TAKING THINGS SLOW OR FAST

2011 WENT BY REALLY QUICKLY. IT STARTED ON A BAD LUCK STREAK (MY WRECK) AND ENDED PEACEFULLY ENOUGH. THIS YEAR WILL HOPEFULLY BE BETTER ALL AROUND.


OUR GOALS IN 2011 WERE BIG AND SOMEWHAT UNREALISTIC (OR NOT QUITE RIGHT FOR THAT TIME IN OUR LIVES) SO MANY OF THEM HAVE CARRIED OVER TO 2012.


THIS INCLUDES BUILDING THE CHICKEN COOP, OUR HOMEMADE INCUBATOR, AND CONVERTING OUR SHED INTO A FULL TIME PUPPY BUILDING.


WE HAVE NEW GOALS FOR 2012 TOO, BUT WE ARE GOING TO TRY AND TAKE OUR TIME AND NOT FEEL RUSHED AS WE WORK ON THEM...HERE THEY ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

• FINISH THE CHICKEN COOP
• BUILD THE INCUBATOR AND BROODERS NEEDED FOR THE HATCHED CHICKS
• TURN THE SHED INTO A PUPPY BUILDING
  ie GET THE DOG/PUPPIES OUT OF THE HOUSE!!
• THE HALL BATHROOM
• FLOOR,
• CEILING
• SINK
• WINDOW
• ETC
• HOT WIRING THE FENCE SO THE DOGS WILL QUIT DIGGING OUT!!!
• MOVING THE WASHER AND DRYER INTO THE BASEMENT SO WE CAN FULLY ENJOY OUR LARGE KITCHEN
• BUILDING A BARN AND MORE FENCING FOR THE GOATS, AND EVENTUAL SHEEP
• PLANT MORE FRUIT TREES AND BERRY BUSHES
• APPLES
• PEARS
• PLUMS
• PEACHES
• RASPBERRIES
• BLUEBERRIES
• BLACKBERRIES
• PLAN OUT AND CREATE A LARGE GARDEN TO SUSTAIN NOT ONLY OUR SUMMER NEEDS BUT GROW AND HARVEST ENOUGH TO "PUT UP" FOR WINTER TOO
• LEARN HOW TO CAN, PRESERVE, ETC.
• POSSIBLY TAKE A REAL VACATION??? (THIS IS A PIPE DREAM FOR A GROWING FARM BUT WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED AND ENJOYED)

Baking...

I know its been a while since I last wrote, but things have been really busy, between work and the farm.  I have however been trying to get in the spirit of things by doing some Christmas baking.  Not to mention we have soo many eggs right now that I don't quite know what to do with them all.  I am going to hopefully start advertising on Craigslist in the beginning of the year for our eating eggs. these are just a few of the colors and shapes we are getting

















Anyways back to the baking...

Hunter ate some of Mom's cheese straws at Thanksgiving, and he really liked them, so I got the recipe from her, and we have made several batches so far...they aren't shaped quite the same, but they sure taste good!!

We have also made Snickerdoodles, Sugar Spritzs, turtle graham cracker brittle, and raspberry filled cupcakes with White Chocolate Mousse Frosting.

Time to get ready for the day in the Mountains with Hunters Family...Merry Christmas everyone!!

Show Chickens

So Hunter and I entered our first show in Morganton NC October 29th..we got 2 first and a 3rd...not too shabby for first timers....

Alot of time and effort goes into making a chicken "showable"  they eat special food, extra black oil sunflower seeds to help their feathers be shiny, and they have to be kept separate from the other chickens so as to not get into fights and ruin all your efforts.  Then of course you also have to BATHE them...which is the easy part..they just think its a day spa to relax and float around in lol...its the drying off that takes forever...3 chickens took the better part of the afternoon last time...Imagine how long the 9 I am entering this go round will take...At least none of them are white :)

Here is a sneak peek of our show line up:

A lot of Ramblings...

Wow, we ave been super busy around here lately.  and things don't seem to be slowing down either.  With working 50+ hours at work, for me, and trying to get the farm ready for winter...Hunter and I hardly have time to sleep.  but that is part of living on a farm I guess.

So here are some exciting things going on around here:

We got our first Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats, 2 does and a buck.  their names are Caramel, Mariah, and Ed. (they are older goats who were already registered, so we didn't get to name them this time)  Caramel is bred and we will hopefully be having not only cute litte kids (baby goats for those of you not up on your goat lingo) as well as some of her yummy goats milk (to make cheese from!!)

We are getting around 10 eggs a day on a consistent basis now, so I am ready to start selling them to the public.  our neighbor is currently buying a dozen from us every week  We are getting blue, green, brown, and white eggs and they are all different shapes and sizes. Can't wait for the marans to start laying to get my dark brown eggs too.

We have had 3 broody hens so far this fall,  Tillie Millie (who ended up not being able to hatch her eggs due to becoming egg bound) (but she is also back to her normal laying schedule which is awesome, as we were worried she might not be able to lay again)  Esmerelda (Esme for Short) our smooth feathered Silkie.  She is currently sitting on 3 eggs and seems to be doing well with it.  She comes out every day to get some sun, and scratch some of the grains I throw out  for them every day.  Mr. Frizzle likes to pay attention to Esme, so I am hoping for some Sizzles (which is a Silkie and a Frizzle cross) Mrs. Frizzle is also broody at the moment, having 5 eggs, 3 her own and 2 Easter Eggers.

We entered our first Poultry Show on 10/29/11 in morganton, nc.  We took 3 birds, and we got 2 best of breeds, and 1 3rd place.  It was definitely an experience and we are anxiously awaiting our next show. which will be the saturday after Thanksgiving, in Winston Salem NC.

We also have a litter of puppies due December 7th from Hannah and Snoots, we are hoping for yellow and black puppies.

Hunter killed his first deer of the season (bow season that is), and we decided to process the meat ourselves.  This was a very interesting experience for me, as I don't have much experience in butchering anything.  We had our first meal of it tonight, with this recipe:
http://www.huntfishcook.com/index.php?option=com_ricettario&func=detail&Itemid=48&id=1
It was YUMMY!!!!

Wood Stove, NPIP testing, and a sprained ankle

The week flew by from the last time I posted.  Probably had something to do with the 2 15 hour work days I had at the beginning of the week.

We had our chimney inspected on Monday, and it looked great so our stove is now installed and ready for the cold weather that is hitting us this weekend.  We had to actually start a fire on Monday to burn off all the excess paint, sealants, etc and boy did it stink!!  so glad it was warm enough to have all the windows open.
Last night and today it was nice having that fire burning when we came in from taking care of the animals.  We don't have enough wood to get thru the whole winter but i think we have a pretty good start, don't you?

So Thursday Afternoon i was walking out the back door to go and feed the chickens some treats and check the mail, when Tempest (our little lab puppy we decided to keep to continue Mac's blood lines going) ran right under my feet and I fell spraining me ankle.  OUCH!!!  thankfully I was off from work the next day, and one of our friends had crutches and a walker for me to get around with.  I ended up with the walker bc I am so clumsy and it was just dangerous to use the crutches. I am still on the mend, and can now hobble around with out to much help or Hunter being afraid I am going to fall again.

Friday 9/30/11 was a big day here around the farm.  We had a representative come out from the NC dept. of Agriculture, and perform a blood test on all 67 of our chickens, to certify them NPIP (National Poultry Improvement Plan).  We passed 100% and will hopefully be also certified AI clean as well (the test has to be mailed off instead of getting instant result).  We have picked out our incubator and we finally are getting a 

good number of eggs as well.  We have gotten some breeding trios from one of my http://www.backyardchickens.com/ friends HenThymes, and we will hopefully have all our other different breeds and colors separated by the end of October.  I am also hard at work on getting our website up and running...so stay tuned for that.

Fall around the farm.

Well ladies and gentlemen, I think it would be safe to say "Fall came early this year" and brought with it, allergies, cold damp weather, and just the over all blahs that normally don't hit us until much later in the year.
With the upcoming fall season, there are lots of changes happening around here.

 A big one, involves our decision to get a wood burning stove.  We stop running the AC around the beginning of September, so that helps with our power bills, but then it starts getting cold and we have to run the heat.  We have a gas furnace, so not only do we have the gas bill, but also the electricity needed to pump that heat thru out the house.  The house previously had a wood burning stove, and all the existing chimney is still there,  on the recommendation of several people we are having it cleaned and looked at to ensure we are able to safely use a wood burning stove.  We also decided to buy one brand new as opposed to getting a used one off of Craigslist, not because there is anything wrong with the ones on CL, but because the government is offering a tax credit on all EPA certified stoves.  Plus the one we got is extremely more efficient than a lot of the older models.  Hunter has already started splitting wood. As soon as it is up and running I will post some photos.

Its finally time to build the coop.  After lots of planning, and budgeting we are finally ready.  And it could not have come at a more opportune time, as my chickens have started laying eggs.  I need to get them separated, to produce pure bred eggs, and chicks.  I am very excited about this venture, and am very grateful that not only does Hunter support my craziness over all things chicken, but he also enjoys helping me hunt for eggs, and hand feed them their "treats".  We have also decided that we will be raising broilers in the spring/summer/fall of next year, using a "chicken tractor".  We plan on having 16 birds at a time, which means that any "chicken" needs you may have can come from our "farm fresh free-ranging happy (for ML)" chickens. (these chickens will not be named or personalized)  We will be processing them ourselves which means we can't sell to the public, but would really like to not only sustain ourselves but share with our families as well.  Speaking of providing for our families, how would you all feel about a farm fresh Turkey for Thanksgiving?

There is a lot more going on that I will hopefully be able to share soon, but its time for dinner...and I'm hungry.

To hang out with Chickens...

So I often post on Facebook, that I am hanging out with my chickens. And my brother continually asks me, What does that mean? How do chickens hang out?  so I am here today to explain how one (mainly myself) hangs out with chickens.

First you must wear comfy clothes, that you don't mind getting dirty.  You also need a chair, towel or old blanket (I generally use a combination of all 3).  And then you need treats...any small yummy substance will work, my chickens are particularly in love with dried cranberries and cut up grapes.  Then you go and sit or lay down (I recommend sitting or squatting while feeding).  You become one with the chickens.  You talk to them in soothing tones. You gently stroke them when they come near.  You hug them and scratch under their wings or on their back.  After a while the chickens lose interest in you, and go about their business of scratching the ground, taking dust baths, or sunning themselves.  This is where I either A)get my camera and take photos B) read a book while still outside or C)go about my day as well.

and here are some photos for your viewing pleasure: