...cried the chicken. Got up to the first big old lady hen house today and found a chicken laying strangely on the side of the house. Her head was buried in the mud and she still had a heartbeat. I picked her up and she moved, barely. Showing her to Claudia, I asked her what to do with a half-dead chicken. "Smash its head." "Um... you do it." Claudia laid her head on a beam and crunched her head twice. That was it - then the chicken went on our trailer and headed off to the woods to decompose. I like it better when they're all the way dead when we find them.
We had a massive storm last night that carried on until about noon today. Hail, sleet, torrential rains, winds. Apparently this is not unusual for NZ. My much anticipated trip out to Castle Hill for climbing was canceled - they got snow! Heading out to the Port Hills, just south of Christchurch, tomorrow for a little day trip. By the way, my usual outfit of clothes here is (when warm) pants, a t-shirt and a long-sleeve shirt and (when cold) wool long underwear, pants, two pairs of wool socks, top underlayers, two wool shirts, maybe a fleece, hat, and/or jacket... sometimes in the house. Hope summer's coming soon!
And my last bit of exciting news is that I think I'm in love with milk and honey. So far my favorite foods on this trip are butter and honey on toast, tasty cheddar cheese and honey on bread, and yogurt with honey and muesli. hmmm... pattern. We've been making yogurt here from the fresh raw cow's milk. So delicious. I've decided I have to start doing this when I get home. Claudia has an EasyYo yogurt maker (basically and insulated container with a piece of tupperware for the yogurt). I heat up the milk on the stove to simmer and then let it cool off to about 40ºC (warm-hot) and then put it in the container with a bit of left over yogurt. Then pour 40ºC water around the container in the thermos and let it sit for 12hrs. I have to chance the water once to keep it going. The 40-45ºC temp allows the yogurt bacteria to grow and multiply... thus making yogurt. So if it gets too hot or cold, the culture dies and you have plain ol' milk. You get the same volume of yogurt as the milk you put in... so doing the math, yep, way cheaper to make yogurt myself and just buy milk if I've got the time! On the honey side of things, there's a special NZ "honey" called Manuka. It's actually from a flower and more of a dew/syrup (think honeysuckle) so the bees aren't so central. It's delicious, definitely tastes a bit flowery, and regular honey seems bland next to it. Mmmm. Maybe I can bring some back!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Things I'd never really considered before
A chicken can lose its voice. There's an old lady hen in the upper paddock that lets out this hoarse cluck every time I go to gather her eggs. At first I thought it might be like humans losing their voices, but now I'm pretty sure she's got it for life.
Chickens can lay really strange eggs. Again with the old ladies again. Obviously fertility doesn't last forever and neither do hens' ability to lay beautiful smooth brown eggs. We get eggs that have rough sand-like shells, ones with holes in them, odd shaped ones with blunt corners, and occasionally one without a fully hardened shell. I think we scared a chicken when we drove in to the paddock the other day and it dropped a fresh egg on the ground with a thin paper like shell. Weird.
The circle of life for a baby goat. Last week a baby goat was born and its little wet and curly haired self was the cutest thing ever. We brought him and his mama to a separate shelter in the front yard so they could bond and she would learn how to nurse him as a first time mother. The mom had little clue what to do at first and we helped the baby goat who couldn't stand to suck, giving him both formula and mama's teet for milk. We kept up the assisted feed regimen for 2 or 3 days. The baby goat should have been standing by then. He could get his back legs going but his front legs were like rubber when we would set him upright. He'd put the tiniest amount of weight on them and collapse like a pile of sticks. The next day I went out to feed him and he wouldn't suck. We tried the bottle as well and he wouldn't take to that either. Occasionally he'd let out a bleat and turn his face, so we figured he wasn't hungry. He'd had a huge meal the night before. But later in the day it was more of the same. The next morning Daniel came in with a freezing cold goat and put him in a a warm bath. By then I'm sure he was unconscious or possibly worse. I asked Daniel how we'd know if he'd gone and he said the goat would go stiff. Sure enough, later that afternoon he was done. You can't really force a baby goat to drink milk if he doesn't want it and it wouldn't do much good in the long run. Daniel says that whenever they've given their goats antibiotics or fixed their ailments in the past, then those goats are the first to go in a storm. They simply aren't as strong as healthy goats. So we let the baby goat go and now he's being saved in the freezer for possum bait.
Chickens can lay really strange eggs. Again with the old ladies again. Obviously fertility doesn't last forever and neither do hens' ability to lay beautiful smooth brown eggs. We get eggs that have rough sand-like shells, ones with holes in them, odd shaped ones with blunt corners, and occasionally one without a fully hardened shell. I think we scared a chicken when we drove in to the paddock the other day and it dropped a fresh egg on the ground with a thin paper like shell. Weird.
The circle of life for a baby goat. Last week a baby goat was born and its little wet and curly haired self was the cutest thing ever. We brought him and his mama to a separate shelter in the front yard so they could bond and she would learn how to nurse him as a first time mother. The mom had little clue what to do at first and we helped the baby goat who couldn't stand to suck, giving him both formula and mama's teet for milk. We kept up the assisted feed regimen for 2 or 3 days. The baby goat should have been standing by then. He could get his back legs going but his front legs were like rubber when we would set him upright. He'd put the tiniest amount of weight on them and collapse like a pile of sticks. The next day I went out to feed him and he wouldn't suck. We tried the bottle as well and he wouldn't take to that either. Occasionally he'd let out a bleat and turn his face, so we figured he wasn't hungry. He'd had a huge meal the night before. But later in the day it was more of the same. The next morning Daniel came in with a freezing cold goat and put him in a a warm bath. By then I'm sure he was unconscious or possibly worse. I asked Daniel how we'd know if he'd gone and he said the goat would go stiff. Sure enough, later that afternoon he was done. You can't really force a baby goat to drink milk if he doesn't want it and it wouldn't do much good in the long run. Daniel says that whenever they've given their goats antibiotics or fixed their ailments in the past, then those goats are the first to go in a storm. They simply aren't as strong as healthy goats. So we let the baby goat go and now he's being saved in the freezer for possum bait.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Chicken Farm!
I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been super busy working on a chicken farm for the past week! I ended up here a bit randomly (the place I was supposed to stay was full, so I got referred over here) and I've really been enjoying myself. Claudia and Daniel own Yellow Hill farm where they have over 1200 hens for their eggs, about 40 goats, and 10 cows (with a newborn yesterday). Then eggs are certified organic and free range and get sold all over town in the organic groceries, farmer's markets, and to restaurants.
All the chickens, save one, are brown hens and are upwards of 2 yrs old. some were inherited from another farmer, so we don't know how old those are and they just die of old age. I walked in one hen house yesterday to find a dead one and all the hens gathered looking strangely at it, cooing a funeral song. (or so I imagined). The old ladies (as we call them) don't lay as frequently, but they're not good for much else, so they'd just get killed off in a more conventional operation. I suppose it makes things a bit less cost effective, because they can be a "drain" on feed, but it depends on what you're looking for. They make delicious jumbo sized eggs which younger hens don't produce. And jumbo eggs are a hot item at the market - often they have double yokes or kids like the "dinosaur" eggs.
Egg work starts in the afternoon, around noon or 1pm, after the chickens have stopped laying for the day and have left their nests. We ride out on an ATV with a trailer to the two big chicken paddocks in the back of the property where it's a bit more sheltered from the weather that can whip through here. Gathering the eggs, feeding and getting water to the hens takes about 2hrs. We gather the eggs on trays from all the hen houses and also check around the bushes for the truly free ranging types. They have their favorite houses, so some will have over 100 eggs and others will have about a dozen. They get a wheat-based grain mix with plenty of good vitamins and minerals and occasionally some left over veggies from other farmers. [Everything has to be certified organic and everyone has to wear their gumboots out to prevent cross-contamination of stuff not on their farm.] There's plenty of grass around too for the hens to nibble on and this is what helps make their egg yolks so orangey-yellow. I learned that some farmers here put dye in their feed to make the yolks look super yellow. It looked a bit strange to me when I got here, and I commented to people that I'd never seen an egg that orange - turns out, for good reason!
All of the eggs need to washed and dried before they're packed. Some of the eggs we gather are just about ready to go - nice clean and brown. But others are coated in any combination of chicken poo, mud, and scrambled egg. The chickens are a bit cannibalistic, and will peck at their eggs if left too long or go downright bonkers if they see one cracked open on the ground. (Only one of the reasons egg gathering has to happen every day, in the early afternoon). The chickens produce an unbelievable amount of poop. Luckily this can be sold as well as fertilizer. Really strong stuff though; just putrid when it's fresh. Once the eggs are all clean and in their trays they get packed into boxes (6 trays of 30 eggs each). The cleaning and packing process takes about 3hrs I think for each days eggs. So we're already at about 5-6hrs of work, just for basic maintenance of the egg business.... without adding in the business side work, maintenance of their facilities, delivering and selling at markets, or what about tending to the goats, the garden patch, the cows, 2 dogs, 3 cats, or feeding ourselves. Needless to say, if you get behind it's hard to catch back up. We've been doing double duty on egg washing over the past week to try to catch back up from time off with markets and other obligations. Thank goodness I'm needed around here :) And with that... I have to go back to washing eggs.
All the chickens, save one, are brown hens and are upwards of 2 yrs old. some were inherited from another farmer, so we don't know how old those are and they just die of old age. I walked in one hen house yesterday to find a dead one and all the hens gathered looking strangely at it, cooing a funeral song. (or so I imagined). The old ladies (as we call them) don't lay as frequently, but they're not good for much else, so they'd just get killed off in a more conventional operation. I suppose it makes things a bit less cost effective, because they can be a "drain" on feed, but it depends on what you're looking for. They make delicious jumbo sized eggs which younger hens don't produce. And jumbo eggs are a hot item at the market - often they have double yokes or kids like the "dinosaur" eggs.
Egg work starts in the afternoon, around noon or 1pm, after the chickens have stopped laying for the day and have left their nests. We ride out on an ATV with a trailer to the two big chicken paddocks in the back of the property where it's a bit more sheltered from the weather that can whip through here. Gathering the eggs, feeding and getting water to the hens takes about 2hrs. We gather the eggs on trays from all the hen houses and also check around the bushes for the truly free ranging types. They have their favorite houses, so some will have over 100 eggs and others will have about a dozen. They get a wheat-based grain mix with plenty of good vitamins and minerals and occasionally some left over veggies from other farmers. [Everything has to be certified organic and everyone has to wear their gumboots out to prevent cross-contamination of stuff not on their farm.] There's plenty of grass around too for the hens to nibble on and this is what helps make their egg yolks so orangey-yellow. I learned that some farmers here put dye in their feed to make the yolks look super yellow. It looked a bit strange to me when I got here, and I commented to people that I'd never seen an egg that orange - turns out, for good reason!
All of the eggs need to washed and dried before they're packed. Some of the eggs we gather are just about ready to go - nice clean and brown. But others are coated in any combination of chicken poo, mud, and scrambled egg. The chickens are a bit cannibalistic, and will peck at their eggs if left too long or go downright bonkers if they see one cracked open on the ground. (Only one of the reasons egg gathering has to happen every day, in the early afternoon). The chickens produce an unbelievable amount of poop. Luckily this can be sold as well as fertilizer. Really strong stuff though; just putrid when it's fresh. Once the eggs are all clean and in their trays they get packed into boxes (6 trays of 30 eggs each). The cleaning and packing process takes about 3hrs I think for each days eggs. So we're already at about 5-6hrs of work, just for basic maintenance of the egg business.... without adding in the business side work, maintenance of their facilities, delivering and selling at markets, or what about tending to the goats, the garden patch, the cows, 2 dogs, 3 cats, or feeding ourselves. Needless to say, if you get behind it's hard to catch back up. We've been doing double duty on egg washing over the past week to try to catch back up from time off with markets and other obligations. Thank goodness I'm needed around here :) And with that... I have to go back to washing eggs.
Monday, October 6, 2008
my new wheels
I won the battle on trademe.co.nz for a red Honda Civic LX 1985 2-door hatchback. Suweet! It doesn't have power steering, is an automatic, and has a tape deck and radio. It also has a manual choke to add gas to the engine to help get it going. Not something i'm familiar with but I think i've got it worked out. And of course, it goes on the left side of the road. Luckily NZ roads are near empty, so i shouldn't have any problems staying out of trouble. Paid less than $600 USD for it and will probably have to spend another $100 on it to do an oil change, get a new WOF (Warrant of Fitness) when it expires, and new registration when that comes up. ... plus petrol of course. and then I can sell it in March and make most of the money back. Not a bad deal at all I'd say. Pics coming soon.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Back in ChCh for a car + a Yurt and a Fire Bath
[September 3, 2008]
I'm in my second wwoof stay now - in Christchurch for a week so I can buy a car. Spent a bit of time today looking into one with the dad (RW) and 15yr old son, Robbie. trademe.co.nz has a lot of action but it can be hard to find one for under $1000. Should be able to turn out something before week's end.
[I got a car today - Sept 6!!!! Woo hoo, mission accomplished]
Yurt! Yesterday, the last day at Okuti, we put up a yurt! It was a really nice break from the monotony of digging weeds. There's a lattice structure for the walls, a heavy wheel at the top into which the roof posts attach, and then the entire structure is wrapped in canvass. Craftsmanship is key here because the strength of the structure is in the web of parts - no one piece is very strong. (I'll put up pics very soon, but the pc i'm using isn't reading the pic files on my external hd correctly, so i can't upload them) You're not that sheltered from the elements when it's done though, so it's more like a giant, very sturdy tent.
Speaking of insulation - houses here seem very thinly insulated despite the cold winters here. The windows are all single payne. At Okuti we had a fire going every night and in the mornings sometimes too. This place has central air but I'm out in the shed sans insulation, so I have about 6 blankets. Super warm!
I almost forgot... the fire bath! Janie and Jim (at Okuti) put a bathtub out in the yard and carved out a space for a fire w/ chimney beneath it. You fill up the bathtub and light a fire and about 2-3hrs later you have a hot bath. The bottom gets very hot and I put a towel down to sit on b/c it keeps heating up (I had to add cold water too). I added a bunch of herbs - eucalyptus, mint, lemon balm, rosemary, lavendar - from their garden and it smelled wonderful. I sat out there for over an hour under the big starry NZ sky enjoying my steaming hot bath all to myself. Very romantic.
I'm in my second wwoof stay now - in Christchurch for a week so I can buy a car. Spent a bit of time today looking into one with the dad (RW) and 15yr old son, Robbie. trademe.co.nz has a lot of action but it can be hard to find one for under $1000. Should be able to turn out something before week's end.
[I got a car today - Sept 6!!!! Woo hoo, mission accomplished]
Yurt! Yesterday, the last day at Okuti, we put up a yurt! It was a really nice break from the monotony of digging weeds. There's a lattice structure for the walls, a heavy wheel at the top into which the roof posts attach, and then the entire structure is wrapped in canvass. Craftsmanship is key here because the strength of the structure is in the web of parts - no one piece is very strong. (I'll put up pics very soon, but the pc i'm using isn't reading the pic files on my external hd correctly, so i can't upload them) You're not that sheltered from the elements when it's done though, so it's more like a giant, very sturdy tent.
Speaking of insulation - houses here seem very thinly insulated despite the cold winters here. The windows are all single payne. At Okuti we had a fire going every night and in the mornings sometimes too. This place has central air but I'm out in the shed sans insulation, so I have about 6 blankets. Super warm!
I almost forgot... the fire bath! Janie and Jim (at Okuti) put a bathtub out in the yard and carved out a space for a fire w/ chimney beneath it. You fill up the bathtub and light a fire and about 2-3hrs later you have a hot bath. The bottom gets very hot and I put a towel down to sit on b/c it keeps heating up (I had to add cold water too). I added a bunch of herbs - eucalyptus, mint, lemon balm, rosemary, lavendar - from their garden and it smelled wonderful. I sat out there for over an hour under the big starry NZ sky enjoying my steaming hot bath all to myself. Very romantic.
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