Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm Blog

For the month of October, I'm doing the Whole30 Program, and one of the first things I made this past Saturday was for a picnic where I knew there would be non-Whole30 potato salads. I underestimated how fast it'd go, as there were several other people who were also embarking on their Whole30 journey the same day. As a result, I got many requests for the recipe, which "didn't exist". :D That's because I took 3 similar recipes & made them Whole30 compliant. Whole30 Roasted Potato & Wilted Kale Salad Ingredients (no amounts, as I didn't measure :D ) Cubed Potatoes Cubed Sweet Potatoes Onions Kale Chopped Celery Whole30-Approved Bacon "Gobs of Garlic" (no salt/sugar variety) ** Balsamic   Vinegar Extra Virgin Olive Oil Smoked Paprika Spicy Brown Mustard Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine oil, vinegar, mustard & seasonings, then pour over the cubed potatoes. Mix until thorou...

Turkeys are totally different than chickens - I've learned that in - one year of raising them. Nearly all winter, spring & summer, the tom turkey would "display", as in the classic fanning his tail, strutting & gobbling. But alon with that came what I thought as aggressive behavior, so naturally, I became afraid of this bird that was quite large & could inflict serious damage. Yet, like most animals, he sensed I was afraid & "proved" my fears & "challenged" me several times. I was at the point where I was seriously considering what I should do with him. Then, one day at least a month ago, when I was carrying a bucket of fermented feed for chicks, I have him a scoop. He loved it & was distracted from following me. I continued to give him the fermented feed like he'd gotten when he was just a young poult. Soon I began to realize that his behavior wasn't aggression, he was doing what most people who raise turkeys discover...

Another "draft post" I found that I'd not published, even though I'd written it several months ago. So, thought I'd share it anyways! Still got quit a few CL/EE cuties fro m who I have ga ve to 2 broodies who'd hatched chicks, but I'd given them to another hen. They decided to leave their nests the day I was planning on giving them the incubator chicks! But, they were still acting broody, like they were going around & clucking to "invisible" chicks. When I came out with two chicks to see how they'd react, they came right over. Separated them out from the rest of the flock, gave them a few more chicks - in the daylight, no less! And they accepted them & they're doing so well outside with the broodies. I had two scares last night - we were coming home late last night & there was a huge black bear running down the road. My brother thinks the bear was about 300lbs, and it was less than 1/2 a mile away, just up t...

Spring & summer is always a busy time of year, so blog posts are more infrequent. That's why I like doing quick updates or photos via our hobby farm's Facebook page. And still I usually only  post about 1/3 to 1/4 of what goes on here. Not that I don't want to, but I'm trying to make sure household & hobby farm priorities take precedence over social media. Anyway, this past Saturday my dad & I plus a car load of chickens, hatching eggs & some seeds headed over to Harpursville for what's called Chickenstock. Members of the BYC forum have local threads of which most have an annual Chickenstock. So, many of the members from the NY Chicken Lover's thread gathered together to swap/sell chicks, hens, roosters, ducks, rabbits & hatching eggs. Several of us brought  pop up tents & chairs where we could gather round & talk with those who've chatted with online. We all contributed food, drink, etc & shared a picnic lunch. It was pr...

As those living in NY state know, April greeted us with cold temperatures and the most snow we had all winter. But, 10 days later, and spring came back. It was wonderful to not be bundled up in layers, and the chickens enjoyed the sunshine. The grass has been growing beautifully, so while I spring-cleaned the "Brooder Barn", I let the young chicks, broody hens & "Mini Flower" breeding group out into the fresh spring grass.  Lydia & the Feb 2016 Hatch chicks  "Mini Flower" Group  Dec 2015 Hatch Pullet - "Dos"  Jan 2016 Hatch Pullet  New SFH chick - new bloodlines, not sure if this is a rooster or pullet yet. Supposed to be a rooter.  Elly May is broody again & should be getting chicks next week. The Swedish Flower Hen group also enjoyed the sunshine and fresh grass. After adding new bedding, I moved the younger chicks out of the brooder, so they'd have m...

I can't believe we're already half-way through March! Since my last blog post, two more sets of chicks have hatched, and the original January group is doing so well. I haven't had the time recently to write anything in detail, so mostly just posted quick updates on Facebook.    Since the "Creator of All" has taken over management of the hobby farm, I've noticed things are going smoother in many areas. But, there was still places that I hadn't totally surrendered to His will. Finally, I had enough courage to ask, "What's wrong? What's going on? Why am I not totally at peace?" Deep inside, I heard the response, "It's time to simplify and the first thing to go is the Bielefelders." This was totally opposite of what I'd been thinking. I was looking into buying new breeder stock (lots of $$), but when God said this, I realized I wouldn't have enough space to properly set up breeding groups. At first, I was sad, becau...