It’s About Time…

Spring finally showed up. Some days have felt more like the earliest days of summer, but you will not hear this gal complaining! The leaves have popped out overnight, and now that the Equine is on pasture 24/7, he’s lost his girlish figure. That’s okay, we’ll work that pad right back off.

Due to mowing on Monday and poop-moving on Wednesday, and some pretty gusty winds all week, we only got in one ride. Sully also developed a small crack in one of his hind hooves; it doesn’t appear to be anything at the moment, but I’m keeping an eye on it. It has required me to do a little of my own impromptu farriering. We did get out yesterday, though. He was a real monster before the ride, so much so that I almost called it off. Instead, I longed the heck out of him, and then had one of the best rides of our year to date. Apparently we just had to get our pecking order sorted out again! The above photo was taken last night at feeding time.

But, I did get the pasture mowed, and about half of the poop redistributed. I will do some more of that next week.

In addition, I’ve biked a lot this week. Some days I’m getting in two rides, but I think I’ve gotten in at least one every day this week. I’m not as out of shape as I thought; My times are about 5 minutes longer than at the end of the season last year. I’m already back to where I can ride all but the two biggest hills, and those I just get off and push.

The chickens are doing a fair bit of free-ranging now. I stay close and check on them frequently, worried mainly about Blue. They’re already about bigger than the cats are interested in messing with. But Blue has chicken dinner on the brain.

Immediately after this was snapped, he lunged and pinned Marshmallow (the one to the far right) against the fence. I hollered, he let go, and she booked it back to safety. She’d just been trying to keep a little morsel of pear all to herself and didn’t even hear him coming. And this was after his being loose all morning, hanging out with me watching them roam. I punished him, and he’s been pretty good since.

I don’t expect him to like chickens, but I do expect him to tolerate them at least as well as he tolerates the cats.

Marshmallow was unscathed; I’m not sure it wasn’t more of a warning on his part. I’m thinking about putting a bell on him for a little while. That way they can hear him coming.

Rain and thundershowers for this afternoon, and a few days ahead. On to my housework and homemade spaghetti dinner…

 

Another Weekend

We had a really nice, relaxing weekend. It was too short, but they always are.

Steve had a ridiculously late night at work on Friday, and didn’t get home until after 9pm. I’d had Mom and Dad over for chili verde, and by the time Steve got home, all he wanted was chicken and rice soup! He was beat. So he took the weekend really easy, did a bit of mowing and a lot of resting.

Saturday morning I got to watch a chicken being butchered. I feel confident that I could handle the trauma, now that I know what to expect from each step. I’ve had no interest in my extra roosters, and as badly as I thought I wanted a Silver Laced Wyandotte roo named Carson, as the little bugger matures, he’s just not very likeable! The Buff Brahmas are much more affable. So I have a feeling I’ll be trying my hand at some home-strangled roaster! I’d like to thank Jenny for allowing me to witness the carnage

Afterwards, I got an impromptu lesson in the mechanics and operation of a walk-behind zero-turn mower. I’ll be trying it out this morning, as the pasture needs it again already. I’m steeling myself as we speak! It may not be pretty, but I bet I get it done.

Steve and I treated ourselves to a delicious fried chicken lunch at a local diner after all that excitement. And yes, even though I’d just witnessed a chicken meeting its maker, I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. The rest of our Saturday was spent chillin’ out max and relaxin’ all cool, in the infamous words of the Fresh Prince.

I got in 2 bike rides on Saturday, and Sully and I did 6.6 miles on Sunday, in spite of below average temps and gusty winds. He was spooky but good until we ran into a wagon pulled by a couple of misbehaving Halflingers. I wasn’t sure how he’d react, so I made the snap decision to voluntarily dismount as soon as I saw them; boy am I glad I did. I’m not sure I could have controlled the 12-foot monster he turned into as they approached! He almost got away from me anyway! I had to walk him out a little afterwards before I got my nerve to get back on him. We were very close to home, and I could have walked, but I didn’t want to reward his meltdown. He was very good the rest of the way, even stood for me to mount.

At one point he blew so hard that he gave himself a bloody nose. That hasn’t happened in a long time.

Over all, I was happy with the ride and how we both handled the things that cropped up. I never felt in danger, and he’s starting to learn to maintain contact with the bit, and my consistency and rhythm is really improving, as well.

The chickens got a little outdoor time on Saturday; then this cold front moved in and it was too cool and windy to sit out with them; I had to put the lamp back on them last night as temps dipped into the thirties. They’d been without it overnight for almost a week. They’re growing like little weeds; about the size of large pigeons now.

Off to mow this morning; then we’ll see what the rest of the day holds!

First Taste of Freedom

The chickens got their first taste of free-ranging freedom yesterday. I let them out twice; once in the morning and again in the late afternoon. They didn’t stray far from the coop, but I watched them like the proverbial hawk So did Blue! I think he was drooling a bit.

They hardly knew which way to go first!

This Dark Cornish follows me around like a puppy. She even jumped up on Mom’s knee yesterday. I’m not sure how Mom felt about that

Marshmallow – always on the alert!

Violet and our still unnamed roo.

The other Dark Cornish; she got separated and couldn’t figure out how to get back with the others. I think she’s a little Blonde. I’ve been calling the two Cornish Laverne and Shirley.

The Public Baths – there are three of them there in case you can’t tell.

…yeah. I should give him a thought bubble.

Partridge Rock – on the outside looking in!

Until they are full size, they won’t get any unsupervised range-time. But already I have to scare them away from the gate before I can go in or out, and as soon as they hear me come out the front door, they’re all standing at it like meerkats. I might have to rethink my former opinions about chicken intelligence…

D.E.

I wanted to give a brief review of the diatamaceous earth (I still can’t remember how to spell that!) I’ve been using around here. I mentioned that I’ve been feeding it to the pets and livestock, barring the chickens ironically enough as they’re the ones I bought it for! Withough an FEC (fecal egg count) performed by a vet, I can’t be certain that it is eliminating worms, but I may look into that 90 days in, as it can take up to that long to completely clear out any parasites.

However, everyone has softer coats and has maintained weight on half the ration of dog/catfood. Sully is almost completely slicked out and his hair is a completely different texture.

Blue ignores the dirt on his food. The cats try to pick around it, but don’t seem to mind too much anymore. And Sully is now licking even the corners of the bucket clean, as long as I damp his down so it’s not dusty.

Rate of feed is 1 Tablespoon for 50lb Blue, 1 teaspoon per cat, and 5 oz, or roughly 3/4 cup for Sully. Sully’s I divide in half and give half with his morning ration and half with his evening.

As far as the chickens go, I will be mixing 1 cup per 50lb bag of feed, and then adding a good amount to their dust bath. I will be doing that as soon as this rain passes.

But the d.e. has another invaluable use for me; indoor pest control! Like many this time of year, we suffer from a scourge of tiny ants in our kitchen. Every year I put out ant traps and spray raid and ultimately end up calling the landlord who sends out an exterminator. This year, though, when I found the first 20 or so ants grouped around the kitchen sink, I flicked a little d.e. on them. They disappeared! I flicked a little in all the areas that I know they come in, and the ants have virtually disappeared. Every week to 10 days, a few more might wander in, but I just flick a little more d.e. on them, and voile! It’s fantastic. And I don’t have to worry about using pesticides in the area where I prepare our food. I’ve used maybe a teaspoon’s worth to eliminate this 5 year long ant problem.

Once the spiders and earwigs start, I will be putting d.e. down for them, as well. And if the thrips are bad again this year, I’ll be sprinkling it in the windows, as well.

In short, d.e. is well worth the cost. I’ve easily saved $50 in dewormers, delicers and Raid so far this year. And the $18 bag of d.e. is still 3/4 full.

Yeah, they got my number…

Violet. And me with not even any treats!

Needles, Poop and Dirty Laundry

Day One

It was a busy day yesterday, in a good way.

First of all, I had the vet out for the animals’ needles and Sully health and dental check. Everything checked out, and everyone got their rabies vacs. I asked the vet about Sully’s weight, as a few people have commented on his being ribby. She said that since he’s a draft cross and genetically prone to both obesity and founder, he’s absolutely perfect. So I can stop worrying! His teeth also checked out, so he won’t need floating until next spring, which cut the vet bill in half

While I waited on the vet to arrive, I started moving some manure around the pasture. In an effort to both nourish the grass and to change Sully’s grazing pattern so he’s not eating it bare in some spots, I’ve decided to take my wheelbarrow and pitchfork and redistribute poo. That sounds like a beaurocratic position, no? I picked up, broke up and spread about 5 wheelbarrow loads in just under 2 hours. It was hard work, but I didn’t mind it. It will be an ongoing project this summer, but really good exercise

Sprinkled between was some housework, yardwork, cow wrangling and, of course chickens. Today I am getting the tire garden cleaned out and washing horse blankets. Speaking of which, I’ve come up with a really good way to do the latter. I took my garden sprayer/feeder and washed it out, added a scoop of Oxy Clean and set it to the jet spray setting. I have gotten the rain sheet cleaned using this method, and it seems to be working really well, except that I ran the well dry! I have to wait for it to fill back up before I can do the heavyweight one. I’ll let you know if they look/smell clean when I’m done with them!

…and today.

 

A New Phase for the Flocklette

They get to sleep outside tonight!

I am really excited by this prospect, as I have been carrying them up and down the basement stairs and across the yard in a pet taxi twice every day for the past week. They are getting HEAVY. And they hate being taken inside. It’s funny, they’ll go into the carriers in the morning with very little fuss, but when it comes time to bring them in at night… well, you know that saying about being “mad as an old wet hen?” I know where it came from!

I can take a slice of bread out to the run and sit on a chair, and they can smell the bread as soon as I come in. They flock around me, squawking, and stretching their necks up. There are a few, my rooster included, that will fly up and sit on my knee to eat the bread out of my hand. Violet, one of the Buff Brahma girls, one of the black ones and both the Cornish will also perch on me, climbing my back and arms to sit on my shoulders! It’s extremely entertaining. The pet I mentioned in my last post will actually jump into my hand and sit down and fluff out all her feathers and drop off to sleep!

Yes, I think I’m spoiling them. Just a little. But they’re so much fun! And it will be only a matter of time before they’re big and ugly and digging up my tulip bulbs

So Much Dreary

It seems to me that the past two weeks have been longer than the previous 3 months! It’s been a really unspringy spring, so far, aside from that week or so that it warmed so nicely. I haven’t been able to bike since that warm spell, as it’s either been cold, wet or both. Mix that in with some health/injury issues, and I haven’t been able to even get out with Sully in over two weeks now.

The nights are still dipping into the thirties and forties, which isn’t odd for spring, but when you have nearly 30 chicks very rapidly outgrowing their space, it does seem to be dragging on

It’s supposed to warm a little for the coming week, but lots of rain forecast. Sully has turned into a jerk, a combination of rich grass and no job, so rain or no, he goes back to work this week. I figure we’ll do a refresher ground work course, and by the time the sun comes back out, perhaps we’ll be back in the saddle.

We had a busy end week and week end due to a neighbor offering me a bunch of furniture for next to nothing. So Friday, Mom and I moved in a high boy, a credenza, a floor-to-ceiling book shelf and two new chairs and a microwave cart. On Saturday, the kindly neighbor called again and offered us a sofa bed, lamp and some wall decor and kitchenwares, so Steve and I got moving again. We’ve decided that we’re sorely out of practice in that department!

We have put to use every single piece. The two recliners may be my favorites, though it would be a close tie with the microwave cart that not only freed up counter space, but also cupboard space, and the sofa bed which is perfect for the living room and meant we could be rid of the monstrosity formerly known as our couch. I’ve regretted it since it arrived over a year ago, because not only was it ugly, it dominated the room and was falling apart to boot. It’s only saving grace was that it could be comfortable to lie on, though oddly enough, not to sit on! This new addition is a neutral tone and 20 inches shorter, and nice and firm.

So overall, it was worth the work and sore muscles, and the place looks fully furnished for the first time in 6 years I have so many more places to hide my crap now.

The chicks are flourishing. I have been strictly by the book with them, perhaps a little too much so. The plus side to that is that we haven’t lost any to anything but shipping stress, and they are visibly growing every day. The downside is it is a lot of work with the transferring them in and out every day. They wrecked their brooder upstairs Saturday night, as their wingspans were proving too much for the cardboard, so I sacrificed on the 1 square foot per bird rule for a smaller, taller, more secure space. I achieved this by taking an old wooden table and turning it on its top, then using a staple gun to attach the cardboard draft shield to the legs. I took it two shields high by halving the cardboard and stacking it. Then I stapled the flight netting over top. It’s small, about 2 feet by 4 feet, but it’s secure, and used mostly for sleeping at this point. They spent their first night in it last night, without the brooder lamp, too. I found that most people remove the lamp at 3 to 4 weeks, so… They did great. Once the nights are consistently in the upper fifties, they’ll start staying outside.

Now all that’s left is to clean up the old spot upstairs. I should be doing that right now, but here I sit! In my comfy recliner, I might add

3 Weeks

It is 3 weeks today since we brought home our chicks. This means they range between 4 and 5 weeks old. They are getting really rambunctious! I totally cleaned the brooder out yesterday, and enlarged it as much as I could, while they enjoyed their first supervised outdoor time, watched over by Mom. Check them out in the video slide show below.

It’s Official

Hell has frozen over.

I had to share my first ever positive experience with a purchased warranty. Over the years, I have purchased a warranty here and there for big ticket items, usually automotive related. I’ve been pretty well screwed every time. For instance, with our Saturn, I purchased an $80 Power Train Warranty from the dealer. The car broke down several time within a couple of months, but not once was it something covered by the warranty. And that has been my experience. There are so many conditions and loop holes and deductibles that warranties, like insurance, are in no way meant to consistently save the consumer any money. They have to pay out sometimes, yes, otherwise you’d have too many cynics like myself and the companies would stop profiting.

However, we went to Parrish Tire in Mt. Airy last April for tires for the Subaru. As the purchase was completed, they offered me an additional package that covered the tires for certain things for 2 years, one of those things being road damage. I can’t remember what the package cost exactly, but it was under $20. In a moment of weakness and/or insanity, I agreed.

I mentioned a few days ago that after our 3,000 mile rotation, we got home and got a flat. Dad tried to plug it, and made a fairly large gouge in the tire just in trying to remove the nail. Plugging proved unsuccessful, so Steve put the tire in the car and drove it to Parrish on the spare. We had no real hope of the warranty covering the damage, and were prepared to shell out for a new tire if patching wasn’t an option.

However, Parrish took a look at it, deemed it irreparable and slapped a brand new tire on, no questions asked and absolutely no charge!

I’m still nursing a bruised jaw where it hit the floor.

I mention Parrish by name, because they’ve earned themselves 2 loyal customers who will highly recommend them to anyone who asks