Some of This N That

The first big snow of the season was outside when I started to write this post.  It reminds me of all that we got done leading up to this time to prepare.  Also I wonder if the wild turkey “Birch” has decided to move along.

Birch is a wild turkey that thinks she is part of our flock. At one point a bunch of wild turkeys hung around our turkey cottage in the woods, but while the rest moved on out, Birch has stayed nearby.  She sleeps on the barn roof.  I’ll have to get more photos, but she is shy and flies away too quickly for me.  She is driving our hound Boomer crazy.

You can see how the turkeys really like their outdoor perch. I see them using it in all types of weather, even though they have a perch inside their cottage.

Look at their beautiful feathers. We’re really happy with this heritage breed; Narragansett’s.  I’ve forgotten my camera when I’ve visited them during the day; the Toms look amazing when they put out their full feathery display.

Our Three Bigger Pigs

These pigs are living in a side pen of the barn and have their door open so they can snuff around outside.  This fenced in area is enforced with a layer of concrete under ground so they cannot escape underneath.

They are within the sheep paddock.  So the sheep like to check them out especially when they were eating all of the plants cleared from the garden after harvest time.  The sheep are allowed to eat sunflower plants, that’s what they received as a treat.

Another picture of feast day.  He’s really digging it.  I didn’t throw this squash plant on top of him, he chose to wear it this way as he dug around.

Chicken Coop Updates

These girls had been making a mess by spilling water as they rushed by their nesting boxes.  I did this project mostly by myself while Justin and Pepere Larry built the Turkey cottage.  I moved the nesting boxes vertically and added a little piece in front of each slot to hold in the hay and eggs.  I moved the water to the back wall parallel with the nesting boxes, so they don’t tip it as much when they rush about. I also cleaned out the floor muck and put down fresh sawdust.

When we first got the pigs in, we still had this paneling in the back area.  If you look back at the turkey photos above, you’ll notice that it is now the fencing for the turkeys outdoor enclosure.

Sheep

After we moved them out, Nala had a chance to get up close to really say hello to her piggy neighbors.

Here are our three lambs.  First is Boston, our only wether, who earned a spot to stay on the farm to be Lambert’s wingman.  Lambert is in the back; the Ram.  We are hoping he had a successful mating season in October so that we might have some little lambs this February. On the right is Ivy. The star of our farm. She was the only one of these three to be born on our farm.  Check it out in my archives by searching Ivy.

My first attempt at needle felting was a success.  This lit felted sheep was made my carding the wool with a hand carder into little rovings.  Next step is dying the wool so my little creations can be more colorful.  I do hope to give this little lamb some black eyes and nose. I will definitely make a post just about needle felting once I’ve done more with it. I hope to get the older kids to give it a go as well.

We really prepared this year with hay storage. This is the central barn area and the loft is just as full.

Canning

 

This is the last step of a Portuguese recipe I learned from my family; Kale Soup.  It wasn’t too hard to can either to save for another day.

We also canned a lot of tomato sauce and some applesauce.

  

Last, but not least: Boomer the hound dog and Carla the mouse hunting kitty are learning to get along.  Most of their interactions consist of Boomer sniffing the cat’s backside  for 3-5 seconds until he senses she is ready to swat at him and he quickly backs off.  Good friends.

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