By Gum, She's done it!

Sure, the last thing we need right now is more chickens, but I am so thrilled for this little family. Two of our five year old Buff Orpington chickens were moved to a "retirement condo" earlier this year. The rooster, let's call him "Brad", was a living in a large group with his son. The younger fellow decided it was time to take over the flock, and was giving the old fellow a devil of a time. His lovely companion, let's call her "Angelina", survived a narrow scrape with a hawk the winter before last. It was fortunate timing, really, I had just stepped out on our porch one morning when I heard an unnatural amount of wing flapping in the Buff's paddock. I ran over, and the hawk was on her back! It flew away when it saw me, and I dashed inside and scooped her up. Bless her heart, she screamed for about a minute straight, as I am sure I would, wow. She had a bad bite on the back of her head, some talon marks, and a bloody eye, but after a few days rest in the "hospital crate" she was ready to return to the flock. Unfortunately, the experience left her with impaired vision in one eye, so she seemed a good choice to keep Brad company.

Now, they've gone and hatched a whole bunch of kids! I have counted five so far, but I am not sure that is all of them. They don't seem to object to my curiosity.

Pa is on his guard, he is constantly watching for any danger. I imagine it will be a nervewracking few weeks for all of us. They are very secure where they are, from everything except snakes! I shall try to stay alert, myself, and keep an ear open for any alarm. Congratulations to these two, and welcome to the world little ones!

What's happening

Desmond and his hens may be the new luckiest chickens on the farm. When I set up their paddock, I left a large plant growing in the middle, thinking it would be a safe and attractive, shady spot for chicken siestas. This year it started to bloom, and when I came in from work one day, Farmer Steve was near dancing a jig. "Elderberries!", he said. To my knowledge, we haven't had any here before, so it is a wonderful surprise. We will be able to add elderberry to our winemaking repertoire, with any luck, and the chickens can feast on the immune system boosting windfall.

When we set up our livestock paddocks, we try to either situate them in places where there are 'bonus' food plants growing, or plant things along their fencelines to supplement their available forage. It reduces our feed costs and increases their happiness to clean up seasonal treats such as muscadine grapes, persimmons, herbs like comfrey and wormwood, blackberries, and now elderberries, what luck.

We'll see how that luck holds out. We planted our two little American chestnut trees today. We brought back the seeds from a mountainside in Virginia last fall. They stayed in a plastic bag of slightly moist peat in our refrigerator over the winter, and then we planted them in pots in the greenhouse this spring.

They were all vigorous and ready to be planted, so we considered carefully where to put them. We chose spots inside two of the chicken paddocks, with rich soil and some protection from a mature treeline.

The little guys were then given a protective chicken wire cage to shield them from potential nibblers.

We hope they will be happy, it can't hurt to try, after all.

The sour cherry tree next to our front porch is ripening its fruit, and I believe it might be the most ornamental plant on our farm.

The wildflowers are in their full glory, they surely rival any cultivated thing we could grow.

Our week old little turkeys are happily kicking around in their brooder room at the hen house, and their little brothers and sisters will be ready to join them this evening. 43 in all, that's a good bit of fuzzy cuteness.

Making Hay Part 2

So, Sunday it rained all day long, but only very lightly. Then, we finally got some dry, sunny weather, and the hay was rolled and fluffed twice more. It was okay, we could finally bale it and put it in the barn! Harold Newton came back out to bale it all-

We have the very best kind of country neighbors. Ernst and his brother HB came over to help get the bales out of the field and stack them in the barn.

Steve found a little serpent while rearranging the palettes for hay stacking. Just think of how many pesky mice this fellow could take care of! Yet another good friend to have.

While not the very best quality hay, it is darn good considering all it went through. 459 bales in the barn, I am calling it a success!

High Drama of Hay Cutting

Making hay has got to be one of if not the most anxiety producing things a farmer can do. You need hot dry weather for several consecutive days, in the spring, at the right time. Last year, we managed pretty well. The hay was cut, rolled and, even though it rained on it a bit the morning we baled it, it turned out feedable, if not sellable.

This year has been a real bust, though. With all the rain, the hay fields were lush and beautiful. But then it kept raining. The grasses were starting to get a bit stemmy and starting to flower, so we had to cut it. A gamble-either try to make the hay, or lose it to age.

It was looking pretty good

Cut on Wednesday, it rained a bit overnight. Nailbiting begins here. It dried out and was sunny on Thursday, and our hearts swelled with hope, so Steve hooked up my old Oliver hayrake and rolled it. This flips the windrow over so the underside can dry out.

Friday it rained a third of an inch. Broken and weeping, we were consoled only by the thought of a Whole lot of Mulch.

Then Saturday it was dry and sunny again! "I think I can save it!" cried Farmer Steve, firing up tractor and rake once more.

The forecast is for more rain tonight, and another half an inch tomorrow. I am afraid all is lost, and the best we can hope for is a second cutting later on in the season. What will happen next-can we save the hay? Will we all get the swine flu? Stay tuned...

Turkey Mamas

Most of our turkey hens have now decided to sit on nests of their own. I kinda miss seeing their little faces when I go around to feed. Turkeys have not had their motherly instincts bred out of them over years of domestication to the extent that chickens have, so when they must brood, they must brood.

This one disapproves of being photographed. It's moments like these when their inner dinosaur is most apparent. This posture is accompanied by hissing.

They are fierce, but their success rate in hatching is usually pretty low. This time of year the snakes have woken up, and are Hungry, and turkey eggs for breakfast sounds lovely. Raccoons will run a turkey off her nest to get the eggs. Unfortunately, short of dropping a cage over them, and wrapping it in electrified razor wire, there isn't much I can do. Some of them make it, though, and I guess that is natural selection at work.

Really, I wonder sometimes how any of the wild turkeys manage around here, we have quite a large population. They will even come over and socalize with ours sometimes. One wild hen decided to stay once, but that's another story. I think good nest site selection has a lot to do with successful hatching. The best nest choosing I have seen here is that of my Bourbon Red hen. Can't see her? Right! She is also surrounded by thorny roses and goji berries, (nature's barbed wire). I think she is pretty safe, smart girl! Her husband seems lonely without her though. I see him anxiously pacing by where she is setting. It reminds me of the old Warner Brothers cartoons, where the chicken mama is setting on a pile of eggs, and the rooster wears a path in the floor pacing back and forth, looking at his watch, or crossing off days on the calendar. Ha!

Turklets

They are here! The first batch began hatching Sunday night, and we have another set due in about a week. They are near impossible to photograph, since they are never still, and with their heat lamp turned off, they get chilly quick. So, take my word for it, little turkeys are dangerously precious. With all I have that needs doing, I could spend the day just watching the fuzzy littles do their thing.