Blue Hollow Homestead

In light of the newly fallen snow, we thought a great way to kick off our Blue Hollow's Homestead Holidays series was with a post on winter chicken care. When you first get chickens it is easy to overlook all of the changes in care a new season brings. We compiled a list that will help you prepare for even the harshest winter with your flock. Keep them safe, healthy, and warm! 1. Frostbite Prevention You can prevent frostbite on chickens to an extent. It is much easier to deal with prevention than trying to manage a chicken with frostbite. There are two simple steps to frostbite prevention- 2x4 roosts and Vaseline/coconut oil on big combs. The Vaseline on combs serves as a protective layer from the harsh elements and makes the comb less prone to frostbite. With chickens who have small combs this is not necessary. 2x4 roosts make it so that when the chickens sleep they can lay on their feet, keeping them warm with their feathers and preventing frostbite on their toes. ...

The beginning of December means the start of our first ever blog series- Blue Hollow's Homestead Holidays! We have been working hard to come up with eight fun holiday inspired posts for the month of December. We have a few DIY posts planned. Learn how to make a delicious Christmas custard (using 6 eggs!), make your own beautiful ornaments using chicken or duck eggs, sew up a set of cloth napkins, make some meal worm presents for your flock, and turn your old feed bags into a unique wrapping paper. We also have some fun posts planned. Stay tuned for animal Christmas pictures (featuring baby rabbits!), awesome chicken coop decorating, and read some tips on how to keep your livestock (and you) happy and healthy over the winter months. We can't wait to see how our first series goes and hope you have fun following along. Happy Holidays, everyone!

**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. BLOOD AND ANIMAL BUTCHERING.** If you have been following our farm long you know that we had been keeping 5 turkey with the end goal of processing them into meat to feed our family. These turkey had been a fun addition to our homestead- they all had funny personalities and we enjoyed having them around. We had two toms and three hens. They had a pretty fantastic life with a lot of attention (and treats). Alas, the time came where they got a little TOO big and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Today we met with a relative, Jesse, who had two Turkey to slaughter. We transported the turkey to his house.  When we first got there we started boiling a huge tub of water. The first "tub" was much too small and the first (small) turkey didn't fit in it at all. We had to switch out for a larger tub which took very long to heat up. We had to wait for the temperature to be over 140 degrees Fahrenheit!  First, we did ...

After our surprise winter snowfall in the middle of fall, we realized our duck setup was entirely not good enough to withstand harsh Vermont winters. Not only was our coop on top of the hill not entirely snow or predator proof, but we were falling and slipping trying to get to them. We felt like the ducks should have their own space that is easier for us to access- thus the Duck District was created. It still has a bit of work left to do, especially in terms of landscaping, but so far it has created a much happier environment for the ducks and made things a lot easier on us!  If you know us, you know we love to add a creative touch to everything on our homestead. The Duck District sign was a must! Ghirardelli and Godiva of course love it ;) As our population grows we can add to the nifty egg population counter. We do not have any Pekings but the two year old loves "Click, Clack, Moo" So we had to have an ode to Duck. Come tour the district! ...

Everyone has advice on how to make the best chicken coop ever- there are thousands of plans to build your own and many options to purchase a pre-built coop. Through trail and error, we have compiled the absolutely most important aspects of a chicken coop that makes the minimal amount of work for the chicken keepers and the best life for the chickens. #1 1/4 Inch Hardware Cloth & Two Step Latches Slap hardware cloth over EVERY SINGLE opening, window, even the tiniest holes you see in your coop. It seems like a hassle, but it can reality be a lifesaver for your chickens. Chicken wire and other various "protectors" only work to keep chickens in. Any predator can easily rip right through it. Weasels can squeeze through holes and raccoon and reach their arms through holes. Want to keep out the coons? I do! Hence why we have installed two step latches onto all of our coops. It is much more secure and I can sleep tight without worrying about my girl's safety.  ...