Another Praying Mantis!

This time it's a big one!

I Shot a Possum, and Other Chicken Tales

My lack of posts due to the absence of interesting events was interrupted yesterday as Wednesday was highlighted by three dramatic episodes for the chickens and their keeper. The major development of the day was that the vermin that brought much pain, heartache and anxiety was apprehended. 

As I was heading outside after dinner to feed the chickens their daily treats, I noticed that the live trap next to their pen was closed and something furry was contained within. Upon closer examination the furry-something ended up a being a possum, most likely the one who dispatched of the Black Australorp back in mid-July. The trap had been set since mid-July. In fact, I had planned to give up and put it away last weekend, but was feeling lazy. One of the grossest things about the incident was that the bait (can of cat food) had been in the trap at least two weeks, which should tell you a lot about possums and their food preferences (and I guess that tells you something about my trap-keeping skills. Who says laziness can’t lead to success?) 

Don't be fooled--it's not dead in this picture. It's just playing possum.

Despite the vicious predator contained in a trap just outside their fence, the Originals seemed to sense it was no longer a threat.

 I immediately phoned the neighbor, picked up the cage with the musty, sour smelling critter and carried it to the row of pine trees that would serve as death row. My neighbor arrived with a rifle and Mr. Possum quickly met his maker. I had no qualms about shooting the little sucker square in the noggin, especially since he ate livestock that would have produced many eggs for eating. 

Possums carry diseases that can be fatal to horses so there was also an interest to keep Jubilee and Charlie healthy. (You may also recall that we had a possum problem back in May 2012 that was resolved in a similar manner).

Prior to the excitement of the possum incident, I arrived home from work and went about doing the daily chores, the first of which is walking through the barn to visit the vegetable garden. Upon entering the barn I found a very distraught Dominique who was standing on top of the chicken coop. She must have flown out of the pen, reentered the barn and was desperately trying to rejoin her buddies inside. After trying to coax her down, I gave up and went to the garden, where I contemplated my strategy to get her back where she belonged.

Brief side note: Dominique and Brownie had escaped not 10 days earlier using the same technique-they were discovered wandering in the barn aisle. Brownie was herded back into the outdoor pen after about 10 minutes. Dominique proved harder to catch since she isn’t used to being handled—I cornered her by the barn and electric netting (which had been turned off). In her urgency to get away from me, she ran into the netting, which allowed me to grab her. Despite her initial squawking, she settled right down and allowed me to carry her back to her buddies).

So, after picking quite a haul of green beans, squash, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers I returned to the barn determined to get the chicken down off the coop. She could be tempted with treats, but  would flee when I tried to pick her up (which was kind of hard to do standing on a step stool). Finally she got close enough to the edge of the coop’s wire ceiling that I was able to prod her to the ground using the handle of a pitchfork. She was quickly ushered into the coop where I found…

TWO EGGS! Woo hoo! One (or two) of the Originals is starting to lay. The eggs were right by the human entrance to the coop, so now the challenge is getting the chickens to lay in their nest boxes (stay tuned for updates). 

The eggs aren’t very big—I’d say one would be considered medium-size and the other is small. Obviously, I am really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow morning.

Bears!

Okay, truthfully (and thankfully) we've had no bear sightings on the farm. But, here's a fun live-video feed of Brooks Falls in Alaska where the brown bears fish for salmon.


Live streaming video by Ustream

Out in the Rain

A few weeks ago the horses were in their stalls eating their dinner of oats when it began to rain.

Charlie wasn't fazed by the rain, but Jubilee wouldn't tolerate the ping of the drops on the metal roof of the barn. She hightailed it out of her stall to the barnyard.

Farm rule: if you leave the barn during mealtime, you don't get to come back in.

 Charlie was content to wait out the storm in his stall. (Mostly he stayed inside because a certain human didn't want to go outside and take off his halter in the rain and mud puddles.)

The chickens wisely stayed inside with their dry coop.

The honeybees arrived on Thursday, May 23. I drove to Holland, MI, to pick up two packages of them, each containing about 10,000 insects! While I was nervous about putting these in my enclosed Rav4, the bees hummed quietly on the long road home. They spent the night in the tack room (with the chickens) before being moved to their permanent hives at Four Green Fields Farm just down the road.

The two packages of bees ready to be put in the car on Thursday. They were actually pretty docile-- a few loose bees landed on me, and then just flew away.  

The bees waiting to be put in their new home.

A can of corn syrup is included with each package of bees so they have food during transport. If you look closely, you can see bits of wax on the can where the bees were starting to build comb.

To get to the bees out of the box, you have to remove the can .

After removing the can, you take the queen cage, which holds the queen bee and her attendants. The queen cage includes a piece of candy (the white block at the top of the cage).  A small cork is removed on the side of the cage where the candy is-- the queen and her attendants, and the worker bees eat through the candy. After a few days, the queen can get out of her cage and start ruling the hive.

Posing for a quick photo after the installation-- what you don't see is all the bees swarming around! (No one was stung during this process-- honey bees aren't aggressive and won't sting unless they feel threatened).

First Time Out

Last weekend I finally got the chickens' outdoor run set up. It's simply an electric poultry fence, and a couple of pallets set up on cinder blocks for shade/protection from flying predators. The meat chickens are the only birds who are in the proper coop (the layers are still confined to their spacious dog crate), they got to be the first to enjoy the great outdoors.

As I opened the door to the coop, I thought they would naturally be drawn to the sunshine raining onto the coop floor. Not one was curious enough to climb the ramp to see the world that lay beyond the coop door. So, to encourage them, I picked up one of the big boys (SQUAWK!!!!!) and put him in the doorway. And then watched as he sat there. It took a bit of prodding (and a big shove), before he staggered out on to the ramp, proceeded to lose his balance, and flop to the ground, landing with a solid thud. After further thought, I realized that these poor chickens are so big, that they can't walk properly on flat ground, let alone up the ramp (you should have seen the poor things staggering around on the uneven ground once they got outside).

Contemplating the great beyond?

Contemplating how to get down--most chose to lose their balance and fall as a flapping feathery mess...

So, when the meat chickens go outside, they have to caught, lifted (and if I'm lucky I get one that's small enough to get the hands around its body and wings), and nudged through door. And when they need to come in, it's the same process. Fortunately, they aren't fast movers so I can catch them quickly at the end of the day.

Anyways, as cruel as it sounds, I'm ready for these birds to be in my freezer and not in my barn (not only are they really dumb, they're stinky). Next year, I'll make sure they have access to the run at a much younger age so they can get used to walking up and down ramps before they get too big.

Charlie and Jubilee seem to appreciate the chickens as entertainment.

Chicken Update

The chicks have been with us for four weeks as of today. They are growing quickly and their feathers are coming in.

Layers
The girls are still kind of cute-- they've moved out of the house into the big dog crate that formerly held the meat birds. Their feathers are starting to come in, and you can start to see their feather patterns.

The crate is large enough for a branch, and they enjoy roosting on it.

They get a lot of entertainment from grass, sand, and digging through the pine shavings. They will be in the crate for a little while longer before moving into the coop. I'd like to have their run set up before I move them, and the electric chicken fence won't be here until the end of may.

They are also flighty-- they tend to panic whenever I move around above them or take the lid off of their cage. I won't be too worried about them getting  picked off by a hawk when they're outside.

Meat Chickens

These guys are not so cute and are getting HUGE! They're at least twice as big as the layers, and they moved into their side of the chicken coop a couple of weeks ago. They are always underfoot, and are obsessed with eating. They will lay down in front of the feeders and just eat. Right now, they only have access to feed for 12 hours a day so they won't grow too fast and break a leg or have a heart attack. 

Notice that some of the chickens have lost all of their downy, chick feathers, but haven't yet replaced them with regular feathers since they're growing so quickly (which makes them look kind of freaky). The wonders of genetics and selective breeding...

Meet the Meaties

Yesterday afternoon 25 more chicks arrived.  These guys are destined for the dinner table or the freezer in about two months.

Their container for the journey home was a box that housed peanut brittle in its past life.

Chowing down under the heat lamp.

They're here!

These six cute fluff balls arrived bright and early this morning. They were a little cold when I took them out of their shipping box, but they found the heater right away in the brooder. Now the countdown to eggs begins!

I'll also be picking up 25 more this afternoon at the feed store-- check back for pictures!

Five of the chicks were huddled together for warmth when I opened the box this morning.

The Blue Cochin chick seemed to be alright on her own. I hope she's not being discriminated against because she's got feathers on her legs :-(.

There are six different breeds of chicks (I'm not entirely sure what's what, yet): The gray chick is a Blue Cochin. She's joined by a Buff Orpington (the light yellow chick?), a Cinnamon Queen/Golden Buff/Red Star (the golden chick?), a Silver Laced Wyandotte, an Australorp, and a Dominque.

Birds AND Bees?

Last Friday Kevin and I attended the Michigan Beekeepers Conference sponsored by the Michigan Beekeepers' Association. We are planning to buy two hives this year to put at Four Green Fields Farm to help pollinate the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. Next year, (provided we don't completely fail as beekeepers), we'll add two hives on our property. Kevin's more interested in the bees for his crops, but I'm interested in the bees for the honey. With his farm's marketing, we'll be able to sell any of the surplus sweet stuff (but, according to my books it may take a year or two before any honey is produced).

So, in addition to 30+ chickens, we'll eventually be adding thousands of tiny fuzzy buzzing insects to our list of farm critters.

Peace

It's amazing how animals can connect us with what's really important. Take Jubilee and Charlie-- give them some water, food, and companionship, and they're two happy campers.

There's nothing like watching animals for a few minutes to take your mind off of human problems: finances, violence, politics. For other creatures it's simple things that keep them going, and keep them satisfied.

Lap warmer

Barn cat Sassy has many talents: catching mice, lounging in the sun, eating all her food, and begging for attention. I was pleased to receive this photo from our barn sitter, showing a particularly useful winter skill: LAP WARMER!

Sassy and the frog

Walking Stick

This "twig" was stuck to the side of the house last night. I thought it was an odd place for a stick to be, and it seemed really semetrical, so I ran in the house to get Will. After gently blowing on the twig, it moved!

A search on Wikipedia revealed that walking sticks live all over the world and are masters of disguise. Some grow to be 12 inches long! Our little friend was probably about four inches long.

I had never seen a walking stick except on TV, so it was very cool to see one in person. I feel fortunate this one spent some time in the side of our house.

On the prowl...

Twerp gets around-you may see him in the fields, in the barn, in the yard. He's always looking for something to catch, which makes us happy when his prey is a mouse or chipmunk.

He also hones his hunting skills on butterflies and grasshoppers.

Stalking a grasshopper...

Sassy is content to nap on the wagon, sprawl in the driveway, and lounge on the deck. I've never seen her hunting mice, but she enjoys playing with rocks and chasing butterflies.



And both cats are very curious about their large neighbors!

Fair Week

This week is Fair Week in our county. While I grew up in a rural area in Georgia, the fair was never this big-here everyone we know is involved somehow. While this is only our third summer here in Michigan, we already have a tradition of going to the fair on Wednesday night-we start out with dinner at the Rotary BBQ chicken booth, followed by ice cream from the 4-H booth, and end our evening at the harness race. Look for more photos later this week.

I've volunteered two of the last three years. The first year I was in the exhibition building with all the craft, plants, and food projects. This year I helped with the draft horse show on Sunday handing out ribbons, cleaning carts, and trying not to get run over by HUGE horses. Thank goodness the heat wave broke and highs were only in the 80s.

This is our neighbor's team of Belgian Drafts, which won its class at the fair.

There was time to walk around on Sunday to look at some of the farm animals. I was especially interested in the chickens as we will be getting a small flock next spring. I have very limited experience around chickens (brief encounters with them on the family farm out west as a child, and looking the birds as we drive past farms), so I was a little surprised by how big some of them are :-O.

What a pretty feather pattern!

Chickens don't really care to have their photos taken, but this guy perked right up when he saw me standing outside the barn with my camera phone:

These little piggies are headed for market...

It's a Rough Life...