Farming Story: Mom Butchers a Chicken

One afternoon as I'm taking out the trash, I found our dog Bella on the entrance of our garage killing one of our barred rock chickens. These black and white chickens with their bright red combs are my favorite, and their purpose here is to provide our family with eggs. Bella seemed so proud of herself and didn't seem to understand why she was getting a spanking. After all, she has seen us butcher chickens before, and she has been fed leftover chicken meat from the table, so I guess in her doggy mind she didn't see what the big deal was. I sent Bella to her cage, and then fetched the shovel out of the storage room to scoop the dead chicken up to toss far into the woods. However, when I stood over the chicken, I could see that she was still alive, breathing, even able to stand, but she was mortally wounded. I knew that we would have to have the unfortunate task of putting her out of her misery. Mitch was away at work, and wouldn't be home for at least 3 to 4 hours. I called him anyways asking what to do. He told me my two options were to either take care of the situation myself or let the hen suffer until he was able to come home. Of course I couldn't allow the poor hen to suffer, so I called my oldest son Maddox outside to help me. I had him find an axe while I brought the chicken over to a chopping block located on the side of the house. I didn't think that I could do it, so I asked Maddox to take over for me, he was willing, but with the axe in his hand I was concerned that he would miss and cause the hen further pain, and what kind of mother was I to have my 9 year old son to kill a chicken instead of taking care of the dirty work myself. To be fair, this wasn't his first chicken slaughter, but it would be mine. I took the axe from his hand and said I would do it myself. I screamed as I swung the axe down, the head was removed and the poor hen was dead. I cleaned up the mess myself and thanked Maddox for his help.

This all happened a couple of months ago. Bella our dog has since killed all of our barred rock chickens, but she has left our cornish rock and red star chickens alone. I guess our black and white chickens were too slow to get away from her. I'm not sure how to train our dog to leave our chickens alone, especially since she has a taste for them, but we're trying our best to work with her, after all she is only a big puppy, who isn't yet a year old.

Farming Story: Egg in the Snake's Mouth

Back in October while the kids and I were outside doing some light yard work clearing our yard of sticks, trash, and toys, we noticed the ducks were upset and fussing. Skylar checked to see what all the excitement was about and found a snake in the ducks' nest! This was all the more upsetting because one of our ducks had finally started to go broody, and we were expecting a nest full of ducklings soon. Mitch was working from home, so I was able to get him down to the coop right away. Mitch grabbed the snake by the tail and pulled him into view. He was a long rat snake with a large egg shaped lump in his throat. To save the egg, Mitch pushed the egg out of the snake's mouth with his foot! Unfortunately the snake scared the ducks away from sitting on their eggs again, and we don't have baby ducklings.

Farming Story: Pigs Are Out

One afternoon a couple of months back, I had just put the little ones down for a nap while the big kids ventured outside to play. I was washing dishes when Maddox bolted through the back door to announce that the pigs were missing! I was a little confused, but when I went outside to investigate, I found that sure enough our two hogs were not only not in their cage, but they weren't in the yard either, or anywhere to be found. A tree branch had fallen on the pig pen, allowing them to get away. Our property is surrounded by woods, so  I assumed they were out foraging not too far from home. I filled a bowl with pig feed and set out into the woods calling for the pigs, tapping on the food bowl. It then occurred to me that even if I found these pigs, how in the world was I going to get them back into their pen? Even if I had thought to bring a rope or leash with me, its not like they have collars, and I'm certainly not strong enough to pull these pigs, who are 250 lbs each, out of the woods all the way home. I kept calling. Suddenly I heard a gun fire! Our nearest neighbor is 10 plus acres away. Close enough to walk to, but not close enough to see. My heart sank knowing that a neighbor had found two strange pigs in his yard and probably shot them to keep them from eating his garden. My next thought was, well I guess we'll have to process our bacon today. I started to walk back home from the woods. The plan was to hop in the car and talk to the neighbors, but I could hear the big kids calling for me saying, "Mom! Mom! We found the pigs!!" As I reached my backyard I could see our giant pigs running down our dirt road, into our yard, and towards me in the backyard! The gun shot must have been from a neighbor not shooting my pigs, but giving them a scare so they would run back home. Because I still had the food bowl in my hand, they ran right to me, following the food bowl as I led them back into their pen. I was so relieved! A few weeks later we were able to send them to the butcher and we now have a freezer full of pork.

Thanksgiving 2015

This year we started a thankful pumpkin, and we're all adding what we are thankful for on our pumpkin!

This year year we also decided to raise our own turkeys. We had three, which we named Christmas, Thanksving, and Justin Case. Justin Case died one day while were were away from home. We're not sure what happened, but it looked as if he got his foot caught in the fence of the coop, and struggled to death trying to set himself free.

We butchered the turkeys ourselves the weekend before Thanksgiving with the help of Uncle Mike. The turkeys weighed only 10 lbs each before the slaughter. For Thanksgiving we sliced the breast meat, battered and fried them into turkey fingers, and they were delicious! 

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents house with my sister and her family, Grandma, who came in from SC, Granny Ann and Bobby, Uncle Mike and Debra, and Jody.

Our First Rattlesnake

While working on school, we noticed out the window the chickens and turkeys gathering together, excited, and acting strange. With a closer look I could see that there was a rattlesnake in our yard, and the birds were trying to run him off! Up until now I have only seen a rattlesnake once before, and that was only a few weeks ago crossing the road. We were warned when we moved down here that we would see plenty of rattlesnakes, and so far I have seen 2 too many! I ran upstairs to grab a gun. Mitch wasn't home, and I wanted the snake dead. The kids are outside everyday, and I couldn't stand the thought of them getting bit by a rattlesnake. But by the time I returned to the yard the snake was gone.

I'll admit, I took time to take a picture of the snake before I ran to get a gun. This is a zoomed in photo.

The kids stayed inside the rest of the day, and I took over the night shift of feeding and locking up the animals. The next morning Skylar got up to go outside to feed her baby pig when she dropped everything and came running inside screaming. We could barely understand her, until she calmed down enough to let us know that the snake was dead on our back porch! The head was missing and and the cats were enjoying a feast. We believe that the cats hunted and killed the snake in the middle of the night, and then drug him up on the porch, as they do with most of their prey that they want to show off.

Mitch threw the dead snake deep into the woods, but not before cutting off the rattle for Maddox. I hope not to see another rattlesnake again so close to home, but I'm sure it won't be our last.

Farming Story: Pig Killed a Chicken, Snake in the Coop

One night last week Mitch had to butcher a chicken, because earlier that day the poor chicken had been injured by a pig.

Maddox was eager to help and asked for me to take their picture. We ate this little guy 2 days later, the same day Skylar decided to become a vegetarian.

That wasn't however our only excitement for the day. 3 year old Mason is running around the house with his toy gun pretending to shoot snakes because we also discovered a grey rat snake in the chicken coop, but by the time Mitch got home to take care of the situation with his gun, the snake was gone. Mitch figured it would be. 

We haven't seen him since.

Our First Hogs

Porky and Hamlet

After church we took a small family field trip to a pig farm to pick out two feeder pigs of our own. This was such a fun family experience! The pig farmers allowed Skylar and Maddox into the pen to chase and catch our pigs.

Once our pigs were caught the farmers gave the piglets their shots and castrated the poor things. We are looking forward to being pig farmers ourselves and raising our own bacon.

Our First Meat Chickens

Our mission when we first moved to the country was to start a small hobby farm, where we could raise our own meat, fruits, and vegetables. We are starting slow, and we started with chickens! Skylar and Maddox have taken on the chore of feeding them every morning. We have all waited patiently for the chickens to be big enough to eat, and that day has finally come.

I was able to pardon one of our roosters, just so we would be able to have the sound of a cock a doodle doo on the farm. I'm also hoping for our rooster to mate with our laying hens, that we may have baby chicks of our own without buying them from a local hatchery. I named our pardon rooster Lucky.

Butcher day was a family event with my dad and my uncle helping us out! My dad ingeniously and generously put together a homemade chicken plucker for us, and this worked perfectly! Our freezer is now stocked full of chicken and we're so happy to have this experience. 

**Update** July 9th 2015

Our laying hens have been doing a great job laying eggs! And Lucky is even playing his part and has become a daddy! The little chicks are so cute in the yard following their momma around. We are truly bless!

Home in Georgia

Moving down to Georgia was a substantial change for us, but we already feel right at home!

Though everyone was already excited about the move, we wanted to get the kids into the country spirit by offering them special gifts. Skylar and Maddox received BB guns, while Mason and Josiah slipped on new camo boots!

Just days after moving in we joined our new local homeschool group, Classical Conversations, where we meet once a week with other like minded Christian families, friends, and tutors. Tuesdays have quickly become the kids' favorite day of the week! I know that Skylar and Maddox miss their SC friends, but we were thrilled that within days both the kids made new friends, who we have since had a handful of playdates with outside of school.

Because my sister and her family traveled into town for a 2 and a half week visit, our first few weeks were made a little more adventurous. It was special having my sister and her family here for the extended stay, because it gave us a sneak peek in the near future for when her family plans to move back home to GA as well! Between Jessica and I, we have 3 toddlers ages 1, 1, and 2, we call them the triple threat, and I can't wait to watch these cousins grow up together! Grandma drove in for an extended stay too, we are leaving her behind in SC, which made the move bitter sweet, or as my grandma would tell you, just bitter, but as it would seem, no one in our family can go longer than a few days without calling or checking in on each other, so no one will be missed for too long before another call or visit is made. 

Living close to my parents (and soon my sister too), is one of the many reasons why we wanted to live in Georgia, another is to experience the country life. We wanted to get away from the city, and live a life slowed down, focusing on building stronger relationships with each other, our family, and our friends. This lifestyle has proven to do just that! We've only been here a few short weeks and the kids are already spending their free time fishing in the pond outside our home, shooting their bb guns in the yard, exploring the woods surrounding our 5 acres, and learning from their papa how to pick and boil fresh peanuts, scale and clean a fish, spray a cotton field, and dig a pond on papa's land. Our small town is surrounded by other small towns, this means there is a lack of restaurants and weekend night entertainment. Because the country lacks these city streets, and miles of entertainment, we are forced to gather with each other and make our own fun! The second week we were here, family friends invited us to attend a fish fry. The day before my kids journeyed out with my dad and his friends to fish for this fry, and together Skylar and Maddox caught 24 fish between them! This was our first night "out", and we had a good time with family and friends, enjoying fried fish, grits, and homemade slaw. 

With hunting season is in full swing, the real reason for my sister's visit wasn't to spend time with me, but so that her husband could go hunting on family land. My brother in law shot with a bow 4 deer while he was here, so as a family we gathered together in my parents's front lawn and processed the deer. I counted this as a field trip for the kids. Skylar thought it was gross, but Maddox relished in the manliness of it!

That night, after processing the deer and turning it into hamburger, we grilled burgers together at my place and set up a bonfire, inviting more family to join and delight in the night with us.

We still have plans to grow a garden, raise chickens, goats, and maybe even a pig or two. This past weekend Mitch and the kids worked hard in the yard to clean out the barns and the chicken coop. When animals do arrive, I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures and adventures to follow!