Farm Friend Friday: After the Freeze

Amy over at Verde Farm is starting Farm Friend Friday. I became acquainted with her when we both participated in National Hug a Sheep Day hosted by my friend Sara over at Punkin's Patch at Equinox Farm. I've been looking for something like this to feature our small farm.

She says "Farm Friend Friday will be about: house, cooking, crafting, animals, gardening, photography and more. It will be a great way to meet new farm friends and see lots of different views and perspectives on farm life." How cool is that?

If you've been watching the strange weather (which I call Wonky World Weather) you'll know that Texas has been briefly plunged  back into the Ice Age. Even down here in the semi-arid desert Southwest, an hour as the crow (or, in our case, the Cara Cara) flies from Mexico, we had three days solidly frozen at 12 degrees.

 Ribbons of sap being extruded from our Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)

I'm sure to many of you this doesn't sound so terrible as you deal with this every Winter. However, we live three months of the year over 100 degrees, even attaining 117 degrees one day last summer. Truth be told, in our diurnal climate Winter consists of freezing temperatures most nights, and 60 plus degrees each day. You could say Winter only comes at night--the rest of the time we are running around in t-shirts!

The things we call coats most people would probably consider windbreakers. We have been wearing three at a time just to stay warm in this old farmhouse. Built over 70 years ago--before air conditioning was the mode--our house has little insulation and is 50% single pane glass operable windows for catching those breezes.

 This Fall photo gives you an idea how much glass we are talking about.

Fortunately we have a fireplace, because Wednesday our electricity (and thus our heat) went out for the arctic day! Living remotely as we do we are in an electric co-op. Mostly we experience outages from electrical storms that come in more temperate seasons and those don't generally last more than a couple hours, if that.

Farmer Rick took the tractor down to the creek to load kindling, but the icy hill proved too steep for traction and the wood had to be carried armload by armload. While he was laying in firewood, I made the decision to move all the seedlings from the rapidly cooling greenhouse into the living room.

Living room scene on a 12 degree day with no heat.

So, snuggled around the fire with us were four dogs, four cats, one rooster (Junior's been recuperating) and 439 plants! I feel bad that I was unable to bring in the remaining 49 chickens who usually stay warm with heat lamps, but that would have been total chaos. Unfortunately several of our roosters in Coop Two appear to have suffered some frostbite. (This morning it's looking a little better--fingers crossed).

Marco Marans showing some frostbite on the tips of his comb.

Finley the sheep is lame in a foreleg. I suspect he's been watching me break his trough ice with the sledgehammer and has perhaps tried this himself.

But I don't like snow cones!

Amazingly our lettuce which had been covered with clear plastic withstood the ordeal.

Butterhead lettuce makes it through!

I'm sure there were some losses among our honeybees, but the good news is today it's warmed above 50 degrees and the girls are coming and going from both hives and doing housekeeping.

Workers carrying out the dead after three days of freezing temperatures.

What is this object you say? Why it's a frozen cylinder of coffee grounds! No, no, we don't drink that much. We are fortunate enough to have connected with a local coffee shop and are able to compost all their grounds!

Cafe glace!

It's time to take advantage of the sun and get outside to cut back the asparagus. The first spears were already peeking through this time last year. (I hope they held off). We'll be looking forward to eating it soon!

For more farm fun visit Farm Friend Friday. (Say that ten times!)

Project Runway

Over the last two weeks Muffin the Faverolle has been recuperating in my studio from a large gash on her side. After the first week it looked solid enough I slathered her with Peck No More and put her back in the coop. In less than one minute the roosters had cornered her and the gash was reopened. Little Bitty Bird, the smallest of the Buff Laced Polands, was also showing wear from the rooster treading and I didn't want her gashed, too. A solution was in order.

Rooster treading on Little Bitty Bird

I called Hensavers. (Actually I googled them). I'd seen their nifty little product advertised in my poultry magazines and thought maybe it was time to get a couple of outfits. I ordered two of them in cammo green Sunday night and they arrived yesterday.

I chose the single strap model with the attached shoulder protector.

 

The straps fit over the chicken's wings like a backpack, and another around the neck. This morning I dressed the girls.

 

 

They seem to fit very well. Little Bitty Bird took to hers right away. The boys could not figure out how to mount her and she seemed pleased. The other hens looked envious.

 

Whatcha staring at? Haven't you ever seen haute couture before?

Muffin, however had a harder time adjusting to her new outfit.

This was not entirely unexpected, as one of the FAQs on the Hensaver website was "How long will my chicken walk backwards?" Sort of looks like a moonwalk to me!

Out with the Old

2009 was a frustrating and sad year for so many people, I know many of us are happy to see it in the rear view mirror, a disappearing speck on the horizon. Authorities have it that we should all study history, lest we become doomed to repeat it, so before ushering in the New, I am taking a parting glimpse at the Old.

Spring was lost to illness from taking rabies shots. Nearly a year later, and after a recent subrogation interview assuring Blue Cross I did not ask the fox for his insurance card, they have decided to cover little more than half of the exorbitant cost of the vaccines for something known to be 100% fatal. We send them hundreds of dollars each month for "health insurance".  A perfect example of a failed health care system.

Lesson learned: Always carry gloves. Note to self: Contact the Texas Board of Insurance.

Summer broke all records for drought and heat and saw both the river and our well run dry. This took its toll on us psychologically--the lack of something so precious we had not even realized we'd taken for granted--and physically--from hauling tons of water, 5 gallon 40 lb buckets at a time.

Lesson learned: Never take any of life's conveniences for granted and be prepared to live without them. Ditch your old toilet--a low flush toilet not only helps save the planet, a 10 lb flush vs a 40 lb flush will also save your back. Note to self: Start planning a rainwater harvesting system.

Fall and winter brought the general downfall of the plumbing infrastructure of our 80 year old house and loss of many beloved pets. Nothing like living in a paradox where you have very little water, but what there is seems to be leaking all over the place. We said farewell to Hawk Girl, Rooster-O, Phoebe, Avo from a tragedy that could have been averted had I only listened to that little voice, Zoe, and even the tenacious Captain Ahab our special needs RIR rooster 'added for warmth' with a broken leg from the hatchery, who mysteriously passed this New Year's Eve.

Lesson learned: Always, always listen to your intuition. Note to self: House wiring is just as old. Best time to replace is before the fire.

Hoping everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve. Wishing everyone a fabulous 2010!

Jeepers Creepers, Where'd You Get Those Peepers?

Since the scare back in February when Big Bird went on her big adventure, she's stayed pretty close to home. In fact, yesterday afternoon I last saw her sitting by the coop door. When evening fell, Alzina the Ameraucana (the one who worries) was standing in the door telling me something was wrong. Roll was called, and instantly I knew what she was talking about: Big Bird was missing again.

Fortunately, I had bought two nifty LED headlamps (how did we ever live without them?) and Farmer Rick and I began the search. I've since learned the best way to find a chicken in the creek is to lay on my belly and shine the light at their eye level. Within a few minutes she was located, sleeping under the big oak. I think she just gets caught unaware because she can't see the others heading to the coop.

 What? Where? Why do you have scissors in your hand?

So, I borrowed Farmer Rick's mustache scissors (sorry, honey) and went to work! Although the Polish are loved for their poufs and antics, I don't want beauty interfering with safety.

The bob is IN you know...

Just look at those big eyes!

Does this mean I can get sunglasses now?

Teddy Bird

This morning I discovered our disabled hen, Teddy Bird, had passed. As much as I would like to bury her, I feel I need to send her off for a necropsy to better understand what paralyzed her in the first place and what ended her life.

She was not in pain or visibly sick. In fact, she had a great appetite. She'd slipped during the torrential downpour the other day (usually she stayed under the covered portion when it rained) and I brought her in for a warm bath and blow dry. She was back to her normal self the next day.

You may recall, Teddy made a miraculous recovery to a shuffle-walk back in October last year, after months of physical therapy on my part. We converted the chicken tractor into her home by putting a floor on it and raising it up on legs. I checked on her needs every couple hours, and she would always purr the "I love you" sound and I would purr back. I have probably spent more time with this chicken than any of the others.

She will be greatly missed.

Room Service

Because of all the other chicken stuff going on, I haven't mentioned Rooster-o has been sick. He's our first, and smallest rooster and usually doesn't like to be handled. The one with the biggest wattles. For this reason (and because birds in general are pretty good at hiding their symptoms) we didn't realize he had lost a lot of weight. Several weeks ago Rick found him in a very debilitated state and we brought him in to be nursed back to health. I feel badly that I did not notice this sooner.

When an adult chicken is underweight from illness and not eating, I cook scrambled eggs with a little nutritional yeast sprinkled in for them. I know this sounds strange, except egg is what they eat inside the egg, so it is their first complete food. After a few days of seeing they will eat this, I begin top this with fresh chopped cabbage, grated carrot, crushed garlic, and sliced grapes or raisins, a little parsley.

Upon close observation of Rooster-o, it appeared his extremely hooked bill was making it very difficult to eat the pellets. I used the dog toenail trimmers to remove the tip and an emery board to sand the edges down. I figured he would resist, but he got a very pleased and relaxed look on his face during the process, not unlike how I must look when I get a professional pedicure! I think I can probably safely take a little more off now, and will add this to my monthly routines.

Before trimming...


After trimming.

He's doing much better, and is back out in his apartment in the main coop today, but still getting room service!