3.4 inches of snow for us. Much less than the predicted 6 to 12 inches we were suppose to have by this morning. We had just a dusting when we went to bed last night but sometime early this morning it got slightly serious.
Here is our next forecast:
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY AS A STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVES FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. IN ADDITION BITTER WIND CHILLS FROM ZERO TO 5 BELOW ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.
I got 4 eggs on Thursday after feeding the hens Cayenne Pepper on Wednesday. I got 1 egg yesterday. Today should be the test but with the snow and high winds, I am afraid that they won't be able to make it out to the Chicken/Goat shed where their nests are. If they lay here in the barn, I probably won't be able to find them. Especially if they go to the loft.
Showing posts with label barn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barn. Show all posts
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Flight of the Bumblebee
Actually only a few make it to flight, most of them end up lying in wait on my bedroom floor.
In case you are a new reader I will recap our living arrangements. We are living in our barn until our ship comes in, at which time we hope to build a house.
We can't see the ocean, a river or a lake from here, so I don't know how the ship will get to us. I have a suspicion that the ship is not even coming but we still keep waiting for it.
We don't have drywall or any kind of ceiling in most of our humble home, it was suppose to come on that ship as well. But we do have insulation in the ceilings. For some reason, the bumblebees chose our bedroom ceiling insulation as a good, safe, nesting area.
We had a good working relationship with the bumblebees to start out with, we didn't bother them and they didn't bother us. It wasn't until the new babies started hatching out that the problems began. Newborn baby bumblebees are not that frightening, and can in fact be considered cute like most babies.
I discovered that little baby bumblebees can and will sting if you get under the covers and try to share a sleeping space with them. That sting is just a little annoying and the pain doesn't last all that long.
As time has gone on we have found that baby bumblebees grow into children then into teenagers rather quickly. In each stage of their lives we have also found that they struggle to survive in the frigid temperatures of our bedroom.
With our little window air conditioner cranked up to its highest or should I say, lowest setting, only the very strong and healthy young bumblebees can actually find and use their wings successfully.
The rest of them end up scattered around on the bedroom floor on their sides trying to right themselves. They do occasionally make it to the side of the bed and manage to crawl up onto the bed or at least under the covers. It is really nice, if when they make it under the covers that they then find and figure out how to use their wings. That way, the noise will alert you to their presence.
I would venture to guess that we have killed approximately 14 flying bumblebees recently inside our house. I would not even try to guess how many we have picked up and disposed of that were on the floor and bed. We are starting to see a decrease in numbers, so I would say that we are about to be done with it all.
I had considered us pretty fortunate that we had only had one stinging incident and when I went into the bedroom to turn the air conditioner up a little because the weather outside had cooled down so much. I felt a little foolhardy to be in that room with no shoes on. While I thought on these things a sharp pain shot through my big toe.
My DH and I spent some time discussing which was worse; a bumblebee sting or a hornet sting. He assured me that a hornet was much worse. He gave me no sympathy whatsoever. As if I should just forget it ever happened.
Then last night he got up several times after we had gone to bed. I warned him each time. Finally, this morning, I heard him say, "ouch!" and I knew what had happened. I was ready for him too. I told him it was nothing and that a hornet sting was much worse.
This has all brought about a scientific study. I was telling a neighbor about my Husband getting stung by the hornet the other day and she told me that she got stung once in her arthritic, swollen finger.
After the sting her finger never bothered her again and all of the swelling in it went away. Now my DH's toe that he just got stung on has given him fits throughout the years, we'll have to wait and see what happens.
In case you are a new reader I will recap our living arrangements. We are living in our barn until our ship comes in, at which time we hope to build a house.
We can't see the ocean, a river or a lake from here, so I don't know how the ship will get to us. I have a suspicion that the ship is not even coming but we still keep waiting for it.
We don't have drywall or any kind of ceiling in most of our humble home, it was suppose to come on that ship as well. But we do have insulation in the ceilings. For some reason, the bumblebees chose our bedroom ceiling insulation as a good, safe, nesting area.
We had a good working relationship with the bumblebees to start out with, we didn't bother them and they didn't bother us. It wasn't until the new babies started hatching out that the problems began. Newborn baby bumblebees are not that frightening, and can in fact be considered cute like most babies.
I discovered that little baby bumblebees can and will sting if you get under the covers and try to share a sleeping space with them. That sting is just a little annoying and the pain doesn't last all that long.
As time has gone on we have found that baby bumblebees grow into children then into teenagers rather quickly. In each stage of their lives we have also found that they struggle to survive in the frigid temperatures of our bedroom.
With our little window air conditioner cranked up to its highest or should I say, lowest setting, only the very strong and healthy young bumblebees can actually find and use their wings successfully.
The rest of them end up scattered around on the bedroom floor on their sides trying to right themselves. They do occasionally make it to the side of the bed and manage to crawl up onto the bed or at least under the covers. It is really nice, if when they make it under the covers that they then find and figure out how to use their wings. That way, the noise will alert you to their presence.
I would venture to guess that we have killed approximately 14 flying bumblebees recently inside our house. I would not even try to guess how many we have picked up and disposed of that were on the floor and bed. We are starting to see a decrease in numbers, so I would say that we are about to be done with it all.
I had considered us pretty fortunate that we had only had one stinging incident and when I went into the bedroom to turn the air conditioner up a little because the weather outside had cooled down so much. I felt a little foolhardy to be in that room with no shoes on. While I thought on these things a sharp pain shot through my big toe.
My DH and I spent some time discussing which was worse; a bumblebee sting or a hornet sting. He assured me that a hornet was much worse. He gave me no sympathy whatsoever. As if I should just forget it ever happened.
Then last night he got up several times after we had gone to bed. I warned him each time. Finally, this morning, I heard him say, "ouch!" and I knew what had happened. I was ready for him too. I told him it was nothing and that a hornet sting was much worse.
This has all brought about a scientific study. I was telling a neighbor about my Husband getting stung by the hornet the other day and she told me that she got stung once in her arthritic, swollen finger.
After the sting her finger never bothered her again and all of the swelling in it went away. Now my DH's toe that he just got stung on has given him fits throughout the years, we'll have to wait and see what happens.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Recent Events
Where to begin? Yesterday my DH had the day off because it was New Year's Day. He made good use of the day by working outside. I made good use of the day by staying inside. I kept hearing this annoying sound and so I finally gave some thought to what I was hearing, it was Paris outside my door, in the stall, screaming her head off. I asked myself this question, "Why is Paris screaming her head off?" Then I answered myself, "It could be that she is in heat, dummy."
I ran to the calendar and looked at the date that I last suspected that she was in heat, low and behold it was twenty days ago. So, I opened the gate and let her out, she did not pass Go or collect $200. She ran straight as an arrow to Cooter's pen and didn't wait for me to catch up to open the gate, she just squeezed through it.
He was pleased to see her again and they spent the rest of the afternoon together, when she got tired of him, she squeezed back through the gate and came back to the barn and that was that. So now I have a firm date on when Paris was bred, it was on New Year's Day, easy to remember.
Bootstrap seems to be improving everyday and he wants out of his cage but I tried letting him loose again today and I later found him hiding in a corner with a tiny banty rooster, half his size, plucking all of his feathers out. There were feathers everywhere, he just doesn't have any fight in him.
We have had another chicken problem that I hope to have fixed today. The house part of our barn was made with Foam Forms, they are styrofoam forms filled with concrete and in a few places around the outside and the entire interior wall still has some foam forms exposed.
The problem is, chickens love styrofoam. It is like one of their favorite foods in the winter time. During the summer they never touch it but right now, I cannot keep them away from it. They are literally eating us out of house and home. It isn't that they are hungry because they leave their corn, sunflower seeds and chicken feed to feast upon our walls.
We had some cans of red spray paint, so since I can't keep continually chasing them with a broom. I started spraying this evening, they stood back and watched, so far, so good, they looked at the new color and cocked their heads from side to side, but no one tired it. I am anxious for tomorrow to get here, to see if this has solved the problem.
Now on to my New Year's Resolution. I only made one resolution last year and almost kept it, however, I did falter from time to time. That resolution was to blog everyday, well, I never said that I was perfect.
In keeping with the tradition that I set forth last New Year's, I have again resolved only one resolution this year and that is to quit griping at my DH and be kinder and gentler to him. He does not deserve my criticism most of the time. He has looked at me several times today and said something about it not even lasting 24 hours, but these things do take time and patience. Old habits die hard, I can't just flip a switch and be sweet.
I ran to the calendar and looked at the date that I last suspected that she was in heat, low and behold it was twenty days ago. So, I opened the gate and let her out, she did not pass Go or collect $200. She ran straight as an arrow to Cooter's pen and didn't wait for me to catch up to open the gate, she just squeezed through it.
He was pleased to see her again and they spent the rest of the afternoon together, when she got tired of him, she squeezed back through the gate and came back to the barn and that was that. So now I have a firm date on when Paris was bred, it was on New Year's Day, easy to remember.
Bootstrap seems to be improving everyday and he wants out of his cage but I tried letting him loose again today and I later found him hiding in a corner with a tiny banty rooster, half his size, plucking all of his feathers out. There were feathers everywhere, he just doesn't have any fight in him.
We have had another chicken problem that I hope to have fixed today. The house part of our barn was made with Foam Forms, they are styrofoam forms filled with concrete and in a few places around the outside and the entire interior wall still has some foam forms exposed.
The problem is, chickens love styrofoam. It is like one of their favorite foods in the winter time. During the summer they never touch it but right now, I cannot keep them away from it. They are literally eating us out of house and home. It isn't that they are hungry because they leave their corn, sunflower seeds and chicken feed to feast upon our walls.
We had some cans of red spray paint, so since I can't keep continually chasing them with a broom. I started spraying this evening, they stood back and watched, so far, so good, they looked at the new color and cocked their heads from side to side, but no one tired it. I am anxious for tomorrow to get here, to see if this has solved the problem.
Now on to my New Year's Resolution. I only made one resolution last year and almost kept it, however, I did falter from time to time. That resolution was to blog everyday, well, I never said that I was perfect.
In keeping with the tradition that I set forth last New Year's, I have again resolved only one resolution this year and that is to quit griping at my DH and be kinder and gentler to him. He does not deserve my criticism most of the time. He has looked at me several times today and said something about it not even lasting 24 hours, but these things do take time and patience. Old habits die hard, I can't just flip a switch and be sweet.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Ladybugs
Today is the day! Usually the day comes around the 12th of October but since our weather has been so quirky lately they didn't come back until today on the 1st day of November. I am talking about the return of the Asian Ladybugs. Someone should make a horror film about this phenomenon. But if they did no one would come to see it because it is just too tragic.
This is a plague of Biblical proportions. The problem is that these sweet little creatures like our house because others of their species have liked our house in the past. They are just looking for a nice place to camp for the winter. So they come by the thousands to use our campground.
Ladybugs bleed a little bit to ward off predators, their blood is yellow and stinks. If you have ever smashed one of them you know what I am talking about. But you don't have to smash them to smell their blood, they can release it at will to make you leave them alone. I hate that smell, it is worse than my billy goat.
The real problem with Ladybugs is that they swarm in on you and you are completely outnumbered. They are all over our barn/house right now, looking for cracks that they can crawl in through. The sad part is that our house will be full of them tonight, I will have them crawling on me in my bed. I know this because it happens every year.
I have closed the barn up, so that they can't get in as easily, but resistance is futile. Every time I have gone outside today, I have had to go stand in front of a mirror to pick all of them off of my clothes. I have not come in with less than eight all day. They always find their way under my clothes and crawl around on my skin, that is the part that I really hate, bugs crawling up my back.
This day brings me closer to insanity than any other day that I know of. I actually did grab one with my hand while I was outside today and it released it's stench on me. They are the skunk of the insect world. I went over and rubbed my stinky hand on Cooter, he was repulsed. But the billy goat smell did get the Ladybug smell off of my hand.
This is a plague of Biblical proportions. The problem is that these sweet little creatures like our house because others of their species have liked our house in the past. They are just looking for a nice place to camp for the winter. So they come by the thousands to use our campground.
Ladybugs bleed a little bit to ward off predators, their blood is yellow and stinks. If you have ever smashed one of them you know what I am talking about. But you don't have to smash them to smell their blood, they can release it at will to make you leave them alone. I hate that smell, it is worse than my billy goat.
The real problem with Ladybugs is that they swarm in on you and you are completely outnumbered. They are all over our barn/house right now, looking for cracks that they can crawl in through. The sad part is that our house will be full of them tonight, I will have them crawling on me in my bed. I know this because it happens every year.
I have closed the barn up, so that they can't get in as easily, but resistance is futile. Every time I have gone outside today, I have had to go stand in front of a mirror to pick all of them off of my clothes. I have not come in with less than eight all day. They always find their way under my clothes and crawl around on my skin, that is the part that I really hate, bugs crawling up my back.
This day brings me closer to insanity than any other day that I know of. I actually did grab one with my hand while I was outside today and it released it's stench on me. They are the skunk of the insect world. I went over and rubbed my stinky hand on Cooter, he was repulsed. But the billy goat smell did get the Ladybug smell off of my hand.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
94 Degrees
I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend. We spent Labor Day doing just that, laboring. We were in the hay fields on both Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday we got the full experience of hefting hay bales at 94º with no one to help us.
I drove and my Husband loaded and stacked the hay. He complains a lot more than he did when he was young but he still does an awesome job. I don't think there would be many young men who could have kept up with him over the last two days.
I did help him unload the trailers when we got back to the barn but he did all of the stacking in a tin barn with no shade over it and no air circulation, the dust was unbearable and the sunny 94º temperature outside felt cool compared to the temperature inside. He stacked all the way to the roof and does it so tightly that it is hard to get out to feed during the winter.
He has put up hay all of his life, when we were first married, we had our own hay crew and put up hay for all of the neighboring farms before the big round balers were invented. He has little patience with sloppy stacked hay. We who have helped him in the barn, have always said that when he gets done stacking hay, you can roller skate on top of it.
The hay is finished for the year and boy am I happy about that. We may pick up a few more bales throughout the fall and winter but there will be no more hot fields and hot barns to deal with. Maybe life will return to a more normal pace and I can get some things done and blog more.
I drove and my Husband loaded and stacked the hay. He complains a lot more than he did when he was young but he still does an awesome job. I don't think there would be many young men who could have kept up with him over the last two days.
I did help him unload the trailers when we got back to the barn but he did all of the stacking in a tin barn with no shade over it and no air circulation, the dust was unbearable and the sunny 94º temperature outside felt cool compared to the temperature inside. He stacked all the way to the roof and does it so tightly that it is hard to get out to feed during the winter.
He has put up hay all of his life, when we were first married, we had our own hay crew and put up hay for all of the neighboring farms before the big round balers were invented. He has little patience with sloppy stacked hay. We who have helped him in the barn, have always said that when he gets done stacking hay, you can roller skate on top of it.
The hay is finished for the year and boy am I happy about that. We may pick up a few more bales throughout the fall and winter but there will be no more hot fields and hot barns to deal with. Maybe life will return to a more normal pace and I can get some things done and blog more.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Surge Protector
Yesterday morning's rain was wonderful, I refuse to complain about the rain after last year's drought. It's the mud that keeps giving me problems. A river washed through our barn/house, so the whole barn floor is slippery and we have puddles in the barn. Water also came through the wall into my living room while I slept yesterday morning. I kept waking up to the thunder, lightening and pouring rain, that gave me a good excuse to just keep right on sleeping.
As soon as my Husband left for work, there was a painfully loud clap of thunder that was followed by a pop that shook the house. The electricity went out, then came back on, so I rolled over and slept some more.
When it quit raining, I got up and found my wet floors and of course no phone service. This sounded a little different to me when I held the phone to my ear, it was just dead. Usually when someone steals our phone lines or service is just out, I can hear dead air but this was just dead with no sound at all. I had the feeling that it had something to do with that lightening strike.
When my DH came home for lunch with the cell phone, I called neighbors on both sides of us and they both had service. So I whined around until I got my DH to wade through the mud to break into the phone box on the outside of the barn/house and hook a phone up out there to see if the problem was inside the house. Sure enough we had service out there, so I came into the house and started the process of elimination.
I found out that my high priced phone line surge protector had done it's job and gave it's life to save my phones and computer. So I rerouted a few lines around the surge protector and was back in business. However, my computer and phones are now at risk if we should get another storm. I will purchase another one because this proves that they actually work.
As soon as my Husband left for work, there was a painfully loud clap of thunder that was followed by a pop that shook the house. The electricity went out, then came back on, so I rolled over and slept some more.
When it quit raining, I got up and found my wet floors and of course no phone service. This sounded a little different to me when I held the phone to my ear, it was just dead. Usually when someone steals our phone lines or service is just out, I can hear dead air but this was just dead with no sound at all. I had the feeling that it had something to do with that lightening strike.
When my DH came home for lunch with the cell phone, I called neighbors on both sides of us and they both had service. So I whined around until I got my DH to wade through the mud to break into the phone box on the outside of the barn/house and hook a phone up out there to see if the problem was inside the house. Sure enough we had service out there, so I came into the house and started the process of elimination.
I found out that my high priced phone line surge protector had done it's job and gave it's life to save my phones and computer. So I rerouted a few lines around the surge protector and was back in business. However, my computer and phones are now at risk if we should get another storm. I will purchase another one because this proves that they actually work.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Rain, Mud and Wind
My husband talked to a neighbor last night while hunting for my dog. Angel had disappeared, which is not like her at all. She never gets too far away from her goats. But when it was time to feed yesterday evening, she was no where to be found and didn't come when called.
The neighbor raises bottle calves and has an abundance of them, people just keep bringing him more all of the time. He has suffered many losses this year due to the weather.
He has very nice huts set up for them with lots of straw but he says that the huts have to have a door and he just can't keep all of this rain out. Then he brought to my husband's attention that with every rain that we are getting, it is being followed by lots of wind. This does dry the ground up somewhat but having a strong wind after a cold rain is very hard on young animals. His bottle calves are getting pneumonia and even with antibiotics, vitamins and minerals, he isn't having too much luck saving them.
Not having a dry place to bed down is hard on any animal but especially the young and with the weather that we are having there just isn't any such thing as a dry spot. Which brings me back to Angel, we had called and called for her and she didn't show up. I did think that I had heard her rabies tag tinkling a couple of times inside our barn/house. I looked around but didn't see her. My husband was very upset because he doesn't want a dog that runs the neighborhood. I just couldn't believe that she would leave the goats like that.
Finally later in the evening I detected some movement in the corner of our barn/house, back behind our lawn tractor. She was hiding in a nice dry spot, she knows that she isn't allowed in this barn. My husband had mercy on her because as he pointed out, she is just wanting someplace dry to sleep to get ready for her night watch.
Our goat/chicken shed is continually wet this spring, we clean it out and put fresh straw down but with the goats and dog tracking in and out in the wet and mud, it doesn't stay dry for very long. Goats are also very indiscriminate about where they use the bathroom, they just go wherever the urge hits them. So, with the lot being nothing but a mud pit and the shed not being much better, Angel sought and found a warm, dry spot for a much needed rest.
Another dilemma that we are facing is that we don't have anyplace to put the new foal and his mother to make room for the other two mares that are overdue to foal. Under normal circumstances we turn the mares with their new foals out on pasture as soon as the mares have had a few days to recoup. But this weather makes it impossible to do that.
My DH keeps saying that we are never having March babies again but I keep telling him that this is the first year that we have had these kind of troubles. Our neighbor with the calves has never had these problems before either. It rained here all night again last night and the wind is suppose to be strong today with the temperature dropping all day down to 30º tonight.
Additional thought: I posted on the first day of March that it came in like a Lamb, yesterday was the last day of March and it certainly went out like a Lion!
The neighbor raises bottle calves and has an abundance of them, people just keep bringing him more all of the time. He has suffered many losses this year due to the weather.
He has very nice huts set up for them with lots of straw but he says that the huts have to have a door and he just can't keep all of this rain out. Then he brought to my husband's attention that with every rain that we are getting, it is being followed by lots of wind. This does dry the ground up somewhat but having a strong wind after a cold rain is very hard on young animals. His bottle calves are getting pneumonia and even with antibiotics, vitamins and minerals, he isn't having too much luck saving them.
Not having a dry place to bed down is hard on any animal but especially the young and with the weather that we are having there just isn't any such thing as a dry spot. Which brings me back to Angel, we had called and called for her and she didn't show up. I did think that I had heard her rabies tag tinkling a couple of times inside our barn/house. I looked around but didn't see her. My husband was very upset because he doesn't want a dog that runs the neighborhood. I just couldn't believe that she would leave the goats like that.
Finally later in the evening I detected some movement in the corner of our barn/house, back behind our lawn tractor. She was hiding in a nice dry spot, she knows that she isn't allowed in this barn. My husband had mercy on her because as he pointed out, she is just wanting someplace dry to sleep to get ready for her night watch.
Our goat/chicken shed is continually wet this spring, we clean it out and put fresh straw down but with the goats and dog tracking in and out in the wet and mud, it doesn't stay dry for very long. Goats are also very indiscriminate about where they use the bathroom, they just go wherever the urge hits them. So, with the lot being nothing but a mud pit and the shed not being much better, Angel sought and found a warm, dry spot for a much needed rest.
Another dilemma that we are facing is that we don't have anyplace to put the new foal and his mother to make room for the other two mares that are overdue to foal. Under normal circumstances we turn the mares with their new foals out on pasture as soon as the mares have had a few days to recoup. But this weather makes it impossible to do that.
My DH keeps saying that we are never having March babies again but I keep telling him that this is the first year that we have had these kind of troubles. Our neighbor with the calves has never had these problems before either. It rained here all night again last night and the wind is suppose to be strong today with the temperature dropping all day down to 30º tonight.
Additional thought: I posted on the first day of March that it came in like a Lamb, yesterday was the last day of March and it certainly went out like a Lion!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Waiting Still
I am currently waiting for daylight, so that I can go out to check on my goat that is about to kid. My DH tells me that when he was out there earlier, she sounded congested. The weather has taken it's toll on us and our animals. When it is cold and windy one day, warm and sunny the next then monsoons of cold rains hit for days at a time, goats have a hard time coping and so do I.
We have two mares that are very, very close to foaling and our foaling stall has three inches of water in it. The rest of the barn is flooded too. Even my living room has rain water coming through the wall again.
We are going to have to try to get the foaling stall dried out today and with the continuing rain and my DH working, I don't know how we are going to get that done.
I am going to have to figure out if my doe has pneumonia and how to treat her since she is so close to kidding. She is going to have to be moved into the barn, if I can find a dry spot for her.
We have two mares that are very, very close to foaling and our foaling stall has three inches of water in it. The rest of the barn is flooded too. Even my living room has rain water coming through the wall again.
We are going to have to try to get the foaling stall dried out today and with the continuing rain and my DH working, I don't know how we are going to get that done.
I am going to have to figure out if my doe has pneumonia and how to treat her since she is so close to kidding. She is going to have to be moved into the barn, if I can find a dry spot for her.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Home Sweet Home
The snow is already falling, it wasn't suppose to start until 1:00 but it started at around 7:00. The roads are slick and the local schools have just announced dismissal at 12:30.
We put Giselle and Cinder in the horse trailer last night and they acted really happy to be there, nice, dry and warm with lots of straw. Angel isn't happy about it she is running back and forth from the goat lot to the trailer that is setting up here by the barn. We aren't giving her a hard time for leaving the goat lot this time. She is just trying to do her job.
Since I mentioned that we live in our barn, I thought that I would post some pictures of it. We live in the side with the window, there is a drive through aisle and then stalls and storage on the other side and of course a nice loft.
We put Giselle and Cinder in the horse trailer last night and they acted really happy to be there, nice, dry and warm with lots of straw. Angel isn't happy about it she is running back and forth from the goat lot to the trailer that is setting up here by the barn. We aren't giving her a hard time for leaving the goat lot this time. She is just trying to do her job.
Since I mentioned that we live in our barn, I thought that I would post some pictures of it. We live in the side with the window, there is a drive through aisle and then stalls and storage on the other side and of course a nice loft.
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