Feathered Friend Friday

Welcome to our series "Feathered Friend Friday." Every Friday I write a post with interesting 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.    

In our neck of the woods, most of the trees have succumbed to fall and dropped their leaves. Each morning I wade through a deep blanket of crunchy brown leaves as I head to the chicken coop to let everyone out to start their day. Our chicken run is not covered, so leaves fill up the fenced in area. A few years ago I discovered a fun activity for the chickens once lots of leaves have fallen and dried in their run.

Of course Duchess had to get in on the fun as well :)

Wearing my boots, I just kick a big pile of leaves together (of course you could use a rake, but I'm usually too lazy to pull it out, plus this gives my legs a work out!). I fill an old plastic cup with scratch, black oil sunflower seeds, and layer crumbles then sprinkle the mixture on top of a pile of leaves. I sit back and watch while the chickens go at it!

They love to jump on top of the pile and kick through the leaves to get to the yummy treats. I usually make 3-4 piles so everyone can get in on the fun, otherwise the older girls push the young ones out of the way. They had pretty much flattened the pile by the time I got a video, but I thought this was cute and wanted to share it anyway. Isis and Jobin seem to love the spotlight!

I usually save a little of the treat mixture so I can feed the chickens out of my hand. I love how they all crowd around and gently peck for the treats.

I also learned that playing in the leaves isn't just for the chickens (and Duchess). Sylvester also likes to roll around in the leaves. Silly boy!

~Tammy

Shared with Weekly Top Shot 

Clearing The Camera

Here are some recent photos I've taken that I wanted to share. Go here if you'd like to see more photo posts.

Like father, like son :)

Guinea hanging out on our back porch swing.

Baby's gotta keep herself looking beautiful of course.

Roosty trying to decide if he wants a bite of roasted cauliflower.

Our marigolds are still blooming!

Evil Ellie giving me the death stare just before bed (I broke her from being broody once and she won't forgive me).

Ol' blue eyes, Jasper (again - like father, like son).

Hope you've enjoyed a slice of our homestead.

~Tammy

Shared with Weekly Top Shot, Clever Chicks, Barn Hop, Sunny Simple Sunday, Your Sunday Best, Camera Critters, Rural Thursday

Maple Brown Sugar Granola Cookies

I'm usually pretty boring when it comes to breakfast. My go-to is a bowl of granola with banana and milk. It's quick and delicious and keeps me filled up until lunch (most of the time anyway). I do like to try different types of granola, and lately my favorite is maple brown sugar. It just tastes like fall! When I got my last box of granola, I saw a recipe on the back for cookies and thought I'd give it a try.

Maple Brown Sugar Granola Cookies
from Cascadian Farm
Makes 4 dozen cookies (I halved the recipe to get 2 dozen)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened (I used margarine)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 t vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
4 cups maple brown sugar granola (I used Cascadian Farm* brand)
3/4 cups raisins (optional)
3/4 cups chopped pecans (I used walnuts)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 F. In large bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs on low speed until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, baking soda, and salt until well mixed.
2. Stir in granola, raisins and pecans. Onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (I simply used my fingers to smash the dough into balls).
3. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to cool completely.

I may be biased because I love granola, but these cookies were amazing! Soft and chewy with just the right amount of crunch from the granola. And the maple flavor really shines through. I highly suggest a cup of strong coffee to go along with the cookies (don't forget to dip the cookies in the coffee!). It would make for a perfect breakfast or afternoon snack.

~Tammy
*This is not a sponsored post.

 Shared with Handmade Christmas 2013, Sunny Simple Sunday, Mix It Up Monday, On The Menu Monday, Clever Chicks, Meatless Monday, Show Me What You Got, Hearth & Soul Hop, Share It, Tasty Tuesdays, Fall Harvest Link Up, Down Home Blog Hop, Country Homemaker Hop, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Thursday Favorite Things, Newlywed Moments, Tumbleweed Contessa Cookie Exchange, Creative Things Thursday, Eat Make Grow, Home Sweet Home, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop, Sweet Saturday, Farm Girl Blog Hop, Food On Friday, Barn Hop

Feathered Friend Friday

Welcome to our series "Feathered Friend Friday." Every Friday I write a post with interesting 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.     

When the weather turns cold, I like to treat my chickens to some warm oatmeal. They go crazy over it! Sometimes I just give them plain oatmeal; other times I add in whatever I have on hand to increase the nutritional value. This time it was oatmeal with leftover crumbled falafel, pepitas, and chia seeds.

I mostly wanted Jobin to get some extra protein for her feather production, so I made sure she got a good helping. And I was hoping the oatmeal would warm her up a bit since she's pretty bare at the moment.

I gave Jobin a little bit in a bowl to herself, then put several more bowls out where the other chickens were. But I couldn't fend off the others for long after they finished their share.

I swear that Sylvester thinks he is a chicken! He tried to sneak a bite, but the chickens wouldn't allow that. 

So he was fine with just hanging out while they ate.

When I take a treat out to the chickens, I've learned that I had better bring something along for Duchess too or she will push the chickens out of the way and steal their treat. I've never seen her turn down any food (she eats weeds and leaves for crying out loud), so I figured I'd just make an extra big batch of the oatmeal treat to share some with her as well.

I love giving my animals treats, but I try hard not to overdo it. I usually just bring a special treat like this once a week, if that. It is important that chickens get plenty of their feed so they are getting adequate protein, calcium, and other important nutrients, so I don't fill them up on other stuff.

Do your chickens like oatmeal? What is a special winter treat that you give to your flock?

~Tammy

Shared with Backyard Farming Connection Hop