Sat mid-day

Driveway: snowy
Farm Stand Contents: mulch hay & 3 dozen eggs
General Comments: it's much too cold to be outside today!
stay warm.
Will have pics and stories shortly...

Fri AM

Driveway: Snowy
Farm Stand: is OPEN, 1 doz med eggs in the frig at the moment; more this afternoon
General: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Quiet morning so far, but it's still early! more later....

wet chicken

Here is a story from about 2 wks ago....
Chris & I went out to do afternoon chores one Sunday....by the time I caught up to Chris in the 'horse barn' he told me he had just found a rooster floating in the horses water bucket. He pulled the rooster out, dried him off and laid him on some hay. It was COLD that day so I made a bed of hay under a heat lamp and placed the rooster there. He was shivering and not trying to move. In an hour we came to check on him....that side was drying nicely so I moved him so his other side was facing the heat lamp and in another hour he was up & moving about. By the evening he was wanting to rejoin his flock again.
Another crisis averted!
Have no idea what caused him to get in the water bucket but I don't think he'll do it again!

Unless something crazy happens tomorrow I'll post pics of the new cows.

PM

Injured Chicken Update!

She's fine....as you can see by the pic....she'll be on 'bedrest' for a few more days and then back with the flock.

Remember, eggs are collected daily usually btwn noon - 3 pm and then put out in the Farm Stand frig.

Also, the Farm Stand is currently open daily most days from 6:30 am - 6:30 pm. If it's snowing we may not open but I'll post that info as the need arises.

AM

Driveway condition: covered in 1-2 inches of snow, may be icy underneath - drive & walk w/ care!
Farm Stand contents: 1 dozen large eggs ($3.25); 4 mulch hay bales ($2.50 ea) -more on request in barn
General Comments: @ COMPOST: Thank you to all our faithful customers who have been delivering compost for the animals. Trust me, there can never be enough as far as the animals are concerned! We really appreciate your donations. If you leave a container w/ your name on it I will wash it & have it back out in the Stand by the next day or two. I leave a container w/ the SHF name on it for your use if you don't wish to leave your own or don't have one - feel free to load it up! @ EGGS: Egg production goes down over the winter due to the decrease in temps - with the frigid temps we've having right now I'm down to 1 - 2 dozen eggs a day. Please be patient and continue to come back for eggs. It can only get warmer - RIGHT? :) fingers crossed

Wednesday Jan 6, 2010

This afternoon during my routine chores I discovered a chicken had impaled its wing on our rock rake. I tried by myself to dislodge her wing but she must have been struggling for a long time and had really dug her wing into the tines of the rake. Kicking myself for not carrying my cell with me, I then decided to go ask my neighbor for help realizing I needed another set of hands to get her free. I carried the chicken and the rake down the small hill to the neighbors door & politely knocked and waited for her reply. Not surprisingly, she looked very shocked as she opened the door to see me with the chicken and the rake. I explained my predicament and asked for her help. She courteously obliged and came outside to hold the rake as I tried to pull the chickens wing off. Some blood started to flow so I panicked & thanked the neighbor & said I better take her to the vet. I thanked her for her time and went about getting ready to travel 20 minutes to our vets office. First, I put the chicken/rake in the minivan. Then, I went inside to call the vet's office & advise them I was on my way - lucky I did b/c since my last visit they have moved offices w/in the town of Germantown. I got the necessary directions and hopped in the van with my dog Blue by my side. I required him to sit on the front seat so as not to bother the chicken in her condition. As we traveled to the vets I began to think to myself "we (my husband & I) really need to start journalling all the stuff that happens at the farm". There are SO many stories that people would not believe, we should really start writing this stuff down. Which is why today of all days I have decided to begin this BLOG of our time on our farm. Some of the stuff is funny, some sad, and some downright unbelieveable! To me this story qualifies under the last category. Anyway, I digress....so I get to the vets office, she meets me outside, helps me and the chicken into the examining room and it takes FOUR of us (myself, the vet, 2 vet techs) to pull the chicken free. Amazingly, nothing is broken and only 3 little drops of blood land on the exam table. The vet gets the appropriate meds for our patient and sends me home with a smile.
CRAZY, right? Let me tell you it is a rare day at the farm that is dull.
Just wait, you'll see! Keep reading.
IF for some reason tomorrow is a dull day I will recant a story from a previous day!