Update on the Avian Flu

April 1, 2017April 2, 201712 Comments

As I told you on the 15th of March the Avian Flu has been seen in our county, and so far our chickens, and my geese Polly and Fredrik are flu free. I have made it a point each day to check beaks and bills in the AM and PM to be sure no one has a runny nose. This is the good news.

STOP READING RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE IN THE LEAST BIT SQUEAMISH!

And so it was that I found my Black Cochin rooster, Pagliacci had fevered and swollen eyelids on his right eye. I picked him up and took him into the mudroom to see what was going on. I expected to be cleaning debris out of his eye and then treating with an antibiotic eye drop… except that his eye was missing. Gone. It was a chilling discovery as he had been fine in the morning when I let him out. I did the only kind thing I could do and put him out of his misery, but I must tell you that every time I thought about him for the next couple of weeks I was chilled and sad all over again.

My 14 lb, big fella came to me from Murray McMurray Hatchery as a free chick; they are almost always a rooster. He got his name for ~~singing~~ crowing loudly every time he heard my voice or saw me coming into the chicken yard. He was so fluffy feathered he looked for all the world as if he were wearing a clown suit! I am sad to tell you I never got a photo of him fully grown, but if you follow the link above you will see an illustration that looks exactly like him.

Raising animals on the farm is certainly not for the timid or weak of heart. It’s all fun and frolic until someone gets hurt and then you have to step up and do your best for the injured animal. Sometimes, as in this case, it is very hard to do.

Goose Pail Tales: a goose’s gotta dibble

May 16, 2013May 16, 201339 Comments

Living in an older home, on land that has been ranched, farmed and subdivided since the very early 18oos, leads to some interesting finds.

Digging for gardens, or even just the rainstorms we get, can bring many interesting items to the surface. Pocket knives, old bottles and tools, items thrown into the burn pile that wouldn’t burn, and more. There are tales of Indian arrowheads to be found everywhere here in Alabama, and that should not be surprising as this was once Native Amerindian land. Though I confess, I have yet to find any of this valuable treasure here on the Farmlet.

What I do find, after the fact, are the items the rain loosens and brings up. Things my geese will dibble up out of the soil, and like a Raccoon, will take to the water pail and wash.

To my chagrin, these items look dangerous and non-foodworthy. For your interest, or not 😉 , here are some treasures my geese have collected so far this year…

Each of these items were found at the end of the day when I dumped their water pails!

Row 1, L to R: rusted clockwork; a 2 in. reflector; a plastic soldier who’s seen some pretty serious action; an 8 in. plastic zip tie; a small bit of white plastic; a hose washer; a strange, plastic, locking clip; and a rubberized covering for a tool tip.

Row 2, L to R: An ancient bit of barbed wire; wire; a row of nails from 1 inch to 5 inches in length; two bits of *twisted mystery metal; and an underwire from a rather large cupped bra, with plastic coating missing. Eaten? 😛

Row 3, L to R: An eye screw with a bit of wire attached; a bolt with nut and washer rusted in place; an aluminum screw cap; a fuse from an automobile; a rather sharp piece of heavy gauge, cut aluminum; two miscellaneous bits of twisted, aluminum wire; and …

Row 4, L to R: Various pieces of glass from broken windows and old glass bottles! I find this everywhere on the property! I don’t know why we’re all not missing toes! Scary.

When I see the items the geese leave behind in their water, I often wonder how much of it I don’t see. That is to say, how much is small enough to be EATEN!

When I prepare my chickens for the table I have seen bits of glass they swallowed whole, usually pea sized or smaller. Thankfully, their crops and the rocks they swallow work the edges off the glass shards and apparently with no harm to the bird. But then I have to wonder…

What have the geese swallowed?

I haven’t a clue. I can only assume that if any items were swallowed, they were nothing deleterious to their health!

It is going to rain again today and tomorrow

~*~*~*~

*INTERESTING: I went looking for barbed wire history, and found this display:

(Available for sale HERE)

I may have a bit of antique Crandal ‘Champion’ ca. 1879, or Hodge ‘Spur Rowel’ (sp?) ca. 1887. Neither of them collectible in their rusted state, but a fun find!

~*~*~*~

Hm, if I train them right, maybe they’ll find something really good and I’ll get rich!

!!!

In the dark with Georgie and Frellnick

November 11, 201248 Comments

Tonight, as every night after the sun goes down, I went out to put away the chickens and geese. As it often happens, there is no photo-op to capture the moments that happen at “Duck-butt Thirty” of an evening, and so I am left to tell you what happened tonight in the dark…

As stated, each night after sunset I grab a flashlight and head out to put everyone to bed. I start on the north end of the property and work my way south. First I put away the girls using my torch to light the way into their goose chalet. Lately this has been a battle because for some reason Georgie and Frellnick run opposition and chase the girls away from the entrance and into the paddock. So usually I have to chase them out first, and then guide the girls to bed.

Tonight I had little resistance from them so went about getting the girls in and then walked away to pick up a few things that had blown about in today’s high winds. When I turned around the boys took off and began dashing at, and biting, the side of the well house! I had seen this behavior before but never really caught on to what they were doing. That is until tonight…

They are trying to chase away the big, black geese that are invading their territory! I turned the light away from the walls and then back again to see if I was right in my theory. Well, sure enough! They stretched their necks, and ran at the walls hissing and trying to bite those big black geese again!

So now I am wondering…

Are they seeing their shadows and mistaking them for interlopers? Perhaps this is the reason they have been “chasing” the girls at bedtime? I will have to pay closer attention tomorrow at Duck-butt Thirty and report back in my next post.

😉