Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[Denim Deb]

Well, today will show me how I'm dealing w/this. I'll be going in the other direction-down to where I had my accident in 98! At least, they've put a red light up there, so hopefully, I won't have any problems. But, after this, I shouldn't have to go out until after Christmas and I plan on going out early.

They're calling for more rain tonight. And while we need the rain, the farm is STILL muddy mess! I've been trying to get the last of my hay in for some time now, but w/all the rain, it's impossible. I'm almost done the RB I've been pulling off of, so I'm going to have to try and get in w/the tractor at least. I don't have any more RBs up on end. Since I thought I'd be getting hay B4 I was done this RB, I had the hay placed for stacking, not using. And, I still need to get more wood in, just haven't had the time. I'm hoping I can get a whole load in this afternoon and store it in the wood shed w/out cutting it up first. Then it's supposed to dry out until next Wednesday, so hopefully I can get a bunch in there even if it's not all cut up. At least, it would stay dry and I'd be able to cut it up when I have the time.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Take a deep breath and go for it - good luck!

 

[Denim Deb]

Well, I managed to go and do all my errands. It took me longer than I wanted, so I got almost nothing done around here today. And, I managed NOT to panic-even when I had a trash truck pull out almost into me!

Saturday, Licorice got into the seeded area and took Stormy and Misty w/her. And of course, she broke another of my plastic step in posts in the process. So, I decided I needed to do something different. I added a handle to the top electric rope, and put an insulated "eye" on the regular fence post. I did have the end around a plastic post, and had that tied to the fence post to make it easy to get in and out. But of course, every time Miss Licky decided she needed to get in there, she managed to break the plastic post. Well, I still have the 2 bottom lines around a plastic post but the top is now hooked to the fence. This morning when I got there, the horses were all where they belonged. But I could see as soon as I went to feed that someone tried to get into hte seeded area. The 2 bottom lines were messed up. So, I would say that the Brat tried to get in there w/no luck. So, I'm hoping she's learned her lesson. I don't think she can get in there now w/the way I have it set up. Good thing too, she broke almost all the posts I had!

Today, my field was the driest it's been for awhile! That's the good news. The bad news? They're calling for 3/4 to 1" of rain overnight. That means the soonest I'll be able to get hay is Monday. I'm almost done the RB I've been feeding from and rather than try to get into the field w/the tractor to get another one set upright, I'm just going to work on pulling hay from the RB I have in my unfinished hay shelter.

 

[the funny farm6]

we had a horse that was too smart to be in the hot wire. she would stand with her ears pricked forward and a look of consentration on her face then she would strike out with her hoof real fast and break the wires then walk threw, and take everyone with her and run into the big hay field across the road, and play "you cant catch me!" with all her followers.

glad you got your errands done without harm!

 

[Denim Deb]

She can't break this, it's the rope. Otherwise, she'd break it!

Well, I don't know when I'm going to be able to get the rest of my hay. We had more rain last night, and it's the most we've had since the Noreaster in November. Plus, we got a ton of wind w/it. I haven't had a chance to really figure out how it did it, but it blew the tarp off the top of my hay. Nothing seems to be ripped, nor broken, so I'm thinking I just didn't have it tied good enough since I was planning on getting more hay B4 this. And the wind also messed up what I had done on the hay shelter. If it had been all together, it probably would have been fine. But since it wasn't, it was able to do some damage. I had to take the tarp off the top as well as the one off the back.

But the worst damage at the farm wasn't up my end, it was for KN's horse. She has her own little field since she can't eat hay. RU had started building a stall earlier in the year, but didn't finish the roof. So, KN had a tarp up. And when that finally got too ripped up to use, every time a storm moved thru, she was put in a stall in the main barn. Well, RU finally got the roof finished. Only problem being? The roof is now in CL's field! It's still in one piece, so I don't know what RU is going to do. For now, KN has moved the horse into the area that RU keeps saying she wants to make into a garden. It's right next to my field, and has a stall in the side of the run it. (That was supposed to be a place for garden tools.) They're calling for more wind tomorrow. The good thing about it? It will help drive up the field.

Since it's so wet, and KN was there, rather than pull hay off of the RB in my hay shelter, I had her give me a hand. We were able to flip up one of my RBs, so I'm pulling the hay off of that.

And, not only was it wet in the field, but also in my muck boots! I had left them in my trailer. I try not to open my tack shed door until after I've fed the farm cats. Otherwise, they all want in there. Some still will go in, but it's not as bad. Normally, I leave them in the nose. I forgot to do that yesterday and they got rain in them! And, I had no choice. I had to put them on this morning. There was no way I could wear what I had on in all that mud. So, I had cold, wet feet the whole time I was out there. It felt so good to come home and take them and my socks off. I'll be filling them up w/newspaper and putting them in front of the fire overnight. Hopefully, they'll be dried out by morning. But, just in case they're not, I might take spare socks w/me!

Oh, and I had to slam on my brakes again today. I had a Fed-Ex truck almost pull out in front of me at a stop sign.

 

[Denim Deb]

Well, things are starting to dry out at the farm-for now. Tomorrow, I'll see about getting the tarps back over my hay since it's supposed to rain again.

For months, my chickens have been coming when I put out some cracked corn and sunflower seeds. They come running. But, every so once in awhile, one of them would act like they couldn't quite figure out where they were supposed to go. And, if one of them didn't come, it wasn't too hard to get them going in the right direction-until yesterday. There was one that didn't come when I was getting everyone penned up. In fact, she ignored me! Everyone else was in, and I wanted to get her in so I could leave. It was cold and windy and I wanted to go home! So, I tried to herd her over. She wouldn't go. I finally had to catch her and carry her over. I was hoping today she'd be all set to come w/the rest of the flock. And, when I headed over, all of them were together in a flock. Well, everyone came over-but her. So, I tried to herd her into the pen. She kept trying to get thru the fence. Of course, she didn't fit. Then, when she was almost to the pen, she managed to turn around and run past me in the wrong direction. So, once again, I had to chase her down. But, at least this time, I didn't have to catch her. I hope this isn't going to be a new thing for her.

Oh, and for the first time ever, I got 4 eggs! Last winter, I only had the 3 hens, and only had one of them laying at this time. Then, she stopped in late January, and I didn't get any eggs for a couple of weeks, then I had one start up in February. Now that these girls are laying, I hope that I'll have a steady supply for the rest of the winter.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Oh, and for the first time ever, I got 4 eggs! Last winter, I only had the 3 hens, and only had one of them laying at this time. Then, she stopped in late January, and I didn't get any eggs for a couple of weeks, then I had one start up in February. Now that these girls are laying, I hope that I'll have a steady supply for the rest of the winter.

On the subject of chickens and winter after many years of having them stop laying during the winter I finally learned a couple of tricks that will help.

The first trick has to do with what they eat. It seems that I collect a lot of nettle plants during the summer and I let them dry out and then I add that to their feed during the winter. This seems that help them want to lay. The other thing that I do is I have learned to extend the daylight hours of their day by putting a timer on a light in the coop. I start the timer at about 6 o'clock in the morning and I turn it off after Sunrise and then turn it back on during the dark and leave it on until about 8 o'clock at night. As a result of this particular change in their life I have noticed that I am getting four eggs every morning from four chickens.

The other thing to consider on the subject of why they won't come to you is that they may be older, and they're hearing may be poor. I'm not necessarily certain the chickens hear a lot of things but I do know that when I Shake a Tin can with corn and they definitely will come running. I realize that this is a conditioned response but it does seem to work rather well with the chickens. I just use an empty tin cans from vegetables or whatever and a few grains of corn in it and when I shake it it makes a nice sound.

My four Rhode Island Reds are still harassing the little gold colored chicken hatched in my incubator so I still have her isolated. She seems to be doing okay but sooner or later she's going to have to be integrated into the crowd. I hope the bigger girls won't bother her too much once that happens.

Saepe Expertus, Semper Fidelis, Fratres Aeterni
Trim sends
//BT//

 

[FarmerChick]

Merry Christmas Deb!!

 

[snapshot]

Hi Deb! I keep up with you but just haven't had much to say. Have a Merry Christmas!

 

[MorelCabin]

Merry Christmas Deb! I don't get here much but often think of you ad just wanted to wish you the best for the coming year. May God send you many Blessings and much love!