Red Comb Farm

meet me over here...

Hey Folks! If you're coming here from Cannelle et Vanille, welcome! I'm mainly blogging over at SpiderWomanKnits so dash on over if you want to see the latest happenings on Red Comb Farm. Thanks for stopping by! xoxo Abi

shearing day! our first ever!

Jim the Shearer came today! We were so excited! There was an incredible amount of anticipation leading up to this day but in true 'Greg and Abi' fashion, very little preparation. So, Shearing Day truly began at 7 PM last night just after we pulled in the driveway from a whirlwind weekend trip to NJ (more on that later). 

Haltering Alpacas is not the easiest thing to do when they are just running free in a field, in fact, it's next to impossible. So the first task at hand was to construct a temporary 'catch pen' so that Greg and I could catch and handle Indy and Hayden easily. We did this simply by putting up metal posts and wire fencing just beyond a permanent gate we already had positioned leading into our backyard. Then we herded Indy and Hayden through the gate closing it behind us so they were now in a 10 X 10 area. At that point they were a cinch to halter and lead into our garage. Since we don't have a true barn for them (just a run in shed) we wanted to keep them enclosed for the night and dry as well as make it really easy to halter them in the morning. By the time we constructed the catch area, herded, haltered and brought them into the garage it was 11 PM. So we tucked them in for the night and went to bed excited to wake up first thing in the morning. 

 

{Hayden waiting for his turn}

Indy and Hayden will be 2 years old in July and they had never been shorn. We were a bit worried about how the whole process would unfold. There are two options when you shear Alpacas. The first, which is the way it is typically done commercially, is to lay the Alpaca down and restrain/tie down their legs so that they are splayed out length-wise. The second, is that you hold on tight while the Alpaca is standing up and hope for the best. That is what what we chose and figured if it didn't work we'd have to go to the 'laying-down' method. Thankfully the boys did really well!

{Indy waiting for Hayden to be done}

Indy was the least happy about the situation and took to spitting quite a bit. But he was actually the most unhappy when Hayden was being shorn. They are so attached to each other. I made sure to keep Indy near Hayden the whole time still on his lead. He kept calling out for him though, making sounds I have never heard before. But Hayden was so compliant his turn went very fast and in short order they were back and frolicking in the field together again. Looking awfully silly I might add.

Our chickens are completely freaking out! They share the field and when we turned Indy and Hayden back out there was the loudest 'uproar' 60 plus chickens could possibly make! They were running around, flapping, squawking like crazy. They still are! I feel bad for everyone. Getting a haircut can be a sensitive situation, I hope the hens don't make the boys feel too bad about their new hair-do's ;)

Unfortunately it started to drizzle just as we finished up so I brought their fleeces in right away, wrapped in old sheets, to dry out a bit. Today's light and weather won't let me photograph them with justice. So, it will have to wait but they are AMAZING! I mean, really, truly amazing! Jim said that even the second cut was very high quality and worth going through. The 'barrel' part, which is the prime area, is just outstanding. I want to start working with it right away. I am a knitter though, not a spinner, so I don't really know what to do? Should I send them out to be processed or wait and learn with these? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

In the meantime you can bet there will be a lot of fleece fawning around here. All I can think about as I type this are the two piles of delicious up in the Yellow Room right now! I feel so incredibly thankful. Our boys are just a delight on so many levels, and of course we knew this day would come, but now that it's here I just feel like someone needs to pinch me to be sure this is all real. 

Starting Your Backyard Flock: Brooding 101

Keeping chickens is immensely satisfying and surprisingly easy. It makes good, common sense that it would be otherwise farmers would have abandoned keeping chickens long ago. But with relatively little time and money you can start your own backyard flock of chickens and have the invaluable reward of knowing where your food is coming from, perhaps even supplying others with locally raised food, along with the pleasure of simply keeping chickens since watching your flock forage around you will bring peace and joy to your heart. It will.

Like a new or first time parent the idea of being responsible for new life can seem daunting and overwhelming. When you place your first chick order you aren't just expecting a 'baby' or two, you're probably expecting at the very least a half dozen! But don't worry! Your chicks (and you) will be fine as long as you provide them with a safe place, a warm light, soft bedding and some food and water. Unlike human babies you will watch your chick babies begin to thrive and grow in an unbelievably short amount of time which is a good thing because you will know right away if what you are doing is working or not. 

To begin brooding baby chicks you will need a few things:

1. A Brooder. You can get as crafty, thrifty or MacGyver as you want here.

Basically you need a box with sides to prevent drafts and I highly recommend that your box have a cover. We have two brooders. One is a large Rubbermaid tub (pictured left). We simply cut the inside of the lid out and replaced it with chicken wire so that it still snaps on securely. This size brooder will accommodate up to 10 chicks for the first month or so depending on the rate of growth. Our second brooder (pictured right) was designed to hold at least 60 chicks for the first month or so depending on the rate of growth. You will know when it is time to move your chicks out of the brooder but generally it's after the first 5-6 weeks.

A lid is essential if you have small children and/or pets. Most of the time we brood our chicks in the Rubbermaid tub inside our house because we like hearing and seeing them. But chicks make A LOT of dust. So you may want to keep your chicks in a mudroom or the garage or some other place that you don't mind getting really dusty.  The cost of your brooder will vary with the materials you use to make it. The Rubbermaid tote brooder was about $25 for the tote and the small roll of chicken wire. The chicken wire is simply stapled on with a staple gun and has lasted through three kids, two cats and three flocks of chickens. Here is a closer look. It's a great way to brood a small amount of chickens, easy to clean and when you are done brooding you can store all of your supplies in it! We used salvaged particle board and hardware to make our other brooder along with leftover chicken wire from the first brooder so it cost next to nothing.  Look around you, what do you have? Can you turn it into a brooder? Go for it!

2. Pine Shavings.

We line our brooders and our coop with pine shavings and buy them in a huge bale at our local feed store. We have had great success with pine shavings. The only downside is that the chicks will kick it into the water and food but they will do that with any material you put in. Pine shavings are inexpensive and readily available. Our big bale costs $6 and lasts until the chicks move into the coop. You will know when it is time to change the shavings. The more area you give your chicks the less frequently you will have to change the shavings. Rule of thumb is to put down a 3 inch layer in your brooder.

3. Heat Lamp and TWO RED bulbs.

Heat is the most important element to keeping your chicks healthy during the first few weeks so the heat lamp is your most important supply. You can find the lamp at your local feed store, Tractor Supply and probably at a hardware store depending on where you live. You can buy clear or red bulbs. ALWAYS buy red bulbs. Chickens are prone to cannibalism so having the red bulb over saturates their environment making it difficult for them pick on a chick that may have gotten a peck for spending too much time at the food trough etc. With our last flock we neglected to have an extra red bulb on hand and when our bulb blew the closest feed store only had clear bulbs available. We purchased one, put it in the lamp, went about our day and night only to wake up to a chick with half of her wing pecked to an open wound. It was horrible. So, that day I drove further out to get a red bulb and that simple switch kept her wing from being pecked at any more and her wing healed just fine. Always buy a red heat bulb and always buy two. When one goes, replace it and get another extra to have on hand. The lamp will cost $15-20 and the bulb $5-8.

When your chicks first arrive you will need to keep the heat lamp directly over your brooder about 1 to 1 1/2' above them. Ideally this will keep an area of your brooder @ 90-95 degrees. It is very important that your chicks have a place to go that is not hot though so position your lamp to one side of the brooder. Each week you will raise your lamp a few inches until your chicks are 'feathered out' or the temperature is about 70 degrees. Watch your chicks! If they are always huddled together under the lamp you will need to lower it. They are cold! If they are huddled together on the 'unheated' side they are probably too hot! Time to raise your heat lamp!  Happy chicks mill about the brooder. 

PLEASE BE AWARE THESE LAMPS ARE VERY HOT! You will need to run the lamp 24 hours a day so make sure it is in a place where nothing can catch on fire! Always check the chord to be sure it is not touching the lamp itself and please do NOT let children touch or play with the chicks near the lamp.

Right now we have our lamps on chains hanging from a hook which makes it really simple to raise and lower it as needed. We have also clipped a lamp to a camera tripod, a door, etc. Look around you. Do you have a good spot to position your brooder to accommodate the raising and lowering of a heat lamp?  Can your pets or kids knock it over easily? Is it close to a wall or flammable objects? Take these things into consideration when deciding where to place your brooder/heat lamp.

4. Food and water.

You will need a poultry drinker and a trough feeder. Both of these things are available at feed stores or Tractor Supply. Don't bother with a mason jar drinker. It's a base that you can just attach a mason jar too and while it is absolutely adorable they will outgrow it in a week and you will be cleaning it every hour so you'll just hate it and toss it in your garage. A gallon drinker is suitable for a backyard flock of 10-20 chickens. We have both galvanized metal and plastic ones like the one pictured above. It's a matter of preference and finances. We buy the plastic ones for $5 and use them only with our chicks.

A trough feeder like the one pictured above is nice to look at and keeps the birds from jumping onto the feeder and pooping in it. But, you can also just use an egg crate, a bowl or anything else you may have around so it's not an essential purchase.

When your chicks first arrive (assuming you have ordered them by mail and they are day olds) you will dip each one of their beaks into water/the poultry drinker as you transfer them from the box they arrived in to their new brooder. To do this just grab your chick in your hand and dip it's wee little beak into the water. They should take a little gulp right away and maybe even just start drinking on their own as soon as you set them down. At this time we also inspect our chicks and make sure they have arrived safe and sound. Wait an hour or so before offering them food. Although, our last batch arrived ravenous so we just waited a little while before placing their food in the brooder. Just give them time to settle in and take the time yourself to make sure they are healthy.

You will need to feed your chicks 'Chick Starter' mash. Chick Starter usually comes in 25-50lb bags and should be stored in a metal pail with a tight fitting lid. You will have many options for chick starter but most contain antibiotics. We are an organic operation so ours does not. I can't speak for certain about medicated feed but I think that you begin by feeding the entire bag of medicated feed and then switch to a grower mash. (Someone correct me if I am wrong) In our case we start by feeding organic chick starter for the first 5-6 weeks then feed organic grower pellets until our hens start laying at which point we switch to a layer mash. In any case, you will need a bag of chick starter mash, medicated or organic. Organic feed is considerably more expensive than conventional feed. A conventional bag will cost $11-15 while an organic bag will cost you $22-25. Yeah, it's really that much more.

Some chicks can become 'pasty' which is a somewhat polite way of saying that poop sticks to their butt. It can block the exit and cause problems. If this occurs simply use a warm, wet paper towel to wipe the poop away. We've only done this once and of course it was with our first flock which we worried and fretted over like first time parents but I haven't wiped a chicks butt since! If you are concerned that you have a pasty chick do NOT google 'pasty chick' with your kids in the room. I warned you.

And that's it! To recap:

Before your chicks arrive you'll need a brooder, pine shavings, a heat lamp, a bag of chick starter mash, a poultry drinker and something to put their food in.

Once they arrive, dip each of their beaks in water, turn on your heat lamp, observe them and then offer them food. 

After they arrive, make sure they have fresh water and clean food every day. Switch their pine shavings as needed. Once a week raise your heat lamp a few inches but observe your chicks! If you are brooding in the summer you may need less artificial heat. And enjoy them while they are small. They only fit in the palm of your hand for a short while!

we're new here!

The new flock has arrived (well most if it anyway)! How cute are they? We are busy brooding over here and it is so much fun. Who am I kidding? Most of the time is spent just adoring these adorable sweeties.

We are trying some new breeds for our next batch of layers. Right now we keep Black Stars, Red Stars and Ameraucanas (not pictured). This time around we will be keeping Amberlinks (not pictured), Welsummers (the cutie on the right) and Ameraucanas. For you chicken-folk out there Black and Red Stars are amazing! This was our first year keeping them and we love, love, love them. If you haven't kept them we highly recommend them. They lay very big, brown eggs ranging from light to medium in color. They are docile, although they lack any significant personality in comparison to other breeds we have kept. The only reason we are not keeping them again is purely experimental and aesthetic. Amberlinks and Welsummers are both breeds that are much more likely to range away from the coop and get a great deal of their daily ration from whatever they may find. Organic grain is expensive and we are committed to staying organic so we thought it would be interesting to see if we note any difference in grain consumption during the next laying cycle. Our chickens free range but yet the Black and Red Stars hang around (and in!) our house most of the day. Amberlinks are quite popular in Europe since many more of their poultry farms are leaning toward free-range operation. The only downside that I can see so far is that they are a mostly white chicken, speckled with brown which makes them a lovely stand out target in free range situations.

{Welsummer}

The Welsummer chicks look an awful lot like an Ameraucana chick. Our Chippy got her name because she looked like a little chipmunk when she was a wee bitty chick. I would say this lady does as well.

The black chick in the first picture and next picture was a 'freebie' and anyone who has ordered chicks knows what this means. Rooster! They sent five of them. Thank you very much. 

But don't they look darling together?

Next up, the Basics of Brooding. So many people are getting into keeping backyard flocks so I thought it might be fun to share some of what we've learned over the years and show you how we go about brooding our baby chicks! Stay tuned!

Oh, by the way I added the Facebook 'Like' feature to the blog. It's in the sidebar there somewhere. I am not sure where to put it yet! Go ahead and 'Like' away :)

poultry swap!

{we did it!}

We topped off Vaughn's birthday weekend with a trip to the Schaghticoke Fair Poultry Swap. I can see this becoming a yearly tradition for our family since the swap is always held the very first weekend in May. For Simonne's birthday last year we had 18 people at our house and managed to get them all out by 8 am for tag sales. This year, for Vaughn's birthday, the challenge was to get the five of us out of the house by 6 am to get to the swap for 7am. We did it! 

We got there right at 7am and it was just us and these folks. The swap really didn't get going until 8 and when we left at 10am there were still vendors showing up. Some people traveled for over two hours to get to there with their livestock. The swap was made up mostly of hobby farm animals, fancy/show roosters, lots and lots of bantams, lots and lots of guinea hens, ducks and geese, pot bellied pigs, some rabbits, pheasants and quail, goats, mini donkeys, and even three alpacas. I found it a wee bit sad because the nature of the swap means that people were getting rid of animals they just didn't want anymore or who weren't earning their keep. But I know how that is.

{have chickens, will travel}

There were some pullets there, and we had gone hoping to add some to our flock, but from a farming perspective they were far too overpriced for Greg and I to consider buying any. We are also looking forward to trying out some new breeds and there wasn't a huge choice at the swap for chicks. One vendor had some Welsummers and Barnevelders but at $7.50 a pop we had to walk away. We just need too many of them. So, we'll mail order again this year which is really fine. We have been very happy with our birds over the past few years.

So as we walked around we shifted gears and just ended up enjoying the swap for what it was. Lots and lots of people as crazy for chickens as we are and lots and lots of chickens to look at. Of course there were other adorable critters there too equally as endearing.

 

I had a serious connection with this goat. But having had the experience of being able to watch over Finn for a few months I knew full well that we just aren't set up for goats yet. We actually saw a mini Finn, from the same breeder, at the swap and my heart just melted. We ran into Jenna too who was busy sexing bunnies! She had told us about the swap when she first brought Finn over last November and she saw how much Simonne loved, loved, loved him. Simonne spent every minute she could at the swap with the baby pygmy goats. Good call, Jenna :)

I'm going to have to look into pygmy goats I think. Speaking of mini things, we didn't come home empty handed. Here's a sneak peak at my new little man! I'll introduce you to the rest of our mini bunch tomorrow! We were out and about until almost dark today (and I checked everything off that list) so I couldn't get good pictures of the newest members of our farm family. I am not quite sure where they fit into all of this yet. We certainly didn't need any bantams but how could I resist a mini chicken? Oh gosh, he is adorable and I love him an unreasonable amount! In the meantime, check out a few more pictures from the swap here!

   

{I am such a chicken dork but I am ok with that}

our farm routine : a day on the farm

{this is Rex, one of three roosters on our farm. he's a good boy.}

About a week ago Michelle asked me if I could share a bit about our routines here on the farm.  Well, I'd love to! In case you are just arriving here, we have a small organic poultry farm, Red Comb Farm, in Vermont where we raise 58 chickens for eggs to sell locally. We started keeping chickens about three years ago and our love for them is now blossoming into a home based business. Along with our 58 chickens there are 5 people, two cats, two alpacas and two lizards to take care of.

by 8AM

The proverbial rooster crows around 8 am for us here. By that time Greg is off to work and Jorn to school. On their way out, one of them will let the chickens out of the coop. We free range our birds so from the coop they head out into the field and the yard and the garage and the flower beds and the driveway and sometimes even the house in search of grubs, bugs, tender greens etc. 

{see how busy they are! and happy too!}

by 10AM

Meanwhile, I am feeding Vaughn, Simonne and (in theory) myself breakfast. I water our seedlings and Simonne feeds the cats during this time too. After breakfast Simonne and Vaughn play, safe and secure, in our playroom during the winter months while I run out to feed and water the chickens and alpacas. During the warmer months they will come outside with me but this always adds a great deal of time to the chores. No biggie, but the time line changes. We also collect any morning eggs that have been laid at this time and tidy up our mudroom for the day.

{whatcha got there? an egg?! thanks lady!}

That's it for morning chores! Then we just sit around and do nothing until the afternoon! Ha! Gotcha! Just kidding! We are very busy bees making things, baking things, grocery shopping, laundering, cleaning, listing in the shop, packing orders, answering convos and emails and playing as much as we can before it's our turn to pick up the carpool kids and Jorn from school around 3PM.  As soon as we return home, it's back to work!

By 4PM

Time to collect eggs again! But this time I have help. The chickens babysit while I go and gather their bounty.

 

The eggs are collected, placed in a basket and then set inside the refrigerator until after dinner. We wash our eggs before we carton them which is actually the most time consuming aspect of the whole process. I like inspecting each egg, sorting eggs I feel are too small to sell and generally making sure our customers are getting the most beautiful, delicious eggs that are possible. Seriously. Have you seen them?

{help yourself!}

By the way, our farm is a Honor System, self serve farm. I like it this way. Our customers get to see the chickens up close, meet us (if they want to and if we are home) and Simonne sometimes even delivers eggs right to your car (with help and supervision of course)! So, customers drive up, walk into our mudroom, help themselves to eggs that we keep in a dorm size refrigerator and leave money in a glass jar.

{welcome to Red Comb Farm! we pay her extra to be the greeter ;) }

By 8PM

While Greg is getting the kids to bed, I go out to close up the hens, inspect the coop and replenish feed and water. I like filling the feed hopper and water at night. This way if we are having a particularly chaotic morning or we have appointments or even if we are just feeling a bit lazy I know they have what they need when the sun rises. Chickens roost at night and go into a dreamy state. So, even if I fill the hopper to the tippy top they won't get down to eat. 

I also wash and carton the eggs at this time and restock the fridge for the next day. Then, I call it a day! Whew. That's it! I am more exhausted reading this than I am doing it. It seems like a lot but I would say that I spend about 1 1/2 hours taking care of the egg business each day and about 5 minutes on the alpacas (that doesn't count all the cuddling and hanging out, I am talking straight feeding of them etc.) 

This lifestyle keeps us really, and I mean really busy and outside but I really do love it and wouldn't have it any other way. Obviously there is a great deal that we do during our day that I haven't mentioned here. But I just wanted to deal with the egg business primarily because it's good to know that you can be a provider of high quality, organic food for your community with just a little bit of work each day. Chickens are easy peasy and SO much fun.

Here's a basic time line of our day just because it's a bit more clear this way.

8am : let the chickens out of the coop and into the field

10am-10:15am: gather morning eggs, fill feed and water if needed. tidy breezeway. give hay and water to the alpacas.

4pm-4:30pm: gather afternoon eggs and place in fridge. hang out with alpacas and give them some grain.

7pm-8pm: close up coop, check well being of birds and security, fill feed and water. one last check on the alpacas for the night. wash and carton eggs, restock the fridge for the next day. 

If you have any questions about the way we do things, how we manage or if I left something out just let me know! I love talking chicken!

calm before the storm

Two nights ago i was overwhelmed with the evenings beauty. Normally, the hens get tucked in right around the same time as the kids so you can imagine the craziness of 'bedtime routine' here. It's a mad rush to close up the chickens, gather straggling eggs, get the kids cleaned up and the house tidied for the evening. Only, this particular evening it was just so peaceful and so tranquil I found myself lingering, breathing in the moist air and relishing all that life has to offer (and letting Greg put the kids to bed).

The coop was glowing and I could hear the ladies shuffling around inside getting to their places which is a sound I thoroughly enjoy every day, just as much as hearing my children giggle. But, I have found that the times in my life when I really pause on the edge of tranquility and understanding, I am closest to death. Years ago, I remember sitting with our sweet cat Bubby and petting him in a way I hadn't, really appreciating him, really seeing him, almost pausing in time to remember him the way he was in that very moment. The very next morning he was hit by a car. I could only think how thankful I was that I hadn't just ignored him the previous night to rush about my life. I've had similar experiences like that all through my life with pets and people.

On this night, I literally stopped on my way to the coop, took this picture of my feet in the March mud and soaked in all that was about our chickens, appreciating their bounty, the food they provide, the comic relief they provide our family, the money they are earning for us. I just love them. Everything about them.

I stopped once more on the way in, amused by their shadows and the way that they too were very aware of me being outside. Some ladies hopped down off their high spots to take a peak outside the window.

Inside they were so orderly, I took the opportunity to take a head count. 59. We started with 62 chickens last August (61 chicks and one old hen) and have only lost 2 this winter, something that I am very proud of (keeping our flock safe and healthy, not losing the two). But one very important chicken was missing, our old hen, and my heart just sank. Oddly, Jorn came out to the coop at that very moment and right away scanned the chickens and said, "mom, where's Chippy?". I just let out a big sigh, said she was probably in the garage and suggested we let daddy look for her later. We agreed that was a good idea, but we knew.

Chippy was the last lady from our first flock, the chickens that brought out a passion in us we never even knew that we had until they arrived. Some people have chickens and adore them and then some people have chickens and go 'chicken crazy'. We fall into that category. Losing Chippy is hard for us, as inevitable as we knew it would be, she was sort of the farm mascot, Jorn's baby and Simonne's obsession. This is her here, here, here (as a baby!) and if you have ever bought something from the shop that is her on the back of the moo card. Oh, I have so many pictures of her I have to go through.

The reality is, we are used to this sort of loss. It happens. But Chippy represents the beginning of our dream. Her egg was the first blue egg any of us had ever seen in our lives! And one of the first fresh eggs we ever tasted! She was a survivor, in fact, I really hadn't given up hope on her until this morning when a man knocked on our door to say he just saw a fox run off with one of our hens (another one, which brings the count to 58) and I knew we had another problem on our hands. 

We'll miss Chippy, she was always underfoot, laid eggs on our bumpers, liked to roost in the strangest places and always let the kids pick her up, but most importantly set us on a path of growing and raising our own food and now, more importantly, raising food for our whole community. She was a special hen.

how to dye eggs naturally

Last year was our first year dyeing eggs naturally. It was really fun, really easy and something you could probably do with things you have in your house right now. We were starting with our own fresh eggs which were either brown or shades of blue-green. Honestly, we probably could have just left them that way, they are so beautiful as is. But we'll be dyeing them again this year and trying some new colors!

Purple/Red cabbage gives you that beautiful turquoise blue! It's outstanding! I bet it's even more vivid on a white egg but with 60 chickens, you can bet I am not going out to buy any eggs, so we'll be over-dyeing our own again this year.

Turmeric gives you that golden yellow color. The 'dye' didn't take as uniformly as the cabbage but I really like the effect.

Here is what you need to dye your own eggs naturally!

1 head of purple cabbage sliced up and/or 3 Tablespoons of Turmeric

Two large pots of water

2 Tablespoons of white vinegar for each pot

Eggs, of course! (do not hard boil them first) 

In two separate pots place your dyeing ingredients, water and vinegar. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes. WARNING! It will stink! Seriously, it will smell awful. But don't let that turn you off because the end result will be lovely.

Strain your dye mixes through a fine mesh strainer and then place back into separate pots. 

Add your eggs and boil as you would to cook hard boiled eggs using the method you prefer! 

You can then allow them to dry on a cooling rack.

Done!

While, the dye process is a bit on the stinky side the eggs do not end up tasting like cabbage or turmeric so you can go ahead and use them in salads etc.

Martha has some great instructions too, with more specific measurements, times and ideas for using some other natural dyes you have in your home as well. 

emerging

 

We are slowly emerging from our winter slumber. The weather is saying that Spring is here, our bodies are eager to act, to plant, to plan, to play, to prepare. This winter was the easiest yet for me. Having the chickens, alpacas and Finn to take care of made me go outside every single day whether it was 30 degrees or 30 below with the wind chill. I believe that is entirely the reason why I didn't slip into a winter funk this year. Now that spring is here, I feel a bit achy in my heart for the first time ever. Spring means lots of work. Not that winter isn't but there is a certain laziness to it I know we can't afford in the spring and summer. I can appreciate that now as we enter the world of farming much more than it was ever possible living a life in the city.

Still, we have barely set foot inside since the sun started shining and the air began to warm us. We are exhausted at the end of the day. Even the alpacas are just laying right down before the sun has even set and the chickens line up in a frenzy to claim the perfect perching spot earlier than I would expect. Our bodies aren't accustomed to all this activity yet. Not yet. But soon.

I have so much to share! Projects, really exciting news, some baking and probably more chicken pictures than you care to see but it will have to wait. Because I am snuggling up in bed to watch a movie, exhausted and a bit achy but all the better for it.

ps. there is a little story behind that picture over at flickr

we* say good-bye to Finn

Jenna came by this morning to get Finn. We had an incredible wind storm last night and I was up literally the entire night worrying about the Alpacas and Finn. They weren't using the shelter and there were lots of branches coming down so I just kept looking out there and checking them. I overslept this morning and got downstairs just in time to watch Jenna and Finn pull out of the driveway. Greg and the kids got to say their good-byes.

I have to say that I wish Finn's stay here ended differently. Just about four months ago, when he first came to stay, we imagined the glorious day that we either brought him to the new Cold Antler Farm or Jenna came to get him herself to bring him to his real home. All through the winter Finn was happily hunkered down with Indy and Hayden (the alpacas). But, the last two weeks were bad. Really bad. Every since the snow started melting (and because he's a goat) he just wouldn't stay put with the Alpacas and had gotten into the terrible habit of literally knocking down every fence we have. He took down the chicken run, somehow managed to squeeze himself through the chicken door and had been eating all of the (organic) grain in the hopper. Greg and I had been wondering why, all of a sudden, it was going so fast. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it with your own eyes but somehow a goat can fit through our little hatch! Because the fences were down, the chickens were everywhere. People coming to pick up their eggs had to walk through a mass of hungry chickens and a few times people stopped to ask if we knew that there was a goat running around the front yard. We tried our very best to contain him but aside from completely changing our fences or putting up some electric fence, which isn't a possibility for us right now, we just couldn't keep him here.

But, despite all that aggravation, the whole time I was really just worried about something happening to Finn. Of course, all the while, Jenna was aware of what was happening. And in the end we had to say goodbye to sweet little Finn as he makes one more stop before he gets to go back home with Jenna. 

The lessons we learned about living with goats while he was here are invaluable. The time we had with him was pure joy. That Jenna is one lucky gal. He had become part of our family while he was here, part of our rhythm. Each day I'd walk him down to get the mail on his lead to maintain the training Jenna had done with him and then we'd go walk around the property collecting downed branches for an afternoon treat.  His sweet smiling face is enough to warm your heart on the dreariest of winter days.

But I know there are good things for him in the future! A new home with his real mama and maybe even some more kids?!

We love you Finn and we'll miss you!

ooxx

The Entire Brood