Upheaval and Chaos?

Yup, upheaval and chaos wins the day!  There are changes afoot.  And I don't like it.  We are moving.  Not to the Broken Badger in Bickleton.  Waaaah!


I feel the need to be honest to ya'll about this. (I have always believed that it is easier to tell the truth than to work your way out of a lie.  Unfortunately, that seems to also apply to censoring myself, revealing my emotions, and simple omissions of fact.  Yes, I'm sure I should see a doctor about this, but that's not on my list of things to do right now.)  We are not moving because we found a better location, or a better deal.  It is simply because of the economy.  The big, bad, sucky economy.  We cannot afford to stay where we are anymore.  I feel a bit better talking about this because the more I talk to my friends; the more I realize that there are a lot of people in the same situation!  I think we are conditioned to not reveal the negatives to people, so we feel very isolated and alone; but by being honest with others, we can find support and understanding!  Through these conversations I have found people that have moved all the way across the country to move in with family, people that are selling belongings (artwork, motorcycles) to just try to get along, and a friend that has a family living in a travel trailer in front of her house.  I seriously endorse talking about things that make you uncomfortable (with people you trust); you might be surprised to find that you are not alone.


So anyway.  We are leaving our little 2 acres on the outskirts of town.  And having to pack up 3 ½ years of accumulation. (How do two people get this much STUFF?)  Two weeks of packing and garage sales have left me tired of things.  I just want a loin cloth, a knife and a pot to cook in and I'll be fine.  My new neighbors may not approve though!  Yes, we have found a new place, which was a huge concern for us.  In the Portland Metro area, there are not many places that will take a dog, a cat & 19 chickens, have space for our trucks, trailer & flatbed, and that are basically free.  Nope, I checked Craigslist under "Free" and there really aren't any places to live.  We lucked into a friend that has a house not too far from where we are now.  The house has been empty for a couple years and is a pretty bad state of disrepair, so my husband's labor and a smidge of cash will cover the rent.  I have to say we are lucky because of the little things – we get to keep our chickens and there is a dry place to park the Jeep.  We don't get exclusive use of the property (the barn and outbuildings are completely full, it is used as parking for the construction business rigs and the kids use the property to ride their dirt bikes), but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?!?  I really just thank God for giving us a little break.  With some luck and hard work the next move we make may just be up to the Broken Badger!


So cross your fingers for us and I'll keep you posted.  Feel free to share your chaos stories – I won't judge you!

A quick update

The chickens are still locked up - they hate it and won't lay any eggs.  The egg business (which basically just makes the chickens support themselves) is in the toilet.


We went out of town!  Up to the cabin, aka The Broken Badger!  Husband did quite a bit of work, including one more window and caulking it up so the wind isn't so intense inside.  I verified the hammock still works.

New window and cedar shakes done

We had a coyote siting!!  It was checking out the trap but did not take the bait.  I would have shot it, but we had just gotten back from being out of town and the guns were all locked up.  D'oh!


The chicks are getting feathers and are out of the cute poofy phase.  If they could only stay small forever!  This one's pretty cute though:

Cammie exhausted on ride home

I'm working on a new guest post for Suzanne over at Farm Bell Recipes... I don't want to give it away, but it includes:

Okay - off to go hunting in my back pasture!

How many chicks does it take...

...to screw in a heat lamp?  No, but really, how many times can I go visit the new chicks without taking my camera?  Evidently every time.  Luckily Chicken Auntie posted a pic of the new babies.  Here they are with their temp mama:

And here are the little ones that we got from the feed store:

They are Gold Sex Links (2) and Speckled Sussex (2).  We tried to stick them under the mama, but she really wanted nothing to do with them.  So they came home to the brooder.  Their 'siblings' will join them in a couple weeks, once mama has gotten tired of them. 

On a slightly different note, we have rented a live trap to catch the coyote.  Wish us luck.

Sweet!

And now for something on the less-sour side of life.  The eggs that we took up to our "Chicken Auntie" are hatching!  4 out of 7 so far.  We went to visit them yesterday and managed to forget the camera (will get pics tonight!).  Two of them look Cuckoo Maran-y, one looks Amerucana-y, and the last looks like a White Leghorn.  Of course, they are only half these breeds.  Daddy was half Road Island Red Banty and half Amerucana.  I think the technical term for the breed is 'farm chick'.  Kind of like 'barn cats'.  We're so happy Cuppa-Soup's genetic line is carrying on.  Here's hoping for a rooster!  (That is probably the last time you will ever hear me say that!!) We're also going to trick that poor little broody mama.  We're going to run up to the feed store tonight and buy a few more chicks.  Then we'll slide them under her when she's not looking!  Since the chicks from the feed store are only a few days old as well, there shouldn't be any issue, she should just accept them as her own.  Yay for chickens that can't count!! I'll get pics up as soon as I can!

The D-List

I am full of D-words.  Disgusted, depressed, dismayed, devastated, displeased, dejected, demolished, dispirited, defeated and downright despondent. I was planning on talking about some of the other wildlife challenges we've been having.  Our egg count is really low, and it's more than just lazy chickens… We've been finding eggs with holes.  At first we thought the chickens were stepping on them or possibly egg-eating, but they have TONS of calcium and the shells are fine.  Then we realized it was Blue Jays.  They figured out that they could sneak in the coop and mess with the eggs, solely to drive me crazy, I'm sure.  Then, a couple days after that discovery, I was mowing the grass with the perfect view of a crow carrying an egg off in its beak!!!  ACK! That is what I was going to talk about.  But I'm not.  We had ANOTHER coyote strike.  We've lost 7 chickens in 16 days.  And they got our baby, our Silky Sue.  So now I'm full of D-words.  I guess these are the days that really make a farmer.  I really don't even want to go on.  I'm tired of having my chickens be a smorgasbord for this opportunistic skudge (that is probably not a word, just how I feel about them right now.)  We can't afford to buy a live trap, and our state wildlife folks aren't willing to help, even though the 'yotes are considered a nuisance since they are taking livestock – and they are striking in the middle of the day!   Our only option is to hang out for hours on end, hoping they don't smell us, hoping they come back, then shoot them.  But seriously, who has that kind of time?  So the chickens are in lock up again, also displeased, wanting greens and bugs.  Any thoughts on what we can do to empower ourselves against these wildlife violators?