The warm weather is over for us. I brought Bootstrap back to the barn and put him in a cage with lots of straw. He just was not strong enough to deal with the cruelty of the rest of the chickens. I put him back in the goat/chicken shed and they ran him out, got him down and were trying to kill him when I rescued him. It wasn't only the roosters that attacked him but also the hens.
If you listen to those who say that humans are the only animal that kills for sport or that humans are more cruel than any other species, you can pretty well bet that they have not had much animal experience.
Dogs, Coyotes, Wolves and big Cats with go into a pen with animals that have no way of escape and kill everything there and not eat anything. The excuse that they are given is that they are teaching their young to kill, but that doesn't hold true when it is just one dog, coyote or wolf.
I have heard of a pen full of pigs being killed by a pack of adult dogs with nothing being eaten. The same thing happened to several Alpacas that I read about and I know of goats being attacked and severely injured by well fed neighborhood dogs.
Chickens have no compassion, they simply eliminate the weakest among them. A hen will peck another hen's chicks to death for no good reason.
Goats will injure each other with or without horns. Many does miscarry after being butted hard by another doe. A doe with newborn kids can be horribly vicious to another doe's newborn kids even injuring or killing them.
Horses are brutal to each other. We had a mare who was close to foaling kick another mare's newborn foal as hard as she could, the poor little guy went rolling head over heels but somehow was not injured. I even saw a friend's mare kick her own young foal after biting it several times, she kicked her so hard that it was a miracle that she didn't have broken bones, just because she tried to eat some grain with her mother.
If you are still not convinced that animals can be cruel, just watch your kitty cat with a mouse, bird, chipmunk, baby rabbit or squirrel. They love to torture before the kill.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Catching Some Rays
The sun is shining, it is warm and beautiful. A perfect time to put Bootstrap out to get some sunshine. However, he escaped his cage and was viciously attacked by the hens and other roosters. He has always been able to hold his own and was second in command, second only to my huge Barred Rock Rooster, Rocky. He was hiding and cowering under my little red wagon, I picked him up and put him back in his cage and patched the hole.
He still isn't 100%, I think that he has some problems with his feet, they were pretty frozen when we found him. I sat here at the computer with him in my lap and massaged his feet until they loosened up some. His comb is nearly all black and he is still pretty weak.
I also put Cooter in the dog kennel for the day, so that I could put Calico and Paris in the goat lot for some sun.
Calico and Paris both enjoyed the sunshine. Angel enjoyed the sunshine as well but Abby is staying in the chicken/goat shed for some unknown reason.
And finally, the horses... I think that I counted 16 horses DOWN in this one pasture, the sad part is that we have four other pastures. Don't even ask how many we have.
And for no reason at all, here is a picture of Rocky and a few of his choice hens.
He still isn't 100%, I think that he has some problems with his feet, they were pretty frozen when we found him. I sat here at the computer with him in my lap and massaged his feet until they loosened up some. His comb is nearly all black and he is still pretty weak.
I also put Cooter in the dog kennel for the day, so that I could put Calico and Paris in the goat lot for some sun.
Calico and Paris both enjoyed the sunshine. Angel enjoyed the sunshine as well but Abby is staying in the chicken/goat shed for some unknown reason.
And finally, the horses... I think that I counted 16 horses DOWN in this one pasture, the sad part is that we have four other pastures. Don't even ask how many we have.
And for no reason at all, here is a picture of Rocky and a few of his choice hens.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Peanut Butter Fudge
One of our gifts for Christmas from my Husband's Aunt was a homemade recipe book that is just adorable. As I pulled out the recipes to look at them I was pleasantly surprised to find the recipe for Uncle Jimmy's peanut butter fudge.
I had my DH pick up the items that I needed to make the fudge from the store on his way home from work yesterday. We went to Prayer Service last night and the plan was to make the fudge when we got home.
After the wonderful warm weather that we have had for the last few days, I knew that all good things have to come to an end. There was a nasty storm in the making when we got home. I had measured out all of my ingredients and had the 5 cups of sugar with evaporated milk and butter cooking on the stove when the cold front started sweeping through our area. The wind was horrible, along with the hard driving rain.
My mixture was just about to come to a boil when without warning the electricity went out. My stove is electric and I hoped against hope that it was just a temporary problem but it wasn't. My DH held the flashlight while I quickly removed the pan from the hot burner and started covering up all of the ingredients that were already opened and measured out for the fudge, I covered the pan with a plate
I started lighting candles and since the storm outside didn't show any signs of letting up, we both put on our Energizer Headlights, propped ourselves up with pillows on the bed and read our Jeffrey Shaara books. He is now reading "The Last Full Measure" and I am reading "Gods and Generals". Those headlights are just perfect for reading whether you have electricity or not. The lights came back on sometime during the early morning hours. I remember him asking me, Who turned on the light?
I finished the fudge this morning before Sunday School and got to taste it when we came home and I just keep going back to taste it again and again. My DH said it was a little grainy but he keeps going back to taste it again and again too.
I had my DH pick up the items that I needed to make the fudge from the store on his way home from work yesterday. We went to Prayer Service last night and the plan was to make the fudge when we got home.
After the wonderful warm weather that we have had for the last few days, I knew that all good things have to come to an end. There was a nasty storm in the making when we got home. I had measured out all of my ingredients and had the 5 cups of sugar with evaporated milk and butter cooking on the stove when the cold front started sweeping through our area. The wind was horrible, along with the hard driving rain.
My mixture was just about to come to a boil when without warning the electricity went out. My stove is electric and I hoped against hope that it was just a temporary problem but it wasn't. My DH held the flashlight while I quickly removed the pan from the hot burner and started covering up all of the ingredients that were already opened and measured out for the fudge, I covered the pan with a plate
I started lighting candles and since the storm outside didn't show any signs of letting up, we both put on our Energizer Headlights, propped ourselves up with pillows on the bed and read our Jeffrey Shaara books. He is now reading "The Last Full Measure" and I am reading "Gods and Generals". Those headlights are just perfect for reading whether you have electricity or not. The lights came back on sometime during the early morning hours. I remember him asking me, Who turned on the light?
I finished the fudge this morning before Sunday School and got to taste it when we came home and I just keep going back to taste it again and again. My DH said it was a little grainy but he keeps going back to taste it again and again too.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Bootstrap
Bootstrap, my feather footed banty rooster, is slowly improving. He slept on his feet last night for the first time since we found him nearly frozen. He is still in the house and will stay in the house until I am convinced that he can take care of himself outside. I am not sure what happened to him but he did show signs of leg mites and lice, that had most assuredly drained him plus his beak was frozen shut.
He is talking to me now when I go into the room, which is another sign that he is improving. We have taken care of his mite and lice problem, so he is starting to gain some weight and get his strength back.
The reason that I didn't notice that he was having a problem was because he stays in the goat/chicken shed all of the time with the little D'Uccles during the cold months. The rest of the crew are always out and about, so I can spot a problem with them but the D'Uccles and Bootstrap are always nestled in the straw of the nests or on the roosts. With his fluffy feather cover, I just could not see that he had lost so much weight and his foot feathers hid the leg mite damage.
He is talking to me now when I go into the room, which is another sign that he is improving. We have taken care of his mite and lice problem, so he is starting to gain some weight and get his strength back.
The reason that I didn't notice that he was having a problem was because he stays in the goat/chicken shed all of the time with the little D'Uccles during the cold months. The rest of the crew are always out and about, so I can spot a problem with them but the D'Uccles and Bootstrap are always nestled in the straw of the nests or on the roosts. With his fluffy feather cover, I just could not see that he had lost so much weight and his foot feathers hid the leg mite damage.
Christmas Break
For some reason my hens decided to take an egg laying break on Christmas day. It was a beautiful day with lots of sun and not terribly cold, so there is no other explanation than they just wanted to take a Holiday. One hen did go ahead and do her duty, so it wasn't a totally eggless day, she must not belong to the Union.
All was back to normal yesterday and it turned out to be a 6 egg day. They had better give me at least 5 eggs per day for as much grain as they are eating. I put out what I think is a large amount of Chicken feed, cracked corn and black oil sunflower seeds plus some goat's milk occasionally and they have it all cleaned up in no time. I usually fill their feeders three time per day during the winter months.
It was such a strange day yesterday, rainy, foggy and warm. I spent a lot of time outside last evening without a coat or sweater. I even tried getting some pictures when it was almost dark. My camera has a night time setting on it that I had never used, so I snapped a few pictures of my DH putting out big round bales of hay in the muddy field in the fog.
I love the way the fog creeps into our lower pasture and fills the valley. Sometimes the fog even stands up in tall columns and looks pretty spooky. Now that I know how to take pictures in the dark, I might be able to actually get some pictures of the phantom columns. It was really a lot darker than it looks in these pictures.
All was back to normal yesterday and it turned out to be a 6 egg day. They had better give me at least 5 eggs per day for as much grain as they are eating. I put out what I think is a large amount of Chicken feed, cracked corn and black oil sunflower seeds plus some goat's milk occasionally and they have it all cleaned up in no time. I usually fill their feeders three time per day during the winter months.
It was such a strange day yesterday, rainy, foggy and warm. I spent a lot of time outside last evening without a coat or sweater. I even tried getting some pictures when it was almost dark. My camera has a night time setting on it that I had never used, so I snapped a few pictures of my DH putting out big round bales of hay in the muddy field in the fog.
I love the way the fog creeps into our lower pasture and fills the valley. Sometimes the fog even stands up in tall columns and looks pretty spooky. Now that I know how to take pictures in the dark, I might be able to actually get some pictures of the phantom columns. It was really a lot darker than it looks in these pictures.
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