Chickens

We've been having chicken problems lately.  We keep having chickens "disappear."  Yes, we could finish the coop and put them in there, but I really like free range chickens and we have sooooo much other things to do right now before winter.  Hubby did catch a young possum eating one of the chickens the other night.  Needless to say, we won't be having problems from him anymore.  But, we still came up one missing chicken last night.  It could be a raccoon, another possum, or even the hawks that we have flying around here.  I still haven't put it past dogs.  We are keeping watch closely.
We will find out it is and catch it.

 Well, we had gotten all the way down to only 3 hens and 2 roosters. (Why are the hens always the ones that are killed?) This past weekend, after only having 3 eggs for our breakfast, I started looking on Facebook livestock sites.  Chickens were going for $10-$15 a piece!  Even for VERY young ones.  I noticed on one post where this person commented wanting to trade his chickens for something.  I messaged him and asked if he would like to sell his chickens.  He did, but I would have to take them all.  24 chickens for a VERY cheep price. Yes sir!  

The chickens were a mixture of ages.  I don't think any were over the age of 2 yrs though.  Some haven't even started to lay yet. He also had 6 roosters with them. That helped me out because I was at the point were I was having to buy chicken broth.  NO MORE!  Wooo  Hooo!!  I see some good chicken and dumplins in my future.  Some of the roosters are young so I'll be able to have a good sized roasted chicken for Thanksgiving.  We aren't big fans of turkey around here.  We do like our chicken though.  

The hens haven't started laying yet, well, at least where I can find the eggs.  I figured between them molting, changing locations, and the shorter days, we wouldn't be getting a lot right now.  They will come into it soon, I hope.  I refuse to buy store eggs.  EEEEEWWWWW.   Plus our neighbors will be a lot happier when they can get our good farm eggs too.

Early next spring, I'm hoping to put some eggs in the incubator and see what we get.  Hens or roosters will help us out.  I tired of spending money on chickens that we can raise ourselves. I'm also tired of spending money on store bought meat.  I'm just waiting for it to all be recalled.  Everything else is.....

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, chicken farmer.

A Fail And A Win

I took this photo with my phone. Not in focus....

I tried my hand at making apple cider vinegar.  Truthfully it would have worked but for one small detail that I didn't do.  You see, to make apple cider vinegar, you take some apples,(duh) or apple peels and cores, put them in a non-reactive container.  I used my new fancy, dancy fermenting crock.  You cover the peelings and cores with water, stir it around once a day for three days, and then let the concoction sit for about three months.  Waa Laa, apple cider vinegar.  Just strain and put into containers.  

Sounds easy right?  Well, I left out one small detail.  When you put the apples and water into the container, you have to cover it well with a tea towel.  Then put a rubber band around it so that fruit flies wouldn't get in.  Yep, forgot the rubber band part.  I went and checked on my apple cider vinegar about two months into the process and YEEEEEEWWWW.  A swarm of fruit flies flew into my face.  Also, inside the container was a gazillion baby fruit fly maggots.  Double ewwwwwwww!

Well, I went and dumped the mess over the hill because it wasn't going to do me any good. When I came back into the house, you could hardly breath because of all the fruit flies flying around.  It would have made a great horror film.  Death By Flies.  Anyway, now I had to come up with a way to get rid of all those stupid flies, and I think I did a really good job.

I took a mason jar and put a couple inches of apple cider vinegar in it.  I knew those flies loved that stuff.  Then I made a funnel that fit down into the jar and came just above the vinegar.  The dumb little flies could get in, but they couldn't get out.  I bet I had hundreds of those little suckers in that jar in less than and half an hour.  No more breathing flies!   

I may have failed at making the vinegar, but I sure did make a nice fly trap.  I guess you win some and ya lose some.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl,  fly catcher. 

Back In Business

The last month I've been having problems with my computer.  It was very slow and kept kicking me off the Internet.  At this point I was ready to get the ole hammer and chisel out and start chiseling.  It would have been faster than what my computer was going.

Anyway, a good friend asked when was the last time I done updates?  Ummm, updates?  I may be able to write on this blog, but it doesn't make me a computer genius.  In fact, I think any three year old would know more about computers than I do. So my friend scanned my computer and found that I had over 19 updates that needed to be done.  Well, huh.  To make a long story short after my computer updated all night long, I'm back to business.  Woooo Hooooo!!!

Actually, the computer going down couldn't have happened at a better time.  We've been busy around the farm.  Hubby has been working his butt off. He's been trying to get everything done before it gets too cold to do anything.  He's been cutting firewood, working on my Shack, fixing fence, rolling the last of the hay, and just the typical cleaning up for winter.   I'm really proud of him for how hard he's working on getting our homestead ready for the winter.  We both have been working a extra hard.

Oh, and I'm going to brag on myself for a bit. hehehehe.  I got to help mount the outside light on the Sherri Shack.  ALL BY MYSELF!  I also put in an outside receptacle.  Hubby was looking over my shoulder so that I would do it right and not cause anything to burn down, but I did it!!!  I know that there are many women out there that can do all of that with their eyes shut, but this was a first for me. I kind of liked it.  It actually felt like I done something.  When you do dishes or laundry, it never gets done.  It needs done the next day.   This was different. I shouldn't have to do this kind of work again.  A very nice feeling!

The pups are not really pups anymore.  They are getting big.  In fact, they are starting to get some of their harder farm training.  We have young calves that get out almost every day.  They don't go anywhere other than our yard.  But, this gives the Aussies training in herding cattle.  I have them push the cattle back into the field.  Chassis does a really good job.  When I have her by herself, she can tell that she listens to every word that I say.  When Holley is with her, she doesn't have a chance.  Whenever Chassis barks, Holley will run up and jump in her face.  Holley is still in the puppy play mode.  She still has a little bit of growing up to do.  I'm sure she will get there. Right now though, Chassis is the harder working of the two.  Chassis can even chase and catch a Frisbee.  I just LOVE watching her do this.  She can really jump high in the air.  Holley just wants to grab the Frisbee with Chassis and bring it back with her.  I'll have to get a video of this.  It's very cute.

I have a few other things to write about, but I don't want to make this a long post.  Now, that my computer is running a lot faster, I'm hoping to post more often.  Here's to good friends that know a little bit about computers!!! yay!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, back in business

Auuuugh!

Having technical difficulties.  Please stand by.
SFG

It's Here!

If you follow me on Facebook, you would have found out that I got this beauty last weekend.  I'm sooooooo excited!!!!  I've so many plans for this building!  Right now we're wiring it for electric and soon we'll be putting insulation and drywall up.  It's not as big as some of the other buildings we were looking at, but with a little planning, it'll be big enough for what I want to do with it.  

See all that gravel around the bottom?  Well, it'll be gone soon.  We put that there so that they could deliver it easier.  We will keep the gravel that is under the building but move the gravel that's around it.  I want to be able to plant herbs and such there for later use.  Since we're still working on our house, I didn't have a place to plant herbs permanently.  Now I do.  Plus, I'll have a place to work with them on the inside.  Herbs, paintings, and well, anything else I want to do.  I have to keep tabs on what is going to be going in there.  It's not THAT big. lol

With the slow change in the temperatures around here, I have been baking like crazy.  I keep looking up new recipes on Pintrest. ( By the way, I have to limit my time on Pintrest.  I can waste a whole afternoon there and not even know it. hehehe)  If I find some really good recipes, I'll post some on here.  So be prepared to get fatter with me. lol

Another thing that has been going on around here is music.  I've been playing my fiddle at a few festivals and parties. I really enjoy playing that thing.  If you would have told me back in the fourth grade, how much I was going to like it later on in life, I wouldn't have quit taking lessons.  But of course, you couldn't tell "Fourth Grade Me" anything. lol

Well, I got to get back to doing some chores around here. They don't do themselves.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Shack owner.