More critters

We have a few additions to our critters here at Allelon Farm. First, a dog showed up about a week before Dixie died and decided to make this his home. He was quite shy (okay, downright scared) of us, but seemed to get along great with the other dogs. With food, soft voices, and gentle hands, we are quickly winning him over. He appears to be fairly young. We were trying to come up with a name for him, but everytime we called Jack, my visiting sister's dog, this stray seemed to respond. So we now have Big Jack and Jack. Big Jack, the stray, is not that big, but is quite a bit bigger than Jack. Once Jack leaves, I have a feeling Big Jack will become Jack.

Flatt and Scruggs (names inspired by the Lingos' Banjo) joined us last night. We're not cat-lovers; don't even much care for dogs that are cat-like, but the need for a cat was obvious. We have quite a mouse population around here, and have been unable to control it by anything but poison; I DO NOT LIKE THE USE OF POISONS, especially near my children, livestock, or food sources. My mother likes cats less than I like poison, I think, but she finally relented after a friend told her about her lack of mice since getting a cat. (Do I sound like a child trying to get permission!?! Sometimes it seems like that, but it's more of an effort to make home a home for us all, and that can require a great deal of diplomacy and compromise. We heard this definition for compromise some time ago: an agreement where each party is equally unhappy. Not very optimistic, but maybe not far off the mark, either.)

We have friends whose cat had 9 kittens a few weeks ago, so we claimed one as soon as we got that word from my mother. Upon considering a cat, though, I felt we needed two--like I said, large mouse population, companionship and maybe even teamwork--so three of the kids and I went last night and picked up two males and shared a round of cookies and milk with the cats' owners.

My mother has not said anything about the second cat. Hopefully, they'll prove themselves worthy and become really great mousers.

Mary Susan

Whizbang report

I'll keep this brief. Herrick, you 'da man! Needless to say this is just another testimony of the simplicity and effectiveness of the Whizbang Chicken Plucker. We processed 27 birds Friday evening at a friend's house in about 2.5 hours. With a proper scald, a single bird comes out perfectly clean in under 15 seconds. Simply amazing.

For what it's worth, I ended up substituting an old 1/3 hp motor (extracted from an old squirrel cage fan) for the 2 hp beast I had originally intended to use. Though smaller than the recommended motor, I didn't notice it bogging down at all. We were, however, only plucking one bird at a time.

Keith

Canning beans and pitching a fit

The girls, 3yo son, my mother, and I canned 14 quarts and 18 pints of "Maude Wall" beans this morning. 11yo son and my father were fishing; Keith was at work.

Girls, 11yo, and my parents are now at the local mom-&-pop diner. 3yo pitched a fit about what shoes to wear, so he and I are lunching here.

Mary Susan

Evening's activities

Three generations harvesting potatoes

Snapping beans

Our new rooster

All the while missing Dixie. (Is that a country song? If not, it ought to be.)

Mary Susan

Dixie is gone

Dixie died sometime today. She was officially my oldest daughter's dog, however she was very dear to the whole family. I can say without equivocation that, from my perspective, she was the best natured and most joyful dog I've ever known. She was only about eight months old. We will miss her greatly. She had been suffering with and undergoing treatment for two autoimmune diseases for over a month. There were several cycles of improvement followed by a rapid return of the symptoms. Although we knew death was a possibility, it has hit us pretty hard in the gut. Mercifully, the end came fairly quick.

Everyone should have the privilege of knowing a dog like her.

Keith

Hawk!

We have now lost three laying hens--to hawks, we think.

We lost one a week or so ago, and two today. 13yo daughter heard something strange in the chicken yard vicinity, went to check it out, and a hawk flew away. She saw another one nearby, too. Upon investigation, she found two dead hens.

Joel Salatin uses geese to protect his hens from overhead predators. We may have to get some, but I'd like them now, and big enough that they'd be of use.

May have to get more layers, too!

On another note, we do have a rooster, now, courtesy of family friends. He's a handsome, young Buff Orpington, and hopefully, we'll eventually raise our own chicks. That may also influence getting more layers, and the breed we get.

On another side note, the broiler chicks are doing well. We had another one with leg problems last week, but a couple or three days in ICU healed him up, and he's back with the others in the chicken tractor.

Mary Susan

Update

Things are happening at a good pace around here.

Another great weekend in Georgia

We returned last night from an overnight stay in Georgia with friends. Our primary reason for going was to celebrate the Bar Yehoshua of a friend who recently turned 13 years old. It was a neat evening, with a great message. This young man is blessed and a blessing to all who know him. And we stayed with a gracious family of wonderful friends. We hope to visit again soon when there will be more time for visiting!

Of course, we also attended church there, and were (as always) renewed and edified. Great service, great fellowship.

The garden

The garden is coming along great. I've been working in it more than in previous years, trying to cultivate it all each week. Of course, rain can hinder this, but we've not had much lately (need it!), so I don't have that excuse. I try to get out early and cultivate two or three beds at least three days a week. This usually takes about an hour, and then I come in and get the kids up, if they're not up, yet. One day last week, our 13yo daughter was already up, had gotten the 3yo ready for the day, sent him out to help me, and fixed sausage and home-made biscuits for us all. (Biscuits are becoming one of her specialties.) And our 11yo son was up and taking care of livestock already. This is a great way to start a day! (I read about cultivating in one of Rick Saenz's posts--probably in May. I love the results--so, so much preferred over the dreaded weeding!!)

Our lettuce and broccoli have now played out, with the onset of warmer weather. We are still getting onions and cabbage, though. We used 15 pounds of cabbage a week or so ago to make kraut. Last year was my first try at kraut, and it turned out great. My mother was not encouraging in this venture, but she helped anyway; she made it years ago, and it flopped. According to a friend who's mother has made it for years, there is not much you can do to make it right or wrong: sometimes it works great; sometimes it simply doesn't and ends up in the trash.

We're getting a lot of yellow squash. Thursday we made 14.5 pints of squash relish from a recipe a local matriarch in her 90's gave us last year. We made a lot last year, and it is our favorite relish, now.

Today, we canned 14 quarts of "Maude Wall" beans. This is a variety of green bean that a lady in one of my father's churches gave us over 20 years ago. You can't buy this bean anywhere that we know of--or that she knew of then. She was no spring chick, either, so we don't know how old this bean is. We just know we like it. My father especially likes them mature, when they get shelly; I tend to like them young. And no one can fix them like my mother can (but that goes for most things!).

We had baked potatoes for lunch today--potatoes from the garden. We've been harvesting and enjoying them for a couple of weeks, now. The kids and I have also harvested a lot of beetles off the plants and fed them to the broilers. Maybe next year we can experiment with having chickens rotate through a garden to harvest their own beetles!

The cucumbers are just beginning to bear, and we have actually harvested a couple of overly-eager tomatoes. It is unusual to have tomatoes before July around here. Not sure how we managed to get these two, but we enjoyed them!

We actually got a few strawberries earlier this spring. We just put them in this year, and so didn't expect to get any. Tasting those took my sister and me back to our childhood and the strawberries we remember from back then. Now that our children have tasted these, they don't want the old store-bought things; now they know a good strawberry.

The Barn

Keith, my father, and our 11yo son have been putting permanent bracing on the barn when they can grab time here and there. We had temporary bracing up, but the pony (large, fat pasture-ornament) and a young bull in that pasture had managed to knock all the temporary bracing down. But the guys have one side completed, and the other side started, so it shouldn't be long; just a matter of finding the time.

The Kids

3yo son is stepping up in chores, sweeping up after meals, feeding the dogs (with help from 13yo sister, since the water bucket is too heavy for him, and sometimes the food is too low in the container for him to reach), etc. He's also accompanying Keith in the field sometimes, when safety issues are not involved.

11yo son has been mowing, to take some of the load off my father. He has put in 12- and 13-hour days regularly, between the mowing, trimming, livestock care, and other chores that get foisted on him! He amazes me, and anyone who says a boy his age shouldn't or can't do this sort of thing doesn't know him; he's thriving and making us proud!!

13yo daughter is a born home-maker, spending a lot of time in the kitchen and generally taking on whatever household duties come along. She also spends a lot of time with 3yo brother. She, too, is making us proud. Both girls are also in charge of dinner one night a week, in addition to other cooking they may do, and helping with dinner other evenings.

15yo daughter has really taken to sewing, which is a good thing, because her size is so unusual, with broad shoulders and tiny waist. I required her and her sister to totally follow a pattern recently (sister hasn't quite finished), and after doing this, 15yo has taken off and made a number of garments--some quite complicated--on her own, turning to me infrequently as a consultant only. She's doing great, and we're proud of her, too (as always!). (They've been sewing awhile, but we tend to change patterns, often drastically, which means I tell the instructions. I decided it was important that they be able to follow a pattern's written instructions, so they could learn more and sew more without relying on me to always tell them what to do next.)

Mary Susan

FrankenChicks and a trip to the ICU

We experienced the dreaded "leg problem" with one of the Cornish Cross chicks last weekend. Poor thing was unable to support itself and would sit on its back end with its legs sprawled out in front. After a bit a research, it appeared that this condition might be due to a vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency. So we isolated the pitiful creature in the ICU - Ill Chicken Unit. The picture shows the ICU with freshly cut grass for bedding. In case you're wondering, we utilize an unused water tank for the ICU as well as for the brooder.

In an effort to heal this bird, we used a triple-strength dose of Broiler Booster in the waterer and crushed a B complex vitamin over the feed for two days in a row. The next day after identifying the chick with the leg problems, I injured another chick moving the chicken tractor. So we had two lame chicks in the ICU for about 5 days. Well the good news is that both chicks have fully recovered and been returned to the chicken tractor. It goes against my scientific inclinations to share this information, acknowledging that correlation in no way proves causation. But this is our blog and it exists, in part, to share what we have learned with those who may be trodding the same path. This tidbit of information is no doubt worth every penny you paid for it. Wishing you and yours a productive weekend...
Keith