Rain and new babies

Ok, I officially hate the rain. Not really, I mean I know that rain is incredibly beneficial to our local environment this time of year.  The farmers rely on it to get their crops jump started for the growing season, the rivers and streams are flowing anew with wildlife and plants, the lake levels are raising and the Tree Frogs are singing their lovely tune. Seriously though, enough is enough. I am a sunshine person and when the sun doesn't shine for days on end my crankiness level coincides with the amount of time the clouds have hung around.  Today I am roughly at level 6.5, if the clouds persist tomorrow I could be looking at a full fledged level 8.

So to counteract the clouds, I am making due with cute pictures of "new life" around the farm and searching the internet for homemade fly spray, herbal repellents and pest control in the hopes that I can use it one day soon. Wish me luck and pray for sunshine!

The 2 duck babies that are keepers this year.  All name suggestions welcome!

Rowdy is due with twins (maybe triplets!) in two weeks, and has been keeping the noxious weed growth down in the front yard as planned. Feed costs for this goat from March - October are nothing, except the occasional horse cookie or handful of mixed grains as a treat. Love that!

These two came to us courtesy of our local small animal auction. We have wanted a Cayuga (the black male) since Mady's duck died several years ago, and she has been asking for a Blue Swedish.  As fate would have it, they came as a pair! Still waiting on names that fit, but am leaning toward Esther for the Swedish girl.

These two are my pride and joy right now. They were also blessed upon us at the auction and wouldn't you know it, a mated pair!! Naked neck chickens are incredibly docile, curious creatures who are a misunderstood breed. More on them later.  Just know these are my favorite breed by far. So I am pleased to introduce Paco and Rosita to the farm.

Feeling a little better now, chicken pics tend to do that. :) 

Happy farming, friends.

Rainy day grooming

It's Spring in the Ozarks which means rain, more rain, then it rains a little. So chores are planned around the depth of the mud, the timing of the next storm, and which animals are on the schedule for t.l.c.  Today, it was the horses.

Lady Bug enjoying the day after her grooming, hoof trimming, de-worming, fly spray, mane trimming and tail de-tangling, and of course cookies. Only 3 more friends to go. (whew!) 

Flare and Mystery waiting their turn. Black Jack really doesn't care.

This little guy is not on the schedule today. Probably tomorrow after his latest mud bath.

His aloofness carries over to grooming time. Black Jack looks quite handsome sporting his Winter red highlights.

She may not be equine, but she still has hooves that need trimmed!

So after a full day of clipping and filing, brushing and combing, trimming and spraying, cleaning eyes and ears, and sealing hoof walls I am pretty well worn out. Somehow horses feet get exponentially heavier the more you lift them! 

Lady Bug says thanks for taking care of us with a big smooch! 

Happy Farming, friends. 

Babies are hatchin'!

So the last few weeks have been spent either rotating eggs in the incubator, cleaning poop, moving hatchlings to their brooders, cleaning poop, building temporary outdoor pens, or cleaning poop! Duck babies are without a doubt the cutest fowl babies since they look like miniature ducks with really huge feet, unlike chickens who look like wet dinosaurs. Obviously they get cuter as they dry off and fluff up, but they are kind of homely in the beginning.  But no matter how cute ducks are they poop constantly, everywhere, on and in everything. They also throw water, spill water, and yes poop in their water.  Newspapers have become my favorite go to bedding option for tiny ducks. 

So cute!

Seriously, a wet dinosaur.

Love this one. "Hey, come on out! Let me help".

Not bad for a home made incubator. We generally get 85 - 90% hatch rate, not including the un-fertilized eggs.  There are always one or two that expire in the shell before they can hatch, but it usually happens early in the incubation cycle and those eggs are disposed of when we candle them for fertility.  Currently we have our 5th hatch incubating, and probably the last one for a few weeks. I would like to have my bathtub back again.

Check back soon! Lots more great pics to share.

Happy farming!

Oh my goodness, so much has happened since the last time we met. Avie returned to her flock and is happily hopping along with her visible limp. Her obvious displeasure at having her photo taken was soon forgotten after she had room to fly and bugs to scratch at.  Walking in the dry leaves she looks like part of the landscape.

The garden space is almost finished for the fourth time in as many years, but this year by gosh I am going to have a garden!!! Year one; drought. To hot for anything to grow well, although we did get a few beans and some tomatoes.  Year two; goats and chickens.  Every day was a battle to keep the goats from jumping the garden fence or just pushing through it) and eating everything in sight. What they didn't eat they trampled, and what they ignored the chickens and ducks happily took care of. My only crop that year was okra. Year three; floods. The garden plot was the new swimming pool in town. Weeks of tilling, soil additions, row spacing, seed planting and twine tying was swept away in moments by torrential rains. Somewhere down current in the lake there are dozens of row markers floating around.

So with high hopes we are planting again! The garden plot has been raised 1' along with the site for the greenhouse I will have some day, a trench of sorts has been dug along the flood plane to divert excess water, gravel filled tires have been placed as a berm (and as the new strawberry bed), and drainage to and from the pond has been improved to alleviate back flow. Whew! The chickens were happily helping find worms in the newly turned soil and spreading the barn compost for me. They do make driving the tractor a little tricky though.

Finally, we come to the highlight story of the month. Babies!! Sophie, as the white goat is now known, gave us two precious kids, one male and one female just after Valentine's day. Mama and kids are doing well, but there has been a learning curve with this one as I will document in the next blog post. Until then, enjoy the pics.

Thanks for stopping by Heeby Jeeby Chickens! Have a blessed day and happy farming.

Avie the House Chicken

More about Avie

Avie is our house chicken. She is very photogenic!

And she loves snuggles and hugs.

Avie was found one morning lying in the coop with the rest of the chickens, unable to stand or walk. She had never shown problems up until that day, so we assumed she had hurt one of her legs and brought her in for further inspection. Indeed, she could not put weight on her left leg, and she was frightfully ill. After an Epson salt soak, some warm scrambled egg and broccoli, and a fresh drink Avie acted as though she felt better. So, it was time for a thorough inspection, and what we found was shocking to say the least. Avie had an exposed breast bone that had been chipped.

You can see by the size comparison next to my thumbnail that it is a sizable wound. This photo above was actually taken almost a month after the initial injury, and you can see feathers growing back in and a healthy scab formed over the site. The next photo shows the full breast bone now and the healing that is taking place.

Avie may never again be reintroduced to her flock, simply because chickens will peck at each other if they find an injury and will actually kill another injured bird. She can walk with effort and prefers to stand on her right leg and use the left one like a kick stand, so until she is strong and able to move around freely with minimal effort, Avie will just have to be our house chicken. Chickens have amazing healing abilities, so we have confidence in her future as a healthy, happy chicken.

Get well soon Avie!

Happy farming.

Avie

Happy February!
We are starting this month with a crazy chicken issue that would have been certain death, but has turned out to be something amazing instead. The picture below is of our newest house pet and our 2 dogs. Why a house chicken? She has a fully exposed breast bone that has finally started healing, but she will probably never be able to return to the flock.  The injury happened a couple of weeks ago, and while we did not notice the weird bone, she could not walk or even put weight on her legs so that became our focus. It is very possible that it is a birth defect that has only recently announced itself as a problem, because there is no apparent injury to the chest.

So now we have Avie, the house chicken. Each day, she gets stronger and is putting more weight on her legs and even stands for a few minutes but she has a long recovery road ahead. The mystery of her breast bone will probably never be solved, but with TLC and a veggie omelet each morning, she is well on her way to being a healthy chicken again!

Happy farming.

The Garage Barn

Good morning! I would like to share a few more videos with you today. 

These are a series of videos taken of our garage barn. The original structure was a metal sided 2 car garage, but the doors are not standard garage doors, they are actually double doors that swing out. There was nothing inside to begin with except a concrete floor and the overhead structural beams to work with.

We needed shelter for our horses from any weather extremes when we moved here and building something was not in the budget yet, so the garage became a barn. With a little ingenuity, some log poles we cut from the property, and a few cattle panels we brought along.  This created 4 large horse stalls and a mini stall for small creatures.

Geez I babble a lot when I video. Sorry.

This structure was added to the South side of the barn this year as a goat shelter. The goats refuse to stay in it and the donkey adopted it as his own, so now it's the donkey shelter. Next step, adding another smaller stall in the garage barn for the goats.

Nice thing about concrete floors, they clean up quick.

Thanks for watching! If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to share.

Happy farming.