Goodbye Pharaoh...and Empress

Yesterday, when going out to feed the chickens, the small bantam rooster, Pharaoh, flogged my Bata industrial boots (mucking boots)...it was the first time he had dared to do something so rooster-like.
Poor thing didn't know that I had been thinking how he and his mate, Empress, were more trouble than they were worth. His flogging performance sort of sealed the deal of their departure. But breaking it to their owner, my youngest daughter, wouldn't be so simple.


Pharaoh as a chick. See that glint in his eye...already scheming on me, he was.

You see, I've been wanting free-range chickens since we made our big move out here to the wilds of Oklahoma. And just last year that desire to have chickens came to fruition.
Last Spring we purchased six pullets and they're definitely high production egg layers! The three gold sex-links average five eggs a week per chicken and they're producing large to extra-large size eggs. The three white rocks have performed almost as satisfactory although their eggs are a bit smaller, but I've been happy with these six hens.
The newer crop of chicks we purchased last Fall, have started to mature. My oldest girl's Wyandottes have both started laying and one of my Buff Orpingtons has started laying. We still have another Buff Orpington that hasn't. We also have Mr. Incredible, our incredibly handsome Buff Orpington rooster, that seems to be a bit on the dull side...but that's okay because I'm not scared of him. And with that, we come back to Pharaoh and his queen, Empress...both of which would become cat chow in a heartbeat should I let them out with the rest of the chickens.
I'm a practical woman and Tim has indulged me quite enough with this chicken dream of mine. I can't ask him to build an extra coop for the small ones as an extra run and coop was built this past Fall for any hens that go broody and decide to raise some chicks this Summer.
Enough is enough...and all this was explained to my darling daughter as tactfully as possible. Yes, there was crying and pleading, but I wouldn't be moved from my decision. She understands now and is already planning how she can get back into the whole chicken project here at our little farm.
But I can't help but suspect that one day when she's all grown and she has a place of her own there will be bantams there, lots of them.
Have a safe and blessed weekend, Julie

My Montage

Officially it's not winter, but it sure feels a lot like it here.
Owning a farm, albeit small, has its disadvantages when the temps dip below the freezing mark. Animals must have water and don't have the ability to break ice on their own. I'm sure it has to do with the whole opposable thumb thing. So as responsible pet and livestock owners the job of breaking ice falls to the capable humans...Us (better defined as husband and I). He breaks ice for the larger animals and my job is to break ice or provide water for the chickens. Which I may add...again....don't appreciate it. We've already gotten rid of one youngster that thought it his duty to peck me (showed him) and now I have another that is thoroughly misguided. Yesterday, while reaching into the coop to get their feed dish, young Mr. Cockerell gave me a sharp peck on the arm. I was cold, it was early, and I haven't got the Christmas tree up, which adds up to harried middle-age woman jerking young cockerell off of his feet before-he-knew-what-happened and giving him a good hard shaking.
Honestly, it made me feel lots better.
Chick-fil-A's motto is, "Eat more chicken."
Mine is, "Shake a chicken."



But other than farm stuff, there is all the other hullabaloo regarding raising kids. As of late, I feel more like a taxi driver/schedule organizer. Yes, yes, I know that it's my duty as a mother. But we've fallen into the trap of too many activities.
Spreading oneself too thin is one thing but when a whole family spreads itself too thin it makes for a miserable ride! Yet the kids seem to keep excelling, much to my amazement. Shame on me for not having more confidence in their abilities to overcome. And really maybe it's just my tirades they're having to "overcome."



Anyway, all that to say that middle child did wonderfully at the county 4-H speech contest. She won Reserve Grand Champion on her speech, "The Basic Anatomy of a Chicken and What to Feed it."



Both girls did fantastically at our local spelling bee. The oldest placed second in her division and middle child won first in her age division. Both girls will be competing at regionals. This is the third year in a row for the oldest to compete at regionals and we're hoping this is the year she'll win it and progress to the state bee.



Lately, we've made frequent trips out to Southwest Oklahoma to see my mom and arrange surgery for her knee. My sister and I took guardianship of her this past fall and have been busy with seeing that she is being provided with her medicine and the care that she needs. It is an answer to prayer that my husbands parents live just a short distance (35 miles) from my mom so that the children are able to stay with them while I tend to my mom personally.
Nick, the gimpy-leg dog, is still in the tack room mending from his multi-fractured leg. We will probably stay home this Christmas so that our wonderful friends/neighbors (6 miles away) don't have to come let him out three to four times-a-day to do his business. There are limits.



This past weekend the whole family took a road trip to see Tim Hawkins the Christian comedian. The added bonus was getting to see some dear friends that we don't see often enough. I cry everytime I see them, I know...odd, but he baptized me and married Tim and I. She, his wife, is one of the most gentle spirited and wisest of women that I've ever met. And their daughter, joyful, ever-youthful and someone to whom I owe so much. But she would be surprised to even think that.
I'll wrap it up there...except to say I have a post rattlin' around in my head that will detail an afternoon a couple of weeks ago where I had to climb to the top of the house to save the day.
Stay warm and cozy!
Blessings, Julie

That's No Bull!

                                   Otis at eighteen months
I was just outside to let the chickens out to freerange, when I noticed our large (appr. 1000 lbs) 18 month old brangus steer, Otis, hurrying around the barn towards the trough. He didn't act at all interested in what may be in there but stood, head up and alert, looking around with an air of agitation. He then bellered loudly several times with an expectant expression on his bovine face, turned quickly and exited as quickly as he had entered.
I couldn't help but stop and observe all this with a bit of amusement and curiousity as number one, Otis never moves this fast and number two, Otis never seems to get excited about anything except food.
While standing there I realized his little sidekick, Peanut, wasn't with him.
Peanut is our "mistake" calf.
Last May, I asked Tim to buy me a beef calf to bottle feed and raise hoping one of the kids would someday show it.


                                                                     Peanut at two weeks
Peanut let us know real fast that he had other plans.
Peanut, short for Peanut Brain, is our juvenile delinquent calf. Barbed wire means absolutely nothing to the little lame brain, he goes through it.


                                                        Peanut currently
We've caught him time and time again in the barn trashing the place. He goes through dog food and chicken feed like he's poppin' a peppermint in his snout!



Any tool left on the barn floor is a target and Peanut doesn't miss.
So as I stood there watching Otis's odd behavior, I realized he was looking fervently for Peanut.


                                                         Peanut and his surrogate mother, Otis.
We had laughed that it seemed Peanut was attracted to Otis early on and stayed at his side like a calf does with his mother.
But to see that Otis needed Peanut, too, was rather comical.
So turning back towards the house and shaking my head, I thought, "Wow, I've seen it all."
I was met by one of the dogs carrying what looked like the hind leg of a deer.
Hmmm, farm livin', it's definitely never boring.
 

A Day @ 40 Acre Farm

Most days, my day starts early.
I've been amazed that as I've gotten older how much more I enjoy the early morning hours.
My body clock is set at 5:30 AM.
After waking, two cups of coffee follow.
I enjoy my coffee while surfing a bit online.
Then just as the sun begins to peer over the eastern horizon, I suit up...coat, scarf, and hat.
It's Fall and the morning temperatures are a bit brisk.
After running the puppy off of the front porch (she knows better), I head towards the barn and chicken coops. We have two coops that are seperated by a wall of chicken wire currently as the older hens could quite possibly peck one of the younger chickens to death.
After feeding and watering the birds, checking for eggs as the red Sexlinks tend to lay early, and giving the little Welsh pony, Trixie, a li'l bit of scratching, I make my way back to the house.



Looking out the kitchen window to the west, I pause to admire the sun spreading it's shine slowly over the lake and woods in the distance.



I just have to get some pictures so I rush to grab my camera and station myself on the backporch, clicking away. This is not an easy feat as the backporch, foul-tempered cat, Annie, continuously rubs and bumps her head against my lower leg.



I find that if I pause too long to admire...the time gets away quickly.
So...it's back in the house.
Most days it's cereal for the kiddos.
Of course they don't approve, but who asked them, right.
So the cherubs are up now and there's plenty of conversation, noise, and bustle. It's not uncommon for someone to wake up with a negative attitude. Is it wrong that at this time I relish the fact that I secretly gave away all of his Sillybands to some recent toddler visitors???
Out here, far far away from all that is civilized, I have to take what I can get, don't judge me too harshly.
Back to my morning, school starts as soon as children have made their beds, brushed their teeth (we brush after breakfast), and gotten dressed.



Here, my oldest seems to be saying, "Mom, I know you and Daddy are very frugal, but can't we use textbooks like other homeschoolers?" My boy looks on wistfully.
These are actually photos of the kids observing different kinds of rocks during our Geology unit this past summer. Afterwards, they painted volcanoes.




Our school schedule usually looks like this:

Bible Reading & Devotion
Saxon Math
Language Arts & Spelling
Science or Thematic Unit

We're currently working on a 20th Century unit and are stuck at 1910. Well, not stuck, but stopped there for the time being. Seems our afternoons have filled up lately with the extra curricular. This afternoon it's a Geography Coop twenty miles away and then Cub Scouts this evening.
Most evenings, when Tim has gotten home from work, we all try to get as much done outside before it gets too dark.
Yesterday, Tim brought up quite a few roundbales from the pasture. The horses and cows had started eating the ends out due to the increasing lack of green grass.



We sell most of these and Tim even put one out in the median of our drive for a friend to come pick up later this week.



We also needed to bring one to the barn and put a roundbale feeder on it.
But not before the kids had a bit of fun with the feeder.






Okay, now we're ready to get the feeder on the roundbale.



That's done and now time for some more fun!






We've had quite a day!
The sun is setting...



and the kids are basking in it's departing rays.



My last chores outside are to get the older chickens back in their pen, fed, and watered. The younger chickens then get my attention as I have to make sure they have plenty to eat and drink and shut them up in their coop securely. I'm quite pleased that I haven't lost one yet to predation but am bracing myself to not be too overly upset when the inevitable happens as I've read it's quite common.



Now, it's inside for the evening meal, supper, and then soon to bed!
While this is not everyday, it is an average day for us.
Blessings to you and yours!

Definitely A Country Living Con

The dogs were gone all day yesterday.
This is really quite normal, even though we don't approve.
But living in the country and I mean way out in the country, we need them loose. They're a part of Ranch Security and yes, I'm borrowing the term from the "Hank the Cowdog" series.
But seriously, along with the guns that we possess, the dogs are a valuable part of keeping the place secure.
And not to mention, they keep the predators (coyotes, bobcats, racoons, and foxes)  from killing our free-range chickens.
Last night only two dogs made it home. The oldest and the youngest.
Our highly athletic Nick was still gone.
This morning, not-so-bright and early, Tim and I went outside to see if he was back. He was not.
We went about our morning chores taking a break every now and then to call and whistle.
Quite honestly, I made myself hoarse.
A couple of hours later, Tim left for work and Nick still was not home.
I know I've said derogatory things about Nick and even posted an entry at the other blog that didn't quite play up his best features.
But, I love that pup. He's my tried and true hiking companion. Always behind me on the trail and occasionally sticking his sharp Collie nose into the back of my leg. We connect in an odd master/dog sort of way.



Around  9:30 AM, as I was making my way into our schoolroom, I looked up and out the front window that faces the driveway and saw Nick limping up the drive. He had his back left leg pulled up and wasn't putting any weight on it.
Not being one to be subtle, I exclaimed, "Oh my!" and ran out the front door...of course the kids were following close behind.
He laid down in the side yard. I told the kids to put the other two dogs in the kennel so we could get a closer look at Nick. But I already had a pretty good idea of what we were going to find....a gunshot wound.
The children were able to get the dogs in the kennel and came over to where Nick was lying on his side in the grass. Upon closer inspection, yes there was what looked to be a gunshot wound in his upper left thigh. There was fresh blood and dried blood on his thigh, leg, and foot.
I called Tim at work and he told me to give him 1000mg of moxicillian. I crushed it and an aspirin up into some catfood (we were out of dogfood), warm milk, and diced bologna. Nick ate it.
Now we wait until Tim the veterinarian gets home and gives our Nickaroni a more thorough examination.

Anyone Seen My Marbles?

So yesterday we had to drive into town because both girls are in homeschool band and I had about a gazillion errands to get done.
While the middle child, who, by-the-way is in beginner band, wowed everyone with her talent playing the xylophone, our oldest child received knitting lessons from a fellow homeschooling mom. I also made good use of this time by working with my youngest kiddo on his reading skills.
When beginner band was over, my oldest with clarinet in tow joined her fellow intermediate band players and I whisked both middle and younger into the van to go get a fraction of those gazillion errands accomplished.



First, the library. Easy enough as I had all fifty plus books and assorted DVD's, video cassettes, CD's, and books on CD in the front passenger seat so that all I had to do was pull up to the book- drop and slamdunk them as quickly as possible. And I've just gotta ask here...am I the only one that feels some kind of displaced pressure to get this done as quickly as possible?
Just asking.
Both kiddos sat calmly in the back discussing things like who's turn it was to check eggs when we got home and Wipeout, a primetime show they never get to watch unless daddy is supervising them.



Finished that errand and we were off to the Farm Bureau office to deliver our Bucket Calf Program thank you cards for the program sponsors...that are a week overdue. Sigh.
There, we were pleasently surprised that the girls had made more money than originally thought on showing their calves. So what followed was the middle child wanting to know how much she can keep.



The bank was the next stop so that I could withdraw grocery money (cash) for the next two weeks. We're avid Dave Ramsey fans and have budgeted this way for the last seven years. It works for us.

Then back to the church where homeschool band lessons are held to pick up oldest daughter.
En route, I called my husband to see if he would like to meet us for lunch at one of our favorite Chinese buffets. Yes, he would, good...things were clicking right along.
It was during lunch that things started to unravel in a very unsuspecting way.

Cue the Twilight Zone music:

Idle chatter and the normal food eating noises.

Someone (probably me) mentions chickens (we are after all at a Chinese restaurant where chicken is in every dish possible) and quite honestly I still cannot remember how our local farm store came into the conversation and my husband mentioned that they had chicks on sale. But that's all I heard...

CHICKS ON SALE

My mind raced and started to quickly review all the opportunities that adding more chickens to our little flock of six would provide for our family:

More eggs (selling eggs at our local farmers market and to friends)
Meat (We have friends that have butchered their birds and I've wanted to since observing them do it)
Hatching out chicks (I would like to eventually sell baby birds)
Showing chickens at the county fair and winning the big bucks (I hear you laughing, Misty)
And last, but certainly not least, the educational experience (no explanation necessary, right)

My head was spinning with the possibilites...but first, I had to get the go-ahead from my husband, of course.
I had that they were on sale on my side.
I asked and he okayed.
The kids were giddy!
I was giddy.
My husband, not so much giddy...but agreeable to the whole nutty idea of purchasing more livestock that we had not yet made room for. Sigh.
Okay, so after lunch, the kids and I rushed to our local farm store to check out their bargain chicks.
And may I just add here that baby chickens are everything that the word cute was meant to describe!



The kids each wanted one and made hasty promises to pay me back with their county fair earnings.
Oldest picked out two Silver Laced Wyandottes, Middle picked out two Bantams, and Youngest picked out a single Buff Orpington (his fair earnings were a bit measly this year). I went ahead and picked out four more Buff Orpingtons and we called it good.
Total: 9 new chicks to add to our 6 hens at home. Bringing the chicken population to 15.
Can you say, lunacy?



Oh, and I forgot to mention that seven of the new chicks were "straight run." For those that may not know, straight run means that you don't know whether your chicks are male or female. I'm hoping that one of the BOs is a rooster so that we can breed those and I'm okay with one of the Bantams being a rooster, BUT THAT'S IT! Anymore roosters and they'll be a part of that butcherin' I mentioned above.
(Deep Sigh)



So as I sit here typing this and praying (really) that I don't lose this post to cyberspace, I'm accompanied by nine little creatures scratching, pecking, and peeping in a tub with a heatlamp hanging overhead. The kids have been thoroughly entertained with holding them and just observing.
Me? Well, I'm completely taken with their sweetness but still...but still questioning my sanity.



Hope you're having a perfectly sane and productive day,
Blessings, The Chicken Lady

Life at Forty Acre Farm

Forty Acre Farm is a hobby farm.

My husband has a real job thirty miles away.

We have four bottle-fed calves along with four steers out on the pasture.

There are two horses, one a Welsh pony and the other a quarter horse.

Recently, a long desired dream of having chickens was fulfilled and we now are the proud owners of three white rocks and three gold sexlinks.

The critter crew also includes three dogs, all mixed breeds and three cats. Actually there are more than three felines as our mama cat has a litter hidden somewhere and we're still not privy to how large her brood is.

Along with taking care of the animals, I homeschool our three cherubs, and labor in our consistently changing vegetable garden.

We lead rather busy lives most of the time around here. And there are numerous projects that are always begging for attention.

Our family is devoted to living conservatively and living out our faith in Jesus Christ.

Life can be hard here sometimes in more ways than one, but the goal is worth the effort.

Thanks for visiting, Julie