No fault shit day.

   Now I'm not one to complain about my shitty problems unless I can make folks laugh😂.  Yesterday was about to be a day I would just over look, as best I could, and  move on.  This morning I got my laugh.

  Change in meds, Wednesdays sadness and now the hatred of our country and many things happened to other folks that started my downward spiral.  Thursday night I got the call, my run-in shelter for the pasture was finished and they wanted to deliver Friday.  I was instantly happy it was about time being 6 weeks late and instantly pissed. The pasture was dry and there wouldn't be a problem delivering the shed. 2 weeks earlier I told the Amish builder that they needed to get the run-in done because when the rain started they could not deliver because of the mud. Again I was promised by the end of Oct. Fingers crossed the rain would hold off.  Nope that was not to be. Halloween night was the beginning.  We had at least 4 good rains with a bunch of long drizzles.  Now there is standing  water and mud in the pasture.  The delivery folks wanted to deliver any way thinking we could make it happen and it was going to rain again next week. 

 I love grass and with all my critters I have less and less.  My plan was to block off the newer grass area in the pasture during  the Spring to keep the grass back there.  Well the run-in was delivered not exactly where I wanted it but it's done.  I can only hope one of the critters don't fall in any of those ruts, I may not find them till Spring.  

  On top of all that 1 of the Emus got frightened with all the commotion and jumped the fence. GAWD! I didn't know if I was going melt down right on the spot as that Emu was doing 50 mph straight into the woods. I knew I needed to stay with the delivery folks and help but Damn how am I going to get that Emu back. About an hour later she showed up and I begin prep work to get her back. Nope that just sent her back into the woods. I tried again later that day when she came back. I hate to keep doing the same thing with out results.  Hell I live on an island she will end up back here again.

  It was a long drawn out process to get chains off the wheels of the truck and the trailer/tools taken care of so they could leave. The whole time I was scanning the woods hoping I would see the Emu.

  She showed up just as they where about to leave.  The sound of the truck and mud being slung around sent her back into the woods. It's now been 3 hours and she is stressed and Hell so am I.

  I went in the house made coffee and warmed up as I scanned the internet for Emu sightings.  It was hard to  keep my butt in the chair as all I wanted to do was go window to window around the house looking out for her.

  4:30 came quick and feeding and putting up the critters for the night was my last hope of getting her before night. She did show up for dinner time but she was not going to eat if she could see me. Now she is totally camouflaged when she gets a few feet in the woods. I gave up as I would never find or get her that night.  I was out trying to photograph the Northern Lights and scanning the woods with my gazillion lumens flashlight.  Nothing, I believe she found a place to hide and layed down.  

  I went to bed early as the worries were making me sick.  I woke early just as the daylight was breaking by a knock on my window. I rolled over to see the Damn Emu pecking my window.  I all most rolled right out of bed I was laughing  so hard. The whole time I was getting dressed I was laughing as it appeared she was hungry and wasn't waiting for me to get up.

   I used my handy pink bowl full of food, with a rope to coax her back in the pen. She went without a problem.  Now to get her back without getting my ass kicked was the beginning of a great morning. GAWD I'm way to old for this.

Something is out there!!!!

    I have had problems in the last 2 years with foxes thinking that I am the local KFC.  Now they hunt during the day when the chickens are out and about. Running the woods, road and fields looking for yummy bugs and what ever they can scratch up. It is mainly during the Spring when the pups are born. The slaughter of my chickens starts to taper off late summer and then stops till the next spring. 

    Now the fact that they are taking my chickens just pisses me off but they always take the ones I like the best. Every night I count the chickens after they return to the coop and that is when I know if Mr. fox has been around.  I have on occasion been out side when the little bastard come in the yard and been able to chase him off. Then a couple of times I came out just in time to see my dead chicken been hauled off through the woods.

    I wine about this problem often till one of my friends gave me a motion activated animal deterrent post that is solar powered. Now it has different sounds that can be used. I thought the sound of dogs barking and a shot gun going off  would work the best. Now I still don't know if this thing works or my fox problem has tapered off for the year.  But the one thing I can say is it has become very annoying as the chicken hang out in the back and the damn thing just barks and shoots all day long.  

    I find myself trying to ignore as much as possible. I do play my TV louder these days. I tied shooing the chicken out front but they go right back in the woods behind the house. I guess they like that sounds. 

    A few weeks ago I put up all the animals for the night and went in to watch TV. It was getting late and I though a snack before bed was in order so out to the kitchen I went only to see I left the light in the garage on. I put on my shoes and went out to turn it off.  I got half way between the garage and house the the damn animal deterrent thing went off. Now there is nothing more unsettling in the middle of the night than to here that thing go off and all the animals are locked in the barns. I felt like I was naked in the middle of a room full of people. I did not know if I should run or just freeze. Run Hell, which way do I run. So I froze and started to yell, get the hell out of here.  When the noise stopped I moved slowly toward the house.  When I got inside I stayed there and that damn garage light stayed on all night. I don't scare to easily but when my Spidey senses kick in I can get unglued. I watch too much TV.

 

 

     

Chicken Math, It's a real thing. 7.2.24

    I Don't often tell about my chicken math problem as folks that don't have chickens don't understand. But this time it plays into my next problem.  

    Back last Dec. I was thinking about my chickens and how I lost so many to the fox I would order some chicks for the Spring. I had a couple of breeds that I really wanted.  The problem started with I had to order from 2 different hatcheries. As I am searching for what I wanted I read that delivery cost would be 35. But if you buy 15 shipping is free. I love a deal so I shop till I find 15 chicks and put my order in for Spring delivery. No I still do not have the other most desired breed I wanted so I found a hatchery that had them all to ship about same time.  Now again I see 35$shipping unless you buy 15. OK another deal. 15 it is. Well shipping dates where not looking good so I put them a month apart.  I feel so lucky I save 70 bucks. Now I start thinking but I will have 30 chicks. I'm dead.     

    

    I'm in Tractor Supply getting chick starter food because the first batch is due the next day. They have a ben of bantam chicks and I love bantams. As I'm looking at them (just to look) the Manager a friend walks by and says I'll let them go for a dollar each because I need them to be sold before tomorrow. No I don't need anymore chicks.     A few minutes later she comes back and says if you take all of them I let you have them for .75 cents. Now my brain starts in "bargain" You know how much they cost what a deal. I'll take em. As I am checking out the clerk says you get a 25% discount. Wow I just hit the loto those birds cost me .57 cents I was in heave all the way to the car when I counted them and learned there were 10 more birds and 15 due the next day. Shit this is going to be a fun time. Well the next day the birds came but where all dead. Not sure what happened but it does happen sometimes. I called the hatchery and they said they would replace the order next week. 

    

    The next week came and again the chicks died all but 2. Again the hatchery replaced the order. All the time the discount bantams are getting big and older. Not good to mix birds of different size and age as it can cause problems that lead to killing each other. It took almost 2 weeks for the second replacement but they arrived all alive and doing well. I now can not mix the two groups so out come the second dog kennel to house them. And the next bargain group is due 3 weeks.

    Ok so now I have the original 15 plus the 2 survivors and 10 discount chicks. Again I'm at Tractor supply to get feed and the manager tells me she has a chick that does not have feathers on it back and she can't sell it so she must destroy it. No I'll take it and see if I can get it on a good path to chickenhood. now lets add the free be bird to that number. The last shipment of birds arrive all well plus they put in a mystery bird and a couple of extras to make sure I got all 15 birds. Yes I got 18 birds  for a grand total of 46 bargains. And I have to keep each group separated. Now my daughter from NY is coming for a visit at Memorial weekend. I got the small school house ready for the first 2 groups of birds and they all seem to be doing Ok. The kids came had a great time then chaos started  after they left.  Emu running loose in the middle of the night, goats ran over me with the golf cart now the next excitement was headed my way.

    Turns out all was not well in the little red school house. those discounted bantams boys where bulling a couple of my polish hens because their feathers cause them to not see and that makes them nervous nellies. So they get picked on. This behavior was noticed by me when I let them out to free roam a bit and the bantam boy chase them under the little red school house. Hell I didn't know they could even fit under there. I could not get my arm under there to reach them. I got a stick to see if I could push them out. No way it drove them under it further.    It's now 2 days later and they have not come out and I can not reach them by no means.  In comes the neighbor with the big boy to left the little red school house up so I could get them out. I hope I survive this shit. Now them nervous nellies live with me till I can figure out what to do with them.

Hit and Run 6.30.24

     Life has it up and downs. Mine has been total chaos for at least 2 weeks. First chasing a Emu in the middle of the night, Then the cows just bust down the fence when they want out. Hell they bust it down when they want in. The land is so wet the post won't hold and the cattle panels are so bent up they won't be straightened out at all.  

    One day I hear cars honking and run to the door to see the cows in the road and traffic stopped in both directions.  I throw on my shoes and run to the garage to grab the golf cart.  The cows have got so strong I am powerless to move them. I tie a rope on them and tie the other end to the golf cart and off we go. They can be so stubborn that they just put on the four legged brakes and the cart will just spin its wheels or stop all together. Now they are food motivated so I grab some grain to keep them following the cart as I am pulling them along.  Folks have jumped out of their cars to help as some of them are needing to catch the ferry.   One cow in the yard one cow running back to the road. Then the horse and goats decided to get in on the fun. What a shit show it was. The goats where chasing me to get the grain and the cows where running from me so they could run free. I finally captured one and was dragging  it back to the pasture when we got close he made me dump the grain all over the cart. I got him up to the gate and he went in with a little resistance.  By then the horse came into the yard and so did the other cow.  Traffic moved on and off I went to get the other cow. The goats keep trying to get the spilled grain  and keeping them off the cart so I could get the cow was exhausting.  I made it to the gate with the cow using his braking power and goats trying to jump on. I  park right in front of the gate so I did not have too far to drag the damn cow.  As I was trying to get one in the other was shoving me to get out when  Wham O the goats had jumped on the cart and hit the peddle and I got run over with the golf cart. What can I say about being hit with my own golf cart. I screamed so many cuss words the goats ran off. Good thing the damn cart is electric and stopped as soon as the goat ran off.  My foot got run over and I twisted my knee. I just knew this was how I was going to end my life. I crawled out of the mud and stood up and realized nothing was broken.  Oh and now the cows are out again. 

    As I walked back to the house licking my wound a song came to mind.

It's a Goat, my Lord, in a flat bed cart slowing down to run me over. This island would have some good laughs for a long time after that. 

Ghost Story 5.31.2024

 STORY TIME 5.31.24

I sleep with my head right on the window sill, (that's a story for another time.) Last night I had the window open even though it was kind of cold. I was in a dead sleep when I woke to the sound of someone walking on the gravel of the driveway. I turned my head and stuck my face up to the screen trying to focus my eyes to see who was walking down my drive. The moon had not come up yet so focusing through the screen without my glasses and in the dark was difficult to say the least. Now I am getting nervous when a white figure started to come into view. WTF I didn't know if I should run or scream. My very skeptical mind is saying no such thing as ghost but WTF. The figure finally came into full view as the cow approached my window. Are you fucking kidding me, what the hell are you doing out. I glanced at clock reading 2:30. I stumbled around in the dark getting my shoes on. Grabbed a little flash light and went out to find the 2 cows and Elliott just eating grass. It was a colossal cluster Fuck to get these guys back in the pasture. It took the golf cart, a halter and tiny hand held flashlight to get the job done . Riding around in the golf cart and running in the wet grass I was froze chasing the damn critters as they where throwing a huge tantrum. The noise we were making I'm sure the whole Island heard us. Now that's a couple hours of sleep I will never get back.

Who knew 5.30.24

 Strange happenings led me on a very long and exhausting 2 hr. manic hunt. It started with me filling the car with recycling. I flattened all the boxes and flopped them in the back. At that moment the garage door opened. WTF the goats look guilty so I start yelling who has the remote. I went out shut the door and started back to the car, half way back the door opened again. WTF, the goats are just chilling chewing their cud. To put this in perspective the remote has been missing for a week. My brain goes into gear and I now think it's in the car and me messing with the boxes got it going. I get to the car look back goats aren't chewing they are in the garage eating chicken feed . Yelling all the way back to the garage, Get THE FUCK OUT. I chase there asses out and close the door. Half way down the door stops and goes back up. I now need to search that car. So I unhook the door and shut it. All the time I can hear the door motor running. I spent the next 30 min searching the car for the remote. Nothing. I start in the house an hour goes by I'm pooped and everything is torn up. I still hear that damn motor running so I go and flip the switch in the power box. I'm a hot sweaty mess and company pulls in. Recyclable all over the ground animals running everywhere. I really am exhausted so we chit chat for a while and she gets some eggs and leaves. I finish getting animals under control which is a whole days work crammed into 30 min. I went in sat in front of the fan and cooled off. After a short break I went in to do more laundry. I folded the dry cloths and proceeded to put the washed cloths in the dryer. After half emptying the washer I hear a clang of something other than cloths in the washer. To my shock it's the remote that went through the wash and was the cause of the garage door mystery. And it is still working. I had to lock the door again and turn power back on, but the damn thing is working just fine. Who knew you could wash your garage door opener

Hey! Your Emu is running down the road.

June 2024

 One of the Emus was let out oh her enclose, I later learned it was by the cows. At about 2 or 2:30 am there was knock on my door, in my dream state I did not respond very quick then the cow bell hanging on the door rang out with a yell of "your Emu is running down the road" . Now I roll/jumped out of bed and stumbled down the hall. I was confused because mine are in their enclose. My neighbor was on their way home from a night on the town and after getting off the ferry they spotted an Emu running down ferry road. They new I was most likely the only one on the island with them. I grabbed a flash light and my neighbor and I headed to the pasture. I discovered the door wide open and Emus gone. I was then greeted by the cows and Elliott all excited to see me. My heart sank as I was combing the pasture with my pocket size flash light to see if I could see them. I found one running around so off we went to run the roads looking for the other Emu. We all gave up at around 3:30 am and I went home to bed.

A little past 6 am came the second knock at the door. In my sleepy stupor again made my way down the hall bouncing off the walls all the way. One of the ferry crew members came to let me know the Emu was down close to the ferry running the road. I jumped in the car and off I went. I seen tail lights up ahead of me that was driving like he was following my Emu. I caught up to the guy at the ferry and the he told me the Emu ran down a dirt road not far back. By the time I got turned around and headed back the Emu was back on ferry road headed back toward my road. She seemed really tired and confused. I drove behind her as she walked back. She would stop to check things out as she moved along at a snail pace. Being so early on Saturday morning we only encountered 2 car that were headed to the ferry and with some flashing head lights and driving in the middle of the road they they stopped and waited till we passed. All was going slow but good but my worry was how I was going to get her to turn left on my road. A few slow mo donuts at the 4 corners and going the wrong way a few times we got around the corner. She had to check out a couple of neighbors yards before we got home. When she saw the other Emu she stopped and made it into the yard.

Getting her into the pasture without getting my ass kicked was a whole different story, she went to the fence where the other Emu was and laid down by the fence next to him. I needed coffee and a rest before tackling getting her in the pasture.

After a break and coffee I went out to see if I could get her in the pasture. I tried food no luck, she loves to be showered with the hose but that didn't work either. All I did was make her move around the outside of the pasture. I was afraid she would take off again so I left her alone to destress. Another cup of coffee later it started to rain. I found her laying in the woods. My attempt to get her in the pasture with all the other critters out there was not going to happen. I opened the gate to the back yard and tricked her in there. Shut and locked her in .

The rain lasted till the next morning. I had a good night's sleep and rain over I had to move her. I knew it was going to be painful as she would kick my ass.

Well the murderous attempt on my life was over. The Emu is now in the pasture where she belongs with her besty.. We both survived the ordeal. It only took 2 band-aids, 2 Ibuprofen, an ice pack and a lot of Bengay rub. Oh and Benadryl spray, as the Emu is kicking my ass the mosquitoes were eating me. The Emu suffered some feather loss and scrapes. Mostly it was her dignity that suffered the most as she was drug across the yard with those murdering feet hog tied. She most likely will hate me till the end of time. LOL

Bring on the Dragon fly's

     We have had a very wet last 10 months. There was a few weeks in the winter that was frozen mud but the rest of the time it has been mud. I'm talking boot sucking mud. The kind that if you are not hanging on to something your going down. I have had intimate looks at my pasture and total coverage of said pasture. Getting in my mouth as I was cussing was the worst. 

    With all this wetness it has brought out the biggest mosquitos and in Swarms. Now that it is Spring, early summer the flies have moved in to add an extra layer of annoyance.  Some days I think a blood transfusion is in order just to keep going. Lets talk horse flies that drive their blood sucking spike straight to the bone upon their landing on you.     

    Now living near water does not help with this problem. But it does give us the Dragon Flies that do a great job at consuming thousands of these blood sucking devils. 

    This year seemed to be late for the hatch of dragon flies.  My days would start with my pray for Dragon flies or hurricane winds to get the swarms of blood suckers to stay away while I did chores and to not loose my boots in the mud. Then I would come in and take a shower to get mud off and splash on Benadryl  spray. 

    

Water cooler gossip. What hens talk about. June 2023

   

  Have you ever wondered what chickens talk about when gathered at the water bucket?

   Have you all seen the new guys that the human brought in? I don't know what the Hell they are thinking. Those guys are enormous.  Jump me and I'm flat.

   I really like the bad boys to run with.

   Seriously, those little Dudes are so small I just swat them like a fly when they think they're  going to score with me.

    I hate those juvenile little bastards that don't even know what they are doing. Damn near took all my feathers trying to get it on.

    That big old Horndog Oliver corners me at least 5 times a day. Why don't he pick on some one his own size.  And did you see all those new kids this summer they all look like him.

    You know you're his favorite fluff ball.

    I just hang with JR he protects me from all those Horndog roosters. And he is so handsome.

     Did you see that new guy Flash? He tried to get cocky with big old Alice and she knocked  him clear out in the pasture. 

    What do you all think of Pretty boy?

    He does have a big mouth. but not sure about jewelry he is wearing, is that some kind of cultural thing?

    Are you kidding he has horns, Nope! Nope! not me.

    Those stupid Houdan boys, can't even see what the hell they're doing. 

    I do like a man with a beard and mutton chops.....

    Poor boy Crooked toes, his handicap sure does make it harder than Hell on my back, he just slides off, LOL 

    Ok girls back to work, here comes the boys...

Bottle feeding, not for the weak. Feb. 2022

     As a city girl taking on farm life in my retirement, being clueless does help a lot.  If I don't know I am not afraid of what lies in front of me.

    I have had to learn everything as I go.  That being said I may have found a different life style for my retirement. I do not regret my choice but it has been a life altering experience.  It is not like dog rescue at all.  I am not afraid of dogs so it was easier to work with them.  Now the animals are a lot more powerful and do not respond to voice, or at least mine.  Horses, cows, goats and those little Velociraptor Raptors.  I never thought I would be a snack pusher, they all look at me like a free vending machine. Just push me around and the snacks just fall out of my pockets.

    I love my little farm no matter how much grief they give me, the joy totally out weighs grief. I have gotten some injuries that I have lied about getting because of the embarrassment of how I got them.  Now I never thought I would like cows but discovered the miniature size and thought they would make a great addition. 

    I found a couple of White park males that where in my price range. I do know I do not want to milk any cows, that is a demanding job that is not for me.  These boys where bottle babies so they came here young. I was instructed on how to mix there milk replacer and feed the boys.  The size of the bottles made me feel like this was not going to be easy but still I learned how to hold them so I could feed both of them at the same time.

    I have learned cows and goats when nursing bang the mammas utter to get the milk moving, I guess. Now that banging is strong and hard. I seen the baby goats hit their moms utter so hard it took her off the ground.  Now when you're bottle feeding two cows at the same time I learned quick that their banging is hard.  May I say it knocked me off my feet the first time they did it.  I was totally unprepared for the bang. I quickly leaned on the wall when I got up and found that it kept me standing while I fed the two little Hulk Hogan's.  I put the bottles under each arm and braced myself for the bangs that where coming. The bangs are not the only thing I learned. They also pull the nipple.  So right after they pull me away from the wall the bang comes. I never thought I would become a ping pong ball for two little cows. I must say it was a leaning experience that taught me, no not again..

    Now the boys are 10-11 months old and they have filled out nicely, but the attitude is head strong and they are bull headed. LOL no pun intended. When they want to go out to the yard that is not fenced, I have tie them out so they don't go walk about. We walk out to their tie outs, seem so easy but they resist and I have to pull them out because they want to start grazing as soon as their head clears the gate. It is not easy for my tired old body.  They say stay active you live longer but this is going to  kill me.  

Island life

    We have had some odd weather this fall.  It has stayed warmer longer. We had a couple of snow storms but they melted.  The weather man has let us know we have one last day in the high 40s before the temps drop again. Now December is just a couple of days away and these warmer days will not be back till spring.

    My favorite thing to do is sit on the porch with a glass of wine and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the island. The animals, wild and domesticated bring such a warm feeling of peace and joy. Of course I am sure the wine helps. 

    Just listening to the shipping traffic on the river and the seagulls over head gives me a sense of  summer days gone by. Song birds singing and the hens happily murmuring as they scratch and peck looking for something good to eat. I just love to hear the chick chatter of the last baby chick born here. The goats roam around eating what ever branches or bushes they can find at this time of year. Elliott just want to graze on what's left of the grass, his chicken happily grabbing the fly's that buzz him.

    I have a few young roosters that where born this past summer and they are just now learning how to crow.  I love listening to them and trying to figure out which one is crowing while learning there distinct voice.  A couple of them are now trying to learn how to balance themselves on top of a hen as his natural urges are coming alive.  To ride atop a hen that wants nothing to do with you. All the  while trying to not get your ass kicked by the angry hen, is cause for fits of laughter.

    Sometime a neighbor will stop to sit and sip while enjoying the critter shenanigans. We enjoy telling our stories of the island and years gone by.

    I will miss these days till next spring and the temps again raise about the 40s and life starts anew here on the farm.

Horse Tails

 

   As I get older I try to make every move count, so doing something twice is a waste of energy.  Sometimes just thought of doing something again will make my language become so colorful I hope no one hears me. 

      I have a gate in the barn that separates the  goats and the horse. Well it only works on 6 of the 7 goats. One is a jumper and goes into the horses stall and eats his food and jumps back to get her share of the goats feed.  I have had to goat proof this gate. I hung some wire fencing over the opening above the gate.  Now I have to put extra locks on the gate to keep the horse from going into the goats area as he will chase them and the distraction on the barn and its contents are another opportunity for me to use my colorful language. 

    Now unlocking this Fort Knox lock down in the morning is not fun so I only want to do it once a day.  I have to grab the hay bin and water buck after all leave the barn. Then lock it all down again so they don't leave the barn. 

    My mind is in the O zone  and I am unlocking the gate and Elliott is standing by the gate. I shut the gate but did not lock all down thinking I need to make 5 steps to grab the water bucket and out we go. Oh Hell NO the damn horse has opened the gate and walking out by the time I turned around. I took one big leap and grabbed his tail thinking I would stop a moving frieght  train as it was leaving the barn. That was my first mistake. My second one was not letting go when I knew it was a freight train.  

    It has been six weeks now and my finger is still bent and a little swollen. The pain is mostly gone as long as I don't move it side to side or pinch the fingers together.  I really think this is not going back straight but as long as its not broke I can live with it.

    Note to self: don't grab the horses tail he won't stop, just get the water bucket later.

To chicken to leave.

     We had our first significate snow fall yesterday about 5 inches. The new chickens that where born this past spring/summer, lets say they where in shock. They did not want to come out to eat or drink.  I had to carry the CHICKENS to the garage to eat. Once there they did not leave as the older chickens that have experienced snow where running between the coops, barn and garage.  

    That night I was putting everyone in for the night and again had to carry the scared chickens back to coop. This took some time as they where hiding in the garage.  I thought I had them all but learned one of the newest hatchling did not get in her cage with her nest mate. I went back to the garage to look for her and crawled around till I conceded defeat and yell, OK stay in here by your self.

    The next morning I was standing at the kitchen sink filling pails of water, I looked out the window and something in the tree caught my eye.  The damn chicken was in the tree above the barn. It was in the teens during the night and the wind was blowing. How the damn chicken got up there or  survived I have no idea. I wonder if I can get the fire department to come get her out.

       

New Neighbor

    This past summer and most of the spring I have been dealing with a new neighbor that moved into my area.  This neighbor is very fond of fresh chicken and thinks my place is a fast food, help yourself restaurant.  I have tried almost everything to get him to move but to no avail. The fox has taken some of the chickens and caused me a lot of grief as I think of them as pets. 

     I do have favorites but love them all.  If the fox gets one of my favorites I am just sick about it.  It takes me longer to get over them being taken. 

    I thought I had gotten a little handle on this as I have not seen him in awhile and he has not taken any chickens lately.   There are no guaranties when it comes to pesky wild life but I try to stay ever vigilant and keep an eye on the farm critters.

    A few nights ago I was counting chickens and one was missing. It did not take me long to know which one I was missing.  Baby bird was making one hell of a racket, he was looking for his Mom.  It was my little white silky Chicklet.  She hatched Baby bird and is a good Mom to her hatchlings.   She is one of my favorites and will come when I call her. So I started calling for her, nothing. I went looking and nothing.  I got the flash light and started to look for signs of her. In all likelihood of her demise.  It got colder and I went back to the house with out seeing a thing.  

    The next morning I went out and called for her hoping she ran off. If the fox scared her she would run to the woods and hide. Again nothing. I spent the day pissed and sad that one of my favorites was gone. Life goes on and the others need care.  I went to the roof to see if I could see the fox but cold winds would not let me stay long. 

    The next night baby bird was not as boisterous and he settled down early in the back of the kennel he was in.  I worried about him staying warm alone in there.  Chicklet was not bigger than him but they did snuggle next to each other to stay warm.

    All the next day I went looking to see if I could see any signs of her feathers, at least it would give me a route that the fox was using. I could move my live traps to that area in hopes of trapping it. Now the chickens are in the middle to end of molting seasons so there are feather absolutely everywhere even the woods as they all like to go into them looking for yummy bugs. I walked the road but nothing. I figured she was taken back to a den to be eaten. 

    I woke up in the morning minus the joy of going out to feed them. I dragged around for a bit and then went out. I was in the garage getting chicken food when I heard a soft chirp, I thought it was coming from the barn next to the garage.  I then heard it again.  I went out and stood between the garage and barn to listen as there are no chickens in the garage. When I did not hear it I went back to what I was doing only to hear it again. It was a very soft muffled, purring sound.  I went over and lifted the plastic cover over the hay but no sound. I bent over looking under everything and heard it again. I crawled up on the hay looking on the top. As I was coming down off the ladder I heard it again, this time I knew it was coming from under the plastic hay cover.  I pulled it back and started pawing around in the loose hay till I heard it again. I then stated to pull the bales of hay out and there she was, Chicklet. She had fallen down a small whole that the bales make if they are not snug to each other when stacking. She had laid an egg and pooped a pile. The egg and her little butt was a mess with poop. I was so happy to see her I didn't even care that I had shit all over me from hugging her.  I put her down and she ran to the watering bowl and drank a gallon of water, or so it seemed. I cleaned her up and put her in with baby bird and fed them both. 

     I still have to clean the mess between bales, but I think I will wait till it freezes so it won't be so gooey to clean up.

   

Canned Chicken

 

    My nightly routine is feeding the chickens first to give them time to eat and head to the coop to roost.  Then get hay and water for the goats and Elliott they get a treat when it's time to lock the doors and go to bed. Now all of that sound so simple NOT! It turns into animal version of the keystone cops. Chaos is the theme of the night. After at least 30 min. of chasing goats and a horse I go into the house for a few minutes while the last chicken stragglers make their way to the coop. Chickens put themselves to bed at dark, I am not always able to speed this up as chickens are not going to be hurried if they have something better they want to do. Then I go back to count chickens, shut doors and straighten barn yard up then put goat mobile away and so on.

    This night like all the rest is moving along as usual goats are extra bad and Elliott got loose so I had to chase him. It is now dark and I don't have to wait on the chickens so I start counting. I count by building not total. I do that after when I add all my counts up.  Now there are 6 adults plus 3 Ameracanas, 3 Copper Marans, 4 Laced Red Wyandottes, 4 Seabrights and 2 Polish. lock that door all counted. The barn has 12 adults in the rafters, all counted and locked in. Now the big coop. 19 adults. No that's wrong, I count over and over, it still comes out 19. So back to the barn where they roost in the rafters. This time I go in the house to get a flash light as it is really dark now. Again I count 12, again and again. I now am sure I'm missing a chicken. I then go on the hunt for a chicken or its body.  I walk the road as they get hit by cars now and then. Nothing. I then hit the barn thinking someone might be in there. I did not find any. I decided I would not get too worried till tomorrows count to make sure the chicken isn't hiding some where. 

    While straightening up the garage I see where the goats have tipped over the cracked corn bin and helped themselves to it. I went over and tipped the can up and seen the corn bag all crumpled up in the bottom of the barrel. I grabbed it to see how much they ate.  The bag was kind of heavy so I tossed it on the floor so I could clean the bottom of the barrel. It hit the floor with a thud. Not the sound I expected at all. I open the bag and found the missing chicken. She looked like she was in food coma. As it turned out all the corn was eaten by who I don't know or who got the most, goats or chickens. All I know is that last hen was pretty fat.

Bone head shit!

 

  Sometimes in ones life we do embarrassing things that are incredibly stupid and can cause great harm. Now I have two of these moments that I look back at and wonder how I survived.  

    One when I was 35.  I had a small bungalow home in town and it had an attic that you could get to on a steep stairway. Both hands on the wall/hand rail was a must. It had no rail around the floor opening, it just ascended up through the floor.. Now it was the only place that could accommodate my king size mattress. I finished it and made it my bedroom. Now to the bone head thing......  I was changing all the sheets covers blankets and mattress cover. Not wanting to carry them down the steep stairs I just through them over the opening of the the stairs.  After the total cleaning of the room I went to the edge of the stairs opening and looked down.  The pile of bedding running down the stairs looked so soft and like a big cloud. No thought to it, it happened in a split second. I jumped. The pain involved was  indescribable. My sister who felt the house shake ran into the room where I was twisted into a pretzel, yelling what happened. "I fell!" I spent a very long year covering up my back pain and how it happened.

    Now fast forward to yesterday. I'm mowing along the road and side of the ditch. I came up on a soda can right in front of me.  If I get off the seat of the mower it will automatically shut off.  In my lazy state I decide I can maneuver the mower between the can and ditch.  To say wrong move is an under statement. As I ran that damn thing in the ditch. The ditch is big and the tractor was sitting on its head lights.  The hood flung open and I went over the stirring wheel. My legs kept me from going totally off the tractor. The ditch was dry and the weeds and little sapling grow wild in the ditch. The tractor was almost totally out of sight of the road and as I crawled out thinking glad I did not kill myself and no one saw me. I stood on the top of the ditch and look down and there was that damn can still in the same place. I hiked back to the house and got my car put a 10 ft post in it and the tow strap. I waited for the ferry traffic go and I went out to the spot of my second bone head move. I put the car across both lanes and opened the back doors and hatch. When the post is run through the open back doors it acts like a tow bar. I ran the strap around the axel of the tractor and then ran it around the post through the back hatch. Hoping to get this out before the next run of ferry traffic started. I didn't make it before my neighbor came walking her dog. The embarrassment started and then here comes my friend in here gator. Holly shit batman I am so busted now and have to explain how I ran the tractor into the ditch. When the laughter stopped I was able to have my friend pull it out with her gator.  We only had three cars stopped while we got the tractor up right and out of the ditch. It started right up and I drove home. I am so lucky I only have a small bruise on my belly and arm. Why I am not in the hospital is a miracle. I went back later and got the car and the damn can.

We have babies!!!

    

 With Covid and my own health issues I lost 4 goats last year.  This did not happen all at once but over 6 months. I had decided I was not going to get anymore goats as the pain of loosing them was overwhelming.  They are pretty hardy but once you notice them off by any way shape or form you have a very small window of time to save the.. Goats being prey animals do not show signs of illness until the last minute, weakness will get them killed in the wild so they hide it well. One minute they seem fine and the next they down and when they go down it is really hard to save them.

    I am so new to goats and our vets in town are not able to treat goats as I learned the hard way.  So I had to become a Google Vet. In the middle of a crises you just can't start googling symptoms and hope you have meds or things to help you through to a good outcome. Now add to this I had my hip replaced so a week in hospital and house confinement till I could walk without a walker was another 2 months, Rehab and you get the problem. I had a neighbor coming down to feed, water and put them up at night 3 times a day but she did not know the subtle things that let you know there was something wrong. 

    Now its summer and I just have two goats and they hang around and it seems like they are board. I was missing the whole goat mischief and the horse was not playing it just was not the same.  A friend had to remind me that farm life means you have live stock and dead stock it is just part of the farm life. I was seeing all the baby goats on social media and it tugged at me. I caved and decided to get a goat.  

    I love the babies but to have them born here is scary because I do not have what it takes to snap on the latex and go in after a breach baby goat. That is the one thing I can not take a chance on happening to me.  I also did not have hundreds of dollars to spend on a goat and searching for a cheap goat is chancy.  Location is also important, Island life is great but it does have its draw backs. So just watching social media and waiting is what you have to do.  

    Then the end of May I seen the post of a farmer down sizing his herd and he live 75 miles from  me.  I contacted him and he sent pics and I fell for a 3 month old black and white doe. I took the next Sat. and drove down to get the goat.  On the way down I was thinking this baby was going to be with two old fuddy duddy goats and wasn't sure if she would liven them up or they would put her to sleep.  I got there and the farmer was trying to catch her and she was staying very close to her Mom making it difficult to separate them. Broke my heart so I told the farmer I would take Mom also.  As they were being caught and put in the kennels for their ride back I seen this little taupe colored goat with the most amazing ice blue eyes and horns. I love the horns and their blue eyes are to die for. As I am making a fuse over this goat the farmer  says she is also going to be cut. I caved and said put her in too.  Now I am on my way home with 3 goats instead of one.  They did make the other 2 goats more active and a the horse was coming back to his playful self.  

    Three weeks go by and a couple of the kids came for a visit.  We love the big ships so we spent a couple hours watching ships, went into town to mess around and was gone for half the day.  The girls wanted to see the sun set so I told them I needed to get home and  put the animals up and we could run back down to watch the sun set.  We hurried home and the girls fed chickens and I rounded up the goats.  I was standing in the middle of the barn yard and realized I was missing a goat. It took a few seconds to figure out who was missing.  Miss Blue eyes was missing.  I started scanning the area looking for her.  I found her under the big pine trees in the pasture just standing there with two kittens.  As soon as that thought came in my head the reality of those are not kittens took over.  OMG! she had babies. My drama side kicked in and I started yelling for the girls to get out back.  I was in total disbelief because I did not know she was even pregnant. All looked Ok one of the babies was almost dry and the other one was still wet. The dry one was a little bigger than the wet one and was nursing. I did not see the wet one nurse yet and knew that it is so import for the new born to get moms colostrum. I was not prepared for this so I went off to get a place in the barn for Mom and babies.  I kicked Elliott out of his stall and put fresh bedding down and got clean water and hay for Mom.  I sent the girls down to see the sun set as it was getting late and I watch to see if the little goat nursed.  I tried to get the baby to nurse but I was not having luck. The girls came back and I yelled get me a YouTube video on how to milk a goat. The three of us stood in the barn watching a video on how to milk a goat and then tried our luck on Mamma goat. I had one of the girls hold the goat and I tried to get milk from Mamma.  My daughter does not like horns so she said Mom let me try and you hold the goat. We did manage to get some milk and then used an eye dropper to get it in the baby. That night I did not sleep because every hour I was in the barn checking on the babies.  The next morning I seen the smaller baby was nursing on his own.  I did relax knowing that they where eating and Mom was taking care of them because Mom was only 10 months old herself according to the farmer. 

    I have become very vigilant with the goats so I don't loose anymore.  The babies grew up to be cutest little blue eyed horned buckling's.   One is dark chocolate brown and one is Black both have ice blue eyes and horns. They have added so much fun to the herd and the farm. As the islanders learned of the baby goats the farm became very busy last summer with visitors to see the babies. 

    I went to get one goat came back with three ended up with 5. Now my little herd of 7 fills my days with mischief and fun.

Tattling, Good or Bad

 Now the goats are great at tattling on Elliott. Hell they even tattle on each other.  I am getting better at how they do this.  It is in a goats language and I don't always know what they are saying so I am learning those subtle clues they use to let me know something or someone is not right. 

 I have my routine down at night to put the animals up, without it there is total chaos. This chaos cause me such anxiety so I really try to keep the routine ritual. I have occasionally not been able to follow my routine for one reason or another.  Last night being one of those times.  I did not divert very much from the routine but it doesn't take much.  

 Chickens have three locations to roost at night and they have there special place and go there every night.  Leaving me with the simple task of counting them and locking the doors.  The problem is the barn. I have 11 birds that roost in the rafters in the barn. I can't lock them out of the barn or they will drive me nuts till I let them in there. So I put the horse in the back side of the barn with his hay, grain and water and shut the gate inside the barn and he is in for the night. I feed the chickens and feed the goats. I do this about an hour before dark. Go inside and fix dinner and watch a little TV while I wait for the chickens to go to bed.  Goats just hang around the front of the barn waiting for me to shut the doors.  

 Last night I did all of the above but spent longer engrossed in TV.  When I realized how dark it was getting I took off to lock up.  This time the goats are all out in the barn yard. All looking at the road. I shooed them back in the barn but that was like a game of Whack-a-mole. I would get a couple in and go back for more and the others would come out. This was not normal for them I can herd them in all at once with out problems so I am confused as to what the hell is going on.  The one thing I noticed was that they kept looking up at the road. I glanced a couple of time up that way and did not see anything. One of the does Stella was really not going in that barn and her attention was focused at that road. I finally stopped and took a good look. It was getting quite dark so took a minute to adjust my eyes and see the dark shadow trotting down the road and turning into my drive. What the hell it was Elliott out running the roads for how long I didn't know. The gate between the stalls is his main thing to do every night. He is always testing it to see if he can get it open. He was lucky last night and so was I.  The snow is still deep in the woods and along the road. So his little stroll keeps him in the road and easier to find. I thanked Stella and put them all in and shut the door.