.M. "It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are." ~e.e.cummings … [Read More...]
This or That?
So many choices, so little time. I hear that clock ticking inside my head all the time. What's really important to me? My animals have it easy, they just are. How about you? L.M. "Managing the power of choice, with all its creative and spiritual implications is the essence of the human experience." ~~~ Carolyn Myss - medical intuitive … [Read More...]
Tenacity
"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow'." --The Talmud When I saw this one tough little yellow flower proudly and tenaciously determined to bloom in the most difficult of circumstances-- in the desert, on a pueblo wall, I was in awe of its courage. I took this photo years ago and … [Read More...]
Spring Cleaning
Sometimes I think I have Attention Deficit Disorder... L.M. "It's hard to keep your mind on clearing out the swamp when you are up to your ass in alligators." Unknown … [Read More...]
The Chicken or the Egg?
More Chicks, More Soy-Free Eggs
So, I thought things were settling down after I moved the flock that was being eaten by an unknown predator from the back field to the field by the house. But then the hot weather hit… well, what?… 3 days of heat?…. Just enough to put the hens off… the number of eggs produced dropped, and of course, my sales increased. Ain’t that always the way? Come on girls, get with the program!! People want your eggs!
Few Good Eggs
Anyway, it seems the chickens are slowly getting back to normal but the refrigerator has been almost empty most of this past week as often as folks stop by. I’ve taken to checking for eggs every few hours to make sure there is always something for someone to buy. Which got me thinking.
Doing a Google search to find out how long a hen lays eggs brings up opinions from 2-5 years. That’s a pretty big range. So, knowing that the size of the egg increases with age, and my girls are… were… producing quite a few Extra-Large and Jumbo up until last week, it’s possible they are close to the end of their productivity. But up until the “heat wave” they were going strong… so who’s to say?
Just to be safe (I’m a “belt and suspenders” kinda person), I ordered more chicks. Originally I planned to wait another year. But what the heck. The chicks arrive next week. It takes 5 months before a hen lays her first egg, so I figure, chances are, it’s good timing. They will mature while the days are getting shorter, which is good for layers, and they should begin to lay in the middle of winter when the production is at it’s lowest from the older flock.
I’ve ordered the usual hybrid kind that are really good egg producers, but a part of me is thinking I should switch to a heritage breed next time. It’s the: “if the world as we know it came to an end tomorrow, how would I survive” mentality… A heritage breed is reproducible, in terms of traits, generation after generation, but they tend to be less productive than the hybrids. The hybrids are mutts which in the first generation, is apparently consistant in their traits for great egg laying, but subsequent generations wouldn’t be.
Then there is the perspective of just keeping a breed from becoming extinct. Humankind seems to be wiping out all diversity rather systematically. Or maybe I’m just paranoid.
Will ya look at all these breeds?!?!
But, it may be a good way to spend the winter…. researching breeds for the future. If anyone has any strong feelings about heritage vs. hybrid feel free to leave your comments.
Meanwhile, I’m cleaning out the brooder in the barn and off to the feed store to get bedding.
Dance of the Mudless
I put on my dancin’ shoes this morning… well, actually my sneakers…
There is no rain.
The sun is out.
The ground has sufficiently soaked up the water.
There is no mud!
I’m back down to 5′3″ instead of the artificial 5′6″ from the build up of mud on the bottom of my boots. The chickens’ eggs are cleaner, the dogs carry less dirt into the house. Life is good. I got to play outside today.
Bucket full of Fresh, Soy-Free Eggs
I moved the newer flock from the back field, up front to join the others today. After the predator attacks these past several weeks, pitifully few remained. They seem to be getting along well with the older girls so far… a couple of spats, but nothing big time. I hope they can figure out to use the field pens for the night. Usually, it takes a few days for hens to bond to a new house. But we didn’t have the luxury to do it right as I only have one day off to get them situated.
I even “wasted” a few minutes sitting in the field conversing with them. In case you didn’t know, chickens talk a lot.
The Chicken Path
Joyful Rooster with His Girls
Who's Your Daddy?
Almost left the lone rooster in the back to deal with his fate and the lurking killer. But he looked so forlorn without his harem. So, I went back to get him. Poor little guy was shaking and quivering, so unlike the obnoxious attack rooster he used to be. Happy as a clam at high tide now that he’s with his girls (and quite a few new ones too!).
Only 3 goats left to sell and I’ll be out of the goat raising business…. I was spreading myself too thin. Better to find them a home elsewhere.
Did some more mowing with my teeny-weeny lawn tractor (CAAA-CHOOOO! Whew, hope the bees like all this pollen.) and pulled most of the wild grass and weeds from the front roadside border. My groundcover is beginning to spread and will hopefully keep the weeds at bay by next year. Already thinking of planting daffodils there as well this Fall.
Played with the next idea for rabbit pens with the oft re-purposed 4×8 pen I have in the front field. And I bought a circular saw for increased building activities for the critters.
Nothing spectacular today, no major long-term goals determined or reached, but it was a good day… productive, calming, soothing.
"Well, I happen to think the bugs are better on THIS end of the field!"
My SOY FREE Egg Business
It just occurred to me that I hadn’t said word one about the most productive critters of my little homestead. My hens. First, just a general observation from a farm newbie…. that saying, “Madder than a wet hen”?? I don’t get it. My girls are out there when it rains, soaking wet, scratching and pecking away. Until it turns into the downpour and then they are smart enough to head for cover. The “madder than”? Nope, they just shake off the rain. So much for traditional wisdom.
Anyway, right now I have 2 small flocks. For the most part they are well-behaved. They return to their roosts at night, so they are collect-able if I needed to do so, unlike my rabbits. Though when I first put the second flock in the back field I had housed them in the shed that was close to the fence line. That gave them the idea to fly over the fence and land in doggie country. Ended up with more than a few dead chickens. I have one English Shepherd that has decided they are to be dispatched like the other small vermin she takes care of for me. More my fault than anything, as I haven’t really trained her as to what is to be left alone and what is to be tracked down and killed. Since then, I’ve had a new mobile chicken coop built for me and the girls (and boys) have been moved further away from the fence and no more explorers have ventured where they shouldn’t. The photo below is before it was delivered and before the white tarp roof was attached so you can see inside.
Chicken Coop before Tarp Roof Attached
For those of you in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the guys that built my coop are in Cottage Grove, and delivered to me in Lebanon a really nice coop. Their blog site is http://urbanfarmconcepts.blogspot.com/ What I like the most is that it is large enough for a reasonable number of chickens. Most coops you find house only 5-10 chickens. Too small for me. I also like that these guys would customize the coop. They added the second row of nest boxes, left the wire or wood floor off (I’m lazy, don’t want to scoop any more poop than I have to).
So the girls are happy with the new home and are producing almost as much as the flock up front, just a smaller egg as they are younger. The flock in the front field are producing Large, Extra Large, Jumbo, and BEYOND!! Whew, I think I’d be very sore if I put out the size eggs these hens are. I’ve had to order cartons for duck and turkey eggs, as the normal chicken egg cartons won’t hold the Jumbos. Can’t wait til they arrive.
I’ve had my friends who built the chicken coop also build a nice “run in” shed by the driveway, hooked up a small refrigerator and have fresh eggs ready and waiting for my customers to buy whatever size or amount they want. I figured one of the biggest drawbacks to buying farm fresh anything is finding the farmer at home when you drive by. And calling to make an appointment to pick up a dozen eggs would be very annoying if I were the customer. So this way, whether I’m out in some field working or off the farm working, people are able to get their eggs.
Egg Station for YUMMY SOY FREE EGGS
I did have to switch to a locked cash box due to some pathetic moron stealing the egg money. Some people are just slime-balls. But so far it seems to be working fine. I also figured out a way to ship the eggs. Strange but true. It took a lot of smashed eggs on my kitchen floor to figure out how best to cushion them, but the system I’m using seems to be working just fine now. I also added a “shipping calculator” to my website ( http://yankeeacres.com/index_files/SOYFREEEGGS.htm ) so people can see how much shipping (and packaging)costs add to the price BEFORE they decide to buy. So far I’ve sold to Colorado, New Jersey, Delaware and California.
Some day soon I hope to actually break even financially. I think I have about 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 more eggs to sell to get there. LOL!!
