Lots of goings-on here at Two Bears Farm, now that it's spring. One of our chickens, Buddha Hen, developed some assues. It was BAD. So after much discussion we knew we were going to need to bathe her. Our biggest discussion was how to get her away from our rooster without him coming after the 'abductor'. He can be kind of possessive. I penned Buddha Hen and Crockett (the rooster) in the chicken tractor and then Paul did the hen-napping. We brought her into the utility sink for the bath.
She actually did just fine for the scrub down. We did not use soap, as it could have irritated her, but several times I wished we'd had soap because it certainly would've helped the situation. I tried to be very gentle, and let the warm water spray for a bit to try to soften things up (ick). I got her as clean as I could and hopefully she's feeling better now.
While doing chores on Saturday, I found the most perfect four leaf clover. Usually when I find them the fourth leaf is smaller, but this one was all symmetrical. I left it where it was. Maybe it'll bring our garden luck, if we ever get the seeds planted.
Another spring chore is getting the horses dewormed and vaccinated.
The bribe:
Victim #1:
Her hair is longer than the needles!
Here are all the supplies for 3 horses: Quest dewormer, 3 4-way vaccines, and 3 West Nile virus vaccines.
I've already blogged previously on how to deworm a horse/give a vaccine, so I won't bore you with that again. It all went smoothly.
A sign of spring:
And, finally, the morel mushrooms are in season!
Oh boy oh boy! We wait for this two week window all year! Turns out this year is a bumper crop too (after several years that were pretty lame).
Not only is it a bumper crop year, but the morels are much larger than usual:
Mmmmm, can't wait to saute these in some garlic and butter and toss with angel hair!
Do you forage anything?
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38 comments:
You have to spend a lot of time cleaning bottoms at your house. The mushroom dish sounds wonderful.
Glad to hear you got the "fun" chores accomplished! (With some great signs of spring thrown in there!)
the hen's story made me laugh, a lot. my goodness -- i never realized that a job like that must need to be done at least once in a while .....
the four-leaf clover is SO neat, i'm going to show my girls the photo. they are always searching and hoping ....
the mushrooms with pasta sounds so delicious! i may have to go out and buy some for myself : )
I'm sad this morning, chicks arrived two days ago, all seemed fine, and one is dead this morning :-( It's the barred rock of my group. Ugh!!!... I am watching for pasty butt, the heat is the right temp, they all look perky and water is clean, they are eating their crumbles...don't know what happened to this one.
Anyway..I've never had fresh picked morels and I have heard they are incredible, and worth their weight in gold!!!... I love mushrooms, do they grow in Connecticut, you think?
Ah ,life on a farm! That only thing we are foraging here right now is blackberries!
LOL well thats a new one, washing a hens hiney LOL
Those mushrooms look so good! I don't guess we have those here. To bad. You could can some and have them all year :O).
Glad the hen behaved for her bath. :)
I'd love to gather morels, but am pretty hesitant to try it without someone who has experience. Last year we foraged lots of blackberries, persimmons, and autumn berries.
You know...when I opened your blog today, I really was NOT expecting a bath for chickens blog :).
laughed at jdaniel4's mom's comment! ha! i can only imagine!
you give your own horse vaccines? wow. i always pay for a vet visit - that way they can clean the gelding's sheath and check / float teeth at the same time...
Busy, busy! I know all about those chicken butts. They should make diapers... oh, I think I could make some money on this idea! Dibs! ;)
You certainly sound busy on your farm!!
I have never washed a chicken butt, but if i need expert advice now i know where to go!!!
and yes you found a perfect four leaf clover! haha
Thanks
Leontien
Fun post - you lead an interesting life. I love love love mushrooms - and morels - Gold!
What a great post! We love the morels, I guess it's time to get out and get looking :)
I need to scroll back and find your post on doing vaccines, I think I'll do them myself this year and a little coaching would be welcomed.
I wonder if there's a call for a chicken wash in your area.... You never know, this could be where you find your fortune!
Does the Farmer's Market count as foraging??? :)
We don't forage anything, but both of our dogs do-in the compost pile. It makes them sick, and then they have assues! (That is just hilarious!)
They seem to be able to get around any fence or gate we put up. I don't know-I guess when the choice is Purina or rotting carrot peelings, it is a difficult decision...
Oh my! We're hoping to get chickens soon, but bathing bottoms was NOT a planned part of my 'to dos' !! I guess I have a lot to learn ;)
I still can't believe you were able to give a hen a bath! More importantly, having grown up in Indiana, just seeing the handful or morels make my mouth water. I miss them so much. I would even give a hen a bath for a skillet full of morels sizzling away...LOL
Oh my goodness it is fun to read about your farm adventures - I've never even been on one so this is great for me.
Hope your hen is okay.
sandie
I always thought it would be fun to live on a farm! But sounds like alot of work. I'll have to live through you for now :)
We've been talking about getting some chickens & realize I have a ton to learn before I get started!
Those morels looks fantastic.
I don't forage but I am happy to live vicariously through you for now. I can't wait to have a stretch of green for growing.
Lots going on around there! I'm trying to catch up! The chicken butt washing made giggle, and I'm glad the horse deworming went well!
Of course love seeing the pictures of the boys in the previous posts as well. :)
It's always interesting to read about your life since it is very far removed and different from my reality! I've never seen mushrooms like that ever! Very cool. Never mind giving horses vaccines and catching chickens to bathe them! LOL!
How lucky to find morels on your land! Spring IS a busy, busy time. Yours looks particularly so.
The morels are so cool!! Now I will always remember what a morel looks like. Do you have a whole mushroom garden where you grow them specially? How do you grow them, I guess there are no mushroom seeds...yes go ahead and laugh!! Your tulip shot is beautiful. You really do have quite a big and varied farm!! I love it!
You're the second blogger I've visited TODAY who had to wash a hen. What are the odds?
Wishing you a Happy Easter.
Crockett, get possessive? or Was it aggressive? Nooooooooo, not my friendly neighborhood rooster...that can't be the same guy! Wow! You got a ton of mushrooms! Good for you!...)JP
I don't forage mushrooms,because I don't know enough about them. I do forage poke sallet, we like that cooked with scrambled eggs. We eat it in early spring,a couple of times then we get tired of it,but it is good. Hope the hen gets to feeling better. Blessings jane
We used to have a rabbit who needed his butt cleaned at least once a week. So gross...I always made Tim do it!!
I had no idea you could eat those mushrooms!!!
I don't think I could handle the animal issues!
I'm going to have to get some of those mushrooms girl! Last year all I seen was ramps this and ramps that so I found some and tried them. They were really good so we planted a few in our woods to get them growing where we would know where to find them at. Now this year all I'm seeing is mushrooms here and there and I need some! Any hints as to where I might find some on my property? lol I would think that with 66 acres there would be some somewhere!
Have a Great Day!
Angela
I love the 'assues" term. I was cleaning goat hineys myself today. I have a friend that can find a 4 leaf clover in a parking lot. I never find them, but yours is perfect. Great post. Thanks!
To bad you didn't find the four leaf clover first, then maybe you wouldn't have had to do the chicken thing! You sure are a versatile girl and lead a fun and interesting life. Carol
Interesting that you had to wash your chicken's butt :)
So I've never had that kind of mushroom, what do they taste like? My mouth watered when I read what you were going to do with them. Yuuuum!
The mushroom dish sounds deliciously mouth watering.
You never know what you'll be doing next on the farm! Those morels look amazing, I hope we find some this year!!
Wow! Those are large morels. I hope to find more here today. We had some nice misty weather yesterday and the temperature is perfect. Yum.
Sounds busy. I must say those mushrooms look great. I hope your clover brings you luck. Have a great Easter weekend!
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