Farm Life

[Spiritwind]

And here is the broody hen with two of the three chicks that made it. I made the command decision yesterday to take the board off the front, clean all the debris out, and discard the remaining buried eggs. There were only a few, but after watching them cannibalize the one chick and seeing another dead chick that didn’t make it I wasn’t going to wait and let them cannibalize it too. Not that it’s probably not good for them to get the protein (they were going at it with relish!) but didn’t think it was a good trait for the broody hen to adopt. The littlest one is only 4 days old, but hangs close to the other two, and by taking the board off they can get to the food and water in their yard. Makes it easier for me so I don’t have to go over there about 4 times a day to make sure they are getting water to drink. So adorable to have them all run up to me when they see the little cup of water in my hand though. So vulnerable yet so tough at the same time. Amazing!

[Spiritwind]

How to even get started on this one? I guess I’ll just get right to it. Even though I have a lot to write about, the big looming event that happened out our way began a week ago today, on August 18th, in the late afternoon to early evening. My husband called my attention towards the Mt. Spokane area, and at first I thought it was huge fast moving clouds, but then quickly realized they weren’t clouds, but instead was a massive fire heading our way.



It’s almost a blur, now, but it’s the type of thing we had talked about since moving out here, but not really done much planning for. With 12 goats, a total of 6 cats, 4 big dogs, and 12 chickens on the property, and a bunch of vehicles that don’t work well, it was a big jolt in ways I can’t even describe.

I finally feel ready to continue this, after taking several detours, and it’s now been over two weeks. I started this farm life thread, now almost 7 years ago, never knowing how much our outer reality would change, and how that might impact how we do “farm life”. The fire that happened out here started a mere three miles away, as the crow flies, and had the winds not shifted towards the south, we would have had very little time to get out of here. It was quite the wake up call. Its amazing how a situation like this gets the adrenaline pumping though. I had an arm that I was trying to keep a sling on due to a shoulder injury, and it was like this ain’t happening. Both of us sprang into action. I loaded the car up with clothes, important papers and documents, and our health care items, while my husband realized he might be able to get the smaller RV ready to pull out of here on time. Oh, yeah, and I made sure to grab the milk machine and cheese making supplies! We managed to hoist the 5th wheel attachment onto the pickup, with still room up against the cab for a couple bales of hay, and I quickly reloaded everything I already put in the car into the RV. Fortunately it’s already stocked with everything to prepare and eat meals, along with bedding and other things. Quite a few people offered to come help with the animals. The sheriff came through telling us it might be the only warning we get, and that we were under evacuation level 2, which is basically be ready.

Even with the downloaded fire watch app, we noticed that it was not being updated very often, and we didn’t get much sleep through the night. I tried to get a good picture of how it looked as it got dark and you could see the angry flames not far in the distance, but my phone takes crappy photos. The winds drove the fire south, but basically the danger and potential need to leave in a hurry continued until Monday night, when we finally got some heavy rain that went on through most of the next day. We did resort to driving close to where the fire started several times over the next few days to actually see for ourselves what was happening. Interestingly, a huge fire broke out earlier that same day (August 18) in the Medical Lake area south west of Spokane, where the whole town was evacuated. That’s where my two grandsons live. Fortunately their apartment complex was left unscathed.

More than 120 homes burnt down in the Oregon Rd., Elk Fire, and the Gray fire in the Medical Lake area claimed around 240 homes, so a lot of people displaced. A good friend of ours that lives on Oregon road lost his off grid cabin, and all his solar stuff (he had a lot!), but one of his chickens survived, along with his friend’s RV that remained untouched. His 100 gallon propane tank also blew up. Had the fire reached us, our RV surely would have been toast, as we have two 100 gallon propane tanks right up against it almost. Corey, the guy who stayed on our property through the winter, had a small amount of fire damage, but his property is up against public land that is managed by Stimson Lumber Company. They were very motivated to protect their assets, so in a way that was good for him. I’ll share the short video he did covering his observations and experience at the end of this post.

The one good thing I did see was the community response. Pretty impressive. There were many volunteers who stood by waiting with their trucks and trailers to go rescue people’s livestock. There were several places where the animals were taken to wait out the fire danger, including the Spokane County Fairgrounds, and those who had RV’s were allowed to park at one of our local churches, the high school, and probably several other places. I had people checking on us numerous times throughout those 4 days, to make sure we were okay. It’s heartwarming to see people reaching out to one another when these kind of things happen. Also very tragic to see the devastation and loss. One brand new manufactured home that had just been set up that my husband drove by on his way to the remodeling job he’s been doing is completely gone. Some are going to be spending a very rough winter. I hate to say it, but at least we’re not in Maui. That was a fire of a totally different sort there, although I do hear there were some anomalous things about the Medical Lake Fire. I haven’t had much time to investigate.

The main takeaway on all this is we need to be more ready, and this little drill showed us exactly what we need to do. One thing is I plan to take some 16 foot metal cattle panels and cut them in half to make emergency pens for the goats and dogs. I also have a 25 foot length of other fencing I threw in the spare RV, along with clips and wire. The plan is to have 8 - 4’ high x 8’ long pieces attached to the back of the RV, which can then make two 8 x 8 pens for the goats, and then string the other fencing between them for the dogs. We’ll also need to make sure we have about 8 - 10 fence posts to pound in to make it sturdy enough. But this way, we can go almost anywhere. With how things are shaping up, this seems like a real good idea. We’re also going to get down to just 9 goats on the property by this winter, too. I’m cutting loose with Isis, the beautiful yearling I had plans for, along with the buck as soon as I’m done using him in October. Gotta do it. Things aren’t likely to get easier as we move through this stretch of instability, where we just don’t know for sure how anything is going to go. It’s definitely time to remain alert and as ready for anything as we can be.

Funny to reflect on what we deemed important in those frantic moments on the day the fire started. And I have lots more farm related news to catch up on here, too, but will wait until I have more time to write. Best get busy, as it’s time to go milk. So many prayers going out, for so so many. We are at war, basically, with our own damn government. They keep trying to hype up fear about a war with another country, but it’s already happening. Not even that covertly anymore. What’s our world going to look like in 5-10 years? We know how “they” want it to look, but you know how the song goes....you can’t always get what you want. Maybe my bad, but right about now I kind of want them to all rot in hell....

[Spiritwind]

I know I haven’t posted here in a long time, but shared the following with some friends and thought I would share it here too. I’m kind of lazy sometimes, and got a little discouraged when the forum was updated and all the images I had posted in this thread just up and disappeared. (Edited to add - maybe my internet just wasn’t working right the day I checked because now most of the images ARE there, though some are missing). And much of farm life is very routine and repetitive. Plus, I’ve got some pretty good neuropathy going in my hands so typing (actually doing much of anything) irritates them. Maybe sharing this little story will re-inspire me to start posting here again.

It’s been awfully quiet here! So, I’ll tell you a funny little story… as you know, we let our chickens free range now, and we had the one go broody last month. Her chick is doing great at almost 3 weeks old. But, then last weekend I noticed that we hadn’t seen Feather Toes and thought something might have got her. We looked and looked for her for several days. Then one morning our cat, Zoey, went to the door as we were talking about the missing chicken, and low and behold, there she was briefly, then saw her dart back into the thick raspberry bushes next to the scrub willow tree right in front of the RV. We both wondered if she was sitting on eggs somewhere, but didn’t think she could actually be IN the garden. We water pretty heavy in there most every day. But that is eggxactly where she is! Funny how just staying home on the farm still offers drama, mystery, and excitement (laugh)

[Spiritwind]

A little update on the chicken story….turns out Feather Toes, as we affectionately call her, had 17 eggs under her, and yesterday morning as we opened the front door to go outside, there she was with 15 chirping adorable little chicks with her. Quite stunned I was! I thought for sure none of them would make it due to how unseasonably cold it has been at night and even during the day, for August in the Inland Pacific Northwest (45 degrees at night a few times). There is a much bigger story here, actually, but don’t have time to tell it. I feel like I’m watching an episode of Animal Planet! Except it goes on for days and days. With 6 cats it might get a little dicey trying to keep them all alive. In the second picture she has all 15 of them under her. Amazing!

[Spiritwind]

The chicken saga continues…It’s been an interesting journey for me with these chicks. They are now officially 2 weeks old, some of them a little more, and then one more hatched out after my last post. So she has 16 chicks! That’s got to be some kind of record. They are all still alive, as of yesterday. I haven’t done a head count yet today. It’s getting colder, and darker, but they insist on remaining free. The chicks are getting much more distinguishable now, as their feathers grow in, and also much more active and independent, which can be a dangerous thing. As I mentioned, we have six cats, and they are killers. I’ve found three dead birds this last week, though none of the chicks thankfully. I’ve seen Feather Toes go after the cats when they try to go after the chicks that stray too far.

Still, it’s stressing me out, so yesterday I coaxed them all over into the coop area and locked them in. I thought I made it so they couldn’t get out, but I was wrong, which I found out when I returned from my trip to the city. Now that they’ve had a taste of freedom, they’re not wanting to give it up. Not that I blame them. So my husband got us a couple of squirt guns to spray the cats with. But I’ve had to accept that I’m pretty much not in control of the situation. I worry, because they are getting bigger and since it’s getting quite cold at night I don’t know how they are all going to fit under her to stay warm. She is still insisting on staying overnight with them in the raspberry patch, but I did order a warmer for when she finally decides to move back into the coop, as well as putting up better roosting bars to accommodate that many chickens. I guess I’ll just sit back and watch what she does, and how they do, knowing full well it will be nothing less than a miracle if they all survive. Supposedly their feathers don’t grow out enough to fully handle the cold until they are 6 weeks old. Can you tell I’m a worry wort? I’ll try to get a good updated picture of them soon - they grow so fast!

[Spiritwind]

From today.

[Spiritwind]

A little update on the chicks. Most are 7 weeks old now, and I can’t believe how fast they are growing. The picture is of them almost a week ago. This hen is seriously super mom. My past experience was that at about 5-6 weeks old the broody hen kind of switches off the need to attend to her chicks, but not this momma. They are still in the raspberry patch at night, and literally all over during the day. The cats finally don’t try to mess with them, and the other chickens are slowly feeling comfortable horning in when I give them mealworms, when before momma would chase them away. She still sticks with them all day, but not as attentive, and they are definitely feeling more independent. I probably gave them more mealworms than I should, but was wanting to help them have the nutrition they needed to get those feathers all grown out so they can handle the cold. Now I can just shake the jar the mealworms are in and they all come running. They are voracious eaters! I’ve identified at least 6 roosters, maybe one more, but it looks like I’ll have at least 9-10 hens. It’s so funny watching the roosters rear up and look like they are kung fu fighting, and then do the stare down. For me this is a huge learning experience. I’ve read many articles about what to do, and had people tell me what I needed to do in person, and yet it turns out that they haven’t needed any of my help. Nature balances itself when left alone, for the most part, and these chicks are super healthy and way smarter than the average chicken who hasn’t had the opportunity to free range. I know not everyone, in fact most, are able to just let them go in this way, but I’m fortunate that I’m way out in the sticks and have dogs to protect them. Definitely the way to go. They know how to watch for danger, as the cats tuned them up well there, and they know where the best forage areas are, as well as where to get a drink when they want. And I’ve officially fell in love, strangely enough. Nature has been so good to me.

[Spiritwind]

Greetings from the farm. I’m currently being serenaded by the chicken’s song they do every morning and throughout the day. Interesting to me that I find it soothing, even with our two roosters crowing intermittently, whereas others find it annoying. To me, it’s the sounds of life and the natural world that constantly seeks and establishes balance and harmony. And what a blessing all these chickens have been. It wasn’t part of my plan, and yet all 16 of the chicks survived, with over half being hens (9). They all still roost in the little scrub willow right out front. Not really where I wanted them, but I just recently got their actual coop area completely covered with some netting so they can’t fly out. Making it taller wasn’t enough! Now if I could just get them all in there. At least now that spring is almost here, they are dispersing out all over the 2 1/2 acres we have on the one side of the access road. They are serious foragers, and have shown they can withstand all kinds of weather, and now we’re getting close to 5 dozen eggs a week. All during an egg shortage!

The two roosters we kept have worked it out amicably. Red is mostly in charge of all the new chicks, whereas Bubba (he’s a big boy!) has adopted himself in with the older hens, the remaining 3 Rhode Island Reds, the broody mama Feather Toes, and little miss Henny Penny, the one I rescued from our dog about 3 years ago. She is the one who got me back into keeping chickens in the first place. I make plans, and then life shows me that it has other plans. I watch, observe, listen, and learn. I did lose Speckles, the one who had the scaly leg mites. They are seriously bad news. If I had treated her before they got so bad I might have been able to save her, but her immune system was very weakened. I did start treating them, and she was showing some improvement, but then we got a severe cold spell where I had to quit for a bit. Since we live in an RV, we really didn’t have space to keep her indoors, and she could have got frostbite. Big learning curve there, and I don’t intend to ever let that particular problem get a foothold again. For anyone wanting to get chickens, please make sure and look for this. I didn’t know anything about them, and they don’t often show themselves until the chicken has reached a certain age, so you have to look at the older chickens to make sure they have not been infected.

The beauty of letting nature do its thing is you generally end up with naturally healthy animals that have never been vaccinated and their instincts are primed for survival. And to watch all of them interact is truly wonderful. They are all very adapted to our particular location, with cats, dogs, chickens and goats all mingling together like it’s the most natural thing in the world. The roosters add so much by their diligent watchfulness and the way they look after their hens, pointing out where the best places to forage are. If someone comes over they don’t know they run for cover and the roosters sound the alarm, whereas around me and my husband they know our daily routine and even beg for handouts just like all the rest of the critters do. The only downside is they do poop all over (at least they spread it around so not as much cleanup) and I do have to hunt for eggs. I’ve figured out most of their hiding places, but occasionally they switch it up and I have to figure out where they are.

Baby goats will add some fun, which will make their appearance right around St. Patrick’s day. I am so thankful to be out here, as it helps my psyche to wake up every day knowing I will likely learn something new, and get to see first hand how nature just naturally finds balance. It helps me keep my inner terrain in balance as we collectively move through these fast changing and unstable times, and gives me some feeling of control over what I eat. It’s getting harder and harder to trust the food I used to buy from the grocery store, and I’m learning to just eat more and more what I can produce here, or trade with other rural folks for things I want. It’s a good life. And that’s my update for now.

[Spiritwind]

Bubba


Red

[Spiritwind]

I have a little time this morning, so will see if I can give an update on farm life. I’m waiting on two goats to kid, and it just hasn’t happened yet. The waiting game. Maybe today. While I keep hearing about more chicken farms being forced to kill all their chickens, sometimes numbering into the thousands, all over one or two tested for this fictitious bird flu nonsense, I feel immense gratitude for my semi feral girls running around, laying their eggs here and there, and still roosting in the scrub willow tree, regardless of rain, sleet, snow, and wind. I shake my head in wonderment at it all, and also feel great sadness at the stupidity of man. All those poor birds!

We did have an event a week ago today that we knew would eventually happen. There was about a 60’ fir tree that was rotting from the ground up on the inside finally come down. It was massively heavy, and surprisingly still alive and flourishing at the top. There had been much speculation about where it would land, and unfortunately we did not have the $1500 - $2000 it would have cost to have someone come take it down. When it fell it hit the back side of the pregnant girls shelter that had another smaller pen and shelter attached to the back. The buck who we normally kept there was fortunately loaned out, or he would have been toast. We had a very high fence we had put up after the cougar attack back in January of 2020, and that somewhat helped reduce the damage to the front part of the shelter where the girls were, and they thankfully did not get hurt at all. What a job it was cutting it up and removing branches to get it out of there. The guy we previously had staying on our property was kind enough to come help us with his bigger chainsaw.

We are surrounded by trees, some of them as big as this one. I talk to them all the time, asking them if they have to fall, to please do it in a way that causes the least amount of damage. We did have one come down a few years ago on the chicken coop area that had been converted from a goat shelter, and it was a pine tree. When green they are also extremely heavy trees. There is quite a science to taking down big trees in a safe manner. We have taken down a few and plan to do so with a few more. This is when I wish I was younger, as I just don’t have the gitty up and go I used to have, nor do I have the physical strength I used to have. I’ll be going to a chiropractor next week as it is. My husband keeps telling me I need to slow down, but we both push ourselves to get things done. Makes me really appreciate our ancestors grit. But yeah, no one told me that aging is the ultimate extreme sport. Still, I’m where I want to be. There’s no place like home.