Peeps!

The chickies are here!  The children are so excited and love going to the coop to check on the peeps at least a couple times a day.  At this stage, they are so small and soft to hold.  They are warm and fuzzy on the cheek and their peep-peep is sweet.  The Pearl White Leghorn is the choice this year for our laying hens and Peach chose the Silver Laced Wyandot for her special pair of pullet chicks, and she also has a pair of baby Wyandot roosters.  We are hopeful for hatchlings next spring.  We shall see how it all plays out, but for now, we'll just enjoy the li'l peeps for what they are today.

Old dog, new trick...

 

This old dog has learned a new trick!  For years I have cleaned out the chicken coop with a scoop shovel and pitchfork, and I still do it this way, but I always brought a tractor to the door of the coop to scoop the poop into.  This day I did not have a tractor, but the skid steer was available.  However,  I didn't know how to run it.  We have had our skid steer for just a few months and I never learned how to use it so I asked Hubby if he'd show me how, and he was glad to oblige me.  The thing is, he couldn't get into the cab with me to teach me like he had in years past with the tractors because the skid steer is a one-seater and is so very small inside.  No room for two.  So I buckled myself in and let him talk me through it from the outside of the skid steer.  He provided sign language along with the oral instruction to to teach me, and he did an excellent job because in minutes, I was driving it and using the loader/bucket to do what I needed to do.  

I am so excited to have a new trick in my pocket!  The thing is, the more I learn about the equipment, the more valuable I can be to the ranch and to all who live here.  Not that I'm ever going to be as good at operating machinery as the men are, but I can do simple things.  Hubby has always told me how important it was for me to know how to run the tractors because if there would be an accident I could lift a bucket, turn off the power-take-off, turn it off or on, or move it when no one else might be around.  Learning to operate the skid steer is a confidence builder for me for sure!  I told my son-in-law who manages a feed store that if he ever needed an extra skid steer operator, he could call me!  He just laughed.  

2018 Super Chill!

 New Year's Day Walk (-1 F)

 Heidi likes to chase jackrabbits and deer

 No words needed

Indoor creativity

Out with the old and in with the new.  The old year goes and the new comes in.  That is how I explained what the new year is to 6 year old Toodles when she asked last night at our new year's eve  supper gathering.   To that simple explanation came her perfect word picture.  "Gram, it's like my wiggly tooth.  The old tooth will fall out and the new tooth will grow right in behind it."  Yes!  And here's a funny thing --  her wiggly tooth fell out last night!  Good bye old tooth!

The old year went out  --  super chill!  It was -25 degrees F from about 7 pm till midnight.  We stayed up so we know!  This morning when we awoke at 7 a.m. it was still -25 degrees.  So the New Year is Super Chill too!  Today we hit a high of 0*.  Woot!  It sounds like warmer days are ahead of us, which we will be very grateful for.  It's been sub-zero all this past week, at least at night.  

I can't help but continue my walks, no matter how chill.  I bundle up.  I'm in wool, as you know.  I try to go out when it's the warmest time of day and I've been tending the chicken chores between 1:30 and 2:00 because the eggs will freeze in the coop if left there very long during this kind of cold.  I'm taking warm water out to them too.  There's a heat lamp over the water bucket and that's the only heat they have besides some straw bedding on the dirt floor.  They are still laying like champs -- usually between 20-24 eggs daily.  Not bad, ay?

Heidi loves taking these short jaunts with me.  She chases jackrabbits and deer while I trudge.  I keep within watching distance of my family members,  walking near the trees so as to keep out of the wind.  Better to be safe and close to home than frozen stiff somewhere far off.  We've got about 5-6" of snow on the ground and in some places there's a foot where the snow catches in tall grass.  I haven't taken out my snowshoes yet.  Another snow and I will.  

All the livestock is hungry.  Each morning they are well fed for the day.  The guys take into account the extra energy the cattle and sheep are using during this cold snap.  Water is a major factor now too.  Tanks must be checked and flowing.  Every day there are water tanks to be chopped and thawed out.  It's just something we know we are going to have to do.  It comes with the territory so to speak!

Indoors the temperatures are fine.  I still have to wear my wool socks and slippers.  Floors just seem cold in winter, and if I can keep my feet warm, I feel warm all over.  Is it that way for you too?  I'm playing with my watercolors again and I plan to start up some more embroidery.  I wonder if playing with bright colors -- threads or paint -- keeps spirits bright during cold, dark days?  It seems to be helpful to me.

My heart's desire for 2018 is the same as my blog friend, Lisa,  

My only really important resolution will be to know Jesus better and to spend more time looking at Him and His word.  I want to be His hands and feet in this world.

Thank you, friends, for coming by here and saying hello and leaving your encouraging words.  I think you're wonderful!  I wish you a JOY-full 2018.

Time to hunker down...

 

 Fall Nature Journal entry.

The daylight hours are becoming less and less and our autumn days are growing colder and colder.  We had our first snow squalls on Thursday along with crazy winds.  Today was cloudy, chilly, and windy too, but the coming days promise even more cold with highs near or below freezing along with snow and wind, of course.  This will be one of those Halloweens when the trick-or-treaters will cover  up adorable costumes with heavy coats, mittens, and hats.  Living in the north, we experience blustery, snowy Halloweens a lot. Sometimes it's just best to buy a funky stocking cap for a Halloween costume or dress as an Eskimo! 

I rather like that it's getting dark earlier.  After a very busy summer and fall, I am ready for some slowing down.  The dark evenings mean that the menfolk will be in early from their work and we will have some long nights together inside where it's cozy and warm.  We start playing cards -- Canasta or Kaluchi or Cribbage or Hearts, depending on the number of players.  Hot buttered popcorn is a favorite cold-weather snack,  and I start making cups of tea in the evening and spend time with my embroidery, hoping to have a few handmade things to give as gifts.   Have you tried the Yogi Bedtime Tea?  It's very good and has a spicy, sweet blend of herbals.

 

Tomatoes ready to be roasted.

Today I share a couple pages from my Fall Nature Journal.  My Black Star chickens are doing so well, and all of them are laying an egg a day so I usually find 25 eggs when I go collecting.  I figured the girls deserved a page in the journal for their generous gifts.  I thought I ought to add the tomato in my pages since I complained so much about only getting green tomatoes all summer.  I picked SO many green tomatoes and ripened them in the garage and well... here's yet another pan of beautiful tomatoes ready to go into the oven for roasting.  As I was slicing, I kept on grabbing a slice and shoved it into my mouth.  Each perfect, red slice was just too irresistible.  So I gave in and gobbled down many a perfect tomato slice.  These were the last of the tomatoes, save 4 others that didn't fit on the baking sheets.  I'll eat those myself.  Lastly, I've been noticing a great influx of ladybugs.  I'm not sure why we have so many ladybugs now, but I suppose they are trying to find  their way inside for the winter.  

If it's cold where you are, I hope you are sporting your wool socks and slippers and a large cardigan.  Or perhaps you have a favorite afghan or soft blanket that you like to wrap up in on these long, dark nights.  It's been "nice" long enough, now it's time to hunker down, stoke the fires, light the candles, and put the kettle on.

"We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, 
small (and yet really not small) gifts." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Pullets, hens, and haying equipment...

 These are my pullets.

Black Star.

They are black with a gold hackle and breast.

They are a hybrid laying hen that can lay 300+ eggs in a lifetime.  They aren't broody and tend to have a calm, friendly personality.  They are good feed converters and lay large brown eggs.

They will start laying in September, I hope.

 These are the Pearl White Leghorn laying hens.

They're still laying strong, between 20-23 eggs a day.

 Hens out grazing and grubbing.

 As you can see by the skies, we're hoping for a good thundershower or two tonight.

While we wait, NumberOneSon is getting the haying equipment ready.

Above:  Heston Swather, Vermeer Baler, John Deere Baler

hooked up to 4630 and 7510 JD tractors.

 

 

 This is my rig.

Vermeer rake hooked on to the old JD 2520.

And here's the mower.

A Vermeer attached to another 4630 John Deere tractor.

We're sure hoping that a good rain puts a halt to our start up.

We'd rather let the hay grow, but if it doesn't rain, 

we're going after what we have.

Praying for rain.

 

“I will give you rain at the right time, 

and the land will yield its produce, 

and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.” 

~Leviticus 26:4

Simple Things...

 Sheets, kitchen towels, tea towels, and table cloths 

snapped wildly on the line on a windy day-after-Easter.

All of our family came to celebrate together.

The extra laundry and dishes and dirty floors remind me there 

were lots of wonderful people here laughing and having fun together.

We ate very well too!

A little Easter gift to myself and to the ladies of our family.

I love orchids, do you?

Kite flying.
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Let's all go fly a kite!
(insert children smiling and squealing!)

 

The Peeps have arrived! 

We picked them up at the feed store today.

This year I chose to get 25 Black Stars,

known for their egg laying superiority.

 Grape Hyacinths popped up a couple days ago!

The daffodils bloomed just in time for our Easter dinner table.

We've had an inch of rain today, just after we planted two big bare patches in our front and back yard.  We did end up digging up the septic line, and I'm thankful our men could do that work with the help of a backhoe rental.  Now the lines are running perfectly, but the yard is in need of new grass.  This rain will give our newly planted grass seed a good start.  

Water is such a basic, simple thing, but a most important need here.  The green grass is growing in the pastures now and the cows and sheep don't want to eat hay any longer.  They're happy with fresh, green sprouts.

What green things are growing where you live?

Chickens in winter...

 

I cleaned the coop this fall before the winter hit hard.

 Looks like I need some more bedding on the floor.

You see I saved over two Rhode Island Reds as an experiment.

  I wanted to see how many more eggs they would lay in their Old Age.  

They've done pretty well.

 Good egg production happening this morning!

We don't use all these nest boxes.  I have the majority boarded up.

 

 Some of the eggs are double-yolkers!

A young friend of mine who I give eggs to emailed me today with questions about why her friend's chickens aren't laying.  I thought that it might be a good time to talk about keeping chickens in winter since this is a common problem for us up north who are facing extreme cold right now.  It's hard on everything -- including chickens.

Here are some excerpts from my email:

Egg Laying Breeds:
There are really so many variables for chickens laying or not laying eggs.  One of the first variables I think about is the breed of chicken.  Right now I've got Pearl White Leghorns which lay large, white eggs.  These are THE BREED for getting lots of eggs.  They are the breed commercial farms use because they are such good layers and they are one of the best converters. So you really are getting more bang for your buck -- when it comes to converting feed to eggs.  There are other breeds that are very good too like:  Red Star and Black Star (sexlinks),  Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, and Astralorp.  One thing I'm trying is to do from now on is to buy just one breed per year.  This way when it comes time to replace hens every fall, we know which are the old hens and which are the pullets (young hens).


Oh, that reminds me....does your friend have old hens?  If she does, they will not lay on a regular basis.  I replace my hens every year.  So the hens laying now were just chicks back in April.  That will make a huge difference in egg production.  The old hens will produce what we call JUMBO eggs, but they will not lay an egg a day like a young hen will.


Mixed Breed Flocks: 
One thing that happens amongst mixed chickens is that sometimes they will gang up on other breeds.  Some of the more docile breeds end up being picked on and some of the more aggressive breeds will beat up on others and/or eat their eggs.  I used to buy a variety of chickens, but the past couple years, I've been buying just one breed.  They all get along.  A quiet coop is a happy coop which produces more eggs!


Feed:
One thing that really helps egg production is feed.  High protein feed.  If you can get the hens to eat the Layer Pellet, you will win.  Sometimes chickens like it (mine do) and sometimes they don't.  A trick my MIL used to do was to make a mash out of it.  She'd pour boiled water over the pellet in a Cool Whip dish and carry it out to the chickens.  You don't really have to have a Cool Whip dish, but you know -- a disposable dish is nice to leave at the coop. The hens loved to eat pellet that way and if that's the only way you can get them to eat layer pellet, do it.  Wheat is a high protein feed you can add.  I feed Hen Scratch which combines a little of everything and chickens like some variety.  If your friend can add scraps from the table, chickens always love that.  It keeps them "happy" and they look forward to you coming.  I sometimes grab a little clump of alfalfa hay and throw to them.  They like green stuff like lettuce, peas, and trimmings from your veggies.  They will also eat meat scraps.  Some people say you shouldn't feed meat scraps, but I do.  Chickens will fight over it, they love it so much.


Temperature & Water:
Make sure the floor of the coop has plenty of bedding -- stray, hay or wood shavings.  If hens' feet are cold, they aren't happy....just like us.  Try to make the coop as draft-free as possible so it can be as warm as possible.  I do have a red heat lamp over the water bucket to keep it from freezing.  It really doesn't warm the coop much, but it keeps water available.  During these cold, cold winters, I do NOT let my hens out of the coop.  When there is snow and ice on the ground, my girls stay indoors.  Remember about cold feet? 

Hens have to have lots of water.  If their water supply is freezing over, they aren't getting enough water to make eggs.  Eggs are something like 90% water.  A tip to keep hens drinking:  take out hot water every day.   This way they have more drinkable (warm) water during cold days.  The less energy a hen needs to stay warm, the better. 

Light:
I do think the light from that heat bulb over the water bucket also keeps hens laying through the winter.  They need the light to stimulate the pituitary gland to produce eggs.  Even if your friend could add one or two hours more light in the coop in the early morning or the evening,  it might help.  If you are worried about fire, just put a regular light bulb in the coop and leave it on or put it on a timer.  If your coop has windows, keep them as clean as you can so more light comes in.

Nesting Boxes & freezing eggs:
Mine are wooden.  I've seen the metal ones (the friend has metal).  I don't think they should be a problem, but I can imagine that those hens are kicking out the straw since it would be slippery and hens like to fluff up their nests.  I saw an idea where somebody took one of those small wash tubs and cut part of the front out so the hens could enter and then added hay, straw or wood shavings to it.  It kept the nesting material in and made it easy to dump out and clean too.  That might be helpful. 

With the cold we've been having, my eggs will freeze too.  That heat bulb doesn't really keep the coop warm, it just keeps the water from freezing most of the time.  Even then, the water gets ice around the edges.  When I know it's going to be below zero or around 0*, I go get the eggs early -- before noon.  Or they WILL freeze in the nests.  Then I might go check again in the evening before dark to see if there are any more.  My hens are usually all done laying before noon, so that just makes it easy to go fetch the eggs and feed & water them all at once -- particularly in winter months.  The hens like to climb up to the roost early in winter.

Roost:
Chickens need a roost up off the floor.  Here again, we're talking about warm feet.  When they are off the cold floor or ground, their feet are warmer.  Their bodies are warmer up off the ground too so that keeps our chickens happy!  The less energy the chickens use to keep warm and happy, the more energy they can convert into eggs.

I hope this winter chickens post might help you and your hens if you are seeing a slow-down in egg production.  It is a normal thing to have slower egg production in the dark and cold of winter, but it doesn't have to be this way.  I am not a chicken expert or a chicken scientist.  I'm just a ranchwife who has been raising chickens for 30+ years, and this is what works for me where I live in the wintry northern plains.  Here's to More Eggs!

Work and play...

THE WORK...

 

Gathering cows from the far North pastures takes time.

The pastures, as you can see, are terrible.  There has been less rain up there.

We probably should have brought the heifers home sooner.

We've been working cows, boosting vaccinations on all the calves, sorting into bunches,

and weaning some of the calves.  We've had several days of this.  It's fun to go through all the cows and calves and see how they are doing, but it's a lot of hours of work too. 

 Cowpokes like me feel it in the shoulders and hands.

We also worked the bred heifers to see which ones we will add in to the herd and which ones we will sell in November.

154 head averaged 949 pounds.

(a tally we need)

We DID get some rain!  

About an inch, which is wonderful for us.

No water running into stock ponds, but moisture nonetheless.

THE PLAY....

 When I'm helping trail cows, I am always looking for interesting things along the way.  I find feathers and plants, rocks and bones.

On this particular day, I found a pile of bones.  An old cow died.

This was her skull.
Evidently she had a lump jaw.  

I thought it was cool how the lump turned into a kind of calcium coral reef.

Ugly and beautiful.

Below is more of my playing...

...fiddling with watercolor paints.

I've been having fun with some video tutorials.
They are very inspirational!

 The sketchbook on the left is my nature journal.
When I homeschool our kids, we all had nature journals to keep.  I've kept one on and off since retiring from my teaching job, and I've decided to start up again.

I tried to plunk a little watercolor in on my sketches.  It works ok.

I like it, but the paper is not so great (for watercolor) since it's just sketch paper.
I might look for a watercolor journal next time.

 Do you know the movie:  

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?
I grew up watching it when I was a girl, and our kids grew up watching it too.
Now it's time for the grandies to love it.

Well, my pumpkin watercolor above is a tribute to that Charlie Brown story 

and a tribute to my pumpkin patch

which is very sincere.
My grandkids had fun picking their very own pumpkins -- for decorating
and for carving jack-o-lanterns.

Sunflowers and a chickadee.

The chickadee is in my nature notebook too.

They've stopped by to feed and water in my backyard.

I do hope that some of them will decide to stay with us through the winter.

I've pulled up all the tomatoes now and have the green ones setting beneath newspaper in the garage with great hopes that they will ripen as the days pass.  The kids helped me pick all the pumpkins and those, too, are stored in the garage.  I'm leaving the potatoes and carrots underground and will pull them up as we need them.  They store best in the earth....until it freezes.

We did have our first freeze last week.

It's turning.

Fall is here!

Guess what?
I'm getting 33 eggs per day from the hens!
It's an EGGstravaganza!
Omelet anyone?

Are you taking a little time to play this fall?

Please tell me about it.

Know well the condition of your flocks....

 A skillet of pullet eggs frying for breakfast.

Two of the eggs were double-yolkers!

I'm getting 17 pullet eggs each day now and collecting 27-29 eggs a day.

Really.  Too many.  It's give-away season.

 A fall prairie bouquet.  Grasses, sunflowers and Queen Anne's Lace.

I made my favorite Gingerbread Cake today.

It feels like fall when I make it.  

It is deep brown, and rich, with earthy-warm spices.

Very good with hot coffee or tea.

 We brought the ewes closer to home.

It's time to turn in the bucks.

 

 I love this photo of the sheep going through the gate.

We turned in ten bucks today.

In five months we will have lambies.

 ..............................

Today was one of those Indian Summer Days.

Hot.  90 degrees.

This evening after shutting the chicken coop, 

I took the dogs for a walk 

and the wind came up all of a sudden -- strong and cold.

The cold front is moving in.

Tomorrow's high is said to be around 50 degrees.

We will be working cows outdoors

all week and pregnancy testing. 

We welcome the cooler weather for working livestock.

 ...................................

23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
²⁴ For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
²⁵ When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
²⁶ The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
²⁷ And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.

Proverbs 27:23-27

Corn!

Sweet Corn is ripe and being picked daily at one of the the local farms near our HomeTown.  This is the best sweet corn -- tender, white and yellow corn that is juicy and sweet as can be!  The farmers have a roadside stand where they sell it out of the back of a pick-up truck by the dozen.  Today JJo went to town and called to say that they were still selling corn and how many dozen ears did we want for freezing?  JLynn wanted 7 dozen and JJo and I each wanted 4 dozen. 

I went about shucking the corn outside in the sunshine, and then moved my work indoors.  I use my German grandma's recipe where I cut all the raw corn off the cob first and then boil it with salt, a little sugar and water.  I cool it and then measure it into freezer bags.  It's so simple!  And it's so wonderful to enjoy the taste of delicious, fresh sweet corn when winter rolls around.  I sacked up 29 cups of corn today into 2 cup and 3 cup bags.  There's still time to freeze more corn and still time to eat more corn-on-the-cob until it runs out! 

On another note, I'm happy to report that I'm now getting 6 pullet eggs as of today!  They're kicking it in gear!!  Yay for new laying hens!  They also enjoyed nibbling on the discarded cobs today.