News from the homestead: Go-time!
April 2025 marks six months since we started our latest later-life grand adventure at Wittbrich Acres. To say it’s been a wild ride so far would be an understatement, and I appreciate that you have traveled along for some of the ride through my columns. When I started writing them, I told Mike I would continue as long as there appeared interest in them from our readers and at least so far there seems to be. So, I thank you for that interest and I’ll do my best to keep you at least mildly entertained with my antics, successes and failed attempts as a somewhat long-in-the-tooth novice homesteader.
Last month I received some lovely emails from readers, which are always fun to get. Often, they spark ideas for future content. One commenter mentioned that the work and dedication involved at the homestead is a full-time job, a rather exhausting form of retirement. That’s true for sure. I think it’s been quite a few years since my mind, or my body have been quite so active. At a time when I should be entertaining more slow-go years, I seem to be ramping up my go-go years! But that’s ok with me. I’ll go-go as long as the going’s good, they’ll be plenty of time for slow-going later. For now, my chickens, bees, orchards and gardens need me to be on my toes. Spring is definitely go-time here at Wittbrich Acres!
Make-shift first responders
April’s coop report includes more than a fair share of clinical updates. We experienced our first documented case of bumblefoot. Way back in November, a friend ominously asked me if I had encountered bumblefoot yet to which I wide-eyed and hesitantly answered “noooo…” then immediately Googled the comical sounding term and watched YouTube videos to find out what was in store for me. It’s a cute name for an ugly callous that forms on the soft tissue on the chicken’s foot. Left untreated, the callous can worsen into all sorts of undesirable icky stuff I won’t describe ’cause it stops sounding cute real fast. Chickens are particularly vulnerable to it in spring due to tromping around in mud and free ranging after a long winter of staying close to their enclosure. We discovered one of our old hens affectionately named Sweetie Pie limping quite badly one morning and suspected right away that she had a bumble. Our go-go task that morning required us to step up our chicken care game.
And if that wasn’t a big enough test of our emergency care skills, we also noticed that another hen had something odd going on with one of her eyes. On closer inspection it was apparent that she had lost an eye to some unknown mishap. A weeping hole now took the place of one of her previously beautiful golden eyes. Another on-line consult, a conversation with a helpful pharmacist, and a trip to Tractor & Supply and we had the supplies we needed for our makeshift clinic.
We keep a cage in our garage that serves as an isolation ward for sick or hurt hens so we can check on them more frequently and they can be safe from their flock mates who tend to pick on down-on-their-luck siblings. We spent a weekend soaking, soothing, wrapping, and applying various topical solutions to our infirmed duo. After 36 hours we were pleased to have successfully treated the bumblefoot and the blindness and reintegrated the hens into the flock. We had also rescued another from a near drowning when she wandered into the deep end of our pond and struggled mightily to find her way back to dry land. It was quite a weekend for chicken first-aid. I have to admit, we felt pretty proud of ourselves, and we’re ALL recovering nicely.
The apple, pear and cherry trees are starting to bud, and Mike has learned more about pruning and organic treatments than he probably ever thought he’d need to in his lifetime. Because we keep bees, we can’t treat our lawn, gardens, or orchard with chemicals so all require a different type of attention than either of us have experienced. There are hundreds of little yellow flowers popping up all over my lawn that I never saw at my last address thanks to pre-emergent followed by regular follow-up treatments. What are those things…oh yes! Dandelions…that’s what they’re called. What I formerly viewed as a nemesis, I now count among the blessings of Wittbrich Acres. Dandelions will be my honeybees first spring food. Each little yellow flower, once something I wanted eradicated, will now help strengthen my soon-to-be repopulated hives of vital pollinators. By next month when my bees are merrily buzzing about, I expect my front expanse will be awash with a sea of yellow bounty.
I often catch myself smiling when I consider how much my little piece of land has changed me in just six months. From treating a gnarly chicken foot ailment to appreciating an invasive flowering weed, I couldn’t be happier in my little corner of springtime paradise that keeps me go-going every day.
Keep the messages coming. They are encouraging and fun! Feel free to reach out to tami@toyourwealth.com
