This weekend we finally fenced in a third pasture and transferred our 9 teenage hogs to this new paradise. They couldn't be happier - acorns, pecans, fresh grass - ahhhh pig heaven.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Grass is Always Greener
This weekend we finally fenced in a third pasture and transferred our 9 teenage hogs to this new paradise. They couldn't be happier - acorns, pecans, fresh grass - ahhhh pig heaven.
Expensive, but tasty education
Scott and I decided to add bees to the farm this year. We added our first hive in April and a second in May, but now we only have one - because I made a huge error. Throughout the spring, we checked the hive every few weeks to get acquainted with our bees and learn our beekeeping tasks. Once summer arrived, however, we stopped going in the hive because it takes about 3 days for bees to adjust after a hive inspection, and we didn't want to stress them out too much. The heat this summer was stress enough for anyone, and daily exterior inspections indicated that the bees were doing well.
Fall is the time to resume hive inspections, but I failed to keep an eye on my calendar, and before we knew it November had arrived. That was simply too late. A week ago, the bees were busily buzzing about the hive. Now they are gone, and we have no definitive answers as to why.
Did the queen die? Was she superseded? Were the bees starving or did they sense that starvation was imminent given the amount of honey they had accumulated? These are questions we can't answer. What we do know is that the bees had stored away about 4 frames of honey (which wouldn't have been enough to feed them through winter) and quite a bit of pollen (that had begun to mildew) in the upper hive body, and that there were a fair amount of developing bees abandoned in the lower hive body. We saw no evidence of disease or infestation, just a fair amount of honey and a disturbing lack of presence.
We cut out the combs, melted the wax, and then separated the wax from the honey by straining the liquid through a cheesecloth. It's a messy business, but was well worth it (thank you Peggy!). We got 3 quarts of delicious honey and about three quarters of a pound of wax. If you count the cost of the bees and beekeeping equipment, (and don't factor in the wax) each quart of honey is worth about $60. Now that's an expensive education! Luckily the equipment can still be used, and we aren't done with this beekeeping business yet.
The bees we got in May are still alive and with us. We are feeding them sugar water now to help increase their winter stores and hopefully they'll stick around for the long haul. We plan to buy more bees in the spring, and this time I promise to pay better attention to the calendar (well, with a little help from Scott). For now, I'll just enjoy my honey and hope for better times ahead.
Fall is the time to resume hive inspections, but I failed to keep an eye on my calendar, and before we knew it November had arrived. That was simply too late. A week ago, the bees were busily buzzing about the hive. Now they are gone, and we have no definitive answers as to why.
Did the queen die? Was she superseded? Were the bees starving or did they sense that starvation was imminent given the amount of honey they had accumulated? These are questions we can't answer. What we do know is that the bees had stored away about 4 frames of honey (which wouldn't have been enough to feed them through winter) and quite a bit of pollen (that had begun to mildew) in the upper hive body, and that there were a fair amount of developing bees abandoned in the lower hive body. We saw no evidence of disease or infestation, just a fair amount of honey and a disturbing lack of presence.
We cut out the combs, melted the wax, and then separated the wax from the honey by straining the liquid through a cheesecloth. It's a messy business, but was well worth it (thank you Peggy!). We got 3 quarts of delicious honey and about three quarters of a pound of wax. If you count the cost of the bees and beekeeping equipment, (and don't factor in the wax) each quart of honey is worth about $60. Now that's an expensive education! Luckily the equipment can still be used, and we aren't done with this beekeeping business yet.
The bees we got in May are still alive and with us. We are feeding them sugar water now to help increase their winter stores and hopefully they'll stick around for the long haul. We plan to buy more bees in the spring, and this time I promise to pay better attention to the calendar (well, with a little help from Scott). For now, I'll just enjoy my honey and hope for better times ahead.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Scarlet's Second Seven
Scarlet had her second litter yesterday - 5 boys and 2 girls. Seven is apparently her lucky number.
She once again looked like she was going to pop for 2 weeks before she went into labor, then had her babies without any fuss at all. I fed Scarlet and the 9 teenage guinea hogs that she shares space with at 7am yesterday morning and didn't notice her litter in the barn until around 1pm. My guess is that she had them in the night and I just missed the big event.
Scarlet and her shoats are now confined to a smaller area of the hog pen so that the babies can have access to mama anytime and to keep the teenagers from annoying the new family. We'll expand Scarlet's area a bit in about 2 weeks, but for now Scarlet seems content to lounge and is happy to see that we've increased her feed ration since she won't be able to forage freely.
Girls $250 per
Boys $150 per
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Chicken Surprise!
When we acquired Jock-a-doodle do (our lead rooster in residence), we acquired two gamecock hens as well. We had an issue with our Wyandottes refusing to go broody (which results in baby chickens that we want) and were told that gamecock hens were great mothers who could fix our problem. The plan was to wait for a game hen to go broody, replace her eggs with Wyandotte eggs while she was sleeping and presto...we'd have chicks in about 22 days.
Well about 3 weeks ago our light colored gamecock hen went missing. We assumed that she'd been taken by some animal and let it go. She'd generally kept to herself and didn't lay eggs in the coop anyway, so we didn't see it as a great loss. To our surprise, a few days ago the hen showed up again and wasn't alone. She had gone broody! She had hidden herself and her eggs just under a wood pile near the chicken coop and had stayed out of sight until the eggs hatched.
Yesterday I watched her march around the yard with nine gamecock/Dominique chicks in tow. She is raising them with minimal human assistance (we throw her food when we see her) and is teaching the chicks to forage for food around the yard. So far they are doing great. They all sleep outside the coop at night though, so we are hoping for the best.
As for our Partridge Rocks (the chickens we got to replace the Wyandottes), they are growing up fast and seem to be doing well. They are extremely friendly which is nice, but we didn't exactly get what we bargained for. We got a straight run of 25 and figured on at least half being hens. Instead we got 6 hens and a mess a roosters. Hopefully these hens will be good layers because our Wyandottes have given up laying altogether after only a year and a half. Scott sadly bought a dozen eggs at the grocery store last week. The first store bought eggs in over a year.
So, we've got 6 potential Partridge Rock laying hens, 9 mystery chicks, several expired Wyandotte hens and way too many roosters. If anyone wants a old chicken or a Partridge Rock rooster, speak now! They're disappearing fast.
Well about 3 weeks ago our light colored gamecock hen went missing. We assumed that she'd been taken by some animal and let it go. She'd generally kept to herself and didn't lay eggs in the coop anyway, so we didn't see it as a great loss. To our surprise, a few days ago the hen showed up again and wasn't alone. She had gone broody! She had hidden herself and her eggs just under a wood pile near the chicken coop and had stayed out of sight until the eggs hatched.
Yesterday I watched her march around the yard with nine gamecock/Dominique chicks in tow. She is raising them with minimal human assistance (we throw her food when we see her) and is teaching the chicks to forage for food around the yard. So far they are doing great. They all sleep outside the coop at night though, so we are hoping for the best.
As for our Partridge Rocks (the chickens we got to replace the Wyandottes), they are growing up fast and seem to be doing well. They are extremely friendly which is nice, but we didn't exactly get what we bargained for. We got a straight run of 25 and figured on at least half being hens. Instead we got 6 hens and a mess a roosters. Hopefully these hens will be good layers because our Wyandottes have given up laying altogether after only a year and a half. Scott sadly bought a dozen eggs at the grocery store last week. The first store bought eggs in over a year.
So, we've got 6 potential Partridge Rock laying hens, 9 mystery chicks, several expired Wyandotte hens and way too many roosters. If anyone wants a old chicken or a Partridge Rock rooster, speak now! They're disappearing fast.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sausage Creole
When you live on a farm that raises free range pork, you gotta get creative about what you do with all of it. Scott's mama gave him the following recipe and it works great with our home grown and blended Guinea Hog sausage.
1 lb sausage
1 medium onion
1 can green beans
1 can lima beans
1 can corn
1 large can tomatoes (28 oz)
1 shot of vinegar (to taste)
3/4 of a teaspoon of Tony Chacere's seasoning (or spice mix of your choice)
Now the idea is to use all your own stuff. Tomatoes you've canned yourself, onions, beans and corn right from the garden or (at the very least) preserved right at home. Tonight that wasn't possible. The sausage and corn was our own, but everything else came from the store. We've had a brutally hot and dry summer here in southeastern NC and had to abandon our garden in June. The baby pigs have enjoyed rummaging through the remains however, so maybe we'll get something back from the garden after all:)
Back to the recipe... fry the sausage in a pan, chop the onion and saute it in olive oil (our GH sausage isn't greasy enough to saute in!), mix all the ingredients in a sauce pan, then simmer for about an hour. You can serve it as a stew or over rice like we do. Our secret weapon...Guinea Hog sausage of course, but also fish sauce on the rice. Substitute fish sauce for salt anywhere you want a rich, deep flavor and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Just don't sniff the bottle before using. Asian fish sauce reeks, but tastes wonderful if you use it sparingly.
Belly up! Cold weather is coming. I know it is, I know it is (I keep telling myself that anyway) and this is a great cool weather meal. Enjoy.
1 lb sausage
1 medium onion
1 can green beans
1 can lima beans
1 can corn
1 large can tomatoes (28 oz)
1 shot of vinegar (to taste)
3/4 of a teaspoon of Tony Chacere's seasoning (or spice mix of your choice)
Now the idea is to use all your own stuff. Tomatoes you've canned yourself, onions, beans and corn right from the garden or (at the very least) preserved right at home. Tonight that wasn't possible. The sausage and corn was our own, but everything else came from the store. We've had a brutally hot and dry summer here in southeastern NC and had to abandon our garden in June. The baby pigs have enjoyed rummaging through the remains however, so maybe we'll get something back from the garden after all:)
Back to the recipe... fry the sausage in a pan, chop the onion and saute it in olive oil (our GH sausage isn't greasy enough to saute in!), mix all the ingredients in a sauce pan, then simmer for about an hour. You can serve it as a stew or over rice like we do. Our secret weapon...Guinea Hog sausage of course, but also fish sauce on the rice. Substitute fish sauce for salt anywhere you want a rich, deep flavor and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Just don't sniff the bottle before using. Asian fish sauce reeks, but tastes wonderful if you use it sparingly.
Belly up! Cold weather is coming. I know it is, I know it is (I keep telling myself that anyway) and this is a great cool weather meal. Enjoy.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Bees and Power Tools
Note to self: Do not use power tools on the bee hive without wearing proper attire.
So, I needed to remove one of the handles from the hive body and had seen the old timer I bought the hive from use a power drill to do just that without wearing anything... so, I decided I could do the same. The bees disagreed. Within approximately 2 seconds I'd been stung in the eyelid and the knee. Oh well, live and learn.The eye stayed swollen for about 4 days and I'm happy to say I had a normal reaction, not an allergic one.
Other notes on our bees - they don't seem to be producing as much honey as we'd like to see but the fall honey flow hasn't yet begun and it's been a brutally hot summer this year. I think the bees have been working really hard just to stay hydrated.
We have some hive beetles and a few varola mites, but overall the bees appear healthy and have been very gentle save my one stupid manever with the power drill. Whenever we go in the hive we wear full attire and always use smoke to calm the bees down, but we often sit a few feet from the bees and watch them without any issue at all.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Jock-a-doodle-do, the Chickies, and the Art of Castration
So we haven't made the chicken tractor yet because we found a better solution for the wild hen issue. Meet Jock-a-doodle-do.
Jock is a young Dominique rooster that was residing at a friends farm. Jock had been dropped off by someone who didn't want a rooster, and he'd been accepted until he decided to attack one of the owners prize gamecocks. Luckily we stopped by the day after the fight and suddenly were offered a free rooster to handle our wayward hens.
We weren't sure if adding a new rooster to the flock would work, but Jock has done an amazing job of keeping the hens in line and so far has roosted them in the hen house every night for the past two weeks. I think we'll keep him:)
In addition to this success, our Partridge Rock chicks arrived about a week ago. We are raising them in the shop and so far they are doing quite well.
We still plan to build the chicken tractor, as this will be the new chicks first outdoor home. If we put them in the coop with the big chickens, they'd get picked on, and, if we let them run loose before full grown, the local hawks would pick them off. We'll post pictures of the chicken tractor once it is up and running.
Lastly, we castrated our baby pigs last weekend. I've always said, "Our hogs only have one bad day in their lives." I must now recant that statement and note that some males have two bad days. Scott did a show-cut on the boys which doesn't leave visible scarring, but we think in the future we'll go with a scrotum cut which should be easier on the boys.
It was a bad day for me too as I was very worried for my little boars (they seemed to be in quite a bit of pain afterwards), but by the next day they were up, running and begging for food just like normal so I hope they will forgive me soon. We waited a bit too late (7 weeks) to make the cuts and in the future we will castrate them earlier (at 2-4 weeks).
Jock is a young Dominique rooster that was residing at a friends farm. Jock had been dropped off by someone who didn't want a rooster, and he'd been accepted until he decided to attack one of the owners prize gamecocks. Luckily we stopped by the day after the fight and suddenly were offered a free rooster to handle our wayward hens.
We weren't sure if adding a new rooster to the flock would work, but Jock has done an amazing job of keeping the hens in line and so far has roosted them in the hen house every night for the past two weeks. I think we'll keep him:)
In addition to this success, our Partridge Rock chicks arrived about a week ago. We are raising them in the shop and so far they are doing quite well.
We still plan to build the chicken tractor, as this will be the new chicks first outdoor home. If we put them in the coop with the big chickens, they'd get picked on, and, if we let them run loose before full grown, the local hawks would pick them off. We'll post pictures of the chicken tractor once it is up and running.
Lastly, we castrated our baby pigs last weekend. I've always said, "Our hogs only have one bad day in their lives." I must now recant that statement and note that some males have two bad days. Scott did a show-cut on the boys which doesn't leave visible scarring, but we think in the future we'll go with a scrotum cut which should be easier on the boys.
It was a bad day for me too as I was very worried for my little boars (they seemed to be in quite a bit of pain afterwards), but by the next day they were up, running and begging for food just like normal so I hope they will forgive me soon. We waited a bit too late (7 weeks) to make the cuts and in the future we will castrate them earlier (at 2-4 weeks).
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