Sugar Creek Farm

It was hot here yesterday, in the 90s. The chickens were hot, but doing okay when I fed and watered them at 5:30 yesterday afternoon. So I was not expecting to find 24 dead chickens this morning at 7:30. By the looks of things it happened in the night because they were in sleeping positions. All of the dead ones were at the back of the shed. They were not piled up at all, just lying next to each other like they do when they sleep.

The kicker is that we’re taking them to the processor tonight, to be butchered tomorrow morning. So these were big, market weight birds, almost 9 weeks old, probably 7 to 9 pounds each.

So I’m thinking through all of the variables this morning. What could I have done differently to prevent this from happening? And praying that today’s heat won’t take more of them. Off to get some advice from the Homestead-Work and SustainableAg email groups.

Such is the game of farming.

Neighbors down the road are selling their 35-acre farm and moving to town. They are an older couple and dealing with health issues. Don has been so nice as to give Matt a truckload of old barnwood, and we were also able to buy some steel fenceposts off him.

Along with the wood, Don sent this little treasure home with Matt. A monstrous old wooden chicken feeder. I love this kind of stuff. Soon it will be overflowing with petunias.

So blogging has taken a backseat to planting the last several days. (Everything has taken a backseat to planting the last several days.) Many things still going into the garden. I’ll get some pictures of that soon.

Madeline has been working on her 4-H project, a perennial garden to the side of my garage. Rafe watched her and Grandma (aka “Beanie”) digging in plants this afternoon, and when they left he leaped into action watering everything.

As much as he loves to play with water outside, it’s a different story when it comes to bathtime. Ask him if he needs a bath and he’ll reply, “No, I don’t got my stink on.”

Another year of dance classes comes to a close. This was Madeline’s 7th year and Olivia’s 4th. They both did such a great job at the recital and we’re so proud of them!

Jazz Costumes

Madeline’s Tap Costume

Olivia’s Tap Costume

Ballet Costumes

It’s the girls’ dance recital week, which means 3 straight nights of rushing, eating on the go, costume changes, hair primping, makeup applying, etc. So in lieu of any meaningful post today, here are some other links of note:

Jen Gray – love today’s photo and yesterday’s post.

The Farmer’s Wife – wonderful photos from rural Illinois.

The Snowsuit Effort – fascinating gallery of photos from the streets of Detroit.

Stratton Brewing – more eye candy.

Lose your keys? Ask your chicken if he’s seen them.

Yesterday afternoon I was feeding the broilers when I noticed a tractor key in the grass. Took it back to the house and asked Matt if it was his.

Matt: No way – that’s the key that Rafe lost!

Me: When did that happen?

Matt: Last summer. Where did you find it?

Me: In the broilers’ pen.

Matt: Thank you chickens!

(And in case you’re wondering… Reason #1 is to eat them – or their eggs – of course. Reason #2 is that they eat mice.)

The broiler chickens are growing fast. At this point they’re eating 42 pounds of feed a day, plus grass and bugs they find in the pasture. They’ll be seven weeks old tomorrow. Many people butcher at seven weeks, but we keep ours nine weeks for a nice big bird that you can get three meals out of. I think tomorrow I’ll take a scale to the pasture and weigh a few.

This was the scene that greeted me when I walked out of the house early Sunday morning to feed the broilers. Sunshine. A rare thing this May. We’ve had only 4 days of it so far this month. See the tiny corn plants coming up in rows?

The farmhouse is getting a makeover these days. This farm was the first land claim made in Mitchell County back in 1851, but there was a log cabin here first. We don’t know for sure how old this house is. When we bought it the appraisal said it was built in 1875. But the carpenter that put the new basement under it for us in 2003 didn’t think it is that old, judging by the construction methods and materials used. Regardless, it is cold and drafty and in need of new insulation and siding. (And windows, but that’s next year’s project.)

Both entrances to the house are on the east side, and each one has its own porch. At some point the northern porch was replaced with a concrete pad and steps. We’re having a more Victorian-style wooden porch put on, which is surely what was originally here, and making the two porches connect.

You can see originally the second story was sided with wood shingles. We would liked to have kept that look, but in the fibercrete siding we’re using shingles are four times the cost of lap siding. So instead we’re just using the shingles around the bay windows. There’s a second set of bay windows on the front of the house.

Here’s a closeup of them.

The siding we’re having put on is pre-painted fibercrete. The paint is good for 20 years, or we can repaint it before that if we get sick of the green 🙂 We’ll be leaving the original decorative mouldings on and painting them in cream and shades of burgundy once the siding is on. I keep threatening Matt that I’m going to pick out at least 6 or 8 different colors 🙂

So Matt’s been sketching and designing his nights away this week, working on a plan for a catch pen. It involves a hexagon, 12-foot gates, cattle panel, cosigns and square roots. And he keeps asking me to help. I don’t know why some people think that other people who minored in mathematics in college should be of any help. My eyes glaze over 5 seconds into his question. But I try to be supportive.

And that’s about the most exciting thing that’s going on around here farm-wise. Which is a good thing. This time last year the cows would watch for us to leave home, and stage a breakout the minute we were gone. Neighbors would notice, try to call us, and then start down the chain of my relatives until they found someone at home. No breakouts this year. Our outbuildings are the saddest, most dilapidated structures. They aren’t even insurable. But we’re developing systems that work in spite of them.

“We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson