My Divergent Hen

So we moved the chicken tractor the other day  (Saturday) while the chickens were out and about.  I debated as to whether this was a good idea or not.  I thought perhaps we should move it after the hens and Snowball were in for the night but I took pity on Farmer John who wanted to move it in daylight.

The chickens could have cared less about it during the daytime but come dusk...

When I went out to shut them all up for the night, where were my chickens?  Standing in the exact spot that the tractor used to be in.  Talk about creatures of habit.  It was like they thought the chicken tractor would just appear over them.

So myself, Farmer John and two of our children had the ever so fun task of getting them to the chicken tractor.  We tried bribery with cracked corn, we tried herding and finally we had to result to catching them by surrounding them with chicken wire and then picking them up one by one and moving them to their new home. Can we say, "Roosters are feisty!"

Well, it took forever but finally all twelve were in for the night.

Sunday night, I went out with my daughter and Farmer John to shut  up the chickens again. It went fairly better.  Two hens were already inside and we managed to herd six more in with little difficulty.  That left four chickens... three hens and Snowball.

Andi and I managed to herd Snowball over but he would not go inside.  He flew to the top of the tractor and perched.  Then he jumped down and ran all over with us trying to cut him off.  Then we got him back over to the tractor where he proceeded to do it all over.  Finally we got him to go in... cracked corn was just too much temptation.

While all that was happening Farmer John was herding the other three hens.  When we finally thought we got them all in we did a "Chicken butt check".  We open the back side of the tractor and count. Hmmm... eleven.  We must have miscounted.  Nope after counting multiple times, pushing and prodding chickens so we could make sure one wasn't hidden, and me climbing into the tractor to count from the front (I sight to see.)  We still only came up with eleven.  Oh yeah!  We left one out and it was getting dark fast.

Enter my Divergent Hen!

We searched high.  We searched low.  In the barn, under everything, in every tree, in every bush.  Around and around the house we went.  It got dark.  We used flashlights.  All to no avail.  We finally had to call it quits and hope that where ever this hen had got herself to, she was safe.

Next morning I awoke to Snowball's usual crowing.  But then I heard a most joyous sound.  Clucking!  I never hear clucking.  My hen must have come out of hiding and is alive and well.

I got up and got dressed and went out.  She wasn't at the old chicken tractor spot.  She was however at the back of the house. All safe and sound. I approached her with some cracked corn but she wasn't too sure about me.  She didn't come up to me like the hens usually do.  I figured she was still upset over the fiasco herding efforts of the past two nights so I tossed some corn her way and left to let the other chickens out.

She was so happy when the other chickens came out .  She joined right in when they came over by her.  But she didn't join them at the tractor.

Now comes last night.    Seven hens in the tractor come dusk and two hens and snowball on the roof of the tractor.  The two hens went in right away.  Snowball took a couple minutes of herding but then he went in.  Two hens left to go.  We walked over to were they like to hang.  No chickens. Sigh.  We walked around the house. No chickens.  Great! Now my Divergent Hen has a friend.  Finally we heard a cluck and hastened toward it.  One chicken, sigh, not two.  We managed to herd her to a fence and catch her.  She got carried to the tractor.  But still no other chicken in sight.  We searched high.  We searched low.  Under everything, in every tree, in every bush. Around and around the house we went.  We did several chicken butt counts.  Only eleven and night was falling. Curse this blasted hen.

Farmer John had the gall to ask us... "Is it the same hen?"  They all look the same dear! But I would bet it is the same one.

I don't know where this chicken goes but she sure hides herself well. I hope I hear her cluck this morning and see her out. I don't want her to end up as anything else's food. Only me and my family have dibs on eating her when her egg laying time ends.

What the heck do I do about this Divergent Hen?  The nights are going to get colder and she will need to be with her flock.  And then when it gets really colder they will need to move into the barn for the winter.  That will be another story because then they'll need to share with my red hens.

Featherside Story: How two flocks became one.  Featuring the Red gang and the Rocks gang. Instead of clicking their fingers they cluck. I prefer an alternate ending to the Westside Story ending because I don't want any dead chickens.

Any one have any suggestions as to how to help little miss Divergent go back to the chicken tractor?

Update:  When I went out this morning.  I found that Divergent had lain an egg by the back porch.  It was nice of her to lay it where I would see it.  And I found her perched on top of the chicken tractor where she quickly joined the flock when I let them out.  She even entered the chicken yard and ate cracked corn with the others and then went into the tractor to eat and drink.  I think she was cold and lonely.  Maybe tonight she won't be Divergent any longer.  We can hope.

God's Plan For Us!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

Apple Picking On A School Day!

Finally got my pictures from Thursday to load! Here are some...

 

 Us girls. (The boys were getting our buckets weighed.)

 Farmer John's favorite!

 Looking for just the right apples...

 Got one!

 Got a bucket full!

 Baking Apples

Our Haul!!!! Now the real work begins.

Homeschooling In The Orchard!

 

We took our first homeschool field trip of the season today.  We went apple picking at the U-pick farm in Fennville.

 

They had tons of varieties to chose from.  We only got a few kinds. Some for baking, some for sauce and some for eating.  They are so much better then any grocery store apple.  It was almost like eating sweet, crisp candy.

 

I sense apple pie for dessert tonight.  The ladies over at Homestead Blessings are cidering.  What do you like to do with apples? 

 

I'm having some issues with uploading photos right now but if I get it working I have a lot of fun pictures to post.

 

 

 

 

Pondering Prepping

I'm an avid fan of the television show Revolution.  I love it's premise.  A world without power.  How would we survive? Could we?  Well, people have done it for the past 6,000 years so with a little prep. we can too. 

I love electricity.  I love my clothes washer and my computer, my fridge and freezer, my water flowing to me, my toilet flushing etc.  but what happens if it all just stopped working.  Now, I'm not talking nano-tech like in the show but even a storm can wreak havoc on the power grid.  Ask anyone who was impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

My attention has also been drawn to what I have named the North American Power Grid Drill supposedly taking place on 11/13- 11/14/13.  Of course every conspiracy blogger out there has something to say about that. Check out here. But whether or not that turns out to be anything still leaves me questioning my own short term self-reliance preps.

Water- if the electricity goes, so does the ability to pump water.  Best to have some stored or at least have the bath tub filled if a bad storm is coming.  For long term, we have a creek that we can get water from.  Of course we'd have to boil and filter it.

Food- Even if you have a filled pantry, how are you going to cook it?  We are blessed with two wood stoves.  They aren't cook stoves but in a pinch we can throw our cast iron cookware in or on top of.  We could also cook outside if need be.

Heat- We have wood stoves and woods on the property.  We'd use the seal off the room technique. We never throw away blankets.  We have tons.

Light- We have lots of candles, matches, oil lamps, flash lights. etc. (Don't forget batteries)

We have a septic system... as long as we have some access to water we can still flush.  What would a person hooked up to city sewer do?  Best have a bucket and shovel on hand.  A stock pile of tp would be good too although rags, paper or leaves are available.

Also good to have on hand: basic tools, can opener (non-electric), first aid kit, battery or crank radio, needle and thread, paper and pen, fire extinguisher, and some way to entertain the troops.

On one of the prepper blogs I was reading it was predicted that without power in 90 days 90% of the population would die.  I don't know if that is accurate or not but if we were left alone I think we could make it 90 days.  I don't dwell on these things but I think it is common sense to at least ponder some simple preparedness.  You never know what weather is going to come your way.

What are your self-reliant plans? Do you prep?

Homestead Firsts- Little Eggs & Skinned Tomatoes

 

My little Barred Rock Hens (and one rooster) that we brought home from the farm store this spring have grown up.

 

 

We are now finding little eggs in the nesting boxes of the chicken tractor.  We even found one with out a shell.  It only had the membrane.  It is fun to hear the hens cluck after they've laid their first egg.

Also for the first time ever I de-skinned tomatoes.  My pretty batch of fresh tomatoes went from shiny and pretty to naked.

I was surprised how easy the skin came off.  Just a 45 second swim in boiling water and they just peel right off.  It was surprisingly satisfying!  I came away with 12 quarts of canned tomatoes with tons more waiting on the vines out in the garden.

I have a love/hate relationship with canning.  It seems like such a hassle and takes such a long time (Especially when you run out of lemon juice and have to wait till your husband comes home from work before you can go get more. Cough. Cough.) But it is such a feeling of accomplishment when you look at the finished product sitting on your counter and down in the larder.

What do you all preserve?

Family Time & The Family Economy

With our new school schedule we have added an evening "family time".  Our first family time together last week was met with mixed reviews.  Farmer John wanted to get everyone involved with his future business, Bamboo On The Fly (tentative name), and so we all tumbled out to the garage to work on his current Bamboo Fly Fishing Rod.  I must admit only John and our two littlest (Reagan and Taylor) were overly excited to do this.  Later I realized that I had to confess sin because I was less than championing my husband's vision at the time. (Which is really silly because I very much want him to leave his "corporate" job for a home-based, family biz.)

Yes, we put a blowtorch in the hands of our 13 year-old son!

 

 And our 15 year-old daughter

 Not our 4 year-old- she was content to make up her own games with balls and badmitton birdies!

 

Here I am with the torch.  The pieces of bamboo for the rod are slid into the copper pipe and then the pipe is heated with the torch.  This dries the bamboo.  You could see the steam being released at the tube ends.

 

 

As you can see the garage is highly unkempt.  Farmer John is on vacation this week and so one of our projects (practical arts for school) will be cleaning the garage.  By mid-October we'll be getting heavy frosts/freezes and the cars will need to be parked inside overnight. (Farmer John does not want to scrape ice at 3:30 in the morning!)

 

Leave me a comment if you are interested in a Handcrafted Bamboo Fly Rod!

 

If you are wondering about family economies check out Kevin Swanson's Generations Radio show (search the archived shows for "family economies) and Herrick Kimball over at The Deliberate Agrarian writes frequently on this topic too!