Change is in the air!

Please note that Bearfoot Hollow will be changing it's name to mjd poultry.

Please visit us at our new blog location!

mjd poultry

Thank you so much!

( *)>

Mark & Jen

Black Magic

(or the feeding and care of Bearfoot Hollow)

First of all I want you to know that this is what works for US, and our set up.  Yours might be very different and you have to take that into consideration when coming up with a care plan for your own feathers.  That being said, I have had a LOT of requests for what I call 'Black Magic' ..  so called because it's just a little of this and a little of that all mixed together in a bucket/cauldron ;)   I am not a nutrition expert, I do not know the nutrient ratios although I should research it, so please do not approach this recipe as a be all end all.    What I can say is that I have noticed molts go easier,  undernourished animals bounce back quickly, we don't have fertility issues and feather quality is always beautiful.

I am also going to add that we feed Purina Flock Raiser to ALL of our birds -yes, it may be more expensive but it is totally worth it.  If you do nothing at all with the information I give here except understand that feeding the highest quality feed alone with none of the other voodoo ingredients will give you healthy happy animals ~ you will be very happy with the results.  I can not stress enough the importance of a balanced high quality diet for your birds or any of your animals in your care.    I also try to make sure that any bird in a pen without access to pasture gets some sort of greens as often as I think of it.  That can be the sorta wilty lettuce/salad mix in your fridge or picked dandelion leaves or whatever.  Sometimes, somehow sod comes up in the flower beds (imagine!) and I will dig that up and toss it in the pens-dirt and all-and the chickens go crazy for it.  Sometimes, joy of joys, there will be the occasional earthworm for them ;)  

We are also very lucky in that we have an area that allows our birds to free range as much as possible.  All of our ducks, in the off season, are in the front pasture. We are blessed with a year round creek and a seasonal pond.  A muddy duck is a happy duck ;)

Late Fall on the Pond

Winter time Creek

So, now on to the good stuff 

~ The Recipe ~

Start with crumble (like I said we use Flock Raiser) I think it just mixes better than pellets.. but certainly feel free to try pellet! :)  I tried to be good and actually measure this time around ~ there are 6 of those scoops in the cauldron.  

Then add the other stuff:

a scoop of Black Oil Sunflower Seed(a good source of vitamins and minerals)

a small cup of lentils  (we get this from a lady in Toledo) friends will use the lentil mix from the store.. so, do what you have access to.  It's not an essential ingredient I don't think anyway.

1/2 scoop of soaked COB (Corn Oats Barley) and because we had it, a small scoop of the 'sweet COB' (it has Molasses)  Molasses is good because it has minerals in it, and from an old timer helps prevent botulism.  I don't know if that is true or not but I know the birdies like it anyway.  I will sometimes add Molasses to dry COB.  I figure that real unsulfured molasses is probably better besides.  

1/4 cup each of:

kelp

fish bone meal

brewers yeast

2 tsp each of:

turmeric  

garlic

red pepper flakes (because of the antioxidents/dewormer qualities)

1 tsp of:

cayenne pepper 

I also will toss in chick grit and some oyster shells. 

Top it all off with enough Wheat Germ Oil to moisten the whole mess.  

Then Mix and Mix and Mix!
**I only mix up small batches, enough that it will be used up within a few days.**

 **Eye of newt, tail of Salamander**

...this, that n the other...

I always have the best intentions 

to order Pure Wheat Germ Oil..

but end up running out and just 

buying at the local feed store ;)

                                    A lil drizzle will do!

                                    

and voila! it is Feeenish!

~~~so what is for desert around here you ask?~~~

Scratch, BOSS and mealworms of course!

I also like to give everyone plain yogurt, canned kitten food, and melons on the half shell when the season is in.   Another thing that I like to use is Apple Cider Vinegar in their drinking water.  A couple mL's/gallon.

I hope this all helps and or gives you an idea of how to be creative in making sure your poultry get good nutrition!

It is FINALLY Summer here in the beautiful PNW

While I must say all the rain certainly saves on a water bill.. you know, ya don't hafta water the flowers.    Ever.  At all.  It rains n rains.  Then along comes July 5th and we get SUMMER!  It has been absolutely beautiful here ~~ sunny, hot days with some fabulous Thunder Storms thrown in for good measure.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July.  :)

Buns of Stone in the Secret Garden

yumalicious Strawberries!

Hydrangea is starting to bloom ~ it is SO pretty!

ummm.. where's the ice cream?

BlueBERRIES! wowza this bush puts it on!

the yard smells soo good right now

Persian Jewels and Lavender from my Momma's garden.  ;)  

an amazing shot of the the Thunder Storm from the other night
--taken by a friend of mine--Thank you Friend, for letting
me use this beautiful photo! :D
 

...changes...

There have been a lot of changes in the face of what I consider 'farming' in my life.

First of all.. this year.. no Garden.  My 'farmin' has downsized to a few strawberry plants in pots.. a coupla blueberry bushes in the cozy back yard of my little cottage in town.  I didn't put in a garden at all, although I DO have two nice raised beds.  My schedule and life right now just wouldn't allow for good care.  Growing things is important to me, and I have satisfied that need by planting easy to care for flowers and hanging baskets.   I do still have my ducks and chickens, no longer the goats.  They have an EXCELLENT new home and I am very happy of where they went. :)
As far as the ducks and chickens ~ I am still raising, breeding, showing Bantam White Cochins, Serama, and Butterscotch Calls....  Hope to see ya at the Fall fairs and shows :)

Things will even out again, in this crazy messed up adventure of life.

It's been pretty quiet here ..

I will start blogging again..

More regularly.. later.

:)

For now.. I am taking a short break.

Winter Solstice

One of my favorite times of year. Imperceptibly ~ the days will now start to lengthen.

The dark of Winter makes people celebrate light in other ways--candles, fires, lights. Somehow, someway we need our spirits lifted from the vespers of Midwinter's Eve.

Today most people maybe don't realize the importance of the Winter Solstice. We, for the most part, don't really have to worry about not having enough food, or warmth to make it through the next few months. But, for some reason this day still resonates with me.. maybe it's the gardener inside. ;) I get to look out at the sleeping garden, planning it's design for next year. Seed catalogs will start coming in any day ~ perfect for thumbing through, picking out new varieties to try. My garden clothes are clean for days at a time. It's a period of rest and reflection. Solstice actually means 'Sun stands still'. So what better time of year to do just that.

Amid the hustle and bustle of these last few days before Christmas ~ I hope you can take a moment and pause to catch your breath.

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

xo

On Farming...

I saw a man,
An old Cilician, who occupied
An acre or two of land that no one wanted,
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding
For flocks, unfit for vineyards; he however
By planting here and there among the scrub
Cabbages and white lilies and verbena
And flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king
In wealth, and coming home late in the evening
Loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
- Virgil, The Georgics (29 B.C.)

Sadly

Voltron II gave up the good fight today. :(

He had been sick for the past 2 months. I think he had continued living only through my shear force of will ;) well, and his too. He did not give up easily.

Anytime one of my chickens is sick and dies I take them to WADDL for diagnostics. I actually took Voltron in this morning before he died, because I was afraid that he was beginning to suffer. Dr. Crespo is absolutely wonderful and extremely patient. I was lucky enough to be able to actually be present for his necropsy. I know this is not the norm for most folks. But--because of my back ground in animal medicine, I think she was gracious enough to let me in ;)

Soo.. what we found out is interesting. Remember he was at the State Fair back in September and it was shortly afterwards that he started showing signs of illness. Naturally I had been assuming the worst and kept waiting for more of the flock to come down with Something. They never did thankfully and Voltron was kept isolated during his entire sickness. At the necrospy he showed no signs of The Biggies (Mareks, etc).. but he DID have a weird looking crop. Upon closer examination it was apparent the oddness was caused by a yeast infection (candidiasis) .. which is very treatable. I immediately felt guilty for missing such an easy fix. Dr. Crespo said "Now wait, it's usually secondary to something else, let's keep looking..." ;) In examining his heart, she found a hole in it, between the right and left ventricles. Very interesting. She is going to send me pictures. :) The stress of being at the fair coupled with a bad heart was enough to let a yeast infection settle in and make him very very sick.

Soo, unfortunately, the candidiasis is treatable but the hole in the heart would have gotten him eventually anyway. Dr. Crespo told me how to check for a yeast infection in the crop by several ways--one is a method anyone can do, the other you would need access to a microscope. If you have a young sick chicken, palpate the crop. You will be able to feel the thickness in it that is the yeast infection. Use your pointer finger and your thumb and run them along the crop. So, first practice on your healthy chickens so you know what a normal healthy crop would feel like ;) I have to say, his crop was very thick and it would have been easy to palpate the abnormality if I had known to look for it. Unfortunately I was just looking for fullness in it. To treat for the yeast infection you would use copper sulfate. The dosing is extremely important so it is something that must be researched before using. As with most anything poultry related, it is all off- label and at your own risk.

mmmph! Chickens! :P

Back from a WhirlWind Weekend

The trip for the Featherkins actually started the weekend of October 23rd.

I had to take my 3 cochins and 3 call ducks to my friend who would be transporting them back to Indiana for me. Their road trip would last them from Sunday till the upcoming Thursday evening when I would see them again to coop them in for their Big Weekend. They just got home yesterday, November 2nd. Talk about a long trip for them! lol! They were extremely happy to be home, the ducks immediately hopped into their pool to wash the road dust off and the cochins started piggin on the grass in their tractor. They will spend the next two weeks away from the rest of the flock 'Just in Case'. All in all, they made the trip really really well. They were in great hands There and Back again!

So, Crossroads happens once every 5 years or so.. give or take. It's a big production and takes a lot to put on.

For me, it was fun to meet people I had only been reading about or talking to via e mail or on the message boards. I resisted and did not bring back any birds but I made a lot of great connections.

There were many people from the PNW there ~ which was pretty neat. We had a good turn out of 'locals'.

It was a Good Weekend

Getting ready to leave for The Show...

lol~ Don't think we could fit much more in the back of Joe! But we DID fit 15 ducks, 6 chickens and all the survival gear a teen needs for a weekend..... including~~a guitar. ;)

We drove in on Old Highway 30(Oregon side) for a bit. It's SO pretty. We didn't stop though. The ducks were rather displeased with their seating arrangement and pretty much quacked non-stop. We needed to get them into their coops. For our sanity.

Enjoying the view..

Visiting our poultry friends :)

This is the guy you wanna talk to about Iron Work. Very cool stuff. Farm signs anyone?

We heart Daffy!

Egg judging. We last minute decided to enter eggs. Our Aracauna, Susan, lays very consistent beautiful blue eggs. We placed third, one egg was just slightly bigger. It was fun, and will do it again.

Sally, placing Best Variety. The judge had written 'Very Nice' on her coop card. I talked to him later, after judging and he told me that if Sally were just a bit smaller, he felt she was a very good duck. I was super pleased to hear we are on the right track with our calls :) It's always fun to talk to the judges when they are done, I learn so much from them.

Diane, placing Reserve Variety. She is the Grand Dame of Bearfoot Hollow.

(photo courtesy of Bob Anderson PNPA) Mr. Mongold judging Table Top at the Serama Show. He is judging Romeo.

He did well! Champion of Show (Youth) and Champion Cock (Youth). Pixie also did good, taking Champion Hen (Youth).

Cochins held their own. Aria and Izzie taking BB/RB and BV/RV each.

Then we headed home along the very curvy Highway 14 (WA side). Just as beautiful as Highway 30.

Here we are stopped at Cape Horn.

And then home. Nobody captures the joy of Home like a Duck! ;)

Headed to Stevenson

Looking forward to seeing all my chicken friends this weekend! :)

PNPA's Northwest Winter Classic

Held at the very very beautiful Skamania County Fairgrounds. If you haven't been, it is well worth the drive. There's LOTS to do, aside from looking at all those gorgeous chickens and catching up with friends. Check out Multnomah Falls... or the Oneonta Tunnel.. actually, the Tunnel is only part of this stunning stop. There are no other signs for seeing the gorge that you will find if you hike a little and follow the Oneonta creek... *warning.. wet and slippery, but OH SO WORTH IT! :)

Oneonta Creek

Brave the log jam, and continue up into the gorge.. I didn't have time, and I had a car full of chickens, so this is as far as the boys and I made it.

Or .. explore any one of the other amazing views.. This area is also the remains of one of my favorite geological events to study.. the Great Lake Missoula Floods that formed the Scablands and Coulee's of Eastern Washington. Did you know that Portland was flooded by the water and the Willamette Valley was also formed by the huge repeated flooding? Pretty awesome stuff. You can just google 'Missoula Floods' and you will find loads of information.

Anyway~Hope to see you at The Show!

ACK! MOLT!

Voltron II has decided his old feathers must go. Unfortunately he was a major part of my entry to the CrossRoads of America Poultry Show in INDIANA~ dang dang dang. I would enter his brother ~ Henry ~ but Henry has been busy messin' around in the dirt and grass, breaking his beautiful foot feathering. I had put Voltron up off the ground on deep shavings (something I really really don't like doing...) in an effort to preserve those delicate feathers for this particular show. This show...It's a Big Deal. aw well.

I do still have a trio of the Calls going anyways.

Look how pretty we are staying!

We are hanging on to OUR feathers, why can't Voltron??

Molt Happens.... at seriously inopportune times.

Summer is done

The colors of Summer have faded..

To be replaced by the colors and tastes of Fall...

Loganberries ripening on a still warm afternoon

Juicy apples waiting to be picked

..and my arch-enemy, lessening in numbers in the garden.. ;)