Time has slipped away again!

Would you believe???? Well it has been too long and there have been a few things happen. I could list them but they would just be excuses for not doing what I should have done. The weather hasn’t been bad for a rainy season till hurricane Sandy came along. It seems like Sandy was pulling air/moisture from the Pacific across the country giving us lots of rain. The 6.6 shaker didn’t help to settle the nerves either. I did not realize how long it had been since the 7.6 shaker that I updated the blog, oops! Trying to keep up with everything else has been interesting too. The sun is shining now, hopefully that will last all day, we sure could use a drying spell.

I sent some an update on the chicks we finally got after 4 months, they are sure something. Of the 30 we only lost one. Momma PJ did it again, she really surprise me. She was in a nest box in the brooder area of the coop when I brought the new chicks home. They immediately tried to get under her, they were hatched in an incubator but still had the “I want under momma” instinct. That was the morning of the 10^th, sometime either during the night or 1^st thing in the morning she abandoned the nest to momma the chicks.

Would you believe that all of those chicks were trying to get under her and she just kept making her momma clucks. This was the morning of the 11^th.

This is what they should look like when they grow up. She is a good layer, nice size eggs and she has good weight to her. These have been bred to be a dual purpose chicken, good egg layers and good meat cockerels. I did ask and they don’t have a bred name, they are just called “general utility chickens” or something like that in Spanish. The plan is to keep one roo and 10 hens that should provide all the eggs we can eat plus eggs to share with our neighbors. I also plan to hatch 6 to 10 chicks right along, some for replacements and some to share as well as some for the freezer. I got caught with the first hens I bought (ponedoras), I did not know that those hens were good for only one laying season and then you can’t fatten them up so they wouldn’t even be good for the stew pot.

This is the flock this morning the 27^th. They have grown a lot and are eating a lot. The second green tray hadn’t got cleaned out yet. There were two heat lamps till one of the bulbs broke/came apart at the base now a water container is in its place. Probably don’t need the heat lamp that is in there now but it is a just in case thing.

The chickens and guineas are doing very well with the fermented feed and the yogurt (in the dog bowl), they will have both cleaned up by dark. Notice the yogurt splattered on the metal siding. BTW, the trough for the FF is a piece of 4” PVC pipe cut in half length wise, it is 24” long with caps also cut in half. The chicks are also eating the FF every day and I think their growth shows that it is a good thing for them too.

I’ve got plants started in the window greenhouse, the lima bean plant is taking off for places unknown. I started them just to see if the seeds/beans were viable, now I’ll have to see if they will transplant OK. There are tomatoes, flowers and peppers growing, some soon will need trans-planting.

Caroline thought that I should include this photo she took of me napping with Aly sleeping on me and Miss Kitty sleeping behind me on my easy chair. It doesn’t take much for me to sneak in a nap, it was nice and warm and of course with my two amigas snoozing too who could pass up the opportunity????

I’ll be squeezing in the garden work and maintaining the chicks and the rest of the flock.

Oh, something that has me really upset is someone took a swipe at Desi with a machete, cut the side of her face and broke her left K9s. I would really love to let that person know what I am feeling, perhaps they will fall and knock out a couple of their teeth.

It takes a coward to hurt a nice lady like this. Here she is following me around the yard, while I’m fertilizing plants, telling me to make sure I do it right. I brought her home from the vet early (took her in yesterday), she spent at least an hour on my lap, she usually doesn’t spend that much time being still.

The other night when it was raining Caroline thought she could hear mewing out in our front yard, going to check this is what she found. . . . .

Four wet and cold little kittens, someone had stuffed them thru the top part of the gate allowing them to drop 4’ onto the concrete. Sorry about the photo, I was trying to get all 4 in one shot. They are lapping up the raw milk yogurt that I make, good stuff for them. We are busy trying to find homes for them. I will take a better photo and send it, if anyone would like 1 or 3 (1 of the girls is spoken for), give a call, 2445-1565 and I’ll deliver. There is another person I would like to share my feelings with. If Caroline hadn’t heard them they most likely would be dead, lucky for them we had a nice fire going in the sunroom with the ceiling fan going so they dried off and warmed up right away. They do appear to be in good health except for a load of fleas, they are being powdered and will be free of fleas soon.

Well I guess that sort of brings you up to date. As I said I will take more photos of the kittens and plants. Prayers for Desi and the kittens will be gladly appreciated.

Art

Tickle it with a hoe and it will laugh into a garden....