Ice is Nice

The past week we've been slowly digging out of the worst ice storm I've seen since I moved to Texas.  We got a lovely, thick layer of ice over everything, and then below freezing temperatures for days afterward, so none of it was melting. School was closed for three days (not counting the weekend), Church was closed and most local businesses, so our family hunkered down for the long haul. We were fortunate to never lose power or water (many people did), but we found that living on a farm brings unique challenges in this kind of weather, such as:

• Animals have to be fed and watered no matter how often you slip and fall on your rear on the way out to the barn.
• When outdoor faucets are frozen and you don't have a heater in your water trough (and how many people do in warm and sunny Texas?), you have to haul gallons of warm water from the house out to the animals multiple times a day...increasing the risk of falling on your rear on the way out to the barn.
• Every time you leave the house, barn cats scurry across the ice to be petted and loved, and they rub your legs and get under your feet...increasing the risk of falling on your rear on the way out to the barn.

And my personal favorite...

• You find yourself standing precariously on top of an ice-covered dog house, holding a pool pole with a hair dryer duct taped to the end of it, trying to melt the ice off the loafing shed roof.  Why?  To save the life of a not-so-bright guinea fowl that roosted on the top of the loafing shed overnight and froze to it.  I asked my daughter to spot me for that one, because there was a lot more risk than just falling on my rear.  Fortunately, both the guinea and I survived. 

However, even with the cold and all our slipping and sliding, it was actually a wonderful week.  We got some great family time in, made some holiday treats, put up our Christmas decorations, snuggled up with fuzzy blankets to watch movies, went 'sledding' on our ice rink of a driveway, made a few cozy fires and more than one pot of homemade hot chocolate.  I love my family, I love our little farm, and I love that this ice storm helped us slow down and truly enjoy the holiday season together.

People and animals coming out to play a few days after the ice storm

Cold outside isn't bad when it's so warm inside.

Greenhorn Tips:  Regardless of the climate you live in, having at least a few weeks worth of extra food and water storage for your animals is always a good plan.   Otherwise, when bad weather hits, you risk making an unpleasant run to the feed store on flooded, icy or snowy roads.  On top of that, you have to unload several 50 pound bags of feed in bad weather...increasing the risk of falling on your rear on the way out to the barn.

Just Because

As I was going through pictures of our chickens, I found the two shots below, and I couldn't resist. :)

Another chicken story: The Four Stages of Broody Breaker Grief

My last chicken story was about Red, the first chick we hatched at our farm.  This story is about Red's Nest Momma, Kate.

Kate, was a chicken that went broody so often, it became a standing joke at our little farm.  She was absolutely determined to fluff up her pretty little bottom and sit on a nest - it didn't matter if the nest had eggs, golf balls, or absolutely nothing.  

Puffed up and protective - broody, not moody!

The first time she went broody, it was 'cute' - she was the first hen we had go broody, and the idea of hatching chicks seemed like a fun, pastoral, hobby farm sort of thing to do.   We let her sit on her small clutch of 6 eggs, which became 4 eggs about a week later when she moved them from one nest box to another.  Some people claim chickens don't do this, but I promise some do!  They tuck the eggs under their wings, and then move with them.  Obviously, it doesn't always work well, because 2 of her eggs fell out and rolled far enough away that she couldn't get them back into the nest box before they got chilled.  She successfully moved the other four, but only one hatched - Red.

We removed Red from her care when she started pecking him excessively, and when it was clear he needed food and water and she wasn't leaving the nest anytime soon.  We allowed her to sit on the other three eggs a few more days, thinking her instincts would tell her the eggs weren't going to hatch, and it was time to get back to pecking and scratching with the other chickens.  No such luck.  We removed the eggs from the nest, but she still didn't budge.  She was content to pass the time fluffed up in an empty nest. 

Looking for answers, we turned to the Internet, and found just what we needed on the Chicken Chick's website:  http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/broody-breaker-when-hens-mood-to-hatch.html.  The Broody Breaker was the answer!  Many chicken owners do something similar, but in a nutshell, you remove the chicken to a place that's cool, but not cold and drafty (you don't want a sick chicken).  You put the hen in a cage or kennel that allows open airflow, especially under her, and you leave nothing in the cage that can be used as nesting material or a nest. 

For our Broody Breaker, we picked a dog crate with holes drilled through the bottom of the plastic floor to allow better airflow.  We put it on blocks next to the chicken coop, so the other chickens wouldn't forget Kate, (it can happen with chickens) and so it would be easier to reintegrate her into the flock.

The reaction I got from Kate was surprising.  Chickens are not an animal many people associate with emotion, but she seemed to go through several emotions rather rapidly.  I got pictures of most of her expressions, and when I looked at them all together, the first thing that came to mind was the 5 stages of grief.  I only captured four, so here for your viewing pleasure are...  
 

The Four Stages of Broody Breaker Grief

These pictures were taken within the first 10 minutes Kate was in the Broody Breaker for the first time.  The light is a     little bright on the first picture, but she's still fluffed up, just like she's sitting on a nest instead of nothing but plastic.

It took awhile to get Kate to cool down - literally.  Broody hens have a higher body temperature than hens that aren't broody.  After a little over a week, she was ready to rejoin chicken society. The Broody Breaker worked great, and has been used successfully many times since then.  Thank you, Chicken Chick for your helpful advice!

Greenhorn Tips (i.e. things that should be obvious, but sometimes aren't):
When creating your Broody Breaker, not only should you leave nothing in the cage that can be used as nesting material, but you need to be careful about the types of food and water dishes you put in the cage.  Dishes/containers that can attach to the side of the cage instead of sitting on the bottom of it are best.  We used a regular bowl as a food dish once, and found the chicken tried to nest in the bowl! 

The Little Red ... Hen?

Back in the Spring, our overly-broody Wyandotte, Kate started to sit on a small clutch of eggs.  After weeks of sitting, she only hatched a single chick.  Since Kate was a Silver-laced Wyandotte and Dad was a Speckled Sussex, we were fairly certain the chick was a girl (see notes on sex-linked chicks in Greenhorn Tips at the end of this post).  We planned to let Kate raise  the chick in the traditional way, until she started pecking the baby's head ... a lot, much more than the normal 'get under my wing' momma hen pecking.  

Red with Momma Kate (before Kate went crazy)

We removed the chick, brought her into the house, and made a brooder box. Although it wasn't terribly original, we started calling the chick 'Red.'  Red loved to be held and cuddled, and she bonded to all of us to the point she cried whenever she couldn’t see someone nearby.  We gave her a stuffed chicken to sleep with at night, but we knew that wasn’t enough; it was important to socialize her with real chickens.   

Totally adorable, but kind of sad.

Putting her in with the adults was out of the question, so we immediately went looking for some chicks we could buy locally.  We found a breeder that was selling Black Copper Marans that were the same age as Red, so we bought ten chicks and tried to integrate her.  It didn’t work.  At first, they just ignored her, then after a few attempts by Red to nestle into the group - we were hopeful for a few brief minutes - she started aggressively pecking at the other chicks, almost taking out an eye on one of them.  Several of them returned the favor, pecking back, and eventually it got bad enough we had to put her back by herself (unless you count the stuffed chicken as company).  

Socially awkward ... it's not just something people experience.

I know that some people would consider culling a chick for overly aggressive behavior to other birds, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to do it.  We all cared about her, she was the very first chick we hatched, she was healthy, and although she didn’t like other chickens, she was very sweet with people.  However, between our adult chickens and all our new chicks, we knew if she couldn’t socialize, we wouldn’t have the housing or space in the long run for a loner chicken like her.

I reached out to my sister Stacy and her husband, Doug, asking if they wanted a pet chicken.  I let them know it would likely be a chicken that wouldn’t ever do well with other chickens (in all the research I'd done to that point, I'd learned chicks who weren’t well-socialized often didn’t do much better as adults).  They agreed to give it a try.  They set up a brooder in their bathroom, while they made plans for a chicken run they could put her in when she had feathered out.  

Red at our 2-week visit to Stacy and Doug's

We were happy Red was with people who would care for her the way we did, and we enjoyed going over for visits to see how she was doing.  The big surprise for all of us came when she was about 4 weeks old.  Her legs, which were becoming noticeably longer, started to develop spurs.  Our Little Red Hen was actually a rooster! 

Apparently, Momma Kate, had hatched out another hen’s egg; a common occurrence since chickens are communal nesters.  What we thought was a red-sex link pullet was actually a New Hampshire Red/Speckled Sussex cockerel.   If the spurs didn't seal the deal, the humorous attempts to crow a week or two later did.

Under Stacy and Doug’s care these past six months, Red has grown into a beautiful rooster.  My sister and I had heard of cases where a poorly socialized cockerel did well with a few hens after he was a little more mature, so when Red was a few months old, Stacy and Doug decided to try and re-social him.  They got him a few Speckled Sussex hens to care for, hoping that his natural rooster instincts would kick in, and fortunately, they did.  The once socially awkward chick became a genuine ladies man.  He takes excellent care of his girls, and is the kind of rooster that every chicken owner would love to have in their flock.

Still getting all his rooster bulk and his tail feathers, but a handsome boy for sure!

Red and his ladies

The happy ending to the story doesn't stop there - Red was also the humble start of Stacy and Doug's chicken adventures.  They now have over 20 chickens:  Ameraucanas, Marans, a Black Australorp, a Buff Orpington and several Brahmas.  They even plan to breed a few of the rare Brahmas they’ve acquired in the last several months.  Who would ever have guessed what a little red rooster could start?

Greenhorn Tips (i.e. things that should be obvious, but sometimes aren't): 

• 'Sex-linked' refers to breeding two specific types of chickens to create chicks that have color variations between the males and females, so you can easily tell them apart at hatching.  Many chicken breeds are difficult to sex until the young chickens crow or lay eggs.  Red sex-link chicks are all red female chicks and all white male.  For a great explanation of sex-link chickens, complete with pictures and charts, check out this thread:  http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information. 
• When bringing chicks hatched from different hens/incubators together, put a tiny dab of vanilla on each chick (a Q-tip works well for this).  When they all smell the same, the chicks are less likely to peck at each other.  This is something I unfortunately learned after the problems we had with Red and the Marans, but it worked great when we combined two different hatchings of Marans.

A Doggone Good Fit!

Blessings come in unexpected ways.  Although we knew we couldn't keep our last livestock guardian dog (LGD) Daisy, we had been concerned about how our goats and poultry would fare with the coyotes that frequent our area.  We really needed a full-grown dog that was already trained, but we hadn't counted on that type of purchase in our immediate budget (well-trained LGDs can start around $300, but I have seen some that cost more than $1000 and most are somewhere in between).  The biggest concern was that we didn't want to put out that kind of money and not get what we needed in a dog.

A friend surprised us shortly after we surrendered Daisy by telling us we could have one of her LGDs (she has several).  She told us Miller was an excellent guardian, but one of her other, larger male dogs was constantly beating up on him - to the point she had to take him to the vet for injuries.  She completely took us by surprise when she said that she didn't want any money for him; she just wanted him to have a good home.  We could even try him out for a few weeks and if it didn't work, she would take him back.

It only took a few days to see that Miller was the perfect fit for our little farm.   He has such a calm disposition, we were able to put him in with the goats as soon as we brought him home.  Our does had been a little skittish around dogs, even Daisy, but they warmed up to him quickly.  He's fantastic with the chickens and guineas (that was something new and different for us), and even though he's a big boy, he's gentle enough I'm completely comfortable with allowing my one and a half-year old goddaughter in the pen with him.

Sassy, one of our doelings, checking out Miller when we brought him into the pen for the first time.

Miller leaving the chickens alone - even when they get right up in his space                            (you'll notice the smile on my husband's face).

My brother asked me if I was confident Miller would be able to effectively guard since he's so calm.  I told him the best thing about most LGD breeds, is that if properly trained, they can be the sweetest, gentlest animals with the people and critters they protect, but they are fierce with predators.  We haven't heard a peep from the coyotes these past few weeks.  Since LGDs work best in teams, we'd like to get him a buddy in the future, but for now, we're just happy to have a dog that's both an effective guardian and a loving companion.

Hard to believe this cute, cuddly guy can open up a can on coyotes, but it's true! :)

Greenhorn Tips (i.e. things that should be obvious, but sometimes aren't): No matter how healthy a new puppy or newly adopted dog seems, or what vaccinations they have, always take them to the vet for a basic checkup.  Miller was very well cared for, and was on monthly flea and tick treatment; however, the fleas and ticks are so bad this summer, he came to us with a few extra friends anyway.  During the exam from the vet, we not only got him stronger pest protection, but we found out he had two tick-born diseases that we were able to treat with antibiotics before they took any major toll on him.

“Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.” ― Ann Landers

What an emotional roller coaster!  Yesterday we drove Daisy to her new foster home with Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue.  She was a bit nervous around the other dogs at first, especially since they all ran up to us at the gate.  With a strange dog coming into the goat pasture, they were just being protective (as they should).  The Alpha dog, Thor, greeted her with some loud barking.  He was only putting her in her place; he didn't hurt her, but because he's as big as a small horse, it was still a bit intimidating.

After Susie, the rescue foster mom, assured Thor and the other dogs that Daisy was ok, Daisy immediately went over, greeted the goat herd, and than ran around exploring the area and making friends with the other dogs.  Susie has chickens, but they're in a large run behind a good fence (Daisy isn't the only dog that chases them), so Daisy had free range to run several acres of the goat pasture, complete with a pond for her to play in.  Susie remembered that we said Daisy liked to play in water, so she led us over there, and Daisy jumped right in for a swim.

My husband and I were so happy to see her playing and having room to run again!  It was just such a sense of relief and peace, to know that not only were we able to avoid taking her to a shelter, but she was now in a place better suited to her energetic personality.  Susie explained to us that they have an adoption process where they carefully match dogs to owners based on the owners needs for a guardian dog and the dog's personality, so Daisy would be sure to go to a family who had goats for her to guard, space for her to run, and either no birds, or fencing that would keep her away from the birds.

The most difficult part was hearing Daisy whine for us as we walked away from the field.  However, we stayed for a few minutes after leaving the goat pasture to fill out paperwork and talk with Susie, and I was relieved to see that Daisy didn't pine for us too long.  She was running around the goat field again before we left.  As we drove away, I got choked up, and even my stoic husband had to wipe away a few tears.  Susie said she'd keep us posted on how things go with Daisy; I pray they go well.

Daisy, a little nervous when we first arrived, with one of the other dogs coming to greet her. 

Feeling more confident as she checks out the goat yard.
 

**UPDATE - As of early November 2013, after working with experienced livestock guardian trainers and a pack of successful LGDs, Daisy was ready for a new home.  She was adopted as a team with one of her friends from the rescue, and they are now the proud guardians of a sheep farm! 

All For the Love of Daisy

The past month or two, we've been learning one of the hard lessons of farm life.  Namely, that just because you love an animal, doesn't mean you should keep them on your farm.  Sometimes it's not in your best interest, or the animal's. 

Last winter as we were acquiring chickens and goats, we also purchased an adorable livestock guardian dog pup.  It was love at first sight for the whole family, and Daisy quickly became an important part of our farm.  The first several months we had her, she was just what we were looking for - she followed us around the farm without being on a lead, she left the chickens alone, and she looked after the goats at a surprisingly young age, keeping the coyotes and other predators at bay.  From the day we got her, the only time we had issues with coyotes was the night she spent at the veterinarian's after she was spayed.  The coyotes cleared the back fence, and my husband and brother-in-law had to go out (gun in hand) and and chase them away.  With Daisy there, we never even saw them come into the back pasture.

Unfortunately, as Daisy became a 'teenage' puppy, she wasn't so good about staying on the farm, and she would go under the fence sometimes to play with, and other times fight, our neighbor's dogs.  She showed far too much interest in another neighbor's geese, and then she started chasing our chickens and guinea fowl, almost killing guineas on several occasions.  She loves people, would jump up to greet them - regardless of the old 'knee to the chest' trick and would rarely respond to the firm "Down!" or "Sit!" that we would give. We had to keep her in a dog run next to the goats, and on a leash whenever she wasn't in the run, just so she wouldn't kill any birds or harass the neighbors' animals.  We tried several different training techniques - none of which seemed to work (treats occasionally would motivate her).  It seemed that not being able to run free the way she had before made her bad behavior worse, which made it difficult to handle her.  Because of this, walking her became an overwhelming job, so much so, we worried about the kids handling it.

I'm on blood thinners and bruise easily, so when walking Daisy, what was pull, tug, jump, and run soon became lots of bruising for me, to the point I actually got an infection in my leg from all the bruises.  That was the proverbial straw, and we went from doing a traditional re-homing search (Craig's List, newspaper ads, talking to friends) to looking at all possible avenues.  We got a few calls on the ads, but I think I might have scared the people who responded away by being candid about Daisy's behavior when they asked me questions.  I just didn't want someone to think they were getting a perfectly behaved dog, and then have them either give her up to a shelter or possibly abuse her when she misbehaved. I know she has the potential to be an amazing guardian dog - she just needs someone who has the time and experience to train her properly, and who's a little more tough physically than yours truly.

We finally reached out to the Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue (http://www.txpyrs.org/TGPRescue/index.jsp), and were approved to surrender her to them as of tomorrow.  Obviously, we have mixed emotions about this, but when I talked with the Rescue representative on the phone, my fears were put to rest.  Daisy will be in a safe environment, doing what she loves best, with other dogs that can help her to become an even better guardian dog.  I know it's the right decision for her and for us. 

The movie below is dedicated to Daisy - our big, rambunctious, beautiful girl!  I hope with all my heart she's placed in the right home and can be a happy, carefree dog again. 

Greenhorn tip:  Leash train a puppy very early on - no matter how good she is at following you.  Obedient pups can grow into, curious, independent and even defiant dogs.  Without a doubt, there will be a time in the future, even if it's just a routine trip to the vet, where having your dog leash-trained is imperative.  For the dog's safety and yours, make sure she's at least somewhat comfortable being on a lead.

Chicken Crazy Christmas

What hobby farm would be complete without chickens? We wanted fresh eggs and a colorful flock of birds, so we decided to get a few chickens shortly after moving onto our farm.  We thought it would be fun to try a few different breeds, because we didn't care about breeding true, and we could determine which breeds we liked best.

Our oldest daughter had wanted chickens for ages and had researched a variety of breeds.  She even created a power point presentation for her Dad and I about which chickens were her favorite based on whether they were good egg layers, meat birds, brooders or multi-purpose birds.  All of the kids were excited when we found a reputable breeder that sold most of the birds we wanted, and we began working on a place to house the chickens.  In this age of computer tablets, cell phones, and gaming consoles, I love that I have kids who were as excited about getting chickens for Christmas as they were for anything electronic!

Our friends, Brad and Kerry, very generously gave us a used chicken coop, feeder and waterer.  They also let us borrow their daughter to help us clean, repaint and make minor repairs to the coop.  Brad and Kerry have plenty of first-hand experience with chickens, and they were able to help us laugh off our undue concerns, while giving us reminders about things that were worth worrying about, like taking precautions against common predators like hawks and coyotes, and even neighborhood dogs.

I had taken care of friends' chickens when they went on vacation - that's a hilarious story unto itself - and it seemed fairly simple, but after reading several articles and books and watching some YouTube videos about raising chickens, I was worried our chickens would come down with some obscure disease, and I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to help them.  Many people out there would laugh, and think "How hard are chickens to take care of?"  After 6 months of chicken ownership, I can now say, not terribly hard - if you don't mind cleaning up after them.  It takes a minimal amount of time to feed and water chickens and gather eggs each day.  However, clean up is a must for healthy chickens.  If the idea of cleaning up chicken poo and straw, shredded paper or other chicken bedding is something you can't handle, you probably shouldn't own chickens (unless you plan on hiring someone else to do the dirty work).

Preparing for our chickens!  Have I mentioned how fantastic the December weather is in Texas?

We had a great time at the breeders, asking her all sorts of questions about the chickens we were choosing, and some best practices for general chicken care.  We broke the cardinal rule of never naming an animal that might end up on the dinner table, so there is a chance these chickens might only be egg laying pets. The chickens we selected are listed below:

Kate:  A beautiful Silver-Laced Wyandotte
Goldie:  An equally beautiful Gold-Laced Wyandotte.  We knew we wanted Wyandottes, because they're great multi-purpose birds and generally make good mothers.  We've been surprised by what beautiful birds they are, and what calm personalities they have.
Ella:  A spunky Black Astralorp, who though very friendly with people, quickly established herself at the top of the pecking order.  She even challenges our rooster on occasion.  Astralorps are also good multi-purpose birds, and Ella's a good layer, but the main reason we picked her was simply because we wanted a black chicken.
Lady (short for Her Lady-Munch-Alot):  A New Hampshire Red, who, when we first got her, was a veracious eater who made a shocking amount of noise whenever she ate anything. Thankfully, her eating habits have mellowed with age.
Lapiz (yes, we know her name means 'pencil' in Spanish, but it's also the name of an anime character the kids like) : A Red Sexlink who is an excellent layer, but is often feisty, flying at people and pecking them when they get into the coop for anything.
We had wanted one or two Rhode Island Reds for egg laying, but the breeder we went to only carried New Hampshire Reds - she said they played nicer with her other breeds than Rhode Islands.  We've found our New Hampshire Red to be an excellent alternative.  We tried our Red Sexlink as the other alternative.   I'll admit fried chicken and nuggets occasionally come to mind when she pecks at my hand without any provocation, but she likes the kids better than me, and she lets them pet her, even when she's in the nesting box.  She might be moody, but she's a good layer, so we'll keep her. (:

Our chickens on their way home last December, and browsing in the yard last week.

Sebastian:  Such a great rooster he gets three full paragraphs!  I love my hens, but my favorite chicken by far is our rooster, Sebastian.  He's a Speckled Sussex, and possibly the sweetest rooster on the planet.  Because we were getting a barnyard mix, we weren't sure what breed of rooster we wanted.  As we wandered through the chicken barn at the breeder's, while most birds would scatter as we came near, Sebastian started following us.  He kept running up and making the kids laugh with his antics of cocking his head and trying to pull on my shoe laces.  He was calm (until he was being chased with the chicken net), easy to hold, and was beautiful to boot.  Although we hadn't even thought about Speckled Sussex as a breed we wanted, it didn't take us long to decide he was our rooster. 

Now that he's fully grown, he's still as sweet as ever.  He looks after his ladies like both a protective, loving nanny and a strong, fierce bodyguard, but he's also great with people, including small children (my one-year old goddaughter loves him!), and he even tolerates the dog.  For several months after we got him, he was the strong, silent type, not even attempting to crow.  We honestly wondered if he ever would.  One early spring morning, I was outside feeding animals during one of his first attempts to crow.  When I heard it, I honestly thought one of our goats was injured and screaming out in pain.  When he made a second attempt - which was only slightly better, and I realized it was him, I thought, "Wow!  I hope he doesn't sound like that every time he crows, or we're in for some painful wake up calls."

Over the course of a few days, his crow greatly improved, which was lucky for us, because he went from being a completely silent rooster to the most vocal roo in our neighborhood.  He crows when the sun rises, he crows whenever he sees any of us step out the back door, he crows when you bring him a treat or when he wants you to bring him a treat, when you're out working with the other animals, and sometimes just because he can.

Baby 'Bastian and Big Boy 'Bastian

The chickens have been a lot of fun, and the hens have all been pretty good layers.  We were rewarded with our first egg the morning after we brought the chickens home, and we've enjoyed farm fresh eggs ever since. There are some good things about raising baby chicks, but there's also something to be said for the 'immediate gratification' of getting pullets old enough to lay eggs.

Our first egg - a bit cracked, but still exciting!

Our chicken adventures have just begun.  Several weeks ago, we purchased a bunch of chicks that we are raising now as well, and their stories will be in future posts.

'You own a dog, but you can only feed a cat.' - Author Unknown

This quote is especially true of semi-feral barn cats, which were one of the first animals we acquired for our farm.  I justified to my husband that getting them would be part of our clean-up effort (rodent control), but he knows and I know, I really just love cats.  We picked them up courtesy of Barn Cats (http://www.barncats.org/contact.php), a fantastic organization that spays/neuters semi-feral stray cats, giving them any shots and veterinary care they need before delivering them right to your barn door.  The cats are housed in a small metal run with a litter box and food and water for two weeks, and then, they are released with the hope they will stick around and keep mice and rats out of the barn.

Barn Cats knows that sometimes the cats don't stay, but this way, they at least have a chance.  If they were left in shelters, they would likely be euthanized, because they are not cuddly, tame house cats.  Out of the three cats we initially adopted, only one of them stuck around - a handsome white and tabby splotched manx named Blue, named for the color of his eyes.  None of us have ever had the pleasure of petting him, but he is an excellent mouser, and he loves to follow us around the farm when we are working (at a safe distance, of course).

Inside the barn we've built a simple cat shelter that offers Blue another level of protection from predators and a place to keep warm on cold nights.  Blue has certainly kept his side of the bargain.  Even with the significant amount of mice I've seen in the field this spring, he has kept them from getting in our house and our barn.

We put the cat shelter on a couple of water barrels to get it off the ground, and we keep Blue's food inside the shelter, which keeps unwelcome visitors like possums and skunks at bay.  It's not anything fancy, but Blue likes it.

I'd love to post a picture, but Blue is very camera shy, and the few photos he's in are so far away, trying to find him in them is like playing "Where's Waldo."  I wish I'd had a camera with me several weeks back when I found him in the field.  He was laying low in the tall grass, in the middle of a circle of 4-5 mouse holes, waiting for an unsuspecting mouse to pop up.  It was kind of like the kitty version of Whack-a-Mole. It had me laughing a better part of the morning.

Two weeks ago, we adopted two more barn cats.  We've had so many fat, fuzzy field mice on our land the past few months, the guy who mows our acreage said, "It looked like Fievel Goes West."  We felt like Blue could probably use a few extra hands (or paws), so we contacted Barn Cats with a request for two more cats, preferrably female, since Blue has had plenty of time to stake his claim on the area, and we wanted to avoid territorial tomcat fighting.  We were also hoping to get cats, which although weren't lap cats, would occasionally let the kids pet them.

Apparently, our timing was perfect.  There was a family who was moving, who had some outdoor cats and couldn't take them.  They really wanted two of the females to be adopted together, somewhere they could be outdoors, and preferably to a family with kids.  Because adopting adult cats together doesn't always work well in a shelter situation, and because the cats are skittish around people, Barn Cats 'took them into custody,' and then brought them to us.

We let them out a couple of days ago, and hopefully they'll decide to stay.  Again, pictures are hard to get - the girls mostly stayed huddled in the cat carrier anytime a person came near.  Unfortunately, they weren't as friendly as we hoped, but as long as they catch mice, I don't mind if they prefer to be incognito. The picture below is the best one we have.  Since it was dark and fuzzy, I decided to go a bit Pop Art with it.

Greenhorn Tips:

• Barn cats need some type of box, shelter, loft or other place they can hide in even though they're in a barn.  The barn itself may offer them protection from the elements, but they generally need something smaller and more cozy to feel safe. A shelter will offer better protection against predators if it's off the ground.

So You Want to Be a Farmer...

We bought the beginnings of our dream farm in early September of last year.  We moved from a home on a single acre of land, to almost 13 acres, complete with a barn, a loafing shed and various other things to get us started with our own little hobby farm.  My husband and I both work 40 hours a week, and our kids are busy teenagers, so even though we've had grand visions of self-sufficiency, bumper crops and excellent show and breeding stock, we've reined ourselves in and avoided the temptation to try and do everything at once. 

As one of our friends said, there will always be plenty of projects on a farm.  Decide what your priorities are and do a little bit at a time.  If you try to do it all when you first get started, you'll never have the time or money, and you'll burn yourself out.  Great advice!  So, as a family, we discussed what kind of animals and crops we wanted our farm to have, and from there, we made a game plan of what we needed do.  Our kids are all animal lovers, so animals were at the top of the list.  My husband and I pointed out that we needed appropriate housing and fencing for the animals to be healthy and safe, so that became our first priority.

The fencing around our property was not sufficient to contain animals like cows or goats, and although we had a barn, it had no stalls.  Also, the entire north half of the barn had over a foot of packed horse manure and soiled hay on the dirt floor *yuck!*.  We might be greenhorns, but we were smart enough to know that we needed to clean things up for the health of any future animals (not to mention odor control).

We set to work clearing the manure.  Our first goal was to clear enough that we could properly close the north doors to the barn again.  I was afraid that getting the kids to help with this unpleasant task would be more of a chore than actually shoveling the manure myself, but they were all so excited about our plans, they dug in - literally - and in a short time, we accomplished our goal of being able to close the doors.  The mess was so packed down, however, rather than trying to clear out the rest of the area by hand, we enlisted the help of one of our friends, who brought over his tractor and used the front-end loader to scrape out the rest of the barn.  There was enough manure to create a large compost pile for us, as well as fill another friend's 18-foot trailer to overflowing.

I'm sure there are many of you readers who will shake your head and laugh at the fact we own a farm and not a tractor (at times I do that myself), but we don't want to accrue unnecessary debt, and so we are holding off purchasing any large farm equipment until we finish a few more projects.  In the meantime, paying someone to tractor mow our acreage and calling in the occasional favor is much cheaper than a monthly tractor payment.
 
Greenhorn Tips (i.e. things that should be obvious, but sometimes aren't):

• The right equipment makes a world of difference!  It will always save time and headaches, and it's usually safer than 'winging it.'  When I saw how the tractor scraped out the crude in the barn in minutes, compared to the small section the kids spent hours on, this really hit home for me.
• Have a variety of tools and equipment at your disposal.  As efficient as the tractor cleanup was, we still needed to use shovels, rakes, etc. in the corners where the scraper was too big too reach.