The peeps are here!

It's that time again....baby chickies!
We're still not done with the big painting project. Funny how things always take way longer than you plan for. One of us just switched to night shift for the next few months, so we're adjusting to that schedule. It means we can't really work on any projects until the weekends.

Not much new news at Seven Trees this week. Just finishing up the first big chore list of spring so we can start on the next big chore list.
I'm hoping to try a really unhealthy recipe this weekend, basically a giant casserole made of ham & cheese sandwich layers, with egg/milk poured over and baked. I'll share the recipe if it turns out, and we don't have heart attacks ;)

Lessons in milking

Here are the future layers of Seven Trees, finally living it up in the spare coop. This weekend they'll get to go outside for the first time. They're getting adult feathers in and seem to be thriving. The gal in front is a Buff Orpington, and the one doing the penguin impression is a Barred Rock.Here's me, going for milking attempt #2. I milked in the stall and thought Stella was done, but when I looked again she had let down more milk. I tied her to the fence and ran inside for the bucket to see what more I could get. Cows have the uncanny ability to withhold milk when they want to. And the cream is usually the last bit out of the udder, which they try to save for the calf.
A little clip of me trying for the last few drops. She had more, but was saving it for Douglas, and I was getting tired of trying. Practice makes perfect, and we had some good lessons tonight in standing still for milking. Stella is still not sure about the whole process and needs to learn to stand still, not lash me with her tail, eat her hay & grain, and let down her milk!

Oh those cute felons!

Also known as Felions in some circles....

Magnus and Mercia are 100% people cats. Despite leaving the door a jar a few times to see if they'd venture out on nice days, they have declined, wanting no part of that scary outdoors.

They'll peak, but no way they are going out THERE.

See what I mean about "people" cats? Magnus even sits like a person beside me on the recliner!

Wherever you go, whatever you're doing, Magnus is there to help.

Here he is folding laundry. Now isn't that helpful? In all actuality, I fold, he absorbs the residual heat from the dryer. He's right there though, just in case a cat might be called for in this process.

And of course after a hard day helping humans... any half grown cat needs a nap. Here's Mercia in her bed next to the wood stove catching some well deserved shut-eye.

+++++++++++++++++

As far as the barnyard critters go...

Baby chicks move to the outdoor house tomorrow. They've had plenty of people time in the backroom, and they are almost escaping size from their current digs. Look for some photos of moving day soon.

Stella update: Her bag and teats are yet larger... all 4 quarters now swelling a bit in preparation for milk production. She shows no other sign of labor, but my prediction is this Sunday March 7th, 2008... stay tuned!!

Past weekend in photos...

Peepers...

Poopers...

Bakers...

Bonkers...

New chicks in town!

Here they are! 5 Cherry Eggers, 5 Buff Orpingtons, and 5 Barred Rocks from Cackle Hatchery.

It didn't take long for them to figure out how to run amok under the heat lamp, toss food in the water, trample each other, and all the other day-old chickie kind of fun.

One little Buffy was nearly dead when we opened the shipping box. Sometimes they get chilled, and sometimes they just have issues. With some rest and electrolytes, she was doing slightly better, but she still might not make it. (She's the floppy-looking one on the right.) At least one of her sisters came over to cuddle with her. Stay tuned for an update, and more about the breeds we chose and why we chose them.

Chickies moving day!

Here's a charming little bungalow - complete with mowable roof! What a lovely example of a northwest microclimate.

The babies huddled under the coop, after being moved to the big house.

Not so scary after all. They seem to all be getting along fine. The older hens hassle them just enough to stay on top of the pecking order.

Check out this mutant dandelion!!! That entire cluster is all one plant. A giant stem & flower at the center, and a whole bunch of separate flowers, from a single giant root. I don't think Roundup is 'ready' for this one.

Lassie & Berry went to new homes today with a nice couple who have other pygoras and 28 llamas. We realize if Stella is going to be our milk cow, we need to be able to work with her without the goats 'butting in'. It's amazing how much calmer the vibe is already. Stella didn't like seeing her goats bundled off in a minivan, but once I opened a fresh paddock for grazing, she settled down to serious eating.

The garden is just about all seeded. A few more carrots and kale to plant later this season for fall/winter harvest. And I ordered seeds for a fodder beet called red mangel -
The famous Red Mangel French Heirloom also known as "Mangel Wurzel" in Germany
and Northern Europe. Known in the U.S. at times as a forage beet for cattle and
sheep, but has an excellant flavor if picked smaller and young. Can grow as
large as 15-20 lbs. Cooked, the texture is that of tender beets, but the flavor
is more potato-like, with a delightful touch of sweetness. If you find ordinary
beets too strong, try this kind.

I even found a recipe for mangel beer!

Mangel-wurzel beer. For a ten-gallon cask, boil in fourteen gallons of water sixty pounds of mangel-wurzel, which has been well washed and sliced across, putting some kind of weight on the roots to keep them under water; having boiled an hour and a half, they may be taken out, well broken, and all the liquor pressed from the roots; put it, and that in which they were boiled, on again to boil, with four ounces of hops; let them boil about an hour and a half, then cool the liquor, as quickly as possible, to 70 degrees Farenheit; strain it through a thick cloth laid over a sieve or drainer; put it into the vat with about six ounces of yeast, stir it well, cover it, and let it stand twenty four hours; if the yeast has then well-risen, skim it off, and barrel the beer, keeping back the thick sediment. While the fermentation goes on in the cask, it may be filled up with the beer left over, or any other kind at hand; when the fermentation ceases, which may be in two or three days, the cask must be bunged up, and in a few days more, the beer may be used from the cask, or bottled. The smaller proportions are here given to suit the convenience of the humblest labourer; but the beer will be better made in larger quantities; and its strength may be increased by adding a larger proportion of mangel-wurzel. By this receipt, good table-beer will be obtained.

How long are you chicks in for?

Maximum security chicken prison. Time in the "yard".

If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime. Hard-cases, everyone of 'em.

Here are the little buggers, FINALLY venturing outside, even though you pretty much have to poke them with sticks to get them out of their comfy, heated digs. They are feathering out nicely and starting to resemble grown-up chickens. Soon the electricity gets cut off.

Stella actually got in the way and mugged while I took pictures of the chicks, until she got her picture taken. I guess she was going for that hill-billy, old timey grass stem in the mouth look, and wanted it noted for posterity.

You may, or may not recall the Speckled Sussex chickens that took the long ride to the butchers, and came home dressed out and frozen. But here's some home canned stock made with one of the more decent sized birds... probably one of the roosters. It's got to be some of the best stock we've made or tasted. While the birds aren't exactly broilers, they sure make some good soup!

Flying the coop!

The little peepers now have outside access. They love it when the weather is nice, but a rainy day keeps them parked at the coop door, peeking out. They even figured out how to get themselves back in at night without help!

I was so busy watching the chickies, I didn't notice Stella sneaking up to say howdy. She managed to lick my cheek with a nice grassy tongue before backing away to peek at the chickies too.

Here's the nosy heifer! She loved looking at the babies while they were in the coop, peeking over our shoulders while we fed them. Now she can chew her cud and enjoy the peep show all day.

We bottled our pale ale today, and had the first steamed nettles of the season. We also ran the electro net fencing so the critters could access so fresh grass. Still plenty of gardening going on, plus ever more projects being dreamed up for later this year.

Chicks, lawn ornament & evil parrot

Chickies in the bathroom! Here's Peeps (named after my first baby zebra finch) and PoopButt, hanging out under a heat lamp next to the toilet. You can se how much smaller Peeps is.

The flock, reunited. Peeps is on the far right and PoopButt is in the center, closest to the front. We were worried the other chicks would pick on Peeps, but not only did PoopButt run interference for her, she also pecks and scolds the bigger chicks at will.

Stella the lawn mower! We hooked two lead ropes to her halter so we could each be on a side, in case she made a break for it, and took her out in the front yard. But once she figured out she could just walk around and eat fresh green grass, she did great!

And Mark doing his avian barnacle impression. If you try to pick him up off his cage, he immediately grabs on to a wire with his beak and grips as tight as he can. D actually slid him up & down the cage wire like that and all he does is grind his beak down tighter. If he's on top of his cage when you try to pick him up, he hunkers down and grips with his feet. You can just about pick up the whole cage using him for a handle. Then he'll just let go and enjoy being held, so I think it's some kind of stubborn parrot game.