I think I can now do anything

The temperatures were dropping below freezing and the animals weren't able to get any water.  I could easily  find a water heater for the goat's water because it is a big tub and finding a heater was simple.  But finding ways to keep the three smaller water dishes for the chickens from freezing was looking too expensive, each new water dish was over $40 because they were new water dishes with built in water heaters.

And then I found information on another chicken blog that told me how to make a water heater for a few dollars...

Yes, I bought two tins from the store for a couple dollars.  Then I took the light bulb piece from two lamps and attached them.  I put them out there immediately to test them out, and sure enough that little 40 watt light bulb heats up the tin just enough to keep the water dish on top of it from freezing.

I also bought an outlet converter that only turns on when the temperature goes below 35 degrees, so the water heaters will all turn on when it gets too cold, but automatically turn off when the temperature warms up.  

I felt like a genius this day :)

They can fly!

I already knew the guinea fowl could fly.  They can't fly like a normal bird but what I'd read and witnessed was that they could fly 20-50 feet.  And so yesterday when I heard a fluster I turned around and watched two of them fly up into this tree.

I told myself it would be cool to get a picture of them up there and then decided to run in and grab the camera.  Of course one flew out before I came back outside, but I managed to get some proof of how high these crazy birds went.

As soon as I snapped off two pictures of how high the bird was she decided to take off and fly down, so I got a few shots of that too...

And she's off!

Faith sees dinner!

Please excuse the compost, metal scrap pile, and soccer goal...

Coming in for the landing

I still have no idea what made them take off and fly up the high in the first place.

"Chicken" Pox

Our birds have chicken pox.  It is actually called "fowl pox" and is not the same thing as chicken pox.

Avian pox is a relatively slow-spreading viral disease in birds... Mortality is not usually significant unless the respiratory involvement is marked.....Fowl pox can be transmitted by direct or indirect contact... After the infection is introduced, it spreads within the flock by mosquitoes as well as direct and indirect contact. Recovered birds do not remain carriers. 

Since fowl pox usually spreads slowly, a flock may be affected for several months. The course of the disease in the individual bird takes three to five weeks. Laying birds experience a drop in egg production. Birds of all ages that have oral or respiratory system involvement have difficulty eating and breathing. The disease manifests itself in one or two ways, cutaneous pox (dry form) or diphtheritic pox (wet form).

 Dry pox starts as small whitish foci that develop into wart-like nodules.

Wet pox is associated with the oral cavity and the upper respiratory tract, particularly the larynx and trachea. 

There is no treatment for fowl pox. 

Here is the evidence for our birds:

The tiny little black dots on their combs, wattles, and earlobes are signs of fowl pox.  The good news (so far) is that the form they have is not deadly.  The bad news is that it will take 3-4 weeks to clear up and it will spread to all of the birds.  So it looks like we will be seeing this through the winter.

There is a vaccine, however it doesn't work once they have the pox.  I also don't know if any of the birds have already been vaccinated for it since we got them all once they were a couple months old.  At this point I am just keeping an eye on them to make sure it doesn't turn into the respiratory version that can be deadly and watching which birds show signs of it.  We have 3 or 4 that have had it for a couple weeks now.

Friendly Little Flock

We went for a hike in the woods around our house and when we came home the birds were waiting for us....

So, I pulled out treats for them.

So I fed them.   They've already become a lot more friendly on their own, but I am forcing them to be even more comfortable around people... by bribing them with treats on our laps or in our hands.

That's Buffy, my favorite.  I'm determined to make her the friendliest.

That's Clyde, who has no shame and will always get what he wants.

Just a Little Landscaping

Last year I built 3 raised flower beds in an attempt to hide the foundation of the house and to add color to the front of the house.

The chickens like to use this one for a dirt bath and bed.

We have a big hill in the goat pen.  It's a mix of dirt, rocks, and trash.  Yes, the original owner dumped trash on the property and then they buried this pile.  We've uncovered pieces of a swing set, an oven, and a car so far.  

When we were putting the new goat house into the pen I decided to get some of the rocks and boulders out then, so I wouldn't have to move them around the goat house later.  I knew I wanted to use them to build another raised bed for a strawberry patch.

This is most of the pile of boulders and rocks that I pulled out.

 A few days later I carried and rolled them over to the side of the house.

I've been putting them together like a puzzle, trying to make them fit well enough that they won't fall apart once I fill the area with dirt.  Last year I had a cheap white wire fence and I had planted some bulbs in the ground and in pots.

The pots are still there

I need to get the last few boulders moved over, they are pretty darn heavy and I'm working alone so I'm not moving them as quickly as I'd like.  Hopefully I will get that done before school starts up again, then I need to dig out the bulbs from last year to transplant them before I fill in the bed with dirt.

I'm Just a Girl With a Chainsaw

Nothing seems to be a better distraction for me than revving up the chainsaw and getting some work done.  

Last year a tree that was leaning towards the house slowly leaned further and further.  Eventually it landed on the roof.  It had been held up by grape vines and over time they just loosened.  I got onto the roof and cut the end of the tree off while two people stood on the ground with a rope around the tree pulling it so that it would fall away from the house.

Once it was down I was able to cut it up more.  Unfortunately, the pictures I had of this feat have disappeared.

This is the area where the tree was.  The shed is long gone, but the tree was just to the left of it.

I finally got outside last week and chopped down another tree that had been bent under the weight of the fallen tree and then chopped up all of the trunks and branches into bonfire sized pieces.

The tree I chopped down now because it was ruined by the fallen tree

Crazy vines hanging from trees and holding everything up

Our wood pile

I'm not sure if it is just knowing that I am able to accomplish these "man" tasks... Or the power behind the machine... Or the fact that while it is running I can't hear anyone yelling "Mom!!!!  He touched me!!!  He looked at me!!!  Mom!!!!" so it's a nice break :)

In any case, I love any chance I get to use the chainsaw.

Watch out for falling branches (that your mother sets on top of you for good pictures)

Happy Holidays

Santa (or HanuKlaus) brought the animals gifts...

It only took her a day to tear this apart and leave stuffing in every room of the house

She is tearing apart a reindeer stuffed animal

There is a small bone on the carpet, blends in a bit

And for the chickens....

Yes, it says Chicken Crack

And the chickens will love these

 I actually opened the window and threw out a couple handfuls of the mealworm to them...

The goats got new collars.  They each say:

I AM A PET

(_____name____)

(phone number)

Not a very good picture, my renter posted it on her FB page and I just took it from her

The Discovery

This is a follow up to a post a week or so ago about the teenager sneaking off.

Mr. Sam was yelling to me from his yard.  I headed over there and he walked me over to a pile of dead tree branches and pointed.  This is what I saw.

Then I leaned in closer...

Buffy is a little booger.  There were 7 eggs in that pile.  I collected them all and brought them home.  

We haven't caught her sneaking over there anymore, but I will need to go check if there are any more eggs there.  She may have snuck over without being caught.

It's like having a teenage girl

This is my favorite bird...

We eat the Dronet Secret Family Recipe of Sweet Potatoes Too!!!

Buffy is a Buff Orpington.  She was one of the purebred birds we bought from the fair.  She was the first girl to eat out of my hand and she's always been the first one to run over to me when she sees me.

The birds always stick together - either as one big group or split into 2 or 3 groups, but I've never caught one alone.

Until last weekend.  Buffy was 50 feet away from me and then suddenly she was gone.  Because of the fox issues, I was scared.  I searched for 20 minutes and couldn't find any sign of her.  I finally came inside and tried looking up information online.  I kept thinking that something must have snatched her up, but why didn't it or she make any noise???

I told the kids and Jennifer what happen and we went back outside to search for her.  About twenty minutes into this search Johnathon yelled that he saw her coming out of the trees from the direction of our one neighbor's place.  Sure enough she came skipping out of the trees, alone, and unharmed.

I gave her a stern talk (no really I did) and wanted to just grab her and hug her, but birds don't let you do that.

Today I went out to give the birds some treats and realized that I hadn't seen her.  I counted the birds and there were a couple missing so I thought they must be in the coop laying eggs or around the corner in the dirt.  Awhile later I still didn't see them all so I went looking and found two, but was still missing Buff.

This time I just headed straight through the trees to the neighbor's place calling her.  Sure enough I was almost to the opening of the trees at his yard and she was coming towards me.

There is about 400 feet from his house to mine - so about 200-300 feet of trees and brush - it's not thick, especially with all the leaves being off trees and bushes.

I have no idea what she is doing.  I am wondering if she's going over there to lay eggs, but I'm not sure how or why she found a spot over there.  All I keep thinking is "it's like she sneaking off to see her secret boyfriend, like a teenager!" and I get upset with her :)

I looked around, but only for a second because I didn't want the neighbor to come out with a shot gun or just think I was crazy.   I figured I'd take some fresh eggs over tomorrow and ask if I could look around (after explaining why).  

Giving the goats something more

When I picked up all of those shipping crates I knew that I would make the goats an additional shelter.  I started building this towards the end of the coop project.

I've gotten much better at certain things so this was much faster.  I added the roof by using a piece off of another crate and reinforced the corners of the crate with 2 x 4s that would angle and support a roof.

I cut two different size doorways for a reason.  I was trying to give them more shelter from the wind and cold air and a small part of me hoped that the little ones would use the little door and the big one wouldn't be able to.

Kelly was already checking it out

I sealed the outside and the roof with wood sealer and I still want to add another piece of wood across the top of the doorways but I went back to working on the coop after I took these pictures.


The next day I put a piece of wood over the top half of the entry.  I decided (so far) not to cut the doors larger because the two smaller goats were able to get inside.  I'll wait to see if Jenny goes in later today.