Life on Maple Gate Family Farm: Always Never

We've learned a few things living out here in a rural community.

Always shake out your boots before putting your foot in. You never know when you will find a dead mouse the cats lost track of. (I apologize for not having a picture of this one to show you. I was too busy washing my foot and trying not to vomit to grab the camera)

Always neuter your male cats if you want to keep more than one as indoor/outdoor pets. When male cats reach about 10 months old, they start to fight and best friend brothers become enemies. Its sad to see the boys that used to cuddle together try to kill each other. But the good new is, after being neutered, and after the hormones have a chance to leave their system, they can become good friends again!

Always try to get all the chickens in the coop at night. From our last hatching of 10 chicks, 8 were roosters! They decided they were too cool to roost in the coop at night and would fly up into the high branches of the pine trees instead. One morning we awoke to find one of them decapitated in the yard. I took the carcass away to dispose of it. A short time later I heard the chickens making a fuss and looked out the window to see a Barred owl sitting in the snow where the carcass had been! The chickens were only about a few meters away from the owl, acting agitated, but not running away. Keep in mind, this is late morning on a clear sunny day! The chickens knew that the owl was a predator, but also knew somehow that it was not a threat to them in the daylight. An owl that size would only be able to take a bird as big as our chickens from a roost when they were sleeping. It wouldn't be able to take them when they were awake and able to run or fight back. The owl stuck around most of the day just watching the chickens, sizing them up. That night a few of the young roosters went to bed in the coop, but the others ~~stupidly~~ stubbornly still perched up in the trees. The next morning, there was yet another decapitated rooster in the yard. And the owl once again hung out observing all day. That night the remaining roosters ALL went into the coop! For the following weeks the owl paid us regular visits in the daytime (and probably at night too) but we didn't loose any more chickens to it. About a week later, I heard the chickens acting agitated again and looked out the kitchen window just in time to see the owl swoop down right beside the coop. He grabbed a mouse and flew up into a tree in one quick motion! He was about a metre away from the nearest chicken! He gulped the mouse down in 3 bites and then just sat on his perch watching us for the rest of the day until nightfall prevented us from seeing him.

Always buy farm fresh eggs if you can. Not only are the chickens living a much better quality life than those factory raised, but the eggs themselves are more nutritious and healthy for you. With the winter lull in egg production we ended up picking up a dozen store bought eggs. When I was making french toast I used all store eggs but for one of our own. Guess which one is ours!