Cracked Corn And Other Stuff From This Week

This week hasn't been my most productive because we've had lots of coughs, stuffy noses, and sore throats to deal with. Luckily, we all seem to be on the mend. Which is good because none of likes to have to slow down or stay inside for very long! I actually think if the weather is fairly good being outside is one of the best things for a cold, but it's been cold and rainy most days lately so we haven't been getting out as much as we would like.

We have gotten a few things done around the farm though. We are beginning to work on tearing down an old hog shed on our property that is in really bad condition.

We're salvaging a lot of the wood to build a staircase in our grain barn . 

When we first moved in we found that for some reason some past owner had removed the steps to the top of the grain barn making it inaccessible. We eventually figured out where they used to be and removed the boards that were covering the entrance. We were able to put up a ladder and climb up there and to our surprise there was about 2 or 3 feet of cracked corn in there! We got the old shoots working and loaded the corn into a truck and then moved it into barrels. We'll use it to add to our chicken's diet this winter.

I think the only thing our chickens like more than cracked corn is the bread the kids feed them. We have a friend who occasionally gets a load of bread from a bakery in the city and brings us some for our chickens and geese. They love it, they come running from every direction when they see someone with bread!

Apparently the cats like it too.

Hopefully lots more work will get done on the hog shed this weekend. The goal is to get it all taken down then move the chicken houses to that location. They are currently way too close to our house, plus the spot they are in would be a great place for a kitchen garden next year. 

By the way, if you've been a victim of the beginning  of cold season like we have, a couple of our favorite (natural!) things to make us feel better are:

 A teaspoon of honey for a cough

 2 cups of Epsom salts and about 10 drops of eucalyptus oil in a hot bath to relieve congestion, aches, and chills

 And to boost immunity: a couple cloves of garlic (which has wonderful antimicrobial properties) in a warm soup or broth. 

Hope you all have a great rest of the week, and stay healthy!