Winter Chickens

Backyard Poultry

Afternoon Sunshine

The roost was the lifesaver for many long days spent penned up indoors by the snow. It even got the afternoon sun through the window, and I always liked the peaceful scene of the hens enjoying the winter sunshine. Of course, the view was always through the wire covering the door, and that’s what those funny lines are in this picture. Really, watch out if you enter that house, since Puzzle will be coming at you with a sharp beak in no time!

Puzzle on Patrol

Yes, Puzzle was beginning to get even more aggressive, shut in that little house so much. More aggressive toward us, but more protective and bossy toward the hens. We actually began having to separate the rooster in its own run on the nicer days, since it was just getting to be too much for the hens. They got nervous and more aggressive to each other with that huge rooster around. We loved our Puzzle, and were sad to have to separate it, but something was going to have to be done about the issue.

Unusual Eggs

Backyard Poultry

Winter Eggs

As a chicken raiser soon finds out, not all eggs are created equal. Even from regular layers you can get odd eggs, and our hens were no exception. This little one, in the middle of the basket, was only the size of a sparrow egg! Through the shortening days of November and December, our chickens kept up laying very well: around 13 dozen a month (a lot for us!), averaging out to about 5 eggs a day from the 8 hens. This is really unusual when you have only 8-9 hours of daylight each day; I think it was the many extra treats that did it! Since this time I have seen many more unusual eggs, including a number that were laid shell-less or soft-shelled, causing them to sadly disintegrate before making it into the egg basket.

Winter Treats

Backyard Poultry

Wet Mash Snack

As I said before, even three nice warm runs do not keep 9 chickens busy, and we know what mischief idle chickens find to do! Giving the hens special treats was one good answer, especially since it also increased egg laying (AND cost). We discovered that chickens like to eat almost anything, but wet mash (layer food) proved an easy favorite. Here you can see cute little Acorn reaching for some mash. I would also fix the mash in old plastic quart containers.

Attacking the Corn!

 Last summer I had grown a bunch of Indian corn in the garden, and the chickens loved to eat it. At least once they got over being scared of the red, purple, and blue kernels—it was so funny to see them cluck and stare at the corn like it was some enemy! Other treats my hens liked included cooked potatoes, leafy greens, frozen peas, and cabbage—see a video of the cabbage here!!

Winter Water Works

Backyard Poultry

Water Pail

If you live any place that can stay below freezing for days on end, you’re sure to be wondering how our hens had drinking water all winter. Well, after some trial and error, we devised the system shown above. We used interchangeable small metal buckets that fit down in a wooden frame, which in turn was attached to the coop wall at hen-eye level. It was then very easy to pull out one bucket frozen with ice and replace it with a pail of warm water. The chore then was facing the 30-mph icy winds and 12”-deep snow to get the warm water out there! Normally changing it every morning and evening kept the water thawed, except for very cold days when we had to go out midday as well. We sure got plenty of fresh air that winter!

One Last Run!

Backyard Poultry

Side Runs on Coop

Here are the other runs with their tarp and straw bales. The tarp is fastened to the shed (chicken house) wall using ferring strips, about a foot above the tops of the runs. Then there’s a long 2x2 pole on the opposite edge of the tarp, weighting down that edge to hang over the runs. It worked well, with the same drawbacks as the other run, except it was very easy to remove—just roll it up! Also, it didn’t block out light into the house like our original plan (see it here), since it was attached below the window. The straw bales worked also quite well to shelter the runs’ sides, even leaving a little peephole for the hens.

Winter Poultry Runs

Backyard Poultry

Tarp-Covered Run Against Pophole Door

Want to see our chicken run tarps in action? Observe, there is snow all around, but not on the heavy-duty tarp nicely protecting the run. And underneath are the happy chickens enjoying dry dirt to stretch their legs on! Oh, and for insulation, there are a couple straw bales under the tarp too. The crates of rocks hold it down in strong winds, along with our handy-dandy bungee cords! Yes, this system did work pretty well, just a couple catches: 1) must keep snow swept off to less than 1/2” or it will freeze rock-hard, 2) cannot access dirt or chickens inside run without a half-hour operation on tarp, and 3) chickens get a tiny bit bored cooped up on 20 square feet of frozen dirt. But, as I said, it worked well enough!



What Does Puzzle Think?

Summer Salad

Gluten-Free Gourmet

Rainbow Veggie Salad

Nothing gets closer to the taste of summer than this peak-of-the-season salad. It features all the wonderful vegetables you can find in the garden or farmer’s market, literally a rainbow-colored salad. I’ll leave it to you to pick out each color in the salad! (Hint: There’s just one color missing: blue.)

Now some don’t like raw carrots or squash in salad, but the key is to chop them very thin and flat, stir fry style. You can see what I mean in the picture. Well, let’s get started! This salad is very simple to throw together. Just chop and mix in a large bowl:

1 head Romaine or green leaf lettuce, soaked in ice water and chopped roughly   

2 carrots, thinly sliced                1/2 yellow (summer) squash, thinly sliced   

1/4 c. raisins                              1 chopped ripe tomato

For the dressing, combine in a jar:

1/2 c. oil                          1/4 c. water                          2 T. honey 

1 T. Dijon mustard              1 T. white wine vinegar          1 t. basil

Shake well and pour over the salad.

A hint of sweetness from the raisins makes this colorful, crunchy salad a top winner! Try it, and tell me what you think!

Carriage Hill Lake

Ohio History

Across Cedar Lake

Besides the farm, Carriage Hill Metropark also has a few other things worth seeing. This 14-acre lake is always blue and peaceful; you can enjoy it from a gravel path along the shore, or relax on the rustic wooden boardwalk. One time we even saw a bunch of ducks in the water near the boardwalk. For the hiker, there are plenty of trails to explore, covering prairies, woodlands, and open grasslands. You can also ride horses on certain trails, go fishing, have a picnic, or even go camping. One of my favorite landmarks is that windmill across the lake--you can walk right up to it on one of the trails! So, you see, Carriage Hill isn't all history!

Cedar Lake Boardwalk

Spun Sugar

Ohio History



Spun Sugar Candy

This is spun sugar candy was very interesting--I'd never seen anything like it before. Very thin lines of sugar syrup were drizzled back and forth across sticks resting across the backs of two chairs. It resulted in a cobwebby-thin, lacy candy. I guess if you were ever short on sugar, it was a good way to make a little stretch a long way. It's hard to imagine the pain-staking process of drizzling a steaming hot, sticky liquid back and forth across the poles today!

Making Candy

Ohio History

Heating the Syrup

Here is the sugar boiling away on the hearth. The temperature it needed to reach depended on the kind of candy being made. Some candy was made from white sugar, some from brown sugar, and some from molasses. Once the syrup reached the perfect temperature, it was poured into some kind of mold to cool--even just on a baking sheet to be cut into little cubes. Of course, you could taste lots of homemade candy samples available in the kitchen. But only after you passed a quiz about the years that different kinds of candy first came out!

Summer Kitchen

Ohio History

Making Candy

Well, we certainly came on the right day—the ladies are up to something in the summer kitchen! In the days before you could buy a hundred different kinds of candy in packages at the store, housewives made their own candy. And that’s what the re-enactors at Carriage Hill were doing the day we visited. You can see the little pot of syrup heating beside the fire in the background. There was more candy cooling on the table. And then there’s that soupy dishwater I was talking about….it would be hard to find me working out here, and not because of the “sink” either, but the heat—that summer kitchen was warm even on a fall day! Just imagine it in the middle of summer!

 

Farmhouse Kitchen

Ohio History

Cooking Stove

Time to head over to the farmhouse. I smell something cooking! In this little kitchen, over a wood burning stove, the housewife ladies actually cook lunch for all the farm workers! Next to the kitchen is an airy sitting/sewing room, a downstairs bedroom, and then a parlor, all with beautiful hardwood floors. And just a few paces from the kitchen door (back right) was the summer kitchen, where hot weather cooking could be done without heating up the house (no a/c, remember!).

Colorful Pantry

The pantry was also just off the kitchen. As you can see, it’s very well-stocked for winter! All the canning was done here on the farm, using produce from the garden. The kitchen sink was also here in the pantry—I can’t imagine washing dishes with no running water!

Garden

Ohio History

Carriage Hill Garden

The kitchen garden was bathed in the autumn afternoon sun. Even this late in the season, there were beans, tomatoes, peppers, and lovely herbs ready to pick in the garden. I envy this beautiful wooden slat fence. Not only does it keep out wild rabbits, deer, and loose livestock, but also the flock of chickens which free-ranges the grounds in the afternoon. Oh, I should tell you about the chickens—they’re always my favorite on the farm! It’s a flock of say 20 or 25 Barred Rocks, plus a rooster. They’re usually shut in the tall fence around their coop in the afternoon before the staff leaves; however, there’s a rebel group of 5 hens who escapes the round-up every day and gets extra time to roam the yard!

Woodshop

Ohio History

Carpentry Tools

Welcome to the woodshop! The carpenters make some amazing things in here—we’ve seen little stools, beautiful chairs, and one man even doing some intricate wood carvings. One year we came for the Lantern Tour at Christmas time, where we went around the farm by lantern light. In the woodshop, they were working by candlelight on a very unique Christmas decoration: Very thin slivers of wood were carved off a board; they naturally formed little curly-cues and then were linked together in a decorative chain. A very ingenious idea!

At Work in the Woodshop

 

Blacksmith

Ohio History

In the Blacksmith's Shop

Here is the farm blacksmith shop in action. As we watched, the blacksmith heated this spike of metal in the fire, then went over to shape it with his mallet, and then brought it back to heat some more. His helper in the background was pumping the bellows to keep the fire red-hot. We could feel the heat even from outside the building! Afterward, we got to look at some nails the blacksmith had made—somewhat rustic compared to today’s hardware!

Farm Spread

Ohio History

Carriage Hill Farm

Carriage Hill Farm boasts a number of roomy barns filled with live farm animals—sheep, draft horses, chickens, and a mule. They also have a wood shop, blacksmith shop, machinery shed, windmill, pond, and a summer kitchen with a springhouse. I love the many rail fences on the farm, like the one in the front of this picture.

Hayloft in Big Barn

The largest barn, painted a classic red, houses the horses and sheep in the lower level, with plenty of good-smelling hay in the loft above. Just look at those thick wood rafters! And I almost forgot, there is a new, very large visitor center on one end of the farm, displaying old tools, a wagon loaded for market, period clothes and artifacts, and other things. Be sure to stop by the Country Store downstairs for their ever-popular selection of candy!

Carriage Hill Farm

Ohio History

Carriage Hill Farmhouse

In 1830, a prosperous family of Virginia decided to move west. Daniel and Catherine Arnold sold their land and loaded their belongings and their five children for a long journey to Ohio. They traveled by ox-drawn wagon and settled on 158 acres near the Mad River, just north of present-day Dayton in western Ohio. Their successful farm stayed in the family til 1910, through four generations, and was eventually purchased by Five Rivers MetroParks of Dayton. And so today, visitors to the Carriage Hill Farm in New Carlisle can see farm life running just as it did 150 years ago. We enjoy this historic farm (less than an hour’s drive from us) every time we visit. Here is a view of the historic farmhouse through the trees.