Garden

So once again its been over a week since I've updated this. Of course the fun has been continual. I put up green beans and beets and will be doing green beans again this Friday. Tom was in town to help can - he loves the farm life. The grandkids always enjoy it when Uncle Tom is here because he will play with them and the chickens.

The roosters are getting into stand-offs and mini fights (the turkey breaks them up if he sees them) and seeing who can crow the best. So far the Houdans are winning, but only because there are two of them. By the way, I have two Houdans for sale. When I get back from Utah I'll be "taking care of" the BarredRock roosters. I have three of them so it will be a good test of my killing, plucking, and gutting skills.

No Dog

Ruby the dog has gone to a new home...thanks Matt and Mike (Arnone) who took her with them after dinner on Sunday. They already had taken in a stray who obviously needed a friend. Without the dog the chickens are much more relaxed. Of course having raisens to eat also makes them very friendly.














This is the rooster that I'm keeping, Carl Lakenvelder. The barredrocks' (the big black and white ones) days are numbered. The four were supposed to be all female, but three of them are males. Even though they're the friendliest, they're also the plumpest. When I get back from Utah in early August its time to kill.
Another thing without Ruby, the grandkids are more relaxed about the chickens. I went to close the coop at night and counted 25. Now I couldn't remember if I had 25 chicks and 1 turkey or 25 all together. But since I couldn't think of any missing chicks I went ahead and locked-up. The next morning I was putting out feed and when I opened the feed container there was Puff-ball. She had been in the feed container over night (and about 12 hours). Reed says that he got Puff-ball out of the feed and that she must have gotten back in on her own. Hmmmm....that sounds suspicious. Emmy denies all knowledge of the incident, in fact I'm not too sure she even knows that I have chickens....hmmmmmmm.
On a good note I sold my washer and dryer. The guy came in a truck, brought a friend to help him load, paid me my money, and drove off.
Which brings me to Kearney Auto Sales latest items. We now carry brand new, fresh off the boat, child labor produced, scooters from China. Right now we have 150cc, but can get 50cc or 250cc if you would rather. 150cc go for $1800, 50cc for $1500, and 250cc for $2000. Get yours now and laugh as you pass the gas pumps.

Tomatoes

I picked our first tomatoes of the year; cherry tomatoes. All the plants have lots of green ones so its just a matter of time before we feast. There are also zucs and cucs about ready to pick. These pictures are of Steve and the chickens. They flock to him whenever he is out. We're about ready to start culling the males...mmmmm chicken.... No one has called for Ruby so we'll be putting her on Craigs List.

Death by Dog

This was taken a few days ago. Grandpa and the grandkids like to feed the chicks raisens. The chicks will eat out of your hand and some of them will let you pick them up and pet them. Everyone and thing was at peace.

My brother Tom came up from Texas and taught the turkey the 'electric slide' while he was here.




















So we had Ruby (the dog) trained to leave the chicks alone. We had her taught by using a shock collar, very low voltage, and she was doing great. Ruby could go all day without getting into the coop fence or within 3 feet of the chicks. This was without being 'shocked' and she had been good for days.
Well, I've been at Mandy's painting so I've been getting home late some days, just on Mondays and Tuesdays, but still Ruby was good. This Tuesday I got home later than usual and Steve had to go to church. He didn't chain Ruby up since she had been doing so good and he thought I would be home in just a bit.
I got home at 9:30, after dark, and went to close up the coop. Ruby was running in the coop causing chaos and I kicked her out. After closing the chick door I counted chicks (I do this every night) and counted only 24...3 missing. So I recounted and still just 24 (23 chicks and 1 turkey). So I went to get a flashlight and look for chicks. I found the first one laying half-dead (wet - it had been raining- feathers messed, and missing feathers, not moving and barely breathing). iI put it in the coop and figured it would be dead before morning. The next chick was north of the coop in a little better shape - no missing feathers, and sitting instead of laying. Steve found the other chick and it was definately dead, having been mauled. Ruby the dog was trying to break into the coop during all this and the chicks in the coop were running around hysterical.

Ruby was chained immediately. As you can see, both chicks survived the night. The buff one was hesitant to leave the coop this morning but the black one zipped out as if nothing had happened. Ruby has been chained all day. So...we have a dog that needs to go elsewhere. She's great with kids but not chicks.

Back to Normal?

Emmy dressed for chick success.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.....dinner

Various chicks out grazing.

The chickens are getting big. Puff-ball is behind the BarredRock.

After chasing the chickens out of the garden I noticed I had greenbeans. I picked one row and they were delicious. I have three more rows to pick and then repick all the rows (the plants still have plenty of blooms. We've also had beets. There is now a fence around the garden.

Since last posting; my dryer quit working (Mandy burnt it up) and I had to get a new one so I also got a new washer. It turns out my set was 14 years old. Someone is coming tomorrow to buy the washer. Mandy and family moved into their new house so I now am getting my house back in order; very slowly since I've been painting at Mandy's, supervising the installing of my new washer and dryer, Tom came into town, the party of the 4th (and 3rd) is never ending. I finished the west flowerbed.