The Unhappy Ending of the Story from the Coop

You may recall from last week the tale of the hen (Mama Hen, as I had come to call her), some eggs,  some chicks, and general havoc in the Winter Coop.  This story did not end well - no "lived happily every after" this time.  In short Mama Hen abandoned her eggs, none of them hatched, I moved her back to the Summer Coop, and she died.  Rather unexpected, that last part.  Sitting on eggs does take a toll on hens as they don't eat and drink much for an extended period of time, but usually it doesn't kill them.

It has been crazy cold here the last couple of days!  I don't think it made it to 60 degrees yesterday - June 24th!  I was wearing four layers to stay warm at the Farmer's Market but at least we didn't get rained on; actually we ended up being fairly busy.

Speaking of rain, we've had a pretty good supply of that.  The pumpkins, planted by the scouts three weeks ago, are looking good.  It was so dry that first week they were pretty darn wilty and we watered as much as we could to keep them alive.  They are doing fine now, and didn't Rollie do a nice job with the tilling?!  He is so helpful, I don't know what we would do without him. 

It's haying season.  Kevin is scaling back on how much hay we put up.  Our handful of goats just doesn't need that much.  He cut the one field we are using for hay this afternoon, and we will be baling it on Tuesday.

The every changing view from the milking stand

In goat news, Violet and Garrus have moved on to a new home.  They got to stay together and went to an experienced goat keeper which make it a little easier to part with them.

So, about Hoover.

Hoover has been part of our family for a year or so now.  He is a great running buddy when I have the time and excels at loudly barking at invisible threats.  Unfortunately, we still cannot turn our backs on him.  He cannot be left unsupervised anywhere but in the kennel in the shop or in the fenced dog yard.  Why?

Hoover chews on things - chair legs, stray socks, whatever happens to be handy - even if a bone is right there!  Hoover loves to eat tissues.  He will take them out of the trash and eat them.  He will take them right out of the box and eat them if he can reach it.  And if someone is in a hurry and just hurls the twelve-pack of Charmin up the stairs and hasn't put it away yet?  Jackpot!!

An entire roll (double size) destroyed.  At least we caught him before he ate the entire thing!

And with that I will bid you good evening.  Be well friends. 

A Little Story from the Coop

Chickens are fascinating creatures - at least I think so.

You may recall from a previous post that we have a broody hen.  The first week went as usual and she stoically rested on those eggs, puffing up and glaring indignantly when I entered the room to replenish the food and water for her and for the chicks that also populate the room.  All was going just fine until Friday morning chores.  When I entered the room and added some feed to the feeders, she got off the nest and began clucking to the chicks ... for those of you who may not be that familiar with hens, they have a certain way of talking to their young.  The chicks were terrified and began racing round the room while she followed like she was trying to round them up and get them to listen... chaos! 

Now I was worried.  Would she go back to her nest, or had she abandoned it for these chicks?  Should I take the eggs and fire up the incubator, or just let nature take it's course?  Well, I needed to get to work, so I left the eggs to their fate. 

Back at home in the evening- all was fine.  She was back on the nest - but then hopped off again and the scene of the morning was repeated.   Now Sunday evening, the situation is pretty much the same except instead of all of the chicks being terrified when she gets off the nest, two of them have decided she is their mom and hang out with her and one even climbs right in the nest with her.

So now I should really have a picture of the hen and the chicks for you... but I don't.  I just can't get a decent picture in the low light of that room so goat pictures will have to suffice for this week!

Here's Violet!  Such a pretty little thing!

If you scroll down to last week's  post and look at the picture of Ranger, you will see that his scurs (quasi horns) have really grown.  It was time for a trim so today we tackled that.  Usually we trim them with a hacksaw but this is really hard work for the guy doing the sawing and takes a while making it an even more unpleasant experience for Ranger.  This time Kevin used the sawzall and it went quite well.  Still unpleasant but much faster!  Here is the after picture - yep, a little blood but not anything to worry about.  He is just fine.

That's quite enough for this week I think - I am not sure if there will be good news from the coop next week or not - if the eggs are going to hatch, it should be Saturday or Sunday I would think.  Until then, be well friends.

The Sweet Smell of June

Today, we had some much needed rain.  We've had a dry spell at Ole Lake Farm.  Earlier in the week storms went through to the north and to the south of us but missed our place completely - it was really disappointing.  We have been moving the sprinkler tower around the pumpkin patch and the corn area as well as spot watering but now we are good - for a little while at least.

I finally cornered the turkey poults long enough to get a photo.  I think they are a pretty unique looking cross.  They are getting along with the older chicken chicks just fine.  On the other side of the coop, the younger chicks are getting their feathers.

The lad's shelter and paddock gets moved regularly. Today while Kevin was working on moving the fence panels he had them tethered to one of the hay wagons.  They did not miss the opportunity to gain some elevation.

Out in the garden, I have scaled down on what I'm planting this year but things are coming along.  This is the first year in a long time that I have not lost any tomato plants to cut worms - I am attributing this to letting the chickens run in the garden in the fall and again in the spring.

Now is the sweet spot of June when the roses are blooming but the rose chafers have not arrived.  The blossoms are all very fragrant and it is a treat to spend time out there.  Pretty soon those nasties will find them - I have tried various weapons on them but have not had success against them so they just get to munch away while I look the other way - for now though, the roses are such a treat.

So that is the update for this week. Stop by again next week and until then, be well friends!

Critter Update, Part I

It's Sunday evening, 9:30 PMish.  My back is sunburned and I am pretty darn tired.  That means this blog is not going to be as complete as I had planned in my head while out digging in the garden this afternoon.  My plan was a complete and detailed account of how each and every farm animal is doing these days.  Hmmm.  Not happening.  Here is what I do have.

Earlier in the week (Monday evening?) we had the most AMAZING rainbow - so vibrant - awesome in the most literal meaning of the word.

The turkeys have finally ventured outdoors but are extremely shy of me.  This photo is the best I could do and it's pretty bad.  They have some very interesting feather patterns so I hope to do better as summer rolls along.

The latest chicks moved out of the bathtub (1 week old now) today and out to the chick room of the Winter Coop (Thank You Kori!).  To make room for them, the 4 week old chicks moved in with the turkeys (despite the dire warnings that turkeys and chicken should not be housed together, we did not have a problem last year so I am going for it!).  AND we have a broody hen.  I moved her back to the Winter Coop too and she is sitting on 10 eggs.  

I thought it was about time to update you on how the pigs are growing.  Kevin reports that they are much friendlier now and allow (and sometimes demand) back scratches.  They tunneled out of their paddock one time this week but followed Kevin back in like Mary's little lambs.  Anyway, when I went out there to take their picture today, they kept crowding the fence so this is all I got.

Anyway, that is it for tonight.  I'll be back next week with some more.  Until til then, be well y'all.