Sunday Snaps

Just a few shots from this morning's chores.. its beautiful here now.

This lovely gal is one of The Bugs - aren't they getting big!?

Sunday Morning Brunch in the barnyard

Mr. Tibbles, Eliza, and Jane:

Turks in the morning...

This is what Nibbles has to say to me this morning.  I think we can all take her meanin.' Goats. Sheesh!

And a new arrival... I had to help pip him out of the shell. He got some of the way out yesterday but the membrane dried and he was stuck. With a dozen or so overinterested cats trying to break the bathroom door down I gently worked to free him from his pod.

Here's lookin' at you, kid. Welcome to The Whole Wide World!

Happy 10-10-10 Sunday!

He made turkey while I was gone

As I type this I have turkey baby in my shirt. You'll remember that the best place for a new baby is in your bra. As before, gentlemen go and find your woman for this task.

I kinda chuckled when the new parents of a preemie baby told me that the revolutionary treatment of "kangaroo care" for little ones is to lay them on the parents bare chest.  This helps stablize the baby's vitals (breathing, heartbeat, etc). Heck.. any farmer knows you can do this...but anyway... he's very happy there. The poult that is.

When I got home from "civilization" - The Big Man rushed out and told me that he made turkey while I was gone. I would have never believed it unless I saw it for myself:

Can you believe it??

Our turkey hens had a disastrous hatching season... we only have 2 poults to show for dozens of eggs and many failed clutches. So when the turkey hens kept laying we figured we didn't have anything to lose... so The Big Man fired up the incubator and put in some eggs. I did not think it would work and I'm glad to see I was wrong!

We have another little pal down there pippin' away... he's working his way out of the shell. See his little beak working that shell? They have a tiny little "egg tooth" that helps with the pipping but its hard work.

When not in my shirt the hatched little singleton is popping around in the incubator. He can hear his pals in the eggs..and they can hear him so it stimulates them to come on out and see The Whole Wide World. As soon as the next little pal gets out of the shell and dries off I'll move them to a brooder. But one is a lonely number so our little buddy can just keep cheering on his egg-mates until more arrive.

How's that for a great surprise?

Happy Pippin' Saturday everyone!

You know its hard times when...

Friends, I am here to tell you that you know its hard times when they are closing down the liquor store.

Yep.

I'm visiting friends who are in a pickle. So I went on down to the liquor store to get a few boxes to get some things packed up.... and they told me they were closing down the state liquor store. That, friends, is a sign of the times.

I'm guessing them boys who said The Recession is over haven't been laid off. Yet.

Wonder if they are having a sale on tequila....hum.... that would be something. By the way - the liquor boxes are great for packing as they are heavy duty and the right size to easily be carried.

Anyway, I'll be off-farm for a couple more days. The Big Man is holding down the fort and keeping the masses under control.

Hope you are enjoying the mild fall weather and getting all your chores done.

Creepy Meat Update

They are two weeks old! Here's the creepy meats lookin' at ya:

They are getting big. For reference, they are now all bigger than Floppy's Five who are five weeks old!  So far, its going pretty well. They are just about too big for the kidding pool and we had one escapee. Fortunately the chicks have a vertical leap of about a quart of an inch.

Of course, brooding chicks in a house full of cats can be tricky. Especially since most of The Insane Cat Posse came to us as foundlings and wanderers who were descended from the mightiest of all feral and professional barn cats. Well, except for Little Mo.

For instance, we believe our Nicholas to be a direct descendant of Dragon, son of Thor HammerPaw. Dragon's fell deeds were so terrible that his very name was whispered like a curse.  His given name is unpronounceable in the common tongue but roughly translates to 'Death Comes By Night' and sounds phonetically like the final bite given to songbirds in the throes of death. The story of Nicholas' birth is somewhat fuzzy but we think Dragon's mate was 'She Who's Steps Make Field Mice Faint', whom we called Mrs. Fluffypants.

So its been interesting around here. The creepy meats will be moved out to the turkey house next week. But for now we are being extra vigilant. Both The Big Man and myself have had nightmares about the cats getting into the basement where the meat chicks are happily popping around.  It would be a bloodbath. Yikes!

Anyway.

We've had a few problems with these chicks and had a few more losses. One chick has a leg abnormality and we are treating him for "spraddle leg." Because they grow so fast we think he'll be OK.

We believe the chicks had the cocci and needed to treat them with Corid. The good news is that they responded immediately and we haven't had any more losses.

Some folks believe that you should always use medicated chick feed. However, we like to use the same chick feed for everyone - including the ducklings who cannot have it. So we used this medication which you can buy at a feed store. The dosage for the 9.6% solution in a QUART drinker is just under a teaspoon. However, as with everything you should do your own research. For a wildly dull explanation of cocci check this out. Otherwise search on your favorite sites for more info.

Altho some may argue (and believe me, for some reason poultry people LOVE to argue) about the causes of cocci, its just another reason why we think the meat chickens are creepy. Of all the momma raised chicks we've had, we've never had to treat for cocci, never had random deaths (we've had losses from accidents tho), and never had any leg problems.

Is it worth it with all these additional precautions? Well, we are thinking that by the mid-November we'll have some tasty chicken and dumplings. We'll letcha know.

Keep the faith and don't let the meats creep you out too badly! By the way, some of the hatcheries are starting to have their end of season sales. Don't forget to sign up for their "weekly specials emails" to get some cheap and creepy meats!

Apple cake!

One of the first things I did when I got to the old farm was make our Grandma Faye's apple cake.

Standing in her kitchen, making her signature cake, just really gave me a great feeling. Grandma Faye has been gone for years and I'm in my own kitchen now. But we were recently reminded of her. So I made her special cake last nite and oh is it heaven. And its whats for breakfast.

Grandma Faye's Apple Cake
More of a coffee cake its whips up in seconds. And a great use for all these lovely apples.

Heat oven to 350*

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar

Add:
One egg

In a separate bowl stir together:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine dry ingredients with creamed mixture.

Stir in:
2 1/2 cup finely chopped cooking apple
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour into a 9x9 pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes.

Grandma Faye's notes say to "Serve warm  or cool with whipped cream or ice cream."

Saturday scenes

Just a few happy snaps from today...

 What is there to say about this? 

Miss Dash finally hatched her one egg.. the only successful hatch for her this year. I think she is a little nutty right now. Hopefully she'll get her feet under her. Isn't this little one dreamy?  See the little "bean" on the end of his nose? That helps him get out of the shell.

Our Shine has the situation under control.

We went and got a round bale of oat straw today. We'll letcha know if it works out or not. Generally we get straw by the square bale for $2.50 each from an old timer just down the road. However, he was out for the season so we thought we'd try a $30 round bail. The gal used a tractor to load it in the back of Big Red... but if you're determined and resourceful enough.. you don't need no stinkin' tractor to get it out and into the garage. Uh-rah!

This is Bobbie.. we rarely get close enough to get a pic of her. She's the business.

So far the good news is that the straw wasn't threshed and many of the heads are still on the stems... so free food for the hens who are having a big time with it. But, its dusty, weedy, and the stems are really long. I don't know how this will do for bedding and such. But its definitely $30 worth of fun for the chickens.

Nibbles is out standing in her field.

If you're wondering.. Nibbles is not lonely at all. Generally folks say that a goat by itself is a misery for all. But not Nibbles. She's very happy. The Meeps are keeping her company. Debbie is still off at the breeder and Vita won't be back until the spring.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Fall winds up before it winds down

Fall has its own tempo and it moves pretty fast...it definitely winds up before it winds down. 

We get a lot of fog this time of year - so much that sometimes the local schools are on 1 or 2 hour delays.  Its kinda like the marine layer I we had on the left coast.

There is still tons of work to do.  My 'to do' list seems to get longer with each day... but we have less daylight.  And all we want to do is hunker down with the longer nites. 

I'm trying to juggle working inside to get things canned or frozen... and also trying to get work done outside.  We still have to rip out some of the gardens, get the rest of the cover crops planted, and get everyone ready for the cold weather. They are even saying the "F" word.... that's right.. Frost!  So things are really hopping around here.

We haven't had Farm Notes for a while.. here's what's happening:
* Creepy meats - still creepy. We moved them into a kiddie pool but they are still inside.

* Floppy and The Five - cute cute cute... but they are starting to wander so we are keeping them cooped until they are a bit bigger.
* Mrs. Dowlrimple and The Bugs - wow! They are getting huge - there is one enormous Barred Rock rooster who is almost as big as our hens. Here they are enjoying the sun:

* Goats:  We took Debbie to the breeder! We think she is knocked up - more on this later. Nibbles is out there like the Queen of Nile, reclining on her couch, not caring what anybody thinks. And she's eatin' like she ain't goin to prom. Nibbles! Put down the feed! Wow.. I need to cut her off.
* Yesterday I found a new duckling in the hen house... Dash finally hatched.  Its been a long, long summer for her. Finally she has a little one.
* The geese are crazy, but I love having a whole flock.
* Pigz are getting big. And still out there stinking it up. But they like their new area and are doing a great job of "hogging" it all down.

So that's the quick round up. Happy Fall Everyone!