Silver Gray Dorkings Archives - A Country Girl's Heart -Beats that Matter

January 10, 2022January 10, 2022

CG Heartbeats Farm 2021 Year in Review

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Personal Growth and Challenges in 2021

2021 started on track for my expectations. However, by March my mind had lost focus and motivation to write, by July my ability to garden, preserve and function waned, to say the least.

March and April revealed a dear family member was going to be in battle for their life fighting cancer. As I type these works, the battle continues. The end of June a series of events involving the health and lives of other family members unfolded. From a life-threatening bullet wound to an unrelated death, hospital stays and a tough decision for my aging horse, my energy levels and attention shifted to the people in my life who needed my assistance. The homestead took a back seat, gardens were let go, little food preservation happened. The bare minimum kept the homestead going.

September though the end of 2021 felt as if I was picking up the pieces and putting order back in place. My word for 2022 was going to be structure because I see a great need for structural improvements both physical and in my daily routines. As the last 2 weeks unfolded the word persistence continued to show up. So, while I will be addressing structure in 2022 as mentioned above, my word for the year is persistence.

In a worldly sense the past year might appear as a waste. In a personal and spiritual sense, I grew. My trust in the Lord to provide, my belief and trust in His sovereignty, my faith to follow His direction and belief, He alone is a light unto my path. Growing relationships with those I encountered in the last year have eternal benefits.

In the midst of my struggle, there were additions to the farm and I will mention them below as look back at 2021 on CG Heartbeats Farm.

Horses

In July on a warm sunny morning, I found my 26-year-old mare Rosie down and unable to rise, even when I tried to assist her. Her physical condition had been gradually declining. If I am honest it started around 4 years ago. I knew it was time. My heart ached deeply and I continue to miss her. I felt like a part of my dream was buried with her. However, my love of horses has not disappeared. I continue to have goals and dreams around the majestic equine. Looking back at last year however, I did not do much beyond the daily care and maintenance of looking after my horses. At the close of 2021, 4 horses now reside here at CG Heartbeats Farm, Bo, Drifter, Cider, and Dusty.

Trees

I am super excited to share I was able to plant 16 trees nearer the house in the last quarter of 2021. Two of the seedlings were volunteer starts from the current Crabapple tree. I planted 12 additional flowering trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. The varieties included, Crape myrtle, White Dogwood, Sargent (White) Crabapple, Redbud and Washington Hawthorns. It will be a few years until they are flowering, but I can see it in my mind and I am excited every time I think about it.

After Christmas, I discovered Dwarf Alberta Spruce on sale (75% off) at our local Lowes. We were still experiencing mild weather. I purchased 2 and planted the next day. Now CG Heartbeats Farm has evergreens on the homestead. My heart smiles every time I see snow on the pines, even if they are small trees for now.

Great Pyrenees

Aneta continues to thrive here, barking often during the night and alerting us to any unusual activity. She managed to escape her area a few times. She was always here to great me in the morning. You might remember how she took off in the fall of 2021. She spent much of the year confined. The process has helped her to understand where her home base is.

She continues to be kind with the cats and kittens. I am certain she likes the goats as she spends time with them. I am still working with her to not chase. She doesn’t hurt any of the animals. But her chasing has to stop. I take the blame for not correcting her the first time and subsequent times when she was a young puppy.

I can hardly believe she is almost 2. Her presence on the homestead, bring joy and protection for the livestock.

Nigerian Dwarf Goats, A New Addition in 2021

In the spring, I picked up 2 Nigerian Dwarf doelings with the intention of sending them on to my sister later in the year. Honey and Oakley, as I called them, did indeed travel about 1000 miles to reside with my sister and her family.

baby Nigerian Dwarf goats — Honey and Oakley before moving on to my sisters place.

Those 2 adorable kids were just a start. Over the course of 2021, I added 3 bucks and 5 doe kids. Officially, CG Heartbeats Farm now raises registered Nigerian Dwarf goats. Dixie, Bonney, and Ariel are bred to freshen in April and May.

Baby Goat — Peaches joined the CG Heartbeats Farm herd in July of 2021 at 2.5 weeks old.

I am looking forward to drinking milk produced here on the homestead, making butter and who knows what else. Kidding season (or foaling season or hatching baby chicks) brings me joy. The delight I feel at the appearance of new born babies over rides the exhaustion brought on by late night checks and sleepless nights.

a male goat — Sunny arrived in August and brings us our first *buck out of a 5* doe

If you would like to learn more about each of the Nigerian Dwarf goats, click here.

Chicken Updates for 2021

2021 produced new ideas and plans for the heritage chicken breeds raised here on CG Heartbeats Farm. check out the paragraphs below to learn a few of the details.

Swedish Flower Hens in 2021

I enjoyed hatching various Swedish Flower Hen chicks in 2021. Toward the end of the year I scaled back my numbers. I still have a majority of the same pens. There is a new strategy for my pens. I will add new pullets from a pen back into the pen the came from instead of starting new pens. the Hens in those pens are aging and instead of starting new pens I will be replacing them over the next year or two. A different rooster will be added in time.

A reminder for those unfamiliar with breeding chickens, crossing a hen back on its sire is an acceptable breeding practice in chickens.

Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner

Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner first arrived at CG Heartbeats Farm in 2016. This breed has proved the greatest challenge of all. Truly they deserve their own blog post to share all the details of my journey with them.

For the time being here is a brief update for 2021. The last remaining hen from my original chicks was killed by a possum attack. I have a rooster remaining I hatched from the pair this year. I also lost both Cisco and Clinch. Last spring I purchased “Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner” chicks from a hatchery. I fully realize the odds of getting quality was slim, but I decided to try them. To say I am disappointed is an understatement.

Only one of the chicks looks like it should in color, and size. It is a rooster. The pullets have started to lay. While the eggs are beautiful, they do not represent what true LCN look like.
For the next few weeks 2 of the yellowest crossbred pullets are with my LCN rooster, along with 2 or 3 of the best of the pullets from the hatchery. I intend to hatch some of their eggs and see what I get. I am all about using what I have. My preference is to purchase a line of LCN descended directly from German imports. Until I can locate some and purchase them, I will continue to work with what I have.

Crossbred Project in 2021

This group too deserve their own post. If you are new here or not familiar with them, they started out with a black based mille fleur Swedish Flower Hen rooster crossed on Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner hens. I did this to ‘test’ the hens with a rooster I knew was fertile. I crossed the offspring back on a LCN rooster. In the next 2 generations I continued crossing with other crossbreds.

75% Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner and 25% Swedish Flower Hen

My crossbred project continues to impress me. I will be working with them to enhance uniformity in color. I need a name for the breed beside Crossbred project. Want to help me? Leave a comment below or shoot me an email at cgheartbeatsfarm@gmail.com

Silver Gray Dorking

While I did loose a few of the older birds this past year, I raised a few also. I desire to incubate as many eggs as possible and when the weather permits, I will have Silver Gray Dorking hatching eggs for sale. I intend to sell chicks also.

Fruits

Black Raspberries, Concord grapes and apples were the 3 fruits produced and eaten here at CG Heartbeats Farm. I preserved a few of the black raspberries by freezing them. Many were eaten fresh. Same with the apples, I enjoyed eating fresh apples while they lasted. I have not learned how to care for apples with out using chemicals. Thus I only ate them fresh around the spots that even the nice ones displayed. I had wanted to make applesauce, but I did not make it a priority.

Concord Grapes

Delicious memories of savoring the flavor as I ate Concord grapes from the vine produced here creates excitement for the coming work I will do to prepare for 2022 harvest. The grape project has been a 3- or 4-year process and cost me nothing but the waiting and hard work.

My heart swelled with happiness chewing the concord grapes as an occasional snack. The vines are young and I expect they will produce more this year. I thought I had an adequate trellis for the vines. Turned out they needed more height.
I am always learning.

Gardens and Food Preservation in 2021

Garlic

Garlic harvest showed me new aspects of the plant I had not encounter previously. Unfortunately, much of the crop was harvested late. Here are a few of the highlights:

The way the different garlic varieties continued to develop seed heads
Varying hardiness of the stalk between varieties
How the same variety grew better or worse depending on which garden plot it was in

Additional garden Ground

The chickens continue their work prepping garden ground. The amount of space I have to garden grew again this year. Check out Chickens on the Homestead to read how the chickens contribute beyond meat and egg laying.

Another important part of gardening here on CG Heartbeats Farm continues to be saving seeds for future use. The intentional act of setting aside the needed produce to collect seeds from what I raised this year continued in the fall. In saving the seeds, I feel not all was wasted.

New Varieties

In 2021 I planted zucchini, sweet corn, 2 new flowers varieties, onions from seed and Amish Paste tomatoes. The rest of what I planted was repeat from years past. As I mentioned above, my gardens suffered neglect this past year.

Farmers Markets

I attended a few markets, but I could not on a consistent basis due my time and energy being pulled in other directions.

Website

Writing too took a back seat in 2021. The times I sat down to put words into sentences, I struggled to organize my thoughts. Few times after mid-February, I had time to catch my breath. The act of writing flowed temporarily. As I look back at 2021, and I have been putting this together for the last week, I find I have joy in writing again.

My view of what the future holds goes no farther than the next step or two. Thank you to all who have stayed for my journey and visited the website when I was unable to write as often as I believed I should.

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July 15, 2020July 20, 2020

Seasons ~ Summer 2020

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Summers bring heat and humidity to northern Indiana. While I enjoy warm sun on my skin, I do not like the sweat, dripping days of high humidity. I have high expectations for summer 2020 homestead goals I want to complete no matter how I try not to.

My biggest health challenge in summer involves drinking enough water, napping and resting when I need to in order to feel good enough to work hard. Perhaps I need to define good enough. I need to be able to function with out getting light headed every time I squat down and stand up or running out of breath after only working for 30 min.

To complete a task, I must not be exhausted when I begin. If I am exhausted after, well now, I joyfully see a job complete and happily rest. I bring you my list of hopeful goals for the summer of 2020 at CG Heartbeats Farm.

Animals in Summer 2020

Chicken Goals

Work projects for the chickens involves cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Here is the list:

Pen cleaning
Deep clean incubators
Clean empty brooders

Continue reading to learn where I moved roosters, hens and grow outs into new pens. I have a few Swedish Flower Hen chickens who I will be moving in the coming weeks.

Hatching plans are limited to am going to setting a few Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner eggs and Silver Gray Dorking eggs through the month of August. I may make a few exceptions, but I will be cutting back on the number of chicks I hatch until September

Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners

Sadly, I lost 2 of my 3 remaining hens leaving only one hen here with Cisco and Clinch. I added the 2 cross bred hens to their pen for at least the next couple months. The crossbred hens lay a completely different egg to make keeping the eggs separate easy. Knowing which egg a hen lays preserves the breed integrity.

Combining the pens reduces chore time. I took a planned trip the beginning of July and wanted to make chores easier for those kind people caring for the animals and gardens while I was away.

Silver Gray Dorkings

The Silver Gray Dorkings have shown little fertility this year so I switched up the rooster with the Silver Gray Dorking hens. I have not updated the web page yet, but here is the new pens info.

Rooster Cogburn joined his daughter who hatched in January 2019. A younger son of his joined the SGD hens of Pen # 1. I lost both Mr. and Mrs. McLintock earlier this year. I am excited about testing the eggs in a few weeks.

Did you know I wait 6 weeks after switching roosters to incubate the eggs? Unless a hen or hens did not have a rooster with them for the previous 6 weeks, in that case, I do not wait.

Swedish Flower Hens

I am excited to announce a new pen of Swedish Flower Hens here at CG Heartbeats Farm. I am currently deciding on a name for the rooster and the web page is only started. Check out the video showing the pretty flock of blue based Swedish Flower Hens making up pen # 11

Apache, the rooster of pen # 8 passed earlier in 2020, but not before I hatched a son to take his place. At the moment I am unable to offer crested Swedish Flower hens until Apache’s son grows up enough to cover the hens. I hatched and raised an additional hen from Pen # 7 to join pen # 8. She is a pretty black based hen with sno leopard highlights on her neck.

Aneta

My Great Pyrenees puppy brings joy to my life. She rarely is unhappy, wagging her tail, appearing to smile broadly in welcome. Her puppy behavior includes chewing on anything in her reach, but she barks deeply, as if already an adult.

Aneta is not allowed to run unattended, but on a couple occasions her collar came loose. I walked outside to find her hanging out on the farm. I am happy to say she did not run off. At 4 months old she is still a young pup. Behaviors may change and I continue to learn and enjoy her.

She is not especially fond of a bath. Ah, it looks like we will be training for bath time this summer. She certainly needs them after her digging exploits. The first bath removed much of the hidden dirt. A week later she appears to be in need of bath number 2.

Horses

Drifter, Bo, Cider, Rosie, and Dusty continue to enjoy life living a horse’s life out to pasture. I desire to ride again this summer, but I have not figured out how to fit horse time into my schedule.

Gardening Summer 2020

As the Black raspberries began to ripen, I have enjoyed picking and depositing directly into my mouth, thus far. When I had enough picked, I froze all I did not eat for later use.

Garlic Scapes

Raising food in summertime requires watering, weed pulling, and monitoring plants as the grow and produce. Harvest and food preservation happen during summer months too. I almost daily inspect the gardens for plant development, and of course pull weeds. I do not seem to ever pull all the weeds, but I celebrate those I do.

For the first time you may order garlic online to be shipped in September. Click on a variety of your choice to begin the process.

Spanish Rojo Garlic smaller in size has an earthy flavor.

Montana Garlic has a mild flavor and 6 cloves per bulb.

Click on the garlic of your choice to pre-order your selection.

Music Garlic is mild similar to Montana in flavor.

German Garlic provides a strong flavor for stews and other cooking projects.

Limited availibility of all varieties.

Grapes

I watched tiny grapes appear and disappear on the grape plants this past spring. Something removed them. An insect? What ever the culprit, I only have 3 grapes ripening on the largest of the grape plants. I am disappointed as I crave those delicious Concord Grapes. You can bet I am going to savor the 3 I hopefully eat.

I know I want to make the task of setting up a trellis a high priority this fall. The grape seedlings I planted are currently leafless. I hope the roots are growing and will survive. I plan to continue working with the grapes for a future harvest. In the mean time I will also eat the wild grapes growing around the farm.

General Farm Work and Area Clean Up

There are always areas around the farm that need to be cleaned up. The heat of summer does not lend to daylong outside work for me. While I desire to tackle these projects, truthfully, they may get put on the backburner for the pressing jobs like weeding, watering, harvesting and preserving. Fence building and pasture maintenance fall into this time slot as well.

Transplanting Trees

I had a few crab apple trees pop up around the current tree. I want to transplant a couple one to the center of the circle portion of our driveway.

Online

Because a part of my homesteading journey includes sharing my journey homesteading with a chonic illness, I want to tell you about my website summer 2020 homestead goals.

Chick Hatching Practices

In the coming 2 months I plan to complete the finishing touches on the digital course Chick Hatching Practices teaching folks new to hatching chickens how simple and easy the process can be.

Updating to breed and pen page info

Changes to the different pens of Swedish Flower Hens, Silver Gray Dorkings, and Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner create a needed update to the differnet website pages.

You Tube videos

I want to continue adding a weekly video to the CG Heartbeats Farm You Tube Channel. Use the link below to subscribe so you do not miss a video. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vCR-u2f0ucynCHJWylqVw

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March 25, 2020March 25, 2020

Seasons ~ Winter 2020

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The first day of Spring came and went with out a thought in my brain that I should write a post about winter accomplishments and progress and a second post sharing the goals here at CG Heartbeats Farm for spring. I enjoy looing back to find encouragement and I get excited thinking of the next 3 months to work, plant, and all of the beauty that comes with spring.

Hatching Eggs

I set hatching eggs the last week in November and really have not slowed down since. I plan to stop setting eggs in June. I had a few hatches that did not go well in terms of numbers. One hatch only resulted in one chick. I felt disappointed, but I learned.

I started looking closer at the size of the air pocket as that can be affected by humidity levels. As I seen a rapid change in the air pockets, I added a small amount of water to the incubators. My hatch rates improved. I have since went back to completely dry hatches. I will continue to do better at monitoring the air pockets of the eggs and humidity in the hatching room.

For those who follow this blog and have inquired about Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners and Silver Gray Dorkings, no good news, yet. The Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners hens have not started laying yet. The Silver Gray Dorking eggs remain infertile. I may need to switch out roosters for a younger one. I hate to do that as Rooster Cogburn has developed into a beautiful boy.

In March, the first crested Swedish Flower Hen chicks hatched from Apache’s Pen. I am looking forward to watching them grow. I picked out 4 crested from the 7 chicks and 4 weeks later I was right on. As to whether they are male or female, well I am not as proficient at that.

If you want to learn about the crested pen at CG Heartbeats Farm use the link below:

Swedish Flower Hen ~ Pen # 8

Hatching Course

I worked hard over the last few months to finish writing and setting up a course Chick Hatching Practices, to teach others to hatch chicken eggs. I struggled with a title at first. Hatching chicks does not happen perfectly every time, similar to all ventures in life there is always more to learn. This course teaches the basics with worksheets to help each person meet their personal chicken goals.

Purchase now and receive the E-book, Plan Your Hatch as a bonus.

The course content is already available with additional videos, resources, and printables to be added soon. Begin today!

The material is available now, but I will be adding additional worksheets, printables and videos to what is already there. A huge benefit to purchasing Chick Hatching Practices now includes a low price of $19.99 and immediate access to a Facebook group that allows for space to ask questions of myself and others taking the course. If you are planning to hatch eggs in the coming weeks for the first time or know someone who is, check out Chick Hatching Practices for yourself or share with a friend.

Singing

In January I enjoyed the fun of singing with my Mom and Shelia Mullet at a local Jam. It was a lot of fun to spend time with my Mom while praising and worshiping the Lord.

Fiddlin’ Around

I came across an old fiddle and zither online that was for sale. It was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase, but I was intrigued with the zither and the fiddle seemed to call my name. Turned out the fiddle was ¾ size not a full. My fiddle is a full, but I hope the ¾ size may be easier on my neck and shoulder. Time will tell.

The fiddle has gone for needed repairs, but I am told it is finished and plays nice. I look forward to trying it out myself. In the meantime, I have begun playing my full-sized fiddle again. Practicing describes the activity in a better light. I am in need of a rebuild myself when it comes to playing a fiddle.

Chicken Pens

Our rather mild winter, here in northern Indiana, allowed me to leave chickens in the outdoor pens much of the time. The result? More garden space. I am excited to plan just where I will be planting seeds in regard to shadows, sunlight, soil type, and drainage.

My Dad offered me a pen he no longer used and wanted to get rid of. He even delivered it and helped with the toughest part of setting it up. I am thankful for another pen to kill sod and a place to house chickens outdoors.

Garlic

As I write this post the garlic is up 3 inches in most places. Over the last few months, I have kept the hay chaff hauled out of the barn onto the garlic gardens. I did not get many woodchips out there yet. But there are more to haul.

Horses

Rosie, who turns 25 next month, came through winter. I debated last fall if she could. Last Saturday, I turned her and Dusty in the yard to eat a bit of spring grass that has started growing. She took off galloping. That did my heart good and put a big smile on my face.

South Gate Crossing

My friend Julie from Blooms on 800 and I attended a training (Growing herbs and Patio Plants) put on by Bushel Craft Farm at South Gate Crossing. Ginger was on the list for discussion. I have been wanting to plant ginger since last summer. I had no idea I would end up taking some home to plant.

I learned a bit about growing ginger and we each left with a start of Ginger and Jerusalem Artichoke.

To date only the Jerusalem Artichoke sports green shoots, but I gently pulled back the dirt around the ginger finding that it too has begun growing beneath the surface.

A Changing World

Who know a month ago how rapidly our world would seem different? We are in the midst of it now. I hope. My days remain relatively the same. I have chickens to feed, a website to blog on and run, horses, cats and a dog to care for. I refrain from my occasional neighborly visits for now. I probably check in with family a little more often.

The green grass is starting to grow and that looks like money in the bank to me. The faster the grass comes in the sooner I need to feed and purchase less hay.

This morning I took a walk in the woods and along the creek. All is as it should be with spring coming on. There are tiny green plants starting to emerge on the floor of the woods. Water continues to sing as it flows along. The birds sang and the raspberries snagged at my cloths as they always do. I felt peace.

In January I started a workbook study of Philippians titled Joy in the Midst. I am learning and growing although for now it is likely beneath the surface. These past 3 months were good ones and I am thankful for the opportunity to live them.

NOTE: This page or post contains affiliate links. When you click and make a purchase I earn a portion of the money you spend at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support.

Read in this blog post about my go to incubator in 2019. I include tips I use with this incubator.

The Janoel 12 incubator with chicks I hatched from Pen # 7.

Click on either picture. Purchase your own.

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January 13, 2020January 10, 2020

A Homestead Vision for 2020

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Honestly, I intended to write this post last week. It did not happen; in that regard I am getting a slow start to my 2020 planning. I do have quite a few ideas bouncing around in my head and heart. In this post I am going to combine looking back at 2019 and what progresses were made her at CG Heartbeats Farm to build on goals for 2020

On the Website

Hatching Course

The idea to teach others how to hatch chicken eggs came to me as early as 3 or more years ago. I have always had a passion for baby animals. I wrote about that in blog series titled ‘New Life’. I actually put pen to paper or rather started typing on my computer in early 2018. I am committed to finishing this in the coming weeks.

The Practice of Hatching Chicken eggs is just that practice. I will continue to add to the course titled ‘Chick Hatching Practices’ sharing new information as I learn it.

Garlic Purchase

I am in the process of setting up product pages for garlic that I raise to make it available to those who are not local. Garlic ships and keeps well. Here at home, I use the previous years garlic well into the March and sometimes even April or longer.

Order and Pay for Hatching Eggs, Chicks and Birds

Hatching egg purchases, chicks and birds paid for through the website is in the works. I always encourage anyone with questions to reach out via email using maria@dontclipmywings.com. I do my best to respond to each question or comment as soon as I possibly can. Planning ahead helps everyone get the best results.

Stories of Farm Life

I shared the first story from the homestead titled Beats that Matter. My goal is to share this type of story every Friday. These will be heartwarming and heart wrenching stories. Important to life, the little moments that touch us deep down.

There are joys and sorrows in life, no more than on the farm caring for animals. I am excited to encourage others to use the hashtag #beatsthatmatter on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Each week I will share some of the moments or the #beatsthatmatter captured on film.

In Addition

I am working on ideas to bring FREE information, checklists and printable forms relevant to homesteading. One goal of the website is to encourage others to produce their own food where they are, using what they have.

On The Homestead

Chicken Pens

Last year I went from 2 outdoor pens to 6. I desire to increase that number this year. All of the current outdoor pens are portable to kill off sod, creating garden space. My goal for this year is to create 2 permanent outside pens complete with runs.

Gardening Space

I have already increased the gardening space, but with the chicken pens moved to a new location this past fall I will be adding another 10’by 20’ space in time for planting. The pens will be moved again in the spring increasing the space again this fall. I planted 350 bulbs of garlic nearly tripling last years crop and the plan for this year is to triple that number again.

I have 10 seed packages from Baker Creek Seeds to try out this coming season. One of them is Kentucky peanuts. I am excited to try these and to grow sorghum and flax. These last 2 may help me raise my own chicken feed in the future. That is a big expense here, purchasing feed. The more I can grow myself the better for the birds and the pocket book in my mind. To be tested out in the future.

Breeding Programs

Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner

The Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners continue to challenge me when it comes to producing chicks. The hens are 3 years old. The current roosters Cisco and Clinch show promise. I did produce a group of chicks from the hens late last summer using a Swedish Flower Hen rooster. That was largely to prove to me that the hens could in fact produce a chick. Now I wait for the hens to start laying again. I lost 2 hens from this group in December. The are getting older and hope to hatch replacements or purchase more this year. I am not ready to give up on them yet.

Swedish Flower Hen

The fertility in the Swedish Flower Hens has not been an issue at all and are rather easy to add to the flock. I often use incubators, but have raised chicks with broody hens as well. My goals for this breed vary a bit by pen. Cherokee has been chosen to add size to his flock, while other pens are grouped for different reasons.

These 2 beauties are a part of Shoshone’s Pen or Pen # 5

Silver Gray Dorking

This year the Silver Gray Dorkings also lack good fertility, although that has not been the case in the past. The parent stock are just over 3 years old and I wonder if the roosters are falling off in their fertility as they age. I will be switching out roosters with a younger one to see if that improves fertility. I will be looking to add additional Silver Gray Dorkings from another farm.

Container Gardens

I used buckets last year to grow sweet potatoes. I will do the same this year and plan to grow other vegetables in containers as well.

A Cow

I have been casually looking for a cow for that last 3 years. A big goal this year is to actually purchase one. I have changed my mind from a Scottish Highland to a Jersey with the intent to breed for a mini Jersey.

Livestock Guard Dog

While predator loss has been minimal, I also would like to add a livestock guard dog to the homestead. The coyotes seem to be rather brave and I would feel better with a LGD on the loose. Champ, the heeler is gaining in age almost 10 and he will be needing assistance in doing the great job he has so far.

Additional Fencing

I have supplies accumulated to improve current fencing and add more. What I have lacked is energy to complete the project. I know I felt better over all in 2019 compared to 2018 so thinking positive, I have fencing on my list again for 2020. I intend to not only improve existing fence, but construct new fence lines creating additional pasture space.

Barn Renovations

The one barn here either needs to come down or be renovated. I prefer the latter, but the more time that passes the harder time I have seeing that a worth while venture.

Tidy the Property and House

In my focus on other areas last year, I look around and see many places that I have not kept up on when it comes to de-cluttering, organization, and clean up. This applies to house, barn and yard. I want to focus on that in 2020, as well. There are projects started that need to be finished. It seems that a few goals from 2019 carry forward to 2020. That is ok. Progress was made last year with out a doubt and I will celebrate that.

Farmer’s Markets

I took a break from attending markets in the last quarter of 2019. I believe I need to focus on working on the homestead itself in at least the first quarter of 2020. At that point I will evaluate where I am at. I truly enjoy the markets, but currently have little prepared to take. My time needs to be focused on the above-mentioned tasks for the first quarter at least. What are your plans for the coming year to shift to living more of a homestead lifestyle? Producing your own food? I would be excited to share in your goals, dreams and progress.

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January 1, 2020January 1, 2020

Fall 2019 ~Looking Back

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I am good at coming up with ideas, as many are. I simply do not accomplish everything I think up. Nor would it be wise to pursue every idea. I admit I struggle at times knowing which one is the best to pursue. Looking back at the last 3 months, the first thing that comes to mind is all I did not get done.

If I think a little harder, I realize I spent hours learning. Learning about how to improve this website and create a unique homestead.

One day, stands out as I spent time with my Dad working outside. With his help, several tasks were accomplished. In recent weeks I spent time connecting with family who are in the area for 5 weeks. Never wasted time in my opinion.

While composing this post I looked back at Fall 2019 where I shared my goals for the upcoming season. I found myself surprised at all I did complete and feeling good about it.

Completed Fall Projects

Moved 4 Chicken Pens

The chickens have proved faithful in dulling sod growth and killing it off to create garden space. If I get a bit creative, I might be able to use the horses for that purpose, too, for a larger area of ground.

This fall I moved the 4 outdoor chicken pens constructed of dog kennel panels and netting with odds and ends as entertainment and shelter in the pens.

Planted Blackberries

I am excited to now grow black berries here at CG Heartbeats Farm. They were a gift of sorts. I dug them up at a friends house who is moving.

When not pruned they mulitlply quickly. Oh, how I know this as I neglected to prune the black raspberries I have until this past spring.

Planted Red Raspberries

While I had a few red raspberries last summer, I went from 3 plants to planting almost 20 this fall. Actually, my Dad helped me greatly that day. He dug the holes and we both filled the dirt in around the Raspberries plants. I added compost from the pile to the hole, serving 2 purposes. The compost soil provides nutrients.

I did not work the ground before planting the berry plants, the compost added a fluffier soil for the roots to take hold in. I have read there are benefits for garden dirt be turned over and to opposite that the soil becomes disrupted when turned over.

To be honest, I did not work that ground before planting for the simple reason of time and energy. I suppose come spring I will know for sure how the berry plant roots did over the winter.

Planted 350 Garlic Cloves of 5 Varieties

I found hard neck garlic does well here when planted in high well drained ground. German, Montana, Music, Spanish Rojo, and, new this year, Elephant. I look forward to offering garlic here on www.dontclipmywings.com for purchase. Garlic ships well and will be ready in September on a yearly basis.

I have started hauling hay chaff from the barns to the garlic beds. I cleaned up where the wind had blown hay over time outside of the paddock where the horses eat. I find the need to become creative in finding cover for the garlic beds as they are larger this year.

Planted Egyptian Onions

In October I planted Egyptian onions for a first on CG Heartbeats Farm. I wanted to plant these for over a year. I feel excited to have obtained starts this year from Heirloom Solutions.

Hatched Chicks

Two batches of Swedish Flower Hen chicks arrived in December. Both 6 in number for a total of 12 chicks. I used the Janoel 12 incubator to hatch chicks from Cherokee and his ladies.

The first chicks from their pen arrived the end of September. I tried hatching Silver Gray Dorking eggs from the pair, with no fertility showing up. Most of fall, the older hens were in a molt. I only recently started incubating SGD eggs from pen # 1.

Chicken Pens

I cleaned the 3 of the 5 brooder tanks and all 3 are currently in use. I will continue to work on cleaning indoor pens. Cleaning the floor and walkways of the chicken barn is an ongoing project.

December 26, 2019 the temps were around 60 degrees. My heart full from a beautiful time with family on Christmas, I woke up ready to get to work. Brian and I worked together to replace the leaking water hydrant by the chicken barn.

I reconstructed the Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner outdoor pen. Days like this are on my top ten list of favorites.

Plant Flowers

The flower bulbs I ordered became unavailable. I found a sale at our local Tractor Supply Company. I plan to plant them this week. The ground still unfrozen allows for planting bulbs. What did I pick out? Daffodils, Anemone, and Crocus.

Carryover Projects:

Grapevine Post

One Concord Grape plant has grown large enough to begin training it to a wire. In this area I am going to train one vine upward (perpendicular) on several wires. In the future, side branches will be trained along the wires paryell to the ground. For now, the next step, putting in posts. Stringing the wire happens after the posts set. At a different place on the property I hope to one day have an arbor to walk through under grape leaves.

Fence Construction

I have material and plans to improve existing fence lines and install new ones. In the past I did most fence work in the fall. Zero fence work was completed in Fall of 2019. I keep reminding myself this homestead is a marathon, not a sprint.

Sassafras

I mentioned I wanted to dig up Sassafras trees to use the roots to make tea. That did not happen, yet! The trees are still out there. I intend to have sassafras tea in my future.

Clean up Around Barns

We started this project by cutting down the unwanted trees that popped up. The remainder will wait or perhaps the weather will provide a day or two in the next couple months to sneak a bit of ‘warm weather’ work in. The temps were near 60 degrees on December 26^th.

A prickly bush needs to be removed, the container garden area project near the chicken barn seems ongoing.

Moving Cement Blocks

I started a container garden 3 years ago by dumping the sweet potato buckets into it as I harvested.

With the amount of dirt I dumped this year, the raised bed is ready for an additional row of blocks.

Barn Roof

One barn roof, long overdue for repairs did not receive the required attention this year. I feel disappointed and want to see that barn addressed this year.

Fall Harvest

I completely enjoyed the beauty of Fall 2019. The day I harvested sweet potatoes, onions, and carrots I watched our first snow fall of the season. I became chilled, but pressed on taking time to snap picture of the pretty scenes.

That day was not the only day I enjoyed fall but I think it was the most memorable. All of my senses came alive. I smelled wet soil as I dumped buckets harvesting the sweet potatoes. I intentionally breathed deeply inhaling the odor only onions produce. I felt the dirt dry my hands and stick under my nails. I looked around at the display of color enhanced by the white of falling snow. I created a bit of art as I hung the onions to dry before taking them inside. I heard roosters crow and hens cackle as I worked. I listened to the quiet that encompassed my work as the rain that turned to snow softly fell. I did not actually taste any of the food I harvested, but imagined I did. I felt blessed as I worked.

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December 22, 2019December 22, 2019

Winter Season ~ Goals

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Winter Solstice

The shortest day of the year has come and gone, Winter Solstice being yesterday. I do not mind the short amount of sunlight as much as I do the days of temperatures below 20 degrees (and lower) that often follows in January and February. Being honest I hope for one of those winters when the temps hit a high above 32 degrees at least once or twice a week. Life caring for animals becomes much easier when above freezing.

Christmas, only days away now, seems to fade quickly by mid-January. As I look ahead to the coming months of colder weather and snow, I think about what goals and plans provide growth on the homestead. I think of ideas that I can share here on the blog where we can grow our homesteads together.

If you have followed me here at CG Heartbeats Farm you know that 3 rare chicken breeds make up a part of the current focus. The prolific Swedish Flower Hens, unique Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners and beautiful Silver Gray Dorkings keep me hopping. In the last year I struggled to produce Silver Gray Dorkings (hatching 3) and Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners (hatching 0).

As I look to the coming months, improvements will be on my mind. I know this year I need to take a look at the 15 breeding pens of Swedish Flower Hens and make cuts. I am going into this winter with around 30 pens. That means 30 frozen water containers. Honestly the word that comes to mind with that fact is, YUK! I committed to telling myself that ‘there is no such thing as too cold, just not enough or warm enough clothes, for this winter’.

What to look for on the blog in the first 3 months of 2020:

1) Chick Hatching Practices, a course sharing the basics of how to hatch chicks, including preparing to hatch and brooder ideas and immediate care for the first week.
2) Info on the specific breeds I raise
3) General chicken info
4) Seeds selection and garden planning
5) Homestead planning in terms of layout and how I intend to put to use what I have. Perhaps even a quest post or two on how others use their land to the best of its ability. Do you want to share a post here telling how you have put your homestead to use? Shoot me an email at maria@dontclipmywings.com or use the form provided below.

Farmer’s Markets in the first quarter of 2020?

In the coming months I debate attending local farmers markets. I believe in their importance. I enjoy connecting with other vendors and customers. I met amazing folks when attending farmers markets. For now, I am taking a break to focus my attention on the homestead itself and this website. I look forward to attending at least 1 market on a regular basis in 2020. I may wait until summer to begin attending.

Winter Homestead Goals

I want to pick up where I left off, walking the property and giving thought to the best uses of the land. I came up with a few neat ideas last year, but as the markets went into full swing, I became distracted with the every day work. Those daily walks shorted into simple checks of all the current vegetables and chickens.

I hope to move cement blocks to provide a wall where I have already increased the level of the container garden I am building. 2019 marks the 3^rd year that I emptied buckets of sweet potatoes to create this raised bed.

Cleaning chicken pens (it is an ongoing thing around here)

Hatch Chicken Eggs

CG Heartbeats Farm now has three Janoel 12 incubators and an Incuview to hatch eggs. No bragging here, but it is a fun to have options to provide chicks for others who do not want to hatch their own. I would like to add the Nurture Right 360 in the coming months. This is how I provide chicks and fill orders for those shopping.

Read in this blog post about my go to incubator in 2019. I include tips I use with this incubator.

The Janoel 12 incubator with chicks I hatched from Pen # 7.

Click on either picture. Purchase your own.

I am excited for the Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners hens to start laying again. I picked up Cisco and Clinch last summer (2019). They were not mature enough to cover hens until November and by then the hens were in a molt. I am looking forward to hatching eggs with Cisco and Clinch covering the hens.

Clinch on the left and Cisco on the right.

For the first time CG Heartbeats Farm will offer crested Swedish Flower Hens from Apache and his hens. This pen currently consists of 2 hens from Pen 7 and a crested rooster (Apache) out of eggs I hatched from My Flower Farm (Lisa). The way the crested gene works eggs from this pen has a 50% chance of producing a crested chick. I plan to add additional hens to this pen in 2020 as I raise hens from Pen # 7. I would have more already, but I sold a few I raised.

Selling Eggs

Did you notice you can order and pay for eggs through the website now? I intend to set it up so that you are able to order eggs from each pen. At the moment it is only Swedish Flower Hen hatching eggs in general, but I want to make each pen available in quantities of 6, 12, 18, or 24. In this way a person can customize their order. Look for this feature coming soon. Until the other breeds are producing better, they will continue to be an unpaid wait list.

Starting Grape Plants

I have one grape plant needing to be pruned, with those cuttings I intend to start additional plants in the coming months. I want to produce Concord grapes for the simple fact, I like to eat them!! No marketing strategy in mind, just my taste buds driving my desire. I have fond memories of drinking homemade (and home canned) grape juice while eating popcorn at my grandma’s house on Sunday evening. Fond memories may drive my interest in producing Concord grapes.

I will continue with raising heirloom tomatoes, even though I do not know what variety they are. I like them too much to change to a different variety this year. My thoughts go like this: I may save seeds from the current variety (unknown) and in 2021 try a new variety, saving the seeds from 2020 to use in 2022.

Homestead in General

I have a few carryover projects from fall that if the ground doesn’t freeze, I would be trilled to finish.

Constructing support for the one grape plant that has flourished. The other ones are coming along slowly.
Fence work for horse pastures and cattle that I plan to purchase.
Work on the container garden area.
Set up additional outdoor pens for spring and the occasional nice winter day.
Condense indoor pens to make room for the extreme cold weather days.

I have 10 different seed packets donated by Baker Creek seeds. Three that I am excited to try are Flax, Sorghum, Peanuts. The fun part of this for me is that each of these have the potential to set me up for my own seeds as these are all heirloom plants. I can save seed and increase my crop in the coming years much in the same way I did with the 5 garlic varieties. Look for a blog post(s) in the fall of 2020 on these 10 different seeds I will be trying here at CG Heartbeats Farm. I will be starting these plants indoors in the coming months to give them a head start on the growing season.

What homestead expectations, goals, or dreams do have for the coming months? Leave a comment at the bottom or use this form to send an email.

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September 30, 2019October 1, 2019

Summer Progress 2019

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Bremen’s outdoor market ended on the last Wednesday in September. I started reflecting on the last 12 months thinking about the progresses I have made this year, new ideas, how I can do things better, and where I fell short. For this post, I plan to share thoughts that pertain to the summer months.

What I am most excited about

I located 2 Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner cockerels in July and added them to CG Heartbeats Farm. Clinch and Cisco will be joining the Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner hens in November. I hope to be able to give each a few hens to create 2 lines of LCN chickens here. Pen space is a commodity here over the winter months. It may be this spring until I divide the 2 boys giving each of them their own hens. The girls are molting right now, but once the boys join them and they are laying eggs, I will start incubating their eggs.

I also made a trip to Nashville, Tennessee. I met with other bloggers and found myself encouraged. Look for a post coming soon about that trip.

Project Updates

I grew 11 new vegetables in 2019. Here they are: Glass Gen Popcorn, 3 varieties of onions, a new garlic variety, Spanish Rojo, carrots, Jacob’s Cattle bean, sugar baby watermelon, red potatoes, butternut squash, and 2 heirloom tomatoes, a cherry variety and a larger one. Foods I produced that were not new: sweet potatoes, German, Music, and Montana varieties of garlic, crooked neck squash, and black raspberries.

Glass Gem Popcorn
Jacob Cattle Bean
Heirloom Tomatoes

I canned tomato juice for the first time. The last time I canned anything was 20 years ago. I feel fulfilled, and strong when thinking about canning again. I find the home preserved food tastes better. Yes, it takes energy beyond what shopping in a store does, but to be honest nothing like cleaning stalls for 6 to 8 hours a day. In some ways it is easy, depending on what I compare it to. Looking at jars of food stored for winter is like having a full barn of hay before winter sets in. I have been known in the past to compare that to the feeling one gets with having money in a savings account. Canning is future provision. I feel prepared for the coming months. Of course, to date this year, I have only canned tomato juice, but no the less, I am back at it!

I ate wild grapes for the first time this year and tasted a crab apple. The wild grapes tasted rather tart and often I puckered up my face while eating them. Organic and natural, I ate them on occasion.

Markets

I enjoyed attending the Culver Farmer’s Markets on Lake Maxinkuckee. The breezes kept it cooler in the heat of summer. I met new people and found new opportunities. This market runs on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 May through August and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm Beginning the second weekend of May through the third weekend of October. As I write this, there are 3 Saturday outdoor Culver Markets left. Are you local to Culver, Indiana? Be sure to stop out. If you are not local you may still visit the market, at least through my eyes via the blog post Culver Farmer’s Market.

I attended Bremen Farmer’s Market for the 2nd summer this year. A variety of vendors came and went while about half showed up almost every week. Bremen’s Market will be in a new location next summer. There are plans improve the downtown, but while the improvements happen, the market will have a temporary location for the summer of 2020.

CG Heartbeats Table Display for the months of August and September

Winter markets will be starting up soon. I am trilled to see an increase in local indoor winter markets that plan to be open the entire winter. This provides an opportunity for communities to purchase local food. I am researching and learning how to keep food fresh longer without any chemicals or additions to the food. I sometimes stop to ponder what did folks do 500 years ago? 1000 years ago? The human race survived long before the modern food options and diets we have today. The Native Americans possessed countless skills and a lifestyle that allowed them to survive. I believe it important to record and at times use the skills that right now do not seem important for survival.

Chickens

I continue to learn about the three breeds raised here at CG Heartbeats Farm, Swedish Flower Hens, Silver Gray Dorkings, and Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner and chickens in general. Adding the new LCN cockerels in July was probably the most exciting event of the summer. I also tested the LCN hen’s fertility by crossing them with a Swedish Flower Hen rooster. The chicks are cute as can be and will be pretty chickens. I will, likely, part with these as pretty laying hens.

Swedish FLower Hen/Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner cross chicks

On a Personal Note

Summer 2019 provided the opportunity to spend with family. A visit with my 93-year old aunt, who traveled 11 hours to visit family in Michigan and Indiana, reminded me of the importance of my relationship with Jesus and that I hope I have a few of her genes. I love her spunk. Time spent with cousins, other aunts, a few of them encourage me in my homesteading ventures. I need all of that I can get. I did not take a trip out west this past summer, as I have the last 3 summers. A memory came to me this morning that a year ago, I woke up in Pigeon Forge, TN. That was a special trip. These recollections helped me stay focused this summer, along with this coming Holiday Season and the plans I am making with my sisters. Isn’t it beautiful that as the seasons faithfully come and go, they bring different memories and opportunities to make new ones?

Do you know the biggest change I recognize as the summer ends? While not visible to the human eye, it is rather a feeling in my heart. For the first time in several years, I am content with this journey I am on. As I shared in the blog post Seasons, I typically struggle adjusting to change, even the ones I choose. It has been hard to walk away from my dreams of a barrel racing championship, and my love of foaling out mares. The contentment I feel in the new path, I trust, has much to do with peace that passes understanding, the growth in my relationship with Jesus and less to do with my circumstances.

I feel excited to be growing and look forward to growth across all areas of my life. I recently felt the strong defeat of failure, but then I remembered I had just learned a new thing. I needed the lesson to grow and become better at what I do. Onward on this fabulous journey!!

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August 15, 2019August 16, 2019

Homestead Diary ~ Week 2

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Picking up from where I left off last week. If you recall, I had been up late to catch Prince Charming. He is a sweetheart, but such a sneaky boy!

Thursday, August 8, 2019

I woke up at 3:30 am. I felt horrible and knew a low sugar level was the cause. I grabbed candy I keep near the bed and ate 4 to 5 pieces several times until I felt my body begin to no longer feel like I was going to pass out. Next time I was coherently awake was 10 am. My head hurt. But nothing like when I had a Traumatic Brain Injury. That headache hurt on a whole different level. Now I have to stop and pay attention to notice a head ache. I ached. A combination of a short night and bad sugar low told me I would have a slow day today. After caring for animals, I headed into town to work online. I noticed Sage had stayed in her dog house each time I had looked her way and when I checked on her she lifted her head. Sage, a blue healer and terrier mix, at 18 years old would not be with me much longer. I prepared for taking her in the following day to end her suffering.

Friday, August 9, 2019

The dreaded chore awaited me the following morning. I took her water and she drank. As the day progressed, I processed if this was the best thing to do. I struggle with these decisions. Once done they cannot be undone. I value human life and that of animals as well. I took care to spend time praying for others, my decision and praising God throughout the morning. I have been nose to the grindstone, but this morning I sat and watched inspirational messages and teachings from the Bible. I gathered emotional strength. Making sure all the chickens had water I had 2 tasks at hand: picking up chicken and horse feed, which for some reason I do not enjoy, and the final decision about Sage. I noticed it looked like she had vomited. To give you her history, she has had a mass under her belly for 4 years and up until 2 days ago has had normal body functions, eating and drinking. When I seen she had vomited I knew it was time. Making the appointment I teared up a little. In less than an hour she was no longer suffering. I drove her home and I took off to pick up chicken feed.

I write this and still will be unloading chicken feed and doing PM chores. I know Brian will be helping me say the final good byes to Sage this evening. I want to share a bit about her as she brought much joy and laughter to my life. The first time I met her she barked at me when I left as if to tell me, don’t leave me here. I suppose the telling of Sage will be another blog post in the future cause as I think about my memories of her, I see 1000 words in my mind. She was about as bossy as a dog could be, and had a mind of her own. I was right there by her petting her head and talking to her. It was about as peaceful as it could be.

I believe the Lord has shown me that I have created a habit of avoiding or ignoring painful or uncomfortable situations. Today I faced it head on, even if I took 6 hours to prepare.

It wouldn’t hurt as bad if I did not love as deeply.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Off to Culver Farmer’s Market where I sold eggs and garlic. Here I had several wonderful conversations with friends and market patrons. At the close of market, I hurried on to have a late lunch with family. I felt wore out emotionally. I grieved noticing how Sage did not bark at me. I heard her bossy bark in my head. Prince Charming escaped Saturday evening again as I headed out to do late chores. I had been resting reading, Betty Zane, a good part of the evening. I decided to sit out on the porch and read waiting for Prince Charming to show himself and be caught. At first, I felt frustrated and angry, a product of my grieving process, but as I sat out in the night air, my heart began to feel peaceful. I enjoyed the story about Betty a frontier girl living along the Ohio river. Her settlement was the first in the area. The story, written in the 1920’s and based on diary entries from the 1700’s of her brothers. Zane Grey, a descendant of the Zane family authored the story surrounding her historic act. As I understand in the town of Wheeling, West Virginia there stands a monument commemorating the siege of Fort Henry September 1782. This book was one of several that I picked up at the Culver Farmer’s Market. Reading stories of heroes who settled our country revives the pioneer/homestead spirit in me.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

A longed-for day of rest, which is what I did, while caring for the animals of course. A late evening visit at friends, where I took a quick picture of a couple of the pullets, she has from CG Heartbeats Farm stock. After catching up I watched her husband ride one of her horses tracking the hot heels. Hot heels are a training/practice tool for rope horses. They are usually pulled by a 4-wheeler and imitate a roping steer. Monday morning as I write this, I again feel a longing to ride. My work awaits to be completed first.

Monday, August 12, 2019

A hot, humid day with rain in the forecast, but it was after noon, evening and overnight until we happily received 3/4ths of an inch of rain. I feel deeply thankful for the rain. I felt super excited to find a Silver-Gray Dorking hen (with a red tag) sitting on the eggs this morning. To this point, I am always excited for a broody hen. They make my life easier as I have shared.

I moved chicks and grow-outs that are living in tanks outside in cages and began the process of cleaning the tanks. I first drag to the manure pile and dump, next drag to the side of the chicken barn where I spray out with the hose. This part of the process looks different each time. It varies how long I soak the tanks, if I use apple cider vinegar to clean, or if I scrub them with a brush. When they are clean, I drag them near-by, tip on their side, leaving them until they dry. If I don’t want to use them right away, I store them tipped upside down. I drag them back into the barn when I use them. On occasion I will have someone help me carry them which is much easier. Usually as I am solo, I drag them. These are plastic 100-gallon stock tanks and not terribly heavy. My cell phone was on the verge of complete shutdown due is age of 6 to 8 years. At times the screen would go white and I could see nothing. The evening was spent shopping for a new phone. I did finally against by wishes, end up with a smart phone. This is my first. I suppose it will have its benefits, but I like a phone to be a phone…

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Caring for animals, prepping for the evening market, and working on a blog post took up most of my day.

I thoroughly enjoyed Culver Market chatting with other vendors and friends. I gathered the remaining information I needed to complete the upcoming blog post on this market. Look for it to post on the coming Monday.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

This day has been an almost repeat of yesterday in the fact that I cared for animals, worked on a blog post and prepared for market. Feeling tired, I tried to stay focused on only what I needed to do. Do you have days like that? As drove into Bremen, I was watching the sky (and the radar). It sure looked like we were going to get hit with rain. I opted to wait to set until it past. The rain took its sweet time and it was almost 5 pm before I set up my table. People started trickling in. Tonight was FREE cupcake night for school students. I am certain all were given away. A cooler air settled in for the night. Upon arriving home, I seen we had been given ½ inch of rain. I feel blessed to have 1 ¼ inch of rain this week. The ground has been getting pretty dry and now I will be relieved of the duty of watering garden and pots. I had just settled into bed when I heard the chickens carrying on. NOW WHAT?!? I felt tired!!!! Dressed and armed out I went to see what was going on…. OH, the pen that has been eating their eggs, had laid an egg and had started to eat it. To tell the truth, I felt relieved, a bit happy and my rather irritated attitude left. I felt like laughing. I could to back to bed and sleep with no worries of a predator tonight.

A quick word to chickens eating eggs: based on my observations, this act lasts for a season and then seems to resolve itself. I am not fond of it, but I have yet to have a hen that does not stop such behavior on her own over time.

Wow, this ends the 2^nd week of August. Did you read the first week? Thank you for sharing in this journey via my diary entries.

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January 7, 2019January 7, 2019

Winter 2019

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A new year has begun. I for one am excited for the blank slate a new year appears to provide. I have many ideas that have been floating around in my head for the last few years. Projects I have started, that I will build upon and a few new ideas for later in the year. I to take time to look back at what I did accomplish in 2018. I also took a not so pleasant look at the challenges and problems that arose, some still in need of resolution and answers. These are common approaches to a venture such as homesteading and many other walks of life. One benefits from taking time to reflect and evaluate progress and problems.

Now officially winter, the weather has stayed pleasant. By pleasant I mean often temps are above 32 during the day. A warm winter by northern Indiana standards. I plan to use this time of slow down to work on this website, plant seeds indoors, work in my house, hatch chicks and plan for the coming growing season outdoors.

Evaluating and planning chicken breeding pens for all breeds

Swedish Flower Hens currently are by far the most prolific of the three breeds. I am seeing excellent fertility in the eggs I am hatching. I have 2 breeding pairs, 5 breeding pens, and a trio of this breed. My breeding goals continue to be the same as posted. I have plans to add an additional line to include crested Swedish Flower Hen.

The Silver Gray Dorkings are fertile, but it does seem to drop off this time of year. I will continue to hatch as many as I can. I intend to add a line from another farm this year.

The Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners have proved to be the breed I am struggling with the most. I really like them, but need to figure out why the fertility has been low. I intend to add a line from another farm for this breed as well. I like the eggs they lay and the size of the roosters and hens.

Deciding on locations for garlic, garden space, and fruit bearing plants.

I am super excited to have connected with a neighbor who will be able to plow up ground, increasing garden space and breaking up sod in areas where fruit and garlic will be planted. I am going to be in need of a roto-tiller now with all of the added garden space. I planted around 150 bulbs of garlic this year. This all fit in approximately 100 sq. feet. I would like to plant 1/8^th of an acre this year if not more. I intend to plant all the Concord grape plants I can start indoors over the winter. Right now, I have around 25.

A few of the potted grape starts to be planted outdoors in the spring.

One of my goals includes growing blue berries, at least for my own enjoyment. I know the perfect location on this homestead for them to thrive, but right now that ground is a part of a pasture. Fencing changes need to happen in order to proceed. There are existing apple trees and a pear tree that I need to learn how to manage. The raspberry plants will need to be pruned in the spring. I am giving thought how to manage the raspberries in order to make picking a bit easier, without completely moving them. They do well where they are located. I would like to plant strawberry plants this year. I will be researching both what variety and best growing habitat before moving forward.

I intend to plant sweet potatoes in buckets again. I have a small container garden that will provide a place to plant some type of vegetable. I am working on the details of where the main vegetable garden will be located and how large (or small) it will be. I do not have a final list of vegetable to be planted. These decisions will be made in the coming weeks.

Adding additional farmers markets to this year’s schedule.

Last summer I got my feet wet when it comes to attending a farmer’s market. I am excited to build on that in 2019. I would like to include a display on a regular basis to share where the eggs are coming from. This will also raise awareness at a local level that I breed, raise, and sell 3 rare breeds of chickens, hatching eggs and chicks.

I plan to take many of the same items this year to the market I took last year. I want to plant specific items that may not have been in regular supply at the market last year. The list of what the farm will produce this year is a work in process. I immensely enjoy attending the farmer’s markets.

Planning this year’s web site goals.

I am super excited to be working on updating the pages that share info about the chickens I am raising. I am also excited to be finishing the course on hatching eggs in an incubator. My goal for a release date is the end of Jan or beginning of February. Yes, I am giving myself a bit of wiggle room. Beyond that I intend to continue to bring you a weekly blog post and perhaps two.

If you would like to join a wait list for this course please click on the following: Hatching Course.

I would love to hear what topics you would like to hear about. Leave a comment or send an email to share your ideas.

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April 24, 2018April 29, 2018

Roots and Wings: New Life ~ Chickens

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Have you ever reached a point in the journey of your life, stopped for a moment and wondered, How did I get here? That describes how I have felt these last few weeks as I wrote about my memories of new life and how it pertained to goats and horses.

I turned down the opportunity to foal out mares this year. A difficult decision for me to reach, largely due to my health. Staying up all hours of the night disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm. This negatively impacts the adrenals. Since I am working to create an environment for mine to heal, I believe it would be counter productive. A smaller percentage of the picture is the fact that I have a limited amount of energy and I have chosen to direct it to my current goals of breeding chickens and a homestead lifestyle. I am hopeful that I will discover a way to add foaling mares back into my life in the future. If that doesn’t happen, I will simply relish the memories of that season. To read my blog on seasons click here.

Swedish Flower Hen chicks hatched at CG Heartbeats Farm

I adore babies of almost any species. Spring time brings new life in plant and animal form. I like to see the tiny plants pushing their way up through the soil, but not quit as much as seeing new life appear when a mother gives birth or an egg hatches.

How did I go from foaling out horse to hatching chicks? I see some humor in the fact that an egg or newly hatched chick is about the size of a foals hoof. Now that is quite a big difference, going from one to the other. My health goals have played a part in directing my current path. It is a simple truth that when making room for change in one’s life certain activities must be let go of to make room for new. An area I struggle with at times, letting go. Some days, I actively choose to stay focused on the new adventures.

Silver Gray Dorking and Swedish Flower Hen chicks hatched at CG Heartbeats Farm

Hatching chicks

Hens make hatching chicks easy. They do the work of an incubator and brooder after the hatch. One of the Swedish Flower Hens went broody last fall. Click here to read the story. The relationship a chick has with a broody hen seems like it would provide an education. However, the incubated chicks seem to know instinctively to peck at food and drink water. Again the power of new life is amazing.

Today, as I write, new life abounds around me in the form of hatching chicks. Yesterday, the little chirps greeted me before I even seen a pip. Today I have been privileged to watch them pop out of their shells. Some times I need to work hard to pop out of my shell. It is tempting to stay where it is safe, comfortable, and truthfully, easy. Working to get out of a shell takes effort, and then just when I accomplish breaking out, I find myself faced with changes. Like a chick who suddenly finds space to stretch and learn to walk and balance. Freedom to move is one of those changes. I mean what chick would want to stay cooped up in a shell. In reality, a chick dies if they don’t break out in time. Similarly, we risk a different kind of death( I am not referring to an eternal death here) if we too stay in our comfort zone.

Last year incubating chicks became a new challenge for me. I have used 3 different incubators to hatch chicks in the last year and a half. The Little Giant, Incuview and Janoel12 produced chicks, but offer different features that seem to influence hatch rates. The Little Giant, a styrofoam, I used only once when I borrowed from a friend. I hatched only 2 chicks. Perhaps with time and experience I may have improved the %. I like the plastic incubators best for the easier clean up after a hatch. Both the Incuview and Janoel12 are constructed of hard plastic. They clean up nicely. And oh those newly hatched chicks make a mess.

They are adorable though once they dry off and the fluffiness appears.

A discussion on different incubators would provide enough material for its own blog post. In the hatching course, I am preparing, I include info on different incubators and a worksheet to help you decide which one suites your financial need and personal preferences.

Consider joining the wait list while I finish up the e course on hatching chicken eggs. If you are not needing this type of information, perhaps you know someone to pass this opportunity onto? There are going to be a few bonuses for signing up early.

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