An Unexpected Gift

It's been nearly 2 years now since we lost my father. It wasn't something any of us were prepared for. There was no long  illness to lead up to the phone call that made me feel like my heart was being ripped from my body.

Some days I can still feel him with me.

Today was one of those days.

Starting with the crazy urge to call him early in the morning to talk about the weekend coming up, and all the things we have planned. To tell him about my son's first high school baseball game, and how the kids are. There are days still when it feels like it just happened. 

I shook off the feeling and went about my day prepping for the upcoming show this weekend, cleaning coops and ponds. And then the oddest thing happened. I walked into the garage to get an extension cord to run the water pump to clean the pond and found this little bird desperately trying to escape through a closed window.

Which oddly enough brought back a flood of childhood memories of my Dad. 

When I was a little girl I found a humming bird with a broken wing, which of course I had to save. I dead set and determined to mend this little bird and set it free. I named it Sunny. My Dad borrowed a bird cage from my Aunt, helped me build a nest, and helped me make humming bird food. I was probably only 11 or 12 years old. I was sure I could save Sunny. I'm sure my Dad knew my chances were not good. But he supported me the entire way through. Because that's what he always did.

Of course Sunny didn't make it. We gave him a proper funeral in the back yard.

So when I walked in and saw this humming bird trapped and helpless in my garage, all of these thoughts and images came to mind. I thought surely I could shoo this scared bird out through the open door. But she kept hitting the window over and over. I made my way over boxes and toys to get to the window and remarkably the bird sat on the window sill. I picked her up and took her outside, snapped this picture and let her go on her way.

And memories of my Dad flooded my mind. It was just going to be a Dad filled day.

My sister sent me a text asking if the package she sent came in the mail. So off I went to the mail box, and it was there.

And while I was expecting a gift, I was not expecting this. A beautiful handmade ring deigned by my sister. Which in itself should be expected after all she is a jewelry designer.  It's the story behind the ring that brought me to tears.

After my Dad passed my sister and I found a list he had written himself on the back of an envelope in his things. Like so many of us when changes are happening in our lives he wrote himself a list of all the things the changes in his life would bring. On it he wrote "You will always have the love of your children"

From that note my sister designed this ring. Using my father's handwriting to create a little piece of him to carry with me. 

My heart melted and the tears flowed and I felt my father all around me. 

My beautiful sister could not have created a more amazing and unexpected gift.

Tortilla Soup 2 Ways!

Fall is here and the temps are cooling every so slightly here in the California high desert. Time for cozy dinners and food that can warm you up! One of our favorites is Tortilla Soup, but because some of the family doesn't eat meat I am always looking for recipes I can adjust to make every one happy. This one works out perfect! (We have a big family and LOVE leftovers for work and school lunches so this makes a lot of soup)

~Ingredients~

2-3 zucchini chopped in small bite sized pieces

1    yellow onion diced

1 C  (or more) of frozen white corn

2-3  cloves of garlic minced

1    Serrano pepper, minced

Diced Roasted Red Peppers to taste

2-3 small cans of black beans rinsed and drained

3    32 oz containers of vegetable stock

1    28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1    lime juiced

1    small can of diced green chilies

Chopped Fresh cilantro to taste

Cooked Shredded Chicken (a rotisserie chicken from the market works great)

~Spices to taste~

Salt

Pepper

Roasted Cumin

Chipotle or Ancho Chili Pepper (or a mixture of both)

Dried Oregano

~Accessories~

Cooked White Rice

Diced Avocado

Shredded jack Cheese

Tortilla Chips

Sliced Olives

~The Prep Work~

In a large pot saute all of the vegetables until slightly tender (do not add the beans yet). Add spices. Add Vegetable stock, crushed tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a simmer and adjust seasonings. Add Cilantro and the juice of 1 lime. If adding chicken add it here and simmer until meat is heated through. (This is where I separate out a pot full for the non meat eaters in the family).

Serve over white rice and top with your choice of toppings.

The husband loves this the next day. This can also be made in a crock pot. Just dump all of the ingredients in in the morning and slow cook until you get home.

Automatic Poultry Watering System On The Cheap

Keeping up with keeping the waterers filled in the desert heat can be stressful. It's a constant worry that the birds will run out of water on a hot day when I'm not home. And filling waters for 18 runs of birds takes up quite a bit of time every day. But every automatic system I have researched is either too small, too expensive, or came with bad reviews from people I personally know that have used them.

And then I went over to a very dear friends house (who I have properly enabled into becoming a chicken keeper) and saw what her husband had designed after they came home from a weekend away to find that the person caring for their birds had let the waterers run dry in the middle of the summer heat. It was simply an extension off their drip system for their backyard plants.

I ran the idea past the husband (just to check and see if he thought I was crazy) and we came up with a plan. We already had a bunch of left over parts to our drip system and a water faucet right in the middle of one of the runs. Our only expense was some extra tubing (we got a lot extra in case we want to put more around the yard for trees and plants) and dog water dishes. Total cost around $70.

We ran the tubing along the fencing in the runs, put the water dishes up on bricks we already had and put a little drip tube into each bowl.

We also used an automatic battery operated timer from the garden and set it to come on for a few minutes every few hours throughout the day. Right now it is set for 15 minutes every 4 hours, but we may need to adjust that as we see how it works.

The birds went right for it. I even ran a dripper into the goat water just to make sure they are also well hydrated at all times. You just cant risk your birds being without with temperatures over 100* daily in the summer.  

A Simple Tip To Keep Your Brooder A Little Dryer When Brooding Ducklings

As much as I LOVE me some baby ducks,  because lets face it they are the cutest things ever. I am not at all fond of brooding them!

They stink, they are messy and they get EVERYTHING wet! And honestly it is the moisture, in my opinion, that makes them so smelly.

Here is a simple tip to help keep the brooder a little dryer when brooding ducklings. Notice I say "a little dryer" because there is just NO WAY you will keep a duck brooder 100% dry.

Get a rectangular baking pan and a cookie cooling rack from the kitchen

Put the rack over the baking pan.

 I make sure the edges of the pan are inside of the cooling rack feet for added security

Place in the brooder and put the food and water on top

This way my water will fall into the baking pan and not into your shavings





My Dad's Shirt

A couple of months ago I started making goats milk soap. It was one of the reasons we decided to get our dairy goats, for soap and cheese and whatever other fun stuff I could come up with. When I finally ordered all of my supplies and was eagerly ready to make my first batch of soap I watched a ton of videos on YouTube that teach you how to make soap. Every single one of them told you to wear a long sleeve shirt, gloves, pants and goggles.

For whatever reason, whether  I was aware of the decision or not, I went into my room and grabbed my Dad's old shirt from my closet. It's one of very few clothing items I chose from his closet after he passed. I had seen him wear it so many times, in person and in pictures, I had to have it with me even though I had no idea at the time what in the world I would do with it. I just couldn't let it go. Putting on that first time felt right, and so incredibly comforting.

My Dad got so much enjoyment hearing my crazy stories about my chickens and ducks and all the rest of it. He was so proud and full of love over the littlest of things. I still want to call him every time something happens. To hear his voice and see his eyes sparkle with delight at my latest adventure. Hear is worry over my latest plunge into using power tools. When my duck took "Champion Light Duck" this show season he was the first person I thought about telling. I told my sister and we laughed together about what a kick Dad would have gotten out of the whole thing.

Every batch of soap I make I wear Dad's shirt. It's part of the routine now. Just to have a little bit of him with me.

Videos from around the yard

Barbara our first ever broody runner duck is sitting on 7 eggs that are due to hatch any time now. She is adding feathers to her nest and getting off less often. We keep food and water close by and today I brought her some frozen peas to snack on in the heat.

Steve the Goat playing with Nikki our other male. Steve is a pygmy goat (WAY over sized for the breed) and Nikki is a Nigerian Dwarf goat (fully grown!)

Polish chickens eating frozen peas on a hot day
with cameo appearances by Mabli Moo and Sadie

The Care and Keeping of Chicks

Raising newly hatched chickens is really fairly simple as long as you do your research and you are fully prepared when they arrive (or hatch). As long as they have enough space, can get both under AND away from your heat source, have the proper food, and clean water you should be golden. But here are a few tips that I have found to be helpful.

General Care ~

1. Temperatures - Just hatched through week 1 your brooder temperatures should be between 95-99*. Make sure your chicks have room to get away from the heat source too. Too hot can be just as harmful as too cold. Each following week you can lower the temps by 5* until they are fully feathered at about 6 weeks of age and no longer need an artificial heat source.
2. Feed- Chicks under 6-8 weeks of age should be on starter feed ( I prefer medicated). This comes in both a powdery form and a crumble. There is no need to add anything additional to their diet at this point. In fact some things can be harmful unless you provide the chicks with grit to help them process and digest their food. *For chicks under 6 weeks you can offer them parakeet grit found in pet sections at most stores*
3. Clean bedding- Some people prefer to start their chicks off with paper towels on the brooder floor. There is some belief that they will learn what the feed is more easily this way. I prefer to start mine on either pine shavings or pine pellets. Pellets are my favorite choice because they do not get into the waterers like shavings do. If you chose shavings make sure they are pine and NOT cedar. The oils in cedar wood can be very harmful to a chickens respiratory system. Make sure to keep the bedding clean and dry. Wet bedding can become moldy and cold very quickly.
4. Check for Pasty Butt-  A build up of dried poop on the butt (pasty butt) can be DEADLY! It can make it impossible for chicks to poop which will kill them. I check at least once a day to make sure all of the chicks vents are free and clear of poo.* If you have a chick with a continuous problem with pasty butt you can put vegetable oil around the vent to keep the poo from sticking and even trim the down around the area.* Pasty butt can be caused by temperatures being too high in the brooder. 
5. Space- Most information out there recommends between 6 sq inches to 1/2 a square foot per chick in brooder space for the first 1-4 weeks of age.                       

Helpful Tips ~ (Little extra things I like to do to keep my chicks healthy and happy)

1. Durvet Vitamin and Electrolyte Powder- I use Durvet vitamin and electrolyte powder in my chick water. See how I use it here. It gives the chicks and healthy start to life



2. Raise Your Food and Water- I always put a little platform in my brooders to put the food and waters on to keep them up out of the shavings. This helps keep both the food and water cleaner of shavings AND the shavings cleaner of food and water.   

3. Marbles- I put clean glass marbles in the bottom of my waterers. This helps to keep chicks from falling in and getting too wet or possibly drowning AND attracts the chicks to the water itself because they are shiny.     

4. Heat Source - I use the Brinsea EcoGlow brooder warmers. They work using radiant heat and help keep the chicks body temperatures regulated without heating up the area around the brooders. They are also not the fire hazard that heat lamps are. I brood my chicks indoors and fire safety is a must!     
5. Baby Wipes - I always keep unscented baby wipes on hand for cleaning bottoms.
6. WASH YOUR HANDS!- Always wash your hand BOTH before and after handling your baby chicks. Before to make sure you do not spread anything dangerous to them and after to make sure you do not pass anything from them to you.