Welcome to The Hearty Hen House
Hobby Farming at its finest!
I – like a lot of folks – love the holidays! Holidays bring out the best in people, it seems like they are kinder, and more giving. The holidays bring families together, even if it’s just to eat. But the best part is the food! Why do we wait for holidays to bring out all the good stuff?
Last week I was scouring Pinterest, looking for ideas for “thank-you” gifts for a card class that I participate in. I happened across lots of ideas for these stove-top potpourri gift ideas and recipes. The sample gift bags I saw looked pretty, but having never tried stove-top potpourri, I decided I should test a recipe before making up a bunch of “thank you” gifts, just in case they really didn’t smell all that great.
My very first goats were sibling Pygmy goats, Bonnie and Clyde. We lived in Arizona at the time, so I never really worried about keeping them warm during the winter. I think they actually enjoyed the coolness of a season that wasn’t hot! When my boys were young we moved to a rural town in central Utah where the winters were a little colder and included snow! Our neighbors showed dairy goats in 4-H and my oldest son enjoyed helping them bottle feed the kids, and get the goats ready for shows. That’s when our goat herd expansion began. Daisy, a Saanen yearling was first, followed by Spring and Jasmine, Nubian sisters who were bottle babies. Rose was two days old when we got her and then we got a buck to try our hand at breeding. And so the adventure continued. Now, the boys are grown, the goats are old, and the winters are still cold.
Some years ago, when looking at a potential new home, the owners had geese on the property. Every time we would try to go outside the house to look around, we were chased by the geese. We were strangers in their territory and they didn’t like it! I think they probably cheered and gave each other high fives when we finally drove away! Shortly after we found a house and moved in, a neighbor said he had to go to California for work and he had some young chickens and geese that he wanted to give my boys. (I think that was a ploy so that I wouldn’t say no.) I was a little wary based on my previous experience, but we took them in. Thirteen years later we still have the geese and I am happy to report, I have not once regretted the decision!
Have you been thinking about raising chickens? Have you sat down at the kitchen table and started a pros and cons list? Maybe the cons list is longer than the pros list. Perhaps you are wondering if its really worth the time, effort, and cost. Well here are some of my thoughts; maybe a little different perspective will help you make up your mind.
Chickens are busy, active little creatures. Free range chickens have the advantage of finding their own entertainment and getting into their own trouble: finding seeds, bugs, and worms, sneaking into gardens, going for rides atop a goat… The list goes on. Penned up chickens on the other hand, don’t have the luxury of finding a lot of interesting activities to occupy their time day in and day out. Often this can cause them to pick on one another. A happy chicken is a busy chicken. Here are a few ideas to help you provide some entertainment for your chickens.
Hay is a generic term used to describe a group of dried grasses and long stemmed plants that are used for animal feed purposes. Hay contains nutrients and roughage that animals need for good health and digestion. But, not all hay is created equal! Different grasses and plants have different nutrients and benefits for different animals and it is a good idea to research and find out what kind of hay is good for your animals.
If the truth be known, I would much rather spend my time outside digging in the dirt, mending a fence, even cleaning a chicken coop, than be in the kitchen. The only thing that I enjoy less than cooking is doing the dishes. I would classify myself as an okay cook and I do have some specialties, but I give a two thumbs up! to all of you who enjoy cooking, do it well and find dish washing therapeutic!! Because cooking isn’t my favorite, I prefer simple, no fail, not a lot of dirty dishes type of recipes. They are not hard to find and I’m grateful for them! Fresh cut up fruit is one of my favorite side dishes due to the fact that it’s delicious, easy, and not a lot of dirty dishes. Heck, watermelon comes with its own bowl! When you’re finished with it, just toss it to the chickens or bunnies and they’ll take care of the clean up.
Of course fall is the time of year when apples are plentiful and also less expensive. You might even have a friend or neighbor who says, ‘please, come and pick all the apples you want!’ My husband’s friend is one of those guys, so when my husband came home with a big tub of apples that he had picked, I had to figure out what to do with all of them.
With the onset of fall and cooler weather, I know that it is time to give all my animal housing a good clean out and get my animals ready for winter. Last year we had a pretty mild winter, we didn’t get much snow or severe cold, so I’m thinking that Mother Nature might want to make up for it this year. We have experienced some pretty crazy weather across the U.S. just this month, so my animal housecleaning and winter preparation has begun! Sometimes with helpers!
Have you ever wondered why farm fresh hard boiled eggs are so difficult to peel? It is because the acidic level of the egg white it so low that the albumen (egg white) easily sticks to the inner shell membranes. As the egg ages and becomes more porous, air gets into the egg, carbon dioxide is released and the acidity level of the albumen increases, causing it to stick less. Eggs that you purchase in the store, it takes them at least 30 days to go from farm to store shelf. That’s why they peel more easily.
