Farmer Abby

Hmmm... sort of has a ring to it? Doesn't it?

It's never dull around here. I find myself laughing almost everyday at the things we deal with on the "farm". It's a small farm (if you can even call it that) and I can only imagine how as we add animals, we will also add drama. I'm excited though. My girls are still laying wonderfully. Every single time I find an egg (or 5) I get so excited! I hope that never ends.

Brent and I love the fact that we (for the most part) know which hen laid which egg. I love my chickens and I love knowing even more where my eggs came from :D Having chickens is definitely a learning experience.

I've gone crazy in the chicken department. We had originally bought 4 hens and 1 rooster (and 5 Americana baby chicks). Then, a few days later we had bought 2 barred rocks (who were sisters and had never ever been apart. They were always together and slept curled up next to each other). This past Friday, we had bought 2 Rhode Island Reds and 1 Buff Orpington from a local man. The Buff was so gentle and kind and would let us hold her and pet her. Dane was in love with her and we were calling her "Goldie". We had a good flock and were proud of them all. We stood out in the coop with them Friday night smiling with pride! We had a good looking flock and we accumulated them in about 2-1/2 weeks.

 We also have Hana, the great Pyrenees mix we rescued from the pound, to "protect" our chickens. She stayed in the backyard with them and did a great job with them. A few times we would catch her "playing" with them and have to reprimand her. We were gone Saturday for 13 hours and came home to 6 (out of 11) dead chickens. Our only rooster was killed. I could not believe it. We had come in and it was about 10:45pm. I looked out our bedroom window and saw our 2 new RIR (we had bought the afternoon before) dead. I told Brent and he didn't believe me. He came to the window and after seeing, grabbed the spotlight and headed outside. I felt so bad for those 2. I could see him walking all over the yard and I thought, "OH NO!!!! There must be more than those 2." Then, he picked up a stick and threw it at Hana screaming. My first thought was, "They are all gone." Then, I could see him looking in the coop and checking all over. I knew some had had to survive. He came in furious saying that 6 of our 11 were dead and Hana had blood on her paws. He was going to shoot her and asked what to do. I didn't know. I mean, I was upset too, but I didn't know what the answer was. He decided not to only because he didn't want to have to dig a hole big enough to bury her. He told me she was gone though. I sat inside crying for the dead chickens and for the fact we would also be losing Hana while Brent got the dead ones together. Brent ended up having to shoot the rooster. He was hanging on and suffering. We were hoping to be able to pluck out their feathers and at least salvage the meat of the hens, but they were stiff. They had been dead awhile. We had no idea what to do with 6 dead chickens??!!! So, Brent will be using them for bait on a hunt he is going on this weekend. 

After they were picked up, we went into the coop with the remaining 5 (4 of our original hens and 1 barred). The barred (who lost her sister) looked frightened and was trying to curl up next to our Grey Hen we call "Sister". Brent and I both started crying when we saw that. We apologized over and over to them for the traumatic day they must have had. We felt so responsible for leaving Hana in there with them.

The next day, I knew it was time to put my big girl panties on. No more mourning after chickens and a chicken killer. This is just part of the farm life and I know I better get used to it. So, after church and much debate the night before, we went to Home Depot to buy a shock collar for Hana and a replacement collar for Hank. We know Hana was just bored and was not trying to harm the chickens. We know she was just playing. We are going to give her 1 more chance and after that, she will be gone! While driving there, I found some more chickens for sale. We came home, changed clothes, and headed to look at them. The man gave us a great deal and we left with 4 Rhode Island Reds, 1 Campine hen and 1 Campine rooster. We even left with 4 new baby chicks (2 days old). They are light Brahmas and should grow up to look like this. 

(Our Americana chicks should grow up looking something like this and laying green eggs)

So in less than 24 hours we more than replaced our flock! The Lord is good :D Not only did he replace our flock, he gave us another kind and gentle hen like, Goldie, only this one is even more kind and gentle. She is one of our RIR and the boys affectionately named her Lily (after their cousin!).

Yesterday, I had Brent teach me to shoot a few guns. If I ever come home to a partially dead chicken, I want to know how to take it out of it's misery. A way other than the option Brent gave me of smashing it's head. YUCK!!!!! I can shoot it, but I can't stomp it. That's just gross. Not only that, he was going to be leaving for the evening and heading south to spend the night (to take national registry for EMT basic that he is taking right at this moment, so say a little prayer!) and I tend to get scared and I don't want to be scared anymore. I need to know how to shoot the 12 gauge he keeps in the closet in our bedroom and I wanted to know how to shoot this other shot gun that is in the basement (it would be what I used for a chicken and 12 gauge I would use for an intruder-- I even practiced what I would do if I heard an intruder at the door in the middle of the night.)

Here is the 12 gauge. I'm going to start shooting it more regularly so I am more and more comfortable 

I did pretty darn good (I'm better with a pistol!) if I do say so myself.

Yes, the target is the dot. That was the "man's" chest. So, I still hit him. All I have to say, is "Intruder's BEWARE!!"

I was scared, mainly because I was practicing with purpose. I knew I was trying to prepare myself for an intruder, an animal, or a chicken catastrophe. After a couple shots, I got less scared. When I shot the buck shot 3in magnum (there is some major POWER in those!!! It would blow someone's head or arm off), I got this little keepsake

Been looking into a dairy cow again. I think we may be able to get one sooner rather than later. I am studying up on it and making sure our barn is ready for one. I'm thinking by January of next year, we will have one!! I am sooooooo pumped!!!!

I am loving every minute of this crazy life!! :D

Crazy Day

Today started pretty normal. I got up at 5am, turned on my coffee, went to start laundry, and sat down to do my devotions. My devotions were so good, I took a picture and sent it to Brent (who was still asleep). I do a devotion on parenting on my Bible App each morning. Short, sweet, and so so useful!!! I had no idea just how useful this devotion would be for the day :D

We had bought 2 new hens yesterday, a rooster, and a new chicken coop with 2 parts. It is sweet! The man was so glad we bought it all, he threw in 3 feeders and 2 water containers with our purchase.

My new hen... her sister is identical :D

The rooster... isn't he beautiful!

We were going to have to come back for the coop. So, this morning, we were getting ready to leave at 8am to Pigeon Mountain for baby chick feed and other supplies and Walmart for various supplies. When we go outside, we realize that Brent left the sprinkler on the garden from about 8pm-8am. Lovely. The garden was flooded!!! We knew we would have to deal with that later today. We were also supposed to pick up our baby chicks while out. When we arrived to get the chicken coop, it was big and built really nice. I didn't know if I could hold it, but I always give it my best shot. I am pretty strong for a girl ;-) Brent went to move it and realized how heavy it was. He instructed me on what to do and when I picked up my side, I literally could NOT lift it. It honestly weighs prob 200+ pounds. In fact, not only could I not lift it, it began to slip. I wanted to not let it drop (I don't like disappointing Brent) so I kept my hold. My side came smashing down and landed right on 3 of my fingers (right on the knuckle). I had to struggle to get my fingers out that thing was so heavy. I was so upset to have let Brent down. It was such a heavy piece, that he couldn't even get it to stand up on his own. So, we had to leave it laying down in the man's yard. I felt so bad and frustrated with myself. My fingers were throbbing... there was no more trying for me. Wasted trip. Bummer.

My swollen fingers. Tonight, they are all bruised.

From there, we went to get the chicks (even though the coop we were supposed to have to house them in were not with us). I fought back tears the whole trip and prayed that my fingers were not broke. How could I work with broken fingers???? And 3 at that???? We got to the place to get baby chicks and the whole ride I worked with my fingers, trying to bend them, and get some movement going. By the time we got there, I could straighten them out. Yay!!!

We got our 5 baby chicks and headed home. When we got home, we realized that we had no where to put the chicks and she had warned to not let them get cold. They needed to get in a box with a lamp immediately. We unloaded the truck and I tried to keep the boys out of the box. Brent walked on the back porch to look at our chickens and came back in and said, "There is a dead rooster in the backyard." I felt sick. Our only assumption is the original rooster killed him. They fought upon originally meeting, but we NEVER thought it would lead to this. 

The chicks were starting to shake and we were super paranoid they might die. I guess because of our poor old rooster! We took the boys downstairs to frantically look for something to build the chicks a home. Brent found 5 old boards.

He wanted to check the rooster again. He went out there and could see that he was "dead", but still suffering. He got his shot gun because we didn't want him to suffer. I stayed with the boys and heard the 1st shot. Shortly after that, I heard a 2nd. He came back back in without a word and quickly screwed all the boards together and put shavings down.

We got the chicks settled with a heat lamp, food, and water.

The boys are in LOVE!!! Us too :D

We came upstairs and Brent said he was headed out to work on the garden and see if it would make it. He went back to the basement to fill our Brita and noticed the fridge wasn't very cold. He looked in the freezer and saw that I had 5 packages of 1.5lb turkey meat. They were beginning to thaw. GREAT. He brought them up to me. I was in the process of cooking lunch but knew I would have to cook all the turkey meat today. He got to work on the garden, I got lunch cleaned up, Webb down for a nap, and began cooking some turkey meat. Not long after that, I heard Brent yelling at Hank (yesterday we came home to him trying to kill a chicken) so I rush outside. This is in our yard.

What in the world????? He or she was trying to play with Hank. Our sweet neighbors have a pot belly pig, so my guess is it's theirs. Brent tells me that Hana is gone so he will go tell the neighbors about the pig and look for Hana.

While he is gone, Hana shows back up, the pig goes home, and 2 chickens lay an egg. He comes back with 30lbs of deer meat (talk about awesome neighbors!!!) from our neighbor and says that Hana had gotten into some trash so he had had to clean that up. By the time he gets back, Hana has run off again (I don't know what her deal was today). He grabs a leash and takes off. As he is running after her, Hank stays with him so he realizes that Hanks shock collar is dead. I watch out the window and see Brent, Hank, and Hana all running down the hill.

Whew. I'm exhausted. I know Brent is. He gets the animals settled, looks at me and says, "I'm about over all this animal drama!" I hold in my laughter as he goes back to work on the swing set. 

I decide to bake some chocolate chip cookies with Dane while Webb is sleeping!

Dane and I probably ate about 5 cookies worth of dough. YUMMY!!!

Webb woke up happy to the smell of cookies and we all enjoyed some before heading out to help daddy with the slide.

We finished the swing set (FINALLY), came in and I fixed dinner (Curried Coconut Chicken, brown rice, and sweet peas). We ate, I washed dishes, picked up the house, and got everything ready for my personal training session. The girls showed up at 7pm and we had an intense leg workout. After they left, I gave the boys and myself a shower, brushed and flossed teeth, read a book, and got Dane to bed.

Webb is still going strong which amazes me!!! LOL.

I am about beyond exhausted and I have no idea if this post even makes a lick of sense! But, I'm off to bed!!!

BTW, here is the swing set right before he finished.

I love it, the kids love it, and their friends who came to play tonight loved it. I call that SUCCESS!!!! :D

And my hubby worked his butt off on this thing! I am so grateful for all the hard work he has been doing. Poor guy. He probably can't wait to get a job. I did tell him today I was so glad he was unemployed. I said, I can't imagine coming home to a dead rooster, no home for the baby chicks, a pot belly pig in the yard, a missing dog, neighbors trash to pick up, a swing set to finish, a garden to work in, 9lbs of turkey meat to cook, and kids to look after. I gave him a big 'ole kiss and said, "Thanks, babe! You're the best!"