Our Home Away From Home Here In The Bear River Valley Of Utah

Mom's House In Farm Country

Click on any photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Peggy, Dallas, and my shadow coming home from our first 5 mile morning walk in Utah.

We'll be spending at least the next 6 months here helping my 85 year old mother out around the place.

Peggy and mom, still in their jammies, in mom's kitchen this morning.


Peg & Dallas on a morning walk along a crossroad near our new digs. We are headed back to the road mom lives on, which runs perpendicular to this one, about 1/4 mile east (the direction Dallas is facing) where we'll turn right for another 1/2 mile to get home.


Another view of mom's big house which she fell in love with about 5 years ago on a trip from California to visit her sister. She put a deposit on it, sold her house in the San Fernando Valley, and moved out here, lock, stock, & barrel, at 80 years of age.


Looking northwest through part of mom's orchard with our chickens still in their traveling cage. They have since been moved into a large makeshift coop.



A horse named Horse, whom belongs to one my mother's friends, resides on a back corner of the property. The view is to the west.

Looking north across the back 1/2 acre of moms property I can envision a huge vegetable garden at this end with chickens and goats inhabiting the far end.

We've already made the small shelter in the distance into a makeshift coop for our chickens, which we brought with us. This area lies just behind the orchard and large raspberry patch.

Looking northwest from the middle of the orchard which has varieties of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and apricots. Below are a few pictures of the fruit we are now harvesting.

This pear tree is just loaded!

This apple didn't bear heavily this year but the fruit is sweet, crisp, and delicious.


This apple tree is heavily laden and we're planning on baking some apple pies here in the next few days.

More apples.



Horse with our makeshift chicken coop in the background.

Looking northeast across a view of the Bear River just a few hundred yards south of my mom's place. This is one of the places we go on our morning walks now.

A view to the northeast from the orchard fence. My mom's property ends where the cornfield starts and the raspberry patch is just behind where I was standing when I took the picture.

A view to the southeast with part of mom's raspberry patch in the foreground.

The raspberries were in dire need of water as were parts of the orchard, all the trees need pruning and there's much weeding and outdoor cleanup to be done.

That's why we're here and hopefully we can get much of that done before it snows and the ground freezes., we've already made quite a bit of progress.

~POSTSCRIPT~

To our friends who are trying to e-mail us. I have to contact Charter.net and set things up differently before I can reply or send e-mail, and, at this point, we are no longer receiving e-mail either.

Afternoon Pickin's

Very Fresh Organic Food

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Some of this fresh-picked organically home-grown food will be on our dinner plates in a matter of minutes. We're having broiled tuna (our friends Mark & Deb caught it) with salad tonight, poached eggs on toast for breakfast tomorrow, and something with eggplant for either lunch or dinner tomorrow.

Unfortunately, you can't see the abundant variety of salad greens in that basket because I kind of buried them under the other stuff.

Chicken Thief Leaves A Calling Card???

Saturday Morning Excitement!

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

There's a very agile young black labrador who lives somewhere nearby and gets loose almost every morning for a little romp around the neighborhood. He comes down our street to chase the Cottontail Rabbits who live across the road and I've seen him effortlessly jump our next door neighbors 4 foot fence. I'm sure the only reason he hasn't come into our yard is that Dallas always challenges him at the gate.

I know he's been interested in our chickens for some time because I've caught him casing the joint and trying to figure out how to get closer to them. So, I only let the chickens out in the main yard when I'm here, with Dallas, to keep an eye on things.

Well, Saturday morning, I let the birds out about 7:30 and went back in the house for a few moments, to do something or other, when our friend Meredith called with some questions about caring for her young hens.

Mer, and her partner Deb, have acreage on the outskirts of civilization at the east end of the valley, and, at the very moment that I was suggesting they should be observant---for coyotes, bobcats, stray dogs, or any other critters which might jump their fence (not to mention hawks) while their hens are out free-ranging---I looked out my own front window to see the escape-artist labrador running up the street, toward our house, with our little red banty-rooster, Boris, in his mouth!

Dallas ran to the fence to confront him as I was coming out the door, but the obviously jubilant dog just ran on by at full speed.

Sure enough, I looked all around, and the hens were contentedly hunting and pecking about the yard, but there was no sign of Boris.

I was feeling very badly for the little rooster, who, as a sickly chick near death, had been nursed back to health with a shot of vodka, and I was also wondering how I was going to tell Jordanne, the young lady who raised Boris and gave him the vodka cure. I had promised her he would have a good life! I was wondering too, how the dog got in and out of our yard without Dallas noticing, and why I didn't hear any commotion.

Just then, the lab came running back down the street, but I couldn't see if he still had the rooster until he got right in front of the house, and no, he no longer had Boris in his jaws.

Then, after I came out from behind some trees, I saw the reddish pile of animal lying lifelessly in the road, dead-center of our property. I was heading out to pick up the remains of my deceased rooster when I looked down, and there was Boris, standing right in front of me, whole, healthy, and all full of himself.

I ran back to the house, to grab my other glasses, then returned to the scene of the crime where I found the above-pictured Halloween wolf-mask heaped in the road.

That show-off dog had found this awesome looking mask somewhere and was carrying it, snout first, in his mouth so all I could see was the fake red fur, which, from a distance, with my reading glasses on, looked to be the same size and color as little Boris.

Needless to say, Peggy and I both had a good long chuckle over our little tragedy turned comedy, the Resurrection Of Boris, and that rascal lab with his delightful wolf-mask, which is now in our possession. Peggy was especially giddy (actually in tears) because I'm always teasing her about not being able to see without her glasses.

But, the would-be chicken thief has left his calling card, and I've taken his blunt warning seriously.

The chickens will not be in the front yard unless I'm out there with them!

I must admit though, that I'm learning to admire this little black lab who so aptly communicated his desire for some fresh chicken.

The honesty in his cleverness (whether intentional or otherwise) has somewhat endeared the wayward dog to me, but I'll be watching him very closely, Jordanne.

I guess this was our belated Trick or Treat!

~PEACE~

Cozy Winter Coop...

~YARDBIRDS~ Click on photo to enlarge -© 2008 jim otterstrom

Some of our hens and the recently rechristened Boris Major, a bantam Golden Lace Cochin Rooster, enjoy the chicken yard before the approaching storm hits.

This is predicted to be a major winter storm so I decided to clean out the coop yesterday, laying down fresh alfalfa litter, and refilling the nest boxes with wood chips.

I also consolidated our three stacks of firewood into two, covered them with tarps, cleaned out the raingutters and generally straightened up the yard.

HENSPECTION!Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

One of our Black Australorp hens carefully inspects the nest boxes after I freshened them up.

Everything Seems To Be In OrderClick on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

The Black Australorp is soon joined by a Light Brahma and a Barred Rock who all seem to approve of the housekeeping efforts.

Food (check), water (check), edible litter (check), comfy nests (check), perches intact (check), OK, let's go back outside while we can!

ME FIRST!!Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

The storm was supposed to hit last night but it was still clear and relatively warm when Peggy & I took our walk at 7 this morning.

It's clouded up now though and getting quite cold so it shouldn't be long now. Let's hope we do get some substantial precipitation, whether rain, or snow.

The chickens are ready...

Connecting the dots...

...a letter from Erik

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

We got a very nice letter the other day from our young friend, Erik, who lives along Lytle Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains, about 65 miles from here.

Erik and his mother, along with his older sister & brother, have come to see our Native Plant Garden during the Big Bear Xeriscape Tour for the past couple of years, and the kids really love the gardens & the chickens.

This past July they stayed here most of the afternoon picking our brains and endearing themselves to us.

So it was great to hear from Erik, and today I'm mailing off replies to him from Peggy & I, including one of our pine-needle basketry starter kits, and 2 more for his brother & sister.

The kits include a coil of hemp twine, a large-eyed craft needle, a pine-needle guide (3/8"plastic tubing), a chunk of beeswax to wax the twine, a small bundle of pine needles (they have plenty of pine-needles in their neck o' the woods too), and complete instructions on making a small basket/bowl.

One of the most enjoyable things about Earth Home Garden, for Peggy and I, is watching how much fun kids have exploring the gardens and interacting with the chickens.

It's a regular occurrence for kids to come by and ask if they can go in and see the chickens and collect the eggs for us. They're also very interested in the hand pumps on the rainbarrels, the pedal-stone, the solar waterfall/pond, the hand plow, my big eco-friendly ant farm, and all the other wildlife that visits our place.

But it's especially rewarding for us when city kids, who've never had much exposure to country life, or nature, find some joy & magic in our little patch of Mother Earth.

Erik, however, is not a city kid. He's one of the more fortunate ones who lives in the rural foothills beyond the outskirts of town. His entire family has a budding interest in learning about sustainability, about living within nature, instead of upon her, and we admire their thoughtfulness and good energy.

Introducing Our New Rooster...

BORIS MINOR

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

A day or two before the Xeriscape Garden Tour our native-plant co-conspirator, Orchid Black, e-mailed us that Jordanne, at Path To Freedom, had a young Bantam Golden Laced Cochin rooster who needed a home.

Here's what Jordanne had to say about this little fellow who we've named Boris Minor.

"This little guy is very special roo...which is why I've hung onto him for so long. I wanted to place him in a good home, personally, as I would love to hear about him from time to time.
I'm attached to him - this is his story:
When he was a week old chick, he was dying and was pretty much on his way out... gasping for air and his crop was filling with fluid. He was weak and was being picked on and couldn't stand up and wasn't eating. He would fall over or just stand with his eyes closed, his little beak just gasping and gasping and gasping....
It was pretty awful to see.
I was doing everything I could do. I would hold him upside down and squeeze out the contents of his crop. Generally, I wrung him out like a wet rag and all this nasty smelling stuff would come out and he would gag and fall over. I would give him nutri-drench, electrolytes, collidial silver and egg yolk for protein. Finally, I did resort to a low-grade antibiotic (terramycin) to see if it would save him. I usually don't do that but he was struggling to live and I wanted to give him a chance. It didn't work. So I kept trying different stuff as I would hold him and cradle him and try to give him comfort throughout the day. I was beginning to accept he wouldn't make it.
Finally, out of frustration because nothing was working and because we were feeling very upset watching him struggle to live, my sister decided one night that she'd give him a whole dropperful of vodka.... her reasoning was that if he was going to die, she'd rather him not feel anything.... be drunk, actually. None of us actually learned the art of putting a chick out of its misery. I just can't do it any physical way.
So this little chick quite practically fell over and looked like it had fallen asleep (or passed out?) and we felt better. If it was going to drown to death, it wouldn't feel it. But imagine our surprise that morning when he was up and running around and being very chicky. His crop was completely clear and he has thrived since.
He's very special and sweet and loves to be held. I think he knows that he wasn't going to make it and loves humans."

Jordanne Dervaes

Well how could I resist a rooster like that, and a new drinkin' buddy to boot??

So, we named him 'Boris', a good ol' Russian name because he was nursed back to health with love & vodka, and 'Minor' because of his somewhat dimunitive stature (and also, partly because my beer brewing buddy Craig is making a lifetime project of not restoring his ancient Morris Minor Station Wagon).

Anyway, for the time being we are keeping Boris Minor in a separate enclosure from our big hens, giving them a chance to become accustomed to each other.

His pen is sheltered from the heat and rain, out in the main chicken yard, where all the birds peck & scratch throughout the day, and when it gets dark he's got his own safe perch where he spends the night.

Boris seems quite healthy now and crows with great confidence in the early morning hours even though he still sounds more like a baby lamb bleating than a rooster.

He is rather feisty with the hens when they confront him at his wire fence though, he puffs himself all up as if to let them know who's boss around here.

I have a feeling that, once he's matured, and learned to cope with our 14 hens, we'll be re-naming him Boris Major.

But right now he still whistles, coos, & chortles in his cheery sing-song way and seems to enjoy being held and hand-fed little delicacies like fresh tender greens from the garden.

Boris has big shoes to fill if he's going to take the place of 'Arnold The Roosternator' who died last December. Arnold was already quite old when we got him so he only lasted for a couple of years with us. I guess those fourteen hens got the best of him, but what a way to go!

;~)

BORIS MINOR & COMPANY

EARTH HOME GARDEN

JULY 24TH, 2007

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

P.S.

Jordanne- I promise I'll never give Boris another shot of vodka, unless of course, he keels over and acts like he's dying, which doesn't seem likely at this point.

You, and Anais too, did a great job raising the rooster and we'll do our best to give him a good home.

But I'm guessing he'll have his Banty feathers ruffled by these gals for awhile.

Happy Hens!

Click on photo to enlarge

This weekend was devoted to the chicken yard. We ran a course of 5' wire fencing around the inside of the 4' picket fence which should keep the young hens in the yard now. The old hens never jumped the fence (not since they were youngin's anyway) but a few of our current youngsters are still full of spit & vinegar!

A little snow removal and a couple of fresh bales of alfalfa on the muddy ground make for some happy hens, and when the hens are happy I'm happy. It's these simple things in life that I enjoy the most. Just knowing that a few good hens peck & scratch contentedly in our yard is a comfort.

Good Morning!

Click on photo to enlarge

The first Sunday of Spring found us working around substantial mounds of remnant snow to do some spring yard clean-up. The chicken yard fence needed to be heightened because Corrina and a couple of other Black Australorp hens have been flying over it and wreaking havoc in the native plant garden.

And this reminds me that, once again, I must rave about the egg-laying talents of these birds. The chicks we bought last year started laying in September and produced a steady reliable supply of eggs right through the shortest coldest days of winter.

Despite the recent and much appreciated snow our spring fever is growing stronger by the day. Warm daytime temps are melting the snow rapidly, and events like the return of our Violet Green Swallows from somewhere in Central America on this past Thursday, the third day of Spring, have me outside most of the day, so I just haven't been in much of a 'sit at the computer and blog' mood.

Which reminds me that I'm itching to get back outside and play in the dirt!

Later...

Peggy & Corrina

Click on photo to enlarge

We don't usually name our hens but Corrina here has a very adventurous spirit and likes to be around people so we made an exception. Corrina jumps the chicken yard fence every day to scratch & peck her way around the native plant garden looking for seeds, greens & bugs. Here she watches Peggy collect pine needles for some winter basketry to see if any bugs turn up. When she's in the chicken yard and a person approaches, Corrina will jump up on the fence to greet you and, when she's out, she'll walk right up to Dallas looking him in the eye, and Dallas seems perfectly content to leave her be. She's been doing this for weeks now.

Sixteen Weeks Old

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Our nine Black Australorp hens are now 16 weeks old and should start laying in the next 4 to 6 weeks.

We're currently getting about 6 eggs a day from the old birds but we should be up to our knees in eggs by late September.

Our New Black Australorp Chicks

Click on photo to enlarge
At the corner feed store yesterday we discovered a bunch of four-week old chicks on sale including nine Black Australorps (my favorite hens) so we bought all nine.

The Roosternator!

Click on photo to enlarge
Big Bad Arnold in the chicken yard today just waiting for me to make one wrong move!
I've had some roosters in my time but never one like him.
Arnold stands over a foot and a half tall with 2 1/2" spurs on his legs (more like curved bayonets).
He was given to us by the owner of the local feed store where someone had abandoned him in a cage on the front stoop early one morning.
For the first couple of days Arnold seemed docile enough, but on the third day when I went in to collect eggs (in my shorts) he came up behind me and buried one of those spurs about a half inch into my calf.
Luckily, I had the galvanized lid to the feed bucket in my hand and smacked him out of startled reaction.
I hit him so hard I was afraid I'd killed him, but he just bounced off the chicken wire fence, coming back at me like Mike Tyson.
I backed out of there real quick, with blood spurting from my leg and protecting myself with the can lid, which is now so dented it looks like it was shot up with a pellet gun because of Arnolds rapid fire spurring.
When he charges you the feathers on his neck stand straight out like a 12" dinner plate and you can see fire in his eyes!
We had to rig up a system of gates just so we can safely collect the eggs after Arnold goes out into the chicken yard.
I'll feel sorry for any chicken thieving critter that gets caught in the coop with Arnold!

Light Brahma Mama

A Light Brahma hen watches my every move as she keeps her clutch of eggs warm this morning. Brahmas are large beautiful birds with feathered feet (there are Dark Brahmas, Light Brahmas and Buff Brahmas-we have two lights & a dark) and they lay brown eggs.

Omelettes Anyone?

Beautiful fresh eggs in a nesting box at 9:03 A. M.

Black Australorp Hen

One of our two Black Australorp hens checking out the fresh nest boxes this A.M.
This Australian breed was developed from Black Orpingtons imported from England.
They are very large gentle birds who lay brown eggs and stand confinement well, which is important in a place with snowy winters.
A hen of this breed laid a record setting 364 eggs in 365 days.
She is my favorite hen and the one who is most often found setting on a clutch of eggs.
I would love to have an entire flock of Black Australorps.

Although we live near the west coast in Southern California, we are at 6,750' elevation and our temperature extremes go from -18 to over 100 degrees F, and we've had 4 to 5 foot snow accumulations on several occasions.
Our chicken coop is the downstairs part of what used to be the kids fort years ago, where they kept their bikes, wagons & stuff during the winter.
The ceiling is maybe 5' from the floor and in cold weather I close the window & large door much of the time, and there is a small door at floor level for the birds which I close on winter nights.
I'm 6'1" so this low ceiling makes collecting eggs and cleaning the coop more of a back-bending chore, but it keeps the heat down close to the birds, and maybe helps my old joints stay a bit more limber as well.
Most of our hens were Priority Mailed as day-olds from the Murray MacMurray Hatchery about six years ago, the big breeds, and we raised them under a heat lamp in the coop.
Every one of them grew up healthy and productive, and the only cold related problems I've noticed are a tiny bit of blue-comb in a couple of the birds with larger combs.
It seems to go away on its own as the weather warms, but if I order hens again, I'll try to stay with small combed birds.
We keep the floor of the coop in deep litter alternating from alfalfa to straw (the hollow tubes of the straw help to aerate the litter and the chickens like to eat the alfalfa.
Our eight nest boxes are filled with woodchips, curtained with old blue jean material for privacy, and we have two long perches so all the birds can be up close to the ceiling at night where it's warmest.
In six years we've not lost any birds to the cold.
The coop itself includes a small outside 'winter yard', covered with a roof, and double layered with chicken wire on the sides to keep out raccoons. I put rocks & concrete about a foot down around the perimeter walls so raccoons, or dogs for that matter, can't dig under.
When the snow melts they have a large outdoor area where they browse and scratch.

Fresh Eggs

A batch of fresh eggs collected this afternoon from our hens.

Chickens on the Loose!

Some of our hens and Arnold the Roosternator, enjoying a spring like morning outside today.