Random Lunch – 6/2/10

I know, I know… I haven’t done a random lunch post in forever.  But I had some things to show and tell you that don’t fit together and I am lacking the necessary creativity to come up with a clever title.  Or even a somewhat decent title. 

First of all, the hearing that was scheduled today for the guy that starved the Fairmont horses was for a different set of animal cruelty charges from back in January!  Add that to the arrest for animal cruelty last November, when he was caught dragging a Clydesdale down the road with his truck, and this guy has been busy!  The hearing for the latest charges from April is set for June 17th at 1:00 pm.  At least we only have a few more weeks to wait!

 

There are two places on my porch where the chickens enjoy laying their eggs:  1) in the left over beet pulp that I haven’t had to feed in months, and 2) in the opened bag of Pro Mix potting soil.  Since all my adult girls are going crazy with the egg laying right now, the supply doesn’t always match the demand and I end up with two hens trying desperately to lay an egg in the same place.

 

If I could figure out which rooster is tearing up my girls so badly, he’d be in the freezer in no time!

 

I found a new use for my rabbit hutch.  A friend had some ducklings that one of her hens had hatched and raised, and she needed to find a home for them.

 

Besides the fact that “mom” doesn’t swim, they’re still a little young to go into the pond.   The rabbit hutch is a temporary holding facility until the other new chickens are out of the outhouse coop.  You see, this so-called friend, also gave me 13 young chickens (because I obviously do not have enough chickens already).   They had been hatched and raised at her place and were “mutts”.  There are 7 hens and 6 roosters – the roosters will end up in the freezer once Glenn comes home next week to do the dirty work!

 

There was another duckling, half the size of the others and crippled on one leg.  His foot was folded and turned in.  The poor little guy would fall over on his back and get stuck there.  He’d lay there until I came around to pick him up and turn him back over.  I felt so bad for him!  When they first came to my place, I had put them in the old Silkie hutch in the coop.  But the crippled duckling kept getting out somehow, and wandering around the coop trying to figure out how to get back to mom.  Last night was when I went out to the coop to move them to the porch, but I couldn’t find the poor little guy.  I guess he escaped the hutch again and this time was found by a cat before I could get to him.  I looked everywhere and listened for his chirping, but couldn’t find him. 

R.I.P little crippled duckling.

**edited to correct my many misspellings.  One day, I will learn to proofread before hitting the Publish button!

Wild Friends

Louey and Dewey the ducks were killed by a critter last Wednesday, leaving Huey all by his lonesome, with only occasional visits from the guineas to keep him going.  We did end up getting him another buddy, but before we did, he found his own new friend:

 

A lone Canadian goose showed up late Thursday and became instant buddies with Huey. 

 

They hang out together constantly, and the goose has managed to get Huey out into the deeper part of the pond for the first time. 

And Huey has taught the goose that when I call “chickie chickie chickie”, you’d better run to the front of the house for scratch grains before the chickens eat it all.

 

Give it a few weeks and the goose will be marching into the house and demanding food along with the rest of the beggars!

Quack

I built the ducks their own little house yesterday to put down by the pond then we moved them into it yesterday evening, a few hours before dark.  The idea was to lock them in it for a couple of days so they’d know where it was safe to hide, then let them loose to wreak havoc on the frog population.

Have I mentioned that I’m impatient?  I let them out of their house this morning and sat in the grass watching them make their way to the water and trying to decide what to do first.  Drink?  Bathe?  Eat? 

 

Waddle around and quack in confusion?

 

Once they were in the pond they had a grand time bathing and eating the algae.

 

Then it was time to explore a bit…

 

and go for a swim.

 

We left for a few hours and came home expecting them to still be in the pond doing what ducks do.  It was a little disappointing to find them snoozing in the shade of their house.  I hope they don’t get eaten!

It’s a simple concept, really…

We have a pond, therefore, we need ducks.  

Meet Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  Please don’t ask me which one is which, or even if they are all males.  I have no clue.  They’re cute and that’s all that matters around here.

 

 

Glenn picked these out.  The two blacks are Cayugas and the other is a Blue somethingorother.    They’re in the outhouse coop with the young pullets for now, but we’re building them an enclosed house down by the pond today.  In another week or two we’ll let them out to start eating the billions of toads and frogs in our pond and cleaning up the algae that’s starting to grow.

 

 

 

There was also another four-legged addition to our farm yesterday… go check her out.