Happy Winter

Chickens on Ice

Winter is upon us at Lazy Danes. We're battling frozen water troughs and a freak snow storm at the moment. The animals are not sure about the white stuff blanketing the ground. The goats finally decided to give it a try, but mostly stay in their house. The chickens are coming out a bit more after the fourth day. They slip and slide all over the ice topped snow. The turkeys have been the most adventurous, wandering around wondering what happened to the grass. The Angoras are just glad that they're not hot anymore. The dogs like a good 20 minute zoomie session then they come in shivering to lay by the heater.

Roscoe, checking out the snow

In more turkey news, 2 more have been processed for our family's Christmas dinner. We're left with 3 Royal Palms and the promise of more in the spring. Along with the turkey order, we will be getting more chickens as well. This time there will be a small number to process and a few more egg layers. The girls have slowed down their egg production due to the shorter days during this time of year, but we still have ours and a few to sell. Also in production- we believe a New Zealand (meat rabbit) to be pregnant and due to deliver on or about Christmas. The goats should both be in kid for milk and milk products in the spring.

Royal Palm Turkeys

I have been knitting like crazy, gifts for the family as well as stockings to sell at the gallery. The spinning has taken a back seat, but I hope to get back to that after the holidays.

Stockings

Giving Thanks for the Turkeys

Notes from Chuck...
Today I slaughtered, scalded, plucked, and dressed out 2 heritage breed turkeys for our Thanksgiving dinners. Not only have these turkeys led happy, healthy lives, but raising them and processing myself makes me feel very appreciative of how fortunate we are. We really lose something when we buy our food wrapped in plastic, shipped to us from an anonymous factory somewhere. We have become so many layers removed that we forget what really goes into the food that goes into our (and our children's) bodies.

Anyway - enough soapbox.

Things I learned / relearned today:

1) Water management is key. If everything else goes perfectly and you don't have your water needs under control, your whole experience will suck. You will need a large tub of hot water, a canning pot sized container of ice water, and clean, fresh water (like from a garden hose). Get your water straight and think it through before you get started, and everything else falls into line.

2) Start your fire early. You need that big tub of water HOT before you can scald the birds, and you can't do any plucking or cleaning until then. Start your fire and build some coals, then put some fresh wood on before putting your tub on.

3) 3/4 full is PLENTY of water in the scalding tub. Any more than that, and water sloshes over the edge and puts out your fire. That sucks. Also, the more water in the tub, the longer it takes to heat.

4) It is worthwhile to invest in or build a killing cone. If you cut the throat of or chop the head off a turkey that you're holding or have strung up by the feet, it will start flapping furiously and spray a fount of blood for a good (no exaggeration) 10 feet in every direction. It looks like something out of a zombie movie, and the death throes for turkeys last a solid minute or two, which is a long time when you're holding a flapping blood sprinkler in one hand and wiping your eyes with the other. If you don't have a killing cone, a wooden ledge under your chopping block works well - just route the bird's neck under the ledge and it will bleed out down there.

5) A good scald is critical to how you spend the next hour of your life. Using a thermometer (meat or candy), get the water up to a good 140 - 150 F. Then hold the turkey by the feet and use the leverage of the legs to dunk the bird, pulling it up and down several times to wet the underfeathers. TO BE TRIED - adding some soap (Dawn, etc) to the water should make it wet better and cut some of the feather oils, helping to get a good scald.

6) You CAN NOT get a good scald if your water isn't hot enough. You are not saving any time by not waiting for the water temp to come up. Either work on your fire, get something to drink - something. Don't scald too early - you'll regret it.

7) With a good scald, plucking is easy. You know you have a good scald when the big feathers on the wing or the tail pull out easily. Until they do, you don't have a good scald. Let me reiterate how important a good scald is on the rest of your day. Seriously.

8) A .22 to the head works well for dispatching a turkey, but you don't get a good bleed out. Some people prefer to slit the throat, which probably works well in a killing cone. For me, a machete on a large block works well, with a caveat that a decapitated turkey head is about the grossest, strangest feeling thing in the world to pick up off the ground or the block. At least the eyes close.

9) After scalding, with a good scald the feathers zip right off. Problem is, the feathers are wet and so are your hands, so the feathers stick to your hands. Back to water management - having a hose close by is tremendously helpful.

10) Keeping your turkeys away from food for 12 - 24 hours works well to make sure their crop is empty. This is a pocket of food they just ate. It's not really a big deal if the crop is full, but you'll have to dig out a big handful of corn and grass while you're dressing out the bird. Easy if you have a hose. See why I keep bringing up water management?

11) You'll have to cut the neck again during processing. I don't know the best way to do this. I kind of cut it back towards the breast and then wring it around. It is supposed to make good stock, but right now I'm throwing them away. Speaking of -

12) Prepare a small or medium sized trash can, and line it with a bag. Put your feathers and entrails here, then when you're done you can just tie it up and put it in the can. You can always use the entrails and feathers for other things - your call. I throw them away for simplicity.

14) Cutting the tendons around the knee makes the feet come off MUCH easier. Supposedly the feet make good dog treats, but I'm not breaking up any Great Dane fights in the middle of processing, so I throw them away, too.

13) Get a good field dressing knife. Having the right tool makes a WORLD of difference. Mine has finger holes and hangs from a lanyard around my neck - very well designed.

14) Birds have one all-purpose hole, called a vent. Cut all the way around it, and be careful not to cut too deeply into the body cavity. You don't want to puncture that stuff, but if you do, at least you have a hose nearby. You'll have to work a lot of the membranes inside free with your hand, and when you do it right you can pull out the whole intestinal tract and most of the organs all at one time. Today I even got the windpipe, all in one bunch.

15) It's a good idea to examine the organs as you pull it out to make sure you have a healthy bird. Dogs and cats also like the liver, kidneys, and heart, but to minimize animal drama I disposed of them along with the rest of the entrails.

16) The lungs are the toughest part to get out. They are bright pink and the consistency of, well, lungs - kind of a cross between tofu, jello, and livermush. You'll need to either buy a tool called a lung scraper or just pull them out with your hands. You kind of have to scrape your fingertips across the inside of the ribs to get them all, then rinse. No big deal, just something to expect.

17) Give thanks to the bird before you dispatch him, and mean it. You've raised him, fed him, and given him a good life, and now he will feed your family for a time.

18) It's a lot of work to grow your own food this way.

19) It's worth it

Happy Birthday Bo and Luke!

Our farm mascots turned 4 today. We were Lazy Danes Farm long before we had real farm animals. I can't imagine life without Danes.

Too Much Rain

The Weather Channel is calling it the Atlantic Assault. While that does seem a little over dramatic, there has been entirely too much rain here on Lazy Danes. Mixed with the winds, all my animals ( and me) are miserable. Goats do no like rain, so they stand in their house hollering for someone to turn it off. The chickens, turkeys and guineas look pitiful with their feathers wet and floppy. The rabbits are even damp where the wind has been blowing the rain into their shed sideways. Damp angoras are a sorry sight. The dogs are feeling cooped up, too since they refuse to go out for more than the necessary business even in the lightest mist. The fields have standing water, hopefully the oats won't drown before the sun comes out supposedly tomorrow.

This was taken last weekend before the monsoon. That light green tint is from the oats barely through the surface- the ones the fowl haven't gotten to yet.

In the kitchen I've been experimenting with new recipes for fall and winter crops. We've had sweet potato enchiladas, butternut squash and turkey chili, squash bread and a pumpkin pound cake. There have also been our favorites like pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cookies and creamed sweet potatoes. Yum! Now that the cold weather is sneaking in, I've been making homemade

hot cocoa, the packets just don't compare!

It's getting close to Thanksgiving so our older turkeys are about to fulfill their destinies. It's sad, because I really enjoy having them on the farm, but I realize that I will be eating a turkey for Thanksgiving and I'm glad it will be one that has had a happy, healthy, natural life than one that has been kept in a tiny cell unable to move under it's own power with its beak cut off and wings clipped (not just the feathers) that gets shoved in the freezer at a Wal-Mart Super Center. Thank you turkeys.

One of the baby turkeys showing off.

We spent last weekend up in Sparta, NC at Joe Edward's Christmas Tree Farm and Blue Ridge Art Gallery (we love you Joe and Melia). I took more knitted stockings that will hopefully sell. We had our pictures made on the farm and they're sure to be wonderful. Thank you Julie (Uppercase Photography)! If anybody would like more information on the tree farm/gallery there is a link on the right. The tree farm has Frazier Firs and Colorado Blue Spruce in all

different sizes. It's a choose and cut operation so the trees are super fresh and last a long time.

The gallery has great Christmas presents many hand made by local artisans. There's even wine!

Chuck with Buddy, the tree farm mascot.

Whew!

It's been a very busy week here at Lazy Danes!

First off, we'd like to welcome Roscoe to the herd. Roscoe is a 7 month old, Nigerian/Nubian cross buck. His mom is a Nubian that is a very good milker so hopefully he will pass this to his kids as well. Scarlet and Merry Weather were a little concerned by him at first but they're all quite happy now. Fingers crossed we'll have baby goats (and therefore milk) next spring!

Today was spent getting another paddock laid out so we can begin to rotate the goats around. We got the trees cut and corner posts in, now comes the hard part - running the red band.

In other animal news, the chickens

are now all accounted for! One black giant's clutch of eggs was discovered by the bush hog.

The eggs were not viable, so we destroyed the rest and she has stopped setting them. Now she goes in at night with the others. The other black still comes up to eat occasionally, but is still setting somewhere.

The picture is what a broody chicken acts like. Here she is puffed up claiming her space on the

stairs.

The Royal Palm turkeys. They're

coming out some now to forage with the others.

In crops news, all the sweet potatoes have been harvested and are hardening off. Mmmm... sweet potato fries, pancakes, pies, casseroles....yum! The front field has been plowed and

planted with oats for the winter. Hopefully the chickens won't get all the seeds.

Yesterday, we all went to the Fiber Fair in Asheville, NC. It looked like it was going to be a nasty rainy day, but by the time we hit Hickory it was bright and sunny. The day turned out

beautiful and the leaves were at their peak.

The Fiber Fair was really neat. They had livestock shows, shearing competitions, spinning demonstrations, fiber, yarns, and pre-made goods. I came home with 3 small bags of alpaca fleece and 2 giant bags of raw wool. I definitely need to get spinning again! Chuck bought himself some alpaca socks and goat milk fudge. The girls were pleading with us to bring home a llama or alpaca, but that is much further down the road for us.

Alpaca fiber- raw, so it will have to combed and the small bits of farm removed before it's spun.

Raw Corriedale Wool- will have to be washed and combed

An interesting side note, this is from the farm we got our does from.

Raw Jacob Wool- will also have to be washed and combed

Here is some spinning that I have been working on recently. It's all angora from this little girl. It's so hard to see in pictures but the fiber spins almost striped from the variations in her fur. This spool is all angora which for a newbie like me is very frustrating to spin! But I really wanted to show off her unique color. Now I have to wait for her to make more....

She's Back!

My Black Giant is back! (One of them anyway- both of them went missing. One was a month ago the other about 2 weeks ago. )I was fixing lunch and glanced out the kitchen window to see her pecking around in the yard with the others. I grabbed some bread and ran out. Just like always, she saw me clear the door and came running for her morsels. She looks good except for a small cut behind her right eye. She's also very dominate among the other hens now. She was running them off the treats, puffing up at them and shielding the food with her wing. Very interesting behavior.

Now as to why she was gone... there are no chicks so far, but they could be tucked away somewhere still. She should bring them around soon since the eating here is so good. Of course, they may all be gone and that's why she's back without them. Or maybe she just got lost for a while.

I certainly hope she stays this time and that there are no other injuries I'm not aware of. I'm interested to see if there are any chicks to show up. Here's to the excitement of free range chickens!

Talking Turkeys

Our baby turkeys have started making their turkey noises. Somehow, Chuck can make them gobble but not me. It seems that 3 of the 5 are toms. They are poofing up and fanning their tails a little also but they wouldn't on this video.

This is a picture of their dad strutting. He was gobbling the whole time we were there- at every sound. He is a very proud turkey.

These guys will not be full grown for the holidays this year and we are going to try to make a breeding pair. We are planning to order more from the hatchery this spring also. Hopefully the following year we'll incubate and hatch our own. That's the plan as of now anyway.