Not too ambitious yet...can you blame me?

Well my first real post of the year was supposed to be a look back at the past year, but the cold has wiped me out this week and I just have a few things to mention while my subconscious works on the year in review while I sleep.

Hoping to get Oakley a new heavyweight turnout-his doesn't fit anymore now that he's bigger, and after he destroyed his jacket last year and I had it 'repaired' I think they just took it in too much for the big boy, so it's time to let it go, or pass it on to the boarding stable down the road.  We've noticed a few horses and a great big Belgian mule that don't have coats, and we'd love to see the coat given to one of them. 

 

It's hard to believe, but it's about to get even colder. Expecting -30C on Sunday. What's also hard to believe is that we STILL AREN'T READY FOR WINTER. Seriously.  Granny Rose was shivering this morning, and her coop was -14C. Brutal.  It was very sunny today, so their run got up to -7C.  Tomorrow we will move the last two hens from the barn tractor, and then take their heat lamp and add it to Granny Rose's.  I'll also have to cover the skylight, since it just seems that their is a ridiculous amount of heat loss in there, despite the insulation we've put in.  Maybe this week I'll finally figure out my sewing machine and get some coats made for them....

Against my better judgement I decided to go along with Glenn's plan to move the young chooks and two roosters out to the chook palace, now that poor Mr. Flan is living in the garage attempting to heal from his second bout of frostbite.  This week we caught them all, and moved them out there.  Reasons I hate this idea:  introducing new hens and roosters to a peaceful and settled flock is sure to screw things up (and stress me out).  Sure enough, there is mayhem out there.  Even if this what needed to be done so we could have more electricity available to run heated waterers and more heat for the backyard coops, this was not an ideal week to do it.  Add the stress of extreme cold weather and flock introductions and you are asking for trouble (and extra work, which is what Glenn was trying to help me avoid) Not to mention if any of the birds get wounded in scuffles, I really don't have any more hospital space available.  Shoo Shoo is not adapting, so we may have to pull her and bring her to Granny's coop too.  We also pulled Venga Choo, since for some reason roosters target any blonde chooks and torment them horribly.  She's not having the greatest time with Granny Rose.  So at least twice a day I've been bringing out water and feed to Shoo Shoo in the palace and Venga Choo in the Granny Rose coop, and making sure they get a chance to eat and drink without getting bullied.  This is not the type of weather for a chook to go to bed hungry...

They were difficult to catch, and really stressed out. I checked the first bird for parasites, and she had none. So stupid me, I didn't check the others.  When I caught the second to last bird, I checked her too, and she has lice. ***?!!###@!!!!!!!!  Expletives. Like I needed this!!! So I treated her with ivomec, and we coaxed the one hen we put in with the Granny Rose crew back that that house.  If she had them I would hate for her to spread them to that coop.  But a bigger problem remains now.  I have to somehow catch the two roosters and treat them, and all of the other hens now that they might have mated with them and spread the parasite.  It was easy to do with the other chooks back in the summer, because they knew us.  But these chooks are definitely in their freaky teenage frame of mind and will test me...My best option is to wait until they've all gone to roost, and turn off their dim amber light (25 watts is still plenty for them to see me by), and then go out around midnight when they should be good and torpored, and try to treat them.  Then that also means a withdrawal period on eggs.  I really wish I'd checked them all.

Glenn is working on a batch of beer tonight--a British bitter.  He's a little bitter himself, since he was hoping to use the kitchen downstairs for his brewing adventures, but instead our guineas and sick chicken live down there right now, and that doesn't lend to sanitary brewing.  But it won't be forever.   He won't have a carboy to use to brew beer if he doesn't stop laughing at Chicken Thistle Farm podcast while trying to wash it.  That couple reminds us of ourselves on so many occasions....

 

Well, on that note, I need a beer myself. 

 

Some photos from the past few weeks:

 

Too bad I didn't realize my point and shoot didn't focus...blame it on the Xmas rum and nog.



He decided to use me as a scratching post...I managed to hang on...