Miller Farm Friday Archives - Page 5 of 5 - View from the Front Porch

12 07, 2013

Dr. Seuss Chickens – Miller Farm Friday

By judythemorgan|2013-07-12T05:53:47-05:00July 12th, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|6 Comments

A blog by Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

Somewhere in our family history there must have been an expert in animal husbandry. That is the only explanation for our fascination with having baby animals.

We started with a leopard gecko-breeding colony complete with incubator in the closet. There was even a thermostat on the incubator to control temperature, which determined the sex of the baby lizards.

After the reptile phase, we moved into a rodent phase – the rodents being guinea pigs. We had around 30 of them at one time and even won some awards at local guinea pig shows.

Now we are in our fowl phase, and we are hatching eggs regularly.

The latest batch is the offspring of Samson and assorted chickens. Samson is our feather-footed rooster.

It was no surprise that the chicks have feathered feet. The crown of feathers on their head is what makes them interesting.

I think they look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

Do you agree?

5 07, 2013

Miller Farm Friday – Ring Around the Chicken Coop

By judythemorgan|2013-07-05T06:00:46-05:00July 5th, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|3 Comments

A blog by Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

Chickens are creatures of habit and head for the coop when the sun goes down. Each of them goes to their specified spot on the roost and settles in for the night.

This is their usual routine. This last week, however, was not usual for them. I was not there and things weren’t routine.

A couple of the larger birds, including a rooster, are spending part of their day in the bantam coop with the smaller birds. This causes some confusion in the evening routine now that I have returned.

One night, a large hen was in the coop with the bantams. She didn’t look particularly comfortable and didn’t complain too much when I extracted her and put her in the large coop.

The rooster was on top of the quail cage and this presented a more complicated problem.

With the dachshunds outside, there was a danger of the rooster going over the fence and “playing” with Bella. Even when running along the fence line, there is the possibility of its head sticking through the fence, which is too much of a temptation for Bella.

The first night, I just chased the silly rooster around until I caught it, screaming the whole time “Don’t go near the fence.”

Our neighbors – bless ‘em – have learned to ignore most sounds from our yard.

Last night, I got the dachshunds inside before I began the rooster chase. But, some of the other large birds find this spectacle very amusing and come back out of the coop to watch.

This means that once I have the rooster on the right side of the chicken yard, I must chase him and the other birds around the outside of the coop until they go inside.

Far more exercise than I really want right before bed. Ah, the joys of being a chicken wrangler.

28 06, 2013

Miller Farm Friday – Morning Routines

By judythemorgan|2013-06-28T06:15:53-05:00June 28th, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|4 Comments

A guest blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Letting chickens out has become part of our morning routine.

They are usually waiting at the door and quickly exit the coop.

Some run out while others fly. Those who sleep on the top roost sometimes take a few minutes to fly down and they have little control over where they land. It can be quite funny to watch them.

I’ve learned to stand out of every possible flight path.

Once they are in the chicken yard, some take a running/flying lap around as if to stretch their wings and legs. Their next order of business is a stop at the waterer.

Seeing them gathered reminds me of office workers catching up at the water cooler.

What is included in your morning routine?

7 06, 2013

Miller Farm Friday – Strange Living Arrangements

By judythemorgan|2013-06-07T04:56:16-05:00June 7th, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

By Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

If you’re a regular reader of Miller Farm Friday, you know we have chickens in the coop and in the yard.

We have four daschunds in the house and sometimes in the yard.

We have bees and beehives in the yard.

Recently, I discovered new boarders … lizards aka chameleons

This seems to be a very good year for lizards. We also have a family that lives on our front porch that drives the dachshunds crazy. The critters crawl along the windowsill taunting the poor dogs.

There is also a family living on the back porch – with the bees. And, when I say “with the bees,” I mean in the same house or, in this case, beehive.

I knew no one would believe me so I asked beekeeper Brian to take pictures.

Naturally seeing the lizards reminded me of a song – actually a book with a lizard song,

Lizard’s Song by George Shannon

I read the book to my children when they were young. In the story, Lizard sings: “Zoli, zoli, zoli, rock is my home.”

Of course, in our house we now sing “Zoli, zoli, zoli beehive is my home.”

I’m not sure I would choose to live in a beehive. I think I’ll stick to living in my zoo.

In case you’ve never read Lizard’s Song, click below.

5 04, 2013

I live in a zoo

By judythemorgan|2013-04-05T06:51:51-05:00April 5th, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Guest Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Matt Damon bought his zoo on purpose, but I live in a Zoo where I never know what will arrive next.

Guinea pigs in the girls’ room.

Dachshunds everywhere.

Chickens way out there in the backyard.

Bearded dragon in the front living room behind glass.

Quail in the garage, growing up fast.

Goose eggs, hatching.

Big dogs in the back yard, where they belong.

It’s fun to live in zoo. Most of the time.

This morning Matt yelled on his way to the kitchen, “Mom, there’s a snake on my floor!”

Word must have gotten out that we have our own farm aka zoo, and all animals are welcome. Well, that’s not entirely true and someone forgot to tell the snake.

It was only a small rough earth snake and Beekeeper Brian came to the rescue.

I do wonder where it went when Brian let it loose outside.

I don’t want to hear, while fixing coffee in the morning, that there’s a snake in the kitchen.

That’s where I draw the line for living in a zoo!

22 12, 2012

Chicken chest bump challenges – Miller Farm Friday

By judythemorgan|2012-12-22T06:50:29-06:00December 22nd, 2012|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

Okay, I know today is Saturday, but I didn’t remember yesterday was Friday! I know CW Sara has loyal Miller Farm Friday readers and that’s why I’m posting her email blog. I do apologize and promise to pay more attention to the calendar and not just the clock in the future.

Back in the Blog

The chickens must have heard the rumors that they were being replaced in the blog by clothing/craft stories so they provided the following material this morning:

I noticed while observing our young roosters that male and female of every species share characteristics.

Our roosters have reached what I guess is the equivalent of adolescence and have started fighting. I used to believe that people trained roosters for cockfights, but I promise ours fight on their own. YesterdayI was convinced that two were fighting to the death.

Even Whitey – one of the hens – tried to break it up (just like a momma).

Finally, Samson, the chief rooster, based on seniority not on size as he is a bantam, “explained” to them how things were going to be. They stopped fighting.

Well this morning, I let the chickens out and, as usual, the roosters started their morning boxing bouts. They puff their chests out and bump up against each other kind of like men do at sporting events. Other times they fly towards each other and bump chests as well.

Photo Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

As I was feeding and watering the birds, I discovered one young rooster was on the wrong side of the fence. I guess he had been “bumped” over.

Fortunately, the only dog outside at the time was Marv, our old mixed breed, and he was more interested in the stale hamburger buns in the shed than in the rooster in the yard.

Poor rooster was very confused so I was able to grab him easily.

He did protest as I tossed him back into the chicken yard. I have the scratch on my arm and the mud on my shirt to show for it.

I asked my son Matthew if I needed to change shirts before I took him to school. (Remember he warned me to stay in the car when I was wearing my special sweatshirt.) He decided that rooster footprints were not as tacky as a sweatshirt with handprints.

However, since I was taking breakfast to Beekeeper Brian at his school, I decided to put on a clean shirt. Embarrassing kids is one thing but husbands are off limits.

YOUR TURN: What do you think are sports bumps and cockfights alike?

9 11, 2012

Miller Farm Friday: Bees in the Bonnet

By judythemorgan|2012-11-09T07:36:11-06:00November 9th, 2012|Miller Farm Friday, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Well the inevitable finally happened – I got stung by a bee.

I really can’t blame the bee. It flew into my hair while I was filling the chicken waterer and it got lost. The bee panicked and burrowed into my scalp and stung me.

I understand. I panic when I get lost too so I can feel its pain – literally.

I managed to avoid doing the frantic bee dance and walked quickly to the water hose where I “washed that bee right out of my hair.”

As I continued my morning chicken chores, I had two thoughts:
1. Where are the epipens?
2. How long would it be before someone found me if I passed out in the yard?

Fortunately, I did not have the same reaction to the bee sting as Beekeeper Brian so I didn’t need an answer to either question.

Later as Beekeeper Brian was checking my head for stingers, he suggested that I wear a hat or bandana to prevent a repeat of the incident. This was a great idea.

I remembered the bonnets you made for us to wear at Sturbridge Village on the 4th of July a million years ago? I still have one, or at least one just like it and it works perfectly for keeping bees out of my hair.

So now, if the neighbors did not have enough entertainment before today, they now can watch me doing my morning chicken chores wearing a blue gingham bonnet.

Ah – what a life.

Our other daughter immediately responded:

I am not sure, the bonnet might make things worse. For, as the song goes, don’t women frequently get a bee in their bonnet? Or is that just me to whom that happens?

Either way, I am quite impressed that you still had your Sturbridge Village ephemera. All I have left is fond memories of a picture taken on a canon, with either Sandra Kay or some other random individual.

With our family, you just never know who it might be… friend, foe, fowl, feline or canine.
Cheers, Steph

Interesting to me that both girls remembered the bonnets and not the reading of the Constitution or the fireworks. Which were the reason we originally made the trip!

Steph is correct we did always have a house full. Someone who needed a place to stay or escape or an animal or bird that needed rescued.

That’s why there are so many characters in my stories. Every visitor came with his own backstory which spawned a new story idea for me.

I’d recommend a trip to Sturbridge Village if not on the 4th of July then one of the other seasonal events. It made quite an impression on our children as you can tell.