Monday, January 25, 2021

Tools of the Teeny Tiny Farm

 Certain tools are essential for everyday chores.  Some are seasonal, some are perennial.

In the winter, when the flow of water from the house to the barn is shut off, we must haul water.  Next to trudging on an icy driveway my least favorite thing to do.  It's just a pain in the rear.  I most certainly prefer the sled while Rick chooses the cart.  Personally I think he's nuts as it takes considerably more muscle power to pull the cart in the snow.  But you can see his bike at the ready to go pedaling down the snowy driveway to the mailbox.  Yes, nuts...


Baling twine is almost as essential as the bedding flakes.  Here we use it to keep the hay aisle door closed.  The wood expands and contracts with the temperature of the seasons and there are times the latch will just not latch.  Baling twine is just the ticket to make sure nosy noses don't work the door open.


And how the heck did I not know about wormer sandwiches when I owned horses and struggled to get wormer in thrashing heads.  No, bread isn't the best food choice for the donks but on the relatively infrequent wormer days, it's just the ticket.  A treat they cannot resist.

And then there's storage.  Our barn is modestly small.  How handy to have a horse trailer available to hold


extra hay and straw


different types of chicken feed, empty bags and, oh yes, an unused saddle lurking in the back
(who knew a trailer dressing room would hold hen food)


 and the miscellaneous bags of shavings, bedding pellets, chicken scratch, mineral salt and 
diatomaceous earth


Now what kind of blog poster would I be without some chonkey shots.
All hens happy and healthy...





  

4 comments:

  1. Good post. I sure understand about the tiny farm. Way back when we had Labs, Poppy used to put their ivermectin on bread. He learned that from a vet who bought groceries in the grocery store where Poppy worked. Sure makes it easier. I'm so glad Sweet Pea got well.

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  2. You are so well prepared Janet and everything on your farm neat and tidy. I have to store my chicken food and supplies in our garage (no the garage does not house the car. It is too full of lawnmowers and chicken essentials!!). Needless to say I get straw and shavings all over the place and walk it all in through the house. Loved the chicken video. Everyone is looking great.

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