TUVUs et cetera

As we hoped, the vultures found the skunk. 

Yesterday I moved the electronetting a bit to give the chook palace crew some shelter from the brutal northwest wind (in the lee of the palace). We had a hard frost the other morning--had to scrape the truck windows! Also, where I put the netting is in shorter grass/weeds so I can do easier visual checks for any problems.  They are keen to stay in on these colder mornings, then I let them out to range when I'm at the barn in the early evenings. 

Hey!!! Thanks alot!! I was just about to shovel all of that!

Good boy Winny!! Move them along!

There's nothing that makes you giggle quite as much as seeing a flock of guineas trot by.

The guineas eat the seeds of this foxtail grass that the horses don't eat.

A photo from last week or so--you can see the next rotation to the right lush with turnips, radish and millet! Some of the plants are taller than the sheep! I'm really happy they are back at the barn now at night though.  I turn them out into their last turnipy goodness rotation during the day.

It's handy to have the equivalent of a chute when wrangling guineas, ducks, chooks, pretty much anything...I use a four foot section of pex tubing or a long stick (or sometimes you need one in each hand) to push the flocks where I want them.  

Just don't get inside their flight zone!  http://www.grandin.com/behaviour/principles/flight.zone.html

I find the use of sticks to move flocks (especially crazy teenage Muscovy ducks) is very helpful because I can direct them without having to move closer with my body.  All it takes is a six inch step too close and they panic.  Also, the technique of moving animals which utilizes JAZZ HANDS is NOT ALLOWED ON THIS FARM, but I know it's easy to fall into that when you are losing control-it's a desperation move.  (This is a rib at G--during our first few months with the ducks my patience was at an all-time low)  When I would inevitably ask for help with them, G would tend to use this flushing technique, which led to chaos, laughing, me yelling "NO JAZZ HANDS!!!! expletive expletive etc etc" and sometimes needing to give up and try again later.  Luckily they learned some level of recall, which our young ones from this year are learning as well.

Well that's it for now.  Watch list updates next time. Pepper, Sculpin, Kitten, Oakley. Still need to post BC trip photos.  Draft horse days photos. Harvest photos.  Soon enough, there will be snow photos!

Here's a photo of the eclipse from our back deck, taken this morning at around 05:30: