The Blog Barn

Goose Versus Lynx

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

Goose versus Lynx. Who wins? Goose! Why? She’s brave, big, strong, healthy and ferocious! Who stupidly tries again the next day? Lynx! Why? Guess it’s hungry. Or dishonored.

How wide to make aisles and beds?

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

The decision of how wide to make beds and aisles is a question of economics, ergonomics and of biology. The plants must be able to reach the aisles with their roots so they can eat from them, so the beds cannot be too wide. The beds must be no wider than human...

Welcome to our Flock's Newest Adoptees

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

We’ve adopted some more hens! One of the folks in the neighborhood was moving to where they could not have any chickens. Did we want to give them a home? Of course! Usually we’re adopting from shelters, but a true victory is to keep these good, productive...

Mama Clucky's Adopted Chicks

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

Clucky has adopted some of the younger chickens as her own, providing some much needed mothering. The young Rhode Island Reds were rescued, just like their adoptive mother. The conditions they were kept in overcrowded conditions (and they never got to go...

Bags - a new way of cooking not just for backpacke...

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

Backpackers and truckers have a lot in common, at least where food is concerned. Both want to eat quick and don’t want to spend a long time cooking. They both also need good food to keep them running in top form. Both backpackers and truckers use a similar...

adopted chickens

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

Today we adopted two chickens and one duck from the Stanislaus Animal Shelter.  They were brought into the shelter together, and were inseparable friends there even when provided with a huge field and barn to eat and play in.  Though we’ve never...

Chickenality

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

We name all our chickens, but the chickens have to earn their names.  The geese don’t have names because they look very similar and behave as one unit.  We tend to name them between one and five weeks of age (few have distinct lifelong...

Winter's Delicious Foods - Eating Seasonally

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

Aaron's grandfather told us about how the first supermarkets came to town and put all the little stores out of business. People wanted the foods of summer all year long, and were willing to pay freight for the luxury. In our family, we have always loved...

Big Hats for Important Geese

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

People like to ask, are the geese with bigger hats more important in the flock than those with little or no hats?  The answer is yes. The Tufted Roman Geese we have sometimes have tufts, or "hats."  Those with tall hats are higher in the...

Coming Home to Roost

Re Rustica   -   Feb 05, 2009 - By fullofbeans

Chickens have a strong sense of home, and gain that sense of home by sleeping in the same place for a week or so.  Whenever we move our chickens to a new home (though we do try to avoid doing that), we keep them inside for a week or so to force them to...