Ellie May's 4H Poultry Story: Part II

It didn't seem like long until it was time to start a new 4H year.  My mom got volunteered to run the cooking club, (Staci did it) so she put me in charge of making the sign for the sign-up table.  I also made an arrangement out of fake flowers, chicken feathers, and a whisk.  It looked good.  We also brought supplies to make trail mix.  We got lots of compliments on our table. (This was when we met Baas & Her Minions, BTW.)  At our first meeting, we decided to have a proper kitchen staff instead of club officers.  We would have a chef, sous chef, and maitre'd.  My mom would be chef the first month and then the sous chef would take over, and the maitre'd would become sous chef and we would elect a new maitre'd.  Each semester the staff would rotate up and we would elect a new maitre'd.  I was elected maitre'd, and was also on the apron committee.  We made two dozen aprons for the club.  We had lots of fun, and enjoyed many months of learning to cook great meals.

Our county 4H holds and annual pet show to help us learn ring etiquette.  I entered Angus' chicken hat trick and won second place for best pet trick.  I also entered Adam in the ugliest pet division and Adam got first place.  I had to admit Adam was pretty ugly, even though he is beautiful to me.  I won other categories, too.  When we got home I gave Angus her favorite treat, crushed pecans.  She gulped them down.  Then Angus decided it would be a good idea to choke on her treats.  She started gagging and rolling around.  I was scared, but I knew what to do.  I gave her the Heimlich maneuver.  After a little while the pecan came flying out of Angus's beak!  She coughed a little, but soon started breathing like normal.  She didn't like pecans too much after that. 

Soon it was time to raise 4H animals for the livestock show.  Once again, I raised chickens, but wouldn't be showing a goat.  When it was time to pick up our animals, i was ready.  I had done research on how to keep my chicks healthy and make them grow bigger.  When we got home I put my chicks in the brooder house and made a mix of pecans, chick starter, Calf Manna, and peanuts paced on a banana.  When the chicks would peck off the mix the would get banana with it.  It was the best way I could think of to get the chicks to eat fat and potassium.  I also gave them goats milk and Rooster Booster every day.  My chicks got big fast.

When it was time for the show, I weighed my chicks and picked my three best, and then I gave them a bath.   While I was waiting for my division to be called at the show, I had fun judging the other animals.   I was surprised how similar my placings were to that of the judge.  When they finally called out chickens I was so happy,.  Showing chickens sure beats sitting around staring at smelly pigs!  I led my chickens into the arena.  I had been in this arena many times and I remembered all the fun that I had in other contests.  Since I had three chickens and only two hands, my dad helped me hold them all.  I had given him a quick briefing on showmanship before the judging had started and hoped that he had remembered most of it.  The judge walked down the line and judged each kid's chickens and then moved us into place.  When the contest was over, I had won 3rd place.  I was very excited!!  For the record, the 1st and 2nd place winners were a brother and sister, and they took the top spots every year.  If those kids were showing chickens, everyone automatically knew who the winners would be.  Therefore, when Ellie took 3rd, we considered it a first place win.

About a month after the livestock contest, one of our hens was badly injured.  She had and "L" shaped gash on her breast that was a good eight inches long.  When I showed my mom she said that we ought to put the hen, Cherry, out of her misery, but I thought I could save her.  I asked mom for a suture, clorhexadine and scissors.  Then I began to stitch up the wound.  I had never done this before, or even seen it done, but it didn't take long to get it all stitched up.  After that I put Underwood Horse Medicine and baking powder on it.  Then I put her in a cage in our laundry room so the other chickens wouldn't peck on her and ants couldn't get to her and eat the wound.  Every day I sprayed fresh medicine on her and changed her food and water.  In two weeks she was ready to go back with the other chickens.  They didn't remember her at first, but soon welcomed her back into the flock.  She limped around the first month after her stitches, because the wound was right over her leg.  But after six weeks she started laying again and it was hard to tell her apart from the other Rhode Island Reds.

The funny thing about all that is the girl HATES to sew.  But she did a lovely job, very small, neat stitches, and even did a great job on the corner.  It was so sweet, when she was getting ready to start the stitching, she was hesitant, and her hand was shaking.  I was started singing a song that we used to sing together when she was a little bitty thing, and she calmed and got started.  By the time she was finishing up, she was quietly singing along with me, and working with absolute confidence.  It was a beautiful thing to witness. 

We found a baby bunny this spring, and Ellie May put her skills to work again.  Jethro took these pictures for us.  Unfortunately, Bun Buns was too far gone by the time we got to him, he was only with us for about 12 hours after surgery, but it was a valiant effort. 

Speaking of rabbits....i have been looking for a place to throw this story in for quite a while.  Looks like as good a place as any.  Jethro was raising rabbits, and had a doe that rejected the babies, but we found one that was still alive.  The day before, the barn cat, Kitty Girl, had a litter.  Ellie May spent all day out in the doe barn working with the critters, and at the end of the day, Kitty Girl had accepted Stewy, the rabbit, and Stewy was nursing along side all the kittens.  Stewy was thriving and growing, getting fur and the whole nine yards.  Sadly, Stewy was so much smaller than the kittens, that he got smothered under the pile one nite.  It was a heart breaker, but had been an amazing thing to see a cat raising a rabbit.

Next time on Ellie May's Poultry Story:  Ellie births babies

Ellie May's 4H Poultry Story: Part I

Most people think of chickens as a tasty main dish, dogs think of chickens as chew toys, but I think of Chickens as beautiful creatures and there aren't many things I would rather do than spend a day in my coop.  Hi, I am Ellie May, and I live on a six acre homestead with my mother, father, seven year old monkey...uh...I mean brother, and 54 assorted animals.

My love for poultry began when I got my first chickens back in 2005.  My favorite was Polly, who would jump on my shoulder every chance he got.  I've loved birds ever since.  A couple of years later, I was given a chicken named Adam to care for.  His back had been chewed off by dogs, but I doctored him and today you would never know he had been injured.  I was really interested in learning more about how to care for my chickens and Mom told me that she had learned a lot about raising and showing animals when she was in 4H.  That's when I began my 4H career.  Since then I have been in the cooking club, horse club, livestock show, livestock judging team, and more. 

My first year in 4H was very exciting.  I joined the horse club and learned a lot about horses and their mentality, but my favorite part was raising animals for the livestock show.  I chose to raise chickens and a goat.  Everything was fine until about two weeks before the show, when a big storm blew the door off of my chicken coop and our dogs got in and ate all but one of my 4H chickens!!  I named her Reba, because she's a survivor.   (Reba is the only chicken we have ever taken to the vet.  After the fiasco we doctored Reba's wounds, but Staci wasn't satisfied, insisting that we take that baby's last remaining chicken to the vet, and when i didn't, she made the appointment, and had the bill put on her tab.)  The night before the show, I gave Reba a bath and a blow dry.  When I carried her in to the arena, the lights made her plumage glow.  Since I only had one chicken, I was disqualified, but learned so much about showing animals that I felt like a real winner!

I liked raising my goat so much that I joined the livestock judging team so that I could learn more about what a good goat looked like.  I studied hard and learned many things that I had never known about market steers, heifers, hogs and more.  My team went to district contest in Paris, where we took fourth place in intermediate judging and I took forth place individual.

Shortly after I joined 4H, my dad and I built and incubator out of an old ice chest and hatched 9 out of 12 eggs!  One chick named Zeus was nearly too weak to live, so we forced food and water down his throat.  He didn't like it at first, but would soon open his mouth and chirp when he saw me.  Zeus wasn't very smart though.  If he was a human he would probably try to steal a car with an alarm parked across the street from a police station.  He got eaten by a dog, later.  Not long after Zeus died, one of our hens named Holly got a huge, deep wound and would die if I didn't save her!  I rinsed the wound out with clorhexadine, then put Underwood's Horse Medicine and baking powder on the cut and bandaged her with alligator skin.  After a while Holly was all better!!  Holly is still alive.  Saving Zeus and Holly got me interested in veterinary science.

When my birthday came around, Mom and Dad asked me what i wanted and I said that I wanted chickens.  It was hard choosing the breeds, but I soon decided on Americanas, Black Crested White Polish, and Buff Silkies.  I couldn't wait for the call from the Post office to tell me they were here!!  When they arrived, one of the chicks had a crooked beak, and appeared very weak.  I gave him crickets, (home grown, btw, i didn't know she was growing them until she had a simultaneous hatching and escape--there were HUNDREDS of crickets in every nook and cranny of the house...but that is a story for another day) pecans, Rooster Booster, and B complex.  I named the chick Angular Angus, and it soon showed improvement.  Angus turned out to be a hen, and needed a lot of attention, because of her beak.  I took a toothpick and scraped out any food and dirt that got stuck in her beak once every day.  Because I handled her so much Angus soon got very friendly, and began to come when I called.  Angus had become the best chicken I had ever had.  Since Angus had a bad beak she could only eat chick starter.  Dad had found an old tub to put Angus's feed in.  That made Angus happy.  But soon enough all the feed made Angus fat.  Too fat.  She needed a lot of exercise.  I found a choke leash that I could put under her breast, under her wings, and over her neck.  Every day I would take Angus for three laps around the chicken yard and one lap around the goat pen.  I also started buying her feed with less fat.  Angus soon started to walk like a chicken as opposed to waddling like a duck.  She was losing weight, but she was still a little too fat.  One day I had an idea for an exercise to make Angus work her wings and back.  I laid Angus upside down on top of my head.  The I said "roll over, Angus" and tilted my head a little to make her roll off.  In doing this i trained her to roll off my head on command.  Once Angus got the hang of what I called "chicken hat trick," it became part of our daily routine.  After a while Angus was no longer a chunky chicken.


Next time on Ellie May's 4H Poultry Story:  Suturing a hen's wound.

Ellie May's 4H Poultry Story: Prologue

For several weeks, i have been working on a post about some of the things that Ellie has done with the animals. 

A couple of days ago, it occurred to me that i was working too hard for nothing.  Ellie has already written her story.

When she was twelve, she entered a 4H event in which the children keep records of their projects.  She won 1st place in the district with her recordbook.  We were at a 4H camp a couple of weeks after the judging, and several of the judges introduced themselves, and told us that it was the best recordbook they read, and that the judges from other sections were waiting in line to read hers.  They also said it was unfortunate that she was only a junior, if she was a senior she would be headed to state competition.  Ellie did win the Silver Award that year, the highest award that is given each year in 4H. 

Yes, i know i am bragging, but she is MY baby, and this is MY blog, and i can do what i want to.  So THERE.

When she undertook the writing portion of the project, Ellie spent days and days hand writing her story.  I transcribed it word for word, and she had twice as many pages as allowed by contest rules.  Everything in this story is exactly as she wrote it, the only thing i did was edit for length, and correct some spelling.  The rest is all Ellie. 

We didn't own a camera or a computer at the time, so we borrowed both to put her recordbook together, and while we have the original copy, the pictures are all lost to the sands of time now, as i did not know how to save them.  I have learned much since then.

The pictures included in the following essay have been taken since, and were not a part of the original essay.  My interjections will be in blue as usual, and were not a part of the essay either, but, ya know, it is my blog, i can interrupt if i want to.  

I will post the essay in several parts.  Partly because it is rather long.  Partly because i am buying time.  Don't have a lot of creative juices left right now, and there are still tomatoes to put in jars.  And i know that Baas gets the jitters if she doesn't get her Tails Up fix. 

Stay Tuned!!

What is a Friend?

Any idea what it takes to process 8 cases of tomatoes for canning?

True friends.

And sturdy shoes.

Am still worn out, brain not functioning.  Body barely functioning.  And it's not over yet. 

For a variety of reasons, we didn't put in a garden this year, so i am putting up produce purchased locally.  We use a lot of tomatoes here, and my goal is to not buy any commercially canned tomatoes this year (or again, for that matter.)  One of the local produce growers calls when he has canning tomatoes--the ugly ones that don't sell but are perfectly good food.  There have been quite a lot of them this year because we haven't had any rain.  Two days ago he made me an offer i couldn't refuse, so i rallied the troops and we spent a day slip skinning, packing and processing tomatoes.  There are still a couple of gallons worth that i have in the crock pots right now for pizza sauce, and some waiting to be turned into salsa, but most of it is done.

They say that a friend will help you move, and a good friend will help you hide a body.  I say a true friend will help you can tomatoes.

I have a WHOLE BUNCH of true friends.

Thanks, guys, i luvs ya!!

Jealous Jewels

Does this look vicious?

Look closely.

There are not that many teeth left.

But somehow, she has managed to get her bluff in on the Big Boyz.

Jed bought everybody bones the other day.  Little bitty bones for the little bitty dog.  Medium sized bones for the medium sized dogs.  And Great Big bones for the great big dogs.

But somebody got greedy.

I walked out to the back yard and saw George, the dominant Anatolian, laying down with his nose on his paws, watching Jewels gnaw on his bone..  Jewels had stolen it, and was growling at anyone who came near.  This bone was as long as my forearm.  She couldn't get her mouth around it, let alone carry it off.  I called her into the house, and she commenced trying to roll the bone to the back door.

George never made a move, even when he had an opportunity to snatch it.

Ralph and his bone were nowhere to be seen.

Maybe i have underestimated Ralph's intelligence.

Ding Dong The Snake is Dead

Jed came home and got right on the problem.  Caught that snake with his bare hands, put it between his teeth and shook it till he broke it's neck.

Not really.  But he did shoot it.  Twice.  Sorry, Susan, but it was eating eggs, and i do have all these baby chicks that are tender and juicy.    And cute.

Jed insists that it was only six feet long and as big around as his arm, but i think he wasn't wearing his glasses or something.   My original estimations were far more accurate.

Big sigh of relief.  I was looking around while i was milking tonite, waiting for the darn thing to wrap itself around my ankles and strangle me or something. 

Unfounded fears are such a pain.

We Have Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself...And Snakes

A couple of years ago i had a three day gig in the big city, so Staci came to take my place as Head of Operations here at Tails Up Homestead.  Staci is a voracious reader, and had been consuming how-to books on homesteading, so we both thought this would be a great learning experience for her and the girlz.

Apparently, as soon as i was out of the driveway, she backed her car up to the slider and unloaded a trunk load of paper products.  She was very well aware of the fact that i would rather put phosphates in my ground water than use products that require petrochemicals or chopping down trees.  When i found out about this--much, much later i might add...she swore the children to secrecy--i chided her until she explained her time management theory.  She figured she could spend her time doing the work that needed doing around here, or she could spend her time washing dishes.   After giving me a while to concider her theory, she was able to convinced me that there is a place in my world for disposable aluminum pans.  But i digress.

As soon as i got home from my gig, and i mean within 10 minutes of arrival, Staci and her kids were pulling out.  The car had already been packed up, and they were waiting for me.  My kids assured me there had been no problems, so i was baffled by the speedy exodus.  I tried calling the next day, no answer.  Called the next day, had a very brief conversation.  Called the next day, and things were back to normal.  Turns out Staci had to sleep for two days to recover from the three days she spent leading my life. 

"Homesteading is not as romantic as they make it sound in all the books," she told me, "it is d*** hard work!!"

To that i say HA!!!!  The hard work is just the beginning of it!!!

So here is how the last twenty-four hours of my life have gone.

We lost Andy last nite.  He was my yearling buck that gave us the monster babies this year...Utopia, Veribest and Splendora.  Was really looking forward to next year's breeding, since we now knew what he would produce.  He had been off and on sick for about a month, then this past week, he crashed.  Achieved nothing else the last three days but doctoring the goat, but couldn't find the magic combination.

So that was a heart breaker.

This morning i go out to do chores, went to pull a new bale of alfalfa, and killed a little spider off the top of the bale.  Inspect it, and all looks well.  Pulled it off of the stack and three hobo spiders the size of dinner plates (ok, that is an exaggeration, one of them was only as big as a salad plate) crawl out of the bale.  I am not really afraid of spiders, i just HATE getting bitten.  So i dropped the bale. 

Went to open the doe barn door, and i see, headed under the pallet that the coastal hay is stacked on,  the tail of a snake skin.

As you may recall, i firmly believe that there is only one kind of snake in the entire world.  The Copper Headed Water Rattler. 

And there appears to be one living in my doe barn.

After giving a little girlie squeal (ok, it was a scream) and jumping back, i regained my composure and reached down to pick up the skin.  I pulled and pulled and pulled.  This is a HUGE snake.  I only retrieved about half of the skin, but that piece was approximately 74 feet long, and about 8 feet in diameter. 

And it is living in my doe barn.

Fortunately, all this happened after i had taken my blood pressure medicine.
Unfortunately, all this happend before i had coffee.

Mrs. H. told me one time that in every situation in life, you ALWAYS have two choices.  I have found this bit of advice to be sage, and absolutely true.

Given the options that i have at this time in my life, i CHOOSE this path.

But i do have days when i wish i could put on a pretty dress, go have a mani/pedi, and then go buy a superfluous pair of shoes that don't go with anything i own but make my calves look good.