From 82 to 42

That's how fast and far it fell this morning!  Yesterday afternoon saw an unseasonable 82 degrees fahrenheit, and this morning, it began falling... down to 42 and on down into the 20s tonight.  Autumn, or, in this case... FALL!

 

Everyone wanted to curl up and be warm.

 

Gertie likes to snuggle on the back of the loveseat, where she can watch for Daddy to come home.

 

 

Jackson comes in every night and muscles everyone off the top roost.  One brave hen stayed up there tonight.

 

 

Wait 'til you see what Keith has made for the rafter roosters in the new henhouse.

 

 

Fancy and April always roost on the door to the nursing cage, go figure.

 

We hope to tear out all the nasty drywall in this henhouse when we move the birds in the next week or so.   I hate to think of all the baby mice we're going to disturb.

 

 

 

 

Whew

I know everyone is sick about hearing of the heat, since you are all going through it yourselves.  So, here's what's going on besides heat stuff....

Hey, we're just hangin' out here watching the world go by!

Wait!  What's that over there?

Let's all go see!

(And that's just how they act... like little kids!)

Here is Annabelle the Turkette in the corner of the barn tonight.  It was actually dark, and the flash lit up the corner.  She was on a turkey egg and three hen's eggs.  I'm not sure if the turkey egg was hers or Clara's, since I let Clarabelle out this morning.  We just went out and checked, and Anna is still in the barn, so we locked the henyard up and I'm praying nothing smells or sees her tonight.  (Yes, I worry more with Tony out of the pasture).

Speaking of the llamas... they are doing fine in their new home with Renee and Brian.  Renee is much cuddlier with them than I was, and has been kicked by Tony already, so she is straightening him out in short shrift.  They have been sheared and had their feet trimmed, and have fans for their comfort during this hot summer, though they are about 200 miles farther east and north from us.

And work is continuing apace on the new henhouse.  Keith thinks I'll be able to call the fencing company in about two weeks... once the fence is up the final things will go in... nest boxes, roosts... and a brooder cage to use in the spring.  We'll also need an isolation box too, our nursing cage has come in handy so many times in the big henhouse. 

BTW... have the reading lists disappeared off your blogs?  My reading list of blogs to which I subscribe seems to be gone from my blog... not the featured blogs, but the many, many blogs I like to try to keep up with... they just seem to have vanished!

Where to Start

As I sit here typing this at 8:58 on Sunday evening, it is totally dark out, and a huge orange moon has arisen over the ponds at the foot of the hill.  It is gorgeous, with just a wisp of cloud floating through it.  By Tuesday we are to have some more rain, but the weekend has been glorious.  Hot enough to sweat, but not hot enough to be sick, as it was for over a month., with the bone-searing, mind-numbing heat that left you feeling worn out all the time.

 

Keith worked on the new henhouse today, after my son Jim, and his best friend Robert (with son Brandon) had come out to help lift up the first wall.  I was NO help, believe me.  They had the wall up in about  five minutes while I was on the way home from the pancake breakfast.  Here it is from the east, looking west.  The mound of dirt with weeds that lay in front of it is gone now, after Mr. Skid Steer came this week. 

This is where we'll have a small patio by the firepit and the garden and eventually, the garden pond. 

And here is a side view, work he did today before going to his boss's wake this afternoon.

That is a window opening you see there. 

I made fresh salsa with tomatos from our garden and some red, yellow and orange small peppers I had bought at WalMart. It is a little "warmer" than we usually like, but very delicious.  I am going to freeze it to use in the future, but of course, we sampled it this afternoon.

I have some cucumbers to use, but I do not have enough to make a canning session, and we have enough pickles for the next year.

I am thinking of trying to make some cucumber salsa with them, and have been looking at recipes.

While Keith went to the wake in Lawrence, I did chores and put a meatloaf in, vacuumed, shucked some corn, and warmed some Italian bread up for dinner.  I had just started to boil the water when he called to say he was coming up the road.  We always try to do this because the pugs cannot be trusted not to run out of the gate.  I threw the corn on, and we had a very simple dinner.  We are both trying not to eat as much red meat... not that we don't like it, but we want to make sure that we live long lives.  We realized we were going very heavy on the meat, and not eating as much of the other legs of the food tree as we should, and we found that we feel better when we eat a more balanced diet. We have a treat once or twice a week, and tonight the treat was the meatloaf.

Here are the vultures birds who will literally clean up ANYTHING I put down in front of them:

A Great Sunday

After our fun Saturday night, we came home to find the tornado sirens had been blown in our own county while we were "next door" at the game.  The small town of Reading in Lyon County was destroyed by a tornado, and Keith stayed up until 3 on the radio as the Incident Management Team arrived and took over organizing things.  They stay approximately two days, set up support systems, and then turn things over to the locals.  They have access to calling in the Salvation Army, Red Cross, and beginning to organize volunteers.  They also lliase with the state for aid.  One other important thing that many people do not think of is a specialty in Kansas now.... animal volunteers who come and pick up the pets that are dazed and confused and hurt or wandering in shock.  Those pets for the small town of Reading that was virtually wiped out were being taken this afternoon to Emporia's shelter. 

Then, in midafternoon today, another tornado or tornados struck Joplin, Missouri, and the death count is currenty at 24.  Please pray for all those affected by these terrible new disasters, along with those affected by the flooding, etc.  Keith is on call to go if he needs to, tomorrow or Tuesday, so is waiting to see.

In the meantime, he worked very hard on the base of the henhouse.  As he said this evening, it will be strong enough and will have enough windows and a nice door and small porch, that anyone moving here after us can have it cleaned and then let their mother in law live in it!

Of course, I did not take a picture because I helped hold the two end boards.  I'll get one this week.

This morning, we put together the Ware Chicken Hutch that I got on sale at Tractor Supply last month.  It is not a very sturdy little cage, (they make the rabbit version the same way, but the Chicken Hutch has a roost and a small "egg door"), but it is now inside the 4 x 4 pen, and the babies are locked up in it tonight for the first time. 

The Seabright was the first to decide to lay down in it.

It has a door that I can latch shut at night, so tonight, for the first time, I can shut them up outside in the pen. There are tarps over the top of it, and a cement block up against the gate.

When I went out there at 8, they were all bedded down in the straw.  The good thing is, during the day, they are small enough to walk around under it, so they lost hardly any space in the pen.
They figured out how to walk up and down the door quickly, and how to roost.

Here are the two Mille Fleur D'Uccle cockerels figuring out how to walk up the door to the hutch.  There is one Millie pullet with this bunch, the other two are in the little henhouse and getting along fine. The Millie pullet with this group was attacked when in the little henhouse, and she is bald and appears to not have good sight in her left eye, but is healing now and getting along fine.

The buff cochin chick that looked sick last weekend was in the shop all week, and she is doing fine, pooping, drinking and eating well, so I snuck her in with the juveniles after dark tonight.

What a relief it was not to have to load everyone up in their cat carrier, take them in the big henhouse, and then divide half into the nursing cage and half into the rabbit hutch!  Whew! 

Here is a Brassy Back Old English Gamebird cockerel and pullet. You see how tiny and delicate the pullet is, the smallest of all the bantams.  Of course, straight run... I got three cockerels and only ONE pullet.

My eventual plan is to have a pen of OEG's, one of Porcelain D'Uccles, and one of Mille Fleur D'Uccles.  That's the Welsummer cockerel next to them, he makes five of her.  As HE was attacked while in the little henhouse, he is with the juveniles, but the Welsummer pullets are still in the little henhouse.  That will all get sorted out, too.

We spent the balance of the afternoon on the new henhouse, and gardening.  I got almost all of my plants in the ground, but have some iris still to put in in the next two days.  I am going to take Friday off, I hope, and have a four day weekend.

Here is last year's bed, I was filling in holes in it.

And lastly, here are the babies going to bed tonight!

A New Henhouse

Work is progressing on the new henhouse, and soon it will be going vertical, despite several days of rain and storms this week.  In fact, we expect more tomorrow, but are praying they hold off since our first game night tickets for the Kansas City T Bones are tomorrow night!

Here are some pictures of Keith working on the frame:

and a short video

Linking to Farm Friend Friday

 

Chickens, Today

First off, we have a heat advisory for tomorrow.... May 10th!  I noticed driving back from Fort Leavenworth yesterday that the small ponds have begun to dry up, and a vernal pond in a field near us, that kept water all last year even when our own went dry, has half-dried.  We need rain, and plenty of it.

There have been lots of things happening this past two weeks... we had a water line put in to the site of the new henhouse out in the garden, and a standpipe with a pump we can use all year.  This caused some ruckus, and we were left with a mess.  We also found out that the pump that has stood at the door of the big henhouse for seven years was operational, with some WD40.  It had been turned off in the wellhouse!

You can see the trench snaking out through the garden.  They finally brought in a small Kubota tractor to push the dirt, but left big mounds right at the edge of the deck.  Keith says they will eventually smooth out with the rains. 

We have had trouble with the electricity constantly in the big henhouse, and know now that it must have a major overhaul before winter.  I am not sure we can even run a fan, as we always do in summer, for the benefit of the birds.  Electricity was brought to the site of the new henhouse, but left capped off until the building is up.  It is moving along slowly. 

Keith has attached a hose to the new standpipe to use for the garden, which is working out great.  The peas are up and he cannot keep the red potatos covered... they are growing so fast. 

This was taken last week, and they are twice as high now.  We are a little worried that the heat is going to beat them down.

The Mille Fleur D'Uccles have joined the little flock in the little henhouse, but the pretty girl on the left was badly beaten up and is in the nursing cage now, with one eye swollen shut.  She's going to go to the juvenile pen as soon as she is healed.  The Welsummers and Partridge Rocks are in with the little bunch as well.

This little girl, one of the two who lived out of the first setting of eggs, was deformed.  I did not really SEE her until Thursday night, at four weeks.  She and the other living chick were so fast and active, following their two mamas, that I could never see her up close. This was the only time she had ever come out on the porch... the wood blocking the door had been knocked down, and as you can see, she was already in the process of dying, though had been running around the day before.  I honestly don't know how she had lived to eat or drink as long as she did, the beak was going in opposite directions. At least she felt the sun on her one time.

If you remember, two of the hens, Snowball and Flora, killed the other two chicks who lived to fluff out, and literally 17 chicks as they were pipping.  I also threw out about 8 eggs. Only one chick has now survived the first hatch. The deformed little pullet  died on Saturday night, and I had to climb into the henhouse and find it behind the two hens currently setting.  They hatched a tiny yellow chick Saturday, which I found fluffed out and pulling itself around.  I slipped it back under one of them, and have not seen it again.  Probably dead. 

My plan is once these super-setters are moved to the new henhouse, NO one will be "setting without permission" because all nests will be accessible. 

The other bantam juveniles (purebreds) are in a 4 x 4 pen, and tomorrow (heat permitting) we'll put together their temporary quarters.  Yes, we ended up with too many cockerels in those straight runs, so we'll have to do something about that soon.  It will be easier to get rid of the purebreds. 

Can't wait for the heat tomorrow!

Soggy Monday

This picture was taken last night, though, as Keith played with Gertie Lou out in the yard!  Look how nicely everything is greening up, and our neighbor's back five look like a park!

I had a short video of Keith, Abby and Gertie running, but  it won't load, I'm afraid.

Easter Sunday was a revolving door.  Before church I did chores, then changed, went to church, and something told me to check again on the six little chicks in the nursing cage.  I went in the big henhouse, and all electricity was off! When I tried the main, there was a poof of smoke, so I stopped that.  I had the Welsummers and Rocks on the floor, and the six tiny chicks were huddled together in the 45 degree temps. 

We moved them into one of the tubs in the shop.  I was going to divide the Bantam Horde, but simply put them in the bigger tub. (the one the Welsummer Crew vacated).  I put the tiny chicks in the bantie trough, and pulled the light down over them well.

Last night, I moved the Welsummers/Rocks to the little henhouse, and yes, it was with trepidation.  Lo and behold, they are getting along very well in there.  It will be some time before they get their courage up to go outside, so that's fine with me.  They have a dish of grower, and they have access to a lot more food. 

I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them.

I'll get some of the garden, too.  We have been working on the flower beds, and Keith has been making more vegetable beds.  Peas, potatoes, spinach, lettuce and peas are all up and growing!  Spring is truly here!

A Short Night

Storming out there tonight at Calamity Acres, not a strong storm, though the wind came up.  A gentle Spring storm, and we needed the water very much. 

We did chores together tonight, Keith and I, mostly so we could talk.  Next week he will be gone to a training far from here, on the Colorado border.  Tonight he carried water for me, and asked me how I would do it next week, with my bad back.  When he isn't here, I only fill the buckets a little, and make more trips.  It takes longer, but it gets the job done.  There is lots of lightening out there, so I am going to make this brief, and then get to bed early with the little girls.  (pugs!)

Here is Keith collecting our eggs from the ceiling tiles:

I got lovely eggs from the big henhouse, both large and small.  I found a beautiful egg from my Polish girl Buffy in the nest box, but when I picked it up, I realized it had been broken.  I think the two red girls are eating eggs daily, I am not finding their own anymore.  I am going to have to clean the nest box out, as it is smelly from the cracked eggs. 

Here's is today's haul:

Large and small, we love them all!

A Chick Story

We're down to two chicks only in the little henhouse, and tonight I threw out four eggs that had been rolled out of the nest and abandoned.  Two felt very heavy.  I found another dead chick by the waterer, so that now makes about seven that did not survive.  I suspect three reasons... two inexperienced mothers, born last September themselves, too many roosters, and too many birds.  Silka is valiantly sitting the rest of the eggs, and tried to roll several underneath her when the two young mamas got up to feed and water the chicks. 

Somehow I have to move some roosters out, as much as I like them.  We just have too many. 

Look what's blooming in the garden today:

Catching up from the Weekend

For all of you who commented on the pond, we were supposed to have storms today, and, in fact, are under a severe thunderstorm warning right now.  Keith is out with the big dogs and two younger pugs, watching things from the porch.  It has been blowing like heck all evening, and I was very tired from work and not sleeping well, so I passed on anything more than regular outdoor chores tonight. The pond man wants the pond area to dry out a bit before he starts pushing the dirt around, he didn't realize so much had seeped through below the little pond into the lower pasture. I guess if it rains tonight, we'll be waiting a few extra days.

Saturday morning was cold here, with winds and rain intermittently through the day, including some hail.  Temps were in the upper 40s when we went out before the rain to stake out the new henhouse in the garden.

Here is Keith pounding in the first of the stakes we put in.  That's Troy and Kathy's house behind him, to the south of our place.

Lilly Ann and the pugs were supervising.

As you can see, he had plenty of supervision.

Your blogger on the other end of the tape (where she got much supervision) and realizing now that she needs to see the measurement ladies at Penney's (if you know what I mean). Notice the chic and worn out nitrile gloves, so stiff I could hardly hold the tape, and just happy the new henhouse was becoming reality. 

Abby playing king of the mountain behind us, with the burn pit in the background.  Keith got it burned before the rain started.

After staking, before squaring.

Once it was squared, I was released allowed to leave to go meet my friend Sherie for a catch-up lunch.  Of course, it poured rain and hailed, but we had a good visit anyway.  The work will be proceeding over the next two months, Keith is going to begin building the first two supports for the henhouse this week.  It won't be long before we hear the sounds of happy hens in the garden!

A Snake Sunday

After church this morning, I hurried home to make some breakfast for Nathan, and read the paper for a bit before going outside in the wonderful spring morning.  Yesterday was rainy, cold and blustery, but today....for the first day of Spring it was a winner!

I had decided that today would be the day I would try to clean as much of the big henhouse as I could.  I got the little cart and began shoveling.  I had cleaned half of it about six weeks ago, when we had a break in the weather, but I had worn myself out that day lugging the full cart across the yard to the garden beds, and I stopped halfway through.  The waterer had sat on a heated base all winter, and it was wet and nasty where it had sat, because starlings were still coming in and out, though not daily.  Also, so many birds roost in the rafters.... and the waterer is beneath... need I say more?  It is a daily chore to clean it out. 

I got the big shovel out and began ferrying dirty bedding across the yard to my garden beds. 

I'll layer them with good dirt and peat moss on top of the henhouse cleanings, which are on dirt and straw.

I finally got down to a sort of clean floor, as I had to have help getting up some of the dirt that had formed a solid pad.

Keith suggested I put diatomaceous earth down under the bedding, and I did. The block on the left holds the feeder. 

Here is what one of the roosts looked like with starling poop all over it.  It is clean now.  Boy, that was fun.

I do have one egg-eater, Birdie, so I am praying she doesn't use this box.  3 of the hens are using the nursing cage.... and we could not find Rosewitha, so finally Keith stopped in and climbed a short ladder, and found her on the last piece of ceiling still up there.... ON FOUR EGGS.  As she has hatched many a chick for me, we are going to get the regular ladder in there tomorrow, get her down, and she can go in the little henhouse again and help hatch the now fifteen Cunningham eggs in there.

You can see in the top photo where the closet is, and the box is back in the dark corner.

I got five good eggs from the big henhouse, also the four under Rosewitha, and 3 good eggs from the little henhouse.  I am collecting eggs for a lady at work who wants to hatch some, so I am taking her 18 tomorrow morning, and another seven during the week.  Rosewitha's are going to her.

In the meantime, these guys were laying in the corner of the pasture, watching me going in and out of the henhouse, and watching our neighbor's grandkids, who were out in the yard playing.

Pretty soon I sat down to rest, and I heard Troy and the kids calling to me to come quick.

When I got there, I saw this:

And this:

And this

Coming out of this

If you click on this picture to enlargen it, you will see a pile of old cement blocks to the left of the tree.  The tree was planted close to an old cistern or well.  When we moved here, we found this pile of blocks in the fenceline at Troy's property (Troy going by on his tractor).... and little by little, Keith began to pour things into it to fill it in, because we did not want the little horses OR Oscar or Ranger to fall in.  The dogs are fenced out of the pasture now, but there is a hole on the other side of the tree where the snakes are coming in and out, and you can see down into the cistern. There were actually three other big snakes, whose pictures I don't show.

There was also THIS one, and this is why Troy, Kathy, Jeremy and the kids called me....

Tony the llama did this!

You don't mess with a llama, even if you are a black rat snake!

It is cooling down now (6:31 PM), but got up to 82 degrees today on the first day of spring.  No wonder it drew the snakes out of the cistern.

I'll get the trash ready for the trash man, and feed the big dogs, and then come in and rest for Sunday evening.  I am so looking forward to retirement, when we don't have to push to get everything done in two days.  It will be such a relief.

Have a good start to the week and HAPPY SPRING!

Monday Night Meanderings

A late post for a Monday night.  I usually am in bed by now, especially with Keith gone, I need to be up early to get all chores done before leaving for work.  I just felt I had some comments to make.

For those of you with goats... I have never seen so many goats advertised on Craigslist, include some absolutely beautiful goats named British Guernseys.  I had not known there was a goat bred on Guernsey Island... though was familiar with the Guernsey cow.  My Uncle Marcus milked a herd of Holsteins, but down the road from him was a pasture full of wonderful golden cows, Guernseys, very unusual for our area even in the 50's.  The Guernsey goats, in Missouri, were advertised for 650.00, I suspect that is the buckling price.  A little over my budget.  There are goats of every hue and color though, currently available... milk goats and meat goats, Boer, Kiko, crosses, Nubians, Nigerians, and every dairy goat imaginable.  Also, lots of fainters... the little goats I always feel so sorry for.  I know we live in an area that still has a lot of agriculture, but just seems like there are so many goats now. 

Horses... I have had horses off and on all my life, though currently without any.  I have seen so many on Craig's that were priced so low that they would have gone to the killer buyer at the sales.  I wonder why people are still breeding in this day and age, when there is no market. I asked a friend who now has six from the last two years in her lot at her house, and she said "I think the market will improve".  In my in box at work I get "The Horse", and it features twice a week a rescue.  One that came last week listed page after page of companion-only horses, many with severe medical problems.  I know all these people mean well, but I have to question why we are expecting people to come forward and foster these poor animals, many with debilitating problems, when there are so many people out of work and in need of help.  We ourselves took on Beau, the palomino pony, knowing he had Cushings, and we gave him and Lacey, also a Cushings sufferer, a good last several years, getting much joy from them.  But the fact is, having a horse takes hundreds of dollars a year, and not everyone is able to do that.  Dog breed rescues are the same, there are hundreds and hundreds of dogs in rescue right now, because their owners could not keep them.  We have Abby, Hannah and Gertie because of this problem... and our sweet Addie Mae, for the same reason.  Hannah, perhaps not as much as the others... she and her four companions were left at the vet when their owner went to the hospital, where instead of recuperating and returning home, she passed away.  The vet in her goodness put Hannah and her daughter and three companions into a rescue, where we adopted her, already nearly blind.  Our other girls were rescues; Lilly Ann, from the pound in Leavenworth, and Ranger was cast out on the road (our vet thinks thrown from a car) to fend for himself in the countryside.  The cruelty of people to animals has always amazed and dismayed me.  These are some of the most loyal, loving and brave dogs I have ever had.

And lastly, chickens... did you think I could get by without mentioning the chickens?  Tonight I came home after a very hard day at work to find the new purebred white cochin out in the little henyard.  I nearly didn't see her, there is still a bit of snow here and there, and she sort of blended in with the patches.  She led me on a merry chase, let me tell you, in the mud that all but sucked me down in it.  As she and the other new hens from last Monday have never been outside before, it is all new to them.  We are keeping them separate from the big birds now, and the little henyard is closed off during the day.  Keith and I decided over the weekend that the new henhouse will accomodate the "big flock", made up of those birds currently in the Big Henhouse.... and after doing some cleaning and making repairs, we will move the current "Little Flock" over into the Big Henhouse, and close the little henhouse for a while until we make some changes to it.  Of course, this is all for good weather, in another month or so.  In the meantime, the starlings invaded yesterday and today, and all the sodden bedding I shoveled out about 3 weeks ago in the Big Henhouse and replaced with new straw is all nasty from the starlings.  I think they literally must be BATHING in the water, because it is splashed everywhere.  Hopefully, with temps in the 50s tomorrow, they will leave the birds alone. 

Hurrah for the 50's, but what a wild ride the weather has been in the last two weeks!

Here is how a rooster calls his hens to a treat:

66  

By the way, in case anyone wondered,

the cake was well-received at work, and gone by early afternoon.  I'm definitely making it again next weekend so Keith can have some, it will be just to his taste, and will be a staple of gatherings to come, I think!

Aging Chickens

In our henhouse, we have aging chickens, but it's also useful to be able to age chickens by looking at them. 

Some are obvious... they are old and infirm, in a chicken way...Dovey is one of these.  She is five this year, and she and her sister Rosewitha have raised many, many little chicks to chickenhood.  Now she has lost many of her toes, and can no longer roost.  In the good weather this week, she has jumped down from her nest box and gone outside to enjoy the sun with the others, though she must hop along.  She is still eating and drinking, though, and occaisionally I'll find an egg in her favorite two boxes, so she has a home here still.  Her face is bleached out, and her legs are pale white.

Next are two Wyandottes, the remnants of five beautiful Wyandotte hens we were given by our friends Paul and Nancy five years ago.  We have lost Pandora, Isis and Clea, but Sprocket and Lola live on.  They have not laid in probably three years, they are seven years old (we think) now.  They have had the color come back into their combs and faces and legs, it has been so long since they produced eggs.  They hang out together, and have always been the bullies of the henhouse.  If you could see their shanks, you would see they are yellow again, since they are no longer laying.  A hen in high production will bleach out all her color around her face, her eyes, and her legs.

Younger hens who are just coming into lay will begin to lose the coloring as they start producing eggs, to witness, are Libby and Rosemary, each laying a lovely brown egg daily:

I have another hen, Birdy, the last full size daughter of old Rambo, who is still laying... but Birdy was hatched by Helen the turkey, and survived a terrible snake attack... she has always been a wild thing and won't hold still to have her picture taken. She is three, and still laying about three to four eggs a week.

In the bighenhouse also are two very tiny white/blacktail Japanese hens who haven't laid in years, and a beautiful black frizzle cochin purebred bantam, who is not laying.  She has produced some gorgeous chicks, but I have not found an egg from her in a while.  I am hoping once we move the hens into their new house this summer, that she will begin laying again. There are also the Three Survivors, who will be coming into lay at any time now.

We are getting three to four eggs a day from the hens in the little henhouse, who are all young.  Led by Silka, one of the three mamas... who is about two... there are a trio of one year olds, and about six born in September.  We are hoping they all begin producing the nice off white eggs that we have gotten from the older hens in there.  Whoever thinks bantam eggs aren't good hasn't seen these, they are great eggs. 

This is a very small pullet, who is almost an exact copy of the cochin in the big henhouse.  The other colored chick (grey)  was a clone of Rosewitha and Dovey, who was killed by the opposum this week.

 You can see the silkie and jap influence in the roosters, who also have the very bright coloring in their combs.

(Not all the birds in this pictures are cockerels)

Now that I look at this picture closer, I see the cochin influence in their combs, too.

I will try to get some pictures this weekend to show the difference in the sizes of birds.  These are actually very small.  (And I think my estimate of five cockerels in there yesterday was on the low side!)

Come on over to "Farm Friend Friday" at Verde Farm and look at all the great farm blogs listed this week!



A Wild Friday Night

Since we had a hard week with the snow and the cold weather, I decided it would be nice for Keith and myself to have a nice Friday night, and celebrate Valentine's Day a little early, since it's on Monday this year.  So, I asked him on Wednesday if he would like to eat at Luigi's, a new restaurant in Leavenworth about which I had heard good things.  We decided it would be a good "date night", so Keith planned to come home from a meeting overtown and do the chores, so that when I got home at 5:15, we could leave and be seated early for dinner.  I wore a nice black dress dressed up with a lovely scarf to work, and even managed to keep it clean all day!

As I came down the highway on my way home, thinking of the lovely dinner we were going to have, the phone rang.

"Uh... Honey.... how far along are you?"

"I'm just crossing Stranger Creek.... why?"

"Uh..... welll..... Lilly just killed a possum I think.... and I just threw it over into the neighbor's pasture.... .but now I came around behind the little henhouse... all the little birds are out but six...."

"Do you need help getting them and is Lilly okay?"  (Possum teeth glinted in my brain)

"Lilly's fine.... but..... there's a second possum in the little henhouse and six of the chicks are in there with him".

I hit the gas.

Right before I left work, I had slipped my tennis shoes on, as our driveway is turning from ice and snow to slush and mud.  I had my (good) work coat on over my dress, but parked and ran to the little henyard.  There was Lil on guard at the fence:

Having already killed one (we didn't realize it was dead), she knew something was up because Keith was behind the little henhouse and concerned.

I didn't have my camera in the car... but felt my phone where I dropped it in my pocket, and drew it out quickly.

I ran behind the henhouse, but didn't think to take a picture of the possum hunkered down in the corner under the warming light.  There, as if mesmerized, were six of the six month old chicks across from him on the other side, nervously mumbling amongst themselves. 

"What's our plan?"  I asked.  I had thought to run up on the porch and grab a dog carrier that was out for Hannah to go see the vet.  I had grapped the fish net we use to catch the birds as I ran by the henhouse porch.

"I'm going to try to net him".

I thought of the teeth again.

"Okay". 

We keep a squeegee mop behind the little henhouse.  Weird, but true.  Once there was a little pool sunken in the henyard for the call ducks... and that mop cleaned it out.  I keep it now because I reach and pull the eggs towards me with it.  Keith told me to go get the mop, and go around to the front and try to push the possum into the net.  Problem was, I couldn't see where it was, I was stretched across the porch and he was out of sight.  There was some yelling then. 

Finally, I handled the mop back over to Keith, who sort of mopped the possum into the net.  I ran back around to the backside, just as he pulled the possum out.  Unfortunately, in dropping him into the carrier (where we were going to take him far away and release him).... the critter nimbly ran up the net and out into the henyard.  More yelling.

Lots of barking from the Red Dog.

I ran for the pophole of the big henhouse, and shut it quickly.  Keith kept an eye on the possum, who, of course, was scared out of his tiny little mind by now.  He tried to run out the gate, but Keith managed to stop him with the snow shovel:

The possum, whose tail you can see sticking out, was not harmed by this... he is simply being held down for a second while we tried to figure out what to do. 

Then Tony cantered around to take a look... Keith lifted the shovel for a minute... and Tony leaned down and whuffled at the possum's back! (smelling him, we think). 

All the while this was going on,

THIS was going on at the fence:

It was a ruckus all right!  Note Tony heading back out in the pasture with one last look...

Keith then shoveled the still live possum onto the snow shovel, and Lilly Ann VERY obediantly came to me and sat, and I held her and told her how good she was while Keith carried the possum clear across the property, behind the house, and over to the Spehar's fenceline, where he tossed it (gently) after the first one.

Here is the first one, picture taken this afternoon:

As you can see, it didn't fare so well with Lil.  She found it in front of the big henhouse, in the porch area. 

We had talked earlier in the week about the wildings dying in this weather, and we figured these two were starving to come out in the daylight and be as bold as they were.  We have found a possum in the duck house before.... dead.... came in, curled up, and died..... but not live ones.  We HAVE found a juvenile Coopers Hawk in the henhouse once. 

Lil got a lot of praise, but Keith is finally (with my blessing) going to get a 22 to prevent the loss of any young chickens to these predators, since we think this one will be back.

And then, we went to dinner!