Cowmomma's Cupboard

Today we have more open ground than snow covered turf and the chickens are out of the coop and back at work.  Reddy was out in the front pasture before it was even fully light this morning.  I don't think she trusts that the snow won't come back and so she isn't missing any opportunity to get out and scratch and dig.

 The hens are all working and turning the ground, doing an excellent job of de-thatching the lawn after its been packed down under the snow and ice for the last five months. We have ten acres that run deep from the frontage on the road to the back cattle pasture and my flock cover every inch of it. The Rhode Island Reds take the prize for being the widest ranging so far of all the breeds we've tried.

This year's new flock will be Buckeyes and we have not had them before.  They will be going into the mobile coop that will be stationed inside the back fenced pasture with the cattle. They will have a fence around them to keep the cows out of their coop but I expect they will range well beyond it's confines once they mature.  We had Ebony Star constantly climbing into the chicken coop or removing the stairs last year so we will put up a fence to keep miss cat-like-cow out of the in pasture chicken year this season.

We decided to try Buckeyes this year because they are on the threatened list and need to have breeding flocks established and so I am going to try to do that this year.  They are heavy feathered, brown egg layers and good at mousing and foraging by report so I think they should be perfect for our climate and scenario.  We shall see.  They are also the one breed of American chicken started by a woman.

Our wild birds are back too and I can't wait till it is warm enough to start opening the windows in the morning because our acreage is alive with sound again.  It is such a contrast to the quiet of winter.  The chickens are constantly calling to each other about each worm they find, and the pine tree tops each sport a red winged blackbird setting up territory for the season.  There are grackles and chickadees and downy and hairy woodpeckers too.  Ahh, it is spring!

We have been providing hospice pig care to our 15 year-old pot bellied pig Jordan Hamlet for the past year.  He seemed to have cancer with spread to his liver and we had constructed a special pen for him in our garage with heat so he could get outside on sunny days without encountering stairs.  Jordie lived to be told that he was a "fine pig", and a "good boy" by his Daddy-Momma.  Those words would make his straight tail spin in a circle.

 He was only eating veggie stew with good fixings from our CSA crop box, apples and oatmeal here towards the end. He always loved cats and this past year has shared his garage and heat lamp with our litter of Hemingway snow cats.  Sometimes they'd snuggle under the blankets with him in his straw pile.  Sometimes they'd tuck in on top of him. 

This past weekend, Jordie went downhill and he passed away early in the morning on Monday.  We cremated him in a Viking funeral pyre Monday.  In these parts Jordie was well known for his acting career and school appearances.  He did the Pig Skin Picks at the Grand Traverse Band Casino some years ago and did better at picking NFL winners than the pundits.  He especially loved children with autism, and elders.

We are still reconfiguring our lives around the big space left now that he has moved on.  I found myself making his oatmeal yesterday morning.  As Dan said as we watched his funeral pyre burn, the pain of loss is the price we pay for these friendships and well worth the joy and blessings we recieve. We were centainly blessed to have known this fine pig.  He was a very good boy!