hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[lcertuche]

@hqueen13 you mentioned you needed to feed your girls more green. Have you thought about sprouting grain. It's cheap to buy feed store grain and sprout. Also you can ferment the feed for the hens. Lots of articles about it on the the web. Try checking out the sister site Backyardchickens.com for ideas. Fermenting or sprouting will make the grain go a lot farther saving money.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hope your weather moderates a bit - I thought I was about to freeze to death today, lol. And - it's nothing like you're dealing with. We're really windy here which makes it so much worse! It'll be nice when your friends horses get there. I'm sure it'll be nice to get some income from that. Hope you got the truck fixed!

 

[hqueen13]

@lcertuche I've heard of sprouting, and a friend of mine said she tried it but it didn't help her, her chickens just ate it faster. I'll have to try it. Can you use the crumble feed to do it, or do you need the mash? I want to switch to mash, there's a local mill that makes it, and the local shop I can get it from has a discount program (spend so much and get a coupon), which is always helpful!

LOL FEM, I'm sure it wasn't near as cold as we are. It was 12 this morning when I got up at 7. Thankfully I didn't have to go out the door until 8:30 to take care of a couple chores before I left. It's a heat wave today, up to 35. We have a few warmer days coming up, which should be nice, except I'd almost rather stick below freezing for a while. The swings in temp mean blankets on and off for the horses, which gets old quick.

Not much else to report right now I don't think. I think I updated about the weekend. Today is my last day in the office covering. WHEW! It's a good thing because I start another farm sitting stint this afternoon. It's at ES's farm, she was the one that needed a 3rd visit the last time she went out of town. This time she's got the girl helping out staying at her place, so that will really help me. So I should be able to get everything done in 30 minutes morning and evening without too much trouble. She'll be gone for about 2 weeks so it will be a fat check. Hopefully we don't get too much crazy weather in the mean time. That will be the challenge. But at least the girl is staying in the house so she'll be there if I can't get there because of weather.

The new boys are arriving on Thursday, so that should be good. Hopefully everything goes smooth. I plan to put them in the paddock overnight, and then I'll work on introductions on Friday, that way I'll be around most of the rest of the weekend. I just pray they settle quickly. I hate dealing with crazy horses. It usually takes about 2 weeks for them to really get used to things. Thankfully the farrier is there tomorrow before they arrive so I won't have to deal with new horse crazies while the farrier is here. I might have time to work Storm before she gets here, I guess we'll see what happens. He shouldn't need much of a trim, but I haven't kept up with it either, so we'll see.

That's about all that's happening. I need to keep wrapping presents. We're hoping to make cookies some time soon, but I don't know when that will happen... Tomorrow evening is the holiday party for my office, so that's out. Thursday I'll probably have to deal with the horses for a while, so that doesn't leave enough time. Maybe Friday. That just depends on what time the BF gets home. If he's late it's not worth it either.

So it goes...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Glad you're getting the new boarders - besides a few days of crazy I know you'll be glad to get them there.

Isn't it amazing how things get so hectic this time of year? Extra work, extra parties, extra work, extra shopping, extra work... and I'm not talking about the job kind of work. Just so much more to do! Cooking, wrapping presents, cleaning for guests and all that kinda stuff!

 

[lcertuche]

@hqueen13 from what I understand any grain or feed will work. I plan on starting my girls on layer feed now that they are actually laying and I am going to ferment it. It caused the feed/grain to swell up so you won't need as much. The same with sprouted grain because it gets bigger/longer. My chickens will eat as much as I would give them because they are always convinced they are starving but I believe a half cup/chick will probably be enough along with the scraps they get. In the winter I may up it a little because they don't get as many frogs, lizards, bugs, etc. I did see one eating a frog a couple of days ago but I don't know why a frog was around in such frigid weather or maybe it was dead/frozen when he found it.

 

[hqueen13]

@lcertuche I'm gonna have to try it. Do you need an open trough style feeder to use it though? That would be the next issue is how to get it to them. I can't imagine putting it in a regular style feeder would be very effective. I'll have to investigate this further...

And yes, FEM, there is so much extra work!!

Well, Cowboy and Coyote are slated to get here this afternoon! I'll be leaving the office just before 3 and have to swing by the farm I'm babysitting right now. SB who is helping me called and said that the one old horse looked funny. He's choked several times before, and so all his food is soaked, and he can't have any exposure to hay (he has no teeth either)... he REALLY shouldn't be out with healthy horses only because they can't have any hay at all because he'll try to eat it, which is bad for the rest of the herd that she's got. But she's one of those crazies who takes on projects she probably shouldn't have (it's technically a boarded horse, but STILL...), and she doesn't have the capacity to really support a horse like this. So I've got to stop by there before I go home, and then hustle into the barn to get everything set up for the new boys. I'm going to throw them in the paddock tonight because they'll be getting here close enough to dark that I don't want to introduce everyone just yet. They (and I!) need more daylight for that. That'll happen tomorrow more than likely.

So I need to hustle home (probably should get gas at the shell before I head home, it's 5c off Thursdays...) and get the stalls cleaned of the leaves that have blown themselves in, get the buckets scrubbed and set up, and get their name tags put on their stalls. I should clean the feed chart board and rewrite the others since there have been some changes and it's gotten a bit messy. But we'll see how much time I have left and how cold I am when I get to it. The secondary question is how long will it take my friends to load the horses. They haven't been off their farm in several years. But I've been talking to them and telling them they're going to come live with me, so hopefully that has helped! It always seems to in every other situation I've dealt with.

Tomorrow is going to be busy. It'll start with getting up and wolfing breakfast so that I can get down to ES's farm to feed. Then I have to zip to yoga. Then I have to drive over to Dover to try on the pair of pants they are holding for me. Then I really should go to the grocery store, and I might end up needing to stop at the office if my last amazon package has arrived (apparently I selected Carrier Pigeon shipping method...). If not, the BF will just get a bonus gift after the holiday. Then I need to scoot home, and figure out how to add 2 horses to a herd of 3 safely, then get to wrapping more gifts because I've still got about a dozen things to wrap for the BF. And by that time I'll probably need to head back to ES's farm again to do the evening chores. Thank goodness SB is taking care of the mucking and such because I don't know how I'd get it all done otherwise!

Saturday is just farm chores, and stopping by the BF's cousin's house. I'm hoping to use the farm chores as a reason for not staying long. And a reason for not going to church that evening. We'll see if we can get out of it for another year. Sunday is going to be BUSY. I'll have ES's farm to attend to morning and evening, our horses to take care of, plus our gifts to open, then a trip to his parent's house, and then a trip to his uncle's house. I'm not real thrilled about needing to do all of that, but it is what it is.
Saturday I might also try to stop at a frame shop and look at getting glass replaced in two pictures (need to upgrade to UV glass), and then get a print that I have framed. I've had it for years and can't wait to get it on the wall. I've been saving my gift cards from the office "christmas gift" for the past several years, so I should have enough to afford some really nice framing now. I think I have close to $400 saved. Hopefully that's more than enough.

Got sucked into buying a couple Groupons today. They had a sale (which only half of the groupons I bought were eligible for... ), but I did get $15.00 off a groupon that was $99 (of course, $1.00 short of the $30.00 discount level), which is for an evening flight over the city with photographs for two. That sounded like a lot of fun! Also picked up a groupon for a museum that we have wanted to go to, and for a wine tasting at a vineyard we've wanted to try as well. Good deals, but I was annoyed I couldn't use the promo code on the other two as well (they were too cheap for a discount apparently...).

Suspect that's about all the news from this neck of the woods...

 

[hqueen13]

Oh, the farrier was here yesterday, and was happy with how Storm's feet looked. I hadn't done as much work on them as I probably should have, but it was still pretty good. She let me do most of the rasping work, which is a lot of work! I always think I'm gonna die while trying to trim his feet. Believe me, your trimmer makes it look EASY compared to how challenging it really is!
So she gave me pointers, and then suggested that I trim Top Gun's feet, too, if CM was ok with it. She was fine, so she and I agreed that we'd schedule a time and I can trim Toppers, and she can hold Storm for me while I trim him. It will help keep me accountable, which is a good thing, too. And maybe next time she won't charge either of us as much since I've done a lot of the work!
And on top of that Storm behaved himself really well, and was patient with my fumbling and figuring out how to get it done effectively!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I need to get after the Mini's feet too. You'd think since they are smaller that it would be easier - NOT! First of all, I always lose the top of a knuckle from the rasp, lol. I know I should wear gloves but I can't function with them on. And for trimming - since these guys are so small I always feel like I can't get the hoof nippers up under their belly very well and their feet don't pull out to the side very well either. I've knocked 'em in the gut more than once and they are NOT appreciative. Back feet are much easier than fronts for that reason. But I've got to say that the founder issues they had a couple years ago have responded better to MY trimming than the farrier. I think cuz I do a little at a time and he was always taking off a huge chunk which just got them even more sore. In fact, that's why I quit using him. He took them all so short last time that they literally laid around for almost two weeks after he left. They were sore! Pffffft to him!

Glad you're getting the two guys - good luck with the integration.

 

[lcertuche]

Yes, fermented feed must be in a open container or trough of some kind. I haven't actually fed sprouted grain but I would think the same.

Yikes, I can't imagine taking care of a choking horse. Of course I'm not really a horse person.

 

[hqueen13]

FEM - That's exactly what my farrier said does better for horses, a little bit at a time rather than the huge chunk all at once. She said she had a number of horses that had issues, and they did so much better when she started insisting that their owners do a little bit at a time in between her trims. And the bonus is that when I keep up with the trimming she doesn't charge me as much! (Which is a very good thing considering I pay double regular trim cost for a full trim on a draft!)

How was yall's Christmas? Ours went by too fast.
I was complaining to my coworker that because it happened on a Sunday it felt like there was no time off at all. It felt like Christmas had to be crammed into the regular weekend schedule with no extra time available. The BF had to work on Monday since he just started with the company, so that didn't help much. I had Monday off, which was a relief, and let me get a little caught up.
The holiday just went by too fast with too many visits all over the place, plus an extra farm to take care of, twice a day. I never really got to relax on the holiday, which was really disappointing, but what else is new?! Both the BF and I got lots of nice things, mostly practical which is the way I like it.

This week has been a blur. Monday was nice, I got some stuff done, and took care of the extra farm. Tuesday I had yoga again, and went by the frame shop to take some pictures that I've been holding onto for a long time. I had 2 watercolor originals that were not in UV glass, so I wanted to get them upgraded, and then I had a watercolor print of 5 horses running that I FINALLY had enough money saved up to frame. I'm SOOOOOO excited for how that one is going to look. I just can't wait! The suspense is killing me! And going down to this extra farm I'm watching I keep driving by the frame shop so I keep THINKING about it. The good news is that I'll have a small amount of money left over after the framing is done to spend on something else for myself, so that's a plus. Can't decide what I'm going to buy, yet, but I've been told by the BF I need to hold off till after my birthday, anyway. Ok, fine!

On top of the farm that I'm already watching 3 other clients went out of town yesterday. So I've got 4 farms to keep an eye on. Thankfully the one with the most work ends after tomorrow morning, and one of the others is DB's horses on my farm, and they get fed over the fence and get hay tossed out only once a day so that's easy to do whenever I have time. The other is a good friend of mine, TW, and her place is easy, and on the way to the farm I've been watching. So it's not terrible, but it's a LOT to deal with. But its money coming in, and that's what I have to keep reminding myself!

Cowboy and Coyote arrived without too much fuss. They are slowly adapting to being in stalls next to each other where they can't see each other, and to being led in and out of the pasture away from each other. Coyote is the one that's having the most trouble, but they are doing well all in all. I'm please with the progress they're making, and when one of the other 3 is out of the pasture, they're getting into the hay feeder, so that's good, too. I need to keep an eye on their weight and make sure that they don't drop too much from the stress. The nice thing is that they will eat just about whatever I put in front of them, so I can easily get more calories in if I need to.

I got Storm's fancy new tent sized rain sheet on Tuesday, and was really glad to be able to use it last night! It was 31 and raining when I got up this morning. GROSS! I just want SNOW! Seriously, his rain sheet is a 92! But it fits, so that's a really good thing! I'm so glad to have something now so he won't shiver when the temps are low and it's wet. I think that should be illegal, to be raining at that low of a temp, but I don't have a say in things, so it goes.

I suppose I should get back to work here, or at least pretend to do a little more...