Mouse Follow-Up

I knew that my last post would provoke feelings of sympathy in folks of a more gentle nature. The comment was made that mice have a purpose, this is true and I can even tell you what those purposes are.

Mice provide protein for other living creatures, they are on my cat Garfield's preferred delicacy menu. Followed closely by beautiful song birds. Mice also provide nutrition for snakes, foxes and hawks to name only a few.

They are also used in research for diseases, product, pharmaceutical and food safety, they are sacrificed for our well being and the well being of our pets.

You could say that the mouse is a very useful creation, he is also noble to give up his life for the benefit of others.

That said, I do not condone the use of mice or the killing of mice strictly for human entertainment, even though I do admit to laughing when the chickens are fighting over one.

I have not been able to photograph the feeding frenzy that a group of chickens will lower themselves to when one catches a mouse. It is just too comical to see the owner of the mouse run for it's life with 25 other chickens in hot pursuit.

The mouse is usually stripped away several times and the pursuit changes direction with each steal, the pursuers sometimes lose track of who they are suppose to be chasing. It reminds me of a football game.

I have been able to snap a picture of the capture of a frog but when a hen is running for it's life, it is very difficult to get the shot while running with the rest of the chickens, they don't play fair, they try to trip you.

Coyote Visit

Early yesterday morning my DH went outside and saw a deer jump over the fence from the wooded side of our property into our pasture. Then he saw a coyote come over the brink of the hill in our pasture, the deer turned around and ran back towards the woods, the coyote pursued her.

I had just been commenting on where the fox had gone. We were seeing the fox just about every day, then all of the sudden he just disappeared. We haven't seen him for several days. I have heard that foxes won't stay were coyotes spend time. I don't know if that is true or not but it seems to always be the case here. This is the first coyote that we have seen in a long time. We haven't even been hearing them at night.

I am happy that I don't have to deal with the fox anymore but I might have a worse problem now. We have never lost any livestock to a coyote but they do make me nervous.

We have been seeing a very large buck in our lower pasture. He doesn't just have a large rack but is just massive all over. He must be older than what we usually see because he has a very large neck and shoulders. He looks like the big bucks that you see on the covers of hunter's magazines. We think that he is probably staying on our island. Indian Creek crosses our property and it splits in one place to form a fairly large island. We have had the bigger and more experienced bucks live on that island before, but not for the last couple of years.

I know that my brother-in-law and my cousin both read my blog, so they will probably want to come down for a visit during deer season after they read this. I also told a couple of deer hunters at Church about him, so his days may be numbered, as long as I get a few good steaks out of the deal, I won't cry over him. They just came out with a new study that meat-eaters don't have the brain shrinkage that vegetarians have. I believe that I could have told you that, but that certainly explains a lot.

Hello Ike

The last two days have been miserable around here. We walked out the door and into a sauna. I won't say this too loudly but I much prefer cold weather to humid weather. Hot is fine as long as it isn't humid. Yesterday and Friday were just unbearable, you didn't have to do anything and you were soaking wet with sweat.

Hurricane Ike or what is left of him is suppose to arrive here today with heavy rain and a wind advisory, wind gusts up to 45 mph. That could make it dangerous here, we might get hit by flying chickens. Ike is suppose to bring cooler, less humid air this week and I am really looking forward to being able to milk without sweating.

We sat outside while we were finishing up feeding last night and looked around us and realized that we have a lot of chickens. They were everywhere we looked. I gave away one of my Banty hens with her seven chicks, so I think that I have 30 or 31 left.

My chickens are fairly strange, most everything else around here has the sense to stay out of the rain but not them. It was pouring rain on Friday and they just went about their daily routine like the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.

We are so thankful for the rain, our pastures were drying up. Hopefully this rain will help out with the hay crop and they will get another cutting. There doesn't seem to be the demand for hay that there was last year though, the farmers are trying their best to keep the prices up but no one is buying because so many people dumped their livestock last year.

My chickens are working hard to provide us with eggs. I am getting at least seven eggs, that we can find, everyday. I found a nest of five eggs just lying out in the yard, that lets you know how badly our grass needs mowing. I am sure that some of our chickens are laying in other places that we don't know about. I just wish that I had some regular egg customers, that I could rely on. We do sell them but it is just here and there. No one that comes here to the house and picks them up on a regular basis.

My Polish rooster has finally found a name, everyone has been calling him Elvis and since I haven't come up with a better name, I guess that one will have to stick. I am very pleased with all of my roosters, none of them are aggressive and as long as they stay that way, they can stay. Rocky has us a little puzzled, we haven't quite figured him out yet. Elvis is popular with the young hens, doesn't that just figure? Bootstrap has always just partnered with one hen. The fox managed to get his first two wives and he actually grieved over them. He is exclusively keeping time with my last Mille Fleur D'Uccle hen now and that leaves poor Rudy, my D'Uccle rooster, all alone.

Staying Alert

Our Department of Farmland Security Terror Alert has been raised here with the addition of 15 new chickens. The Fox could not resist coming in closer yesterday to look over the new arrivals. My Husband was outside and heard one of the new hens complaining bitterly, so he looked for the source of her irritation and saw the fox licking his lips nearby. By the time the DH got into the house for a weapon, the fox had disappeared.

So I have my marching orders for today, I am to keep a sharp eye out for the intruder. I have already walked the perimeter twice this morning with my new scoped Savage .17 H.M.R. that I have not even shot yet.

I will have to do some research before I am able to say for sure what kind of chickens these all are but they are a colorful bunch. One that I think is a red sexlink is already a favorite of mine, she follows me around everywhere I go. As soon as I have time I will post pictures of them and maybe someone can help me out on what they are.

One Down

It has been a busy week for us, we have had several things going on, I haven't had much time to blog. Biscuit, our yearling leopard filly did go to live at her new home in Texas on Tuesday.

Sometime on Wednesday, one of my Barred Rock Chicks disappeared. I saw her early in the day but later in the afternoon she was gone. I think that several of my banty chicks are roosters and whoever is taking these chickens must just prefer hens. Here is a picture of some of my banty chicks challenging each other, they are probably roosters, I can't tell yet. But we knew that both of my Barred Rock chicks were hens.

Yesterday morning while I was outside, I noticed something was off. I couldn't put my finger on it at first but then it dawned on me that I could hear nothing but silence. All of my chickens were hiding and not making a sound. Usually they are a pretty noisy bunch, so I started looking around.

There were two small hawks flying around overhead. Normally I know when there are hawks about because the crows are constantly calling them names and trying to run them out of their air space. The crows were away from the post for some reason, leaving my chickens unprotected. I got my camera and took a picture of one of them. They finally gave up the hunt and flew away.

Later in the day, I noticed that the chickens were still quiet, so I looked around again and didn't see anything, but it gave me a strange feeling every time I went outside.

I had taken my glasses off to fix my hair, I went into the bedroom for something and passed by the window. I saw what I thought was one of my Rhode Island Reds on the far side of the goat lot. With my glasses off I couldn't tell what it was for sure but I have never seen my chickens in that area. I got my glasses and looked again, it was a fox, he was just relaxing, scratching and rolling in the new mowed grass.

I grabbed up my rifle and slipped out the door. It was a long shot for a rifle but I embarrassed myself again anyhow. He jumped away from the spot where the bullet hit the ground beyond him. The sound of the rifle didn't scare him because I have desensitized him to gunfire because I have shot at him so many times and missed. He walked away a few feet then stopped in the driveway and looked back at the place he had been, he was closer to me now and a much better shot. I missed again and he went into the high weeds.

I knew that he would circle around the barn/house and all I had to do was wait on him, so I went into the house and got a different rifle. Maybe it was the rifle and not me, right? I watched the goats who were watching him, so I knew right where he was. I stood inside the back door of the barn and waited for another perfect shot. But something went wrong, while I was waiting with a clear view of where he would have to come down the hill, he was already there. I was a bit confused but I had a good shot, so I took it. I missed again and again he jumped away from the spot I hit and came towards me. I had another perfect shot and of course I missed again.

Four missed shots in one day. How could I live with myself? The shame of it all. I went to Camp Meeting last night and when I returned home, he was sitting on top of a row of big round bales of hay that are sitting beside our driveway. He looked at me and laughed. I drove down the hill to get my gun and try again but he was gone when I got back.

I wouldn't have minded him so bad if he would have taken roosters instead of my hens. But this morning when I went to get Cooter out of his pen to stake him out. Angel started barking at something at the top of the hill. I looked up there and saw two foxes chasing each other and playing. I yelled for my DH and gave him a chance to deal with the problem. Though it is hard for me to admit, he got one of them with his first shot. I will never live this down.

I did find out why I was confused about the fox's location the day before, there were two of them. I am sure that we will have to deal with the other one at some point. They seem to love this place. Since we got Angel we hardly ever see or hear Coyotes but we always have skunks and foxes. They know now that she can't get out of the goat lot, so they are safe from her. They also know that I can't hit the broad side of a barn, so they are also safe from me.

There are two wild turkey hens with chicks staying here also. I don't know why the foxes prefer my chickens to the turkey chicks, maybe they are harder to catch or the turkey hens are meaner than my roosters.

Busy Again

Busy, busy, busy, I have so much to do that I am actually looking forward to winter. My Husband will be very upset by this comment. I don't have time to blog but I will use it as an organization tool.

I finally got most of my Spring surge of rope halter orders finished. I currently only have two outstanding orders that total 6 halters. Then this morning I got an order for 17 more halters.

I am in the process of building a large website for a Barrel Racer and Trainer. I have all of the information and pictures that I need to finish it, I just need to pull it all together.

I also have been asked to do a local website for our community that I would really like to do a nice job on, it will be complicated with a lot of information, I am donating the entire site and my time. At this point, I am trying to figure out how I want to do it. I will post a link to it here when it is finished.

We have sold a horse and possibly another one, this requires some major attention this week because someone will be here to pick one of them up on August 4th, she will have to have all of her paperwork and Vet exam done this week.

I really need to update our website but it always gets pushed to the bottom of my "to do" list. I don't even have the new foals on there yet.

Dishes and laundry are an unending problem for me. As is Cooter who has to be moved from location to location throughout the day. Plus goats and chickens to be fed and cared for.

I spent most of the morning this morning looking for one of my Mille Fleur D'Uccle hens, she has totally disappeared orphaning her three chicks, this is the same hen that was picked up by the hawk a week or so ago. I really hate that I am loosing my broody hens but especially my Millies. I haven't been able to find any feathers anywhere, so it must have been a hawk that got her.

I am thinking about renaming our place to The Fox and Hawk Food Farm or Predator's Ranch.

I Failed

I am usually pretty in tune with the sounds outside the house but two of my Granddaughters were here yesterday and I didn't hear the fox catch one of my Barred Rock hens.

I took the girls out to the sandbox during the late afternoon and noticed that she wasn't with her two chicks. They were searching for her and confused. But since the banty hens have been leaving their chicks at times, I thought she might just have wondered off somewhere.

Late in the evening after my DH got home from work, I took the oldest girl out with me to milk and still no hen. We started looking around and I found many of her feathers in one of our stud pens.

When I went back inside, I asked my Husband to go look for her while I stayed with the girls. When he returned, he said that it was a fox and that he followed the trail of feathers to the woods behind the neighbor's house and that he has a path under the fence.

As soon as our Son picked up the girls, we went out to try to catch the chicks. It would have made a good funniest video. There was a lot of running, tripping and getting in each others way in the chase that ensued. After many failed attempts my DH managed to pen them to the ground with the long handled swimming pool skimmer. Then I picked them up and put them in a cage. All in all, it was a great exercise routine.

I am pretty upset with this fox and myself. I have had several good shots at him that I have missed. He always shows up at noontime but he may go for weeks without coming at all. I guess he gets tired of having chicken all of the time. I can sympathize, I don't like chicken very often myself. I am however, longing for some raw fox meat.

Little Red

I lost another chicken yesterday evening. This was one of the very first chickens that we got. We called her the Little Red Hen. She was special, all of the roosters fought over her and she was the bossiest of the hens. She would fight anything that got in her way. Little Red was just a red banty hen that wasn't very pretty but she had a lot of personality. She laid a medium sized egg, she was the only hen that we had that did that.

I saw her throughout the day yesterday and even saw her during the evening hours. But late in the evening after it cooled down some, I got in the swimming pool. I know that you are suppose to swim when it is hot but my pool water gets pretty warm after several days of hot weather and who wants to swim in hot water on a hot day? While I was in the pool I did see a hawk. That was just about the time that the chickens were going to roost. My DH asked me where she was, after he went to gather the eggs.

Since we had just shot at the fox the day before, my guess is that the hawk got her. I didn't hear a struggle and she just disappeared so suddenly. I haven't even found any feathers. I was hoping that she would come into the barn/house with the rooster this morning, just like every morning, but he came in alone.

Weaning

I finally got around to starting the weaning process for Copper and Zinc today, it is way overdue. It isn't a complete weaning just a start. I put them in the dog kennel for tonight, then I will milk Calico for the very first time tomorrow morning. I will turn the kids back in with her after they have been fed grain in the morning. I thought that they would cry all evening but so far they haven't made a peep.

Our fox returned this evening. I was just getting ready to milk Cinder and had gone to the back of the barn/house to put grain in the feeder on the milk stand, I hadn't brought Cinder in yet. I looked out the back door and there was that sneaky fox sniffing around.

I went directly into the house and said, "FOX" to my DH who was on the computer at the time. I grabbed the .22 magnum rifle and as I went back out the door, I said, "FOX" again, still no response, so I yelled it at him. That time he heard me and jumped up and got my .22 rifle.

I just stood inside the back of the barn and waited on my Husband to shoot because I have missed him before and I thought that maybe the DH might be able to hit him. He waited until the fox came closer and he had a perfect shot, but he is just as bad as me. The fox jumped straight up in the air when he shot and took off to the woods.

Foxy

Well, my fox problems have returned. I was missing one of my new banty hens yesterday. I was hoping that she was sitting on a hidden nest somewhere but I think that I got an answer today at noon.

I just happened to be looking out the window and a fox came running down the hill in a blur of speed, right into the front door of the barn, that is where the two Mille Fleur D'Uccle hens stay with their broods. I heard startled chickens scattering and Angel started barking.

I grabbed my rifle and flew out the door, I must have clicked the safety off as I ran out. The rooster was chasing him out the front door with me right behind him. The fox made a beeline up the hill, then stopped and turned around. He didn't have anything in his mouth and he was a perfect target. I pulled up and took aim but the trigger wouldn't budge. I guess I must have clicked the safety on again as I pulled the gun up. By the time I clicked it off, he was gone.

This was not the same fox that we have been having trouble with. This fox was a beautiful little animal. He is dark red with a pretty coat, fluffy tail with a white tip on it. The other fox looked like he was a halfbreed, he was tall, long bodied, light colored with a rough coat and no white on his tail.

When we first got Angel I had wanted her to stay in the goat lot with no roaming around the farm or neighborhood. That didn't work out because her coat was so thick that she just went under the electric fence, like it wasn't there. I had gotten use to her coming to the barn/house with Cinder when I milked and liked the idea that she could be more of a protector if she wasn't confined to the goat lot. On several occasions she has run off foxes and dogs.

Then summer arrived and she lost her heavy coat and got some mats on her back that I had to cut off. She started getting shocked when she went under the fence, so she has stopped getting out. My DH is thrilled and says that I will have to keep the hair on her back shaved. But I am thinking today that I may have to fix a special place in the fence where she can get out without being shocked. Just don't tell my DH.

Perfect Angel

Angel, my Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian Dog or LGD for those who have never read my blog before, is doing just great. She hardly ever carries stuff away or chews on things that she isn't suppose to anymore, I think the whipping that she got with the garden hose that she chewed in two really helped. I did catch her with a coffee can the other day, she had taken it into the goat lot, I explained to her that it doesn't look good to have tin cans in a goat lot because it causes people to stereotype goats as tin can eaters. She understood and hasn't done it since.

The main reason that I am so proud of her this morning is because she barked and barked until I finally went out, I looked around and didn't see anything but she insisted that there was something out there. Finally a fox ran out from behind one of the buildings where he was hiding. I didn't have time to get a gun. I don't know when I will start remembering to take a gun with me when I go out. Angel got a big "Good Girl", a pat of the head and a hug around the neck.

The only problem that I am having with Angel at this time is that she wants me to play with her and I am just not able. She is always bouncing around me trying to entice me to play. I told her that I was going to have to hire someone to rough house with her but the problem is that she doesn't much care for outsiders. She is only friendly with my husband, me and our little Granddaughters. She is friendly with our Grandson but only enough for him to pet her, not enough to really play. She doesn't really want to play with my DH either, she sees him as the big, bad alpha male.

Ramble

I don't have anything in particular that I am going to blog about this morning, so I will just ramble. This morning was just beautiful, I was away from home most of the day yesterday, which is unusual for me but it always makes me enjoy home more after being away. Today is warm after a very cold night last night, I had to cover my rosebush to protect it from the frost of last night. Here it is, the end of April and I have to cover a rosebush, that is Indiana weather for you.

Speaking of Indiana weather, on Monday evening while we were feeding, it started to sleet. Then the sleet changed to snow mixed with rain, but the sun was shining and I took this picture of the rainbow that presented itself.

Now while cold temps, sleet, snow, rain, sunshine and a rainbow all at the same time at the end of April is not all that unusual for Indiana, that Unidentified Flying Object in the picture is. The important question here is, what exactly is that in the right hand corner? This is definitely a UFO, if I ever saw one. I don't know what it is, I even digitally enhanced it for your viewing pleasure.

Not to fear though as warm weather has returned to Indiana and my Son can now go camping and enjoy his short vacation. I told him that he was the one to blame for last summer's drought because he didn't do any camping. All he has to do is mention the word camp and the sky will darken and rain will start pouring. This Spring was just a little different for him, he took off work and the temperature immediately dropped to almost freezing for two nights.

Now back to this morning, as I said, it was just lovely. The birds were singing and the temperatures have returned to a more Springlike feel. When I went out to take care of my menagerie, I just needed a sweatshirt and the rooster was standing on one of the gates crowing, a perfect picture that took me back to my childhood.

Did I ever mention on here how weird it is to have a dozen or so chickens following your ever step? Their feet make this strange clicking sound as they trot to keep up with you. I try to feed them as quickly as possible to avoid their wrath.

While I was typing this I heard the Chickens start yelling and throwing a fit. I ran outside and there was another fox in the stud pen. He just looked at me and I had to stomp my foot and holler at him to make him run. He ran into the mare and foal lot where one of the mares chased him into the woods. He stopped on the other side of the fence and looked at me, so I ran in the house and got my rifle but he was gone when I got back. Unfortunately he will be back, I will have to start regular patrols again.

The Fox

I have to stop talking about goats now or my eldest will be calling me "Goat Woman" instead of "Chicken Lady". He called me Granny for awhile when I was sitting outside all day with my rifle across my lap waiting for a fox.

The story goes like this; I was talking to my Son on the phone one day this past summer, when one of my little banty hens came right to my door yelling her head off.

The banties never come around the house/barn, so I told my eldest that something was wrong and I had to go. I hung up the phone and went out to see what was going on.

Right behind the goat/chicken shed was a fox and he had something down and was biting it repeatedly. I started running, as much as I am able to run with my back like it is, towards him and screaming at him. He totally ignored me and continued focusing on trying to kill his prey. I was almost able to reach out and touch him before he turned loose and trotted a short distance away, sat down and looked at me. I can't stand that kind of disrespect. But I didn't have time to deal with him just yet, I had to see to my injured bird.

My injured bird turned out to be my old rooster, Foggy. He and I had had a parting of the ways not long before this incident happened and that is partly the reason it happened

Foggy and I had always been buddies. I would sit in the doorway of the goat/chicken shed and he would stand in the doorway beside me, overlooking our Kingdom. My husband's sister had given him to us and they told us that he was mean, but he had never shown any ill will towards us, we could pick him up and hold him and my Grandchildren could pet him.

Then one day, I didn't know that he was behind me and I turned around and stepped on him, he took it personal and flogged my bare legs. Foggy was well endowed with 3 inch spurs. My legs looked horrible, I was bruised, cut and had large welts.

Not being one to hold a grudge, I forgave him because after all, I had provoked the attack. I guess he wasn't as forgiving as I was and he must have taken great exception to being stepped on because a few days later he flogged me again.

He never flogged anyone but me and on the third flogging, I went to the house and told my dear husband that as soon as it gets dark and cools off, his spurs are coming off and I don't care if he bleeds to death.

Now bear in mind, that this wasn't a rash decision, I had tried to break him of this nasty habit on several occasions when he didn't actually get the job of shredding my legs done, but only had made an attempt. I would use him as a football, until I was exhausted because every time I would kick him, he would come back for more. I also broke a good broom on him. So I did try to give him several more chances.

That night, we twisted the outer horn of the spur off, then took horse nippers and cut the spur clean down against his leg. He bled very little. You are suppose to bake a potato and then stick the spur in it for a few minutes and twist the spur off but that's only if you like the rooster.

Foggy was a very good rooster, as roosters go, he would give his life for his hens but enough was enough, and I took his only weapon away from him. Now I was looking down at him after the fox had reluctantly left him there. Who knows how many times that fox had come around and Foggy had successfully fought him off, but not this time. Are you crying yet?

I knelt down and put my hand on his lifeless body, he was still breathing, so I gently picked him up and carried him to the house/barn. I laid him carefully in a wire cage and went into the house to get him some water. When I came back he was on his feet and gladly accepted my kindness. I left the cage door open and went for my gun.

I grabbed the phone and hit redial, I thought that I would get my eldest Son but got my youngest instead, little matter, they could both remind me how to load my rifle. It isn't something I do everyday. However, after having my memory refreshed, I went hunting. The varmint was no where to be found but I knew he would be back. So I waited...

I sat outside in a chair with my rifle across my lap the next day but he did not return. The following day, I looked out the window in time to see him saunter by and go into the high weeds across from the goat/chicken shed. From this vantage point he could bide his time in safety while waiting for his chicken dinner. So I walked out and trudged through the weeds.

I didn't see him anymore that day or the next but on the fourth day he returned. I lucked out and happened to look out the window just in time to see him behind the goat/chicken shed again.

I slipped out the door, quietly released my safety and took aim. He must has heard me because he did a quick trot up the path away from me. I stood my ground hoping for a good shot but he was getting too far away, finally he turned with his left side towards me, still moving at a trot and I wasted no time taking the shot because I knew he would disappear in the weeds again.

As soon as I had squeezed it off, he jumped in the air and fell to the ground, he flopped around for awhile, so I was certain that I got him. I waited for a short time then started towards him, I was almost there when he jumped up and ran off, I shot again but missed this time. To my knowledge, he never came back, he may have crawled off somewhere and died.

Foggy recovered and things between us remained the same, I would like to say that he forgave me and we became friends once more, but that was not to be. So after a couple of more floggings, and a lot of whining, my husband loaded him up and took him to the local sale barn. The rooster that I have now is his son, he hasn't tried anything with me yet. He is much smaller than his father, but he has the same tenacity.