And Life Goes On....

That is hen number two, who died last week.  It took a full five days for her to be 

consumed in the pasture. 

That hawk worked on her for several days. 

I actually found a third hen dying on the fourth, and it 

took her all day, but she did not seem to be in pain, just 

life slowly ebbing away. 

I did not put her in the pasture. 

That is three in three weeks.   

There is no longer any food outside that can get damp by the big hen house, they have to go 

inside or forage.  

I still think this is an age-related - weather - related cause, and I notice 

there is at least one more I am slightly worried about, and am watching her. 

Having said that, this is happening! 

I have gotten ten eggs on two days, and anywhere from 

four to eight on many days, and these are old hens! 

Still not one egg from the old henhouse birds. 

I made lots of treats last week, for my son's Super Bowl 

party, and for the shelter, since the director decided to open 

up so that clients could see the Super Bowl in warmth. 

This is Chex Mix, made with white chocolate bits instead of 

powdered sugar, and Kansas City Chiefs M and Ms. 

I made red and yellow sugar cookies, too.  

I can't watch big games, I get too nervous, so my 

friend Deb and my son text me during the game to let me 

know what's happening!   As you know, the Chiefs won, and this 

town went crazy!  (Tonganoxie is 25 miles east of KCMO) 

It shut down completely on Wednesday for the victory parade. 

My house is on a ridge, and it looks down and across at my neighbors, who are from Croatia originally, via France.  They are fine cabinet makers, and the two sons are former volunteers for many years with Stranger Creek Fire Department.  They were burning two days this week, and 

it was a beautiful sight at the foot of the pasture.  There are two big ponds there that they keep stocked, but I rarely see anyone fishing any more. 

I have often taken pictures down towards the ponds. 

This birdhouse is in front of the third pond on their property, which is in an "L" around mine on two sides. 

There is a cow pond on that side, and they rent the pasture out during the summer. 

When we moved here in 2005, there were birdhouses on almost every pole in the pasture.  They had been put there years before, not by the people from whom we bought, but someone who loved the land who was here before them. 

Now, there are only two left.  Keith always meant to replace them all, he just didn't have enough 

time to get to it. 

Flicka and Cookie taking a load off in the pen. 

I can tell if there is something going on untowards at night. 

When I go out with the dogs, I always check the sheep.  If they are standing and staring, I know that 

something has either gone through the pasture or has disturbed them in some way.  Ten days ago, 

I heard two bobcats, and the caterwauling made the hair on my neck stand up.  The sheep were 

terribly restless that night. 

Little Red!  You are NOT supposed to be in the sheep pen!

I need to explain about the chickens here. 

There are three roosters, Ferdinand, and Singleton and Buddy, his sons. 

Singleton and six hens go to the Ag Hall in April and come home in 

October.  

There were 30 hens in the Hen Spa, the biggest hen house, and now there are 15. 

Buddy is a bully, in the worst way. 

He and Singie have begun fighting, and I think I posted a picture of Singleton ten days ago, so you could see what was happening. 

That is blood, but before you freak out, combs bleed freely. 

Buddy also had a lot on him. 

You see, spring is springing, and the animals know it. 

So, what I have had to do is catch Buddy EVERY morning with my net, and 

put him on the yard side of the fence. 

Unlike his dad, Ferdie, Buddy does not know how to get to the one gap left and go through. 

Little Red used to keep his dad company in the yard, and now she comes through and spends most of the day with Buddy.  She is not supposed to go into the pasture... where the coyote picked ten hens off last summer.  However, short of following her around all day, I can't prevent it, I can just cross my fingers. 

Buddy will beat up on his dad Ferdie, but Singleton leaves him alone.  So, Singleton and Ferdie are on one side, and Buddy on the other.  

So close, and yet, so far. 

(In reference to this picture, if I could start over with 20 leghorn hens (like these) I would do it in a minute) 

He is the one that is going to the Ag this year, with the six little hens.  That way I do not 

have to wrangle a rooster every single morning, but can house everyone in ONE house and 

clean out the old henhouse for the summer. 

I thought it might help if I showed the buildings... this is the Old Henhouse, 

it was a building used by the people who came here to pick 

strawberries in the old days, it had an air conditioner and heater in it, and 

you see that Keith built a stall on the front for our pony, Beau.  

This is where Singleton and his six girls live right now. 

Just beyond it to the right you can barely see our little red henhouse up on 

stilts, where the bantams lived.  The big pen behind this house has heaved and 

is no longer usable.  It would break Keith's heart to see it. 

That is the garage on the left where my hay is stored... and the shop/barn on the right. 

The storage building is to the right of it.  You can see that they are WAY on the sound end of the property... the gray barn is actually way across on my neighbor Troy's property.  The original house 

on our properties stood just south of this garage and shop. 

There are the big and little hen houses... the big one being 

The Hen Spa.  No one lives in the little hen house now, and if it would just warm up for a couple of 

days in a row, I would give it a good clean out. 

The fifteen hens and two roosters live in the Hen Spa. 

My little hay barn storage shed, and the sheep barn behind it.  The big house on the hill to the right is my neighbor's.  

And yes, my humble little house, with the deck Keith built for us, and the little structure in front is the well house.  You climb down into it to service the well and sump pump. 

(Someone does, I don't!!!) 

Gosh, that last chair on the porch has seen better days!

I am going to try to get two rocking chairs this year, and put the porch chairs in the shop for storage. 

That big comm tower is across the road from me, 

on a vacant 26 acre piece that has been for sale for years. 

Sometimes the animals around here get just a little too close to the cameras! 

A Random Sunday

It was cold again today, and never got over 52, so we have had quite the cold weekend here in Leavenworth County, compared to last weekend's 90 degrees plus. 

The little birds were cold out in their pen... I kept them inside until noon yesterday, and they spent the afternoon with feathers fluffed. 

And yes, I'm worried about the little buff cochin in the back... she looked bad today, and is isolated in a tank in the workshop, under a warm light.  As soon as I put her in there, she found the direct heat and nestled into it.  I am hoping isolation and quiet, good food and clean water and some antibiotics for a few days clears up what ails her. 

There are THREE, count them, THREE Brassy Back Old English Gamebird cockerels in this picture. Oh. Joy. 

Today, in the blowing cold and occasional rain, Keith worked on the new hen house:  

And now we can finally see what it will look like size-wise:

I've got my very own Yella-Fella working on it!

And you see it is very, very sturdy. 

The door will be on the east end, and there will be a small porch in the front.  Inside, there will be a door to the chicken yard from the hen house, but not from outside, so that there will be no chance that any of the dogs can get in. There will be a pophole on either side, north and south, as we will allow them access to both sides.  There is room underneath for them to get out of the sun and lounge in the dirt. (I reminded Keith there will be no green grass after a few weeks.) At the old Calamity Acres, I put straw down in the henyards and after the hens had turned it over and fertilized it, I used it on my gardens, and we'll do that here, too.

We're also going to enclose this from the top with netting, we have decided. 

The gardens beds have come along, too, but we have four that are needing to be filled.  You know we are experimenting with lasagna gardening this spring... but we have to say that the peas have not done well.  They are up about 8 inches, but did not climb.  We suspect the top layer of dirt was not deep enough, and the middle of the beds must still decompose.  It's interesting to us to see how things turn out, because by next spring, we think the beds will be perfect. 

This hen, whom I predicted would go about six weeks ago... is not going to make it through the night.  If she does, Keith will have to put her down before he goes to work in the morning. 

She is one of our oldest birds, a Wyandot.  I still have her sister left and she does not look sick.

I am praying that I am not about to have something run through the flocks.  I'll stop by the feed store tomorrow night on the way home and see if I can get some antibiotics and put them  in the water for a few days, so we'll be throwing away some eggs.

And lastly, a sad note.

Three weeks ago or so, before I had to take a blogging break, I had found some great new blogs to read.  I followed several.  Because I had just found them, I had not had time to really get acquainted with them as you do when you have followed for a while.

Last night I tried to catch up... this is the busy season here, as I am sure you all know... and I was stunned to read that the family of one blogger had been devastated by the tornados in Alabama.  Their home, in fact, was completely destroyed, and the father of the family of thirteen children, killed while trying to protect those children when the storm hit their home.  The mother finally was able to write and thank everyone for their prayers and help, and insist that their husband and father was looking down on them from heaven.  I watched a You Tube interview with the oldest son, who professed that same assurance that their father was still taking care of them from above.  My heart went out to them, and to all the other people whose lives have been upended and changed forever by these terrible events.  Our problems here seem petty and small compared the their life-changing events.  We remember them in our prayers and hope that their futures will be returned to as much normalcy as can be possible.

The New Hayshed

Over the past six weeks, a new hayshed has taken form just outside the horsepen at Calamity Acres. Almost finished, it will hold ten small bales of hay, and the cans for horse and llama feed. The convenience of just stepping beyond the gate to fill the buckets will be much appreciated, and not having to navigate across a frozen yard will be a blessing in about two months.