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.