Storm of December 2007

The storm started with high winds and lots of rain. Trees were blown down, power went out, land slid and it flooded. The whole county has been affected. As the community was cleaning up from that, a few days later a landslide came down on the highway at MP 67. It carried a mobile home along with it, as well as burying homes up to their eaves in muddy debris. I have a friend that used to live in one of the houses now buried. She moved away many months before, though. The highway has been closed for many days as ODOT and others work to clear the mess. They have been hauling the muddy logs that came down to the little league park and chipping them. Last night, there were two mountains of chips! Our fields flooded and water came up to the small house connected to the trailer. The main house and the barn were not flooded. Our fields are still flooded, and the Canadian geese are trying to make themselves right at home. I wouldn't mind, except for the risk of disease being introduced to my ducks and other birds, but they eat the available grass and poo everywhere. My poor horse, burros and llama would prefer their green grass poo-free.
They have been working on the culvert from the hill road to the hwy. all day today. I was hoping they would install a larger diameter culvert, as the one in use now seems to have problems getting blocked.

The Girls are Back in Business!

Yipee!
The husband complained when he had to actually purchase eggs at the local store.
I think we have purchased a total of 6 dozen eggs in the last six years or so.
I get about a dozen eggs every two days now from the hens. It's nice to have an egg glut! We went without eggs for a few months as my older hens were going through their molt and weren't laying. My other girls were just pullets, and hadn't begun production yet. Then one day I found an egg. The next day there were three eggs. The next day I found another nest and I had a total of 8 eggs. We had quiche for dinner! The following day, another nest was discovered and the first green egg of the season appeared. I think it's one of the new girls.
Several of the red mixed hens share a dog house that was vacated because of the flood. I discovered this when I was awoken one morning by the cackling of a hen that has just laid an egg. She was quite proud of herself and wanted everyone to know. I looked out the window and saw her emerging from the run with the dog house in it. Later in the day I checked it out, and found a few other eggs, also. Some of the other hens are being proper and using the chichen coop with the built-in nests that the husband built. I've seen a speckled hen and one of the banties, and I believe a black Muscovy hen has claimed the far right nest. I surprised her this morning as I was checking the nests.
The other area that is producing is a crate in the barn by the saddle. The girls line up for that one. They also go behind it and lay their egg in a depression in the sandy dirt floor that I just lined with fresh hay. I will have to get a few more crates put out for them. They love the hay I just got from Sue. It smells so good! When I put clean hay in the nests, it seems like they can't wait to get in there and lay an egg!
My chickens are Americana, Speckled Sussex and a combination of the two. I also have a few banty's running around, as well as some Cornish cross.
Here's a question I have... After the hen lays her egg, why do you think she cackles about it? It seems to me that making so much noise is likely to attract a predator (me!) to the egg and endanger the hen.

My First Post

Well, I've been hearing about blogs for quite some time now, and decided that I just had to join in. I'll be talking about my Farm mostly, I guess.
I moved to this farm 8 years ago. Wow! It doesn't seem that long! I knew very little about farming, only that I wanted to try it. I have a family, and I wanted to provide a healthy environment for them to grow in, and also provide healthy food for us. I had owned a couple of horses, dogs, cats and turkeys in the past, as well as managed a small raised bed garden. Hey, I had it covered! I was an expert! HA!
I was reading a farming how-to book later on and came across a quote that I will forever remember.
"How do you become a millionaire when farming?"
"Start with two million."
Yikes! True!!!
Guess what else... Farming is a constant job that never takes a break. You need to be ready to go, boots on, anytime day or night. When it's raining... chores still need to be done. When it's sunny and everyone is heading to the beach, chores still need to be done. You can go to the beach after... if you have any energy left.
Husbands and children do not necessarily feel the same way the new farmer does... They liked the clean city.