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September 2014

Good fodder for Oxen: No.2 What's all the fuss about broody hens?

Posted September 11, 2014

We get the question all the time....."my hen's gone broody; what do I do?"  This response is definitely our personal opinion and may not be the answer you're looking for.  So as not to put our cart before our horse, let's define why we keep heritage breeds as opposed to commercial egg laying machines. For the most part, here at our place, we see it as part of our mission to promote the keeping of  breeds that have graced the door yards of  North America and western Europe for hundreds of years.

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In backyard chickens, broody hens, heritage breeds, motherly instinct

Good fodder for Oxen: No. 1

Posted September 4, 2014

It wasn't that long ago, in the overall scheme of things, that most folks used the cycles of the moon to keep track of things. Only a mere one hundred and fifty years ago, that is about five generations ago, North America was by and large an agrarian place that worked just fine without appointment memos and daily reminders. All one had to do was glance up at the night sky to make sense of things.  If it was close to the new moon, that is, the moon's darkest or least visible phase, it was a good time to "set eggs" for hatching, or to get the cow bred.

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In Anglican Church calendar, harvest, lunar phases, Old Farmer's Almanac, oxen, plow, set eggs