From Yard to Table

Even though the gardens have been picked clean long ago,
the Autumn harvest continues.
The weather is now cool enough to begin harvesting our animals.

We don't consider meat to be a staple,
but there may be enough for us to enjoy all Winter long.

Traditionally, I have done the killing and Kira does the cleaning.
After the deviant rooster incident last week,
Kira is ready to take over the chicken dispatch.
I will still be responsible for the ducks and hogs,
but it helps the rhythm of the day if Kira can grab a chicken or two when needed.
 

After several years, we are still perfecting our technique.
The task is kept as simple as possible.
We don't pluck the birds; they are just skinned.
The killing is clean and quick and done without an axe.

Neither of us grew up knowing how to handle livestock and turn animals into food,
though Kira has dressed a few deer with her father.
It is one thing to get the job done,
but it is another to make light work of it so that the job fits seamlessly into a normal day.
 
 

We let the kids watch the process and they are always interested.
They know where their meat comes from.
We all have soft hearts for the animals but death is as important in life as is birth.
Our children need to understand that as much as they must learn to care for and respect our farm animals.


There is a knowledge gap when it comes to how food is grown and prepared.
The risks are high if we allow that knowledge to remain solely in the hands of producers.
We are learning for ourselves what our parents are unable to teach us.
And so we will teach our children,
so that the knowledge gap doesn't continue to grow wider.

 
 
 
 
 
 

To Town with Fern

I took Fern into town with me today.
There were chores and shopping to be done,
and Fern wanted to go out for the day.
Normally, when I have administrative tasks on the list, I would try to go solo.
But I thought I'd give Fern a chance to have some daddy time.


One of the stops on the list was the outdoors store.
There are thousands of conversation starters in a place like that.
We browsed the aisles and talked about the products.
The afternoon could have been spent then and there,
but the list beckoned.

Children can be very easygoing when there is no reason to fight for attention.
Fern was calm and attentive all afternoon.
Kira made sure to pack snacks to keep Fern fueled,
which made things easier for me.


We travelled from place to place with no complaints,
and good steady conversation.
Yes. Steady conversation.
But she's bright and is fun to talk with.


Our family schedule is very unpredictable,
and there's a lot of time feeling like brand new parents.
We know that one-on-one time does wonders,
but we forget to make it part of the routine.

The day in town with Fern reminds me to try harder
to give each of them some of their own time with each of us.
That is a challenge of it's own.
But it's really the best way to get to know them.
And I would hate to miss watching our kids grow up,
and miss out on knowing them as individuals.



 
 
 

Winter Coop Renovation

You might think that I know exactly when our chicks were hatched and when they should reach maturity.
But I do not.
You might think that I am well prepared with ample chicken housing and nesting boxes.
Well, not really.

To be honest, it was only the other day that I felt a twinge of anxiety as a I realized that our new birds would likely be laying soon.
There was a plan to have a whole new layer coop built by now,
but my ambitions outstrip my actions most days of the week.
Sure, I could put another building up without much hassle,
but only after having completed the other projects first.

So I need to work with what I have.
There is lots of room, but changes are in order to make it work.
Our old layers were in the barn last Winter, but that was temporary.
Since there is no new building, the old layers will stay put.
But I would like the new birds to stay within the new fenced compound and until today,
there was nowhere for them to lay their eggs once they matured.


There is an addition on the main coop now.
It gave our young birds a safe outdoor space.
For the Winter, the addition offers some cover.
A place for the birds to dust bathe and sun where there is no snow.
They will still go outside into the snow, but at least they will have some dry ground for hanging out on.


The plan is to keep forty birds in the main coop.
Five or six roosters and the remaining hens.
That's too many birds all day long, but it's fine if they're out during the day and only roosting indoors at night.
I've added more roosting space and there are twelve nesting boxes in there.
(Despite what you might have read concerning the number of nests per bird,
the fact is that they often need to lay all at the same time, so the more nesting space the better.)


The building was heated with propane.
We are no longer buying propane other than for the handheld torches.
I've left the furnace intact in case I have a change of heart,
but I hope to keep the heat to a minimum.
Our layers had no heat last year and did just fine without.
The Gold-Laced Wyandottes are cold hardy birds.
This year I will have a heat lamp in place for really cold nights and possibly a water heater to keep the drinking water from freezing.
The water is the single most difficult chore in the Winter, and was the main reason for relocating the birds last year.
If I can keep the water ice-free, then it doesn't need to be replaced twice a day.


As far as too many birds for the space available,
there is always an easy solution to that.
If I decide that there are too many,
the extra birds are always welcome to the dinner table.