June 16 - HOT

Somehow, before it's officially summer... we have descended into the heat of. 

We are still getting a respite at night, but the temps are only falling to the low seventies instead of the fifties of a few weeks ago.  It's enough to give the animals time to recover from the heat of the day.  I also run fans in all the hen houses. 

These guys are going home today for a few weeks to give the pasture time to recover. 

(She is rubbing herself under the little red hen house, the only one not in use). 

In a way I'll be glad, because I have made myself crazy making sure there is water for everyone to drink here this last week.  With two goats only, that load will lighten. 

I'll miss them very much, though. 

These naughty, naughty Wyandotte girls. 

They are the very last to go in at night, because the oldest Cochin hen drives them out.  I was completely out of patience with everyone last night, it was hot and I was REALLY tired, and I finally went out there and was ready to lock the hen up in a brooder pen, and they were all in but one.  She soon went in, and everyone went up to roost.  Whew. 

Doug is a captive now, with the Lavender Orps and the Cuckoo Marans.  I did lift him out the other day, and his spur accidentally caught my hand, and the darn sore is swollen.  I am on penicillin from a sheep hoof scrape, so I am hoping it does the trick for the second.  I am diabetic... the sheep scrape is 17 days old today and still not healed. 

He is doing a really good job teaching this little group... and... in another week, like next Monday... I'll take the Ex pen down, and they will be free to go out in the yard with the others.  They have only one hop into their house, not like the steps of the big hen house. 

That ex pen is going to move out into the yard to be a shaded pen for Chico, his big pen is in the sun most of the day. 

The dog pen to which the ex pen abuts is going to be moved over, too. 

About half of the lavenders are frizzled, which I love.  The cockerel is. 

These are group four birds in their attached pen... Putih Ayam Cemanis, and LaFleche. 

There are three LaFleche cockerels and only two pullets, darn it. 

One of the two pullets.  I swear they look like little ravens! 

Cleo waited for me in the barn door as I brought her canned food out last night. 

The others in there don't eat canned. 

Mama is one of them.  

She was the mother of the four kittens (spayed after they were adopted). I looked back through old pictures yesterday and those kittens are two years old this month. 

What would a post be without my beautiful boy? 

Doodle, the goat belonging to my sheep boarder friends, is going to stay when they go home today to keep Archie company. 

I call this Indio girl Big Foot.  She is the tallest of all the birds, even the Indio cockerel. 

She will come up to me and look at me while I talk to her, as if she is listening to everything. 

There is the cockerel on the right, and one of the other pullets. 

Most of the milkweed has gone by, but this, in the fence, is still blooming.  It smells so wonderful 

The June candles from last week have also almost gone by... other wildflowers are about to bloom. 

There is still some on the east side of the road. 

And the glorious "ditch" lilies are blooming now, too. 

This is the comm tower I can see from my bedroom windows.  

It is in the undeveloped 26 acres across from me, where Chico went the day he disappeared.  That land is for sale, but supposedly does not have enough water to support more than a house on it. 

At some point it will go for development... I hope I am not here to see it, I like it wild. 

Try to stay safe and cool, everyone. 

Post Script, added at 6:07.  I was working on this entry this morning and was overcome by nausea and fatigue.  I knew I was dehydrated, but did not realize how badly.  I was okay after drinking a lot of water and a short nap.  It was a reminder that we all need to hydrate regularly, all day long in this heat.  

The sheep did, indeed, get picked up, and Doodle stayed behind to be Archie's companion.  She is NOT happy. 

We will see what happens.  

If she does not settle down, her owners will come get her and I'll get a young wether to keep him company.  She had been with the sheep since a tiny doeling. 

 

A Beautiful Sunday

We have had a wonderful day here in NE Kansas, after two nights of rainstorms. 

It was good to get a couple more inches of rain. 

I am hoping haying can start, because I need to buy some hay for Archie.... who now has a companion who will be staying when her sheep friends go home... Doodle, who was here last year. 

Her owners have agreed to leave her when the sheep get rotated out in another week, to give the pasture time to recover. 

I made the mistake of talking to Archie as I came through from the yard into the chicken pen, so I could take some pictures.  The entire flock came running to see what was up.  That white sheep there is Fluffy, who lived here with me four years ago, and had Nugget, who is also still with this flock. 

I couldn't get a good picture of Archie because he stepped into the shade. 

He is looking so much better than a month ago.  He will also touch noses with me now. I still can't handle him, the guys who are going to do shots and hooves will have to catch him, but I will have him in the barn (after the sheep go home).  I can touch him, just not hold him. He does NOT threaten me with his horns. 

Remember I thought I was buying six Buff Orpington pullets... and I actually got five Rhode Island Reds and a buff.  Here is the pretty buff.  They are from Batch one, the oldest chicks. 

I went inside to take pictures, because the sheep scared everyone.  Those are the Indios... 

Another Indio... they are so tall and they have HUGE feet!

Of course, I did not get ONE foot picture, but my neighbor came over the other night and went "whoa!" when he saw them. 

I have not heard an Indio crow, and they are the oldest chicks, nearly five months. 

This guy is crowing!  So are two others in the brooder house. 

There are seven lavender Orpingtons, and they are moving tonight, they don't know it.  I think the three Cuckoo Marans are going, too, because they will be fairly big chickens

Doug the silkie rooster and the two older hens in the little henhouse are going to get the surprise of their lives when they wake up tomorrow. 

I put an exercise pen extension on the front of the dog pen I bought from a neighbor, and tonight after Doug and his two hens go in, I'll start moving the lavenders.  Dusk is the best time.  They will only have to stay in this pen for about two weeks, and then can be free, and I'll take the ex pen portion down. 

I have a small rug I am going to put over the doorway opening so Doug can get in and out safely. 

Or... something. 

It took my beautiful Columbian Wyandottes about two weeks of being carried up and down the steps of the big hen house to figure everything out.  I do wait every single night for them all to go in.. I think the big hens are bothering them... but they do eventually go in. 

The mature chickens were really interested in what I was doing today. 

When I finish here, I'll go out and do all the waters. 

There are only ten mature birds, and one has waterbelly... a heart condition... and this is my second.  They both came from a flock being dispersed by someone and neither was laying. 

I have two birds who ARE laying. 

Flopsy, this hen here in front of Buddy, is still laying. 

A word about Buddy... I had Ferdinand, the big rooster who was Buddy's dad and Buddy looks just like him.  Singleton, the white rooster, was also Ferdy's son, and dominant over both.  I lost both Ferdie and Singie last year. 

I honestly don't expect Buddy to make it through the year, he is seven... but he has done a wonderful job of taking care of his ever-changing harem for me over the years.  He has spent his whole life here. 

Here is one of the two Bielefelder pullets.  They are such pretty girls. 

Out of the four Putih Ayam Cemanis, I got two pullets and two cockerels. 

He is crowing. 

So is one of the LaFleche chicks... I just cannot get a good picture of him! 

This umbilliferous daisy has grown wild in my fence line for two years.  Seeds don't break off, a whole umbel does, so all you see here disperse in little umbrellas across the grass. They are beautiful. 

This wildflower is in front of the little hen house but I could not cut it down.  It cheers me up every day. 

The "June candles" ... yucca... are blooming here now. 

It grows along this end of the road. 

198th "street"... still unpaved. 

Here comes Bullseye across the deck. 

And there's Bob. 

These two have been fighting... a lot... Bob also has a very, very annoying habit of walking UNDER my feet as I walk across the yard, or running up behind me and running under me.  I can't tell you how many times I have nearly gone over, and that could be bad for me.  I haven't decided what to do yet. 

Bullseye came here as a young feral kitten... Bob appeared out of nowhere as a neutered adult.  I have vetted both. 

I am thinking about what to do, it would make my life easier not to have to worry, but... I also recognize there are not enough homes for animals. 

(Bullseye would be staying) 

My red-eyed Chico has been under the weather today... I am hoping it's just the heat. 

I have got to get a photo utility! 

Everyone have a good week! 

 

Why I Have Not Posted

This is going to make me sound ancient. 

Friends, I have not posted because technology got the best of me.   Last month, when I posted in mid-April, everything was as it had been in the past.  I was able to import pictures from my phone and put them easily into the stories.  Prior to that for three months, I would have to painstakingly send the pictures from my phone into email... then change them to JPEGS, (I never had to do that before) using a conversion utility, and to do one post would take me two hours.  

Suddenly, last month, I sat down and was able to post normally.  Then... a week later, I was back to the mess. 

I gave up. 

I finally realized that if I would just go out and take pictures as I used to ... with a camera, I could import them easier and use them on the blog.  The picture utility I used the last six years or so, a Sony product, was discontinued in February, so it is not as easy as it used to be, but I can still do it. 

So... bringing you up to date: 

Here is my new goat, Archie, out cleaning the fenceline right now. 

Yes, he has formidable horns. 

Archie came here three weeks ago.  He had been astray in Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties, going to people's doors and being run off.  People kept posting him on Facebook, but no one was HELPING him.  Finally, my good friend Tammy Potts called and said she knew where he was, and did I want to go get him? 

HAHAHAHA.  I took a dog lead.  I have had goats, I don't know what I was thinking. I have a Buick Encore.  I did not even put a dog crate in it. 

We got to the people's house, and he was already gone, but the mother knew where he was... around the corner and up a hill a mile away, at the home of some people who kept longhorns.  We got there, and the kind man and lady helped us for an hour to catch him, and frankly, the man did. 

He hog tied him and put him in the back of my car, and Tammy and I prayed he would not die on the way home. 

The sheep had just come the week before... but he survived the drive and slowly was accepted. 

He was found on Archer Road, hence the name Archie. 

I feed him right here in this corner of the pasture, next to the old hen house and near the yard where the Gigantes are kept.  That's a lamb from the sheep flock snitching his hay.  Remember, goats are browsers. 

There is a goat with the sheep, Doodles, who was here last year.  She does not appear to be interested in Archie, or he in her.  

There are Doodles and some of the sheep watching me a few minutes ago, when I was taking these pictures. 

The rest of the sheep are in the barn you can just barely see behind you, there are 24 sheep and Doodles. 

I have a fan running in the hen house, and some of the Gigantes prefer to lay in front of the fan.  Here are two on the ramp.  

Here is one of the pullets outside just now.  They are TALL.  They have big feet! 

One of the Rhode Island Red pullets... remember, I picked these out of a tub that said "Buff Orpingtons".  I got four RIRs and ONE Buff Orp. 

That one. 

I had a 30 x 30 foot yard (more or less) put up by JP Welch Fence Company for these birds, where our first pen sat behind the old hen house.  They did a great job for me, I wish I could afford to have them come back and do a pen adjacent to the brooder house.  Maybe I'll win the lottery this summer....

Here is part of the "little flock" as I call them, in the brooder yard attached to their house. 

This sits on the south side of my property, so you see my neighbor's cars behind it. 

These are some of the smaller chicks, though the lavender Orpingtons will be moving out soon. 

The black birds are LaFleche, and if you look at the bird in the middle, lower part... he is growing two little horns for his comb. 

You can just see them there. 

They look like little ravens. 

I am so happy with the Orpington on the left, it appears to have some frizzle genes. 

Here are two of the three Cuckoo Marans... Cuckoo is their coloring.  They lay a very dark brown egg.  (or will).  

The Marans and the Orps in this brooder house will be moving to the little hen house in a week or ten days, I have a pen bought that will attach to the front of it, and they will get used to being in that house and then be allowed to free range, as the big chickens do.  Right now, in that house, are only two hens and Doug, the Silkie rooster.  There IS a cockerel with the Orpingtons... they were supposed to be pullets, but... things happen... so we will see what happens.  

I want them to get a little bigger first, because a big snake is hunting over there.  She can't find any eggs, I am lucky if I get one or two a day out of my mature hens, including the three Cochins I raised last summer for fun. 

She can't swallow these chicks, but she could sure kill one if she wanted.  I already rescued one Gigante from a snake... I would show you the picture if I could.   Both snake and chick lived. 

I had three Bielefelder chicks, but only two survived.  I lost one at three weeks from pasty butt. 

I bought these from a private breeder and had doubts when I got there.  I'm glad the other two made it, they are good egg layers and pretty chickens.  Those are La Fleche with the Bielefelder, they are all the same age. 

They will stay in the brooder house as their permanent home, and I hope to build a pen alongside it so they have more room. 

I have three fans running in there... it is the hottest little building you can imagine. 

This is one of the Putih Ayam Cemanis.  The Ayam Cemani is an all black bird from Indonesia, black skin, black comb, etc. etc... but the Putih is the white version of it.  They look like little ghosts. 

They are a stylish looking little bird. 

The Putihs, the La Fleche, and the Bielefelders will all stay in the brooder house as their permanent home. 

The seven Columbian Wyandottes moved over to the big hen house 

three weeks ago.  For almost two weeks, I carried them up and down the stairs... one by one... twice a day, putting them in with Rocket and Mary, the Mille Fleurs. 

This pen runs across the back of the fully enclosed big hen yard.  

After two weeks, the little girls began to fly up and over the ex pen walls of the smaller pen. 

Two days ago, I said The Heck with This, and let them loose to go down into the yard. 

They put themselves all to bed inside with the other birds. 

However, last night, three were scared to go up the ramp (there are four steps or a ramp) and go in, and I literally waited an hour for the last to go in.  I have not had to low crawl to get them yet, but I did have to go out frequently to check on them as dark was coming. 

I took this picture a half hour ago, they were hiding from the sun where it was cool.  

So were Shuler, Buddy, and one of the yellow hens across from them on the other side. 

I decided, as I came out, to let everyone loose into the house side of the yard, and the older hens and Buddy are out there where I can see them, under the finch feeders.  I have not let them out for a week. 

I can see the front of the big hen house yard from here, and haven't seen any little ones come out, I really don't want them in this side yet. 

They are the Group Two birds, the Gigantes/RIRs are Group One, and the Lavender Orps and Marans Group Three.  They will move next in two weeks or so. 

I am down to nine large hens, and of those, I am only getting one to two eggs a day. 

I lost another hen yesterday, I have lost nine in about eight weeks.  The one yesterday was fine on Saturday... she flew up to the roost for the night, and when I shut the door of the little hen house, she was on the roost and the other two in the rafters, and Doug in his nest box.  Yesterday morning I found her dead directly under the roost, and it sure looked like a heart attack.  She was in good flesh. 

I talked to a pair of chicken friends and they both think heart attack, too. 

Remember, all my big hens but the three Cochins from last year are aged birds. 

Buddy is aged, too... so I guess it is lucky the little Orp rooster is coming along... and I suspect there is a cockerel with the Gigantes, too.  I don't think the Gigantes and RIRs are going to run loose and free range... at least, that is not the plan right now.  They have plenty of room in the fenced yard and their hen house. 

Sammie the Salmon Faverolle is one of the big birds left. 

This little guy, Chico, is still here, too.  I was so lucky to get another dog that did not bother the chickens. 

He has become a wonderful companion to me.  He is over nine, but in pretty good health now that the bothersome teeth are gone.  

The kitties are all still here, too.. here's Bullseye snoozing. 

And Bob smelling the daffodils a month ago. 

I am so blessed to have a view like this. 

I hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day weekend... and the start of a good summer.