Just another Day on the Farm

I don’t have photo’s today as the hubby snagged the camera to take to work with him.. so I will put up one I took earlier in the week, this is boo cat, one of my wonderful altered farm cats.

We have a spotted a new stay (drop off?) in the area, a short haired black and grey cat, appears in good shape, its a ghost cat at the moment, bold as can be when I spot it out the window, but never spotted when we are outside yet. Only time will tell if its just passing by.

So lets switch gears here, and go to shortages..  I like to keep a med kit, a people med kit, a couple critter kits, I buy a big old tool box and then I tailor it to the barn, or the small or big critters and I need to do one that is just for the horse’s etc, while there are crossover’s, I do a lot of different things based on what is needed.

I don’t like to down to one of anything, I am a firm believer that two is one and one is none, its amazing how fast you can go though something if you need it, and for sure, the odds on a farm are always that you will need it and need it right now.. not the time it takes to get to town or worse for a number of things, to order things in etc.

So we needed to pick up a antibodic eye drop (you know the one, they sell over the counter at all the drug stores for basic pink eye or any other infection) and so I said to hubby, pick up a new box, well.. that turned out to be a easier ask then do.. turns out there is .. wait for it, a national shortage of both the drops and salve currently in Canada..  he stopped at this and that  drug store, same thing told to him each time..

Then my man put his thinking cap on, in a city, there is so many thousands that would or could need this and therefor it made no sense at all to keep going to drugstores in town, so he instead went to a itty bitty drug store in a village on his way home and sure enough they still had some, which is now safely tucked into my human and critter kits..

I will keep a close eye on this and when the supply starts back up again, I will get backups, as a fresh batch can be good for up to three years  Its not the first nor will it be the last thing this year that I ask about that I am told, can’t be got anymore or its on backlog or we are waiting for that. I have been waiting for two months for a certain medication for the sheep to come in..

I find it interesting, its not just that costs are rising, and packages are smaller, its also showing up here and there, that you having trouble just finding something. Has this happened to you in this year?

Well, the birds are all still doing well, we will continue to follow the vets advice and will continue to do the once a week, vit/mineral water and then we will follow up with a the full program again at the 30 day mark..

Plus as soon as the weather allows it, we will continue our cleaning program, o the cleaning, my whole farm looks like a mess, while I am so happy to have the snow melting, it just shows a whole winters worth of barnyard poo!

I know that every single farm owner knows just what I mean, and even you town folks that have a hound, I am sure you know what I mean, its wet and melting and mucky, so the poo’s are not easy to pick up yet but they are visable..

I personally both love spring for so many reasons but I also don’t like the muck! The cows and horse have added in so!!! much more pasture work, unlike the sheep or goats, who’s poo you can just leave in place, the horse and cow must be picked up, during spring/summer/fall, its a once or twice a week chore, you walk along with the wheelbarrel and the rake/shovel and its a hour or two.. but in the spring.. o my, its a huge mucky job just waiting to happen..

In the area’s that I intend to resow, I can hitch up Brandy to the single harrow and ride her back and forth while she pulls it to break up the overwintered poo’s, and to level out some ruts in the pasture to boot. I am so glad I was able to find and buy that last year! it will be put to good use this year for sure..

Most modern folks pull one behind a quad but for us, its all draft or people power..  I am ok with this, an extra hour mucking will do me good.. the fresh air, the sun giving me some natural vit d, the moving of muscle and bone.. all very good things, and as I can do this for a number of weeks before I can really get into the gardens, it will get me back into better work mode when that time comes.

Ah, the gardens, we have started moving snow off of certain spots, more of that will be done this weekend, but up on the side of the house, o yes, there is melting.. Speaking of the house, the heaters have all been turned off, and will not be turned back on till Nov (well my mother in law is coming in sept/oct for a visit, and she gets cold so she might turn on her room heater but for the main house.. no more heaters..  No more dryer other then to finish off Hubbies work cloths and even they will get line dried, just fluffed and dehaired in the dryer

Well, the ferrier was here yesterday and Samwell was a total gentleman, even to the point of lifting his next foot up in the air, love that horse, he is herd bound and its enough to drive me crazy, if you ride him with Brandy, he is a gentleman, try and ride without her, fight, fight, fight and that big old dork is strong..

Still having said that, he is a big old puppy in the pasture and yard, a total pleasure to have on the farm, Brandy had a big old meltdown on getting her feet done, and I will be talking to the vet to get some help on this.. She has to have her feet done, No, if’s or buts, she is trained, when its her and me, I can play feet games, I can clean her feet, I can hold them up, I can play all kind of feet this and that.. but add in the ferrier and it all goes out the window..

So we will go over this with the vet and If needed she will get a little help to chill and mellow out, the horse’s are getting their coggins, and yearly vaccines this month, plus I need to have their teeth checked, I know they both need work but how much is the question.

Brandy should just need basic work done, but Sam, well samwell, he is going to need more then a bit of basic given his age.

Had to laugh, wish I could get a photo of this for you, the sheep are laying down, and the local breeding set of crows are coming, are plucking the falling clumps of winter sheep wool on their backs, the sheep are just chewing cud and relaxed, and the crows are coming and going, clearly their nests are going to be wool lined LOL

I have decided to name the peacocks Vlad and Matilda, they are such sweet birds, I have been treating sam’s scars with Coconut oil and let me tell ya, the horses love to beg for the last bits, if I needed to slip something into their feed, just melt a little coconut oil over top and they would slurp it up like it was candy

Slow but steady my days are coming back together and things are settling, for those that do prayers, can you please add send a healing prayer out to my sister in laws brother, I don’t know how to do this right, I don’t have permission to give his information out, but I want to have the prayers said.. so I guess.. to Val’s Sister in laws brother, for healing prayers, please an thanks.

This is one of the wee chicks that we hatched last year, her and her two sisters have grown into the most lovely hens, that lay Olive colored eggs. Her Parents are shown below..

Love these hens, so pretty, each one’s red is different but they are such good layers, broody girls and great momma’s

Look who got brave and joined her mate outside, they had their first day in the pen and then in the afternoon, they got brave enough to come out of the pen and check out the very close area in the yard, they were very easy to get back into the pen, they were gently herded in and went with the chickens and ducks.. excellent go back to your pen manners on both of them..

Well, will write more soon, the Ferrier is coming soon and I need to get everything ready.

We have had four days in march that are above 0.. FOUR of them.. the rest of the days this month had been below 0, they have been filled with cold, bitter winds and snow, lots and lots of snow..

Sweet Potato Slips are starting!

But despite that, spring has arrived.. I refused to truly start my seed trays, because its clear to me that its going to be longer then normal to get here, so I will be starting late or on time, depending on how you look at it. Spent an hour this morning, washing out garden pots, which are now air drying all over the kitchen

The Peahen is still inside on her ladder

The Peacock has come from the inside to the outside pen, flew up into the big shade tree and is currently on the small barn roof..

Better Photos as they come.. now we see if that king of the farm sitting up there will do his job, I am told that once he considers the farm his, that he will raise a loud amazingly, loud racket anytime something new comes on the farm be it vehicle, two legged or four legged, he job is simple.. be the see all watch bird.. his mate is here to keep him happy!

Well, the rest of the day is going to be spent puttering, then early chores as its game night tonight, so need to do the prep work for that.. Have a grand day, and may you be blessed with blue sky’s, mild temps and warm winds..

Hello Folks,

Blogging is awesome but sometime you need to put down the camera, turn off the computer and put down the keyboard and just “be totally in the present”

Which is where I have been in the past few days..  and while I could say.. ah, I am behind, I am behind, I am instead just going to march on forward, I will get the March Challenges all done, even if it means some of them being done in the first few days of April..

There have been a few personal things going on that we are dealing with and I am not now ready to share with the world, its not related to farming or things I have made a personal choice to try and share, the good and the bad on.  Time might or might not give me the distance needed to share..

So lets get a bit caught up, first we have had no bird loss’s since we started treatment, there is a part of me that is surprised it could be this easy, treatment/cleaning and a bit of extra care, but I will take it as the blessing it is.

It certainly cut into my planned Bird sale, I came home with very few birds compared to any other year that’s for sure.. but I didn’t come home empty handed either, I ended up with a breeding pair of peacocks, a lovely male and female, unrelated, one from a breeder in Ontario and one from a breeder way past Quebec city. The boy is quite young yet, he will not get his full display in till he is two, they are both blue shouldered, so hopefully we will have peacock wee babies arriving at some point this year..

Now I am sure a few of you, just went Peacocks? I know, they are considered “pretty birds” and they are but I am after one of the things that most folks consider a downside.. they are alarm birds, they are said to be very alert, very watchful and that they sit high up on barns or in the tree’s and that they will sound a alarm on anything and everything, that would include vehicles, or vistors be it four legged or two legged. Given the spring we have had, adding in a extra alarm system in terms of these birds made a lot of sense.

The march challenge is almost done and thank heavens, I have never had such a rough month on the challenge, most of it was related to the winter we are having and the rest is related to personal health goals.. it certainly got the point across to me on a few things that I will talk about in overview.

Well, that gets you mainly caught up, and I need to get back to the day..

This is going to be quick folks, I have a lot on the plate today.. Treatment Round one was done yesterday morning, and so far, as yesterday and up to this morning, we have had no further loss’s, they are a recoup/recovery day today with extra’s in their drinking water.. Tomorrow is round two of their treatment, and then we wait..

FG

Ok, 2014 I am ready for a change.. I am putting it out there.. enough already..   I have had more issues in the past three months then I normally have in a number of years.. stop now!

Moving on.. here is the first line of defence for the birds, they are going to all get, as are pretty much everyone else, we are doing a mass treatment, cleaning so that everyone gets the first line of defence on this..

We are doing a parasitic dewormer in everyone’s water, this is by far the easiest way to confirm that everyone is getting treated on the same day..

Then I will wait, watch and send out a poo sample and we will see..  this is planned to be repeated in 30 days.

I hope this helps.. On the positive side, my ewe with the limp is doing well and the lamb with the bump leg is also growing and healing very well.. thankfully “knock” on wood, so far, everyone else seems just fine..  Please stay that way!

We are getting a break in the weather, we have four days Friday/sat/sun/Monday of above 0 and its all going to be about.. clean, clean, clean! to go with the meds..

Hello Folks

Sorry, I am behind on my writing, things are going on that have left me a bit more busy then I am normally, nothing that time won’t fix 🙂

The challenge itself is going and I can see the end in sight, and let me tell ya, the first week of being able to eat from the store, will have a lot of salad, and fresh fruits in it..  that’s for sure.. I will start up my daily juicing..

In fact I think if this challenge this year has a big lesson its the fact that while we can eat local and from the pantry, even so, we truly programmed to think “global”, a perfect example is getting Vit C from Spruce tips, easy to do, I have them in the yard, and there are lots of great ways to bring them into your meals, but so many others are, I will dry lemon’s or limes or have lemon juice etc..  and that’s great up to a point..  but I really do think its worth learning what you can get locally as well.

So now to a good topic, I have been given permission from Dh to “softly” look for our new riding horse, My dad is looking at barns and he is working on getting things set up for having his horse’s, I don’t expect Sam to leave anytime soon, I am not even sure if he will leave this year, but I am hopeful that it will be ready by this fall, if they are going to room and board him while dad works for the winter, then it might make more sense for him to just stay here, that is up in the air at this time.

But what is not up in the air, is that while general riding of Sam is good, if I am going to put many hours of training and clinics and do different things, it would be better to do these with a horse that was staying for many years. I adore the big old guy, but my folks picked him because he was a good fit for them, and I think that is still the case 🙂

So I am gently looking now for our second horse, I have a good list of “rules” and so it might take  a while to make it happen 🙂 or the right horse might fall into my lap, you never can tell..

Now onto the not so good news..  I am having a fowl issue.. its related to a intestinal bug that one of the new birds brought onto the farm and its causing some real issues..

Now the big problem becomes, the healthy adult fowl are immune but carriers but put a little stress in there and BAM, we have real problems.. Start bringing in wee ones and suddenly, I am throwing good money after bad..

So there are a few ways to deal with this..

Treat everyone with dewormer and antibodics and see if we can kick it from the current healthy but carrying birds, combined with total spring cleaning of pens, composting of bedding and vitconing all pens before putting in fresh bedding and I mean all the pen, the floor, the walls, the perches, the nesting box’s everything..

And then repeat in two weeks and then see what happens.. This is where we are at now, I don’t like using medication for no reason in feed but when something like this happens, I am so thankful that we have vets and medication.

OR

We cull, we cull every single fowl off the farm, putting all the healthy ones into the freezer for us, we clean everything out, we Vitcon it all.. and we go the whole summer/winter with no birds, and we bring in all new chicks in late winter and start all my programs over..

That’s what I am looking at right now.. and I am split.. I know, that the better choice is Cull hard now.. clean, treat an carry over the laying hens till fall.. cull them all.. going into winter with clean pens, and no fowl on the farm at all.. and then bring in all new chicks, ducklings or pullets, or goslings in late winter and start over..

But they have names and some of them have been with me for up to six years now.. they are not just “birds” they are part of the farm, they are part of my day, they have jobs to do, no fresh eggs, no babies for the whole season, no bug patrol on the gardens, no fly control in the barns and yards..

Torn, so torn.. and that is where I am at..  FG

O spring, where are you! LOL, I still have not gotten to tap, I still have not a single sap run yet, its all frozen..

but I have faith, I went in on a bulk order with some other local garden folks and I will be getting 25 northern short season sweet potato’s slips coming in around the first week of june. Now I like to eat sweet potato’s but I have never grown then before, so this is a new to me project, I need to do research on them and what will need to be done and might even need to plan a little different on the garden in terms of moving things around to make sure they get their best spot, I also need to move my hops around, I am going to split them up and move some to the food forest and some to a different spot for summer growth.

This morning’s breakfast was canned peaches with oatmeal, lunch was the same soup as yesterday and supper is going to be pasta with sauce with white sauce with lots and lots of spinach and stirfry veggies..

I decided that with the weekend plans that I would wait till the lower daytime rates and then burn though the weeks laundry, so it all done for the weekend, I have two loads left and all caught up..  so that is off the plate on the weekend.

The more I can get done in the house today, the more we can spend the weekend outside, IF it warms up as much as they say, I want to get the taps in for the sap run.. I want to work in the barn, I want to clear snow from a small area by the side of a building and get wintersown tubs out and in that area, and I want to clean pens a bit.

Ps, if any of you are local and have early to mid-season raspberry canes, that you might be willing to part with a few babies or canes, I would be ever so grateful, I would be willing to do a plant swap if I have anything you might be interested in? Let me know, I have late season Rasberry canes, they produce well but I need to get my growing season more staggered and I am a little stunned at the current prices for canes online, I will own up to the fact that I have never bought raspberry canes no matter where I have lived, I just ask around and someone is clean out babies..

I know that the local apple orchard has a good patch, I will talk to them and see if I can get a few babies, and the local beekeeper has a huge! massive patch, I should talk to him as well.. anyway drop me note if you are local to rockland, casselman, Bourget or can do a meet and greet in Ottawa if needed.. Thanks..

I am very hopeful that it will be warm enough that I will be able to ride one or both days, we will see..