My Opinion on Winter Eggs........

I sell eggs to a few people in the neighborhood.  One of the librarians at the library also sells eggs.  They actually have a U-Pick type farm and The Youngun and I go there to help pick strawberries every year, in exchange for berries.  It's a purty good deal ;).  Anyway, ever since it got cold outside my egg customers have been calling.  The conversation usually goes like this:

EC (egg customer): Is this the egg lady?
Me: Yup, shore is!
EC: Well I know your chickens probably aren't laying right now, but ya got any eggs to spare?
Me: Uh, yeah my chickens are laying like gangbusters, between 9 and a dozen eggs a day, how many ya need?
EC: Well do you have 6 dozen?
Me: Yup, come on over

I was in the library recently and J (the librarian) said to me, are your chickens laying?  I said, yup, between 9 and a dozen a day.  She said her hens had completely stopped laying and wondered why mine still were.  I don't keep my hens under lights and I don't feed them any super egg producing secret formula, but I do know what my opinion on the matter is..........would you like to hear it?  If not...........stop reading :P

Eggs are made up of lots and lots of WATER.  In the winter, water freezes, therefore the hens can't drink as much as they need to produce eggs.  Folks go out to do chores twice a day, break the ice, let their hens drink and that's that.  The hens are getting enough water to live, but not enough to produce eggs.  In the winter my hens are watered out of a metal hog pan.  I then hang a heat lamp right over top of that water, about 6 inches above the top of the pan.  This means that my chickens not only have access to un-frozen water, but they have access to WARM water.  When it's cold outside, all animals will drink more if they have access to warm water, as opposed to only un-frozen water.  It is my belief that my hens never stop laying in winter because they are still drinking lots of water.  The only time my hens stop laying is when they moult, which is natural because their bodies are working too hard growing new feathers to be worried about making eggs.  The first question I asked J was, Can they get to water?  She said, well I water them in the morning and at night so they have water until it freezes again..........therefore the answer to my question was NO.

So there you have it.........the unsolicited opinion of why my hens lay like gangbusters all winter long, no matter how cold it gets outside!  Aren't you glad you read this today?  LOL!  And if you think I'm wrong, or simply psychotic, don't be afraid to tell me!  :)

Ps...........I've got a new project in the works, that I'll be talking about next week, plus The Man is on vacation, so I may have some kitchen updates to share!

Till next time..............GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Silly Rabbit.........

This is Moon. 

 Some of you may remember Moon from this post regarding her first litter of kits.  Moon is bred again and she's due on Saturday.  When you've got a doe that's close to kindling you give her a big ole bunch of hay and a nest box and she will do the rest.  Moon is a goofy bunny and she likes to get things prepared about a week in advance!  Most rabbits are content to do this the day before, or sometimes even minutes before!  Not our Moon..........This past Saturday when I was doing chores, as soon as I put her snack hay in her cage she gathered it up in her mouth and started hopping around her cage looking for a good place to stash it.  I moved her into the maternity ward (even though I knew that it would be at least a week before the blessed event took place), gave her her nest box and a big wad of soft hay.  Then she proceeded to get to work!

She's since pulled lots of pretty blue fur and tucked it in a corner of the box.  She's all set, and ready for labor to begin!  Probably on Saturday or Sunday, I'll go down to do chores and that pile of soft blue fur will be softly moving.  I'll reach down gently and lay my hand over top.  Like hot popping popcorn, those babies will shoot up and bounce off the palm of my hand.  I'll take the box out, uncover the babies and count them, making sure that there are no dead babies in there.  Every morning when I feed, I'll run my hands over those popcorn babies to be sure they are ok.  Within a few weeks the babies will be out of the box and nibbling on hay and pellets.  Then when they are about 9 to 12 weeks old they will be ready to butcher! 

We really enjoy keeping rabbits and of course eating them as well! 

Till next time.............GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

The Continuing Saga of The Goodwife and Steve............

My love affair with Steve seems to be getting out of hand.  I can't stop myself from being with him.  It's becoming an obsession really.  Just look at what we started yesterday and finished this morning.........

And here I am modeling it for Steve......I'll model it for The Paintiff when he gets home.  He's very understanding about my love affair with Steve.....

There is no telling what Steve and I will do next!

Till next time..............GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

WI today.................

I'm down 8/10 of a pound and still feeling fab! I know that I'm starting to whip this demon because I have nothing to blog about! I'm blogging almost daily on my farm blog http://www.goodwifefarm.com/ and have nothing to say on my Thickin and Thinnin blog. This is actually a really good thing. Last week I ate at Long John Silvers and Subway and didn't feel even a tiny bit of guilt. I was hungry, I ate, I tracked and that was that. It's very freeing and I wish I had words to describe how I feel. I'm so thankful to God for sending me to WW. I feel like a normal person. I'm not the least bit freaked out or obsessed or even concerned with what I weigh. I track, eat clean and healthy, and work out. Weighing myself is seriously almost an afterthought. It's hard to describe. I know that my weight will continue to go down, but I'm just living ya know? I have no idea how to articulate how I feel, but it's good and I'm thankful.

Here's wishing you success and happiness in life and don't forget to ask God for direction, He'll never steer you wrong!!

Till next time.........I'm stillunTHICKINandsoTHINNIN!

ps.......I'm teaching myself to sew and I made the blouse I'm wearing in this picture! ;)

My Goat Predictions..........

So I've been doing some sleuthing about my knocked up goatish girls and this is what I think........

This one here, due March 8..............Triplets

This one here, due February 27..............Twins

This one here, due March 10..............A singleton.

There, I've commited myself......now we shall see how far off I am!

Adventures in Seed Starting............

I've never started seeds before, so I decided to seize the day and start some pepper seeds this year. I bought myself a Jiffy instant greenhouse and some mixed pepper seeds for about 10 bucks from Wal-Trash.  I'm sure that I could've found a cheaper way to do this, but since I'm a beginner I wanted to give myself the best chance for success.

Here are the little peat pods

This is what they look like before you add the water

And this is how they look after the water is added and they are expanded.  Pretty slick trick eh?

Here are my witty bitty pepper seeds......

I put two seeds per peat pod and then lightly covered them with peat.

Then you put the handy dandy plastic cover over them, set them in a warm place out of direct sunlight, and wait for them to sprout.  I have mine in my bathroom on top of the dryer.  After the seeds sprout you are supposed to prop the top up, then when they've all sprouted you remove the top and put in a sunny place.  My plan is, after all my little peppers have sprouted, I'm going to move the little peat pods into the old fish aquarium and then put the hood on with a grow bulb.  Hopefully this will work out well.  I'll be posting updates as we go along. 

I have quite a few peat pods empty so I think I'm going to start some tomatoes as well. 

Till next time...........GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

So Much to Share.............

All of my life I've wanted a Hoosier Cabinet. As some of you know, we are getting ready to do some minor kitchen remodeling. The Man came home from work last week and said, Why don't you buy yourself one of those cabinets that you been wantin'. Well let me tell you, that was all I needed to hear. I got right on Craigslist and started looking. I found one about an hour south of us that was VERY reasonably priced. It had been restored in the 70's and had been in use in the couple's kitchen for the last 33 years. That just happens to be how old I am now ;) So on Saturday we went and picked up this beautiful piece of history!  I can't wait to spend Monday getting it all set up the way that I want it.  Since it's been restored it will be strong enough to stand up to the rigors of daily use that I intend on putting it through!

Also on Saturday my folks came to spend the night with us so my Mom and I played with Steve.  I learned a great deal!  Mom taught me how to bind my quilt.

And here is the finished baby quilt.  I've decided since I'm setting up a hope chest for The Youngun, that I'm going to put this quilt in it for her.

Steve and I also finished my blouse! 

I really like my blouse!  It's comfy, modest yet cute and I've got such a sense of satisfaction knowing that i made it myself. 

I've got a bit more to share, but will do so in a day or two! 

Till next time..............GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!