What goes on in the coop, stays in the coop...

Our coop had quite an exciting Christmas. Martha Washington (our largest "hen") is actually a George (aka rooster). We have been watching all our hens get bigger, but Martha surpassed all the others. She now as a comb and wattle, and has been caught mounting the hens... Either Martha is confused (which I doubt) or she is really a he... So now instead of having 4 hens and 2 roosters, we have 3 of each. Its a good thing one of the roosters is mean and will most likely end up as soup... Welcome to the farm George...

On the other hand, one of the 3 remaining hens has started laying. December 26th brought us our first farm egg ever! Way to go girls (now to figure out which one it is). Yesterday we were given another egg, so now we have two. Hubby and I will have eggs for breakfast on Sat. What a good way to bring in the new year. We will be eating the first product (of hopefully many) of our farm.

Victory Garden Farm is taking off!

Welcome Christmas

Shoes

I think I change shoes more often than outfits... To try and reduce tracking in mud, dirt and snow, I have a pair of boots that sits outside. When I go out the back door I take off whatever shoes I am wearing and pull on these "goat" boots.

I have my work shoes, which stay by the front door so they dont get muddy before work. These are usually pulled on right before I head out to work

And what do I wear all day inside the house? My favorite pair of slippers. These slippers used to be my moms. My dad bought her a new pair, and I inherited these. They are super warm. The right slipper was chewed on by Jack when he was a puppy and is missing its "fur" on the outside. But dont let that fool you, the insides are still toasty and furry.

Winter on the Farm

Its winter here at the farm. We have been busy getting everything ready for the snow, and just in time too. For the winter we have grouped all the animals (except the dogs) close together by the barn. The goats (now we have 3 nannies and a billy) have free range of the barn and pen. Right on the outside of their pen is the duck pen. This is caged on all sides, top and bottom. Come spring they will have a proper run, but for the winter this will do. The chickens still have their coop, located next to the ducks. We tried letting the ducks sleep in the coop, but they didnt like it much. Yesterday hubby and I built a rabbit run at the back covered side of the barn. We hope to inherit 5 more rabbits this week and needed a place larger than just the hutch. Ill post pictures when we get them. We have huge plans for the spring but for now with the ground frozen they will stay just plans... Inside the house we have had our pipes freeze multiple times which forces us to keep the heaters on. I am not terribly happy about this, as we were trying to be frugal and only heat what we need. lesson learned. Maybe it is more frugal to turn the heaters on, then to have to pay for a plumber to come fix broken pipes... The tree is up, the rooms decorated and we are ready to settle down for winter. Hubby and I found a bunch of puzzles we liked and are looking forward to spending time in the (warm) house working on them. Happy Winter to all!