Clearing the Camera...

Wow. How can it be 11 days since my last post? What could we have been doing all that while that took us away from writing? I think I can explain...

It started with our planting and tending these:

We sold 4 shares this year in our farm's first CSA offering. While it is exhilarating to know these folks believe in us and want to share in our dream, it is also a bit terrifying. We take this responsibility to sow, cultivate, reap, and provide very seriously. So, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, broccoli and watermelon have been carefully planted and grown in our little greenhouse. Garlic, peas, kale, scallions, radishes, beets, carrots and spinach were sown into cultivated, raised garden beds. New garden spots were prepared for transplanting as soon as the danger of frost has passed.

Rusty, Charles, George, and an un-named Partridge Cochin Rooster all found new homes since I last posted about them. This still leaves us nine young roos in need of new homes, but we are hopeful of placing them soon. While they wait, our resident roster of roosters were moved from their 10x10 stall inside the barn to a portable, fenced yard where they could stretch their legs and roam. Being cooped up is no life for them. Sean worked for several hours driving metal stakes and stretching 6 foot tall wire to secure a safe pen for them. With these new arrangements, they can dig and scratch and stretch their wings to their heart's content, which they appreciate. We placed them in the tall grass in the backyard where next year's raised beds will live. While they are busy digging and scratching, they are turning over the ground and providing some soil enhancement via their own brand of  all-natural fertilizer, which we appreciate. As they do their job, we'll move them to a new section of grass to work. I call this a win-win.

The roos taken care of, we turned our attention to removing both the 6 week old and 10 week old pullets from their brooder in our living room into their new yard outside. And, for a total of 2 days, our home was poultry-free.








And, then, Broody Wyandotte's clutch of 10 eggs began to hatch. We were gifted with 2 chicks on Saturday, 2 more on Sunday, 2 more on Monday, and another on Tuesday. The final 3 eggs in her clutch were candled when no more chicks appeared Wednesday. One was undeveloped and discarded, but the other 2 were alive. By Thursday evening one of them hatched. We are hopeful that the last little chick will emerge sometime tomorrow or Saturday.

Two of last year's pullets have also gone broody. Since the other breeding groups have been separated since before this clutch was placed under our willing hen, it was time begin collecting and marking eggs to set. If all goes to plan, we'll welcome 14 feather-footed Cochins and 5 new Easter Eggers to the farm in time for the next farm swap.

The hens are not alone in wanting to hatch out some young. Caitlin has been guarding her nest of 6 eggs vigilantly. Yesterday, she was rewarded for her effort with the hatching of 2 perfect yellow gosling chicks. We won't be keeping these little ones. To help tame them for their new family, Sean and I brought them inside and settled them into the duckling/gosling brooder. We'll spend a lot of time handling and loving them before they find their new home.



Five ducks have joined the ranks of the broody, built nests and are collectively sitting on approximately 60 eggs. We are hopeful to welcome these little ones to our farm any time now.

Something finally had to be done with the dog's yard. It was too small for 3 dogs to romp and play in. Fenn bored with his kingdom ripped large holes through the wire and escaped regularly which led us to have to chase him all over town. Huskies run. Angus and Buster escaped, too, but they usually managed to find their way to the front door to scratch to be let back in. Sean's manager offered us a 40 ft x 16 ft chain link yard that they were removing from their yard and we jumped at it. It took us a solid couple of evenings working on it, but finally, the pups had a suitable yard for running and playing in and the best part? Fenn has not escaped... yet.

It has been especially nice that the weather has been favorable (for the most part). The goats have been able to run free with us to graze in the woody part of our land and in the back yard brush. They love to eat the dandelions which makes our back yard quite attractive and if it keeps them out of the freshly planted veggie beds, I won't complain. They are usually satisfied with remaining with us. At least, until one of them discovers (or makes) a hole in our fencing that they can exploit to meander to areas off limits. Then, they all get into the game and abandon us in favor of naughtiness. Hadassah is by far the worst of the lot. She spends more time in the buck pasture climbing their logs and enticing Salome to join her badness than any of the other kids. She has also been found grazing with the horse in her pasture one day and quietly munching greens on the front yard when we returned home from some errand another day. Sean has spent a significant bit of time reinforcing the fencing with smaller gauge wire to prevent her escape, but has been unsuccessful at thwarting her thirst for freedom. At least, she does not want to be apart from her Mother for long and puts herself back where she is supposed to be when she tires of her adventures.

 

We are milking the does, Rachel, Leah & Ruby each morning. I milk Leah who is the most docile and least likely to step in her bucket, but produces the least amount of milk. Ruby is easy to milk and rarely misbehaves. Sean milks her on his stand at the same time as I milk Leah. Then comes Rachel, who takes a person at her head to distract her with a variety of grains and one person milking as fast as they can. I distract. Sean milks. She may be bad mannered on the milk stand, but she is neck and neck with Ruby for milk supply. Rachel currently holds this month's record for the highest milk collected in a single milking at 44 oz one morning.

I am putting the milk to good and delicious use. It is a very good thing that our family really likes cheese. In the past 10 days, I have made three 10 oz tubs of garlic and chive chevre, one 10 oz tub of garlic dill ricotta, one 10 oz tub of plain ricotta, 5 pounds of feta cheese (I followed this recipe HERE), and 2.5 pounds of farmers cheddar cheese.(This was a press-less, raw mild cheddar I found the recipe for HERE.) I have 7 bags of milk frozen for soap making purposes. And, we still have 11 quarts of fresh goats milk in the fridge waiting to be made into something. Maybe yogurt?





I know I have been a little absent here this week and I hope you'll bear with me as our season winds up. I have three other half-written posts needing photography and polish and I will try to find the time to post them and keep updating you all to the happenings round the farm. One of the posts will feature our experiment with making our own home-made organic hair shampoo and conditioner. Another is a post about looking forward. I think you'll enjoy them both. I appreciate your patience and your taking time out of your busy day to visit with us.

Thanks for visiting today. We're sure glad you're here.
Sean and Sonja ♥

Chicken Feeders & Trouble

We've raised chicken for several years. We started with some adult, 2 year old, Rhode Island Red hens procured from someone who didn't want to eat them when they began slowing their egg-laying and we got the chicken keeping "bug". We added 8 "battery hens" later. Having succeeded with these, we began raising chicks. Eventually, we bought ourselves a rooster and started hatching our own chicks. We have dealt with spraddle leg, chicken colds, and bullying. We learned to watch for signs of disease and how to care for sick or injured birds. More importantly, we learned how to prevent many problems before they could start in our flock. To date, we care for nearly 100 birds at our farm. And I would have sworn, we were not easy to shock at this point in the game.

And that is when it happens.

What happens??? The unexpected.

Thursday was an ordinary day. Sean went to work. I went to work. We checked the animals and did our afternoon chores when we got home. Everything seemed completely normal until we reached the new pullet tractor. We were missing one of the new white Leghorn chicks. A quick scan around the pen and the problem was easily spotted.


This is the tail end of a white leghorn chick.

We use basic, inexpensive, plastic chick feeders for our chick brooder pens. (They cost about $2,70 on Amazon.) You've seen them. You've probably used them, if you have ever kept chicks. The base looks like this. And, the top is a plastic quart bottle, which gravity feeds the grain to the chicks. We have used these since we began raising chicks and never had a problem.

Until now.

I couldn't believe my eyes. As best we can figure, the chicks (in all their raptor-smart intelligence) managed to work together to unscrew the top from the base of the feeder. Talk about team-work! This is quite an accomplishment for creatures 5 inches tall and possessing no fingers or hands! We still have not come up with a reason for their desire to accomplish this, except to see the look of wonder in our eyes. Not satisfied to be just one of the collective, one ambitious Leghorn pullet, wedged herself (head first) inside the plastic top and waited for our return. I am kidding, of course about the method of occurrence. More likely, the chicks knocked the plastic feeder sideways and by some freak accident, the base detached. The chick, seeing grain still inside, walked in and got herself "stuck". I apply that term loosely here. She was stuck in the sense that every time we attempted to remove her, she'd open her wings and effectively prevent our pulling her out. Had she not resisted, she would have slip right out of there in seconds. I am half-convinced that given enough time she might have decided to turn around and walk herself back out. However, we had other things to attend to and waiting for Miss chick's grand entrance was not on our "to do" list. And, the thought of leaving her in the bottle to fend for herself was clearly unacceptable. There was nothing else to do. Sean mounted a rescue attempt.



Peace restored and Leghorn pullet none-the-worse-for-wear, we got back to our scheduled plans for the evening.

Will we use those screw on feeders again? I don't know. Would you?

Sonja ♥

And, Sometimes, You Win...

Sometimes, you win.

This post is a loooong time in the writing, but I can say that today.

Let's look back a bit. Last September, Ellie began scouring severely. We tried probiotics, yogurt, and pepto-bismal. We sent a fecal sample to be tested. Ellie was diagnosed with a heavy worm load. The Ridge Runner Vets were helpful. They told us what we needed to use and where to find it. We thought we were out of the woods until nearly a month later, Ellie collapsed outside the barn. Unwilling to have her put down, we set to work to help her to recover, if she could. Our course involved changing her diet, moving her to the basement where we could watch her better, and trying every reasonable suggestion we could find to help her to gain the strength she would need to fight this. It was touch and go through the fall until Ellie was well enough to return to the pasture.

Winter hit with exceptionally long stretches of cold weather. One of these December snaps found Ellie down at the far end of her field- freezing. Back to the basement she went and we continued to try to help her to put on weight and gain back her strength.

By the time Spring arrived and Ruby, Rachel and Leah were ready to kid, Ellie was finally well enough to return to the barn. Still thinner than we liked and walking slower than previously, Ellie was beginning to make some noticeable improvements. Ellie started reasserting herself. She began vocalizing and warning the other does away from what she considered her personal hay manger. It escalated to the point that if the does ignored her warning, a head push was deployed to physically move the offending doe from Ellie's hay. Day after day, Ellie gained ground in putting on some much needed weight. As she did, her personality emerged. She began running to greet us and eat her morning and afternoon grain.

And, then, she did this:


It is not normally allowed behavior, but I could not have been more pleased when it happened. Finally, finally strong enough to use those muscles. I could have cried for the joy of it.

We have nearly 7 months before the warm weather is gone, again. 7 months for Ellie to continue to heal and make a full recovery. And, you know what? If I were a betting woman, I would put my money all on Ellie and let it ride. ♥

Thanks for visiting today, friends. I am very glad to have your company.
Sonja ♥

Bad Horse

After Sean spent several hours repairing posts that had come loose in Maine's annual spring mud, we thought they might last intact a week, at least. Little did we know that the Evil League of Evil had called Miss Jasmine into their confidence. (Dr. Horrible fans understand what I am saying.)

This video is a satire and is meant to be in jest. I hope you enjoy watching it. We need to repair some posts (again!)


Sean & Sonja ♥

Recycled Plastic Bottle Greenhouses

About 6 months ago, while scrolling through Pinterest, I saw an interesting picture of a small tomato plant growing inside a plastic bottle and thought, "Neat! We could do that. We should do that!" and filed the thought into the recesses of my mind. All winter long, we collected and rinsed out all the clear plastic 2 liter bottles our family used in preparation. I wanted to link to the original image yesterday. After searching (in vain) for the original inspiration of our recycling 2 liter bottles into mini greenhouses for our veggies this year, I decided that I would snap some pictures of ours and write a little about our experience.

We began with Sean carefully cutting each bottle nearly in half leaving a 2-2.5 inch tab using a sharp knife. (That is the hardest part of the entire project.)

Then, I added some damp sterile potting soil to the bottom of the bottle. After carefully removing the seedling from the 6 pack cells, I set the root ball onto the soil inside the bottle. If it is necessary, loosen the roots carefully to encourage them to grow. I did not need to. Once the plant was centered, I spooned more soil around the stem until it was properly covered. Since I was using tomatoes, I covered a good portion of the stem. If you look closely, the stem of tomato plants are loaded with fuzzy, spikey "hairs" and it changes color near the point where the true leaves begin. These "hairs" will become roots if they are buried and allowed to grow. We have had good success using this method of planting. Basically, you cover up to where the stem changes color. Once the seedling is planted, it is a simple matter to replace the top of the bottle to cover it. We leave the caps on to increase humidity and moisture levels or remove them to allow more ventilation.

These tomatoes were sown in plastic 6 packs at the end of March. They were transplanted into the plastic bottle mini-greenhouses about 2 weeks ago. They have grown so well, that it is very nearly time to transplant them again! We are hoping to plant them in their permanent homes in some raised beds outside within the next 2 weeks. But, we live in zone 5 and we still awaken to frost most mornings, so that may not be viable just now. If the seedlings continue growing this well, we'll simply transplant them into large pots until the weather is more cooperative.

We have very limited space to start seedlings. To use what we have to the best advantage, as each mini greenhouse seedling matures, we move it in it's bottle to a sunny window to harden off and get ready for moving into cold frames outside. Another seedling is begun in 6 or 12 pack cells to germinate. Once they sprout their true leaves, if it is appropriate, they are transplanted into a bottle mini-greenhouse. And the cycle continues. It is perhaps a little more time consuming, all this planting and transplanting and moving about, but there are benefits to growing seedlings in this manner. One of the most important benefits is that the plants will mature in a staggered way providing ripe fruit over a secession of weeks. Another benefit is that should an insect or unwelcome garden guest eat the ripe fruits of one planting, there should be other plants still to ripen.

Our portable greenhouse is at full capacity with broccoli, peppers, and tomatoes. We use a little more electricity keeping 2 lights on to further encourage their growth, but the results prove that it is a worth-while expense.

So far, I am very pleased with how our recycled plastic bottle mini-greenhouses are growing. Even though we recycle bottles, glass, and metals, it feels good to give new purpose to something.

What about you? Have you tried this before? Have you tried something similar? How did it work out for you?

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today. I am glad for your company.
Sonja ♥

Also shared with: Backyard Farming Connection

Yard Time for Goat Kids

Our second show went well. We are so encouraged by these first shows- even though it means that we are working around the clock most days. Today was no exception. This morning's show began at 7am, so we needed to be up and milking goat's early. As in 5 am early. It was just after dawn when we began our chores, but we got everything done on time. And, as an added bonus, we glimpsed a young, moose cow on the way to our event, no more than 10 feet from the edge of the road. It stood there for a little bit while we searched for my camera. As soon as we found it, Miss Moose turned and walked back into the brush. Still, it was a neat sighting and a pleasant way to begin our day.

After the show, we returned home to complete our chores. Sean spent time fixing Jasmine's fencing. The ground is so wet that the posts are easily pushed over by Jasmine's insistence at eating what little shoots of green are growing on the back side of her pasture. It will be time to open the pasture for her soon, but we are holding off until there is some growth for her to eat. Until then, she is making due with a very muddy field to roam and fresh hay supplied daily. Sean did not really need me for this, so I spent my time making a fresh batch of chevre from 2 gallons of goat's milk. It will be ready to strain in the morning and by the time I get home from work tomorrow night, it will be ready to season. Yummy!

The recipe I am using is so simple. I warm 2 gallons of milk to approximately 90 degrees on the stove top in a large pot. While the milk is warming, I mix 2 drops of liquid vegetable rennet in 5 tablespoons of water and set it aside. Once the heating milk is the proper temperature, I open and sprinkle 2 packets of Chevre culture over the surface. I let it dissolve for 2 minutes. After the 2 minutes, I stir 4 tablespoons of the rennet/water into the warm milk/culture mixture for 2 additional minutes. Then, I cover the pot and place it into the cold oven to sit overnight. If I inoculate the milk at 3pm, it is ready to strain first thing in the morning in cheese cloth. I hang the cheese to drip until the cheese is the consistency I want. Then, it is time to salt, pepper, season to taste with fresh herbs and EAT! Oooooh yeah. I truly love how this cheese tastes.

 

Just as the cheese was finishing, a stray dog wandered down our road. Concerned about the unknown canine, Sean called me outside to watch the goat does and their kids while he finished repairing the fencing. Sean thought the does and kids would enjoy some time stretching their legs and playing in the front yard. Really, they enjoyed munching on what little fresh green grass was growing. Either way, I was very happy to oblige. Watching the goats play was a nice break from the work I still had yet to finish.

Fence repaired for the minute, it was time to check on all the pens and critters. Ellie is making fine progress back to health. She has a good appetite and loads of energy. Asher is still returning to the main doe stall whenever the mood strikes him to do so. This will have to be fixed sooner than later. I added it to my mental list. Abigail and Asher look great and have grown into sizeable yearlings. It is hard to believe that only a year ago they were the little kids on the homestead. Caitlin is sitting on her nest and makes a big fuss whenever I have to enter the yard to check grain and water dishes. Her calls bring Justin over to investigate. Today, he investigated the taste of my boot, hissing all the while for me to get away from his woman and potential offspring. I can see that something is going to need to be done here, too.

After collecting the afternoon's eggs for sorting and storing, we began some "inside" chores. First, we spent some time transplanting the rest of some fifty 5 inch tall tomato plants and a dozen 4 inch broccoli plants into new containers. I came across an interesting idea of re-using clear plastic soda bottles as mini greenhouses a while ago. (I looked for the original post that inspired me to make ours to link, but couldn't find it or anything close to what I wanted.) To the sound of Star Trek Voyager, Sean cut the bottles for me and I planted and marked them. An hour and a half later, we were finished and both our little portable greenhouse shelving unit and living room window shelf were filled with mini greenhouses. I liked this project so much that I am going to try to write a post on it later this week detailing how we did it and the results.

Finally, at 7:30pm, it was time for some dinner! It is too easy to forget to eat when you are so busy. And, honestly, there was so much more that needed attention. We wanted to pick up the fencing for Fenn-dog, but that did not get done. Also on the list of things still "to do" is more mucking of stalls. Both Jasmine and Jedi's stalls need it. Perhaps tomorrow.

That is what is going on in our world. What have you been up to this weekend?

Thanks for visiting today.
Sean and Sonja ♥

Also shared at: The Backyard Farming Connection

We have MILK again!

It has been 10 days since the goat kids and their Mommas have been situated to their new home in the barn. This new arrangement is proving suitable for all the farm inhabitants, animal and human alike. I admit it was difficult to hear the kids calling for their Mommas that first night, but eventually everyone fell asleep and passed the night uneventfully. Now, everyone is settling into their new schedule. Each evening, we throw more hay to the herd and move the does into the main doe stall to spend the night. The kids sleep together in a pile in their stall, next door. In the morning, Sean brings out Leah first, then Rachel, and finally, Ruby. The does eagerly jump onto the milk stand and call for their morning grain. While they are busy having their breakfast, I feed the kids their morning grain; they nibble at it, but don't actually eat much at this point. Sean milks each doe in turn.

I help by providing a sterile milk bucket and coaxing the does to tolerate being handled with nice words, head rubs, and most importantly, GRAIN. Sometimes this works better than others; some days we are able to empty the does' udders and some days they begin to fidget and kick up. Three mornings ago, Rachel stepped into the milk bucket which meant her entire milking had to be discarded. Thankfully, we collect each doe's milk separately, so only her milk was ruined. In time, with practice, milking will be less stressful for all of us. After each doe is milked, they are let into the kids' stall to pass the day with their kids, separated from the rest of the herd. As the kids get bigger, they will be integrated with the the other does. For now, this system works.

Milking adds an additional 30 minutes to our morning chores, but the quarts of milk we receive far outweighs the additional expenditure of time involved in collecting it. So far, Leah has not been a very productive doe, but her production is increasing a little each day. She began with 9.5 oz of milk and gave us 15.4 oz this morning. Rachel began at 12.3 oz, but she has increased steadily to give us approximately 24.4 oz of fresh milk each morning. She has been our highest producer so far! Ruby has been our most steady milk producer. She began at 17.8 oz and remains around 19 oz of milk each morning.

Zoe was very interested in the milking.

These are fairly low amounts, I know. I attribute that to a couple of factors. 1. We are still learning and Sean is milking by hand. As we get into the rhythm of milking faster, we may be able to collect more milk before the grain runs out and the does demand release via the very effective threat of repeated attempts to step in the milk pail. 2. This was Rachel and Leah' first kidding and they both have single kids. Leah only allows Judah to nurse. Rachel often supplies milk to 3 kids who aren't hers in addition to Keren. This may be why Leah is producing less (because the demand has been less) and Rachel has been producing so much more. 3. We have only just begun milking them. Now that they are getting milked each morning, they should begin to make more to compensate for the additional demand for it.

I think.

Adding to all those thoughts, Ruby is limping a bit on her left rear hoof. Sean accidentally cut too deeply when he trimmed hooves over the weekend and it looks like it may be a little infected, despite the disinfectant we used at the time. We cleaned it out well yesterday and this morning, but we are keeping a close eye on it and her. We are using hydrogen peroxide topically in conjunction with AUREOMYCIN (chlortetracycline hydrochloride),  an oral antibiotic, to kick this quickly. (Update: Ruby's limping has subsided and she is doing much, much better today. We are still washing the foot out with a disinfectant daily and watching as the infection is resolved.)

In accordance with the law that nature abhors a vacuum and there was nothing else amiss around here, Rachel began scouring Wednesday morning. She had no interest in her grain. We cleaned her up, gave her a booster shot of Ivomec (which was due), laced her drinking water with probiotic powder and molasses, offered her some pepto-bismal tablet (she declined to eat them.), and gave her a dose of CMPK drench. If this is from a high worm load, she should be better with the Ivomec on board. If it is because we increased her grain ration too quickly, the reduction of grain offered should help with that. She definitely seems to be feeling not herself. We went ahead and milked her some this morning on schedule because she was full of milk and uncomfortable. Sadly, we had to waste the milk we got from her today and will need to continue to until she is done being treated. (Update: the scouring stopped and Rachel is acting herself again.)

I had an epiphany this morning mid-chore: it is entirely ironic that we can keep an animal for YEARS, pouring money into feed, housing, and supplies and have no need for any kind of medical interference. The minute a critter begins to pay "rent" for their space at our home, we can expect major worm infestations, scouring, split hooves, infections and random cysts or growths to appear. With this being the case, the 10 roosters living in luxury in (what should be) the tack room, eating our grain and making messes for us to clean, will out-live us all.



In other news, we collected nearly 3 dozen eggs this morning from the coop to sell. Lacey Wyandotte seems to be broody and is sitting on a nest of 10 eggs in one of the nesting boxes. Maybe we'll have some assorted chicks to sell at the swap in May??? We hope to! The pullet chicks living in their brooders in our living room are all healthy and active. The 5 Rhode Island Reds we purchased a couple weeks ago have all gotten their feathers and no longer use a light. The 12 new chicks are beginning to get their feathers. I am hopeful that they will all be ready to move outside by May. I confess, I am rather ready for that NOW.

Justin and Caitlin have gotten quite serious about nesting. Caitlin laid 6 eggs in the nest Harlequin created and was using to incubate 8 of her own eggs. For a few days, goose and duck took turns sitting on the nest until Caitlin ruthlessly removed both Harle and her eggs. Rude, but effective. If the incubating goes well, we'll have some goslings come early May, too. There is another nest of duck eggs being created inside the chicken coop, but I have not seen anyone sitting regularly on them- so far.

Our tomatoes and broccoli are growing by leaps and bounds! We already transplanted them into larger containers and will perhaps need to do so again before they finally can be planted in the raised beds. No sign of the peppers as of yet, but it is still early days. And, we checked the garlic planted with hope last fall to discover 42 bulbs growing strong and happy in their bed. This was a cheery discovery that went a long way towards brightening the day.

Sean was gifted a chain link run for Fenn-dog. It measures 8 feet x 24 feet, but since we only need it to be 3 sided, it will give him 16 feet x 24 feet of additional room to run. We are going to see about picking it up on Sunday afternoon after our 2nd craft event. If you all are near the Searsport area, we'll be at the Lion's Club from 7am-2pm on Sunday and we will have our goat's milk soaps, scent shots, mosaic eggshell pendants and new earrings, fresh chevre and eggs, farm chic scarves and necklaces aaaaaaaand tiny tulle tu-tus (Meaghan's new project) for sale.

There is always something to be done around here. I guess it is time I get back to it. Thanks for checking in with us this morning. I hope you have a satisfying day, friends.

Sean and Sonja ♥