Guinea Fowl Parenting Fail

I spent several days trying to get pictures of our keets to announce the good news of their arrival.  It was nearly impossible to get close enough for a decent shot and this was as good as I could manage.  I am pretty sure we started out with seven or eight keets, but by the time the guinea hen would let us close enough to see them all, we counted five.  After a day or two, that turned into only three.  For a couple of days, there was only one.  Today, none. 

I'm pretty sad about this.  I was very excited about the increase of our guinea flock.  You would think with as protective as the momma was during the day, that she would have continued to care for her kiddos at night, but I am pretty sure she left them in a nest on the ground while she took to a tree, leaving them entirely unprotected. 

Next year, I hope to find her nest, take some of her eggs, and put them under a broody chicken.  The chicken should raise them as her own and the new guineas should take to the barn inside the fence and be generally better protected.  It's too late to do it this year, but hopefully we can work it next year and have some more guinea fowl. 

Lots of Edible Incredibles

Welcome to my toaster oven.  I like my toaster oven.  My old toaster oven was small and would fit that one muffin pan only.  This toaster oven holds more and hasn't tried to burn my house down.  I like it.  It can rotisserie, broil, bake, toast, and there is even a little griddle at the top under the lid where I can fry a sunny side up egg.  Not only that, but I do not have to fire up my ginormous oven to cook a decent meal.  There is so much wasted space and energy in those darn things!  See that thing on the left of the image?  Yea, that's my range/oven.  We call that the "inconveniently not flat counter" because we prefer our grill and toaster oven.  But enough about my toaster oven, check out those eggs!

You may remember my scrambled egg muffin recipe (which is basically baked scrambled eggs) from a previous post.  That's what is in that muffin pan on the left in my toaster oven.  What's that on the right?  Why, those are eggs, silly!  Didn't you know you can "hard boil" eggs in the oven?  Baking intact eggs is technically not boiling since we use no water, but the results are the same.   325 for about 30 minutes (which is about as long as it takes to get the water in a big pot boiling) gives a nice result.  Adjust the time accordingly if you like your eggs softer or harder.  The scrambled egg muffins can go in for the same time and temp, making the most of the oven space.

FYI, the "hard boiled" baked eggs will "sweat" a smidge.  They do this in boiling water, too, but you don't see it because it comes off in the water.  It is nothing to be alarmed by.  Enjoy your eggs!

Did I mention that I like my toaster oven?

Protective Momma Hen

"Back off, crazy lady with the camera!"  I'm pretty sure that's what this momma hen is thinking.

Every time I come along with a camera, she rushes the chicks to safety.  It makes it hard to get good pictures!  Silly momma!

"Whatchya lookin' at, lady?"











It is wonderful to hear the little cheap cheaps of these babies as I try to milk Lulu the goat in the morning.  Baby goats and baby chicks!  We have it made!

Goaty Goats!

Our little goats are getting big, but they still love to have fun and romp around.  They have taken over the workbench and storage dresser in the barn.

Stormy loves hopping from the dresser to the workbench.  Snowy is quick to follow.

Fly, little goat, fly!

 Look at those horns coming in!

Here are a couple of amateur videos shot by the kiddos (the first is current and the second is of the goaties when they were smaller):

We have started milking Lulu, but it is a learning process.  The first time I tried it, my hands tired quickly.  A small grip is required and is not a position I find my hands in often, so I have been strengthening my hands with a foam grip ball.  This seems to be effective for improving my own ability to milk her. 

Still, Lulu does not like to be handled.  We have tried using hobbles with her, but she still moves around a lot.  I will try a modified hobble that attaches her leg to the stand and see if that settles her.  We feed her in the stand, but she eats very quickly.  We find that adding some gravel to her dish slows her down a bit, but not enough to get a decent amount of milk by a milkmaid who hasn't found her rhythm yet.

More practice is needed!

Bearding Bees

What do bees do when it gets all hot in the hive?  Why, they go outside, of course!  It has been consistently hot here.  The plastic frame hive has had a population boom and they're really feeling the heat.

 
When the bees come out like this and gather on the outside of the hive, it is called bearding.  This is a pretty mild case.







The other problem the poor bees are having in this climate is the humidity.  They process the honey, then leave it to dry some before capping it.  We are seeing a lot of honey in both hives, but not so much capped as the honey is taking longer to dry in this heavy humidity:

Farmstead Fun - Trip to Yorktown

What do farm kids do for fun?  Why, we take over Yorktwon, VA, of course!

Many of the original homes are still at Yorktown and people live in them today.  Some are little shops and restaurants.  The highlight of our visit, though, was a Young Soldier lesson at the battlefield museum at the Visitor Center where the kids got to make their own miniature gabions.

What's a gabion?  Well, I'll tell you .....

The twig "basket" in the front is a gabion.  Soldiers built lots of them, then filled them with dirt.  See the overgrown ridge behind the gabion?  That is a gabion wall; a row of gabions, filled with dirt, lined up, and allowed to grow over.  This is how soldiers built a protective wall and had a place to put the dirt from the trenches they dug. 

 A couple of my kids making gabions with the park ranger in the background demonstrating how it's done.  He did a great job talking to the kids about how soldiers lived and worked during the war. 

There is also a replica ship in the museum.  Man the canons!

In other news, we have ordered a milking stanchion for Lulu the goat and it should be here soon.  I will start milking her once a day to get her milk supply up while the kids are still nursing.  Fresh milk and cheese incoming!  Also, we will be checking in on the bees.  See you back soon!

Farmstead Fun - Kaplooey!

What do we farm kids do for fun?  Why, we use all of mom's baking soda and vinegar to make a super cool volcano in the dirt, of course!

When my kids holler through the house, "Mom, can we use the baking soda and vinegar to make a volcano in the yard?" I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside.  I probably should have been more specific than simply answering in the affirmative because they used an entire bulk bag of baking soda and a gallon of vinegar!

My, that's fun and bubbly!