meet charlie

So I haven't been blogging or commenting on the blogs I follow much lately. I've had a lot of personal stuff going on, and just didn't have anything to say. But I think now things have calmed down and I can think again, maybe I can blog some now...

no this isn't Charlie, I just loved this picture. The clouds were amazing the other day. This whole field behind us is now cut. It's been great haying weather here. We acutally have all our first crop hay in!! Over 500 bales, and we are sooooooooo thankful!

 I love this picture of Abby and T.O. I sat down in the grass this evening and took it.

This is Charlie. Our rooster. The kiddos named him. He's young and the hens pick on him some, but he holds his own. So far he's quiet, I have yet to hear him crow. He was the lowest man on the chicken pole from where we got him. He's shy and doesn't like it when you go to him, but as I sat in the grass this evening snapping pictures he moved slowly closer to me, chirping at me as he came. For some reason my camera wouldn't focus, so they are kinda bleary. Charlie is a Barred Rock. Nice looking rooster I think. I think his tail feathers needs to grow, but I like him so far. I will change my mind when he wakes me up at 5am though. I am not a fan of roosters, at all. But my husband wanted to get him and breed the hens and maybe some of the broody ones will hatch out some babies!!! I know Mama Hen is sitting real nice on some eggs, that are not fertilized. I don't think Charlie has... ahem... done his deed yet! At least I haven't seen it! SO we shall see! I'll let you know!
Have a nice night all!

farm photos

Today it's cold and windy. Feels much like a January day, rather then the end of February! So what did I decide to do? Go outside and take some pictures! Why not? Froze my hands and all!

Dandie wanted to say Hello! How cute is that face!?

She's getting so big.

She would like to be a mommy hen. She's always sitting on eggs.

The other hens are busy laying eggs. The have done so well. We have turned the morning light off and will be turning off the evening light soon. They need a 2 month rest, and have been slowing down a bit. So... I hope we don't have to buy eggs soon.

I went into the horse barn and was surprised to see Minty peeking around the corner of T.O's stall. Daisy was in there too, behind the wall. Guess it's not as windy in the barn as it is outside. They do have a barn of their own, but they must like the horse one better.

 Abby and T.O. Abby looked up and then buried her face back in the hay.

Have a great Tuesday!

mr roo

So as I said last year, haha, sorry couldn't resist the pun, we have a new little rooster. My brother in law brought him over. Guess he's paying us back for the very loud rooster we gave him this summer!!  Just kidding, kinda! Actually he's only here for the winter.We put him in with the big girls and prayed for the best for him. I hoped he wouldn't be a bother where he is small. I'm not real sure what kind of chicken he is. He's friendly too, and comes right up to me when he's outside. His name is Snowflake, he came with it. I think my nieces must have named him. I never name the chickens. But so far he's made it, the hens don't seem to bother him and he usually runs when they come too close. I would too if I was out sized by about 3-4 times my size! eeks!
So here is Snowflake. Anyone know what kind he is?

Pardon my smashed pumpkin there. He was eating it when I snapped the picture and then Mama hen comes running and he too off! He doesn't stay still very long either! And I have yet to hear him crow. Even better!

We traded something, don't remember what, for six Barred Rock hens a while back. They are about the same age as our other hens, and all are laying quite well. She's a big girl, but most Barred Rocks are!
Below are a few pictures of the other girls running up to me. They heard me out there and wanted a photo op too! They couldn't be left out, so I snapped a few pictures and told them what good girls they were. I found 20 eggs in the coop this afternoon, and one hen was still in the box!

Such nice looking hens dontcha think? They are enjoying this weird winter we are having with no snow and about 35 degrees this afternoon. They don't like the snow! Ever see a chicken in the snow? It's kinda funny. I have to go grab them and get them out sometimes, they just stand there and squawk! They fluff their feathers and strut around after they are on the ground again, like they meant to do that! They are too funny!
Have a great day all!

clean up

Ever clean out your recipes? I have some that I thought looked good, and have saved, but once reading through them and realizing that I'd never make them. Not to mention I cook entirely different now then when we were first married. I have had some recipes for years and never have made. Some call for those wild ingredients that I never have on hand and would go to waste because it only goes in that one recipe. So I decided to clean them out and throw them, to make room for the new ones I have found online and from friends. I try to organize it by main dishes and desserts, then extras like horse cookies. Yes from time to time I make cookies for my horses, they love them! So much better, now I just need to get them on recipe cards and in the cookbook. I like to use the old photo albums, they are perfect for them.
I also have a little photo album of recipes I use only when canning, like spaghetti sauce. I'm always rummaging through the cookbooks to find them, then finally the light went on and I put them together, and put them in the canner. So next year when I start canning they are all right there in one place!! Brilliant! Only took me years to figure that one out...
Anyhow, life is kinda slow, and by slow I mean farm wise things, most of all our equipment is undercover before the snow comes, again. Everything around the farm is picked up, like the kiddos summer outside toys, and the like. Barns are winterized and now we just wait for the snow. It has been such an awesome fall. We had an Indian summer, and so far it's still been mild for Maine weather. Some cold, but mostly warm sunny days, like in the 60's!!  No kidding, I've loved it too. I'm sure winter weather is coming, but it's been so nice to have some mild weather and not have to keep the fire going all day, but at night to keep the chill out and not have all the winter gear out!!!
I'm sad to have to say this next part. You remember all our wonderful chicks that hatched out and mama hen left them? Well we had five. One was a rooster and the rest were hens. Well three days in a row someone hit them. I guess they thought playing "chicken" in the road was fun. Makes me soooooo mad. They hit three hens, figures. Then we killed the rooster. Didn't want to deal with him over the winter, and don't want chicks. So we have the one hen from the five babies left.
Well I have tons of things to finish, so have a great day all! Just thought I'd let you know what I've been up too. 

maggie pictures

This morning while Little Matt and I were out doing the chores I took the camera out with me. I was able to snap a few pictures. (My camera has been acting up lately. Not really sure why. The pictures have been coming out blurry and unfocused. And often times there is a black spot in the picture. Not a huge black spot, but it looks like smoke or something. Again not really sure why. Maybe it's dying. I think I would be lost without my camera. I tend to take it everywhere, most of the time, unless I forget it!! hahaha! I would like to get one of those fancy ones, maybe next time around I'll get one. I still like mine, and it works, usually!)
Anyways!
It's a cool, damp morning with dew on the ground and a fall chill to the air.  The sun is up, but the clouds are covering it so it looks misty out. I could see it through the feather looking clouds, and tried to get a picture, but it didn't come out nice. The weather has changed back to fall weather, and I turned the heat on to take the chill off this morning. I didn't think a fire would be necessary, just some warm air to warm me up. Burr!
So here are the pictures of Maggie and the broilers like I said last night. No calf as of yet! Believe me when that calf drops I'll be getting some pictures on here! I'm excited for the big day!

I know it's her hiney, but you can see the calf on the side and how big she is on that side!

big mama! i think she's a nice looking cow

looks like this guy is hollering, but he's really just trying to get the fresh grass. he stuck his head out of the wire to eat some. guess it's greener on the other side of the fence! we had just moved them too!

Have a great day!

chicken run

Mama Hen has done her job. She has trained her chicks and tended to them beautifully. She defended them with every fiber of her being. I saw it. As a good mama should. She showed them what to eat and how to enjoy a dust bath, eat bugs and food scraps and where to drink. Who to run off and who to run to for help.
I've noticed the past few days how she had been leaving without them, and not responding to them real quick when they would call out to her. She would stand back and watch and see what they did. Then yesterday she officially kicked them out of the nest. She runs them off to eat on their own. She ignores them and will have nothing to do with them. She won't let them roost with her. The babies seemed to be at a loss yesterday too. Plus with the down poring of rain we had they hid most of the day. Then this morning she chased them off so she could eat, and wouldn't let them have any. While I was feeding the other animals this morning I noticed that the chicks were running after me hollering as if to adopt me as the new "mama." I resemble food apparently. So I fed my new babies and they happily ate, and let me feed the other animals. DaLaney was greatly concerned about Mama Hen's attitude to her babies and questioned it. I gently told her that this was her instinct to make them be independent and that they were old enough to take care of themselves. I said that she might want to be laying eggs again, and she knows that this is what she needs to do. Her babies are grown, and that she has done a beautiful job of raising them. Granted they are only 7 weeks old there about. But her instinct had been amazing to watch. She was raised with a light in a box, not by a natural mother. I find it simply amazing how her instinct kicked in and she knew what to do for her babies. I'm simply amazed at creation.
So here is a today picture of my new charges.  I think they are kinda cute, kinda ugly, but I'll keep 'em. At least the hens, the roosters will have to exit the farm. I think there are two roosters. But that is just a guess. I'm hoping for 3 hens that would be really cool!

 I thought this was too funny! This little chick wants my job of mowing the lawn!! hahaha. Actually I think this is one of  the roosters, due to a huge comb and wattles compared to the others is what I'm judging it by. I don't know how to tell the sex of a chicken!

Looking at me expecting something. Like wheres the food? They followed me all over until I gave them some food away from Mama Hen. This is the one that was on the lawn mower.

Here are my little charges. Happily eating the grain I gave them away from Mama Hen. It's been raining for about 3 days here and everything is muddy. Kind of an interesting combo, New Hampshire Red with Silver Laced Whyendott.

Here is Mama Hen. She's wonderful and beautiful in all her mama glory!  I think I will protest a great deal if My Man wants to get rid of her. I kinda have a spot for her now. Maybe it's a mommy thing, I don't know. I hope she starts to lay again, and stays a while longer on our farm. She'll always be called "mama" now.

Have a great day all!!

chick update

Our little chicks are doing well. They survived the tropical storm. We locked them in the cow barn. Much to mama's distaste for that. Her nest was behind the barn in the tall grass, not under the barn like we had thought.  So we decided because it made us feel better that they would spend the night in the barn with Maggie. We figured it would be better for them. Although I have to admit that they seem like they are much more hardy then the chicks that we raise from a day old. These guys are out in the rain, wind and it's not 95-100 degrees like the light raised ones are. They are 12 days old according to when we saw them. Maybe 13 if they stayed in their nest for a day. They peck and scratch much more too, looking for bugs and such. Mama hen is doing a great job with them. It's fun to listen to her talk to them. Her tone changes depending on what is going on, and watching them respond accordingly. None of the other hens bother with them anymore either, because mama comes at them!

The rooster is now gone. We gave him to my BIL. He's got some hens and is hoping that one of his hens will sit on some eggs. No more 4:30 am alarm!!! I'm very glad I don't have to listen to him any more too!!! I'm also hoping that some of these chicks are hens! It would be nice if they all were, but I'm not going to hold my breath. So far I think they are going to be nice looking, the way their feathers are coming in. We shall see what the end result of a Silver Laced Whyendott (I know I didn't spell that right. My spell check didn't know what it was either!!) haha and New Hampshire Red looks like. Roosters will have to go, we don't need one through the winter...

i'm back!!!!!!

OK. So my wonderful husband surprised me with a computer late this morning!! Thank you honey!!!
It's all up and running. And I only had to call tech support... once, oh ok twice!! Hahahahaha. Computers and I we are so compatible!! That is in there for my sister. She'll get a laugh out of that!! I hope!
Well now that I can blog, my brain won't work, I have so many things I want to share. So watch out I may just keep on rambling!
So much to do, but I think I'll blog for a while, then get busy...

Well remember how we got a rooster.Still have him, and he still wakes me up at 4-4:30 every morning. Grouchy is what that makes me. We locked some hens up with him. All but one, she was the low one on the pecking order and was never around. I thought something had gotten her because she was gone for weeks. She was never with the rooster. Then she came out from under the cow barn. She was thin and pale looking. She ate some food and then went back under the barn. We figured maybe she had a nest, but didn't know if any of the eggs had been fertilized. She didn't come out until a few days later. Still alone. She went back under the barn for a few more days. Then Emma comes in the house her large, round blue eyes wider then normal and a smile on her face and says "Mommy come see what I found! The hen came back with some babies!" We (myself, DaLaney and my mom were here at the time) went outside and saw 5 little fuzzy butts running around with a very proud mama hen. She is very protective of them and even tried to attack Maggie for going in her barn! Guess she got a little close to her babies. Other hens come around and mama gets ugly and will attack them if they get too close. They run like the dickens when she comes at them too! They are sooooo cute! I'll try to post a picture of them...

I did it!! Wwwwaaahhhhhoooo! Sorry just a little excited about that. No tech support involved!

We have stopped milking Maggie too. She is getting dried off because she is due October 12. She was still giving about 1.5 gallons a milking and we had been milking her for 13 months. Due to all the trouble we had getting her AI'd. Guess she's a good little milker. Thankfully we have not had a problem with her getting too swollen and uncomfortable. She seems happy enough to munch on hay and lounge around all day in her dry paddock! Ah the life! That worked out well because I had to have my wisdom teeth out, I kept putting it off, so no milking or heavy work for me. Bad time to have it done right in all the harvesting and canning get busy. But I'm on the mend, and as of right now I still don't think it's worth it. I'll let you know if I change my mind. I'm ready for a nice grilled stake and a green salad! Sounds good to me!!
Well that's all for now! I gotta get caught up on all the blogs I follow, and some canning done! Hope all is well with you all!!

yard work rambling...

I like yard work. I certainly like it better then house work and cleaning the toilet! There is always more things to do then time allows.
My lawn was in need of mowing and I got it done, and the rain hasn't started yet! Matthew was gone this morning so I got busy. The kiddos cleaned up their plither of toys all over the yard while I mowed. I only hit a few rocks that got thrown onto the lawn by the plow man plowing the neighbors driveway with that last snow storm we got on April Fool's day. Oops. Hope I didn't damage the blade...
 Last year we fenced in the what we call the "back lawn" for the cow, but well that didn't work out so we put the horses on it. Cuts down on the hay in the summer for them, and that cuts down a lot of mowing on my part, the horses do it! Takes me about an hour to mow the lawn. After I got the lawn mowed Matthew came home, I had just literally stopped the mower when he pulled into the driveway. We had lunch and he was off to plow the neighbors garden, so I cleaned the horses stalls, then raked up the rocks on the front lawn and cleaned it up. The kiddos raked the rocks on the side lawn. They did a really good job at it too!
We were able to put the cow out on fresh grass the other day. It's finally ready and dry enough! She's really happy about that, now the butter will be a darker yellow! Changed real pale yellow once she wasn't on grass anymore.
I'm done rambling. I was just pleased to get so much work done this morning before it rained. Oh I also made a cake to take to my in laws for supper tonight for our monthly meal together!
 I also have a picture to share with you!

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing here, but it just feels right!"

says the little Partridge Rock hen. She was just sitting there happy as you please this morning. So we had to take her picture! She's got a ways to go before she'll lay her first egg, but it looks like she'll do just fine!
Have a great weekend!

broiler on the loose...

We have some broilers that are doing really well. But we have one little one. And it is little. It can slip right out of the chicken wire of the chicken tractor! The others are way too big for that! They are 3.5 weeks old now. We come home and it's running around in the grass, it's never in the tractor! I think it's a girl, causing trouble! Thankfully none of the older laying hens bother with it, and neither do the cats! Surprisingly. But when we get close to the broiler it runs to the tractor peeping loudly and climbs back in! She stays there until we are gone and then takes off again! It's kinda funny to see this scraggly little white/yellow bird running around! It still has some chic fuzz on it. We always make sure it's in at night and it is, snuggled up with the other birds.

She's running for the tractor! Too funny, and yet kinda cute too! The broiler on the loose... she is running out of our lawn mower tractor shed!

Getting bigger, and notice the wire

This one just decided to pose for me. And you can see it would never fit through the wire.

Alright, so I find myself at home with 6 girls! Aahhhhahaha. The ages are 2-7 yr olds, 2-5 yr olds, and 2-3yr olds! It's like having 3 sets of twins!!  I'm not quite sure how it all happened, but it's been interesting to say the least. They are all on the floors in the bedrooms, far from sleeping at this point... maybe before midnight they'll be asleep!
I've been very busy with the farm, running with the sap, and chickens, oh the chickens! They require a lot, and we have just gotten 25 Cornish X Rocks yesterday. So far they are doing well. I went to a Pampered Chef party last night at my sister in laws. I was late getting there because Matthew was getting the chickens and we had to get them settled before we left. I had done all the barn chores as well because he was late getting back home, and I still had on all my barn clothes and ran out to give the cow some water before we left and we are in the midst of mud season here and I had on my rubber boots. Little Matt asked me as we were driving down the road "your going to wear your muck boots Mommy?" Well at that point I didn't have a choice, so I said "looks like it." Oh well, guess I wouldn't have won any fashion contests but I enjoyed myself and the gals that were there are used to me, and take me the way I am! I think that's a good thing! I was told I didn't smell like a cow, so I guess that's good... I wasn't too concerned about it. I think I'm getting more comfortable with who I am and just "wearing my own shoes" so to speak.  The new laying hens are still getting used to their new home. The older laying hens are still getting used to them being out there with them.We haven't had any problems so far, they really don't pay any attention to them, and the little ones haven't tried perching on their perch yet, so we'll see how it goes.  I hope they all just stay friendly and don't have too much of a pecking order problem.
Thankfully the sap season will end for us tomorrow. We are pulling the taps and will be cleaning them and putting the stuff away until next year. We still have some sap to boil, but will be done with collecting. It's been a great year and the sap has really flowed well, compared to last year. We had that learning curve, but figured it would happen, but now we know what to fix and what to do, so next year will be better. I think thus far we have finished off 10-11 gallons of syrup. I have lost track and I like to keep track of all that stuff for my own personal records. I told Matthew I look forward to the season and I also look forward to the end. No more running and the days and nights are warmer and summer can come anytime now! He said he feels the same way.
We have gotten 2 pigs this week as well. Currently they are over at my in laws, but will be coming home when we have their pen ready, they are cute, white ones. I have no idea what breed they are, but most piglets are cute, I think. I don't have a picture of them yet, but I'll get one on here when I do. I like to refer to them as sausage and bacon. Don't want to get too attached to them...
I do have a picture of the broilers though. Chicks are cute too.

Sorry about the color, the heat light is on them. Cute little fuzzy butts!

Here they are!  Cute!

Yes there is a lager black bird in there with them. This bird is one from the laying hens. Haven't figured out if its one of the hens or one of the exotic birds, but it's rather weak and we didn't dare turn it out with the others. So we are pampering it and hoping it will come around and gain some strength. The broilers just love it, snuggling right up under the wings, and the bird doesn't seem to mind at all. It actually perked up when the chicks were put in there! We'll see how it does.

listen to this!!

I think it is cute. Enjoy! They are happy little chicks!! They will have a good life here at SweetLand, and live the way a chicken should!!

peep, peep, peep...

I'm kinda excited because I have just ordered some new laying hens! We are getting Black Australorps and I threw in some Partridge Rocks for my Man! He thinks they are a 'handsome looking bird" so I decided to get him some! I wanted the Australorps! We have some New Hampshire Reds already, and will have a nice looking flock of hens running around the yard this spring, doing their pasture sanitizing, and bug eating!! Although I think the New Hampshire Reds will meet their fate this fall... Soon the house will be full the sound peeps! Yeah, we keep 'em in the house for a while, the chicken coop is not warm enough for them, and we don't want to loose them, that way we can also handle them and they will be a little more friendly! I can't wait! I just love chickens and love to watch them, so long as they don't get into my garden!!! They tend to like tomatoes, and everything else out there!! Along with the sheep. Funny thing is we bought a sheep fence for the sheep, now we let the sheep run around like dogs and put the sheep fencing around the garden! Keeps the chickens out for the most part and the sheep! We don't have a problem of deer. I think it's too open where we live, and the gardens are close to the house. Coyotes have not been a problem for us either. We can heart then yipping off in the distance, as long as they stay away. We've had a few brazen coyotes come close a few years ago, it was yipping right outside our bedroom window! It was huge! Matthew went out, but it ran away. I think we need another dog. I know some of the kiddos would love that, but I'm not sure.
This spring when it is warmer we'll be getting some meat birds! They taste so good!! I hope we can fanangle to get some turkeys this year too, but they come a little later in the summer, so we have a while to think about that. We don't have a coop for them, but Matthew is wonderful and can build a place for them I'm sure! That and we would need to figure out where we would put them. Turkeys and chickens need to be separate. We'll see!
I'll throw a picture of some chicks in here for you! I think they are cute when they are little, but when they get older they are kinda ugly, (meat birds that is).Makes it a little easier to eat them! Thankfully laying hens are nice looking when they are little and older!

These are some of the meat birds we had last year! They are the Cornish X Rocks! About a day or two old here! 

Have a great day!