Our little farmer recently saw feathers in our yard and came to me to tell me that a hawk had been taking the chickens. We walked around the yard, and yes, I saw a few feathers, but nothing like the powerful taking that a hawk does to it's prey. We should have seen feathers and blood all over the yard. I confess, I began to believe she was just being overprotective. So, we did a head count and came up short. VERY short. Then it dawned on me, she had seen a little orange critter earlier. I turned to her and said "the fox is doing it."
Sure enough, that little bugger had been taking our birds. So far, it looks like 2 adult chickens, 4 baby ducks, and 4 baby chickens have fallen prey to the fox.
We just don't have a big enough indoor space for the birds to be cooped up all day, so that's not an option. Instead, she's been tying the dogs out in the back yard and staying out in the yard with them. Well, yesterday, our oldest girl Zen took off through the woods (still tied to the long lead) and chased that nasty little thing through the woods. Woo hoo, I can just imagine the joy on her face (she LOVES to chase) and the fear in the eyes of that little fox as she turned tail and ran for her life. Depending on how hungry she is (with that many birds gone, I suspect not very) and how many kits she has to feed, she may be back, but I doubt it will be soon. In the meantime, we are now working harder to get fencing up to protect our flock, in what little time we have to spare as it is.
With the long, long hours at work I've been putting in to get the year end completed, I've not had much time to blog. I do have pictures to post, as I've been promising, but haven't had the time to get them uploaded. As a result of this lack of time, I've not had time to do much wild collecting of food. We did harvest some honey recently, and the girls (chickens) and I harvested our garlic. Mostly, our dreams of partial self sufficiency with gardening and wild collecting have been falling apart.
Which brings me to the next point, how to declutter and slow down our lives. It looks like this is the path we should be taking before undertaking any new tasks.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Life continues on the "farm"
Well, it's been super busy at work. The place where my dogs think I go every day to hunt for their dog food. (I couldn't make them understand any other way)
The turkeys are getting huge. I have lost, or rather, it was misplaced for me, the card for my camera, so I have pictures to post but can't get them right now.
It's extraordinarily hard to keep up a full time job, especially during our busiest season, plus keep up with the demands of all the animals on the homestead, AND keep a clean house. Needless to say, things are falling apart a bit at the seams lately. However, the kids are away this week and it's amazing how things just fall into place and get cleaned up with no effort when you don't have to come home to make dinner. It's quiet without them, though, and I miss getting my phone calls throughout the day to let me know what they're up to.
The ducks are HUGE and have a new pool to swim in. They absolutely love it, but it will be a task to keep it clean. It only takes them two days to completely muddy the water. The duck house is almost built, and we've been enjoying eating from the wild harvest of blackberries, and groundnuts. I made a nice honey with rose petals. Tonight I will be canning beets, last night I canned the greens.
It's a lot of work, but it's rewarding. I enjoy going to bed each night because I am exhausted by that point, but I also look forward to the new morning to begin to see my animals and do the chores that will help sustain them. Each morning, everyone gets fresh grains and water, I put down new bedding for the turkeys, who are extremely messy, and hand out any treats I have like greens, liver, etc. The turkeys follow me around as I do my chores, as do some of the chickens, and George waits on the bottom step for his special wheat and corn breakfast. I want him to eat the nutritionally balanced pellets, so I only give him a snack. He's not starving, because I caught him courting with Martha yesterday. Looks like more babies are on the way.
I want to put a plug in for a great website www.eattheweeds.com - this guy has youtube videos where he shows you how to identify wild edibles and he's just fantastic. I highly recommend him for anyone interested in wild edibles.
The turkeys are getting huge. I have lost, or rather, it was misplaced for me, the card for my camera, so I have pictures to post but can't get them right now.
It's extraordinarily hard to keep up a full time job, especially during our busiest season, plus keep up with the demands of all the animals on the homestead, AND keep a clean house. Needless to say, things are falling apart a bit at the seams lately. However, the kids are away this week and it's amazing how things just fall into place and get cleaned up with no effort when you don't have to come home to make dinner. It's quiet without them, though, and I miss getting my phone calls throughout the day to let me know what they're up to.
The ducks are HUGE and have a new pool to swim in. They absolutely love it, but it will be a task to keep it clean. It only takes them two days to completely muddy the water. The duck house is almost built, and we've been enjoying eating from the wild harvest of blackberries, and groundnuts. I made a nice honey with rose petals. Tonight I will be canning beets, last night I canned the greens.
It's a lot of work, but it's rewarding. I enjoy going to bed each night because I am exhausted by that point, but I also look forward to the new morning to begin to see my animals and do the chores that will help sustain them. Each morning, everyone gets fresh grains and water, I put down new bedding for the turkeys, who are extremely messy, and hand out any treats I have like greens, liver, etc. The turkeys follow me around as I do my chores, as do some of the chickens, and George waits on the bottom step for his special wheat and corn breakfast. I want him to eat the nutritionally balanced pellets, so I only give him a snack. He's not starving, because I caught him courting with Martha yesterday. Looks like more babies are on the way.
I want to put a plug in for a great website www.eattheweeds.com - this guy has youtube videos where he shows you how to identify wild edibles and he's just fantastic. I highly recommend him for anyone interested in wild edibles.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
July is here and the foraging is on!
OK, officially on, anyway. We've been foraging for a while now, as the seasons just don't wait... but it is officially challenge time.
I gave a copy of Wild Foods I Have Known, and Eaten by Russ Cohen to the boyscout leader, a friend of ours, and he is loving it. Perhaps a new convert? I love spreading the word that wild edibles are not only healthy and free, but delicious also.
Keep posted, and we'll post more soon.
On the farm side, the baby chicks are 6 weeks old and temporarily living in the big chicken house. They can stay there for a little while, only because they are still small. The duck house is almost built and the turkeys are HUGE. We gave two of Martha's babies to a friend from work and they love them. They will be pets, so it's nice to know that they will be loved.
More later, thanks for reading!
I gave a copy of Wild Foods I Have Known, and Eaten by Russ Cohen to the boyscout leader, a friend of ours, and he is loving it. Perhaps a new convert? I love spreading the word that wild edibles are not only healthy and free, but delicious also.
Keep posted, and we'll post more soon.
On the farm side, the baby chicks are 6 weeks old and temporarily living in the big chicken house. They can stay there for a little while, only because they are still small. The duck house is almost built and the turkeys are HUGE. We gave two of Martha's babies to a friend from work and they love them. They will be pets, so it's nice to know that they will be loved.
More later, thanks for reading!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The ducklings are here!
Some people have asked me why Muscovy ducks are different. The fact is, from what I can tell, that they are not true "ducks" but were classified as such due to their duck bill and webbed feet.
Muscovys are quiet birds, the males making a hissing noise and wagging when excited, and the females almost entirely quiet unless softly peeping to their babies. They don't need water, they make excellent duck mothers, even being used on farms to hatch other eggs. They will roost in trees if left alone, but ours have learned to put themselves away at night into their coop area.
They eat less than other birds, forage really well (they are very wild genetically still), they're true lap birds, enjoying the company of people they trust. In fact, my George waits eagerly at the gate each morning for me to let him out, which I always do first, and then he follows me around while I do my chores. When I go back into the house, he hops up the steps after me and waits patiently while I go inside to get him some treats, which he gobbles up and then hops down the steps to start foraging for his own treats.
Their meat is purported to taste like pork and be indistinguishable from steak in appearance, and to have a lot more white meat than other duck. We will find out soon enough, I suppose. They are used all over the world as superb meat ducks, as one pair will yield up to 100 ducks annually. In Asian countries, they are mated with Peking ducks to make a good meat bird, which is in high demand. This mating yields mules, as they are not entirely the same species, the offspring are sterile.
Martha is now the proud mommy of 12 beautiful ducklings. We have pics, but will have to post later as we have company tonight.
Muscovys are quiet birds, the males making a hissing noise and wagging when excited, and the females almost entirely quiet unless softly peeping to their babies. They don't need water, they make excellent duck mothers, even being used on farms to hatch other eggs. They will roost in trees if left alone, but ours have learned to put themselves away at night into their coop area.
They eat less than other birds, forage really well (they are very wild genetically still), they're true lap birds, enjoying the company of people they trust. In fact, my George waits eagerly at the gate each morning for me to let him out, which I always do first, and then he follows me around while I do my chores. When I go back into the house, he hops up the steps after me and waits patiently while I go inside to get him some treats, which he gobbles up and then hops down the steps to start foraging for his own treats.
Their meat is purported to taste like pork and be indistinguishable from steak in appearance, and to have a lot more white meat than other duck. We will find out soon enough, I suppose. They are used all over the world as superb meat ducks, as one pair will yield up to 100 ducks annually. In Asian countries, they are mated with Peking ducks to make a good meat bird, which is in high demand. This mating yields mules, as they are not entirely the same species, the offspring are sterile.
Martha is now the proud mommy of 12 beautiful ducklings. We have pics, but will have to post later as we have company tonight.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Dinner Tonight
We were so revved up for the "challenge" of eating 25% of our food over the next three months as wild foraged foods that we decided to start tonight with a preview.
For dinner, we made pizza, admittedly with purchased flour and oils, but using my garlic scapes to make a pesto. The recipe was a handful of garlic scapes, a mixture of olive and walnut oils, some of my dried hot peppers from last year, some parmesan and sharp provolone, and topped with sharp cheddar. It was delicious.
For vegetable we had cat tails with garlic butter. Yummy, yummy, yummy! And dessert was elderberry flower fritters dipped in sugar. The consensus was that we should try to sell them.
OK, so there was a lot of purchased components in that meal... but it was delicious, for sure. I think next time we would use honey or maple syrup to sweeten the fritters. The oils have to be from our food stores since we don't have a way to produce it. If food production were shut off, we have to find a substitute, I guess it would be butter and animal fats again, with some small amounts of nut oils.
I will try to post pictures later, as all that wading in the marsh has us tired, and our full bellies are making us go to bed soon.
For dinner, we made pizza, admittedly with purchased flour and oils, but using my garlic scapes to make a pesto. The recipe was a handful of garlic scapes, a mixture of olive and walnut oils, some of my dried hot peppers from last year, some parmesan and sharp provolone, and topped with sharp cheddar. It was delicious.
For vegetable we had cat tails with garlic butter. Yummy, yummy, yummy! And dessert was elderberry flower fritters dipped in sugar. The consensus was that we should try to sell them.
OK, so there was a lot of purchased components in that meal... but it was delicious, for sure. I think next time we would use honey or maple syrup to sweeten the fritters. The oils have to be from our food stores since we don't have a way to produce it. If food production were shut off, we have to find a substitute, I guess it would be butter and animal fats again, with some small amounts of nut oils.
I will try to post pictures later, as all that wading in the marsh has us tired, and our full bellies are making us go to bed soon.
Wild Edibles and Medicinals Introduction
We’ve decided that we will go one week each in July, August, and September and eat only foods that we either grow or wild harvest, with the exception of meat and dairy foods. Tune back in to see how we’re doing and find any recipes I’ve come up with. Anyone with preservation methods for any wild foods and medicines is welcome to send that information to me and I’ll post it here with your permission.
I’d love to see the medicinal and food usage of “wild” or non-cultivated herbs, vegetables, nuts and fruits come back into popularity. Wild edibles are simply incredible in both flavor and nutrient concentration… and the low cost is an added benefit. Many people would be so happy to have you come to their property to dig dandelion and burdock roots they’d invite you back each year. (Just be sure that they don’t use chemicals on their property, which can concentrate in the root crops)
Yesterday, we ate some of the not yet opened flowers of our intentionally planted milkweed. Boiled for 8 minutes until tender and bright green and served with a little salt and butter… yum yum!
Today, on the way home from work for lunch, we stopped to pick some of the not yet opened flowers of the cat tails from the swamp. Boiled for 10 minutes and served with garlic butter, they have a mild taste and are just superb. I’m surprised that these foods are not found in the gourmet and health food stores.
One of my absolute favorites is daylily flowers. I adore them in place of lettuce in salads, but they do have a mild laxative effect. You have to eat a lot to have any issues, but last year, I kind of over did it. I also enjoy them stir fried with a little garlic butter. Try to keep it to a couple of cups a day. Sometimes we’ll just pass some on the road and whoever is driving will pull alongside and the passenger just picks and we eat as we drive slowly along. Talk about nutritional powerhouses, they have huge amounts of antioxidants. Here’s an article about the antioxidant properties, and apparently they are best eaten when first opened. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6R-4TVTJWR-6&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=75c09b1fae156f89c009f459bd606153
One of our goals this year is guerrilla gardening, but with local natives. We have a pond near us and this will be the second year we will be attempting to plant cat tails there. We’ll be planting ground nuts, milk weed, elderberries, daylily, Jerusalem artichokes, pig weed (wild amaranth), stinging nettles and burdock in a field nearby. And watercress in the brook next to the field. All of these are plants that grow near us and therefore won’t be doing anything to any micro ecosystems. We’re just moving them closer in one location so that we can have one stop shopping, so to speak.
For those of you who don’t know or haven’t tried these delicious foods, please look them up and make a point of trying some soon. Please email me at waggingtailsfarms@yahoo.com if you want more information.
I’d love to see the medicinal and food usage of “wild” or non-cultivated herbs, vegetables, nuts and fruits come back into popularity. Wild edibles are simply incredible in both flavor and nutrient concentration… and the low cost is an added benefit. Many people would be so happy to have you come to their property to dig dandelion and burdock roots they’d invite you back each year. (Just be sure that they don’t use chemicals on their property, which can concentrate in the root crops)
Yesterday, we ate some of the not yet opened flowers of our intentionally planted milkweed. Boiled for 8 minutes until tender and bright green and served with a little salt and butter… yum yum!
Today, on the way home from work for lunch, we stopped to pick some of the not yet opened flowers of the cat tails from the swamp. Boiled for 10 minutes and served with garlic butter, they have a mild taste and are just superb. I’m surprised that these foods are not found in the gourmet and health food stores.
One of my absolute favorites is daylily flowers. I adore them in place of lettuce in salads, but they do have a mild laxative effect. You have to eat a lot to have any issues, but last year, I kind of over did it. I also enjoy them stir fried with a little garlic butter. Try to keep it to a couple of cups a day. Sometimes we’ll just pass some on the road and whoever is driving will pull alongside and the passenger just picks and we eat as we drive slowly along. Talk about nutritional powerhouses, they have huge amounts of antioxidants. Here’s an article about the antioxidant properties, and apparently they are best eaten when first opened. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6R-4TVTJWR-6&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=75c09b1fae156f89c009f459bd606153
One of our goals this year is guerrilla gardening, but with local natives. We have a pond near us and this will be the second year we will be attempting to plant cat tails there. We’ll be planting ground nuts, milk weed, elderberries, daylily, Jerusalem artichokes, pig weed (wild amaranth), stinging nettles and burdock in a field nearby. And watercress in the brook next to the field. All of these are plants that grow near us and therefore won’t be doing anything to any micro ecosystems. We’re just moving them closer in one location so that we can have one stop shopping, so to speak.
For those of you who don’t know or haven’t tried these delicious foods, please look them up and make a point of trying some soon. Please email me at waggingtailsfarms@yahoo.com if you want more information.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Part 2 of raising chickens
Hi, all, here’s the rest of my post on how to raise chickens.
I raise my chicks organically, so I use molasses and apple cider vinegar and garlic in my water to help them stay healthy, fight disease and pasty butt. (that’s where their butts literally “paste” up and they can’t release their wastes and die) It’s given at a rate of 1 tablespoon of molasses and ACV and one clove of garlic to a gallon of water.
When your chicks are going to arrive in the mail, call the post office and let them know where you can be reached that day. They will likely call you and let you know when they are in. Some post offices will put a post card in your mail box, so find out what they will do before the chicks arrive. You want to be available to get them home ASAP so you can get water into them. When they arrive, I put the heat on in my car as hot as it will go, so they don’t get a shock of cold and then hot. Probably not necessary, but I like to feel like it makes a difference.
As soon as you get them home, you must take each one out of the box and dip it’s beak into food and then water (or else the food will stick to their beaks). They have enough food in them for about 3 days because they absorb the yolk, however, it’s imperative that they drink. This is one of the number one ways you’ll lose chicks. Make sure to dip each one’s beak and then watch to make sure they start to drink. (Note: turkeys often have to be shown several times over the course of several days)
You’ll want to get them mash for the first few weeks, which is just grains ground to a fine grind, a little coarser than whole wheat flour. You’ll also need to get them starter grit, but they won’t need it right away. Chickens “chew” their food by grinding it with rocks that they swallow, so your chicks will need you to provide tiny stones for them so they can properly chew their food.
I grind my own grain, and I use Ronda’s chick starter recipe #3. See here for more information. http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/ChickStarterRecipe.html. She has a great website. I also give them scrambled eggs, yogurt, and kefir.
After a few weeks, they can begin to eat grit, worms and diced greens.
They can also go outside as long as they have started to “feather out” and it is warm. Think about the temperature they have in their brooder box, it should not be much cooler than that. Provide them a warm place, like a box, for them to get out of any wind, and do not leave them alone out there. I like to garden while they are enjoying their first days outside, so that I can keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t get chilled.
At about 3-4 weeks of age, you’ll notice a fine dust all over your house. At this stage, they are ready to move to a bigger container, perhaps one that is not in your house any longer. This year, we used an extra large wire dog kennel, created a false floor by putting strips of wood across the horizontal wires running along the walls of the kennel, and topping it with a stiff piece of hardware cloth. We also give them perches at this age as they really want to be up as high as they can get. The false floor makes it nice because at this age, they’ll be pooping a lot more and you’ll be getting sick of cleaning. With the false floor, you can just scoop under them and bring it out to the compost bin. I also go up a feeder size and a waterer size at this point.
If you wish, you can also bring them outside into their permanent chicken coop at this age, as long as you are going to give them a source of heat.
Once they are fully feathered out you can bring them outside and let them start to free range. They will learn after about 2-3 nights where they live if you put them away for the first three nights and lock them in. My chickens always go away as night approaches, and I just have to go out and shut their door. They peep at you contentedly and let you know that they appreciate you.
Chickens are so much fun to watch, and you get to learn about their little games and personalities. I never knew until I started keeping chickens how much fun they are to share your life with. For instance, keep away is one of their favorite games, which is where one gets a worm and begins to peep loudly. She’ll run around and the other chickens chase her trying to get the worm from her. The other fun thing we really like is when one hen is laying a particularly large egg, she will cluck, and the others will “cheer her on” by clucking in chorus with her.
Feel free to email me or leave a comment if you have any questions.
I raise my chicks organically, so I use molasses and apple cider vinegar and garlic in my water to help them stay healthy, fight disease and pasty butt. (that’s where their butts literally “paste” up and they can’t release their wastes and die) It’s given at a rate of 1 tablespoon of molasses and ACV and one clove of garlic to a gallon of water.
When your chicks are going to arrive in the mail, call the post office and let them know where you can be reached that day. They will likely call you and let you know when they are in. Some post offices will put a post card in your mail box, so find out what they will do before the chicks arrive. You want to be available to get them home ASAP so you can get water into them. When they arrive, I put the heat on in my car as hot as it will go, so they don’t get a shock of cold and then hot. Probably not necessary, but I like to feel like it makes a difference.
As soon as you get them home, you must take each one out of the box and dip it’s beak into food and then water (or else the food will stick to their beaks). They have enough food in them for about 3 days because they absorb the yolk, however, it’s imperative that they drink. This is one of the number one ways you’ll lose chicks. Make sure to dip each one’s beak and then watch to make sure they start to drink. (Note: turkeys often have to be shown several times over the course of several days)
You’ll want to get them mash for the first few weeks, which is just grains ground to a fine grind, a little coarser than whole wheat flour. You’ll also need to get them starter grit, but they won’t need it right away. Chickens “chew” their food by grinding it with rocks that they swallow, so your chicks will need you to provide tiny stones for them so they can properly chew their food.
I grind my own grain, and I use Ronda’s chick starter recipe #3. See here for more information. http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/ChickStarterRecipe.html. She has a great website. I also give them scrambled eggs, yogurt, and kefir.
After a few weeks, they can begin to eat grit, worms and diced greens.
They can also go outside as long as they have started to “feather out” and it is warm. Think about the temperature they have in their brooder box, it should not be much cooler than that. Provide them a warm place, like a box, for them to get out of any wind, and do not leave them alone out there. I like to garden while they are enjoying their first days outside, so that I can keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t get chilled.
At about 3-4 weeks of age, you’ll notice a fine dust all over your house. At this stage, they are ready to move to a bigger container, perhaps one that is not in your house any longer. This year, we used an extra large wire dog kennel, created a false floor by putting strips of wood across the horizontal wires running along the walls of the kennel, and topping it with a stiff piece of hardware cloth. We also give them perches at this age as they really want to be up as high as they can get. The false floor makes it nice because at this age, they’ll be pooping a lot more and you’ll be getting sick of cleaning. With the false floor, you can just scoop under them and bring it out to the compost bin. I also go up a feeder size and a waterer size at this point.
If you wish, you can also bring them outside into their permanent chicken coop at this age, as long as you are going to give them a source of heat.
Once they are fully feathered out you can bring them outside and let them start to free range. They will learn after about 2-3 nights where they live if you put them away for the first three nights and lock them in. My chickens always go away as night approaches, and I just have to go out and shut their door. They peep at you contentedly and let you know that they appreciate you.
Chickens are so much fun to watch, and you get to learn about their little games and personalities. I never knew until I started keeping chickens how much fun they are to share your life with. For instance, keep away is one of their favorite games, which is where one gets a worm and begins to peep loudly. She’ll run around and the other chickens chase her trying to get the worm from her. The other fun thing we really like is when one hen is laying a particularly large egg, she will cluck, and the others will “cheer her on” by clucking in chorus with her.
Feel free to email me or leave a comment if you have any questions.
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