Friends for Thelma and Jill

Our two lonely orphan girls got some new friends today.  Jill - our lone goose - and Thelma - our lone duck - have been spending much of their time together but I wanted to increase their flock a bit.  I found a listing online that sounded promising.  A gal was trying to rehome her five ducks, a drake and four hens.  That was perfect for us.  You really only want a single drake (if any) and the hens earn their keep with eggs.  I made a deal with her to trade the five ducks for ten pounds of fresh pork.

I brought the whole flock home in the back of the Mazda.  It was stinky and loud, with five backseat drivers telling me to slow down, but we made it home.  When I opened the back of the car, they began quacking.  Thelma heard the commotion and joined in the chorus.  Jill honked in recognition of her fellow waterfowl. I brought everyone out and set the cage near the pond.  We don't have a large pond for them yet, but we are working on it. In the mean time, we have several smaller "ponds" for them to bathe and play in.  Jill immediately came over to investigate, sticking her big beak into the open cage door, sending the five ducks into the far corner.  I shooed her away and tried to get the ducks out.  The eventually headed out the door and straight into the pond.

Everyone seems to be getting along just fine.  All five of the new ducks fit snugly in the pond.  They seem to enjoy floating around.  Yesterday I watched Jill observing from the side.  Then, like the unwanted kid who cannonballs into the pool, she somewhat gracefully slipped into the pond - and displaced enough water to float everyone else up over the sides and out of the water.  The other ducks quacked in disgust while Jill looked as if she were confused about the abrupt ending of the party.

A Zombie Chick Named Wanda

This morning I was walking around the house when I noticed something floating in the duck pond.  It was one of the two baby chicks that Penguin had brooded.  The chick must have been trying to get a drink, fallen in, and then was unable to get back out.  I lifted in gently out of the pond, but it was cold and not moving.

I actually thought that there might be a chance for this little one.  Her eye seemed to still be twitching and she was limp - not rigid - so she hadn't been dead for long.  I watched for breathing, but saw nothing.  I massaged her chest a bit in a pseudo-cpr movement.  I didn't figure that my actions would help anything that wasn't already working, but it couldn't hurt.  Her little chest was still.  I set her down on the milking stand near by and went inside.

Later in the day, I noticed that she was no longer lying on the stand.  I guessed that a crow must have seen her little lifeless body and stolen her away for lunch.  I never once questioned whether or not she was alive again.  That is, until I noticed Penguin clucking to her chicks and TWO chicks came scuttling out of the brush toward their momma.  The dead chick was alive and running around the yard!

The only conclusion we can come up with is that she is actually a zombie chicken now...well, not exactly.  Honestly, I should have thought about the fact that this little chick was COLD and dead.  In EMS, nobody is ever cold and dead - they must be WARM and dead.  Her little chicken body was probably just in shock.  I'm not sure if she was breathing very slowly or not at all when I found her, but the warmth of the sunshine was enough to revive her resilient little body and she came back to us.

I've decided to name her Wanda.  The name has a history behind it.  She nearly drowned in the pond so I figure she must be a bit like a fish...a fish called Wanda.  I sure hope she's a girl cos a boy named Wanda might need a whole different explanation.

My Hero

My husband does not think of himself as a hero.  He would never describe himself as amazing or unusual.  He shies away from words with strength of character or virtue.  But to me, he is all that and more.

We live in a dust bowl.  Outdoors on the ranch this summer can only be described as miserable - windy, dusty, and hot.  But while I cower in the house under the guise of feeding the children or doing the dishes, my husband is outside getting things done.  Without fanfare.  Without complaint.  Because it needs to get done.  It's that simple.

He spent the hottest parts of the day pounding fence posts and stretching wire for the goat pen.  He didn't complain or quit when the wind kicked up.  He just kept right on going.  That's how he is.  If something needs to get done, regardless of how miserable he is, he does it.

At this very moment, my usually pale-skinned, goatie-sporting, sunglass-wearing hubby is one color.  And it matches the earth exactly.  He is sitting in the cab of a bobcat tractor and is redefining the drifts of dirt that line our driveway.  His vision is known only to him.  Through plumes of dust that engulf the tiny tracked monster, he pushes and carves until it looks just right.

It cannot be comfortable to be swallowed up in a cloud of dust.  When dirt devils swing through our yard, I scrunch my eyes tight and hold my breath until they pass.  But J can't do that in his twister.  And he doesn't.  As far as I can tell, from my vantage point over the kitchen sink (I am actually doing the dishes), he just muscles through it like it were a spring breeze.  Nothing amazing or unusual.  Only to me, he is.

No More Free Range...except chickens.

We have finally finished the goat and pig pens.  It has been almost a month that these animals have been running free throughout our five acre farm.  The relief as the final stretch of fence went up is indescribable.  Just so nice to know that things will look about the same outside when I wake up in the morning as they did when I went to bed the night before.  Having the goats and pigs contained has made so many things easier.  We don't have to worry about feeding anymore...the goats cannot get into the shed with the grain buckets anymore.  We don't have to guard the chickens so that they can eat something before the piglets get to it.  We don't have to make sure that the chicken coop is impenetrable during the day so that the piglets cannot get inside and eat eggs.

The piglets and goats do not share my enthusiasm and have been very vocal about it.  But they will adjust.  Ruby and Jaws never did take a walkabout.  They respected the two lines of hot wire we had around them - even when it wasn't on.

J brought the pig shelter over from his dad's house and moved the chicken coop out of the way of the fence line.  Again, I don't know how people live without a crane truck.

We don't have a true shelter for the goats yet, but we put an easy-up in the center of their pen which creates a nice square of shade for them.  We will have to build something before fall so that they have real protection from the elements, but for now, shade is all that they really need.

Upcycled vendor signs for shade and windbreak.

We decided to use some old vendor signs we found as a windbreak and shade-maker for the pens.  I used fencing wire and attached it to the field fence.  I'm always looking for ways to jazz up the farm and these signs were perfect.  They definitely help with the wind (which seems to be constant) and they are creating pockets of shade for the critters inside the pen and out.

We have built a lot of fences, but I think that these two pens are a couple of the best ones.  J is proud enough of them that he is willing to take credit...and that's saying a lot.

New Chicks on the Block

Finally, our two broody hens have hatched out some chicks.  It has been an incredibly long time since they both decided to brood.  There were several false starts that ended in omelets for the piglets.  We didn't invite them to dine, they just helped themselves.  But our two girls were not to be deterred.  What should normally take about three weeks, took almost two months.  And how many chicks did we end up with?  Three.  Yep.  Just three.

There were five eggs left in Penguin's nest.  A few of them had been laid very recently and she had just added them to the clutch.  Since I didn't know which were which and she has abandoned the nest (meaning that she will not wait to hatch any more babies in this clutch), I broke open the eggs.  Sadly, there were two chicks that looked to be in their second week of growth - not big enough to hatch out and live.  The must've been laid later than the other two that hatched.  I don't blame her for giving up.  She had been setting for a very long time.

Because we have only had two roosters available to all of the hens, we know that these babies have at least 1/4 barred rock in them.  It looks like the one that Jasmine has hatched out may end up looking like a barred rock.  It is black with a little yellow spot on its head.  The two that Penguin hatched are a grey color with the yellow spot.  They may have gotten less barred rock in them.  We never know until they feather out completely what they will end up like, but it's a good guess that they will have some of those black and white traits of their fathers.

The great thing about these two finishing up on their nests is that I don't have to question whether or not an egg is fresh.  We can collect all of the eggs every morning from now on.

Fair Pigs?

Ruby and Jaws have been living in the same pen for over a month now.  We haven't seen Jaws show much interest in Ruby yet so we are hopeful that she may come into season this month.  The significance of that can be explained with two words - fair pigs.

Many people who sell fair pigs use AI in order to time their litters.  Others have enough sows that they can guarantee at least a few of their litters will be fair pigs.  We have one sow and one boar.  We have chosen to allow them to mate when it suits them, within reason.  But fair pigs are an awesome thing!

Fair pigs need to be born the end of December or beginning of January so that they are at butcher age the beginning of August (for our fair).  People pay a premium for fair pigs.  Many people actually order their piglets from fancy farms outside of the area - spending lots of money to "buy" their way into ribbons.  Our 4-H group really focuses on the entire experience and most of the kids buy local pigs.  But fair pigs generally go for $150 a piece as opposed to regular butcher pigs that are sold at $75 a piece.

There are a few things that we will have to do to make sure our piglets are good for fair pigs.  First, we will need to make sure that they have access to free-choice grain.  We will build a small creep feeder so that the piglets can eat without momma getting it.  Second, we will work to socialize the piglets from the beginning.  That means spending time with the piglets EVERY day.  Sounds like fun, right?  But remember, it will be January when we start this whole thing.

The biggest benefit for us to have fair pigs is that we have two boys who will be showing pigs next year.  K and M will both be taking pigs to fair and selling them at auction.  In addition, we will have Z raising the backup pigs - so that he doesn't feel left out.  There are always people interested in buying backup pigs at the fair, so we will be able to create a savings account for Z for the following year.  With our pigs giving us fair pigs, we will be able to choose the best out of the litter and not have to purchase piglets from someone else.  I haven't decided whether or not we would sell piglets at $150 or a little less (just because we know how hard it is to afford them for some).  Maybe we will create a scholarship for a piglet.  That'd be cool.

Water Conservation in the House

We had a load of water delivered to the house yesterday - about 4000 gallons.  Our cistern hold 3000, so we had the guy fill our other smaller tanks as well - two 350 gallons and one 250 gallon tank.  It's nice to have a full tank of water again, but it concerned us how quickly we burned through the last load.

Some water cannot be saved.  The livestock take quite a bit of water in the heat of the summer - especially the pigs who like to knock their water over to make a better wallow.  Just filling all of the troughs (and the wallow) takes about 50 gallons and we do that just about every day.  The washing machine is a top load washer and while we know how much we could save with a front load washer, the price is not in our budget at the moment.  So we have to figure about 30 gallons of water per load.  And with three boys and a very dusty farm, I do at least a load a day.

But there are places where you can save water quite comfortably.  So while we were in town yesterday, we got some of the supplies needed to reduce water usage in the house.  Here's a list of what we bought:

1.  Water conserving shower heads - brought usage down from 2.5 gallons/min to about 1.2 gallons/min.  The original showerhead was horrible for conservation.  The average ten minute shower was costing us 25 gallons!  The one that we got for our bedroom was made by WaterPic and actually had 5 settings that could be used at full force (1.2 gallons/min) or reduced to half (.6 gallons/min).
2.  Faucet aerator heads for all faucets - keeps the spray nice and strong but uses almost half the water.
3.  Toilet conversion kit - now, this was a real cool gadget we found called the HyrdoRight Dual Flush.  It takes the place of your original flapper valve in the tank of the toilet and you exchange your flush lever for a two-button system. When you pee, you use the small button and the gadget uses a small amount of water to flush (really just enough to refresh the bowl).  When you poop, you use the larger button and the gadget uses the full tank of water to flush.  It was super easy to install and it has a five year warranty so we figured it was worth a try.  So far, it's great!

We don't notice the difference when using these things in the house - they have very little impact on how you can use your water.  But in the grand scheme of things, we will be saving hundreds of gallons of water a month.  And when you live off-grid, that's HUGE.

Building the New Pens

I think that if you ask any good rancher what the most important skills to have on a farm, fencing would be on the top of the list.  And I agree.  We have built a LOT of fences for our farm.  But this last fence system seems to be the creme de la creme of fences for our family.

We are trying to use things that we already have, as we really don't have the money for new supplies.  One of the most important things for creating a strong fence is the corner post.  We have used a variety of objects for this purpose - pivot legs, round posts, four by fours, even steel pipe.  This time, we used railroad ties.  J dug down about two and a half feet, volleyed the incredibly heavy tie into the hole and then packed it in tight.  He alternated between dirt and water, packing in the layers.  He finished it off with a bag of concrete.  These corner posts aren't going ANYWHERE.

In order to make sure that the corner posts are aligned, we used a string line - something you use to sight a straight line, a square - used to make sure that we are coming off of the corners at a 90 degree angle, a tape measure - to make sure that all of the sides are the same length, and a level - to ensure that the corner posts are plumb.  This isn't a fast process, but it sure is worth the extra time when you end up with a spectacular pen that everyone - including the pigs - admires.

After three days, we have all but one corner post in the ground and have hung two gates.  We cannot put in the final post until we move the chicken coop, as it lines up right in the middle of the coop.  But because we are creating two pens, side by side, we can at least finish one of the pens without the final post.

Hanging gates is another job that takes time to do right.  We start with the gate opening.  We learned awhile ago that when you buy a four foot gate, you need a four foot opening.  They have already planned the additional space for you so if you add six inches for swing, you will have too large an opening in the end.

We used a scrap of four by four to set the gate on so that we could plan for a small gap under the gate when it.  We learned last year that you cannot make the gap small enough to keep piglets in, so we are really just shooting for a gap that won't allow bigger animals out.  With the gate standing on the four by four, we mark the bottom bolt on the post.  This time we broke a bit drilling the first hole, so J pulled out his super-duty drill bits and we drilled it again.  Using the circle end of a crescent wrench, we twisted the first bolt into the post.

Next, we slid the gate over the nub on the bolt (don't know what you call it...it's the hinge part).  We then measured for the top bolt.  Another thing we've learned over time, is that you are best off sliding the hinge on the gate itself down, putting the bolt in so that the nub faces down, and sliding the hinge up onto it.  This way, the pigs can't just walk over to the gate and lift it off of the hinges.  You can guess how we learned this lesson.

Now J is a perfectionist, so we also made sure that the gap we had between the gate and the post was the same at the top and the bottom.  While this isn't exactly necessary, it sure makes for a nice swinging gate.  In addition, because we made sure that our posts were straight, with the gate lining up perfectly on the post, you can "set" the gate in any position and it will stay there.  Pretty slick.

We will be stretching the field fence in the next day or so.  J can't find the fencing nails so we had to head into town to get some.  Once we've got those, we'll be able to finish the first pen.  Should be nice not to have free-range piglets anymore.

Top Ten Reasons NOT to Own a Buck

10.  They pee on their own head.
9.  They stink.
8.  They chase the girls all the time.
7.  They pee on their own head.
6.  They make weird noises while wagging their tongues at you.
5.  They perform inappropriate sexual acts on themselves, in public.
4.  They pee on their own head.
3.  They bash heads with each other until they bleed.
2.  They drink their own urine and the urine of others.

and the number one reason not to own a buck...

1.  THEY PEE ON THEIR OWN HEAD!!!

Zeus is Recovering Well

I thought I should mention that Zeus seems to be back to his usual self.  I still can only guess at what made him so ill - most likely severe dehydration or heat stroke.  It took him over a week to get better.  Looking at him now, over two weeks from the original incident, he is back in full form - chasing the girls and being a grody boy goat.

Piglets in the Coop

We barricaded the chicken coop so that the piglets wouldn't get into it any more and eat eggs.  It worked for quite awhile and our egg production went back up to about a dozen a day.  But this morning, I went out and the barricade was open.  Probably the wind, but it could've been the pigs or the goats who knocked it down.  Unfortunately, the eggs that they ate were the ones that Penguin (one of the broody hens) was just about ready to hatch out.  She has been trying to hatch a brood of chicks for over a month.  Early on, she lost her nest to the piglets and had to start over.  So again, she's without a clutch.

Luckily, the piglets didn't get Jasmine's eggs (the other broody hen).  So I took half of the eggs from Jasmine and put them in Penguin's nest.  Hopefully that will give her a head start.  I know Penguin will not give up until she hatches her brood.  And I would just put her in a brooding box and break her of it, but the neighbor has asked me if I have any chicks for sale and I'd love to get a few over to her.

We will be reinforcing the barricade and then fixing the door in the next few days.  But we have to get the goat fence (which will also become a piglet fence) up first.  Honestly, I think that the chickens will be fine if we can get those piglets out of the picture.