Thought I'd share with you how I spent my day yesterday. It was by no means a typical day, but then again there really is no such thing for me, which is wonderful.
Got up around 6am. Lounged in bed for about 15 minutes listening to the symphony of bird song. The sun was shining brightly as it edged over the ridgetop. After dressing, I went out to the pasture where the Scottish Highlanders live. I've been giving them hay the last several days as they've really have eaten down the small pasture they are in now. I plan to move them to a larger pasture in a few days. After giving them hay, I filled their water trough. I then went to the brooder I built in the barn and I fed and watered the the chicks who are now about 2 weeks old.
Got up around 6am. Lounged in bed for about 15 minutes listening to the symphony of bird song. The sun was shining brightly as it edged over the ridgetop. After dressing, I went out to the pasture where the Scottish Highlanders live. I've been giving them hay the last several days as they've really have eaten down the small pasture they are in now. I plan to move them to a larger pasture in a few days. After giving them hay, I filled their water trough. I then went to the brooder I built in the barn and I fed and watered the the chicks who are now about 2 weeks old.
These days, with great gratitute, my son Kai, is now taking care of the layers (chickens for eggs). We have only have 7 leghorn layers now. We lost several this winter to predators. Next week I'll be taking care of a dozen Barred Rocks for a neighbor until late July.... Sorta like chicken sitting I guess. I then moved on to the next business of the morning.Wednesday morning is usually the time I drive to an Amish neighbor's farm to buy milk. They live about 15 miles from us in a small but, rapidly growing Amish community. (I'll write more about our wonderful Amish neighbors another time.) Perry Schmucker and his family run a dairy farm, among many other things. I buy my milk from him for several reasons. 1. We no longer have a milk cow ourselves. 2. He adds nothing to the cows feed. No BGH. No antibiotics. Although he is not "certified organic" he does not use pesticides on the feed for the cows he grows himself. 3. Unlike many "certifed organic" dairy farms, his cows are put out to chemical free pastures. 4. I know it's not for everybody, and we have many reasons why , but we buy our milk raw, unpasturized, straight from what produced it.... NO, not the grocery store....THE COW. 5. The price: $1.50/gallon. Can't beat it. 6. Time for socializing with our Amish friends. 7. Sometimes I get invited in for breakfast! And happy day, yesterday I was!
After I got home I spent time with my wife, Lisa, and the kids. We talked about the plans for the day and reassigned chores for the kids, and talked about homeschooling for the day. I then got my chainsaw and other equipment and drove up to the ridge (hilltop) to cut up some cull logs from some oak trees we had thinned out in the fall. After cutting about an hour, I ran into some chainsaw problems. I spent another half-hour trying to fix it my self. This time, my mechanical abilities were tapped out. I decided I'd have to take it in to be fixed. Drove back down to the barn, and loaded the riding mower (lawn tractor) into the truck as it also needed some repair. Then I spent about half-hour trying to fix the brush mower. If I could fix it, great, if not it would come with the chainsaw and the riding mower. All was not lost....my mechanical ability ego still intact, I was able to fix the brush mower.
I then drove to the repair shop, just outside of the town of Richland Center, which is about 20 miles away. On my way back, I picked-up someone who had run out of gas and was walking on the road. Took him back into town to get gas, and then back to his car.
Once back at home I ate lunch with the family. After lunch, I decided it was time for the chicks to go out to pasture. First I had to do a little repair to the outdoor, movable pen. Then I had to clear an area for the temporary, movable electric netting fence that I use to protect the chickens from the predators. The dogs do a good job, but if they miss one, I'd lose many chickens. I also had to run a wire from the barn (where the fencer is located) to the area where the chickens were to be. The kids helped me transfer the chicks from the brooder in the barn to the pasture. We moved them about 20 at a time in large plastic tubs. In no time we had 100 little chickens happy as can be eating grass and bugs. The chicken operation took me until just about supper time. Before supper I had one more thing I wanted to accomplish. Kai and Haven had made Ahmae a bird house for her birthday last year. It has been sitting on the porch for just about a year. Then just a few days ago we noticed a male House Wren taking up residence and building a nest to impress the ladies. The cats also noticed this with much amusement and joy. I decided the male House Wren might attract a fine lady with not only an inviting love nest, but that the love nest be in a better location. So with a couple of eye-screws and baling wire, the nest box was hanging far from the curious paws of our cats.
We all ate supper, sharing the adventures of the day. With the kids cleaned up and in their jammies, they went off to their rooms to have "reading time". Lisa and I had our "Mama and Papa time" sitting on the couch sharing our day and a glass of wine.
Although not complete with details, this has been a brief snapshot of my many varied days. I'd love to share with you some of my other days to come. Be Well.
