Yes, wintertime is beautiful and picturesque. I have taken my share of photos and shared them on facebook, taken some for my own collection. But I am done! D O N E . The Chickens have also voted on this agenda and they agreed. Yes, Mr. Winter it is time for you to leave, so that we can get on with our plans for a Herb Garden, Flower Garden and Vegetable Garden.
Our chickens have done well, considering the occasional - 50 Windchill and brutal nightime temps. We have treated them for minor frostbite, with Vetericyn and using vaseline for a preventative. Also removing the water at 8pm each night to keep the moisture down to a minimum. We had to add 2 Heat Lamps for the Negative temps after several roosters and a few hens got frostbite. Changing the water a few times a day, because the water freezes in the coop, even with the heat lamps. And cleaning the coop during a fairly mild -20 day with winds around 10-15 mph. Its only one chicken coop but there have been several days that it has consumed all our energy and attention.
One particularily bad afternoon with winds howling over 25 mph. One of our roosters had to be removed and brought into the house. He was in terrible condition, incredibly weak and could not stand. Chanteclair (as Scott named him, was a bloody mess). He had one eye swollen shut and his whole left face was bloody. We put him in a small cat carrier with heat lamps, hand fed him water, cleaned him with Disinfectant and kept him in the bathroom upstairs. One hour later after a second chicken coop check, Mr. Bill had to join him. Mr Bill was weak from frostbite and bloody, just not as much as Chanteclair. Our belief is that Mr. Bill attacked Chanteclair and once we removed Chanteclair, Mr. Bill got attacked by the others. We had too many roosters in the coop, but they had all grown up together and never challenged ranks. Until now. In the middle of a snow storm. Of Course.
So once they made it through the night, they received more tending to in the morning and an apartment of their own in a dog crate, divided and visually not able to see each other. And there they lived for four long weeks in our bathroom, next to the bedroom.
Now, before everyone goes , "AWWWW"....the story just gets more difficult. The beautiful thing was, they recovered, received lots of attention and a clean cage. Jon, our son, built mini roosts for them to be up off the cage floor. They had individual little feeding dishes and water dishes. They got used to our coming and going out of that room, which the laundry room is attached to. We used our other bathrooms for our personal bathroom activities. Except on a few occasions of emergency use. Like, when all the bathrooms are being used....sigh...yes we had to use the 'privy' with them watching. Very Weird. But not as weird as, when I did my great planking event on 2 inches of ice, and had to soak my bruised body, in the only tub in this house, (you guessed right) in the "Chicken Bathroom".
Now, my idea of a bubble bath, Epsom Salt Soak with Lavendar Essential Oils DOES NOT include ROOSTERS Nearby ....and it took this City Girl all day to Muster Up the "I CAN DO THIS" attitude. That and lots of cleaning the room top to bottom beforehand. And surprisingly enough once I got in the tub, looking over at Chanteclair (in his cage) I thought, I think he is more perplexed than I am. I got over it, and soaked away. Thinking quietly to myself..." Can I call myself a homesteader now?"
'Cock A Doodle Doo' crowing occurs at all hours of the day, and night, for two inside roosters with heatlamps. Once the heat lamps were removed and they were well on their way to recovery the crowing continued. This made for some interesting background noise on the phone, but we took it in stride.
When we agreed to have chickens, we knew the purpose of the chickens was to provide our family with safe to eat meat and eggs. Also to provide all of our animals with lots of sunshine and a quality of life. But at the same time, I was gearing myself up to mentally prepare for the butchering in the spring. And this is where it gets difficult.
We tried to reintroduce Mr. Bill to the flock, letting him stay in the coop within the safe confines of a cage so that the others can adjust. It didn't work. Now, to our credit, we have read up on ways to do this, and scoured our favorite chicken sites for tips and tricks. And yet, he was attacked by the NOW Head Rooster in the coop. We promptly removed him and returned completely defeated with Mr. Bill in tow, back to the house. We knew that we would have to butcher both of our roosters. With a heavy heart over the following weekend. We did just that.
Scott has butchered chickens in the past and we were able to get them processed in a short amount of time. Scott, Jon and I did the plucking. And we soaked the chicken in salt water overnight and made chicken soup in the morning. Now remember, I WAS a city girl and this was way out of my comfort zone. We non-vegetarians will go to the grocery store and pick up a cellophane covered package of chicken breast to bring home and make dinner for our families without guilt, hate mail or nasty comments sent to us. And our families will give us Kudos for a meal well prepared. And this is how I have to look at this, it is part of providing for our family. A natural more humane way to eat meat. I just have to swallow my emotional side. And I did. And so did Jon. And Scott.
I made the most amazing Chicken Soup I have ever made. And we ate it. For three nights in a row. The first night, I won't kid you, was difficult and I had to put my mind in a better place in order to eat. But the second night, I fully enjoyed the meal.
I have learned a few lessons. 1.) Do not NAME your food.
2.) Remember the purpose of the animals.
And with this in mind...we will always remember to give 100% in their care, even if they are part of our food chain.
This is the real reason we decided to homestead.
I believe we have now earned the title "Homesteaders".
