Corralling Chickens (and Goats)

The poor pasture has been mown down by the goats. I don't blame them. Tasty fresh grass is hard to pass up! But it certainly isn't helping the grass grow thicker. 

G finally made the time to put up a temporary fence to keep the goats close to the shed. They have plenty of hay to eat, and this will give the grass time to grow in.

Poor Jip doesn't like being away from his goat buddies. 

As I said, plenty of hay. Look how deep it is in there!

Another view of the new fence. We'll take the opportunity to split the pasture in two so we can rotational graze once the grass is taller. 

The chickens continue to push their boundaries. G reached his and put a piece of fencing from the corner of the garden to the pasture fence to keep the chickens from getting in the wind break/ common area of the development next door. 

Unfortunately, it blocks our easy path to the in-laws. I guess we'll have to go around. Hopefully the chickens don't figure that trick out! 😅

There was a lot of wind in the forecast so G flipped up the uninstalled duck pond in front of the trampoline door to be a wind block for the young chickens. It's been a hit so far! I've seen a number hanging out underneath. 

Rain was also in the forecast, so Jaron and I spread some fresh seed in the pasture before it came. Just an ice cream pail full. I'll do another round in a few weeks. The soil conference taught me it's more successful to seed lightly and often to better hit good germination and growing weather. 

The front yard got a sprinkling of wildflower seeds. Our goal is to fence that area to make a third pasture for the goats to browse. 

Fruit Fences

The chickens sure love to scratch up the mulch around the trees and berry bushes. The berry bushes are just starting to leaf out, and we don't want anything eating them, so I put up a fence. 

Jaron has been interested in grass, sticks, and rocks on the ground, so I left him examining the lawn while I briefly gathered supplies in the garage. 

I came out to discover he was coming to find me walking along the orchard fence. 

So determined! 

He eventually ended up riding along in the baby carrier on my back. 

I made a straight line for the fence using a long extension cord. Wooden stakes and a mallet built the support. 

I stretched old chicken wire along the fence and stapled it to the stakes. 

Pretty quick to put it together that way. The only downside was the piece I used was about six feet too short. 

I found a different piece that fit perfectly, but it's not the same height; it's a foot shorter than the longer piece. Hmm. Cut a piece of tall fencing to fill the gap or deal with a shorter section on one end? I'm leaning towards the latter.

In other news, the chickens have been loving their dust baths. The levels are lower than when I started, so eventually I might have to refill. Guess I better get more sand. 

Another interesting thing I noticed recently is that we have something sprouting in the compost area. 

My guess is it's old chicken feed. Seems like they've been eating the sprouts, so it's not getting wasted! 

Butteries and Nutella

G and I are watching the very first seasons of the Great British Baking Show. It's been interesting to compare early seasons with the most recent ones- what's changed, how they tweak things week to week that more closely match the show today. 

I found a recipe I wanted to try and actually made it right away: butteries. They're a little putsy, but seem like they're hard to mess up. 

The dough comes together quickly, then you have to do a step every half hour. 

They're a bit like a croissant crossed with a roll. So in keeping with croissants, you need to create layers and lamination. 

The fat is a combination of butter and lard you spread on with your hands. Look how big the chunks are... You can see them through the layer of dough. 

But after all the steps, I did achieve layers!!!

You're supposed to form them into a rustic roundish shape. ✅

Bake until golden brown.

They taste absolutely delicious, warm or cold. Jam or butter is spread on the flat side. This morning I had the idea nutella would be a great pairing. Of course we didn't have nutella, but we had the ingredients. I found a recipe that said it only took 15min to make. Perfect. 

1.5h later...

What took so long?? Well, the oven had to heat up to 400F to roast the hazelnuts, which took a while. Then the hazelnuts didn't peel like they were supposed to. I should've had them in the oven longer because they came out of the freezer. So I ended up doing little bits at a time, throwing the pan in the oven again, over and over. 🙄 

The food processor took a while too. But eventually it ground down to a smoothish liquid. 

It didn't taste as sweet as I'd like, but since I'm trying to cut down on sugar, I'll leave it. 

The buttery did taste fantastic smothered in the homemade nutella. 😋

Spring Blooms

G brought home some color for our planters. I love it! 

The best part is, once they're done flowering, we can plant them elsewhere to bloom next year. 

Many things are sprouting on the homestead...

Rhubarb. Has it been here for three years? I might be able to harvest some this year. 

Chives in the orchard. 

In Bekhor's area bulbs I planted in the past are coming up! I also planted some daffodils that were finished flowering. Should be nice and springy next year.

Oregano coming up in the garden from last year. Also lovage, which looks kind of like celery.

I had a ton of lettuce to plant, but instead of doing each kind separately, I mixed all the seeds together and scattered them around three different garden plots. Hopefully that was not a mistake. 😅

Past Photo Dump

Jaron checking out the redneck baby gate I set up on the deck. He's not walking yet, but he's super close! 

The incubated ducklings have been out of the garage for a while now, but back when they were in the garage, they were driving us nuts splashing all the water out of their waterer. 🙄

And the mature ducks nibbling up the last bit of snow. 

Dixie the chicken hustled over to make sure she wasn't missing out on anything good. 😂

Tool Cleaning Bucket

I didn't use all the sand in the chicken dust baths. In between making them, I made a tool cleaning bucket. 

Pretty simple - Fill a bucket halfway with sand. Add a cup of mineral oil. Wait an hour then stir. Repeat. 

To use, brush dirt off your tool then plunge the blade in the bucket. The sand is abrasive and polished the metal, the mineral oil coats the metal and keeps it from rusting. 

I tested it on a shovel. 

Looks nice and shiny, although I think I could add more mineral oil in the bucket. Seems a little patchy.

Chicken Dust Baths

Gotta deal with those chicken mites...

The chickens have a routine of dust bathing among the lilacs in the early afternoon, but there are a few additions that work well to get rid of mites and other crawling insects. 

Diatomaceous earth is the main thing; it's pulverized diatoms (microscopic organisms made of silica) which shred the insects that walk over them. Wood ash can also help. Sulfur dust is good at repelling parasites. 

This website has percentages for mixing the different ingredients. 

I picked up a few buckets of sand for free from someone on Facebook marketplace. We already had diatomaceous earth and sulfur from past gardening years. I collected a bucket of ash from our fire pit. Then I mixed everything in a tote. 

A tire holds an awful lot of sand, etc.

Finally ready!

And look, one of the infected mamas used it right away! 

She rolled all over, flipping sand everywhere. Those mites don't stand a chance! 

One tire doesn't allow for much chicken bathing. We didn't have many options to add another. Then, on our way to church Sunday we noticed someone had dumped a couple tires in a center median. I half jokingly said we should take them home with us. A few days later, one tire was gone, but the thick one was still there...

G swung by after work and picked it up for me as a surprise. 😊

Nice and deep for chickens to dig. 

I used up the last of the sand and the collected ash. It didn't come quite up to the top, but I think it'll be okay. They won't be able to scratch so much out this way. 

Someone else enjoys getting dust baths...

He's been mesmerized by the gravel in the driveway. He spun in an entire circle checking out all the gravel. And surprisingly only one rock ended up in his mouth!