Magical Chicken Days

The Chicken Class was a big success. We had a couple of cancellations in the morning, but everyone else that signed up showed up. Thanks guys! Richard did a wonderful job. I think he's a natural born teacher. Me...I freeze in front of a crowd, so I'm better left to the writing side of things...or the sign making, which I can usually pull off on short notice.

Copied chicken, bad cut and paste

This picture does not have the chicken's feet, so when I was free handing a bigger version of this onto poster board, I had to do a little research on chicken feet. Handy if you happen to have a flock of chickens in your backyard!

chicken foot (hen)

During this class, my little ones and I were entertaining my mother and sister (who came for a short visit), on the other side of the house.

This past week sure was all about chickens... moving them around, drawing them, teaching about them, chasing them back into their yards after discovering they can fit under the gate.

New Hampshire Reds go for a walk

It was also about learning, and how life is full of lessons every single day. I learned that our farm can not accommodate dogs, so please leave them at home if you come to visit. I learned how to draw chicken feet and how to fit ten extra people comfortably in our kitchen. I also learned that miracles still happen, and when I asked for one a few days ago, in relation to our farm location situation, I never expected it to show up in the form of a jolly man who might just be the answer to my prayers. And the new adventure may just involve that old sleeping dream of living in an Earthship. How about that?

Maybe the serendipity, the synchronicity, the magic of intention and the power of the good old Universe has come knocking on my door, or maybe the wind has blown some of the dust residue from NM and Susan's good luck into my mountain valley. I can't wait to see how this all plays out.

March 6 chicken class is full

Believe it or not, we filled up our Chicken Basics Class for this Sunday!  But, there has been so much interest that we may offer another class next week. Let us know if you want to come and we will set it up.

Also listed the two big goats on Craigslist and have been fielding e-mails about that. Who knew two pregnant dairy goats would be so easy to sell? They aren't gone yet, but we are hopeful our first callers will come through, but if not, then the second family definitely gets them. And by the way, that second family needs affordable dairy goats for their little girl in a bad way. They are so far out in the country (near Trinidad) and the little one is allergic to everything but the goats milk, so if anyone wants to sell a couple of nannies in milk or about to kid, let me know...there's a family who needs them.

Today we went to Pueblo to get more pallets for our fence project. Hey, the midden in the upper garden is almost hidden from the street now. The neighbors should be pleased...if it wasn't for that damned pallet fence.

Going to do a seed starting class next Sunday, and as soon as I get the details together, I will post them. Feel free to register early.

Gettin' on the gray and pinin' away for a real farm

Here's an Earthbag update:  

We decided to go with the base coat of stucco (gray coat) to cover our bags and protect them from the UV rays. Since we will eventually stucco the outside to match our house color , we decided that rather than mix up local mud, which might or might not stick, we'd just do it the lazy store bought way. Actually stucco gray coat is really cheap.


Today, the weather was warm and sunny, and hopefully the coat we put on will dry before we reach the overnight predicted low of 28 F.
 
This time I got to help a little, painting on the thin coat, but Richard finished up the outside while I managed the children, laundry and phone calls from farm hunting.

I still ended up with stucco in my hair, covering my cowboy boots and splattered across my face. For a minute there, I felt like I was back in the creative mode, painting (anything will do) and getting dirty was part of the joy. Can't wait to play with the thicker stucco...just like getting my hands in clay again. 

One of the neighbors stopped by to ask about llama poop for his garden, and he and Richard chatted over the fence for a while. I'm guessing he's not one of the complainers, and in fact he's building a mulch/compost pile and building garden beds to plant in. Good for him! We are bringing down the neighborhood. Power to the backyard farmers!!

And the news on relocating the farm: our bank won't give us a loan. I guess in this day and age you can't own one house and buy another. No more contingencies. I've had several suggestions about selling our house and renting for a few months. Really? Do you think someone would rent to a family with two llamas, five goats, two guineas, 30 chickens, two dogs, four cats, two parakeets and a parrot? What would the pet deposit look like on that?

But, I called another guy...who just might be one of the nicest men I've talked to on the phone, and he's given me hope. If we could wipe out some erroneous info on our credit report we might have room to wiggle. So that's the next plan, otherwise we are looking at owner carry situations and they usually want too much down, although I'm not ruling that out. I've posted ads on Craigslist, looking for a farm. Hey, if you're a fan and have a farm in Penrose you want to sell and would carry the loan for a year or two, (until we sell this house and get another mortgage), please call me up!

In any case, life goes on here on the farm. The chicken class is still on for Sunday and we still have space open. We are about to order a mess of day old chicks...layers and broilers, and maybe even a turkey or two.
(Oh man, that's going to raise that rental deposit.)

Yesterday we went and picked up a load of manure and some sapling fruit trees from different farms in Penrose and I had more great conversations with a local farmer. They raise goats, have a couple of llama/alpaca cross girls, a great old orchard, and bees for honey that they bottle and sell.  Wonderful. The things that are possible.

I noticed in Penrose, most people have animals and the resulting manure pile, composting away somewhere, and in some cases, in their front yards, which is part of the working farm, and not some sprinkler system feeding sod surrounded by decorative rocks and gravel. I have to say I prefer the farm look, where real things are happening, and think we'd definitely fit better in a farming community that understands the projects being worked on and the value of that animal poop in the gardens.

Earthbag Building Details

Earthbag Llama Barn Building Updates

Here are all the posts relating to our efforts to build an Earthbag Llama Barn:
Day 1 of the Building Blitz
Day 2 of the Earthbag Building Blitz
Day 3 Build a  Barn
Richard's blog thoughts

Peepers Jeepers, little chicken sunglasses and a Chicken Basics Class

Peepers

Our chickens have been pecking each other to the point where bare skin shows, and in some cases they have started breaking the skin. I blame those evil lavender guineas for teaching them this annoying behavior. But, the guineas are gone and the bad behavior continues, so we researched online and found something called peepers.
 
These little plastic things fit into the nostrils of the chicken (and other gamebirds) and block the line of vision directly in front of them, so they can't see to peck...at other birds. They can still eat and drink (I wondered) and even peck at gravel in the yard.


We put the Peepers on all of our older layers. They look like little chicken sunglasses. It was highly entertaining at first as the chickens stumbled around and missed the perches, but they all got used to it after a short time and all is well in the coop again.

Chicken sunglasses

While Richard and I were catching hens and installing Peepers, their came a crowing from the brooder, and not once, but three times...the softest little cock-a-doodle-do ever. This time I caught a glimpse of the little rooster, and sure enough it's the little Barred Cochin--the one with the pit bull attitude, all puffed up and crowing with his neck stuck out in the air. My little Napolean.

Little Napolean

Moving chickens around today...Reds in the fort move up to the goat barn, where Richard built in four nest boxes. Charlie the Roo gets to go back down with the laying hens...he's got Peepers on too, and the Buff living with him in the goat barn is a dead chicken walking...she's not only pecking the others nonstop, but eating her own eggs. So the babies in the brooder get moved to the chicken fort and the brooder gets cleaned and waits for the new chicks to arrive. Yey!

And, speaking of new chicks, we are offering an Introduction to Chickens class here at the farm on March 6, 2011 from noon to 3pm where we will explain the chicken basics from ordering chicks to caring for day olds. Housing and feed, brooder temps and cleaning pasty butts will all be covered. A tour of the chicken coops is included and maybe some refreshments too. Only $10 per person. Register at Green Desert Eco Farm soon. Space is limited. Learn how to have your very own backyard flock and get fresh eggs every day from your own hens.

We are raising revenue to buy a farm out in farm country (Penrose) or to invest in this one here. We are encouraging classes on sustainability, and this is one of them. We hope to start a group here in Fremont county that is concerned and working towards creating a sustainable community...transition town...maybe call it Fremont Resiliency Group or something. We need to start working together on the problems that are coming in the near future...economic crashes, water shortages, food shortages, crazy weather, etc. Let's put our heads together and come up with a local plan.