Snake!

A little too much excitement for me occurred the other day in the chicken coop.  This summer we have had a few run-ins with snakes in my main coop.  My husband has had to dispose of a couple snakes due to them being inside my chicken coop.  He doesn't like snakes.  At all!!  I like them, as long as they mind their own business and do not eat my chickens or their eggs.  I was collecting eggs a few days ago and met up almost face to face with another snake!

My immediate reaction was to grab it and try to yank it out of the coop to protect my chickens and the baby that was just a few feet away.  I have my Marans mama with her baby chick in the nursery that is just a few feet away from some nesting boxes where the snake had taken up residence.  It didn't appear to have eaten anything yet.  I failed.  It had its tail end firmly secured.  I only managed to tick it off.  I had to close up the egg door to the nesting boxes and go get reinforcement, my son.

On our second try to get the snake out we failed again, it just wasn't coming out!  It crawled up deeper into the coop and in the process ate a mouse!!  Yes, when I went inside to try to get a better look and try to dislodge it I caught it with a mouse in its mouth.  It ate it very quickly!  Then it holed itself up in the crevice you see above.  I told my son we would just have to come back later after it had calmed down and maybe come out of the hole.  I was hoping the chickens would be fine since it had just eaten the mouse.

On my way back to the house I heard the hens making a big commotion.  It occurred to me when I got to the back door that perhaps the snake was on the move.  I hollered at my son to come back out and help.  By the time I got back to the coop, my son had already ushered the snake outside and had lost it.  I can't believe how fast that snake was!  We were pretty confident the chickens were in the clear.  I just really do not know how it is getting into my run and coop.  Or how it got out so fast!

I generally collect eggs anywhere from 2 to 3 times per day so that generally hasn't been a problem with any snakes.  I also wonder how these snakes keep getting past my roosters!  We're pretty confident it was just a rat snake.  We do have copperheads and even saw a water moccasin a few weeks ago!!  So far I'm pretty sure all the snakes we have seen around the garden and coop have either been garter snakes or rat snakes.  I like the rat snakes so they keep the mouse population down. I just wish they would stay out of the coop and keep to the area around it and the garden (of course I don't like coming across them in the garden either!).

What excitement is going on at your homestead?

Books of the Bible At-a-Glance REVIEW

What a blessing it was to review Books of the Bible At-a-Glance by Teach Sunday School.  I received a digital download in PDF form of their one-page reference sheets for all 66 books of the Bible.  You can reference the sheets on your electronic devices or print it out and bind it like I did.  I liked the colors also so I printed it in full color.

I bound it with clear cover

We can easily flip to whichever book we are covering

Each page covers one book of the Bible and includes the following:

• Book Title
• Order in the Bible
• Claims to Fame (something unique about that book)
• Who authored the book
• Date the book was written
• Time period covered
• Famous stories in that particular book
• Most famous verses
• Important points about the book

Sample page

I really like the way the pages are laid out.  Clean, simple and concise.  You can easily see who authored it, when it was written, and time period covered.  I really like the listing of famous stories covered.  My kindergartner just LOVES the stories of the bible and can spout them out for you like no other, but does she really know what book they come from?  This will be such an invaluable tool going forward for her in her Bible lessons.  The wonderful concise review of each book has been wonderful to go over with my (gasp) now 9th-grade son.  Is he really in high school already?  Where does the time go??  

There are so many ways you can use this resource.  Several ways are suggested in the introduction to the resource (all included as part of the PDF download).  The copyright allows you to print multiple copies to use with your students.  I am going to print another copy for my son to keep in his resource area.  Some common ways to use this are as a stand-alone Bible lesson resource to go through each book of the bible or in conjunction with whatever Bible program or study you are currently going through.

Since we have always had Bible lessons every year in our homeschool, I am currently using this with my crew as a general overview and review of the Bible in general.  Even though we have done many different studies, we have not ever just covered each book in the manner that these pages cover.  We have done things individually, but not all together as a general overview of each book.  I really like the section on "famous stories included."  I am finding that we are not always accurate in naming the book a particular story came from!

This has also been a wonderful reference for my kindergartner that I am currently taking through a curriculum that we previously reviewed this year and I ended up purchasing the entire years worth of lessons.  The timing for this review on books of the Bible was perfect!

If you would like a simple, concise resource for studying each book of the Bible I suggest you check out Books of the Bible At-a-Glance by Teach Sunday School.  I am finding it very easy to use and it is so flexible to use in whichever way you choose that works for what you are currently doing in your Bible lessons.

You can connect with Teach Sunday School on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, and YOUTUBE.

Please also be sure to check out the reviews from my fellow crew members to see what they have to say by clicking on the graphic below.

It's Molting Time!

It's molting time again.  If you have chickens then you know what I mean.  It kinda looks like the chickens had a pillow fight overnight! I often think it looks like my chicken sneezed real hard and just blew all their feathers out.  I had a few of my Copper Marans molt over the summer but most of the others seem to be molting now.  It is the usual time mine molt.  I also tend to have a few that molt in the dead of winter which I think is absolutely crazy!  I hope no one molts over the winter this time.  I get so worried about them being able to stay warm enough.

It's a good idea to increase their protein intake when they are molting.  It's hard work and takes a lot out of them.  If your hens seem a little crankier than normal it could be due to the molt.  It is uncomfortable and even painful when the feathers start coming in.  It's a good idea to not handle them too much during this time.  Their feathers will come in quick enough and things will be back to normal soon.

I really like when some of my poor barebacked hens get to be beautiful again with a full body of fluffy feathers.  It's perfect preparation for the upcoming winter. I am looking forward to cooler weather (just wish it didn't have to snow!).

How is your flock doing?  Do you have any heavy molters?  What special treats do you feed your chickens during this time?