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Latest blog posts from Mud on the Tracks

Disrepair
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you've probably noticed that things have been a little.... scattered lately. The problem extends beyond blog inattention, I'm afraid. Fences need fixing, nest boxes lapse into poultry trainwrecks, broken eggs and displaced bedding, general ugliness....
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Published 5 days ago

Been away...
I'm sorry I'v neglected this blog so badly the last little bit. We went on a three week long trip (!) to Newfoundland to celebrate my better half's half century birthday.It was the longest we've been away, well, ever. But we have the most wonderful farm-sitters and so returned to the same number...
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Published 3 weeks ago

Out of the Loop
That's me. I didn't realize that blogging custom requires me to post 7 (7?) things about myself that you might not know and also pass the award along to a few other bloggers. I feel sort of silly, missing that info somewhere along the way.Anyway, here goes...7 Unexpected Things About Me:1. I have...
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Published 2 months ago

An Award! (and update)
Look here:I got this cool award from my friend Ariel over at http://arielswan.blogspot.com/ Ariel is part of my writing life rather than my farming life, but she DOES have some terrific chickens (all with literary names, mind you) and her blog is terrific. You all should check it out!Anyway, I...
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Published 2 months ago

Not so fantastic
Yesterday, I awoke to the muddled screeching of chickens (If you've ever heard a panicked hen, you know exactly what I'm talking about) looked out my bedroom window to find a FOX-- long, lean, surprisingly tiny, angling after Dionysus, one of the non-cooped roosters. An inhuman warning issued...
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Published 2 months ago

Massacre!
Ah, Summer. Lazy, sun-dappled days, marble-sized apples waving on deep green, breeze-tossed branches. Summer is finding shapes in high cumulus clouds, cookouts and creamie stands. It's watching those spring babies come into their own.At least that's what you hope for. But on Maggie's Farm, summer...
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Published 2 months ago

Fallout
Been an interesting week in Western Mass. We had 20 minute storm that managed to knock out power for much of the area, blow up our water heater (causing a propane gas smell that had the fire department out first thing in the morning), and topple about 15 trees around the place. But we were pretty...
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Published 3 months ago

Chicks for Free
Some of you might recall the plethora of chicks that our broody hens hatched out when the weather was barely springy. Well, apparently that was just the tip of the poultry iceberg. Since then, two more broodies have produced another 10 chicks which brings the total up into the 30's.That's a...
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Published 4 months ago

Good Things Come...
...to those who wait.Sometimes in abundance!After what seems like a spate of terrible luck, we here at Maggie's Farm can report that the lambs have landed. And they are supercute!Leela produced a darling little ewe lamb, Emily. She will be horned and, if she's anything like her mama, a really...
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Published 4 months ago

Off with a Whimper
Ordinarily, we at Maggie's Farm meet lambing season with a sense of anticipation. We look forward to new lambs romping about, new colors, personalities and waggy-tailed nursing and charminng high-pitched bleats.A pasture full of pregnant ewes can feel like a stack of unopened Christmas...
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Published 4 months ago

Boys Being Boys?
Some of you might recall my "Poultry Politics" post of a few weeks ago. Well, the situation appears to have changed. Young Roos, Apollo and Dionysus, once best buds and partners in crime, seem to have decided sometime Saturday that as they couldn't beat up dominant rooster, Jaguar, they'd settle...
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Published 5 months ago

Hot Mamas!
It doesn't feel very springy this week (20 degrees at night!) but two of our three "barn hens" got that broody feeling nonetheless. I didn't expect much, it being so freakin' cold out much of the time, but between them, we have 16 new chicks!!!! Not really needed but sort of cute just the same....
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Published 5 months ago