The Times They Are A-Changin'

Big changes around here over the last three months. We've left Vermont and are in North Carolina on the coast. Me and the kids and the chickens, horses, dog and cat. Starting a new business (a horse boarding facility!) and starting school this summer.

Just loving the warm weather and Southern spring!

Check back for more updates later this week!

Pete Is Not a Roo!

A couple of weeks ago, I was convinced that Pete was a rooster.

After seeing him sitting in the nest, time after time, where we find the eggs, I'm now convinced that Pete is a hen.

No crowing. Pete, if she were truly a roo, should be crowing by now.

I had to convince Kaiya that she wouldn't be eating a baby chicken before she'd agree to eat one our farm fresh, free range, all natural eggs!

Every third egg we get seems to be a double-yoker! I love having chickens and fresh eggs everyday. And they DO taste different than store-bought. I need two more hens!

Sunday Morning

One of my favorite times of all are Sunday mornings during the summer. I've been up since about 5:30 - turn the horses out, feed the chickens, feed the cat and dogs...coffee brews, open the doors and let the damp cool air drift through the house...coffee, weather channel, laptop...the kids are all still sleeping. It's very peaceful here on Sunday mornings.

I was mowing the lawn a few weeks ago, riding the tractor in circles around the apple trees in the front yard, when I noticed that two of the three trees have little apples on them! It was exciting to see those little baby apples! Early last winter I discovered another older apple tree at the very back end of the property. I want to go investigate that tree later today, if I can get to it. Yves (my neighbor) had to come get the DR (the new belt wasn't working property) so I'm a little bummed I haven't been able to get any more trails cut. I'm hopeful Yves will get it fix and I can cut some more paths. It's time to check on the black berries, too. They should be starting to ripen.

I need farm equipment! And a truck with a plow attachment!

Pauley, Skunks Are Not Your Friends

Our little black dog, Pauley, decided to play with the skunk that had wandered into the horse pasture. I yelled and yelled for Pauley to come to me, but she ignored me. I didn't dare get any closer to her and her new "friend" for fear of being sprayed. As Pauley continued to run in circles around the skunk, the more pissed the skunk became. When it started to advance on Pauley, I ran a little closer and the skunk started to advance on me - I could actually see his teeth. I yelled for Jake, who came outside and saw what was happening, and he ran back inside to get his gun. I finally got Pauley to come to me. Less than a minute later, Jake put a .22 into the skunk's head. Bye-bye Mr. Skunk! It all happened very fast, but I'm happy that Jake reacted as quickly as he did. An aggressive skunk out during the day are signs of abnormal behavior. It may have had rabies.

So far, I have seen the following wildlife on my property: deer, turkeys, muskrats, skunks, snakes and coyote tracks. I saw a moose once as I was driving to work, but I don't think there are any moose on the islands.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

One of my neighbors, who is a poultry processor, mentioned a few weeks ago that one of my young hens may not be a hen. I did a little internet research to find the characteristics of young roosters because I was curious if my neighbor was right. There are two obvious things that lead me to think we had a rooster: the dark, oily-looking feathers and the tail, which is starting to grow. Just recently, he's also started to get a bit aggressive. He likes to peck at peoples feet. At this point, I am quite sure that he is a he.

I took this picture yesterday after my daughter decided to bring the rooster into the house. She absolutely adores her chickens. I said from the beginning that if one of the chickens turns out to be a rooster, he'd end up on the dinner table...well, Kaiya won't let that happen. And since I really wanted a couple of laying hens, we'll see if we get some baby chicks out of this guy. Well, not literally out of him, but you know what I mean. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to eat fertilized eggs, but from what I've been told, they are actually healthier for human consumption than a non-fertilized egg. Supposedly, they are lower in cholesterol.

I'm gonna cross my fingers for baby hens next spring, but I won't hold my breath!

Life and Death on the Farm

My daughter had a friend sleep over on Friday night. Her friend wanted to see the horses so we were all in the barn, petting Zazu, when we heard the chirping of a baby bird. It took us a few minutes to locate him - seems he fell from the nest and landed inside the barn wall. We could see him down there! At first I had no idea how to get him out. Kaiya made it very clear to me that she "didn't want nature to take it's course!" (Her words.) Since the barn walls are sheets of plywood that are screwed into a wood and metal frame, the space the little bird fell into was no wider than a 2x4. Hmmm...

After a quick look around the tack shed, I found an old aluminum ladle. Ah, idea! I used duct tape to secure it to the end of an old broom handle. I lowered the contraption down into the space in the wall and the little bird hopped on! I pulled him out and held him in my hand. He seemed fine. We took him into the house, made a little cat-safe hut for him and gave him some water. He was ok for a few hours, but nature did take it's course and the little baby bird died in my hand. Kaiya shed a couple of tears for him and said, "Well, baby bird. We tried!"

Kaiya recovered quickly and soon went back to her frogs - she's got about 15 of them in a homemade aquarium. She knows she has to let them go today - it's hard to catch live bugs to feed to frogs! And we can't find any worms - we haven't had any rain for a while (except last night - I think it rained for about 2 minutes) so the worms have burrowed deep.

The temperature is suppose to be back to normal today - thank God! It's been soooooo hot. But I still like it better that -10° and two feet of snow :)

The Baby Birds