Sun and Moon

It's been ridiculously hot and humid the past few days. So much so that I lost a silkie peep because of it. One of our little gray babies. There are two other runts that are questionable as well. They were hatched a couple of days after the other ones, so they are still little runts. Though it has cooled of significantly since last night's series of rain storms, I still took them in for most of the day to try to get them hydrated and fed a little bit. The one can't seem to keep itself awake; the other seems to be peeping along better. I thought I would bring them back out with their mamma and brothers and sisters and see how they do. I will bring them back inside if I have to, but nothing will ever compare to being raised by the mamma hen. I'm sitting outside as I type keeping a close eye on the situation. All the other chickens seem very curious about what I'm doing. Crooked Beak even spent some time sitting on the arm of my chair watching for a bit.

Tonight's the full moon. I think, just maybe, my moon flower (above) is going to bloom. I've also heard these referred to as Jacob's Trumpet. Perhaps because they produce these magnificent white flowers. The plants and garden have enjoyed the rain immensely. One of my sunflowers also stared to bloom today as well. How fitting it would be to have the sun and moon all in one day.

Silkie Babies!

(so cute!)

(my favorite so far)

(peeking out from under mamma hen)

(just hatched)

(7 hatched, 5 more to go)

Gardening, Grilling, and a Gorgeous Summer Day

(starting sunflower head)

The past couple of days have been gorgeous now that the heat wave has passed! The mornings are cooler, giving way to the mid-80s by afternoon. It's acceptable, I'll give it that. My perfect temperature is still anywhere between 60 and 75, but I'll take the mid-80s over pushing 100 any day.

The garden is coming along well. Much better than I would have ever thought. The sunflowers and corn are taller than me and already showing flower heads and silk (respectively). I'm very pleased. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by the thought of planting a garden this year. I remember helping my mom as a little girl in her garden, but many years went by without one. I inherited my mom's green thumb, but still have never planted my very own garden before. Sure, there's all sorts of science behind it, but it really can be as simple as popping a seed in the ground, watering it, and watching it grow. We've already reaped some of the harvest with fresh zucchini and cucumbers for dinner tonight. It might be small by comparison, but it's thriving despite the heat. Let me give you a closer tour...

(Sunflowers from outside the fence)

(Cucumbers, Zucchini, and yellow Zucchini Squash)

(overflowing tomatoes - hoping to can some)

(sweet potatoes)

(beets and other varieties of potatoes)

(cornsilk, folks!)

We also decided to move the compost pile closer to the garden for easier access and better lawn aesthetics. It was on a small hill just above the chicken coop. The chickens loved to dig through it, making a huge mess that I raked up each evening. The plot that our landlord left for our garden is slightly triangular and sloped. We used the bottom square for the garden and the top now holds our compost. I think it looks much better, and the chickens wasted no time in relocating it as well. No need to worry about their messes here.

(digging through the 'new' compost pile)

(sometimes the chickens get stuck in the garden fence)

(oh, and we finally broke down and bought a grill - that zucchini is from our garden!)

Parasite on a Hot, Hot Day

(Delilah's last clutch)

I love parasites of all sorts. I suppose that's why by day I pretend to be a budding Microbiologist. I don't however, like parasites in my chickens (or any of my other pets, for that matter). When we first got our chickens only 9 short months ago, we thought we'd be immune to all the chicken nasties that must only be see in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations). Since then we've seen a chicken die of a mysterious illness (mysterious to the newby chicken owner anyhow), a chicken die of what we think was crop worm, and lice, leg mites, and roundworms. Here's what we've learned:

Leg mites seem easy enough to treat. We used linseed oil to coat the legs and soften the tissues, then covered them with Vik's Vapor Rub. Seems to be working like a charm as the few infected chicken leggies seem to be returning to normal.

The lice has been a bit trickier. We've tried everything from thoroughly cleaning the coop and spraying it down with a product called Orange Guard to a cedar spray on the feathers. We try to do everything naturally and stay away from chemical treatments, however there is a time a place for them. We eventually ended up treating two of our hens with a Permethrin powder for poultry as their infestations were pretty severe. To manage the problem we add a few cups of DE (diatomaceous earth) to their favorite dusting bowl to roll around in. DE comes from the tiny microscopic fossilized remains of diatoms (hence the name), which are a type of hard-shelled algae. We have found DE to be beneficial on so many levels. DE is good in gardens to deter insects and slugs as it is abrasive to their bodies. We now spread it all over the coop each cleaning and in the nest boxes. Amazingly we can't find a single lice on any of our chickens now! I'm thrilled with that. Perhaps this is our key to maintenance. I am even trying it out on another new 'problem'.....

Roundworms. It's been hotter than blazes out this whole week. A far cry from the previous post where I said it felt like fall; and it did! One of our little silkie hens, Delilah, is sitting on a clutch of 12 silkie eggs. Not hers. We bought them from someone who could guarantee they were full silkie. I like this breed. Due to the number of new chickens in the coop at the moment we felt it necessary to put a big dog cage around her to prevent 1) other hens from sneaking in there to lay their eggs, and 2) this years 'chicks' from pouncing all over her. Since the temperature has crept into the high 90s all week, and the temperature in the coop is over 100, we decided to bring her into the house (she's on the back porch) for a few days until this heat wave passes. She's much more comfortable it seems. The things we do for our chickens. Anyway, yesterday I watched her hop off her nest to get a drink and a peck of food. Of course eating = digestion = peristalsis = poop! And boy did she ever poop. I think she pooped half her weight it was so big. And there wiggling around (not really wiggling, but moving) was a roundworm. And if she's got roundworms, someone else probably does too. So it's best to worm them all. The commercial treatment for roundworms is Piperazine, which requires that you discard your eggs for two weeks after treatment with a second treatment in 3 weeks (which means discarding those eggs for another two weeks). So I did a little online research and found that DE can be added to the feed to eliminate intestinal parasites. Well golly! I think I'm going to try that first and see how it goes. Garlic and ACV (apple cider vinegar) can also be added as both have been noted to aid in the elimination of parasites. I'll let you know how it goes.

And that's all I have to say about that (at least for now).

Feels Like Fall

Wow! It's actually chilly out this morning. I like it! Low to mid 60s I would say. My kind of weather. It feels like fall; may favorite season of the year. They weren't calling for rain, but I can see the clouds across to the next hill emptying their contents on some unsuspecting fields. I suppose you'll have that. Here on my little hill the chickens are foraging and preening. Actually one was just up here sitting on the arm of my chair very interested in what I was doing on my laptop. Gotta love wireless. Kenai, our Old English Sheepdog is eating grass and chewing on one of his frisbees (not simultaneously of course). You should see the corn! Our landlord says it's the tallest in the county. It's taller than me, that's all I can say. It blows that whole "knee high by the forth of July" right out of the water. Even our tiny crop of organic corn is past knee high. The sunflowers are just as high. I'm really happy about them. They'll be good food for the chickens come winters.

I'd be happy to sit here all day like this. Just me and mother nature. Life likes to try to rob us of these peaceful moments. You've got to take advantage of them when you can.

Two Busy Weekends and Another to Come

("smile for the camera" - a cute goat from the fiber festival)

Goodness how busy I've been! So much to write that I think I'll have to do it in segments. Where to start:

This weekend we travelled ALOT! On Friday we travelled an hour and a half (one way) across the state line to pick up a new partridge silkie hen. I lost my Eleanor a few months back and have been looking for another, as one silkie hen just doesn't seem like enough. She's pretty cute and we refer to her as the "new" Eleanor. Some may think that recycling a name is a dumb thing to do, especially if you're other one died, but I have to tell you...new names are more difficult to come by that one might think. So she's 'Eleanor the second' in memory of my wonderful first partridge silkie hen.

Saturday we went BACK across state lines to a fiber festival in upstate Ohio. It was quite the drive (120 miles one way!), but I came home with 10 pounds of unprocessed sheep's wool and 5 pounds of a gorgeous gray alpaca fleece. Give me fiber, and I'm a happy girl! I've been processing a good bit of alpaca fleece lately. Today was my first experience washing a sheep fleece. For what it lacks in cost, it sure makes up for in washing. It's very different to process. It will take some practice, but I can't wait to dye and spin it. Our travels were extended another 60 or so miles on the way home as we swung up to Butler to pick up a dozen silkie eggs to stick under my broody silkie hen, Delilah. She just finished raising a clutch of six (who need to find new homes) and had already been found in the coop making nest. It's a little crowded in the coop right now with all the new chickens, so we've created her own little protected sanctuary in the corner in a big old dog cage that keeps everyone else out. Though her chicks are certainly old enough to be on their own (and almost twice her size now), they still seem to want to be close to mom sometime.

Last weekend was an exciting one on the alpaca farm. But that will have to wait for another day, as my bedtime has come and gone, and 6am will come far too soon for my liking.

Open Barn Day at Highland Alpaca

(picture from Highland Alpaca website)

DON'T FORGET: Open Barn Day at Highland Alpaca this coming Saturday from 11am - 4pm!! I'll be there spinning, so come on out!