Frozen Eggs...

Here's what happens if you don't gather the eggs quite in time when it's bitter cold...

This morning I didn't get to the chicken house early, to turn on the light like I usually do.  Instead, I went right to the barn and helped with the feeding while Jim milked.  After milking...and after feeding the hutch calves...I headed to the chicken pen with their warm water.  Apparently one girl couldn't wait until daylight to lay her egg, and it was frozen solid...cracked...

With this bitter cold weather we've been having, I have to gather the eggs pretty often to avoid freezing.

I decided to do an experiment, and see what happened when it thawed out. So...I took off the shell, and found this...

Pretty goofy looking, if you ask me.  I left it sit at room temperature for about an hour, and now it looks like this...

Pretty normal looking, if you ask me!

We sell most of our eggs, and one like this definitely wouldn't go into one of those boxes.  I use the ones that have thin shells... the smallest ones...and ones with small cracks in them.  I'll be baking cookies this afternoon, and I think this one will do just fine!

Keeping the Crows at Bay...

Crows...

They may be very intelligent birds...but they are an extreme nuisance on the farm!  They eat almost anything, but two thirds of their diet comes from vegetables and plants...primarily corn.

Hmmm...do you see the problem?

After the corn harvest, it's common to see huge flocks of crows converging on the cornfields, pecking away at corn that's been left in the field.  When manure has been spread, guess who comes to scavenge?  And what is the attraction of an ag bag like this?  How do the crows know that they're filled with corn silage?  They really must be intelligent.

So...we are left with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to keep the crows away from the bag.  If they poke holes in the bag...and they will...the silage will spoil. The bag must remain air tight until it's transferred to the silo. And if they get a taste of that corn silage, they will be back for more!

To try to keep the crows away, Jim put up several owls on posts around the ag bag.  The owls are hollow inside, and sit on top of metal or wooden posts. When the wind blows, they move a bit, which makes them look more life like...

We also put a couple of old hoses on top of the bag, and fastened them down with ag bag tape.  Don't they look a little bit like snakes?

So far this year, we've been lucky.  Although we've spotted them nearby, they haven't yet done any damage.  I checked out the bag when I took these pictures this morning, and it still looks untouched.

The bag will probably be transferred to the silo soon, and this particular battle will be over.  You can bet though...the crows will be hanging around when the transfer happens, looking for any silage that's spilled.

Anything for a free meal!

"I" Is For Images of Winter...

"I" is for images...

Images of winter...

I'm not a fan of winter, I'll be honest.  I'm definitely a fair weather fan.  Give me green grass, chirping birds, garden soil between my fingers and shirt sleeve weather and I'm happy.  However, there is a certain beauty, even in the starkness of winter.  It just takes someone else and their camera to capture it some times!

My sister and her family were visiting over Christmas, and she took these first three images.

This early morning one was taken from the golf course across the road from our farm...

Just a little closer.  The fields look so plain and bare this time of year...

I wouldn't call this winter image beautiful like the first one...in fact the chicken pen is getting pretty muddy. Slick mud on top of frozen ground is treacherous...just try walking in it!  I feel like the Pied Piper in this image... the chickens must know who feeds them.

I sure hope this same image in the spring has green grass on it.  I'm a little concerned that this year it might not grow back...

Here's another beauty...taken by Jenna...of our Amish neighbor's farm to the west at sunset...

This image is one that we've seen more of this winter than in the past two winters put together.  After several warmer-than-usual winters, we've finally seen some white!  The kids have had several snow days off school and have been able to enjoy it...and work out in it too, of course...

And then...here is one of the reasons I don't like winter...

Sometimes in winter, no matter how hard you try to prepare...water lines freeze, break and need to be replaced.  Hopefully this fix is the last one for a while...

One more image of winter will be one that you'll have to imagine...

Close your eyes and inhale...

Do you smell that?

I just took bread out of the oven.  Mmmmm...I'm glad to have that wonderful aroma filling this cold house! Kind of makes me like winter...just a little bit!

Linking up to Alphabe Thursday

Homemade Pizza Recipe...

Well...we survived the Polar Vortex, although not without a few hurdles in the barn.  No matter how much you prepare for bitter cold and wind, sometimes things freeze anyway.  Thankfully it didn't last long!  Tuesday was miserable, but Wednesday began to feel "like spring", with temps still in the low teens, but with no wind.  Today it's almost 60 degrees and raining.  Strange, strange weather.

We got soaked doing barn work this morning, and are confined to the house while the outerwear gets a good washing and is now tumbling in the dryer. Not a bad place to be today!

I've recently been on an iron skillet kick.  I received a set of three of these skillets a year or so ago, and have really learned to like cooking with them. They heat evenly, and when properly seasoned, are virtually non-stick, with none of the flaking that comes off the Teflon pans...

My friend Glenda used to make pizza in an iron skillet when we vacationed together in Vermont.  Her daughter recently sent me her recipe, and I gave it a try today, finally...

Glenda's Iron Skillet Pizza Dough Recipe

1 cup warm water
1 pkg yeast (1 Tbsp bulk yeast)

Combine and let stand for 5 minutes

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp oil

Add to yeast mixture

Add 2 or more cups of flour and mix together. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Press into well oiled iron skillet(s) and add toppings.

Bake at 400* for 35-40 minutes, or at 550* for 10 minutes

You will be able to tell when crust is done, so as oven temperatures vary, just keep an eye on it.

You might have to experiment with the size of your skillets.  I tried making the pizza in my largest skillet, but the crust seemed way too thick, so I divided it out between two, and it turned out pretty good.  Enjoy!

The Little Calf Book...

How important can one little notebook be?

It's just a little spiral bound book...about 3" x 5" or so.  You know...one of those notebooks that you'd write a grocery list in...or doodle in during Church...or something.  Jim's Dad started this book at the end of 1990 to keep track of when cows freshen, and we've kept it up ever since...

We filled it up just last week.  It was getting a little sloppy here at the end...trying to fit all the records in for the last few weeks in December.  We ended up adding another paper in the back so that we could start a new book in the new year...

We have other breeding records, of course, but this book is especially handy if we want to go back and see exactly when a cow freshened last year...or to see how many bulls vs heifers she's had, etc...

The back cover holds a record of how many calves were born each year since 1991.  It looks like the numbers have been pretty consistent, with the exception of 2000, when we had an abundance of calves...

And here we are...this morning's calf started the first book...

It's not nice to wish for bull calves, but our hutches are full, and so are the box pens!  Bulls would be welcomed about now.

We're headed for the deep freeze tomorrow again.  Temps are to drop to around 0 F. tonight, with wind chills close to -20 F by morning. I'm sure we'll be busy keeping water bowls open tomorrow.  Weather forecasts like this make my anxiety levels rise.  I'm definitely a fair weather fan.

See you after it's over!

First Snow of 2014...

We knew it was coming...but are you ever really ready for the first deep freeze of the season?  Considering that the past few winters here have been exceptionally warm and devoid of snow, we really felt it this morning.  Brrrr...

The thermometer said 11 degrees, and the wind chill was something like -16 degrees.  With that wind, no matter how much you have on and how many wool socks you're wearing, it's still cold.  I know that for a lot of you this is nothing unusual, but it's colder than we're used to having on any kind of a regular basis.

The barn was shut up tight over night, so other than a few frozen water bowl valves, it was comfortable inside.  Much better than I had anticipated. However, when it was time to feed calves, I felt it.

I'm sure some of you have had that recurring dream, where you're trying to run in the water, and you just can't get anywhere?  Well, that's what I had to think of this morning when I was walking back and forth to the hutches carrying milk and water buckets.  Going was ok, but coming back, leaning into the biting wind and high stepping through snow drifts, it felt like I was going nowhere.

Ok, ok...so the snow really wasn't very deep and the hill is nothing much.  I guess I'm just feeling my age!  :)

Snickers and Murphy loved it...

I don't think the chickens will be venturing out any time soon.  The only tracks you'll see in the pen for a few days are mine.  They're nice and cozy and have everything they need in there...

Finally it was time to go in and thaw out my coverall cuffs...

I'm very lucky to be sitting inside warming my feet.  Jim is out on the tractor opening the driveway and is bundled up from head to toe, with only his eyes uncovered.  He'll be ready for his coffee when he's finished!

Stay warm, wherever you are!

Linking up today with Farm Girl Friday