Feathered Friend Friday: Cam The Protector

Welcome to our "Feathered Friend Friday" series. Each Friday I write a post with facts, photos, or stories about our chickens and guineas. If you need to catch up, you'll find all the FFF posts here.

Shortly after moving to our homestead, we decided to get a rooster for our flock. We lived in the city before so only had hens, but being out in the country we wanted a rooster for flock protection and also just because we could! In my opinion, a crowing rooster really makes a homestead so much better.

David teaches music at a rural school with a lot of farm families, so one day he asked his students if anyone had a rooster for sale. The following day, a student brought a young Barred Rock cockerel to school in a pet carrier and he spent all day with David and the kids in the classroom. David brought him home to me that night, and so my love of roosters began.

I know some people have had bad luck with mean roosters, but I'm pleased to say all of my boys are good as long as I know my place and keep my distance. I learned this after Cam began to show signs of aggression towards me when he was about a year old. Anytime I got too close, he would peck at my legs - and peck hard! I learned to respectfully keep my distance, and he has been a gentleman ever since. 

I quickly learned his vocalizations, and can tell if he's calling the girls over for treats or warning them to run for cover because he spots a hawk overhead. It is quite amazing to see him in action and observe how the hens listen to him and respect his command.

He's not a cuddly boy, but that's ok because he is busy taking care of his girls. It works best if I just stand back and let him do the job he was born to do. And he does a great job of protecting the flock. I can safely say we will always have at least one rooster in our flock, and hopefully Cam will be doing his job for many years to come.

~Tammy

Digging In: Visiting A Winery

You may remember our post from earlier in the month about how we decided to dig in and add long-term improvements to our homestead this year. Last week we wrote about visiting a goat farm and today I'd like to share what we learned on our recent trip to a local winery.

Since we have decided to plant a small vineyard this year, we figured it would be wise to get advice from someone experienced to help us decide what types of grapes to plant, where to plant them, and how to set up the vineyard. One of David's fellow teachers at Puxico is the owner of a winery in town called Indian Hills Winery, and earlier this month he invited us out to learn more about grapes and the wine making process.

The winery is located on beautiful land in the country with rolling hills and a nice pond situated on the edge of the vines. We first got a lesson on how to build fences to support the vines and David asked a lot of questions. I tried to pay very close attention but there were a couple of sweet pups following us around and I couldn't help but pet them a little and take some photos!

It turns out they weren't there just to be cute. Martie said that having several dogs in the vineyard is the best solution he has found to prevent deer from munching on his prized vines. We are keeping this in mind since we often see deer on our property and don't want them to be a problem.

Next we got a demonstration on how to prune vines. We headed over to several rows of Concord grapes, which is probably one of the more well-known varieties. Martie isn't too keen on them though because the vines tend to grow wildly each season and are hard to manage.

Before pruning

After pruning

I was surprised at how much is actually cut off in the pruning process, but the majority of the wood produced in the previous season should be removed. This is a necessary step to allow for new growth in the upcoming season and yield a better harvest. Pruning is done when the grapes are dormant, between January and March each year.

After we were well versed on the fencing and pruning of the vines, we went inside the distillery to see how Martie turns all those grapes into wine.

We got a taste of some of the wine in process before any sugar or other additives were mixed in. It was a little dry for my taste as I do like sweeter wines, but it was neat to be able to taste it at this step and see how different it is from the final product.

David asked about how much wine they produce from their vines, and I was surprised to learn that from 1,200 vines they can get anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 bottles of wine per year. Each vine produces about 30 pounds of grapes and it takes around 15 pounds of grapes to make a gallon of wine.

We learned so much and after our visit to the winery felt more confident in purchasing our own grape vines. So we came home and did just that! We have 32 Chambourcin, 8 Marquis, 8 Canadice, and 8 Lakemont vines coming to us this March. Martie has had good luck with his vines ordered from Double A Vineyards so we decided to get our grapes from them as well.

Now we are working on clearing a spot for the vineyard behind our house at the top of the hill. The process of logging our property in 2012 made a mess up there, so we need to clean up the branches then get to work installing our fencing system for the vines to be ready for planting this spring.

I am so excited to be moving forward with our goal of having a small vineyard and glad that we decided to get several different varieties of grapes. The Chambourcin grapes are good for making wine, and the others are perfect for eating off the vines or making jams and jellies. Lakemont grapes even make excellent raisins! I can't wait to have loads of grapes to work with.

Many thanks to Martie for sharing his knowledge with us and answering all of our questions. If you are ever in Southeast Missouri, please do stop by Indian Hills Winery. You will enjoy your visit!  

~Tammy

Orange Danish

David got back home late Saturday night after being at a music education conference for a few days, so I wanted to make him a special welcome home breakfast on Sunday morning. Ever since he was little, one of his favorite things to eat for breakfast is orange flavored cinnamon rolls (he calls them "orange danish"). I hate to buy the prepackaged kind at the store because they have so many preservatives and chemicals in them, so this time I thought I'd make him some homemade orange danish.

Orange Danish
Adapted from GRIT Magazine
Makes 9 rolls

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 t orange zest
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
4 T butter, cold and cut into cubes
3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened soy milk)
Additional melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 450 F. Heat 1/4 cup butter, orange juice, 1/2 cup sugar, and orange zest in a small saucepan until boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Pour into greased 9-cup muffin tin.
2) Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the cold cubed butter. Add milk and stir until dough follows fork. Knead together and roll dough out into 1/4" thickness.
3) Brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll as for jelly roll, then cut into 1" slices. Place cut side down on top of orange mixture in muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden.

The best part about these rolls is how the bottoms get so gooey, sticky, and delicious. The rolls cook on top of the orange syrup mixture in the muffin tin so the wonderful orange taste permeates throughout. It's not too strong of a flavor, but just a nice hint of orange so it's a little different from a typical cinnamon roll.

Have you ever tried orange flavored cinnamon rolls?

~Tammy

Feathered Friend Friday: Coop Ventilation

Welcome to our "Feathered Friend Friday" series. Each Friday I write a post with facts, photos, or funny stories about our chickens and guineas. If you need to catch up, you'll find all the Feathered Friend Friday posts here.  

Sometimes it can be hard to know if there is adequate ventilation in the chicken coop, but there is one surefire way to tell - your nose. We have been using the deep litter method in our coop for years now and it has always worked out well for us. However, recently the coop has been a little too stinky in the mornings when I let out the chickens. We do have 18 chickens in the coop, so that is a lot of poo overnight! Once I began to detect a hint of ammonia, I knew we did not have enough ventilation and air flow.

To remedy the issue, David got to work with his drill and a 4 1/2" round bit to create ventilation holes at the top of the coop far above the roosts. Placing the ventilation up high ensures that no drafts will hit the chickens while they are roosting overnight.

Instead of just cutting out a large area of the coop, he made lots of these little circles so it would be nearly impossible for potential predators to fit inside. He also stapled some 1/2" hardware cloth on the inside of the coop to cover the holes and keep everything out.

David cut several of these ventilation holes around the top of the coop and they are definitely working because I haven't noticed a smell at all. An added benefit is that they let in extra light. We don't have any windows in the coop (our coop is a transformed garden shed) so it can get dark in there. But now there's a little extra light for us and the chickens. And the circles actually look kind of cute from the outside!

Even though it has been very cold lately (this morning it was 1 degree!) ventilation is still necessary. As long as the chickens stay dry and drafts aren't hitting them directly, they can withstand very cold temperatures. Cutting down the moisture in the coop by adding extra air flow also helps to prevent frostbite because the main culprit in frostbite cases is excess moisture, not cold temperatures.

I think the chickens and our coop kitty, Emma, are enjoying the extra light and the stink-free zone.

How do you add ventilation to your chicken coop?

~Tammy

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