"If you can manage a pet cat, you can manage a few chickens,"

a wise man said on youtube. Well I guess this is going to be easy since I have had cats my whole life but I know  a b s o l u t e l y NOTHING about chickens. And neither does Heather, the Horse Wrangler or Sarah, the Baker. All we know is that we like eggs and roast chicken dinner.

This is what I know so far: our chickens are "Red Sexlink" chickens, which means they are a hybrid between a Rhode Island red or a New Hampsire rooster and a White Rock hen or something like that. They are a kind of chicken not a breed of chicken because they won't reproduce another sexlink chicken.  The reason for this kind of chicken is that breeders can easily identify males and females. These chickens lay large brown eggs, they are friendly and they don't fly much, which make them easy pickins for predators. They are ridiculously easy to catch, they just kinda squat down and we can scoop them up. 

 The first egg was a double yolker! 

About two weeks in, one chicken has been laying an egg a day... that's it! Still excited, still waiting ...

Mrs Eggsworth and Petunia

Sarah aka Barn Mucker, throws in with her brother and splits on an order of chickens to go... go to the barn that is... Suddenly we are chicken farmers.  Heather rushes off and by rushes off I mean before the chickens arrive she orders a cute hen house.

We wait patiently every day for eggs.  I think the other two are named Rosie and Turtle ... I don't know why. The names don't matter as they are almost indistinguishable.  

Sarah and her brother's chickens together for three days. When 6 leave suddenly, the other four just stand still, stunned and frightened for a few hours

Case the farm dog, looking at the chickens.  We thought he was going to be good with them but he's not.  Too up close and personal I'd say with a chicken held lightly in his teeth ... Heather checked chicken, it was absolutely fine. But again, chickens frozen to the spot. Can't think its going to be good if a large predator comes calling. Case jumps up on the round bale just outside the chicken stall, (yes the chickens live in a horse stall!) and stares them down. They are oblivious.

Sarah, aka Barn Mucker, aka Chicken Whisperer, aka Proud Owner of Deuce

Sarah left for work, I mean really left, Kelowna BC,  4000 miles away and Heather is told how golf balls will fool your chickens into laying. So into the nesting box go two golf balls. Still no eggs. Sarah comes home and I happen to be in the barn when she comes in to see her chickens ...I hear her gasp ... snicker, snicker to myself, she thinks she has found eggs. "Oh wtf GOLF BALLS!"  Hahaha good laugh of the day!

... the comings and the goings

Deuce meeting Willy. Willy is the farm ambassador, a few squeals and oinks from both and then they went back to eating grass.

New girl in the field and the other three are the mean girls

Busy busy winter in the barn, with 13 stalls filled and two horses living outside. It felt like an arduous job everyday to muck 13 stalls. On the best days for me, three of us would split the work. I must say here that the new farm hand was working out very well. It didn't take long for me to lose interest, about the time I had to start wearing three layers of clothes. Then I pulled out my go to line about "not my job" and I stayed home, warm and happy ... and not the least bit guilty. My favourite job was to make supper for everyone instead.

Sierra, the Black Dragon, "No, you may NOT be part of this herd!"

But Willy likes all the new horses

Thirteen inside horses went down to 9 quickly as spring approached, then 3 more left at the beginning of March.
Easy peasy in the barn but the Bill Payer, aka  Heather,  started getting worried. An ad went up, an acquaintance showed up who remembered Heather had a horse farm and then two friends came back and brought two more friends with horses. Now it's near the end of April, 17 horses ...

Deuce meeting Ben. 

Deuce is actually a good sized half Arabian Saddlebred cross 

while Ben is a Belgium cross. 

Beside Ben, Deuce looks like a pretty girlie horse

New ranch hand

Hay -A year in review

pretty sure Heather's spare beer is in her bra

Why we do it!

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Case, the farm dog. Runs with the tractor and wagon and can even make a flying leap on to or off of a moving wagon.  The little asshole needs to learn not to run down the road visiting when our backs are turned

nom nom nom whiz bang kachunka kachunka kachunka  

.

Morrison women git'er done!

Sarah "Onelite" Hill

Vern and Jenn bringing in a good load

                                                                                                                                                               

THE CREW and Betty. 

    Heather, Jenn, Sarah, Josh, Wes and Nathaniel is there too, sitting on the tailgate  

Funny story about Betty,  the truck, she has a hockey stick holding the drives seat up!
So every once and awhile …zoom bang laying down lookin up! Might say laying down on the job!

Jenn doin her thang

Wesley

Tractor Driver

Two bailers going, his and hers.  His makes squishy bales that drive everyone crazy and hers makes nice square heavy bails but breaks strings every 10th bale and drives Vern crazy ...

Hay Break Away, going for an epic Float Down The River.

The girls raised over $200 for Deb'z Bedz, a charity to give beds to Haitian sugar cane cutters who have nothing to sleep on..

good night

Our Willy

That face! That nose! always stuck through the bars ...at anyone
going by or he sticks it through the bars of the horse behind him
and snoops around at their stall

Aka The Shit Weasel

First show under saddle... notta problem. First time over rails, ever ...
notta problem. First time over cavelettis  NOTTA PROBLEM!

Morning coffee please

awww cuddles. This pony has so much personality.  We

can always find him in the middle of  the herd, sometimes standing up

on his back legs trying to bite the face of a big percheron.

He doesn't know his size nor does he care. The biggest horse in the field

Welsh Mountain Pony, section A…Heather trying to get in the saddle while Willy decides to climb up too

Debi riding Willy… let's consider that he has had only a handful of training hours and now he hacks, drives, jumps, and gives lessons to small children

"COM ON i get dragged to a show early in the morning GIMMEE your coffee"!

Touching moment, sometimes Willy has them. Barley is leaving that day for new adventure and Willy says goodbye.
 I think this picture had us all weepy
P.S. Barley just came back after a winter away and Willy said hello friend the same way as he said goodbye

New Blog post New Farm Animals

Apple chewing on Penny"s brand new blanket

HELLO SPRING! First outdoor coffee/baileys spring break yesterday. Surrounded by good friends, good coffee, good baileys! Good laughs! The best part of horse husbandry is the people (for me that is, for others it's the horses -go figure!)

The Reluctant Horsewoman has been a reluctant blogger. After my parents died so did my voice, (my writing voice not my actual voice) Most of my horse stories were told. The only funny things were the boarders themselves and sometimes they are not really funny.

Only four chicken are ours, as in Sarah Hill's

Now we have chickens! A whole new learning curve. I anticipate that they will be as funny as horses but not as dangerous, hahaha.






My education as a horse woman is ongoing and satisfying. I don't always know what is exactly wrong but I can pick up that something's weird. I then ask an expert, my daughter, and find out what is bent, broke or not quite healed.

Heather and Case out for the first ride on Sienna, after Sienna broke her leg

It's been a long, cold winter. Horses and people came and went. Its good to see others come back. I think its going to be a good summer! New good looking ranch hand to boot!

My life is a Zucchini

My poor zucchini!  They just started pumping out fruit when the big storm hit.  People all over Ontario and Quebec lost trees and power. I lost the tops of three of four zucchini plants.  They are looking sunburnt and sad.  I am hoping they will find another node to spout from and continue growing.

Two trees came down at the farm.  One ripped the power from the house, where the water pump is.  Vern and I had to do some juggling water around to the horses.  Heather went on a work bee to help neighbours with their downed trees.

Recent recipes I have inflicted on family and friends:

As Vern lifted a 10 lb chocolate birthday cake, he asked me sadly "Is there zucchini in this?"

Roast Zucchini Salsa by Closet Cooking

A tasty roast zucchini and jalapeno salsa that is just bursting with summery flavours!

Servings: makes 2 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
• 1 handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• juice from 1/2 a lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Brush the zucchini in oil, place it on a baking sheet with the cut side up and roast on the top shelf in a preheated 450F oven until tender, about 45 minutes.  Puree everything in a food processor.

Zucchini Noodles

Now these are super fun AND delicious! Wash zucchini; cut ends and peel using a julienne peeler. It's that easy! Eat them plain with salt and pepper and olive oil.   I heated up homemade salsa and olive oil, mixed it up, let the hot salsa warm the noodles, delish !  I have also done it spaghetti sauce, can't tell it from real pasta ! 

Nutrients in zucchini: A good source of fiber, vitamin A, C, magnesium, potassium, folate and manganese.

ENJOY!

 *note: I did not take these photos...grabbed them online.  

Chocolate Zucchini Cake from Allrecipes

"This is a moist fudgy type cake. Sweet but not extremely sweet and makes good use of zucchini! You can frost it with chocolate frosting or cream cheese icing."

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white sugar 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 3 cups grated zucchini 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2.	In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the eggs and oil, mix well. Fold in the nuts and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan.
3.	Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.