Life on the farm is unique. What compares? Share your thoughts. We grow our own food, raise a bunch of critters, have a bunch of fun, love the land. Outdoors is best. I’m bias? Yes, I am… May I ask you this—Do you love the land?
How about you? What’s your ‘jam’? Tell us, please! As my mother used to say, “It takes all kinds to make this world, Midy”.
She was right.
We all have more than one name. Think about it. How many names do you have? Mom, Honey, Babe, Aunt, Granny, Mrs., and sometimes, “Hey, you!”
I have another name too. All the animals know it well. Know what it is?
FOOD!
Oh, it is sweet to think when our animals look at me, whinny, moo or follow me it is because they love me so. But it is not. Truth is, they are
HUNGRY!
Yes, in their world, my name is Food.
My husband says I am not happy unless I am feeding something. Guess he is right.
They also have the mistaken notion that every time I come around them I owe them a treat. I do admit these animals are a bit spoiled. Most especially our horses. They are all seniors. In my mind they have earned their semi-retirement. Their treats are their ‘retirement pay.’
But, good grief, must they stare at me with such begging faces? Tell me, could you tell these faces no to an iddy-biddy treat?
Tell me, how can these faces be turned down for treats?
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.
So ends a cute childs poem about the weather. I’ll post the entire poem at the end of this blog.
I enjoy poetry and spent much time listening our mom read it to us even into adulthood. She could read beautifully outloud. This in itself is an art. I too read poetry to our children, some like it, some do not. C’est la vie.
But this post is not about poetry. It is about weathering the weather. The animals on our small farm need daily attention. Twice day is the everyday normal. Often frigid cold weather requires at least a third trip to the barn. Our horses are all seniors. Our youngest, High Hope, is eighteen years old. They are all in great condition, nonetheless, seniors require a bit more than younger horses.
Duke, our oldest at 25/26 years old (we don’t really know how old he is), is the one I will go out to care for in the middle of a wintery cold day. This week has been just that, bitter cold and terribly windy. It is the wind that concerns me the most.
I turn them out after feeding every morning. They can stay around the barn or head out to the snow covered fields, their choice. I have never blanketed them with the exception of our very old miniature, BR, who died peacefully in his stall at thirty-four years old a couple years ago.
Duke still has good body fat on him in part because I grain him twice a day year-round. Except for cold weather. I will go out at midday to grain him again, and spread more hay for the others.
This week has been snowing with bitter winds blowing for several days. The horses actually came in before I got out. Their whinnies told me to hurry up!
Three nights were spent in their stalls with fresh straw thickly spread. Even the chickens were happy for that. They love pecking in straw!
Looks as if the bitter cold has passed for now. All is well. Glory to God.
I grew up on a big farm, we now live on a small one. Just the same, animals have been a part of my entire life. They have taught me more than I may ever realize.
I am also a photographer. Though that title seems not to fit me, as I don’t really consider myself a photographer. Yet, I’ve taken photos since I got my first Kodak camera at eleven years old. Many moons have passed since then.
I am also unashamedly a Christian. These three loves of my life have lived together in harmony and beautifully. Hardly a day goes by where these three passions do not meet.
May I prove my point to you and share a few photographs of my love of animals and farm life and beliefs?
May you find your peace, joy and passion in this New Year…I have a thought, ask God. He loves to answer the seekers of life. God bless you.
How about you? Where do you find meaning and direction and purpose in this earthly, ephemeral life?
Faith, love and hope go a long way in this world. Even in the life of a little chicken named Sally Lind.
Chickens and horses get along well together around the barn. Chickens follow the horses around while grazing. They eat the bugs the horses stir up. They help compost the manure in the way they scratch through it looking for worms. It is a good set-up for the most part.
Horses move incredibly fast and sometimes even too fast for a busy chicken. High Hope came tearing into the paddock last week at feeding time, and Sally Lind was busy scratching around. She got stomped by High Hope.
I was in the barn and heard her squawk. She quickly limped into a corner of a stall and sat down. She was hurt.
I gently picked her up. No blood, her wings looked and felt fine. Nothing seemed too wrong, she just limped. I put her in the coop.
I called a good friend and long time chicken owner for instruction on culling her. But held onto hope, faith and love. She would eat when I set her in front of food and water. I kept her quiet and away from all activity and other animals.
About five days later I was prepared to ask my husband to cull her out the flock when I noticed a tiny improvement in her limp.
She steadily improved and now nearly two weeks later, she is fine and out with all of us! Such joy!
Yes, faith, love and hope go a long way in this world. Even with little chickens!
Lesson learned? Clear the paddock of all chickens before calling the horses in!
Our prayers were answered as the kiosk outside our local nursery had posted: Pray for Rain.
We have had the most gentle, lovely rain fall for the past three days. It truly is heavenly, and an answer to prayer. Glory!
I heard we are 8″ short of rainfall. It has felt like a desert here where we live. But not anymore. It has rained. Flowers have opened up, the earth smells good, the horses hooves will soften. We gardeners and farmers are grateful.
I like Benjamin Franklins quote: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.”
Though our well did not go dry, our daughter & son-in-laws well went murky. They came to farm to give their well a rest.
All is well now because He waters the Earth. Amen.
That is what my mom would always say. Well, this day belongs to chickens. More specifically, their eggs. They are nearly as hard to find as my hundred pair of glasses I have strewn all over creation here on the farm. Once eggs are found, the price is so high, one would think there was a golden one in the dozen somewhere. Things come and go in this world, and I think it is super that the one animal the whole universe wants for lunch is having her big day!
We have owned chickens off and on for many years. We have had them continuously since moving here. They are an important part of our farm. We depend on them not only for eggs, but because they are free-range, they perform good work around the place. They eat tons of bugs. It is fun watching them follow the horses, gobbling up insects the horses stir up. They are great composters as well.
I leave fresh horse poop in the paddocks for several days. The chickens will dutifully scratch the piles up after a few days looking for just-hatched worms. Great! Worm controllers as well. Want to create a new flower or vegetable plot? Pen your hens in desired spot for new garden, leave them there several days, and voila! They have done the first part of scratching up the ground for a new bed, and have fertilized it as well. Good chickens.
As to be expected, we do loose some to predators during the day. Though dogs and horses help in that department. They help keep wildlife at bay. So far, in nearly eight years of having chickens here, we have not ever seen a snake around the barn. Thanks again to dogs, horses, and cats.
So hurray for the chicken. These current days seem to be hers, and I would say everyone likes to have ‘their day’, would you agree?
“How can you do that?” I am frequently asked this question when people hear our chickens are free-range.
“It does pose a risk,” I concede, “but the benefits outweigh the risks.”
How can that be? How can free-range chickens ever survive? There are several factors that work in their favor out here at our place. We have dogs that keep wildlife at bay. We also walk all over the farm, thus leaving our human scent as well. The horses play a big part too in keeping critters away. Though they can injure and even kill chickens as I wrote in a previous post, Faster than You Think—Ask the Chickens. It does not happen often. A healthy horse will defend his domain if feel threatened, or a ‘stranger’ shows up on their turf.
Free-range chickens are a benefit to everyone. They eat bugs which makes us all happy. I leave horse manure several days in the paddock to ‘cure’ a bit. Chickens peck through it eating the worms, thereby breaking the parasite cycle for the horses. Bonus! They also are my first composers. Manure has been beautifully broken down by their work.
Their hen house is in a stall in the barn. This also offers extra protection for them, and a plus for us as eggs are laid either in their house or feed buckets. Rarely is there need to have a daily egg hunt.
While this works here, it may not work at your place. Which does not really matter. I have seen beautiful hen houses and enclosures to keep them safe, all full of a bunch of happy hens!
So please do not feel bad if your chickens cannot be free-range. I am just answering the question of how it works for us.
No matter how chickens are kept, would you agree that they are fun and #chickensmakeuschuckle ?
Happy chicken farming!
Shirley has a lot to thank her darlin’ Dot for.
Dot is the professional photographer in the family at large. Shirley wrote about her earlier this year: https://bluerockhorses.com/2020/01/03/dot/ Shirley and Snoot are real proud of this talented, first Daughter-in-love of theirs.
Once again she has opened the window of photography a good bit wider for Shirley, an amateur photographer. While taking in the outdoor view on a recent visit to the farm, Dot mentioned the wonderful photos that could be captured. Then she asked Shirley the killer question—“Where is your camera?” She answered her own question, “I know, it is put away neat and tidy in your case.” How did she know that, Shirley wondered?
Opening the pantry door, Dot pointed to an empty spot on the shelf. “This is where I would keep it all the time. A camera in it’s case is seldom used.”
Before being too hard on Shirley, dear reader, it is helpful to know she is ‘a-place-for-everything-and-everything-in-its-place’ sort of gal. Neat and tidy. Sometimes to a fault.
Well, later that very day, Shirley proudly showed Dot the ‘new home’ for her camera. The exact spot Dot had pointed out to her. One more little tip our amateur photographer learned from her professional Dot—-keep the lens cap off!
Shirley says it reminds her of a verse from Scripture: Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox. Proverbs 14:4
Shirley would like to share some of the wonderful moments in time caught because of having her camera closer to hand:
Shirley thanks her darlin’ Dot for opening her photographic mind and window a little bit more.
“While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.” So reads a happy line from the famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore, The Night Before Christmas. Written in 1822 for his children. Published anonymously in 1823 in the Troy Sentinel. It was thought to have been given to the paper by a family friend.
It has been illustrated many times over the years. During the 1860’s it received its’ best known illustrations. Done by Thomas Nast for the Harpers Weekly. Nast, a political cartoonist best known for his Republican elephant and Democratic donkey, dressed Santa in the recognizable red fur trimmed in white and black belt today.
Diospyros virginiana is our sugar plum here in Virginia and thankfully is on our farm. Best known as the Persimmon tree. It is also called American persimmon, possum apples, or sugar plum to name a few. Wildlife enjoy them every fall, and so do our horses. So do we! We have had them on every farm here in the Appalachian Highlands.
Old timers used to tell us they were not good for eating until after the first hard frost. And if one wants a good laugh at the expense of another, give them an unripe persimmon to eat. They are so bitter, and makes one pucker! Truth is after a spell of good cool nights and days, they can be eaten. Just be sure to know the difference between the ripe and unripe. The ripe is soft to touch, and has a pretty deeper color then unripe one. In above photo, the ripe fruit is in the center of the frame. Do you see the difference in colors? They grow deeper in that pretty orange-like color as they ripen even more. In the photo below the beginning-to-ripe persimmon displays both yellow and reddish colors. And like most ripe fruit, they are plucked easily from their branches.
Many folks do not know they even have these sweet trees on their property. The native ones do not get very large. It is rather like a treasure hunt finding them. In springtime they have the most lovely little white blossoms. The petals curl back on the flower. But for sure your horses know where they are. They will quickly clean up the fallen ones as will all the wildlife. They are a sweet treat.
Ours grow on the western boundary line of our farm behind the barn. This area is not fenced so none of our animals can get to the trees, though the wildlife can. I pick them up and give them as treats to the horses in the evening. So far I have not found any in the woods.
If the horses could get to them they would eat up every single one. Much of the fruit clings to the trees. A steady wind will bring them down though.
On your next walk about outside, look and see if you can find this sweet treat tree. You will have found a friend!
Word(s) . Light . Life
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ruminate vb. to chew (the cud)
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Before I Forget: Sharing my love for God, family, gardens and my sweet Momma
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Your Guide to the Homestead or Small Farm
Fun, Photography & Friends
Sharing Stories and Lessons as I Embark in the Everyday
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I take pictures | I cook | I quilt | I knit | I create
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The musings and adventures of an enthusiastic grower
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