Jess172 journal: I want to do it all!

Thanks Marianne, we sure do miss him. Also, I don't think I've got a bug problem, I'm just paranoid about them I'm planning on getting some DE for preventing parasites. And Deb, they are just going to tough it out being bored another night and we are going to kick em out into the coop. They are 4 weeks old tomorrow, the weathers going to be nice and they are fully feathered. I did add an extra roost pole and put it higher than the other one and they must like it because all 9 of them were on it last time I checked. The 6 that had bloody tail feathers got sprayed with some blukote and my white chicks are now half blue. It seems to help, I'm not seeing any more pecking going on so far. I'm going to keep those 6 separated in their own brooder and not put them in the coop until they are healed up. Ducks are going in their duck house and run tomorrow also. Bantams are still staying in their own brooder until they get bigger. Shew! Think I need any more animals to take care of? I do!

Got all the chickens moved to the coop except for the bantams. Got the ducks moved to the duck house today and they finally got to have their pool party.

So, they got to go sledding at the same time?

It's never too early to start teaching them to sled! Aaaand the kiddie pool I bought them is too big and they can't get out on their own. So sled pool it is!

Ducklings are so cute! But they grow up way to fast. I used a paint roller tray at first, then a shallow tote. But we only had three so it was really easy to scoop them up and put them in their dry pen. By the time we got the outdoor pen ready, we had a Rubbermaid stock tank plumbed in with some bricks inside so they could walk out. Even had some decking around it, sorta. We tore it all down after we gave them away. They were all drakes and they were trying to hump my old grey hen so I decided I was done with ducks for the time being.

I'm going to try more duck eggs later in the year. Right now, I don't have the room in my incubator.

The old sled is working pretty good right now but I may put in the kiddie pool when they get a little bigger and add bricks for steps. Thanks for the idea! I'm loving my ducks though. They are learning quicker than the chickens. Last night we put them in their duck house and locked them up so they wouldn't sleep outside all night. They weren't happy at first but got over it and went to bed. Tonight once it started getting dark they all headed in their house and all we had to do was close their door. Easy. The chickens took longer to learn. We had to chase a few in the coop the first few nights and then place them on the roost poles. They were trying to sleep everywhere. The floor, the nest boxes, roosting on the waterer. They've just about got it figured out. Though we are still going in and checking to make sure they are all on the poles. I don't want to miss a chicken and get it in a bad habit of sleeping somewhere its not supposed to be.
I took a canning and food preservation class today! Learned a lot and got some good resources so I'll feel more confident when I go to can what I get from the garden.
Got some horses on the farm now! No, they aren't mine. They are some friends of the family that are keeping them in the fenced in area around they barn until their pasture grows up again. They worked all last weekend clearing brush off the old fence and running some new electric wire. I think it's great. The kids really enjoy going to see them every night.

A little confidence can really help you with canning; so many scare-stories have been circulated that a lot of people feel that even canning pickles makes a body nervous.

Just watch having those horses on the property. They can be contagious. Do not let your kids pet them! And especially don't let them ride them! Otherwise, next thing you know, you'll find yourself buying one because one or more of your kids (or yourself) was bit by the horse bug!