Random Shots

A crazy day... we got up to 41 degrees and had a sleet shower this afternoon!

There is a fine layer of sleet on everything, but it does not appear to be "sticking". 

Crazy weather. 

Yesterday, I showed you how Buffy has been sleeping for weeks 

in the old nest box in the old henhouse. 

Last night I went out to lock up... and found her like this:

Will wonders never cease???  When Christopher and I 

went out there tonight... she was back up on the roost. 

I have not seen her roost for many months. 

Once, those roosts were full of birds... there were about 70 in that house. 

There were four little roosters just above her on the upper roost.  (they are stepped back so the birds did not poop on each other). 

This is the bare ground under the flat open feeder.  There used to be about two inches of spilled sunflower seed, etc. on the ground here, but the last three weeks have cleaned ALL that up... the birds were frantic to eat.  This is just bare shells... nothing more.  I have not even seen any grass or sunflowers trying to sprout here, there is nothing left, believe me. 

That is a very happy Buddy the Bantam Rooster having a dirt bath yesterday under the 

4 x 4 pen in the old henyard. 

And five minutes later, a red hen had taken his place. 

Today, the sun was gone, and the skies leaden all day... but the hens came right outside this morning. 

The juncos, cardinals, and mourning doves now have the opportunity to feed without 

500 starling and red-wings crowding them.  Yes, there ARE a few there, but nothing 

like before.  Once the weather improves, they are off to better climes. 

This was taken this evening. 

And for the time being, this is the new seed mix we are using... from our feed store, who 

mills all their own grain... we have dropped the higher-priced mixture I showed you a few weeks ago for this less-expensive version.  It is long on scratch grains, and black oil... no striped sunflower, or peanut pieces, or safflower.  I had to cut back somewhere, and should have done this months ago.  I fed 80 pounds 

between Friday and Monday morning. 

As I told you yesterday, we are going to get a decent feeder... with perches for the smaller birds, 

and sneak away from here lest the starling hordes follow us. 

Even when we rented in Leavenworth, we fed the wild birds, and in Illinois, on our third floor apartment balconey... I fed the wild birds! 

Here's hoping for sunny skies tomorrow!

These two (Winnie and Windy) want the sun back, too!

Many Thanks to you All

We are so grateful to all of you for all of your wonderful comments. 

You must understand that we did not make this decision to move lightly.  We 

moved here thinking this would be our forever home. 

We have loved living here. 

That said... let's go on to today's pictures...

Our friend is back.  

I finally let the ducks loose... and so far, he has not decided on duck dinner. 

To say that they were excited would be putting it mildly.  I put their water fortex down in the pasture and filled it... and immediately they all tried to get in at once.  Now... mind you... they had a deep one in the henhouse the last three days. 

This is what the flat feeder looks like after the starlings are finished. 

The ground around under neath it... where I have shown you all the birds feeding, 

has been picked through down to a depth of about two inches.  The birds 

have eaten EVERY bit of seed that has fallen for months. 

The ground is now just black dirt. 

We will NOT be doing this at the new house.  I am going back to a nice 

hanging feeder (with good perches for the birds), a nyjer feeder, and a suet 

feeder. 

Oh... and a hummingbird feeder, just in case. 

I stopped today at the feed store and got another bag of wild bird seed, 

but I got the absolute cheapest they had... I went through 80 pounds in 

four days. 

Abby, my velcro Farm Assistant.  She was also so glad to be outside. 

These three are ready for some green, too. 

Are they the sweetest things?  How can you look at those faces and not like them? 

Big Mama Delilah was comfortable in the hay I had dumped out of their trough.  What more could you ask for? 

This is not a dead chicken.  This is Buffy, sleeping last night 

in the bottom of the antique nest box in the old henhouse. 

Buffy is going with us to the new house.  So is the antique nest box, which I actually bought in an antique store.  It was never popular with the hens, so it is going to be cleaned up, waxed, and go into the new house as a bookcase.  Or something. (Keith). 

She has to have her beak trimmed so often.. we just 

don't trust anyone to do it, and how can you turn your back on a chicken that is six years old and giving you a beautiful white egg every other day? 

Last night's beautiful sunset.  This is the kind of thing that has made it so worth it these last nine years. 

A Sunny Monday

Better look closely at that one, Mary Ann.  We won't be seeing it the rest of the week. 

It's dripping out there now, but we are get a major winter storm moving in by midnight. 

I'll have 12 inches of snow tomorrow to cope with, and the darn wind is coming back up. 

I let both henhouse flocks out today to get plenty of exercise, in case they have to be locked up for a few days. 

It's not so bad for the old henhouse, with 13 birds left... but the henspa flock is under each other's feet when they are locked up for a while. 

Yesterday, on my way to buy some warm mittens... I saw a lone coyote in a large pasture along the highway.  He stood for a moment in the middle of the pasture out in the open, then limped forward.  The wild things are starting to suffer now during this cold weather. 

The ducks waddled as fast as they could for the warm water this morning.  I usually fill their pasture fortex as soon as I do the goats in the morning.  They are quacking wildly at their gate when they see me. 

By the time I finished filling the water fountains in the old henhouse, the ducks were bathing in the warm water. 

I took them some more a little while later, as we are expecting a storm and I don't think they'll be 

able to bathe for several days. 

These guys had a good day... I let them out of their pen into the pasture, but pretty soon, I saw they had gone back in the pen to lay down and chew their cuds.  Smart goats.  I'll batten down their hatch tonight and leave them with warm water and fresh hay. 

I took this picture from a distance so you could see that we had a good melting going on today, of the smattering of snow we got on Saturday.  It melted enough yesterday that the driveway and road were very slick today... and I'm almost glad for the snow coming tonight.  However, we'll have to have the driveway plowed out, and I think I've already arranged for that, thank heavens. 

I was getting ready to CARRY THAT HAY out of the back of the HHR and into the haybarn on the right, and yes, MA'AM, I did it by my little self. 

Look closely at the blue rooster at the back. 

He is calmly standing on Buffy.  Again. 

She doesn't even protest. 

I'm protesting for her! 

I went by the pasture pen with water and interrupted a confab going on inside the dog house. 

Chowing down before the storm! 

I'll be praying for all my friends still working that you all make it safely to and from work tomorrow... everyone be safe out there! 

Warning! Graphic Post!

This is what greeted me in the old henhouse this morning: 

Yes, my poor old Butch is gone. 

I brought him into the house on Sunday afternoon, to show Keith... who counseled that yes, indeed, he did not look good... but we should let nature take it's course.  I don't blame Keith, it is always he who must put down hurt chickens.  Butch did not recover from his fight with one of the Elvi about 3 weeks ago. 

He had been torn across his head, and for a while, I thought his only eye was not going to function. 

I wonder now if it was.  Buffy, his companion, was staying close to him when I got out there. 

I shoo'd her over to the coop side... remember, they lived on the feed room side... so tomorrow, I'll shovel up all that straw and spilled feed, and put it on the compost heap.  I find it interesting that he made it through the week with the unbearable below zero temps, and died this week, but I think his age and the fact that he was hurt so badly contributed. 

So, our numbers continue to fall... we are down to 13 birds from 50 or so at tops in that henhouse. 

The hens are jam up and jelly tight in the henspa.  That's a VERY popular nest box. 

And the ducks are overjoyed that they are able to actually SWIM this week, and clean themselves up. 

You notice the big ice piece has barely melted. 

The goats were soaking in the sunlight when I left to go out for a while.  Delilah has settled in so very well... it makes me feel good to know that she has become part of the "herd".

The big white chicken in the middle is my next worry... she is an older girl, and is not moving around very much.  I have checked her... feet are okay... I think she is just feeling her age.  She doesn't go outside, and mostly stays under the heat lamp. 

As the little brown hen says:

"That's it for today from Calamity Acres!" 

Short and Sweet

Saturday night, and I'll keep this short and sweet. 

I still have not had a chance to catch up on your blogs, what with going back and forth to hospital and nursing home, and trying to get things done here.  I promise I will sometime tomorrow. 

I thank you for all your comments! 

Maa Maa... we want OUT! 

They got out, for the second time in about two weeks... since most of the snow has melted in the pasture. 

I throw the gate open, and they have the run of the three acre pasture, but I have yet to see them go down more than the middle.  I'm glad in a way, because I am afraid of a predator darting out from under the bottom fenceline.  I'm going to have to block that passage. 

The good brome hay matters more to them than the feed I've been giving them, but you couldn't prove that by Kelly's rotund belly. 

They'll be on diets in the spring. 

Now that the snow mostly melted, can you tell where the septic tank is? 

It's leaking again.  We need to wait until real spring to take care of it. 

Today, I finally took down our manger set, the Nativity Scene, and packed it away.  There was not room for the angel you see here on the sideboard, so I am going to get a special container for her.  I wanted you all to see the Christmas tree that a volunteer made at the Bingham-Waggoner mansion this year. 

I think I should have turned it so you could see the button on the spool.  The point is, she makes a Christmas tree of some kind every year, and stupid me cut the tag off that said "2013 Christmas Tree) that was tied to it until today, because I thought it was a sale tag I missed.  That is why you see tape under the candlestick. 

I am going to try to make a few of these next year.  Ho Ho Ho. 

Tweedles, do you see your greens are still here? 

Earlier this afternoon, I was out doing chores in the old henhouse.  Buffy the Polish girl and Butch were on the feed room side, where they live.  I left the connecting door open for a minute while I carried the water bucket in, and I noticed that Buffy went through to the coop side. I was not too concerned because she does like to go out once in a while. 

Then I forgot about it. 

I went to church at 4 PM.  I came home from church with light still in the sky... what a pleasure... and talked to Keith for a few minutes, as I had hardly seen him all day. 

I went out to do evening chores... and thank HEAVENS I decided to give the ducks some fresh water and feed. 

I caught a movement, a slight movement... and saw this. 

Can you see her? 

You can see how dark it was getting. 

She didn't know where to go.  Didn't have a clue.  I watched her crouch there, trying to figure out what to do. 

It was almost dark. 

She wasn't hurt... just lost. 

So, I think her days of going out are over. 

She needs her beak trimmed again, too... every three weeks now. 

And I'm going to try to trim a little of the feathers around her eyes. 

I picked her up and carried her in and set her down by her buddy. 

We are having a respite from the cold here for the next few days, with temps going possibly to fifty tomorrow. 

We are in the Season of Mud! 

Everyone have a great Sunday! 

Me, Trying to do Chores

Get off the mower, babies!!!!

You see that the Duck Pond Express is back on duty.  I'm carrying water from the hose spigot on the side of the house to the henyard. 

I'm filling the pool... stop laughing, everyone.  I won't be doing this but another few days, as this time next week we will be very cold again.  Then the ducks will have to be happy with cold water from the pump. 

To those of you who suggested pulling the pump to fix it... it's well and truly in pieces... the plumber checked, and so did Keith. DRAT.  

I got a new one today at a farm store in Bonner, and I was glad it was well under a hundred dollars. 

I'm going to help dig, so hopefully it won't be a long job for the plumber. 

I also have a leaking spigot on the side of the house, and in for a penny, in for a pound.  Keith can't handle repairs now that his shoulder is in such bad shape. 

If I start back towards the porch, it's a race to see who can get there before Maa Maa. 

The thing that is so cute is that babies love to chase each other, and spend time rocketing up onto the deck, running from the east stairs (here) to the south stairs of the deck, down the steps in a leap, around the yard, and back up this way.  Joie de vivre, for sure. 

Until it's nap time.  

I keep stopping to take pictures.  This is Chatterbox, the only Ameracauna I have, who is no longer laying now.  She is in the heaviest moult I have ever had a bird go into, and looks positively sick... but it's the moult.  No tail, no wing feathers, and her neck... my goodness!  I've been trying to get a picture of her for three days, but she moves SO fast. 

And Buffy the Polish Girl was standing like a statue under the tarp in the old henyard.  She doesn't go outside too often, but was out there walking around in the sun this afternoon. 

Our Big Guy was keeping his eye on the Hooligans this afternoon.  He is having an increasingly harder time getting around, and his mobility is lessening by the day now.  We don't know how long we'll have him with us, but we talked again today, and we won't let him suffer.  His hind end is about gone, and he tore an ACL in his left hind leg a year ago, so the side is very weak and now almost unable to hold him up.  He can get up the east porch steps, but can no longer get up the steps to the deck from the south.  

I've got him on a double dose of Tramadol now to keep him comfortable.  What a wonderful old boy he is. 

I know I'm late getting caught up on your blogs... I'll get around to them all, I promise!

And the Winner Is....

The winner of 

"Chickens in the Garden" by Jessi Bloom 

is
"K".  

K, if you will contact me here at the blog, or at Ksredhead1950@gmail.com, I'll be glad to get the book to you. 

I did stop by your gardening blog at 

"K's Garden" 

and left a comment, too, so I hope you see one of them. 

Congratulations, and thanks for commenting! 

Guess what time it is again? 

Time to trim Buffy's beak... already.  See how long it has grown?  

I've never had a chicken that has grown a beak as long or as fast as this one. 

She is almost five now, and no longer laying, but she also layed longer than any chicken I've ever owned. 

Someone asked yesterday if the goats were eating the flowers. 

In a word... YES.  I didn't really mind because the petunias were about finished.  The two mums you see have not been transplanted yet... and oddly, they are not nibbling on them, the plants just need to be trimmed.  The only thing they really damaged was the balsam... and I have plenty of seeds from it for next year. 

Kody, pictured above, has not been himself for three days now, and I am quite worried about him.  I am keeping an eye on him this afternoon, he is not his usual happy little self.  He did do a little browsing, but is laying outside now in the yard in the shade. He is not running and jumping as he usually does, and I went out to do the henspa water, and no happy goat came running to see what I was doing and get in my way. 

I won't hesitate to call the vet tonight or tomorrow if we need an emergency visit.  Kelly is sticking close to him, I notice... but he is showing the same signs as Kaycee did. 

Someone else is very happy that the horrible heat has broken.  We are at 81 degrees this afternoon, and I have jeans on. 

I am going to stop here now.  We have been watching Kody and are worried about him.  I have called our vet and left a message with a "911" notation after it, and described what was happening. 

I'm going to go out and check him now and wait for her call. 

Catch-up Sunday Post

I just did not get time to sit and post yesterday, so will try to catch up this morning. 

We have had a prediction  (80%) chance of rain today, and we have had rain this morning, so that I have done only partial chores.  I anticipated this, and filled all the inside waterers to the brim last night, so that I did not have to do waters this morning. 

The ducks, of course, have made their pond filthy, and their waterers in the chicken yard are also soiled, but that can wait until the rain stops for a while (and it looks as if it is). 

We have a baseball game tonight, but won't be going if it's wet out. 

My helpers were helping me do chores. 

This one got his collar back on a little later. 

They are designed to break apart if caught on something, but oh, so handy if I have to restrain the boys from coming through the gate, etc. 

The cockerel from the three chicks trio is turning into a very nice young man.  I don't know where he got that short tail... but I am certain he is out of one of the Red Star hens and Buddy, the red and white bantam rooster from the old henhouse.  

Because of the cooler temperatures, someone else was helping me.  It did her a world of good to get outside and run around in the yard for a while.  She was waiting patiently for me on the deck of the henspa as I did the outside water.  

I know she tuckered out a little, as she would usually come down and run around IN the henyard while I did the water. 

Why We Are Not Getting Corn Cobs from This Side

Four little bantams, frozen in time.  

We finally got to Buffy's beak, which I showed you earlier this week. 

We really trim it five or six times a year, I have never had a bird's beak grow as fast or as long as this girl's does. 

And guess what? 

SHE HAS EYES! 

Here it is trimmed up.  You do have to be very careful about doing this, as you can cause bleeding by going to far.  You see we were pretty close to the line.  I wish I had shaped the beak a little more, but the point is, she can peck easily now. 

She is five years old, and was still laying about four eggs a week... but I have not gotten a egg from her now in almost a week. 

The Chief Trimming Assistant. 

I wish we had trimmed the feathers around her eyes, too, as I always have felt sorry for her inability to see well. 

Don't worry, the other chore helper was around, too! 

I've noticed in the last four days that pictures have begun loading very slowly again on Blogger... is it just me or are any of you having the same problem? 

I also would love to hear from anyone who has done a giveaway on their blog... I have some books I would love to giveaway, but I am not sure how to do it... 

if you have experience with this, would you note it in a comment, or write me at 

Ksredhead1950@gmail.com? 

I would appreciate it very much! 

Now I'm going to read a few of your blogs and get started on my week's set of tasks here.