January in the Sunshine

The laying hens are in the garden at this time of year. They keep it clean, eat the left over grubs, and fertilize daily! As we clean the stalls out in the barn and deliver it by wheelbarrow full, the hens work it out and spread it around.

Pigs! Now three weeks on the farm and the star attraction for the neighborhood especially on a sunny Saturday. The pigs are enjoying rooting, running, playing, and eating walnuts.

Young hens and Ruby Rooster keep to themselves. There are six hens in the big pasture that should be great egg layers as the days are getting longer. We have 25 laying hens and 4 roosters on the farm right now.

Here is Big Boy! Our tom turkey is about 35 pounds and roams the pasture with the chickens and sheep.

Pigs and their farm friend, Dutchess! The dogs love to play chase along the fence line with the pigs.

We call these turkeys The Brute Squad. These Bronze turkeys are very docile. They roam the property and beg for walnuts at feeding time!

At the end of a sunny day, the pigs are enjoying some squash from the larder! What a treat to have the fog lift and the blue skies and sunshine on a January day!

Hen House

Tic, tac, toe, Three in a row! We have 15 laying hens right now and they are laying about 11 eggs per day, plus the turkey hen who is doing her best to lay nearly every day.  We have been collecting and incubating and hatching eggs like crazy. Today starts the third round of hatching and there are duck eggs and turkey eggs in the incubator. It takes 28 days for a turkey or duck egg to hatch and 21 days for a chicken egg to hatch. 

Fine Dining on the Farm

We currently have 15 hens on the farm. Yesterday, we very nearly had 14! While feeding the goats some leftover goods from the garden, the hens and I were watching them gobble up some leftover cabbage. Suddenly and out of nowhere, the hens were in complete and utter chaos. Our two farm dogs were there, watching. The goats ran from their cabbage patch. The hens continued in their hysterics and frenzy like never before. I stood right there. Watching and not seeing what swept in so fast. Standing among the hens, on the ground to the surprise of the dogs, goats, chickens and myself was a beautifully marked, Chicken Hawk. Actually, I think the hawk was astonished also! The hens all ran for cover. The dogs inched forward. I watched the hawk from only 15 feet away. Then it flew off to a low branch on one of the walnut trees. The hens were frozen statues of themselves under trailers, in the barn, under the truck, anywhere they could find cover and safety.

The hens were immediately invited back in to the security of the coop for a few days recovery. Normally, they roost in the coop and venture out of the coop and barn for most of the day as they have a full two acres to roam and forage.

Once the coop was made ready for full time occupancy, they were all called in for dinner. Slowly they came. First from the barn. Then from under vehicles and trailers. Finally, the last of the girls made it into the coop with a heavy limp. She was the one that took the full flying force of the hawk in the leg. There was no blood and no broken bone, but the fluff of her feathers told the story of fear. With the young juvenile hawk finally leaving the farm, but hovering close by, the hens will be dining in for a few days.

Today they dined on organic grain, cabbage leaves, kitchen scraps, and seeds served in very nicely scooped out spaghetti squash dishes! The girls really like to know they are given the best dishes around!

We will continue the regimen of grains and fresh vegetation for the next few days. Once the hens have settled into their coop and built their nesting holes in the fresh straw, they are ready to roam again.

In the meantime, fine dining from squash skins, cool fresh water, safety in the coop, and sides of grass hay will help their recovery.

Here is is the oldest hen in the bunch. She is a Buff Orpington, called Beauty.

Here is the one that got away! The Black Beauty with blue green legs, which are the same color of the shell of the eggs that she lays. Lucky, as we will now call her, is an Americana. Life on the farm...