Roosters... your days are numbered!

4 days to be exact.  That's right.  The roosters (a.k.a, meat birds) will be "harvested" this Saturday.  We are keeping one rooster.  A bantam rooster.  He is much smaller, much quieter and much better behaved.  I must say, and I'm being very blunt here, I'm not sad at all that the meat birds will be leaving our farm.

Here are the top five things I dislike (a.k.a. hate) about roosters:

1. They wake up the WHOLE FAMILY at around 4:45 AM.  The sun comes up- they start crowing.  It was kinda cool at first... not anymore.  I'm becoming sleep deprived.

2. They are quiet violent.  If they were not fighting with each other, they were picking on my hens.  I won't go into details regarding the roosters mean ways as this is a G rated (ok maybe PG rated) blog but... let's just say chicken "relations" are not pretty.  And, roosters are not necessarily heterosexual.  Two weeks ago, we had to separate the hens from the roosters.  It's been better since the separation but now the big roosters are just picking on the little roosters (lucky for the well behaved Bantam rooster- we kept him with the hens.) One of my old farmer friends told me you should have a 1:20 rooster/hen ratio.  Our 1:1 rooster/hen ratio was not working out too well.  A lesson learned.

3. They are very fast and VERY difficult to round up at night.

4. They've become far from the warm and soft little chick we first came to know and love.  You can grab them to hold them and I fear they may pluck my eyeballs out.  I often scream and run when they flap their wings at me.

5. They eat A LOT! It's getting pricey to feed them so now it's time to eat them!

In a few days, some family and family friends will come to the farm to de-rooster the place. I will be taking the children on a little day trip as none of us are quite ready to see the realities of chicken farming.

Chicken round up

For the last two nights, the boys and I have been in charge of "putting the chicken's to bed.)  That basically means, rounding them up from our yard and getting them in the coop.  You also have to shut the front coop door or the lovely coons will eat all the chicken feed.

It typically takes J about 15 minutes to round up the chicken.  The first night, it took us an hour.  By the time we were down, I was sweaty and my ankles were all scratched up from trying to scare the chickens out of the brush where they like to hide.  There were a few near miss ankle sprains as I was trying to do this in my work clogs :)  Pick-Pick was pretty useless.  JJ was helpful, but I think a good herding dog would have been better!  Either way, 60 minutes later, we had all 28 chickens safely in the coop.

The second night went better.  We had them all rounded up in about 45 minutes.  This time, JJ did most of the running around and I stood near the coop door to entice them in.  Pick-Pick, who was vacuuming the grass with his new pretend vacuum cleaner, was again pretty useless :)  We found all but one white giant.  30 minutes later, I saw from my kitchen window, the white giant standing outside the coop.  I went out to the coop, quietly opened the door, and he walked right in!

Farmer J is on chicken duty tonight, thank goodness!

The boy who cried 'bat'!

If you never read my entry, "Houston, we have a bat problem?" you might want to read that entry before this one!

We know there are bats in this 1840's house because:

-We hear them in the attic and walls

-We see them flying in/out of our house around dusk

-We met a previous woman who lived here as a child and she had many memories of hearing the bats in the walls (her bedroom was upstairs as well) as well as an encounter with one in her room!

-The house was built in 1840-- it's not exactly new construction and there are many cracks/holes for little bats to fit through.

So... going back to late June.  I'll set the scene:

Late Friday night.  The children are asleep. J is reading a magazine in the fireplace room.  I'm at the computer in our formal dining room.  It's about 9:30 p.m.

As I type away,  I feel a breeze past by my left side, hear an odd noise and see something land on top of the hutch in front of me.  It's brown.  I first think it's a moth but it's way to big for a moth.  "J, I think there is a bat in here!"  J enters the room and confirms the bat!  I immediately scream (very girly like) and dash under the table (with my rear sticking out as this table is pretty little).  I open my eyes... and the bat is under the table with me!  We are practically nose to nose!  I REALLY scream (again picturing the bat scene from "The Office"), hit my head on the table and then run to the bathroom (shutting the children's door on the way.) Amazingly, the children didn't wake up to the noise of their hysterical mother! 

I peak out of the bathroom door and ask J if he sees the bat.  He says "no" and tells me to check my back/hair.  I freak but calm when I see in the bathroom mirror that there is no bat attached to me.  My husband, armed with his head light and my brand new tupperware, catches the bat with his lightning speed.  He is my hero!

I still get wigged out when I look at these pictures but,

you can tell this bat is very little.  It is a "little brown bat".

Here's another picture of the same bat. You can see by the 

size of J's thumb, this bat is pretty little.  

So Farmer J lets the bat loose outside and we go to bed.  In the morning, we share the story and pictures with our children and they all laugh at Mama!!  I still don't find the story very funny.

Two days later... and this story is where we get the title of the blog entry from ("The boy who cried 'bat'),

my oldest says, "Mama, there is a bat in my bed."  Now you must know that my oldest is a story teller and we OFTEN have to ask if he is telling the truth or telling a story.  After hearing and talking about my bat encounter the other day, I'm certain he is just bat obsessed and is "telling a fib."  As I'm telling him the importance of telling the truth and not making up stories, J comes out of his room with yet another bat in tupperware.  THERE WAS A BAT IN MY CHILD'S BED!!!  Are you freakin' kidding me?  I apologize to JJ for not believing him and we all check out the latest bat in tupperware (this time at 4 p.m. in the afternoon).  No need for another picture as the bat looked exactly the same, even in the same tupperware (now I am down x2 tupperware bowls.) J releases the bat outside.

According to "Orkin" pest control, bats are a "protected species" until mid-August, as they are close to being an endangered species.  We have to live with the bats for another few months.  We put "sonar" bat sound machines in every room of the house.  We can't hear the noise but supposedly, the machine put's out a very high pitched noise that bat ears cannot tolerate, so they stay away. 

Since then, we have had one more bat in the house, this time a "big brown" bat.  Luckily, I was not home for that occasion.  

In another 6 weeks, a lovely person from "Orkin" will come to the farm and help with our bat problem.  I realize that the bats have been here much longer than us but it's time for them to find a new home.  You can't mess with a Mama; the bat in my child's bed was like declaring war on us! 

To be continued...

Summer on the farm!

We first saw the farm in January, in the dead of winter.  We moved here in April and saw first hand the farm in bloom.  And now... summer on the farm.  Of course, we are now in July and just finishing up a major heat wave--which I can't quite talk about yet--still recovering from heat stroke :)  So... let's go back to June when the grass was still green and needed to be mowed...

 Our trusty lawn mower! 

It takes J and I about 6 hours

to mow the lawn. We take

turns-- it's our new workout!

This is two bags full of clippings. We 

get about 3 wheel barrels full, if we

mow the whole lawn in one day!

Typically, we just mow a few hours each day.

Here is farmer J building the chicken tractor.

More to come on this... still a touchy issue :) 

In the summer, on the farm, you never 

know what your child will find! JJ 

found a deer skull!  

My parents gave me this egg basket for my

birthday.  It's an antique and will be very

useful when my girls start laying eggs. Thanks 

Mom and Dad! 

 This is one of my favorite views

on the farm.  All the beautiful

purple flowers in bloom. 

 Summer tea.  After spending time

in the south, I've been

really into sweet tea.  J made

me some homemade sweet tea!

Another gift from my parents-- a nice 

place to keep all our kindling. This

will really come in handy next winter. 

 A summer boat ride at my parent's cabin-

Papa and pick-pick.  I love this picture and 

had to add it! 

We don't have a sidewalk but

we have a lovely brick pathway to our

front door.  I came back from work

to find each brick beautifully

colored by my family-- guiding me home. 

 Bright hot, pink petunias! In full 

bloom in late June.  

 The garden in late June.  Luckily, all of

farmer J's hard work (i.e., creating

garden Fort Knox) is paying off. 

The garden is growing beautifully!

 Here is one of our Rhode

Island Reds (i.e., no name meat bird).

Our roosters are getting very big--

and very noisy at 4:45 in the morning!

p.s. This blog is dedicated to Karina-- my number one fan! 

Lost and Found

We are all just getting over feeling quite panicky.  For about 30 minutes, we had thought we had lost our first chicken.  Miss Primrose (sister to Magnolia) was missing. After searching our property, Farmer J (i.e., Chicken Daddy) found his lost sheep (i.e., chicken.)  "I thought she was gone!"  The children were so excited to see her and Pick-Pick immediately told her, "I was so worried."  What was lost is now found.  Hallelujah!

PS:  The boy chickens (Cockerals) started crowing about two weeks ago... and every morning since then at 5:15 a.m.  It's not the "cock-a-doodle-doo" you are imaging.  Instead, imagine a pre-pubescent, voice changing, teenage boy chicken crowing.  "argg, argg, argg."  Either way, it's noisy and we no longer need an alarm clock-- and our children are waking up much earlier than normal. Gotta love our chickens!  And we do!!!!

The Barn

Our first home had a single car garage.  Amazingly, we were able to fit a small car along with all our stuff inside.  That was before we had children.  After our second child came along, all I wanted was a two-car garage.  My wish was granted with our last home: two car garage AND a small little shed for J's garden items and some extra kid toys.  I thought I had it made.  But now... I have a barn.

I realize I cannot park my car in our barn and I know that come winter I will be cursing out loud when I have to start my car in the cold and brush off all the snow.  But let's be honest, J will be doing most of that for me (he's very sweet that way; he know's I HATE the cold.) Let's hope for another mild winter like this last one.  But today is a hot, June day and our not so nice vehicles are just fine out in the elements.  And I have a barn!

Most of you that know me would be surprised to realize my new love for our barn.  The key that unlocked my love: SPACE!  I like to organize and have everything in it's place.  There is plenty of room in the barn for the kid's toys/bikes/etc., the lawn equipment, the outdoor equipment, enough wood to burn in our fireplace for the next year, about 5 ladders, garbage bins and get this.... J's insane amount of gardening and chicken related supplies.

Of course, our barn is not perfect.  It was constructed almost 175 years ago by hand and it's still in remarkable shape.  But.. there are times I'm worried I might just fall through the wooden floor and I wouldn't dare jump or run in there, for that very reason.  Luckily, the children are quite light.  Also, the barn swallows are not 'potty trained' and there is a bit of poo here and there.  My solution: throw a towel over the things we want to keep somewhat spared from flying poop.

Here's a picture of our barn from last January-- when we first came out to see the property.  Despite it being so cold outside, the barn was pretty toasty warm.

Houston... we have a raccoon problem!

Well... not really a problem (yet) but there are definitely a few raccoon checking out the farm.  Farmer J was a little late "tuckin' in" the farm (i.e., locking the barn, shutting up the garden (recall the very tall fence that completely surrounds our precious fruits and veggies), putting away the garden tools and toys etc.) when he found a furry, little friend in his garden (with a belly full of, not so ripe, strawberries.)  The scared little fella kept trying to escape but instead, found himself running right into the very fence that was meant to keep him out (do raccoon acknowledge irony?)  Finally, he was free.  J also spotted a raccoon eyeing up our chickens.  Truth be told, the chickens are not 'my babies' much at all-- they are very much Farmer J's babies.  He really loves his birds.  So... he doesn't want any of them to get hurt by Mister Raccoon.

Any speaking of beauty... May I present, Miss Primrose.

'Free-range' chicken time... but only under the careful watch of Farmer J and only during the day time.

I quite enjoy watching my chickens from my kitchen window as I do the dishes.  Very entertaining! 

The birds are getting rather big (especially the "white giants" seen below).  J said he heard his first "cluck" today.  They love to "roost" on the branches J put in the coop! 

And here are some shots of Fisherman J from our recent trip to my parent's lake home for Memorial Day Weekend.

This one JJ caught!!!

J caught this one while fishing off the pontoon!

And the fish bit back while J tried to get the lure out without pliers!  Battle wound.

Male bonding! One moment of peaceful fishing...until the next lure was caught in the weeds, or fishing lines were crossed, or someone was cold, or someone wanted a new lure, or someone wanted someone else's reel.  You get the picture! Thank goodness for a patient Dada!

The rare lake experience... spotting superman on the pier!

And finally... a great shot of a turtle-taken up north as well!