Chicken Run

So with the last few weeks battling Mr. Red Shoulder and Mr. Red Tailed hawk I needed to beef up the size of my run and add a new extension for the days when the hawks are just really relentless. So I got a 10x5x6 dog kennel and cover and attached that to my coop the results were this:

The finished run and coop

that was a dog kennel

That was the pre-existing coop and small run/pen area

The girls seem to like it I think here they are checking it out:

I am getting ready for my garlic planting in the next few weeks. The girls are helping me fertilize the soil and getting it in friable condition. here they are in my fall flowers:

The girls in the Fall flowers

September Morn’

I have been lax in my writing the past few weeks! We have had a busy last few weeks here at the Hannah-Murphy’s. We lost another chicken. She became lunch to our local Red Shouldered Hawk. It was not a pretty scene and my girls are still really upset and barely leave their run now. We also welcomed 3 new pullets to the flock. They are black and white Plymouth Barred Rocks. They flew in from Texas last Wednesday and have settled in nicely, their names are: MJ, LaToya, and Janet. In fact this morning one of the girls (Janet) ate from my hand so a week in and getting comfy. My older girls are not thrilled in the least but they are currently all in separate coops and runs and can just see each other. In a few weeks I am sure they will forget all about hating each other. I think later this week I will allow the new girls to free range and see how it goes. Not sure if I should stagger free-range times and let the new girls get a feel of the yard on their own, or let everyone out and if there is trouble at least the little ones have some running space. We’ll see. Hopefully by mid October everyone will be happy and in in 1 coop.

Since Mr. Hawk has been making an appearance we have to sure up a new run. I have opted for a covered dog run. It is made with galvanized chain link fence and is 10ft, by 5ft by 6ft high with a door for people. I will dig down some hardware cloth to keep critters from digging in and the roof will keep the elements and hawks from coming in. I am not too handy with wood crafts, so this kit should be fine. I hope! No more lunch for Mr. Hawk.

 

We are also busy with the end of the season garden and getting ready for fall plantings. I have some straw much ready to go, my first batch of homemade compost (compliments of the chickens) and my 4 different types of garlic ready to plant later this week. We are planting, some Georgia Fire porcelain hardnecks, Music hardnecks, Samarkand-Persian Star hardneck, and Erik’s German White hardnecks. We are also going to try yellow multiplier onions this year. Just as a small experiment. I still plan on planting sets in the Spring but I have heard good things about the Fall planted onions and would like to see if this can work and not have to buy sets every spring. I like that I am building up my garlic crops and varieties. With those 4 varieties I should be set for life 🙂 The hardnecks did the best in my garden the soft necks didn’t fair as well.

So now that Fall is upon us shortly (although it is 83º out as I write this) look for more blog updates as well as some of my homesteading tips that get me through throughout the year. Also the birth of my second son is happening shortly in November so look for cute baby pics for the holidays!

Some New Chickens on the way

Since I have been the harbinger of chicken death lately I am pressing my luck and getting 3 new chickens to add to the Hannah-Murphy menagerie! This time I am getting a different breed then My Red Stars. 3 Barred Plymouth Rocks. They are a black and white breed and look something like this (minus the weird studio pose..really who brings their chickens to a photo shoot?).

So, they will be joining us the week of September 4th. Their names are MJ, Janet, and LaToya. Yep, I did that chickens. Mildly douchey I know, but I am Jen Murphy after all! I am looking forward to having them though. It will be yet another new adventure here.

On a side note my 3yr old  boy is officially potty trained!!! Thank you Sweet Baby Jesus!!!!!

Today’s Harvest

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Today I had quite the crop of food. 2lbs of squash, 1lb of green beans, 1lb of Japanese Eggplant, 3 eggs from the girls, garlic, onions and lots of jalapenos!

I am the Chicken Angel of Death

I just had to cull one of our chickens. That was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but needed. She had been eggbound for 2-3 days. I had felt around up there and felt nothing,  no stuck egg, or anything. The last egg she laid was shell-less so something was afoot. Also she seemed crop bound at the same time she had a hard lump in her crop and I thought that may be the culprit so I gave warm olive oil and  massaged the crop and it seemed to break up, but I also noticed she wasn’t pooping. So after 2 days of this her health was waning and she was getting sicker and sicker.  I knew I did the right thing, it just sucked really hard to do it (for lack of better terms). I am not raising them for meat so I am not eating these birds I buried them. This is the 2nd bird I lost. The first bird I lost the same way. But I wasn’t paying attention and she suffered and died in her nest box. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. So rest in peace Jan! You were a good bird and I got a perfect egg everyday from you up until the end! So thank you!

My sweet Jan in my flowers that she loved!

 

 

Finally Bottled the Lager

So my kitchen was being remodeled for the last month and I have been waiting patiently to bottle my lager. It is a French farmhouse beer know as a Biere de Garde. It is malty and slightly sweet with a bit of fruit nose and even un-carbonated (I of course snuck a few sips before bottling) tastes fantastic. I used to be afraid of lagering, but this is my 3rd one and I must say all 3 have been my best brewed beers to date. I have an ESB ready to be brewed possibly at the end of the month. I am thinking of lagering that. I saved some of the yeast cake from the primary ferment of the Biere de Garde and I think I may see what happens when I turn an Ale into a larger. It will either be fantastic or fail miserably. We will see. I also have a Cream Ale that needs to be brewed soon. A nice late Summer early Fall Ale.

Here is the quick unscientific recipe if anyone is interested:

Ingredients:

– 0.5 lbs Belgian Aromatic Malt
– 0.5 lbs Gambrinus Honey Malt
– 3 lbs Pilsen dry malt extract (90 min)
– 4 lbs Pilsen dry malt extract (15 min)
– 1 oz Styrian Goldings Hops (90 min)
-Wyeast 2035 American Lager yeast ( it was what I had on hand, there is a Biere de Garde Wyeast that is available)

Directions:

– Collect and heat 5 gallons of water.
– Pour crushed grains into a mesh bag and tie the open end in a knot. Steep for 20 minutes or until water reaches 170°F. Remove bag and discard.
-Bring to a boil and remove the kettle from the burner and add the 3 lbs Pilsen dried malt extract.
-Return wort to boil.
– Add 1 oz Styrian Goldings hops and boil for 90 minutes.
– Add 4 lbs Pilsen DME 15 minutes before the end of the boil.
– When the 90-minute boil is finished, cool the wort to approximately 100° F as rapidly as possible.Use a wort chiller, or put the kettle in an ice bath in your sink.
– Sanitize fermenting equipment and yeast pack.
– Fill primary fermenter with cold water, until it reaches 5 gallons, then pour in the cooled wort. Leave any thick sludge in the bottom of the kettle.
– Aerate the wort and add the yeast when the wort is 70 degrees. Allow to ferment for about 2 weeks at the temp required on your yeast packet.
– After 2 weeks transfer to your secondary fermenter. Allow the beer to condition in the secondary fermenter for at least 2 months at lager temps between 36-48 degrees before bottling.
– bottle with 5 oz. of corn sugar for carbonation and sit at room temp ( about 70 degrees or less) for 2-3 weeks…
– DRINK AND ENJOY!!!

July 6th Garden Fireworks

Like the displays in the sky this week, so has our garden been showing off. Lots of squash, new potatoes and the first batch of garlic.  This is where all the hard work and planning from the Fall and Spring start to pay off.  I just picked 25 heads of garlic, and I still have 37 more to go in the next few weeks! Hope my family, friends, and neighbors enjoy garlic.  Plus, the tomatoes are growing along with the peppers and eggplant starting to be accounted for.  Happy Holiday week from the Hannah-Murphy’s! I hope you are all enjoying natures fireworks in your own yard, farms, or rooftops!

Some lunch ingredients for this afternoon complements of nature and my girls!

And Now for Your Moment of Zen…..

Chickens offer a sense of peace and humility which in a sense help keep me grounded. If I  am having a bad day, I need only to spend  some time with them before I feel like myself again. Their silly antics make us laugh, and their sense of family and purpose is heartening  to watch. They have social lives and structure with distinct personalities, and they really do take care of each other. I just couldn’t imagine having a garden without my chickens, and don’t know how I did for all those years before.

First veggies from the garden

Yesterday was the first day that we were able to harvest some fresh veggies from the garden. We had a bumper crop of Champion peas and a a squirrel dug up some early garlic, so we used it!

Both were beyond delicious. Looking forward to the rest of the garden coming in! The potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and eggplant are all looking fantastic so far. Still alot of summer to go so fingers crossed!

And We Have Chickens!

So, the latest addition to the Hannah-Murphy bunch is 5 chickens. I am embracing this living sustainably thing full tilt! I built a nice coop that is big enough for 8 chickens out of a kit that I bought from the Amish. The chickens have a nice designer Amish coop 🙂 I am sure they appreciate it. They arrived the second week of April and started laying their eggs about 2 weeks later. I bought started pullets from Murray McMurray Hatchery out of Iowa because I didn’t want a batch of 25 chicks or to deal with little chicks in the house with my 3yr old constantly picking them up and probably killing a 1/2 dozen. So started pullets were the way to go. I want them for egg production for my family and neighbors, so we went with a hybrid breed called Red Stars. They are quiet, docile, friendly, and follow me around like dogs. They lay just about every day. We named them Alice, Carol, Marsha, Jan and Cindy-after the girls on the Brady Bunch 🙂

My fancy Amish Coop and JenMurphy Run

Last week we lost one of the girls. Marsha has been laying the world’s largest eggs. They look like ostrich eggs they were so big. Some with double even triple yolks. I knew that was not a normal thing and we adjusted feeds and came up with combo that worked for everyone (McMurray organic layer feed, flax seeds, and oyster shell), plus they free-range and have a plethora of bugs and weeds. Marsha still was laying huge eggs. Then she stopped laying eggs. It went on for 3 days with no eggs. I felt for the tell tale egg bound signs and saw or felt none. She was still eating and socializing and all. Then on the 3rd day about 4pm on Memorial Day I see her sitting in the corner of the run alone and squatting. Like she was going to lay an egg, and her eyes were closed and she was obviously sick. I rushed to help her but again I could not feel an egg, her vent wasn’t swollen. They were all vaccinated for every disease known to man, and all of my other chickens were thriving and doing well. I assumed she was egg bound and/or an egg broke in her and the egg shells were causing this situation. I put her in a warm water bath and tried to help her pass this problem, but now at 10:30pm on a holiday there wasn’t much I could do. I put her back in the coop in a nesting box. The next morning she had passed. I was so sad. I felt so helpless that I couldn’t help this little creature who has been so loyal and feeding us. I should have ended her life earlier, but it looks like she went to sleep, and never woke up. So I feel a little better about it. We burried her in the yard, made her a wooden cross (apprently she was a Christian chicken) and there she is. A reminder to myself that we are all in this together. The animals, the land, nature, and all. We need to work together and make this thing work!

R.I.P. Marsha!

Aside from chickens we have another new addition to the Hannah-Murphy homestead meet:

Meet the newest addition!

So a lot happening. We are also doing construction and I am currently without a kitchen. May 9th the kitchen looked like this:

So we have no oven?

It as of now it looks like this:

Getting there walls and paint

Now we just need cabinets, tile, trim, appliances, and final finish on the oak floor. OY! Count down to my July vacation to Lubec Maine is on now!