Chicky Pix!

On By stefrobrtsIn 2010chicks, chickensLeave a comment

I spent a bit of time with the chicks this morning, just sitting and talking to them, looking them over to make sure no one needed any special attention. They are a week old now. So far, so good. Even the little one-eye’d one is still getting along fine.

I put a big branch in there for them to crawl over and perch on. They seem to enjoy it.

This annoyed girl had a bit of a poopy stuck to her bottom, so I caught her and cleaned her bottom. Turned out it was no big deal, but I figured better safe than sorry – sometimes they can get stopped up. Don’t want that!

Of course since I had caught one, the rest all cowered in terror thinking they were next.

I sprinkled some food out and they started to relax.
Look at the one standing on one foot stretching his wing out – they’re so danged cute!

Just look at this little chubby butt!

Once everyone had some food and water they started relaxing..
..and pretty soon it was nap time.

Good exercise

On By stefrobrtsIn garden2 Comments

I am still working on removing the OLD compost pile. I removed all the sticks from it which still need to break down more, and then built a second compost area next to the current one.

I threw the sticks on the bottom and then turned over the compost in the current pile into the new pile. The compost should finish breaking down those sticks, and should finish breaking down the stuff that wasn’t done yet in the pile.

The compost looks really good – like dark soil. It was sure good exercise turning it over though! I think I need a nap now!

Removing the old compost pile

On By stefrobrtsIn chickens, garden2 Comments

Almost ten years ago I built this compost box, and have been throwing stuff in there ever since. But I never took any compost out or did anything with it, and it’s been a weedy mess. So today I unscrewed the ends (and discovered I’d nailed the sides together – oh my building skills have grown a lot in the years since then), and pulled the sides down – leaving a perfectly compost box shaped mound of dirt and weeds. Hmmm, now what?

Two of the upright posts were surrounded by a giant anthill. I pulled them out and tossed them into the wagon, and then realized that they were hollowed out and most of the ants were living IN the posts! So what to do with them? I know someone who would enjoy a couple of ant-filled logs…

Happy chickens!

My next challenge is to get all that old compost cleaned up enough to use (there are chunks of sticks and stuff in it), and move it to the garden, which is looking pretty good. I was able to spread peat moss over most of the beds – though I still need a couple more bales of it, mostly to fill my raised bed. I spread flakes of straw on the ground to start killing the grass where the potatoes are going to go. The cardboard is doing a good job on most of the grass, now I just need to take care of the places where the grass is pushing up under the edges of the cardboard, I pretty much need to lay down more cardboard anywhere I still see green. And I guess I could stand to get some PVC to make hoops for some row covers and start getting some lettuce and spinach growing before it gets too warm.

Tired dog

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, mighty, pets1 Comment

 
Barclay had a big day and went to get his annual shots. I have worked with him since he was a baby on bite inhibition, and body handling, but how do you prepare a dog from something that only happens once a year, like getting a thermometer shoved up your bottom and getting poked with a needle? I was worried he might nip someone in spite of all my work. Poor pup! He cried and whined and they had to call in an extra person to hold him down, but when it was all done he still just gave her a lick on the nose – what a good boy! When we came home he was pooped!

I know getting shots always takes it out of them for a bit. He was sacked out. 

Mighty came along to cheer him up.

She gave him a few licks
These two have such a funny relationship. The cats have always encouraged Barclay to play rough with them, and they refuse to scratch him and put him in his place, even when he’s dragging them around the house wailing. But they aren’t scared of him, in fact they both will come and lick his face while he’s sleeping. So we try to protect the cats from him roughing them up too much, but obviously they are ok with it, because they could put a stop to it if they wanted to.

Future Potato Crop

On By stefrobrtsIn gardenLeave a comment

I don’t know much about potatoes, but last year I saved some of my potatoes I got from my CSA farmer friend, and set them aside for the winter. Now they have little sprouts started, and they are in the windowsill. They sure don’t look like much! I’m going to plant them under straw and see if I can get any potatoes out of them.

Damaged car

On By stefrobrtsIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Not ours, luckily. Yesterday morning I looked out the window to see this car parked at the foot of our road. It looks like they hit a deer, and it just demolished that car. Hope the people inside were ok. I suppose we would have heard sirens if they had called emergency services. By the afternoon it had been towed away.

One sick chick

On By stefrobrtsIn 2010chicks, chickens2 Comments

I have set up a brooder box in the house (much to the cat’s delight) and moved one chick into it. I have had my eye on this one since I brought them home. She’s a little small, not as active, and only has one eye open. I’m not sure what’s wrong with her, might not be sick, might just be some internal abnormality. I thought she might be better off with a little personalized attention. Mostly I want to see if she’s eating and drinking, and I can’t tell when she’s with the rest of the mob.

Update: in the evening after confirming she was eating, drinking and pooping, we put her back out with the other chicks – she was so happy to see them! There’s so many, I don’t think they even noticed she was gone and accepted her right back into the group.

The rest of the chicks are doing fine, active and happy. When I went to check on them this morning I found them all arranged in a perfect half circle around the hot spot from the lamp. They are picking the temperature that is the most comfortable. The sickly one is in the lower right, the little black and white one who is sitting a little closer to the light.

Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

On By stefrobrtsIn outdoors4 Comments

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the RWR, which has a section where you can drive a big loop around the ponds and sloughs, and watch the birds and wildlife from your car. If this sounds lazy, it isn’t, because the cars act as blinds, and the animals tend to ignore them. It’s less invasive than having people tromping around their protected areas. There are some areas along the loop where you can park and go hiking off into a different section, but it’s not open until May, and another place where you can park and go use a permanent blind to look out over the marsh.

When we headed out it was blue skies and puffy clouds after a cloudy morning, so I was hoping we’d have good light for taking some pictures. Then when we got there I could see these rain storms coming from the west. I would have been more disappointed if they weren’t so darned impressive!

The approaching storm made for some spectacular skies!

One of the first things we saw in the refuge was the Amtrak from Seattle blasting by on it’s way to Vancouver.

Then we continued on to more peaceful waters where we saw, uh..some kind of duck.

And a, ummm, river otter? Maybe?

I think he’s part terrier!

Why did the Heron cross the road?
To go hunting on the other side.
For a HUGE grey bird, he certainly blends in well.
I need a duck identification book!
Another heron, sneaking around in the reeds.
This is one of my favorite shots from the trip – red winged blackbird on cattails.
So the trip was over and we headed up the road only to find it blocked by a broken down semi that was hauling railroad ties from the train tracks. Fully loaded and heavy, it wasn’t going anywhere, and since there is only one road in and out of this section of the refuge, the ranger told us to go enjoy another loop around.
More pretty ducks,
..gorgeous skies..
Spotted another heron waiting on the bank of a pond
I think this is a goldfinch. My second favorite picture of the day. Cute little guy.
And a gnarly old tree in the afternoon light against a stormy sky – beautiful!

Chicks arrive, cozy in their new home.

On By stefrobrtsIn 2010chicks, chickens3 Comments

Today I brought home 20 chicks – 10 Buff Orpingtons, and 10 feather-footed cochins. I can’t wait to see what the cochins grow into, they are partridge colored, red, white and buff, and maybe a black or blue in there too. They were still unloading chicks from the packing crates when I got to the feed store this morning, so they packed mine right up in a little box and I brought them straight home to their brooder box which was all warmed up and outfitted with food and water.

I started out using my waterer I used for the chicks last year, but they ended up hopping right into it, so I switched to this chicken-waterer that has just a shallow trough so no one will get their butt wet standing in it.

There are two little guys like this, I think they are the partridge colored cochins. I know they’re cochins, look at all the feathers on her legs.

Warm, fed, and dozing under the heat lamp. Happy chicks!

Chicks -2010

On By stefrobrtsIn 2010chicks, chickens5 Comments

Wednesday I will be picking up 20 chicks from the feed store – 10 buff o’s and 10 assorted color cochins – red, black and buff. Hopefully someone will go broody and I’ll get some chicks from my own hens as well this year, but because the feed store chicks are sexed, I thought this would be a nice way to go. Not so many roosters to deal with. Also I want to handle them more and make them friendly, not stand-offish like my mama-raised birds. I plan to keep the ones I like and sell the other one’s to be urban egg layers, since city-folk love having tame chickens, but not everyone has the facilities to raise their own chicks.

I set up a 4 x 4ft brooder box in the chicken shed, with a heat lamp hanging from the ceiling on a chain, and food and water inside. The floor is covered in vinyl to protect it, and that is covered in wood chips. This same system worked great for the turkey chicks last year. Now I just need a cover to keep the cat out.