Taking care of the Animals on a winter day

Robin and Willow

This morning is cold, its the kind of cold that chills you to the bone as soon as you walk outside. I greeted the Horses who are always glad to see us come down because they know they are going to get their sweet grain, Badger will whinny in excitement and then bite at her gate until she gets her grain, Willow whinnies and then gets aggravated with Badger biting at her gate. While the horses eat their grain, we feed and water the Chickens, Turkeys and our flock of Meat chickens and open the door to the coop to let everyone outside. The Rabbits are next, we fill their feeders and collect the water bottles to take up to the house to thaw by the wood stove, we will take the water bottles back down to them after they thaw out later. We put the Halters on the Horses and let them out, Willow has to go first, then Badger. They get fresh hay thrown to them because there's no good grazing right now, everything is frozen.

We of course spend a little time loving the horses before we return to the warmth of the house.

In the evening we return to the barn to feed and water again, Brush the horses ( I have learned to do this in the evening because they usually like to roll during the day) We clean out their hooves and muck their stalls, then they go in the stalls and impatiently wait for us to bring them more grain and throw hay into the hay racks. We collect the eggs from the chickens and close them in the coop for the night. When it is really cold out the chickens and Turkeys get some scratch grains before roosting to help keep them warmer through the night. We give the rabbits each a little hay and say good night to all the animals.

Sometimes going to the barn feels like a drudgery to get myself motivated this time of the year ( I am not a cold weather type of girl)but, Once I get down there, I actually enjoy it, I love being with the animals, petting and holding the rabbits or hugging the horses and watching the antics of the chickens. The animals provide me with a sense of calm and help me forget the stresses of the day and they always do something that will amuse me and make me laugh, Its then that I forget, for a little while that its cold out side!

Feathered Friends

Meet some of our feathered friends,

Little Red Hen

Cant a girl get some privacy?

Fresh eggs in the nest box

Big Boy
Look at me, aren't I handsome!

Here, this is my best side!

Royal Palm Turkey

We raise Royal Palm Turkeys, they are a heritage breed and very fun to raise, There is one hen who has decided to sit on her nest and we have been allowing her this time for quite a while now, it takes 28 days to hatch turkey eggs and I am sorry to say that I did not keep track of when she started setting, I think she is getting close though!

She used to leave her nest when I would enter the coop to feed and water them but, today I noticed she would not get off her nest and she even hissed at me while I was in there tonight.

This is a picture of her on the nest

This is one of our Toms, "Big Boy"
He has decided to take up roost on one of the shelves inside the barn, this used to be the shelf I would store my extra flower pots on but, I have had to remove them after he knocked several of them off the shelf a few times.

He is not allowed in the coop right now because he wouldnt play nice with the other Toms, so he is inside the common area of our barn!

I love the turkeys and their antics, they gobble when I go down to the barn as if to say " Hello"! Big Boy usually follows me around when I am doing chores and the Toms are so pretty strutting around!

Winter Barn Chores

It has been very cold here the last several weeks, we had an ice storm last weekend and today it is snowing. The night time temperatures have been in the low 20s, All these cold temps make my barn chores a little.... well I will be honest here...A Lot more challenging!

I have now started taking warm mash down to the barn in the mornings for the Chickens, Turkeys and Rabbits.

The chickens and the Turkeys got a mixture of oat meal and layer mash, mixed with hot water that I added some skim milk powder and a small amount of molasses with it for a little more nutrition and just a touch of a sweet treat, boy o boy did the chickens like that! they were all scampering, pushing and pecking their way to the bowl for some!
The Turkeys.... well, I think they have convinced themselves that I must be trying to poison them with any new food, they avoided it like it was something really bad and one of the Toms kept grunting and running at the bowl like he was trying to scare it away! I will give them a few days with it and they should start getting the idea of what it is and that I really am not trying to poison them!

The rabbits got a little warm oatmeal with the skim milk and molasses.

The warm mash gives them something to eat and drink while I defrost the waterers and refill them for the day.

I am going to make a treat for the rabbits today and thought I would share the recipe, I would love to take a picture but my camera has been temporarily misplaced.

Here is the Home Made Rabbit treat recipe,

like any other treats I would feed this in moderation!

1 small carrot, pureed
1/2 banana, mashed until really creamy
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup rabbit pellets, ground finely in a coffee grinder
1/4 cup ground oats, ground finely in a coffee grinder
Mix pureed carrot, banana and honey in a medium bowl. Add pellet powder and ground oats. Mix until blended. Knead in your hands for 1-2 minutes. Roll out the "dough" in 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick layers between sheets of plastic wrap. Cut into small cookies (about 3/4 inch across). Place cut shapes onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes (check to make sure they are not browning too much). Turn off the heat and let the cookies sit in the warm oven for an hour or so.

Numb Hands and Barn Chores

I am a warm weather kind of gal and this morning has proved that to me, I wake up at 5 am and get that all important first cup of coffee in me, Look at the weather on the computer while I try to wake up, then today I donned two pair of socks, long johns and jeans, Tee shirt, long john top and sweat shirt, put on my "Turkey Poop" Shoes and finally my coat, grabbed my gloves and out the door to the barn! There is frost all over the ground that glistened so pretty as the sun rose in the sky. I tread down the hill to the barn with my egg basket in hand and think...This isn't so bad!
That is until I get to the barn, start watering the animals and the darn hose is now leaking....out of the nozzle and over my hands, but I continued on even though after a short...and I mean short while later, I could no longer feel my hands! Have you ever tried to open the water bottle of a rabbit cage with numb fingers? Well let me tell you it isn't easy... but the chores must be done, I got the rabbits watered, fed and then saw Bubbers, our cat!!! He wanted fed, I needed warm hands with feelings and so, I grabbed him and tried to hold on to him for some much needed warmth!
Well...All I got was this look of disgust from him as he jumped out of my arms then proceeded to his feed bowl and demanded food! Lucky for him, I have a soft heart and obliged him.
Next it was the turkeys turn, I went in the coop with frozen, numb hands and grabbed the feeder...its metal! Good thing I already couldn't feel my hands grabbed the feeder and filled it, then had to empty the water can and fill it.... fingers burning from being so cold. After all that, I spread more straw about the Turkey coop and then had to make way to the chickens (ugg... I am so cold) and guess what?......
Same thing as the turkeys, the chickens needed feed and fresh water, well eggs have to be gathered and that is not easy to do with fingers you thought just fell off because you can not feel them! The only good thing was that while reaching under Queenie, I didn't feel much when she pecked me!!!
With the Morning barn chores done, I make my way to the house and grab my coffee, not to drink at this moment, but to warm up my hands!
Time to build a fire in the wood stove I think!!!!
The bad thing about this morning.....Its only October! I am not looking forward to winter, I think I need to ask Santa for some better gloves and warmer country clothing!

Showing Off In the Coop

When I went to the barn this morning the Turkeys were showing off! What a wonderful display to see, I like to just sit and watch them strut around and show off for the ladies!
While I was feeding and watering them my cell phone rang and that got them all Gobbling.... It was like they were telling me to "answer the phone its ringing!"

Raising Turkeys

Raising Turkeys is interesting and I have learned that I can not do my barn chores when the turkey's are out and about, they are very curious animals and want to be a part of what you are doing. They follow me around the barn watching every move I make and try to get into things when I am not watching!