Such a cold, crunchy, snow filled beautiful week at the farm. We had a foot of snow fall yesterday requiring 2 hours of shoveling to be able to feed and water the animals. Then, ice on top. It's warming up this morning as I can tell by the avalanches of snow and ice falling off of our roof. Enjoy!
Bringing the happiness and wonder of farm life to your home. Meet chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys,pigs, horses, cows and a couple happy dogs! We also look at some of the insects and wild animals that share our world. We hope you'll visit often!
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
The cold week in farm pictures!
This isn't really the cold week- the coldest ever weekend for us is happening now! You'll have to wait until next time for that but I suspect there will be many pictures of animals sitting inside their houses!
Love to get a good photo of my favorite rooster. He's been with us about five years. The best at taking care of his 5 hens. Love this guy- always clucking and showing them food, making sure they're all accounted for in the evenings.
We used nine of our eggs to make this breakfast casserole....maybe not the best picture but love the taste and the smell of my house while it's cooking in the morning! You can find the recipe in this post:
Our lovely Blanca.
Buttercup saying hello to the piglets!
The story of the 8 little piglets!
Hello pig!
Yes, horses take naps!
Found this in my dogs water bowl! Yikes. Yes, I rescued him. Or her.
Quick! What color egg will this hen lay?
And dogs visiting our Pet Lodge for the long weekend! They look happy don't they?
Valentine's Day Cookies anyone? These are super easy, super delicious and a great afternoon activity! Learn how here: http://myfamilyfarmonline.blogspot.com/2015/02/just-in-time-for-afternoon-fun.html
Stay warm everyone!
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Easiest and best ever breakfast casserole!
Easiest and Best Ever Breakfast Casserole
Make this the night before and you'll just have to get up an hour early to put it in the oven!
Here's what you need:
Cook the sausage and drain the fat. Give this a bit of sweetness if you want by adding some maple syrup to the sausage. Yum and your house will smell so good when it's cooking!
Put the eggs in a bowl, slightly mix the eggs. Add milk, dry mustard and mix some more to distribute the mustard. Add the cheese, the sausage and the bread crumbs. I use white bread and cut the crust off of about three or four slices, then cut the bread into little pieces. For you health conscious people reading, I've tried this with whole wheat or grain bread and it isn't quite as tasty. I suggest white. You can use the extra to make some grilled cheese sandwiches this week. Which I also think taste better on white bread.
Pour the mixture into a baking pan.
Put some saran wrap over this and put it in the fridge overnight. Then grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine and go watch TV with your family. We're watching "Hachi" and Dicky is enthralled.
The next morning, pop this in the oven an hour before you need it and voila! Everyone will wake up to a deliciously scented house. Mine is a bit crispy but I like it that way.
Here's the recipe:
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
How can you tell what color egg a chicken will lay?
Recently someone asked me how I can tell what color egg a chicken will lay. Did you know chickens lay many different colors of eggs? We are used to the brown and white eggs we can buy at the grocery store, but eggs come in the colors of very dark brown, blue, and olive green. Sorry, but I only have hens that lay white and brown eggs and you can see a sample of each days collection below:
So how can you tell what color egg a chicken will lay? I wanted to introduce you to two of my hens to explain. But first, did you know chickens have ears? Yes, they have ears. Their ears are covered with little, tiny feathers. Below the ear is an ear lobe. You can see both in this picture. Do you see the ear and the ear lobe?
A chicken with a white ear lobe will only lay white eggs. Here is my little hen whose name is Fluffy. I named her Fluffy not only because she is cute and fluffy but also because she likes to eat dog food. She's one of my favorite hens because each time I come out to the chicken field she comes running. I think she wants to check if I have any dog food with me.
Can you see her ear? Can you guess what color eggs she might lay?
If you guessed white, you are correct! Here is one of Fluffy's eggs. She lays a very large, white egg almost everyday.
How about this hen? Do you see her ear area? What color eggs do you think she might lay?
A chicken with a red ear lobe will often lay a brown egg.
How about this one?
If you guessed brown or white, you are incorrect. Because this is a rooster! A male chicken. He doesn't lay eggs. Only hens lay eggs. We'll talk about the difference between roosters and hens at another time.
The only certain way to tell what color eggs a chicken may lay is to know what breed of chicken you have. Fluffy is a Leghorn. Leghorns lay white eggs. The black and white hen is a Barred Rock. Barred Rocks lay a light brown egg. Easter Eggers, Araucanas and Americaunas are the chickens that lay the blue, pink tinted or green eggs.
Want to know a secret? We're getting some of these in the Spring. Yay!
Thanks for visiting and we'll see you soon! Next up: How can you tell the difference between a hen and a rooster?
So how can you tell what color egg a chicken will lay? I wanted to introduce you to two of my hens to explain. But first, did you know chickens have ears? Yes, they have ears. Their ears are covered with little, tiny feathers. Below the ear is an ear lobe. You can see both in this picture. Do you see the ear and the ear lobe?
A chicken with a white ear lobe will only lay white eggs. Here is my little hen whose name is Fluffy. I named her Fluffy not only because she is cute and fluffy but also because she likes to eat dog food. She's one of my favorite hens because each time I come out to the chicken field she comes running. I think she wants to check if I have any dog food with me.
Can you see her ear? Can you guess what color eggs she might lay?
If you guessed white, you are correct! Here is one of Fluffy's eggs. She lays a very large, white egg almost everyday.
How about this hen? Do you see her ear area? What color eggs do you think she might lay?
A chicken with a red ear lobe will often lay a brown egg.
How about this one?
If you guessed brown or white, you are incorrect. Because this is a rooster! A male chicken. He doesn't lay eggs. Only hens lay eggs. We'll talk about the difference between roosters and hens at another time.
The only certain way to tell what color eggs a chicken may lay is to know what breed of chicken you have. Fluffy is a Leghorn. Leghorns lay white eggs. The black and white hen is a Barred Rock. Barred Rocks lay a light brown egg. Easter Eggers, Araucanas and Americaunas are the chickens that lay the blue, pink tinted or green eggs.
Want to know a secret? We're getting some of these in the Spring. Yay!
Thanks for visiting and we'll see you soon! Next up: How can you tell the difference between a hen and a rooster?
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