Bee's Guest House

[Beekissed]

We are getting a steady, drizzly rain!!!!!!

I don't think I've ever been so happy to see or feel rain! Goes to show that you really don't know what you have until its gone and I just took it for granted....never again! Rain will be forever a blessing, I don't care if we get deluged! Water is so necessary.

I am sorry you all are having too much rain...doesn't seem right, does it? We are praying for it and you all have too much....God surely has a sense of humor....

Sis, I would have to buy the whole store of Bed, Bath and Beyond to cover the rows in my garden! I have twelve rows of 25 ft and perimeter rows that are 65 ft. on either side of the garden. Then I have a corn and pumpkin patch that is approx. 10 ft. x 65 ft.

This rain ought to give the ground a good soaking and I will continue to water some of the things like the sweet corn, pumpkins, beans, peas, popcorn...but the rest I'm no longer concerned with. Too far gone.

 

[Old Sew'n'Sew]

It's raining here too.

I hope it lasts a while. It might help the blackberries. They are tiny and need some rain to develop.

You would be surprised how useful that a bolt of nylon netting is and how much is on the bolt.

I bought one years ago and have used it for so many projects: cheese cloth substitute, sprouting, winemaking, shade coverings, decorating,etc.

Sorry about the losses in your garden.

Just try to save what you can, someone will come along and give you produce later in the season.

I always end up with lots of "gifts", some from strangers,every year.

Someone gave DH some Ga. peaches the other day, but he forgot to take them out of the car til yesterday, so they were perfect ripe and hot when I got them. I sliced them them up and put on a cookie sheet in freezer. I will dehydrate them later for snacks. I never pass up free food.LOL!

I have three gallons of wine in cellar from a half bushel of concord grapes some one gave to me last fall. Not that I drink much of it but, it makes great gifts and something to trade for other stuff.
I traded some blackberry wine for maple syrup oz. for oz. last spring.

I'm sure when you least expect it something will come your way.

 

[lorihadams]

We got rain here last night and it pretty much washed out the chicken swap today which had already been shortened due to the heat. NOT that we were complaining! The 7 of us that showed up just sat out in the rain and smiled at each other!!!

Hubby said that the governor here in VA has officially declared a drought. DUH. I'm kinda glad we didn't get the goats yet after all cause it would have cost me a fortune in hay this year.

 

[Beekissed]

You would not believe what a difference the rain has made! And we are supposed to get more this week!

My lawn started greening up immediately and the corn has grown several inches since the rain....I know that sounds impossible but it has.

I even have two small yellow squash that I didn't have before the rains. I have had absolutely NO produce from my garden this year....nada, nothing, zilch. Now I can have some squash at least!

Since the meaties are gone, I have turned out the Mama and 18 babies from the broody pen and they are having the time of their lives! So funny to see all these dark chicks moving like troopers through the orchard, foraging like their lives depended on it.

I only had to school the new kitten/cat once on the chicks and he has learned to leave them alone. He still takes a dash at the big chickens now and again but he has learned that Mama hen and the BIG mama hen (me) get severely mad when he tries for a chick filet!

I am boarding a Rottweiler this week for a lady at work. She is tied to a line because she is very unsocialized and has never had any training. She has not tried to kill the chickens who wander into her space, nor the sheep. At least that is good.

I am going to de-worm her, trim her nails and am currently trying to train her to stop jumping up on people. She seems to be smart but has a short attention span...I think the poor dog stays in a crate all day while the owner is at work.

Tried my hand at castration this week and it was horrible and a failure, in my eyes anyway. Fortunately, the lamb survived and should be okay. Not my finest hour. :/

Today is beautifully clear, cool and no humidity. Heading off to church and hope you all have a great and blessed day!

 

[Farmfresh]

:bun

Rain Dance!

 

[big brown horse]

Hey Bee,

Sorry about your lamb. What an ordeal! (I read about it over in BYH. I can't log in over there for some reason.) I'm so glad he is doing better!!

I am also glad you post your mistakes (or what you think are mistakes) b/c I have learned so much from them. I appreciate the fact that you are always open in times of good and in times of bad. Even when there are mean folks out there who try to kick you when you are down. :/ Well thanks to him, now I know what a burdizzo is. And thanks to you now I know what to do if heavy bleeding occurs after cutting.

One question, if you had to band after the bleeding didn't stop, would you just leave it on until everything fell off, or would you leave it on until the bleeding stopped? I am guessing the bands are so tight it is best to just leave it alone until everything falls off.

I'm glad you got some rain too. Nothing worse than a drought.

 

[Beekissed]

I was really reluctant to band after the cutting and the bleeding for fear of just creating a pocket for the bleeding and no outlet or drainage area. He would have been very uncomfortable and the areas of blood clots can create more and different problems.

Right now I could band him, though, and the scrotal sac would eventually fall off...but after all that horrible messing around, I think the fella deserves to have his little nutsack, if nothing else!

Sally, I'm a big one for admitting mistakes and saying I'm sorry. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has done something of which they are sorry...best to get it over with to admit it...sort of like ripping off a band-aid. Sometimes I don't know if I have inflicted pain, so its best to tell me outright if you want an apology.... leaves the lines of communication open, doesn't it?

Besides...how are we to learn from other's mistakes if they do not tell about them? Me? I make tons of mistakes and probably should tell about all of them, just so some other dummy won't do the same things!

Like feeding chicks laying mash....tried that with my first bunch of chicks and thought it was fine, though everyone told me it would cause organ failure later on. Stubborn and know it all me did it anyway. Guess what? Lost quite a few of my original flock to heart failure during the first and second year. I learned the hard way. Idiot!

This time around everyone is getting grower after the original bag of starter and I'm just adding oyster shell for the added calcium my gals need and offering it separate, free choice.

Live a little, learn a little!

 

[Farmfresh]

I have had trouble with leg weakness that ended up being kidney failure issues with adult roosters fed only laying mash as well. The laying mash has so much calcium it overloads the organs. A laying hen eliminates that extra calcium by making egg shells.

I misses the castration problem. Was he a bleeder?

 

[Beekissed]

I seriously bungled the job and he bled horribly and wouldn't stop and I didn't have any blood stop or cayenne pepper on hand.

I do think, if I hadn't drenched him with raw honey and UP/ACV, that he wouldn't be with us today. He was shocky and weak, even after I got the blood stopped. He wouldn't stand and looked dozy, kept making chewing motions.

After I drenched him he perked up and got to moving around and finally nursed. Today he is stiff but acts pretty normal otherwise.

I was very angry at myself and in a little shock myself over the whole incident.

Farm, I haven't had any problems from my roos eating laying mash....maybe they eat more forage than mash, I don't know.

I try to mix whole grains in my mash now and again to keep things from getting boring. A little oats here, BOSS there, sometimes a little cracked corn...this could be the difference, not sure.

 

[TanksHill]

Glad to hear your garden is perking up!!! Congrats on the progress!!

Sorry about your lamb. I did not read the other thread but it sounds as if you had a hard time. I am glad the little guy is doing better.

Now with the chicks and feed. I normally use grow feed then move on the lay mash right before they start laying. I usually have a Roo in the bunch. Is this a problem for them? I also free range and give grains. Is there any thing else I should give him??

Wow, you learn something new every day.

Have a good one.

gina