The most beautiful things in the world are not seen nor touched. They are felt with the heart.-- Helen Keller



Welcome!

Welcome! to my little corner of Gods earth.

My intent is to share faith, food, family & friendship. I want to give you a little insight as to what goes on in our daily lives. The different 'seasons' in our farm life and with every change of season brings something new. Feel free to visit often!

Blessings to all,

Laura

Down on the Farm Tabs

Friday, April 20, 2012

Don't Steam the Chicks!

First of all, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. I love my animals. I care for them and they are treated very, very well.  That said, I had something happen earlier in the week that is.....well, embarrassing.  I did not realize that there was a crack in one of my chicks water containers. Every bit of the water emptied into the brooder tank. The bedding soaked it up, the heatlamps created a sauna effect. Needless to say, the 'steam heat' took the downy feathers right off of the baby chicks.  UGH!!!!

Orphan Kitten Formula


On the farm we sometimes have to take over, and become 'mommy' to our animals. In this case, a family friend had some kittens, 6 all together.  Mommy was probably a year old and this is a lot for a seasoned veteran, let alone a mother cat that is so young.  We have used this Newborn Formula for kittens, puppies and in a pinch calves.

2c. 2% milk
1c. half & half
1 egg
1Tbls white Karo corn syrup

Mix well. Warm to feed. Use and eye dropper or syringe.  Store in the refrigerator. It will separate so mix well before each feeding. This will keep according to the dates on your milk and/or half & half.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

House Finch

We have some visitors on our front porch

Here is daddy

Here is mommy

This is the Spring wreath that I bought at Michaels (which will probably be thrown out when she gets done with it).

And here is a nest that our resident finch worked very hard to build

She is so proud of her work. They get very upset when I come out of the house and sit on my front porch.
Four little blue eggs

And here she is, as I look at her from the inside of my house.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Baby Chicks Get a New Lid

I was not satisfied with the top we had put on the tank which houses our new baby chicks. Quite frankly it was a mess! we had chicken wire bent around the top of the tank. Plywood on top of chicken wire with a square cut in the middle, where we put the heat lamps, and just in case something (a predator) got in, we weighted the whole mess down with 2x4's.  UGH!! Talk about a chore trying to get in and out of there!!! SHEESH!!!
So.....today, I made a trip to Lowe's. This was going to be taken care of TODAY!!!  Since Papa Bear was in the field, I figured the coast was clear for me to get a little creative, screw things up, cuss, cry, and still have everything put back in order and 'perfect' by the time he got in tonight.  Uhmmmm......no such luck. He was in the barn lot when I got home, working on filling the planter and talking to a friend that we farm with.  So all of this had to be done, under his watchful eye. I'm sure he was just waiting for me to either say, 'would you just take care of this' or 'I give up'. .....Not happening buddy, not on your life!! I am going to fix this, and it will be perfect, and effortless!!!
Here is my creation, I am sure this is not an original. But I am very satisfied with the results. AND the bonus is, I got a compliment from Papa Bear!
 Finished Project
 See where I have hinged the 2 shelves
 Here is a better picture 
 Here are the zip ties at one of the ends
 Zip ties in the middle
I took the custom shelving, using 2 shelves per tank. I used the plastic zip-ties to join the 2 shelves together and fashion a hinge. I then zip-tied the heat lamps to the shelving and they fit perfectly over the tanks.  I didn't cut the length of the shelving, just in case we get a longer tank sometime in the future.

I think we are going to leave them set up, and use them as a pen if we ever need to separate some of the hens.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

And so it begins.......








Springtime at the Mosier Farm