It's like riding a bicycle....

Tuesday was a hard day on the farm. Tuesday was a great day on the farm. Tuesday was a hard day on the farm.....Sometimes this life is like riding a bicycle.

Angel - nothing special or remarkable. She was the sweetest thing.

The down strokes are the hard days. The days when the bugs eat all your green bean, or the rain won't stop, or you go out to find rats in your turkey house. That's the hard work. It feels pointless, its repetitive, and sometimes it feels like its all uphill.

The upstrokes are the good days. When you go out to find a perfectly blue sky day and the birds are singing, and the skip poppin' baby goats come running around the barn to dance and prance away the day, or when your best hard workin' farm dog helps you and its like you can read each other's minds. The good days are a piece of cake and its all sunshine and roses. Its like driving fast with your windows down and the radio up and the wind in your hair on a straight country road with no one around for miles.

But the upstrokes and the down strokes, together, propel you forward. Hard, easy, hard easy, pretty soon you're making progress. The hard times - the challenges - force you out of your comfort zone and make you learn something new. All "easy" days give you a false sense of well being and don't let you master the skills you need to keep going. And it makes you ungrateful and self absorbed. Its good to remember the cost at which your life comes. It keeps you honest. Its the difference between "Hey look at everything I've done!" and "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me."

Tuesday was Angel's last day with us. She was just a chicken, one of my laying hens. Nothing remarkable or interesting about her, just a regular old laying hen with a big floppy comb and beautiful white feathers. Of course she was a favorite. She was one of the original chicks that we got when we started out. I think she must have been 7 or 8 years old. I can't even believe that she lasted this long - I prepared to preach her funeral 2 or 3 times when she had a prolapse a couple summers ago and I was sure she wouldn't make it. But she did.

This time her luck ran out. She developed some kind of abscess that couldn't be fixed and her number was up. My smart friend calls this kind of end "the final kindness." And so it was and it was time. It should have been last week but I couldn't bring myself to make the decision. Tuesday, tho, I couldn't put it off any longer.

We've had a lot of attrition lately with our good old hens, but that's only because they are getting along in years. So one by one we are saying goodbye to them. Most of them we just let pass away with dignity, unless, like Angel, they were suffering.

Angel PurplePants held a special place in my heart. There's a funny story about her, and how she got her name, and I'll write it up one day. But not today. She was my good ol' girl and we had a fun relationship. She let me carry her around. She came when I called her. She wasn't flappy and ridiculous. She was the sweetest thing. So we buried her beside a lovely little tree in the garden.

That was the down stroke.

The upstroke was that we also hauled in a full harvest of meat chickens. We probably have about 35 pounds of fresh, naturally raised meat cooling in our coldest fridge right now. Tomorrow I'll part them up and we'll have good eating for many meals. And they are huge too. So many dinners, so much stock, so many leavin's for the cats. Thank heaven for our full harvest! We've fed them on the cheap and now are getting a just reward. To be sure it was a cold day with a biting wind but that just made us work a little faster.

So it was a weird day. One to her grave and others to their glory in noodles. Sometimes folks ask me how we can butcher our own chickens. But today just showed its all how you think about it. We'd never send dear little Angel to the pot but we couldn't get that mean meat roo to the block fast enough.

Down stroke. Upstroke. Just keep peddling. It feels like progress.

Have a great Wednesday everyone - and if you have a special hen, give her an extra snuggle and tell her she's the sweetest thing.

Berry Crisp in Winter

We all survived the Ice Storm 2012-near-disaster.. whew! But at this writing (late on Sunday nite) it looks like things are cranking up again on the weather front. Hopefully Monday morning we'll still have the lights on.  This is what I'll be having for breakfast...

What could be more decadent than berry crisp in winter?

Remember when we dominated at the U-pick strawberry farm? And then we went on a blueberry rampage? Those were probably two of the best projects we did last summer...well not including all of these also... but berry picking really paid off in a great way.

For the last couple weeks we've been in a crisp frenzy. Specifically blueberry and strawberry crisp. What a joy to have a little bit of summer just when you need it in their dark winter days.

This one was a combination of whole blueberries, ready to go blueberry filling, and ready to go strawberry filling made last summer and frozen in those gladlock containers. Easy peasy!

And nothing could be easier to fix. I grab about a quart of each - either whole berries or portioned, already-made, thickened fruit filling from the freezer and put them in my baking dish. I let them cook low and slow (maybe 325*?) for 30 - 45 minutes...and then I make the topping.

What's in the topping? Whatcha got? Mine is roughly equal parts of old fashioned oats and flour, then enough brown sugar to be sensible...and enough butter to make it look 'pebble-y' when whirred in a mini-chopper (or food processor if you have one).

Take the now-melted-berries out of the oven, shake on the topping evenly, and put it back in for about 30 minutes or until the crisp topping is.. well... is crisp and lightly browned.  You can turn up the heat to about 350-375*.

Berries + cream = heaven

Then its nothing but berry-liciousness and cream... oh golly who wants some?

Happy Monday everyone! Got a weather eye on the sky? These winter thunderstorms can pack a wallop - everyone OK?

Oh no I didn't... Oh yes I did.

Oh yes I did. Come on, admit it....

... how many of you panicked when you heard that Hostess declared Chapter 11 and may go belly up?  Did you run right out and buy yourself a box of Ho-Ho's or Ding Dong's or Twinkies or what not?

Liars.

Sure you did. We saw you huddled around the same end cap at the local Safeway or Kroger or PigglyWiggly or what not trying to decide which one to buy. I know because we saw you there. Why, we were standing next to you doing the same thing.

All of us, about the same age, nervously laughing about "do we or don't we"? Then we all walked away with a box of memories in our carts.

I have to tell you tho. After about 5 or 6 of them Ho-Ho's I remembered why I hadn't had one in about 20 years. I nearly died to tell you the truth. I think I might stick with that Michael Pollan's idea of making my own junk food from now on.

While I ain't got any particular love for Twinkies, deep fried or not, I do hope that our grand ol' gal, Hostess, makes it out of bankruptcy and doesn't end in a fizzle.

Well now, you can deny it all if you like but if you didn't buy yourself a box of Hostess whatevers, I'm sure you thought about it. Go on now and admit it. If not, there'll be an alter call for all you liars later.

Ho-Ho's just aren't the same with out the foil wrapper so I do believe that I've had my last one. Goodnite, sweet Hostess, and good luck!

Any body else give themselves a headache with bad snack cake choices? Happy Thursday!

More on Dogs and Livestock

THANKS, everyone, for all the great comments on our post about having big dogs! Great feedback and thoughts from everyone. A couple questions and comments came up several times so I thought I'd tackle them all here, if that's ok?

How do you train a hard workin' farm dog? Run right out and get the book, How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners (Revised & Updated Edition). The book is by the Monks of New Skete who raise and train German Shepherds and is a great resource. Follow it to the letter and you'll be just fine. Then go and watch about 100 hours of Cesar Millan on Hulu. You'll remember that the bad owners are too much for us to watch, but wow, I learned a lot from his book, Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life.  And for folks who want to train their herding dogs, well The farmer's dog is a classic.

One thing to remember, tho, is that managing big dogs is a lot of work. And not everyone has the personality for it. Or the time that it takes to train a big, hard workin' farm dog. So if its not your thing than that's just fine - there's nothing wrong with a good ol' family dog.

Luckily for me, I'm naturally bossy and believe in hard work and discipline. And it doesn't hurt that I'm a kind of a bad ass with zero tolerance for shenanigans.

We had a funny conversation the other day with someone who was interested in our curly tailed bear killer pups, Zander and Kai, and was gently trying to figure out if we had "too much dog." He looked up at The Big Man who answered that he'd always had big dogs and had been known to make big dogs pee their pants with his voice, so no problem. Then our friend turned to me and asked if I probably had problems managing the dogs? Because I'm a small person with a not deep voice?

"Nope," I said and looked straight at our friend, "I am one bad mutha-fu$!%*er."  For his part, The Big Man just nodded and said something about how dogs three counties over cringe when I get cranking if there is naughtiness going on. You have to be the boss of your dog and definitely the leader of your pack.

What about dogs and livestock?  I think DOC said it best... with a lot of work and the right handler it works. To be sure the biggest threat to your livestock is a dog running loose. To make sure its not YOUR dog that is the threat you need to persistently, continually, relentlessly reinforce to your dog that you "own" all the livestock.  And its on you to make sure that you organize your barnyard so that success is possible.

Put your critters behind fences, teach your dog not follow you thru a gate (unless invited), show your dog the livestock and tell them, "This is mine." Teach your dog "leave it." Encourage your dog to help you round up the critters but not in some crazed, wild eyed chase.  Hold your dog by the collar (or harness which works best) and slowly walk him with you while you round up the hens saying "bring them in." We have a command that means, "keep doing what you are doing but slow down" so there isn't a prey-driven chase. Be enthusiastic with your praise when your dog performs well. Provide the right correction when he doesn't. Many big dogs like to work and all dogs love having a job.

But don't forget for one minute that wrapped in whatever packaging that defines your dog's breed - at his heart he is a prey seeking, blood lusting, killing machine. You can shape it. You can command it. You can give it a job. But at his heart your dog is a wolf. Several dogs working together is a pack and all they want to do is kill something. Your ordinarily reserved, good natured dog will be very happy to be out there killing all your chickens if egged on by his brother dogs. Or even if one chicken looks at him funny. So supervise your dog at all times.

The exception to this are livestock guardian dogs - which are so hardwired to guard flocks of whatever you've got that they really don't need training. But we don't have those so we manage with training and supervision.

But what about the danger of mixing dogs and livestock? I'm willing to take that chance especially since, in my case, its more about the danger of livestock to me. Don't fool yourself, friend. The barnyard is a dangerous place especially if you aren't a particularly big person. As our livestock gets bigger so grows the danger to yours truly.

My city friends are convinced its all a big petting zoo out there but I'm here to tell you that's just not the way of things. Even the most docile goat can have a bad day and all bets are off when any of the critters are in rut. I like having Dog#1 sitting at the gate waiting for my signal to run to my rescue, if required.

Remember when poor Jenna got run over my her sheep? (See "Ten Horns 9/19/11) I can tell you for a fact that there is no way my dogs would let a bunch of stupid sheep run me down. And if they did, the dogs wouldn't leave me lying out there in the field. I know this because I've fallen before, one time badly, and Dog#1 rushed over and used his huge head to lift me up. And he let me put all my weight on him so I could stand.

As for rampaging flocks, the dogs tend to act differently if there is cause for alarm and I've learned to listen to them.  More than once the dogs have been at my side before I even knew there was malfeasance occurring. They've also learned that a sharp breath in (that precedes my scream) is the signal to come charging my way.

What if the dogs aren't around? They're always around - the only time they aren't is if they are intentionally gated in up on the deck. We always hold a proximity. We even have a command that means 'stay where I can see you' so that all the dogs kept are nearby. Its good for my safety and its good for me to supervise them.

It may seem like a big responsibility for your dog to protect you, but that's what they do. And inevitably someone will get mad and say, "Oh YEAH? Well. My goat could kill your dog!"  Beggin' your pardon, but your goat may kill your dog. But not mine. Could a goats get in a few good hits? Maybe a lucky blow? Sure. But we chose our dogs to be sturdy enough to stand their ground when necessary.  I've seen, and commanded, our dogs to stand their ground with the goats. I'm here to tell you that its not even a fair fight.  

Another someone was wondering why we chose these curly tailed bear killers when we have stock?  Remember that I'm out there alone most of the time. So I need my defensive team to be pretty big and burly. A couple of hundred pound bear killers are just the ticket. An unconventional choice for farming? Sure. But that's how we get 'er done around here.

We also need hunters. The shepherds (Ti and Lucky) aren't natural hunters at all. With fox central just on the other side of the goat yard, and the coyotes getting closer each season, we need to make sure we have some natural born killers out there. So Kai and Zander's job #1 will be to work as a team to clear out the varmints and keep the predators at bay. They probably will not develop the herding qualities that the shepherds have. But Kai is starting to get the hang of bringing in the chickens.

So that's the rest of the story on dogs and livestock.  The next time you are out in your barnyard go and look at your goat. See that her eyes are on the sides of her head? That's so she can see behind her when something is chasing her. Now go look at your dog. Forward facing binocular vision. Predator. Prey. That's the way of things. If you work hard you can get that wolf not to kill your prey. But it takes persistence. Supervision. Hard work. Discipline. That's our way of things.

Now whatcha waiting for? Get out there and teach that dog to herd up all them chickens and bring them in.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

In Praise of Salmon Faverolles

This first time I saw some Salmon Faverolle chicks I knew I had to have them.

My beautiful Jane.

They were adorable little puffballs and it was easy to tell the roos from the ladies by their different colors.  So quick as a wink I grabbed a trio, stuffed them in a sack, and ran for the truck before their previous owner could object. Salmon Faverolles are now one of my favorite chicken breeds.  Great layers, easy keepers, and they have excellent table qualities that make this dual purpose chicken a must have for everyone's barnyard.  And they are on the ALBC list.

Total Goof

The are, however, ridiculous. As in total goofballs. And nothing bad you've ever read about this is true. They are not shy, they don't get picked on my other chickens, and the roos can be formidable. They may surprise you. I once found the shattered remains of what was once a huge rat next to an over-agitated Salmon Fav hen who had obviously stomped that rat to death. You wouldn't expect it from a fluffy ridiculous chicken. Cool blooded killers.

Original trio, see the hens are light brown and the dark one is the rooster

I started with the ladies, Eliza and Jane, and their roo, Mr. Tibbles. I am currently overrun with Salmon Faverolles and I just love it.  Mr. Tibbles is definitely my favorite rooster right now. However, he has the most annoying habit of not letting me talk. As soon and I start chatting with the Good Neighbor Mom, Mr. Tibbles struts over near me and starts screaming his head off. Goof. He's only flogged me once and I think he was just having a bad day. Despite his size he doesn't let the other bigger roosters push him around.

See that Mr. Tibbles with his fancy finery is really only as big as a normal hen. 

Salmon Fav's aren't big chickens. They are really plump and round in shape, have tuffed ears, fluffy little faces, and one weird extra toe. I am not lying. They have an extra toe. I do not know why but its a little creepy especially on the chicks. Except for that freaky fifth toe tho, everything about Salmon Fav's is rollypolly and beautiful.  Check it out in the picture below - see the extra toe on the hen?

See Mr. Tibbles' stunning feathers and coloring? He's showing this young hen where to find food.

My two mature Salmon Fav hens are complete opposites. Jane is lovely and refined and demure. Eliza is a nutbag. I'm not kidding. She is certifiable. She's flappy and ridiculous, likes to perch up high, doens't like to come in at night, and does not like to be told what to do. Eliza had exactly one chick hatch last summer - Doolittle. I call her that because she does little but be ridiculous. She's lovely tho and a keeper. Doolittle doesn't fit the light beige, salmon color standard - she's obviously a mix and is beautifully black and white splashed.

A close pix of that freaky extra toe and the roo's fancy coloring.

I loved that they were funny little chickens, really appreciated that they were good layers... but what got me was when we dressed one particularly mean roo. I figured I'd get a handful of meat from what was surely mostly feathers on that small, angry roo's carcass. But wow was I surprised! It was a lot of meat that was amazingly tender and delicious... dare I say.... delicate?

 All their extra fluff makes them cold hardy. Winter? What winter? This gal is still laying.

Chicken from your yard is always more chicken-y then what you get in the store but the meat from the Salmon Fav roo was so...so... sublime... that it was stunning. We'll have another Rooster Day here soon and dress the rest of the extra roos. I'll take some pix and better notes if I haven't sold you already on why you should have a couple lovely Salmon Faverolles in your barnyard.

So what do you think, Chai Chai? Are you ready for some Salmon Faverolles?

Happy Tuesday everyone, remember that the hatcheries will start cranking up their incubators soon. So why not add a couple of Salmon Fav's to your order? You won't be sorry...unless that freaky extra toe is just too weird.

Whatcha doin' with them big dogs anyway?

Sometimes folks ask me what we are doing with all these big dogs.

My Number One Dog, Titan, on patrol. Isn't he something?

They ask, aren't they a lot of work? Expensive to feed? Provide jaw-dropping vet bills? And what about having those curly tailed bear killers with livestock - aren't they just gonna eat the goats? Is it worth it?

The answers are... yes, yes, yes, I hope not, and ohmigolly, yes.

Yes, I spend my days repetitively issuing commands, pointing in the direction I want the dogs to go, telling them "don't touch that", and standing there glaring while a stubborn pup walks painstakingly slowly toward me. I've probably only slept in past 8:30am twice in the last 16 months because one of them needed to go out and pee (who's idea was it to get a pup two years in a row?).

And I've had more than a few hair pulling, hat throwing moments punctuated by flying tackles to save a flappy hen from certain death at the hands of an over interested pup. But the training pays off when I'm watching Titan hot stepping a bad rooster back into the hen house, or when I send Kai around to "go bark" at something.

We go thru a 50 pound bag of expensive dog food a week - even with all the meat and stuff we supplement from our barnyard. As for the vet bills, well, I had an expensive truck repair and I tell you the truth - that pup gets better mileage... or should I say "smileage" than that truck, for sure.

As far as the livestock goes, any one, and definitely any two or more of those dogs working together could easily kill any of the goats. But so far the goats aren't stupid enough to get out of their yard and I haven't been stupid enough to leave the gates unlocked so the dogs can get into the goats. And we are working on carefully shaping those bear killer's prey drive...... without being fooled for a moment that their biggest joy in life would be to release their inner wolf and to pull down one of them meat bags... I mean, goats.

But even so, folks ask, isn't it dangerous having high-prey-drive-dogs with obviously-prey goats?

You know what's dangerous, friend?  Living out here in the country. Time was that you were safe living in a small town. Now things are different and this small town has seen its share of big time city violence. Living out in the country with the crazies and the ol' wild cats used to be manageable. But now, hell. Now you've got pot growers, meth labs, and just plain, no-damn-good folks with nothing but violence in mind. Throw on top of that the cuts in public service - many of the local sheriff and law enforcement agencies have had to lay off some of their officers - and at best we are 15 to 20 minutes from a 911 response even on a good day.

So while it would be sad if the pups went on a rampage and killed some hens or the goat - what I'm really concerned about is who is gonna show up here looking to do harm and what I'm gonna do about it.  Four enormous, barking, snarling, territorial dogs who work together are our first line of defense. Aside from, you know, the actual fence... and the gate, of course.

Big dogs are reliable, never jam, and are always loaded.  Unlike bullets, I can always call the dogs back. And I don't have to be around for them to work. Large barking dogs, like gunfire, are disorienting and tend to scare off opportunistic ne'er-do-wellers.  Or at least slow them down. Not that I'm against firearms. In this part of the world "gun control" means hitting your target and making it look like a defensive shooting, even if the offender is running away in a slow, arching pattern.

Having big dogs in the yard is also a good deterrent if thieves are out looking for their next robbery. If your house can't be seen from the road, a couple big dogs behind your gate are a great way to send bad guys to the next house. I didn't think this would actually happen to us until one day I had a guy pull into our drive "looking for directions." We got the gate the next weekend. And yes, the dogs kept him in his truck. I've never seen anyone roll up a window so fast. Just so's ya know, out here no one in their right mind would drive up to a house they can't see just to say "hi" and ask where Timmy's house is located.

Of course, having big dogs has its downside. The mail man and the UPS guy hate delivering out here. I tell them to hold our packages at the post or just throw the deliveries over the gate. Mostly the delivery guys are good sports about it. But I'd rather have the inconvenience of having to drive down to get whatever I ordered then to have a couple of Labradoodles out there scaring exactly no one.

I know a guy who lives in civilization. One night not too long ago a couple of them clipboard carrying types knocked, then pushed their way into the house when this guy opened the door. This guy's wife and two small kids were in the kitchen having dinner. This guy is man of action, so he got the bad guys shoved right back out. But this guy said to me that it was the first time he "got" the dog thing. Yep. Even if someone makes it down the drive, I only answer the door with at least two dogs at my six. Bad guys might be able to push their way in, but friend, I am here to tell you they wouldn't enjoy what they would find inside.

To be sure big dogs aren't for everyone. And families should have family dogs... but I am glad I've got all this mouth and teeth around me. Sometimes folks ask if Dog#1 is really just a big teddy bear. Nope. He loves me for sure, but the rest of your son's-o'-golly-whats are on your own.

We had a situation nearby that could have very easily gone even worse than the tragedy that was left when the smoke cleared. The dogs started howling at the sirens but I didn't think too much about it until the Good Neighbor Mom called and asked if I'd seen the warnings on the news. Suffice it to say we all locked the gates, got the guns, and put the dogs out. Mercifully the situation was contained but innocent lives were lost for no good reason.

After we got the 'all clear' I called the dogs back in and we all sat there. Me and the big dogs and the curly tailed pups. I'm not foolish enough to think that if home invaders made their way into the house that it would be like a movie scene with the dog saving the day. But I do know that it wouldn't be too easy for them bad guys to get inside in the first place.

That night, as we sat and watched the news report, Titan put his huge head on my chest and gave a big dog sigh. If it came to it I knew that he'd stand with me. I'd seen him stand in the splash zone and not flinch when the shooting started for our hog harvest, watched him get that pig turned when it was charging right at me, and scare back another pig who was coming over the fence.  And heaven knows my Dog#1 and I have battled that gander more than a few times.

I don't know exactly what would happened if violence came our way.  But I do know that me and the dogs, well, we'd  put up one hell of a fight.

Keep an eye out for malfeasance, friends, and keep the gates closed. You just never know what's gonna happen. 

Does everybody have today off? Everyone gets a holiday but the chickens never get a day off and neither do I.

Miss Ginny's Chicken

This morning it was 0* when I took the dogs out. So today my plan is to do exactly what the temperature was.. nothing. So I thought I'd show everyone's Ginny's chick!

Remember a while ago we had that funny hatch and I started handing out chicks.. well, really I was just assigning some folks a chick? Ginny, from over at Gingergbread's House, got a beautiful chick - I knew she was a hen when I first saw her (the chicken not our Miss Ginny).  So, here she is...

Isn't she beautiful? We had funny lighting that morning but the chick, named Ginny, is just a stunner. I love her lovely speckles.  She is the softest white with pale brown, and non-feathered legs. She's got a beautiful shape. She'll be "heavy" and wedge shaped and a good layer for sure. Some of these young hens are starting to lay, but we haven't been pushing them. In a few weeks, tho, we'll start to see things pick up with the longer days.

You can see that she's not as big as some of the hens. Here she is with Raspberry, my beautiful brown-red Cochin hen. Ginny the chick also has the "right" number of toes. Many of this hatch came from one of the Salmon Faverolles, which have a fifth toe. Its kinda freaky but I don't mind too much.

This will probably be her rooster.... he's yet unnamed as he just got a pass on Rooster Day last week. Look how beefy he is! These light brahmas dress out beautifully. The only drawback is that they have this kind of weird "single hair" feathers...long thin wisps. If they are missed during plucking I just singe them off with a lighter. Easy peasy.

Today the sun is out and all the troops are out in their yards. Its started cold but is now a balmy 20*. Everyone had cabin fever from being cooped up for the last two days so they are out enjoying the sunshine.

I still have sloth and am parked by the fire with Nicholas. The weather will break on Monday or Tuesday and then I"ll get busy but until then..... I'm gonna just sit here by the fire.

Happy Sunday everyone!