The Pain of Moulting!

 Oh the pain of moulting can be painful in many ways. When I checked back on the blog, I realized that this began way over 8 weeks ago. Our rooster is finally getting his feathers back!

 We noticed blood where his feathers are breaking thru. Oh the pain! I was concerned until I saw another blogger post the same thing, she too has been under moult for over 8 weeks.

 He, as well as many of the hens are starting to get in new feathers. There is quill dust everywhere in the coop.

 Today we got a whole two eggs out of 25 hens. The pain of moulting is also hard on the farmer who depends on egg sales to pay for feed. Our chickens lay enough eggs that we sell to feed the entire farm.

These two girls are looking better than they have been. The one on the left still has a few missing neck feathers. We had an apron on her because she was so naked. So we are hoping this is coming to an end, it's been long and painful in many ways!

A Peaceful Winter Wonderland!

 Our first snow fall of the year was beautiful and called for a snow day for many! This is the front of our house...snow, snow, snow...

 the back of our house was so beautiful too! The chicken coop and the greenhouse were encased in snow, making the chickens think it was dark out!

 The "Fiber Gang" didn't seemed phased until our dog "Autumn" came in with her new faux sheep coat and they got a little freaked out! I think my animals are fiber snobs!

 She knew she was sporting her new coat in fashion! It's a bit big for her, I got it for a bargain at a tag sale so we have to tie it around her belly. She had some fun dipping her nose in the snow, biting it and running around. She loves snow!

 Our gold fish pond is ready for the cold. The red disk is a heater that keeps a spot open so it doesn't freeze allowing gases to escape so the fish don't die. We have had these fish for many years now.

 Our chickens refused to come out and get their feet in the snow. Even with grain and bread they refused to venture out. Our chickens are chicken!

 The snow piled up on top of our chicken run. There were so many leaves on top, so I got the rake out and cleared it. It was like a tunnel of darkness and this may have lead to the chickens not coming out!

When you looked up to the sky, you could see thousand of snow flakes spiralling down. It was so beautiful! I think we should always try to stop and appreciate the beauty of nature...

Sleep well girls...

 We have had some beautiful weather here in Connecticut, so I was able to get to the bees. I took the opportunity to prepare them for the upcoming winter and made Candy Boards out of sugar, water and pollen patties.

 When I opened the hives, some of the bees were out and about. I was very pleased to see the numbers as well as their honey reserves. Many healthy, happy bees in December!

 The weirdest thing I saw was still large numbers of drones. These are the male bees that are usually taken out of the hives at the onset of fall. The two big bees are drones seen in the picture.

 Hive number 1, which was our strongest hive this year still had a lot of honey reserves. It almost seemed like over kill to put Candy Boards (winter food) on their hives.

 The Candy Boards were inverted onto the top of each hive to provide food during the cold winter.

 The entrance reducers, which act as protection so mice and other undesirables don't get in were changed to...

 the smaller hole to keep drafts and to allow a minimal entrance for the bees.

 Once I changed to the smaller size there was grid lock as the bees were trying to get back into the hive.

A large rock was placed on the tops to prevent then from being blown off in the cold winter winds. Fingers crossed that they are prepared and make it thru the winter...sleep well girls...

Bringing Miss Daisy home!

Our sweet Daisy came home today after being at Short and Sweet Farm to breed with the handsome "Hank". She is so happy to be home, she came in the gate, ran right to her mom, then ran up on the hill, kicked and showed she was really happy to be home! I guess even a sheep can have a Home Sweet Home!!!

It's a baby hat knitting frenzy!

 So to improve my knitting skills, I got some baby hat patterns and had at it! Knitting in the round and the round and the round...It has been a great way to use up some of the smaller balls of my hand spun...

and now I can't stop! With the recent wedding of my daughter, maybe this is a natural process, to knit baby things! I may make 100's by the time that happens! So, they will be in our farm stand, tiny and cute! All are made from alpaca, merino and whatever else soft I may have...

October Farewell...

I love Halloween but am always sad to see October end, it is by far my favorite month and time of the year! The change of the season, the cool weather, everything pumpkin and just a warm fuzzy feeling inside. We also have the chickens running around with their breast cancer aprons on. This October was so busy and it went by with the blink of an eye. So until next year, we'll see you again October!

These girls work for me!

 After harvesting the honey the girls made for us, the frames still have a bit of honey on them so we let them pick it dry...

 which nets a lot of beeswax! They do an amazing job cleaning up every drop of honey. They have a lot of visitors besides their fellow honeybees. They work hand and hand with yellow jackets, hornets and even flies. It's all done in harmony and is amazing to watch!

We even put the extractor and buckets out there and they cleaned it nice and left a pile of beeswax. We will strain and filter it and get some nice beeswax to make some lip balms and salves!

Bringing in the honey harvest!

 What a great harvest our bees blessed us with this year! We harvested over 350+ pounds. This frame was a drone frame that they had even drawn out.

 All the extracting equipment came out, the de-capping scraper, the seive strainers, the bottling bucket as well as the heated de-capper knife. Thiss help to open up the cells that have been capped by the bees and will allow the honey to be released.

 This is our extractor. She holds two frames of honey. It is a crank style but once you get it going, the honey flies off and hits the wall in strings of golden honey...

 at the base is the spout that allows the honey to drop down into a double drainer basket that catches any beeswax or pollen. It then drops into the bottling bucket.

 The jars are sterilized and ready for canning like little soldiers.

 With a funnel we fill the jars to exactly a half a pound or one pound honey. There are no plastic bear containers here!I have read numerous times it is very bad to store honey in plastic...

and voilà, the finished product brought to you by a miracle little insect, the honeybee! The golden sweet nectar of the gods, what an amazing miracle of nature!

Our numbers are up!

With all this moulting going on around here, egg production has been way down! All last week out of 25 hens, we were averaging 10 to 11 eggs a day. Moulting can be a painful and miserable process for a bird of any kind. I work with owls at my job and they go off food and are not happy during moulting. However, this is how feed is bought around here, through the sale of our eggs. So we are glad to see them growing back their feathers, looking like pretty girls again and our rooster looking manly again as well! He is currently sporting no tail feathers!

A Breast Cancer Yarn...

 In honor of October and Breat Cancer Awareness Month, I made this yarn thinking of all those who have lost someone, know someone fighting and to celebrate those who have won their fight!

It was spun on an Ashford Country Spinner wheel, thick and thin with a pink metallic thread ply over. It's a soft and lovely merino wool which will make something soft like maybe a hat! This along with many other yarns will be available at our Open House next weekend!

A Fiber Adventure!

 On Wednesday I was blessed to go on a fiber adventure to meet a retiring fiber artist. I would imagine that this will happen to all of us one day. Her health and interests have changed and she is moving on. She was destashing! We filled the back seat, front seat and bed of the truck...

 I was privileged to get dyed batts, dyed roving, prepared fleeces, raw fleeces, metallic threads, and more and more and more!

 Just a sampling of what was in some of the bags! I believe this may be Angora. Some are marked and some are not so I am calling them mystery bags.

 I was even blessed to get this swing arm picker! It is an incredible tool to pick and clean raw fibers. This may cut down on the use of the mill. She told me it can be very dangerous to use. I will open this to all my friends to use.

and a Yarn Swift! I have always wanted one and now I have one! I am sorting and going thru everything and will be gifting some of this over load of fiber goodness to some of my friends. Thank You Becky and best of luck in your continued adventures, I will use all your things in the greatest of respect!

Starting October out with a rescue...

Welcome October! My favorite time of the year. Cooler weather, that homey feel, pumpkins, apples, cider, hay, pumpkin picking, wood piles, the sound of the wood splitter, hoodies, country fairs, apple and pumpkin pie, knitting by the wood burning stove and just slowing down a bit! Both my children were born in October as well, it's truly my favorite time of year!
My day didn't go off as planned and took on a plan all it's own. Then I saw that a friend had found a chicken in a box left abandoned. We always have room for one more so she brought her up. She is skinny, her comb is a bit pale but we will fatten her up and she will be just fine! Welcome Sandy (our friend named her!)

Help us name this little guy!!!

 We need a name for our little ram! This year we are keeping the little ram that "Lily" gave birth to, and his father is "Mo". He's an Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown ram.

We are looking for a nice english name for him. If we choose your name, a gift from the farm will be given to the winner! So good luck and bring on the names!!!

A Moulting situation...

 Oh the pain of moulting! Our poor Red Jr is down to one tail feather. It is the funniest thing to see him strutting around so proud with just one tail feather...

 This all began last week, I went up to the coop and it looked like a chicken had been slaughtered! I was so upset until I did a head count and realized everyone was accounted for. I then saw a chicken shake and a ton of feathers came off of her like confetti being thrown.

 Here are two of my girls, one in the moult and one not quite there yet. If you notice the chicken in the left hand corner she is almost naked!!! Oh my!

 Your next my pretty, you are next! This happens twice a year. They slow down their egg production and put all their energy into replacing their feathers for the cold months ahead. Once their feathers come back they resume laying. I really do thing it is a painful process, they just seem so miserable.

This is the floor of their run right now. You could make some serious things with all these feathers!