June 10, 2008
We've had a lot of these appear lately
This little keet hatched about an hour before this pic was taken. She is almost dry, but pretty worn out after all that hatching business.
I think we have close to 35 or 40 keets. It's really hard to count them. They move very quickly!
Posted by Beth at 8:17 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 18, 2008
Rocky and Satchmo
I think Rocky has grown to be a very handsome rooster - what think you?
And Satchmo is quite the fashion plate:
Posted by Beth at 10:52 AM | Comments (4)
March 29, 2008
Country Living
Yesterday turned out to be a much prettier day than forecast. I spent a lot of time on Satchmo's new living quarters and on building my raised beds.
Last night, around 8 pm, I thought I'd walk out onto the deck to see what it was like outside. I startled two tiny birds who were hanging out in the rafters of the deck ceiling, and one of them started flying into the window out of fright and confusion.
I reached my hand out, and somehow caught the tiny bird. He was very calm as I held him and walked over to the railing, so I could release him out in the yard, so he would not get confused and try to fly into the window pane.
I have never felt so close to nature as I do now that we live out here. Every morning, I wake up and look out and thank God for making such a beautiful Earth.
Posted by Beth at 8:31 AM | Comments (4)
March 13, 2008
I increased our critter count today
I got my 25 all pullet heavy breed chicks today. It's kind of a surprise package - these chicks are to be layers, and they are all different colors. All I know is that they are all the big chickens - the ones the hawks can't pick up and run off with!
Oh, and I got two ducklings, too. I figured, what the heck, ducks are nice birds.
And it appears that a handsome mallard duck and his lady have taken up residence in our large pond. They are pretty tough little birds, as I watched them chase off a pair of geese this afternoon. I much prefer the ducks to the geese - the geese just have parties that are way too big and messy, if you know what I mean.
I also put a down payment on 3 lovely Angora goats. Serafina is the name of the nanny goat, but her daughter, just a few weeks old, has no name. The third goat is a little kid - he will be our billy goat. The two girls are "colored" Angoras and the little boy goat is all white, nice coat.
When we go to get them, we will be able to transport Serafina in a large dog carrier and the other two in smaller dog carriers. Hope we can borrow them, as we don't really need them once we get the goats home.
I'll take baby chick and duckling pictures tomorrow. Darn, they are cute!
John will be happy that I built their brooder in the barn, so there will not be any mess in the garage! Well, from the chicks, anyway - lol!
Posted by Beth at 7:56 PM | Comments (9)
February 3, 2008
Daily Farm Report
I think I shall endeavor to write a daily farm report. I find myself so busy running around after horses, dogs, cats, chickens and guineas, that I am exhausted by the time I sit down to log onto my computer. I should keep a diary of sorts, and this seems a good place!
Okay, here goes.
Last night, none of the guineas would go into the chicken run. I tried everything I knew to get them in there, but they are tired of winter and wanted some freedom. So they slept on the barn roof. Gunner was all upset about something, so he went out late running after some critter, and then spent a good chunk of the night on the deck, keeping an eye on my guineas.
John let him in the house at some point, and he jumped in bed in between us and wiggled and wagged to get some attention.
I woke up around 5:30, and I got up and threw on my boots and a coat over my nightgown so I could check on the guineas. I managed to get 2 of them into the chicken run, Dusty and Bill, who were napping on the ground under the elm - idiots! If they are going to sleep outside, they need to sleep up in a tree or something to avoid the ground predators!!
They were so sleepy, I merely walked over to the two of them, picked them up and stuck one under each arm to return them to their proper roosts in the chicken run.
The others were on the roof all night, and all survived. I figure God watches over really dumb critters like Guineas, otherwise, they would be extinct!!
I made the mistake of letting Gunner out this morning with guineas and chickens out of the chicken run - it seemed to be okay for awhile, he was checking out things on the other side of the farm, but he came back, saw birds out of their normal place and tried to herd them into the pen.
Naturally, all the birds freaked out, and Gunner did his weird thing of chasing down one of the birds (this time Bill, the Guinea) and laying by it until I come to get it. In fact, he was holding poor Bill down with a paw, I'm amazed the bird did not have a heart attack on the spot. They were almost the entire way down the steep hill behind our backyard, so I (still in my nightgown) had to hike down there and pick up Bill and carry him back to the pen.
John and I did take Gunner for a walk this morning (I guess maybe a mile and one half), but it started sleeting, snowing and raining, so we headed back home.
Major and his brother, Andy, came by to borrow our big trailer so they could go pick up a couple of round bales for the horses - their dad brought a big truckload back from Oklahoma yesterday, but he took it all up to their land in Atchison County.
It is a gray, chilly, wet Sunday. I completely cleaned the ugliest bathroom on earth today - tackled the ugliest bathroom tile on earth with really strong cleaner to see if I could make it less dingy, and I did! It's still ugly has hell, but at least it is not quite so depressing.
Hal, our fat cat, is still having bladder issues. He was at the Vet for two days last week, catheterized, so he could pee. He's home now, on antibiotics, and not a very happy camper. We are probably going to have that surgery done on him that will change his urinary tract so he can't get any more crystals stuck and prevent him from going potty. This is his third problem in three months.
And poor Little Girl is really showing her age. She has a hard time keeping food down, and spends nearly all her time sleeping. We have to brush her an bathe her because she just doesn't keep herself nice anymore.
All the other critters are pretty good.
And all this running around has finally kicked my metabolism, and I'm losing weight - hurray!
About 30 pounds so far.
Okay, that's all for today's Farm Report!
Posted by Beth at 11:56 AM | Comments (2)
January 27, 2008
Talk to the Tail
Posted by Beth at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)
January 18, 2008
One of the Guineas has laid an egg!
It was very cold here last night, so cold that the eggs I failed to gather yesterday had frozen and burst. But there were a couple of eggs laid this morning that I did bring in - and one belongs to one of the Guineas! My guess, Blanche, because she is always staying close to the coop and pen when all the other guineas explore the pasture, yard and barn area.
Anyway, guess which of these two eggs is a Guinea egg!
Posted by Beth at 4:22 PM | Comments (4)
January 12, 2008
Helga is back!
I don't know how, why, when or where, but this morning, as soon as I woke up, I pulled on my boots and ran outside to the Run of Argghhh! to count the chickens. And yes, I was wearing my flannel pajamas with penguins on them. Good thing no one can see our house!
I slept poorly last night because I was worried about Helga. I prayed that maybe St. Anthony (patron saint of lost things) and St. Francis (you should know about him!) would intercede with the Good Lord above and get Helga back safely.
Hey, I'm Irish Catholic, we do a lot of those kinda prayers, asking Saints to ask God to help us out - because we figure they are really on His good side, more so than us earth-bound sinners, and He will listen a little closer to the good Saints.
Anyway, I ran out in the 26 degree morning air and Helga was in the run. She made her nice chicken noises at me, and then hopped into the nest box, to lay her egg of the day.
I owe Gunner an apology. He wants to herd the birds, and scares them when he does, but he did not injure any of them.
Do any of you know anything about dogs who want to herd things? I need to understand what Gunner is trying to do. We are pretty sure he is a border collie/lab mix, and the border collie part of him is very strong!
This morning, in about a 5 minute session, I taught him to roll over. He is very quick!
Posted by Beth at 8:16 AM | Comments (5)
January 11, 2008
Farms make you exercise! (or what happened to Helga?)
So, today I planned to rearrange the living room, do some laundry, vacuum and clean the bathrooms when I got back from my massage/haircut/color job on my gray hair. It's no longer gray, but that is about the only thing I got done today because of .....
Critters. The critters made my afternoon crazy. I'm so pooped that I just poured myself a glass of wine, hoping to slow my heart rate to a normal speed after running all through the pasture, barn yard, front yard and back yard.
It started out as a walk out to the pasture to check on the horses - I had not laid eyes on all of them at once for a couple of days (they really like the far side behind a hill or two and the pond and the woods). Gunner, as always, needed some exercise, so I took him with me. Kiki followed slowly behind (she has a neurological injury that affects her left rear leg, so we are trying to keep her as quiet as possible to see if the steroids she is taking can help her).
And yes, I love parentheticals. I think that way (you know, always going off on tangents).
Anyway, the dogs and I headed across the road that bisects our land and I climbed through the barbed wire fence to go check out the horses and to cut the nylon cover on the round bale off, so the horses can get at the hay. Gunner and Kiki were very, very good, and stayed right with me. This end of the pasture is a soggy, muddy mess. The snow and ice and rain of the last few weeks have really done a number on it, so it is treacherous going.
We made our way over to the small stock pond, and I spotted Willy, grazing. Pretty soon, he saw me and started to stroll over to say hi. Pretty soon, all 12 horses came over to check me out. I pet them and checked to verify that Petey still had his shoes on (if you have never owned a horse who needs shoes, mud is the number one cause of lost horseshoes - it just sucks the shoes off their hooves!)
Gunner and Kiki were still being very good, in fact Gunner was just laying down watching.
When I was done with the horses, I headed back toward the barn, Gunner ran ahead and lost his fricking head and chased after the guineas and chickens (they all free range from morning until sunset.)
Damnit! Gunner cannot resist trying to "herd" the guineas and chickens. By the time I had sloshed through the mud and puddles in the pasture to the barn, Gunner was no longer in sight. I called and called and called, but he must have been ignoring me, as he did not come back. It was then that I realized I was missing one of my hens, Helga. She lays the prettiest brown speckled eggs, and she is the biggest of the hens.
I started searching for her - the other hens and Rocky the Rooster, following as I checked under bushes and behind the barn and in the coop.
I was getting pretty damn mad at Gunner - had he killed my lovely Helga?
I didn't even try to count the Guineas - they had flown off in several directions, ungraceful as they are, and they can normally get up into a tree to avoid bad, misbehaving dogs who think they can herd birds.
I gave up, and went into the house, with the intention of feeding the cats and Kiki, the only obedient dog around this farm!
I figured I'd go out on the deck to see if I could locate Gunner or Helga from a higher spot.
I spotted Gunner, about halfway down a rather treacherous hill behind the house. I called him, and he did not move. I thought, "Oh, shit, he must be feasting on Helga, my wonderful big, black hen who lays the best eggs ever".
I called him and called him, and he would not move one iota. Damn dog. So I walked down the hill to grab him and make him come up to the house.
I was about 2 yards away, and I saw a bird - only it was a guinea, not my hen. Gunner was very proud of himself - he had found the guinea and would not leave it to come to me. I was afraid that the bird was dead (it was Bill, the Guinea). But as I got closer, I could see the bird breathing, playing dead, I think. I picked him up, and his eyes opened and I could feel his little heart beating like crazy. I carried him up the hill, checking him out, and I saw that there were no visible wounds, and there did not appear to be any broken bones. Gunner continued to walk with me to the Chicken/Guinea Run of Argghhh! I set Bill down by the bird food, and he stood up, and ran into the coop. So he is okay. Apparently Gunner felt it was his job to watch over him, after he scared him half to death!
So, now I'm not sure if Gunner is responsible for the absence of Helga or not. He just ate all his dog food, so whatever the case, he didn't eat her. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if she shows up for dinner tonight. (her dinner, not mine).
I did find a piece of a Chinese newspaper on the ground close to the Run of Argghhh!- could a Chinese chef have come and stolen my hen? Is this the beginning of a true mystery, or a murder story?
Or is Helga safely in the bushes across the street, with the horses?
Stay tuned ...
Posted by Beth at 4:34 PM | Comments (1)
January 9, 2008
Roosters have feelings too!
Ad you might remember, Satchmo, my White Crested Black Polish Rooster, has been living in our garage because Rocky, my Plymouth Rock Barred Rooster, and the hens were trying to kill him by pecking at his head - they pulled out quite a few of his crest feathers, and drew blood.
So, Satchmo has been confined to the garage to recuperate. His feathers are growing back nicely, but his appetite is off, and he seems to be depressed.
John was a little worried about him, so I thought I'd go in and spend some quality time with him. Yes, he is a rooster, but apparently, he needed some attention.
I picked him up, walked over to a chair and held him on my chest and just petted him and spoke to him softly. Pretty soon, Satchmo was actually snuggling with me, making his little rooster noises very quietly.
Then he climbed up to my shoulder and did not want to let go, so I walked around the house with this silly rooster on my shoulder. He even let John pet him.
I need to find Satchmo a little bantam hen who won't try to pull his feathers out so he wont be lonely any more.
Then, I'll have to build him and his honey their own coop in a separate run, so the full-sized hens and rooster won't pick on him ever again!
In the meantime, John and I need to give Satchmo some extra attention each day, and let him feel loved.
Yes, this is corny.
Posted by Beth at 8:36 PM | Comments (5)
January 6, 2008
Guinea flying
KCSteve asked if Guineas can fly straight up to a tree, or do they have to fly to the lowest limb and then make their way up higher.
I remembered that I had a picture of one of the guineas flying to the roof of the barn. It ain't pretty, and I think they may be defying the laws of gravity:
Yes, this guinea is flying up, not falling down after being shot!
Posted by Beth at 10:01 AM | Comments (3)
January 4, 2008
Guineas hanging out in the front yard trees
Posted by Beth at 8:38 AM | Comments (3)
December 30, 2007
The Guineas, they has no brains!
Well, Blanche and Bill refused to come into the Poultry Run of Argghhh! last night. John and I both made valiant attempts to get them off the roof of the pen and the roof of the barn, but we failed.
Now, there is a humongous Great Horned Owl of Argghhh! who lives in the woods by the creek. Said owl has been responsible for at least two (2) Guinea deaths here at Castle Argghhh!
This is why we built a chicken wire roof over the Poultry Run of Argghhh!
Birds need to be under the roof, not over it, once the sun goes down.
Miraculously, both Bill and Blanche survived the danger of the night. They are still sitting out on the chicken wire roof of the Poultry Run of Argghhh!
However, I'm not totally sure it is a miracle they survived. The Exterior Guard (Gunner and Kiki) made several long forays out into the night, keeping the Master of Argghhh and myself awake for a good number of hours, letting them in and out of the house.
Is it possible that Gunner could somehow sense the presence of the Great Horned Owl of Argghhh? Did he bark ferociously to be let out in order to protect our two hapless, and brainless Guineas, Bill and Blanche?
I'm not sure we will ever know, but I believe that Blanche and Bill are grateful to the Dogs of Argghhh! for checking things out during the night.
Myself, I'm miffed at the Guineas and the Exterior Guard for causing me to lose much needed beauty sleep!!!!!
Posted by Beth at 9:14 AM | Comments (6)
December 20, 2007
Guineas checking out the inhabitants of the living room
Heh.
Posted by Beth at 2:37 PM | Comments (3)
December 2, 2007
Satchmo is bunking in the garage for now
So, yesterday morning I went out to check on the chickens and guineas. I was a little concerned because I neither saw or heard Satchmo. I finally found him, soaking wet, roosting on the ladder. He did not look happy. On Friday, Rocky, the other rooster, was picking on him, literally - sorting out the pecking order, I suppose, but Satchmo lost several of his crest feathers.
Rocky had pulled out some blood feathers, too - which means that poor Satchmo had an icky, bloody head.
So I gathered up my wet rooster, Satchmo, and carried him into the house, got a towel and held him and pet him until he warmed up and started drying off. I figured that since it was a rainy day, I'd put him in the garage so he would stay dry - the other birds were not allowing him into the warm part of the chicken coop.
I really thought he would be safe.
John and I left the house to run some Home Depot errands and to do a bit of antiquing (John was very kind to acquiesce to my antiquing jones) and to eventually try the new restaurant in Leavenworth, the Blue Crab Bistro.
Several hours later, we returned home. I pulled up next to the garage and saw that the door from the house to the garage was open, which meant that 7 cats and 2 dogs had access to my one little Bantam Polish rooster, who was supposed to be safe, in the garage.
Damn, I must have done it, because I was the last one out of the house.
I could not look. I went into the house, and checked for rooster remains in each room, then I put the 2 dogs outside and was trying to get up the heart to go to the garage to find what must be my dead bird, when John said that Satchmo was alive - looked a bit frazzled, definitely frightened, but apparently okay.
So, I went in, he let me pick him up and hold him and pet him and talk to him. He started making little rooster sounds back. I brought him some food and water, and he ate and drank, so I figured he would be fine.
This morning, he was feeling good enough to start crowing at the absolute break of dawn.
Posted by Beth at 7:21 AM | Comments (6)
November 27, 2007
Chicken Update
We are now up to 3 eggs this morning! Since I'm pretty sure that Helga is laying her eggs behind the barn somewhere, that means that all four hens are doing their jobs!
Thank you, Ruby, Helga, Brownie and Pebbles!
Posted by Beth at 11:44 AM
November 24, 2007
Chickens can be so weird!
Helga, my big black chicken (I have no idea what her breeding is), is one of my favorites. She runs to see me when I open the door to the run to let the chickens and guineas range. If she spies me on the other side of the yard, she will run over to see if I have a treat for her. By the way, when chickens run to see you, it's very funny - they look like cartoon characters.
Anywho (as my mom used to say), I went out this afternoon to chase the guineas and chickens back into their run for the night. The dogs were dying to go out, and though they seem to be trustworthy now that they are used to the birds, I prefer to have the birds safely in before I let the pups out.
I got everyone in, but, I could only find 3 hens! I looked in the coop, in the nest boxes, everywhere - I only had 3 hens instead of 4. Helga was missing. I searched under bushes and in brush, all around the barn and the house. No Helga. I am pretty sure that she has started laying eggs - there was an extra egg on Wednesday - it was a darker brown and a bit larger than Ruby's eggs. But no eggs that looked like that since.
John got home from shopping at Cabela's and helped me search for Helga. Finally, we gave up. We figured a coyote must have been brave enough to grab her during the day. I'm pretty sure no hawk could pick her up - it had to be a dog or a coyote or a fox.
So we both went into the house and did whatever. Then, John decided to go out on the deck, to play with his new laser boresighter and there is Helga - trying to get into the chicken run with the rest of them!
I'm thinking she has found a place she likes to lay her eggs. I have NO idea where it is, though. So tomorrow, around 3:30 pm, I'll have to be sure to keep an eye on her and see where she runs off to for egg-laying purposes.
I have to get a digital video camera. You have got to see how goofy these critters are, and how sweet!
Oh, and John discovered that the Guinea Fowl will chase a laser pointer. I think they think it is a bug!
Posted by Beth at 4:47 PM | Comments (4)
I never knew the true meaning of Cacawphony before
The sounds of 10 Guinea Fowl, free ranging through the yard, is almost deafening. All the females walk around saying BuckWheat, BuckWheat. (John, though, swears they are saying ButtCrack, ButtCrack).
And then, Satchmo, my little rooster crows, and Rocky, the huge rooster tries to crow (he does not have it down yet - he sounds pitiful) and the rest of the chickens walk around clucking and cooing.
It's funny. Loud, loud, loud and very unharmonious! I need to figure out how to record the noise so I can make an MP3 and put it here.
And they are not the prettiest birds, in fact, they are so ugly, only a mother can love this face:
But they are much fun and they eat bugs!!!!
Posted by Beth at 10:16 AM | Comments (3)
November 21, 2007
Ruby, our laying hen!
I finally discovered who has been laying one egg each morning for the past 3 mornings - Ruby!
Posted by Beth at 10:22 AM
The Chickens
I never would have guessed it, but chickens have very unique personalities. I'm having way too much fun watching them and playing with them. Rocky the rooster, Pebbles, Brownie and the black hen yet to earn an appropriate name, though I'm leaning towards Helga, will all eat from my hand without pecking at me. In fact, those 4 chickens will rush out of the chicken run to meet me as soon as I open the door in the morning.
Here is a picture of Rocky and his ladies:
Posted by Beth at 8:43 AM | Comments (2)
November 20, 2007
Guinea Fowl update
The Guinea Fowl are maturing. The older they get, the uglier and noisier they get, but that is what makes them so much fun.
Here is Blanche. She is the noisiest of all. I believe she is mostly gossiping about the chickens.
Blanche tends to lead the gang of guineas around the farmyard and they all chant, loudly, BuckWheat, BuckWheat, BuckWheat.
I think they are protesting something, but I'm not sure what!
Posted by Beth at 7:16 AM | Comments (1)
October 25, 2007
Tiny little miracles happen
I don't believe I have mentioned this before, but Gunner, our puppy, has been personally responsible for the deaths of two of our Guineas. He cannot resist chasing them and grabbing them, and they are not quite old enough to get off the ground fast enough to avoid him.
So, I make sure the dogs are within my sight when they are outside, or that they are on the deck, with the gate closed when the Guineas are out.
Today, however, the dogs ran out when our new sofa was delivered. It took some time before I realized they were outside and I was not sure if the guineas were in or out of their run.
I ran around to that side of the house where I can see the chicken/guinea run/coop, and saw some inside and some outside.
I did not see either dog.
I called for Kiki and she came pretty quickly, then Gunner showed up - thankfully, no bird in his mouth. But then, as I shooed the dogs into the front door of the house, I saw a guinea on the ground.
Damn. I picked it up, it was barely breathing, did not move a muscle. So I held her close and said a prayer, and she started breathing heavier. One of her legs did not look right, so I changed the way I held her and she moved her head a little bit.
I thought, oh, golly, she is going to die. I had a bunch of things to do, so I thought I would just bring her to the guinea run and try to make her comfortable in a sunny spot. She was still not moving, but breathing normally. I gently put her down, and she looked around at me, then jumped up and ran over to the other guineas. I think she may have lost some flight feathers, so she won't be flying much, but gosh darn it, I think she is going to make it okay.
Thank You, God!
Posted by Beth at 12:36 PM | Comments (3)
October 13, 2007
Guinea Fowl update
Here is a recent picture of my Guineas. I kinda wish I had a digital camcorder - they are the funniest critters to watch!
Posted by Beth at 9:14 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
September 19, 2007
What is that over there?
Posted by Beth at 5:54 AM | Comments (1)
September 9, 2007
Many pictures of the guineas
I think my birds are quite photogenic. They have so many funny little ways of doing things. Very much like lemmings, they wait for one brave bird to make the plunge out of the coop to range before they all decide to go - mind you, this is a drop of about 6 inches -
More pictures below the fold . . .
Lemmings:
They love bugs.
I just like this picture . .
Posted by Beth at 6:38 AM | Comments (4)
November 25, 2005
Time to feed the birdies!
I love nature. This time of year, I start putting out sunflower seeds for the birds. I have 5 seed feeders and one suet feeder (I need to get a block to put in that one).
All the feeders are situated in the front of the house - just outside my office window. So when I am actually home, I can look out and watch the birds and see if anyone new is coming to the Donovan Cafe for Birds.
I'm happy to report that I just saw a House Finch - not terribly common in our part of the country. He is a pretty thing - deep red breast and back - here is the USGS picture of one.
I would love to figure out how to take pictures of our feathered visitors, but the window has kitty nose prints all over it - they also enjoy watching the birds eat, for some unknown reason...
Posted by Beth at 12:20 PM | Comments (3)