Farm Updates

    We’ve had a small horse farm for most of our adult life, but chickens are new territory this year.  I’ve learned a few things.  Chickens are mean to one another on occasion and sometimes even cannabalistic. I find this disturbing.   I am now fully aware of the origin of the phrase “Pecking Order”.   My blue laying  Auracana hen is at the bottom of it… and her bottom is what the others have been pecking at. I had treated all for stick fleas several times, to no avail.  It was getting so that the poor girl was no longer laying and all her tail feathers were gone, plus she’d walk out in the morning from a night of hen-pecking with a bloody hind end.  you’re welcome.

What to do.  The local chicken guy said “it’s nature, they’re gonna do it anyway, you just gotta let ’em. ”   I could not sit back and watch, doing nothing at all.   What I know is…a red heat lamp when chicks are young is supposed to deter them from pecking at each other, but you don’t want too much heat in an adult hen house, even in winter.  Husband suggested red light.  So, I found  a red “party light” at the hardware store and put it in the hen house to see if it would deter the damn pecking.  I also started sprinkling the hen-pecked hen’s butt with corn starch to stop the red look and blood specs from attracting the chickens to attack.  It worked!   My blue egged girl is back to laying and her behind is healing.   I also have the added benefit of more eggs, as egg production slowed down once daylight hours were at a minimum.  Now with the extra light, more eggs are being produced once again.

By the way… I want to know what people do with a “red party light” anyway.
Maybe I don’t.


I don’t know which is doing all the hen-pecking..
They’re not talking.


Poor Ethel – just one tail feather left.
Heading up the hill… it’s very grey and damp this morning.

 A few new additions at the barn…
The gator has a home on the left side of the barn now (keeps out snow and rain)

It’s windy on the hill and the boys manes, tails and hay are blowing with it….


It should be snow season, not mud season.

 Husband has installed an interlocking rubber brick isle so that the farrier can do his work on a level surface, important for proper trimming of hooves,  and we’re not trudging in mud when cleaning out stalls.
This is a better gift to me than any piece of jewelry out of the finest store…
He jokes about this, but I bet he’s grateful… sorta.
Well, that’s a lie… truth be told.. he says..

It woulda been CHEAPER if you liked jewelry better than horses, who you kiddin.

moving along…

We brought the cuppola from our previous home
and installed it…
And the most exciting news at the barn is the new wood pellet bedding I have just discovered.  During a recent visit to a large barn I saw these pellets being used as bedding… did some research and it was hailed as the best, safest, most economical bedding.  So I gave it a try.  I LOVE IT!!  Much easier to clean, easier on my arthritic back, The pellets break down into really soft bedding, and it’s cheaper, less waste, than the pine shavings I’ve been using for all these years. The price of bagged pine shavings is outrageous, so finding a more cost effective alternative that’s easier on the work load is a beautiful thing.

Coady and Lacey approve.

 The gardens are confused.. although if we can believe the forecast,
they are about to be reminded of the season we’re actually in…

37 thoughts on “Farm Updates”

  1. I love seeing more of your farm. The red bricks are so nice and much better for a farm girl than jewelry.

    I get concerned when my hens are mean to each other, but I realize they don't care what I think. I use a red light on the very cold nights and they seem to like it. I love the industrial light you have in your photo.

    I tried a new horse yesterday and really liked him a lot. I wish one of mine would sell so I could move ahead with my new plan.

    Very nice photos today! Enjoy your Friday.

  2. Don't you just love it when you find a more cost effective product, whether it be for the house or the barn… it just makes me say whoopee! Hi, Sissy up above me in comments!

  4. I love looking at your farm and all your beautiful animals who share it with you.
    I live in town but keep hens. It surely must be something about the hens that lay the beautiful colored eggs that make them a target. Also here its always the youngest that gets picked on so bad.
    Yeah for the new bedding product you found. Our hens are spoiled I guess as we provide heat for them all through the fall and winter months. This way though we do still get eggs.

  6. LOL, what a great read, put a smile on my face for sure. and such a learning experience coming here. And your barn, I'd spend the night there with no problem. Your husband for sure would have made out better if you were a jewelry girl. Are those horses spoiled or what? lol

  8. Have I told you this week I love your house! !! Love all the animals. Damn I didn't realize chickens were so mean! !!!!!

  9. Great pictures, seems like an ideal place…I think the hen-culprit is the first one pictured – the yellow one – it's in the eyes!

  10. I am so glad that you found a way to stop the pecking/picking! I remember that well from the days on the farm. Your horses look all comfy and sweet, too! xo Diana

  11. I too love the peek inside your life on the farm. It reminds me of a B and B sort of, minus actually having people come stay with you 🙂 Its the perfect set up! If you lived in Nevada I could give you an idea of what those red lights are used for 🙂 No- you don't really want to know.

    So relieved to know that poor hen pecked chicken has YOU on its side- ouch is all I can say.

    Loved the photos!

  12. It's so nice to see the photos of your home and farm! It makes me wish I could get in the car and drive over to walk around and look at the horses! Very pretty rose bud! Enjoy your day! Bundle up! ♥

  13. Wonderful post and pictures, Karen! I love the new header picture and I always love seeing pictures of the farm animals.

    It really makes me feel bad about the pecking order and the abuse your poor chicken was getting. I'm SO glad the red light is working. I had a parakeet that had been almost pecked to death at the pet shop, so I took it it home. She wouldn't let her neck wound heal…some obsessive compulsive thing going on. Finally I added two small finches to her cage and she became more interested in them than her wounds and healed right up! The point of my story, large or small, I can't see an animal suffer. We have the same sort of hearts.

    XO,
    Jane

  15. i love visiting you at your barn and home and seeing your loves….and i'll have to tell my sister about the red light !

    the jewelry being cheaper made me laugh!

    happy weekend karen….
    ox

  16. Has horse feed tripled there like it has here since 2008? OUTRAGEOUS! Oy!

    I hope the chickens continue to behave themselves! And I do believe you may want to ask them if they have gentleman callers after hours, since you hung that red light!!
    xo, misha

  18. Fickle hens; glad to hear her derrière is on the mend.

    As others have commented. You certainly have nice digs.

    Your selection of pics added that extra sparkle to an interesting read.

  21. Have your chicks had any propositions since you put up the red light?

    The mini's sure do look fuzzy, like they're ready for some cold, cold weather.

  24. Oh, I want a farm, I want a farm, I want a farm. Not that I would ever know what to do with it if I had it, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming.
    The horses look cold with their blankets and the wind blowing.
    It all looks so peaceful.

  25. Oh Karen…. you are living THE life!
    Love your posts.
    Love the ponies and horses.
    Have not heard of the pellets but they do look a lot more manageable!

    What a perfect and elegant barn setting you have created.
    Picture perfect.
    xox
    Alison

  26. I see you have adopted a more rural theme to your blog — loving it!

    Also love the two ponies viewed from the backside.

    We had two chickens we called Cheech and Chong that suffered the same fate as your hen early in their lives. We ended up separating them from the flock until they were healed up and that seemed to do the trick. (An old farmer's trick is to apply tractor grease to the wounds — hens don't like the taste, apparently.)

  28. Karen — the animal photos are just beautiful. We became chicken "farmers" this summer when my daughter won one on a chicken race and it became two when her cousin couldn't take his home to Arizona. Thankfully, they were hens and I love getting the eggs — such faithful layers too — one a day. My daughter's chickens get a long quite well — thank heavens. She still holds them and babies them. That picture of the horse's eye is beautiful! Joni

  29. Oh my gosh, what a pleasure to come into your world. Your chickens are so very beautiful. I guess I just never realized how beautiful (and mean) they are. So happy your one hen is getting better. I just love your pictures.

  30. I really like Ethel. And I feel really bad that she is getting pecked on. Fortunately you have found a solution for that! And the little horses are SO cute!!! Great stuff Karen! Not so sure about that jewelry being cheaper…depends on your taste I guess! Ha!

  31. Neat job on the rubber bricks. Love the close-up of the horse's head, beautiful eye.
    Love the two tail ends-shot of the little ones too.

    How wonderful you've found the solution for the poor chicken not to be bullied any more. Our chickens have never bullied each other like that. There is a clear pecking order though. But I once found a poor mouse, who'd been murdered by the ladies. Not a pretty sight.

    I do know what red lights on a farm in the Netherlands mean… You know… Red Light District, but in the countryside 😉

    (and yes, our Evie does have some nice moves, not spectacular, but pretty good. And she's a really good jumping horse, judging from the couple of times we've let her do a really low jump. Nice reaction and manners and she seems to like it. Can't wait to see what kind of horse she will become.)

  32. Love these photos. You are so smart to take care of your little chick like you did! I have a black laced Wyandotte that looks like yours. Your horses are beautiful. Lovely farm!
    xo, Cheryl

  33. Good thinking about the chicken light. But you may need a rooster now to make the party complete!

    I totally understand about the rubber floor being better than jewelry. Awesome!!!! You'll love it and so will the horses. It'll be kinder on their legs than concrete when they start stomping in fly season too.

  34. I just love your blog. I want chickens and can't wait for when we finally do. After traveling is our plan. Ponies are a dream as well, maybe after travel.
    And this bottom rose bud is gorgeous
    peace n abundance,
    CheyAnne
    http://cheyannesexton.etsy.com

  36. Those are the two cutes ponies! Thelwell in real life. Had one like that many many, ok way too many years ago. Miss the fuzz ball. Interesting about the brick and pellets, good there are cheaper alternives. Poor chickens, they are not the nicest of creatures. Glad you found a way to psych them out a bit.

  37. I have been strangely (for me) drawn to horses lately. I keep forgetting that you have them! I have friends who volunteer at the draft horse rescue & they have such gorgeous horses…:) We must do dinner soon. My chicks are back at college. ((hugs))

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