Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - Eggs and Christmas Cards!
We got our very first egg from our hens this morning!!!! We are sooo egg-cited!
I've been working on some Christmas cards and thought I'd post what I've come up with. The snowman is quilled. I learned how to quill in the Keepers class at homeschool group (thank you, Cindy!) It's a fun and simple craft, though a bit time consuming. Still, I think I'll have all my cards done in time to send out for Christmas, and they only cost me about 20 cents a card to make!
I was looking around at some other blogs this afternoon and I ran across one where the post was a question to the rest of us fellow bloggers asking us what we are doing to prepare for the financial crisis ahead because she is afraid of the days to come. My initial thought was to comment at the end of her post, but I really felt like I wanted to post about it myself. So here are my thoughts about preparing for what I believe will be a depression worse than the great depression.
First of all, I have to think about worse case senario, and prepare for that mentally. I think we will lose our business and our house. This is ok! God is in control. We choose to use this time to grow closer together as a family and to grow closer to God.
Ok, now for physical preperations. Man needs three things to survive: water, food, and shelter. I will start with shelter. If you lose your home, where will you live? You need a place that is owned (not mortgaged). My hubby's grandparents have a four bedroom house that they own. They would gladly open the door to us and the rest of my hubby's family, if the need arises. It will be tight, but like I said - we will grow "closer" together as a family! The problems there would be water since they are on city water, which might not remain available, and food. There are a few creeks nearby where we could draw plenty of water from. Our business sells Chlorifloc which is a water purifier, and we have access to it by the loads. (The city of Los Angels, CA buys all their chlorifloc from us to keep in their city's emergency stash). Bleach and also GSE (grapefruit seed exctract) can also be used as water purifying agents. Take some time to learn how to use them, and then stock up on it. GSE has numerous other benefits outside of water purification and I would recomend having a bottle or two of it on hand for any situation. You will need something in which to both collect and store water.
Ok, now you should have in mind both a place where you can live, and a way to have clean water. Food is still a problem. We must assume that food as we know it will not be able to be able to be shipped in from outside the local area. That means that you are going to have to provide entirely for yourself. At my hubby's grandparents house, there is a very, very small yard. We could stock up ahead of time, which we plan on doing, but it is just not going to be possible for us personally to store enough food to get us through more than a few months. So, we will stock up first on things that take the most space and or time to grow such as wheat, rice, oats, and beans. Electricity may also become unavailable, so we will not buy anything that must be kept cold. Canned goods are next. Stock up on what you can.
For what little garden space we would have, I would plant things that grow quickly, provide abundatly, and can easily be stored and do need to be canned (pressure canning cannot be done over an open fire or on a camp stove). I see potatoes as a must. They are nutritious, versitile, easy to store, and are filling. If grown above ground in tires, you can maximize space. Carrots are the same as potatoes, except they have to be grown in the ground (at least, to my knowledge). Winter squash will also provide wonderful nutrition thoughout the winter if you have a long enough growing season for it in the summer. Many other things could be grown indoors year round. They may not grow to their prime, but it's better than nothing. Among the things I would grow would be lettuce and bush green beans. Two things are necessary for gardening to continue year after year (remember, the Great Depression lasted ten years!) One: keep every bit of garden scrap and leaf that falls as compost to return vital nutrients to the soil, and Two: All of your plants must be grown from heirloom seeds, otherwise you cannot seed collect and hope for them to grow again next year. Also, be aware of plants that cross pollinate. You will not get good seeds from them. I will stick to potatoes, carrots, and pumpkins for my outdoor plants, and lettuce and green beans indoors. It may not provide much variety, but it will be filling and nutritional.
For dairy, I would plan on buying a goat. This takes some foreplanning. You need to know what kind of goat you need, where you can get her and where you can breed her. You also need to have a goat proof area with a shelter for her. You need to know how much all this will cost and put the money aside. I plan getting more chickens to add to my small flock. Know where you would buy and keep you chickens. Both goats and chickens can be fed fairly easily on human scraps and neighborhood greenery. If managed wisely, you could possibly have milk and/or eggs to give away or even possibly sell.
For meat, hunting is a good source for us. My hubby could conceivably walk to a place where he can hunt. Meat rabbits is also another great idea. You should know where you can get them and how you can keep them. They also are easy to keep fed. The trick with meat is keeping it from spoiling. Assuming you have no fridge or freezer, you either need to smoke it, dry it, or share it. Have a plan.
Study up on how to make your own pasta and bread using absolutely only the bare essentials. Use sourdough for bread and you don't need to stock up on yeast! Save every bone to make nutritious broths with.
If still there is not enough food for everyone, we will have to move out to the grandparents 80 acre ranch, which sounds better anyhow, except there is no house. There is a small shed or two, but both are infested with rats. Still, if that were to be the best option, we would be wise to have a little bulding plan and enough money set aside to build it; even a 20 x 20 ft shack would suffice. Then there would be plenty of space for a garden and animals (even a cow!), and there is even a well for fresh water!
In any case, have a plan. Where are you going to live? How will you get drinkable water? How will you have enough food.
For light, I am stocking up on candles, and kerosene for my oil lamp. I will purchase an Aladdin lamp if I can afford to.
I will also keep a good supply of baking soda (25 lbs) and vinegar and homemade soap for cleaning home, clothes, and body.
I also plan keeping a bolt of denim and a bolt of muslin fabric and plenty of thread and needles to take keep my growing children clothed, as humbly as it may be.
In addition to the essentials, I plan on keeping my favoite wall picture and embroidered table cloth to add some cherryness.
All we can do is prepare to our best ability, and then trust God for the rest!
In light of the fact that the U.S. has a major depression coming its way, I am curious as to the price of a Jersey cow. Does anyone know what I might expect to pay for a good Jersey? Also, where might I find one? I live in Colorado, but we mostly have meat cows here.
I hope you all are also preparing for the financial trials ahead. The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 has been the Lords prod to me! Not that I'm suggesting that this is the end of the world, but we are to always be prepared for everything. My current favorite quote is "Over prepare, then go with the flow!"
If you haven't already heard, the "the first thing" Obama says he's going to do in office is sign the "Freedom of Choice Act" which will open the floodgates in favor of abortion. Please, sign this petition to prevent his ability to do so!
Monday, November 10, 2008 - Easy Creamy One-pot Mac 'n Cheese
Homemade mac 'n cheese is one of our family's favorite meals. Here is our current favorite mac 'n cheese recipe.
Easy Creamy One-pot Mac 'n Cheese
4 c. (1 lb) uncooked elbow noodles
1 lb sharp cheddar, grated
1 c. milk
Fill a large pot half way with water and bring to a boil. Add noodles and cook until soft. Drain cooked noodles and return to hot pot quickly. Pour in milk and stir in cheese. Put lid on pot (stove should be off, just use residual heat from the pot) for 10 minutes. Stir well and serve!
Hubby filled both of his deer tags last weekend! Both are does, and one of them was the size of a buck. She had so much fat on her we could hardly believe it. She was sure ready for winter. We decided to process them ourselves. In the past we have always taken our game to a processor, but we thought we would try to save some money by learning to do it ourselves. Surprisingly, there was not much to learn! You just start cutting meat off the animal and don't stop 'til it's done! We ended up with about 100 lbs of meat!!! Praise the Lord!!! We could have gotten more, but it would have taken a lot of time to be so nit-picky to get every single little tiny scrap of meat. I bought 10 lbs of suet from our local all natural meat store to mix in with the ground meat. We have enough suet left over to add to our elk if hubby fills his bull tag next week. Part of me really wants him to get his elk, and part of me thinks that's being awefully greedy, but it sure would be nice to not have to worry about meat for a whole year!
I am looking for a used Nutri-mill grain grinder for a friend of mine. She is looking for one that holds 12 cups. Do any of you know where she might be able to get one?
I used to have a "Catagories" section on my last template, but I can't figure out how to write code to put one on this template. Can someone message me with some code to put Catagories in my sidebar?
I've had a broken tooth for about seven years now. I know, tsk, tsk! But it has never given me a problem until a couple of weeks ago, and then it was unbearable! So I went in to the dentist knowing they would either have to pull it or do a root canal. My dentist is wonderful. He and everyone one else in the office are Christians and they are all so nice. My tooth was really, really bad so quite a bit of work had to be done for the root canal, but they numbed me up really well, and I didn't have any pain. What's more remarkable is that I am still in no pain. I'm soooo relieved and it feels weird to have a whole tooth there again!
1. Do you have magnets on your fridge? Yes, only two.They hold up my weekly menu.
2. Do you have a calendar in your kitchen, if so, what's the theme of it? Yes, horses.
3. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool? My wooden spoons!!!
4. Are you lucky enough to have a pantry of some kind? No ;-(.
5.What is your favorite appliance? My crock pot.
6. Do you have an eat in kitchen (table in it)? No, we have a dining room, but the kitchen is big enough for a table and chairs!
7.Do you have a bread box? No, but I would love one.
8. Do you have a picture of your kids on the fridge? No, I don’t like anything on my fridge if I can help it.
9. Do you ever cook breakfast in your PJs? Rarely.If I don’t get dressed first think in the morning, I tend to fall behind all day.
10. Do you have a favorite cookbook that you use? Better Homes and Gardens
11. Are you lucky enough to have recipes that were passed down from your mom or grandma? Yes, from both mine and my husband’s sides of the family.
12. Whats your favorite food? Mexican, in general.
13. Whats your favorite thing to cook? To be honest, I don’t really care for cooking that much, but I sure love the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread, so I’ll have to go with that.
14. Is your coffee pot electric or stove top? Electric.
15. Do you ever make your own bread? Yes, oh yes.
16. Name one thing that you have hanging on your wall in your kitchen. Awooden tray
17. Is there a clock in your kitchen? Just on the oven and microwave, not a wall clock
18. Do you have a bowl of fruit sitting on your table or counter? No
19. What type of canisters do you have? Glass with wooden lids.
20. Does your kitchen have a theme? Not really, but I have red gingam curtains over the window and cast iron skillets hanging on the wall.I guess that’s sort of a theme.Just sorta country-ish.
21. What's for supper tonight? Salmon patties, green beans, and pesto
22. Do you have enough cabinet space? Yes
23. Does your family use paper plates? On Sunday, I take the night off from dishes!
24. Do you have a good set of china picked up? Yes, but it’s not a complete set
25. Do you wear an apron to work in your kitchen? Not very often, but I have some really wonderful aprons that I should wear more!
26. Name one thing, if anything, that you would like to change about your kitchen. That my walls were taped and bedded instead of having seems.
I made a soup for lunch yesterday and my entire family loved it. I thought I'd share the recipe; it is very fall-ish.
Cream of Corn Soup
5 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 1/2 c. chickn broth (or water with bullion)
Blend together in a blender until there are only some little tiny bits of corn.
4 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or water with bullion)
2 c. milk
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan and stir in the flour until smooth. Stir in broth and milk and continue to stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Stir in the corn mixture and heat until hot. Serve with crackers or bread!
You can do the same recipe with 4 c. canned pupkin instead of corn and add a little ginger or nutmeg for seasoning. Either way it makes a delicious fall soup.
Considering all that is going on in the U.S. right now and with the E.U. my daily Scripture memory verses seemed quite apt and I thought I'd share them.
Hebrews 12:3 "Consider him [Jesus] who suffered such opposition from evil man so that you will not grow weary and loose heart."
Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Hebrews 10:24,25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, and let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another all the more as you see the day approaching."
For reasons beyond this, yet including this, I honestly believe that we as a country could be at the end of democracy. I really believe that socialism is around the corner.
It seems like there has been a lot going on here this week. We borrowed a bunny for the week. We don't need one as a pet, so we borrowed it from a friend for a week. His name is Licorice and he is just the cutest thing, don't you think?
It's been cold here. We've really been trying not to turn on the heat, but the high temp the other day was only 37 degrees! We're gonna need more wood! Here is Itty Bitty enjoying the fire with our dog.
Racoons have been getting into our trash fairly regulary lately so Hubby just added a heavy lid to our trash corral. The very next morning a bear did this!
I just had to laugh. If we hadn't put the lid on it, the bear wouldn't have had to break the side!
I had a BeeKeepers meeting tonight and I took some of my handmade honey soap. If anyone is interested in a bar, you can message me. They are $3 for a 3 oz. bar, plus shipping.
This information is from the military survival handbook U.S. Army Field Manual 21-76
ANIMALS FOR FOOD
Unless you have the chance to take large game, concentrate your efforts on the smaller animals, due to their abundance. The smaller animal species are also easier to prepare. You must not know all the animal species that are suitable as food. Relatively few are poisonous, and they make a smaller list to remember. What is important is to learn the habits and behavioral patterns of classes of animals. For example, animals that are excellent choices for trapping, those that inhabit a particular range and occupy a den or nest, those that have somewhat fixed feeding areas, and those that have trails leading from one area to another. Larger, herding animals, such as elk or caribou, roam vast areas and are somewhat more difficult to trap. Also, you must understand the food choices of a particular species.
You can, with relatively few exceptions, eat anything that crawls, swims, walks, or flies. The first obstacle is overcoming your natural aversion to a particular food source. Historically, people in starvation situations have resorted to eating everything imaginable for nourishment. A person who ignores an otherwise healthy food source due to a personal bias, or because he feels it is unappetizing, is risking his own survival. Although it may prove difficult at first, a survivor must eat what is available to maintain his health.
Insects
The most abundant life-form on earth, insects are easily caught. Insects provide 65 to 80 percent protein compared to 20 percent for beef. This fact makes insects an important, if not overly appetizing, food source. Insects to avoid include all adults that sting or bite, hairy or brightly colored insects, and caterpillars and insects that have a pungent odor. Also avoid spiders and common disease carriers such as ticks, flies, and mosquitoes.
Rotting logs lying on the ground are excellent places to look for a variety of insects including ants, termites, beetles, and grubs, which are beetle larvae. Do not overlook insect nests on or in the ground. Grassy areas, such as fields, are good areas to search because the insects are easily seen. Stones, boards, or other materials lying on the ground provide the insects with good nesting sites. Check these sites. Insect larvae are also edible. Insects such as beetles and grasshoppers that have a hard outer shell will have parasites. Cook them before eating. Remove any wings and barbed legs also. You can eat most insects raw. The taste varies from one species to another. Wood grubs are bland, while some species of ants store honey in their bodies, giving them a sweet taste. You can grind a collection of insects into a paste. You can mix them with edible vegetation. You can cook them to improve their taste.
Worms
Worms (Annelidea) are an excellent protein source. Dig for them in damp humus soil or watch for them on the ground after a rain. After capturing them, drop them into clean, potable water for a few minutes. The worms will naturally purge or wash themselves out, after which you can eat them raw.
Crustaceans
Freshwater shrimp range in size from 0.25 centimeter up to 2.5 centimeters. They can form rather large colonies in mats of floating algae or in mud bottoms of ponds and lakes.
Crayfish are akin to marine lobsters and crabs. You can distinguish them by their hard exoskeleton and five pairs of legs, the front pair having oversized pincers. Crayfish are active at night, but you can locate them in the daytime by looking under and around stones in streams. You can also find them by looking in the soft mud near the chimneylike breathing holes of their nests. You can catch crayfish by tying bits of offal or internal organs to a string. When the crayfish grabs the bait, pull it to shore before it has a chance to release the bait.
You find saltwater lobsters, crabs, and shrimp from the surf's edge out to water 10 meters deep. Shrimp may come to a light at night where you can scoop them up with a net. You can catch lobsters and crabs with a baited trap or a baited hook. Crabs will come to bait placed at the edge of the surf, where you can trap or net them. Lobsters and crabs are nocturnal and caught best at night.
Mollusks
This class includes octopuses and freshwater and saltwater shellfish such as snails, clams, mussels, bivalves, barnacles, periwinkles, chitons, and sea urchins (Figure 8-1). You find bivalves similar to our freshwater mussel and terrestrial and aquatic snails worldwide under all water conditions.
River snails or freshwater periwinkles are plentiful in rivers, streams, and lakes of northern coniferous forests. These snails may be pencil point or globular in shape.
In fresh water, look for mollusks in the shallows, especially in water with a sandy or muddy bottom. Look for the narrow trails they leave in the mud or for the dark elliptical slit of their open valves.
Near the sea, look in the tidal pools and the wet sand. Rocks along beaches or extending as reefs into deeper water often bear clinging shellfish. Snails and limpets cling to rocks and seaweed from the low water mark upward. Large snails, called chitons, adhere tightly to rocks above the surf line.
Mussels usually form dense colonies in rock pools, on logs, or at the base of boulders.
CAUTION
Mussels may be poisonous in tropical zones during the summer!
Steam, boil, or bake mollusks in the shell. They make excellent stews in combination with greens and tubers.
CAUTION
Do not eat shellfish that are not covered by water at high tide!
Fish
Fish represent a good source of protein and fat. They offer some distinct advantages to the survivor or evader. They are usually more abundant than mammal wildlife, and the ways to get them are silent. To be successful at catching fish, you must know their habits. For instance, fish tend to feed heavily before a storm. Fish are not likely to feed after a storm when the water is muddy and swollen. Light often attracts fish at night. When there is a heavy current, fish will rest in places where there is an eddy, such as near rocks. Fish will also gather where there are deep pools, under overhanging brush, and in and around submerged foliage, logs, or other objects that offer them shelter.
There are no poisonous freshwater fish. However, the catfish species has sharp, needlelike protrusions on its dorsal fins and barbels. These can inflict painful puncture wounds that quickly become infected.
Cook all freshwater fish to kill parasites. Also cook saltwater fish caught within a reef or within the influence of a freshwater source as a precaution. Any marine life obtained farther out in the sea will not contain parasites because of the saltwater environment. You can eat these raw.
Certain saltwater species of fish have poisonous flesh. In some species the poison occurs seasonally in others, it is permanent. Examples of poisonous saltwater fish are the porcupine fish, triggerfish, cowfish, thorn fish, oilfish, red snapper, jack, and puffer (Figure 8-2). The barracuda, while not actually poisonous itself, may transmit ciguatera (fish poisoning) if eaten raw.
Amphibians
Frogs and salamanders are easily found around bodies of fresh water. Frogs seldom move from the safety of the water's edge. At the first sign of danger, they plunge into the water and bury themselves in the mud and debris. There are few poisonous species of frogs. Avoid any brightly colored frog or one that has a distinct "X" mark on it's back. Do not confuse toads with frogs. You normally find toads in drier environments. Several species of toads secrete a poisonous substance through their skin as a defense against attack. Therefore, to avoid poisoning, do not handle or eat toads.
Salamanders are nocturnal. The best time to catch them is at night using a light. They can range in size from a few centimeters to well over 60 centimeters in length. Look in water around rocks and mud banks for salamanders.
Reptiles
Reptiles are a good protein source and relatively easy to catch. You should cook them, but in an emergency, you can eat them raw. Their raw flesh may transmit parasites, but because reptiles are cold-blooded, they do not carry the blood diseases of the warm-blooded animals.
The box turtle is a commonly encountered turtle that you should not eat. It feeds on poisonous mushrooms and may build up a highly toxic poison in its flesh. Cooking does not destroy this toxin. Avoid the hawksbill turtle, found in the Atlantic Ocean, because of its poisonous thorax gland. Poisonous snakes, alligators, crocodiles, and large sea turtles present obvious hazards to the survivor.
Birds
All species of birds are edible, although the flavor will vary considerably. You may skin fish-eating birds to improve their taste. As with any wild animal, you must understand birds' common habits to have a realistic chance of capturing them. You can take pigeons, as well as some other species, from their roost at night by hand. During the nesting season, some species will not leave the nest even when approached. Knowing where and when the birds nest makes catching them easier (Figure 8-3). Birds tend to have regular flyways going from the roost to a feeding area, to water, and so forth. Careful observation should reveal where these flyways are and indicate good areas for catching birds in nets stretched across the flyways (Figure 8-4). Roosting sites and waterholes are some of the most promising areas for trapping or snaring.
Nesting birds present another food source--eggs. Remove all but two or three eggs from the clutch, marking the ones that you leave. The bird will continue to lay more eggs to fill the clutch. Continue removing the fresh eggs, leaving the ones you marked.
Mammals
Mammals are excellent protein sources and, for Americans, the most tasty food source. There are some drawbacks to obtaining mammals. In a hostile environment, the enemy may detect any traps or snares placed on land. The amount of injury an animal can inflict is in direct proportion to its size. All mammals have teeth and nearly all will bite in self-defense. Even a squirrel can inflict a serious wound and any bite presents a serious risk of infection. Also, a mother can be extremely aggressive in defense of her young. Any animal with no route of escape will fight when cornered.
All mammals are edible; however, the polar bear and bearded seal have toxic levels of vitamin A in their livers. The platypus, native to Australia and Tasmania, is an egg-laying, semiaquatic mammal that has poisonous glands. Scavenging mammals, such as the opossum, may carry diseases.
I have been in "survival mode" lately. What I mean is that I have been interested in learning more about survival and anything that would be useful to know if my family and I were stuck in the wilderness. Sounds silly, I know, but I just think it sounds like fun. I have decided to post a series on what I have found as of recent. I think I will start with this article on Bannock bread. Not only would it be helpful for survival, but it could be a lot of fun in the backyard as well! Note: if you are truely trying to survive in the wild, you would have to have a more simple recipe, such as ground acorns for flour and purified "wild" water. I found this site at
Bannock is a bread that you can cook using little more than a fire and a stick though it can also be baked or fried. Names for bannock include bushbread, trail bread, grease bread and galette.
Bannocks origins are lost in the mists of time, but some believe bannock was first made by the Scotts from the same oat flour that gave their horses great strength and endurance. With stomachs fed with hearty oat bannock those who became explorers and mountain men in the new world introduced the bannock recipe to the Native Americans and other outdoorsmen who lived in the wilderness.
Bannock
The most simple bannock recipe consists of just flour of nearly any kind and water. Kneaded into a dough and wrapped around a green stick, this most basic bannock cooks into a fine tasting bread that can be eaten alone or used as a basis for a full course meal.
There are a great many other bannock recipies that will make your mouth water and give you the impetus to try your hand at making your own. In the pictures you can see me cooking one of my favorite bannock recipes over an open fire in the forest:
Survival Topics Bannock on a Green Stick
This is my favorite way to make bannock as it brings forth the image of mountainmen from a bygone era cooking over an open fire.
The following recipe provides enough bannock for one day. Stored in a waterproof bag, it is easy to carry a week or ten day supply.
Mix all the ingredients well, making sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout. Sometimes I will melt the butter before adding it to the mixture. Then slowly add water while mixing until a dough ball is formed.
Cooking Bannock
Make the bannock dough into a cigar shape and wrap it around a green stick. Try to keep the thickness of the dough about ½ inch.
Slowly roast the bannock over a hot fire, rotating occasionally until it turns a golden brown. You will hear the butter sizzling and your stomach rumble as the bannock cooks.
I hate getting junk mail. It is a waste of paper, my time, and the tax dollars we spend to have a postal system. I have been increasingly unhappy with junk mail ove the last few months, so I thought it was timely that I ran across this web sight. If you do not like getting junk mail, please check out this sight and sign the petition to stop junk mail!
Last night was our first frost. Not until late last night did I notice on the news that there was a frost advisory, and by then I just decided it was too late. I was going to cover the grape plant and blueberry plants and put the tomatoes to hang indoors to ripen. Oh well. Actually the Grape and blueberries seemed to fare well and just might stay green a while longer. The grass actually crunched under my feet as I walked to let the chickens out of the hen house thismorning so it was quite a heavy frost. And surpisingly, the tomatoes look fine! I am going to pull them anyways and see how they end up.
My hubby's aunt and uncle have been pulling bushels of peaches from their trees and offered us as many as we can deal with. I took three grocery sacks full. You can imagine what I've been up to for the last couple of days! Actually, it's funny how, once the fruit is pitted and sliced, there seems to be so little. I canned 11 pints of sliced peaches and have just enough peaches left over to hopefully get a couple pints of syrup. Does anyone have a good peach syrup recipe to go over pancakes? I am hoping to go get some more peaches from them if the the freeze didn't get hit them. I would like to make some peach jam as well.
We lost a chicken. We we didn't actually loose her; she is out in our front garbage bin. We think a racoon got her, though I have no idea how! She was still in the hen house, and not bloodied or eaten, but had lost a good many feathers. There was no hole where a critter dug in, and the lid of the house is so heavy, it's difficult even for me to lift. But there she was, poor Georgette, lying there dead in the house. We are assuming it was racoons because their food bin ( a metal trash can I keep next to the coop) was raided as well, and there was racoon scat on the roof of our shed. Just a week ago we awoke to three small racoons on our back deck. So racoons it must have been. I'm trying to decided if I should replace her with another pullet before winter to keep up our eggs, or if I should just get a couple more chicks next spring.
Hubby got his hunting tags. Two deer tags and an elk tag. We can almost count on him getting his doe, and his brother actually spotted a small herd of elk in their area just two days ago. But they are not hunting until fourth season and the elk may be scared off by then. I am so looking forward to a freezing full of wild game!
The problems there would be water since they are on city water, which might not remain available, and food. There are a few creeks nearby where we could draw plenty of water from. 
