Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Rosie

We got a new cow!  Well I guess I kind of got a new cow.  Her name is Rosie!  She is a two year old jersy.  But she is a little skittish around people.  She also had a calf.  A little tiny Black Angus who as of today is eleven days old.  I named her Guinevere.  NOBODY can remember her name.  Mom has called her Maleficent, Nemo, Bozo, Genevieve, Gwyneth Paltrow, good grief!  I might need to pick a new name.  I think they pretend to forget to annoy me.  She needs to be milked once a day so she doesn't get mastitis.  Rosie has some problems but with good hay and medication she will be fine!

Parker

Happy birthday to me!

My birthday was yesterday! I am now 15 years old.  We also finished up music lessons yesterday too.  Pretty eventful day.  Oh yeah!  My sister had a softball game that day also.  But it was fn going to the ball park. 

We got four new chickens!  My mom's friend asked us if we would take some young chickens and naturally we obliged.  So on my birthday God gave me chickens!  Isn't that cool.  That night we put them with the other chickens.  They started exploring the coop and checking everything out almost instantly!  One of them kept trying to get out.  I got her back in though. 

We are currently trying to grow grass in the chicken yard so all the chickens are locked out.  They  get to range the whole farm now.  We put a motion detecting sprinkler in there too keep the chickens from eating the seed if they do get in there.

Guenevere is still afraid of people.  Goofy cow.  I like baby cows but no when they are like Gwen.  Nope.  If we want milk Gwen has to be separated form her mom at night.  OH yeah it's LOTS of fun running around the field trying to get the baby cow in her pen!  Not.

Parker

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Spring

Well spring is coming around and I can't say I'm unhappy about that.  Finally after eight inches of snow we are through winter.  My Mom has already started her garden.  That means weeds to pull, plants to water, and vegetables to harvest.

At least it's warmer out.  The chickens will finally come out of the coop.  After spending all winter cooped up they have decided to come out and play..  We are leaving the chickens and ducks in the fence around the coop so we can grow grass.

The chickens have no problem getting around.  They run, flap, walk.  The ducks didn't get much chance to exercise before we tuned them loose.  When they go down the ramp from the chicken coop they fall off it.  Graceful.

We even have names for the ducks.  Gimpy Limpy, (Ping), Goosey Loosey, (Sonny), and Ducky Lucky, (Filbert).  Ping has a limp.  I think I already told you that.  So he was dubbed the name, Gimpy Limpy.  Though his limp is better now.  One of the ducks has figured out how to go up the ramp now!  Shelby is very happy about that.  Though she still has to put the other two in the coop.

And recently we have put the baby chickens out with the big chickens, and they have figured out how to get out of the fence.  So that makes the evenings more interesting.  They get out and can't get back in.  So it becomes my job to get them back into the coop.

Parker

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Gizzard

We now have three ducks running around the chicken yard.  Ping, Sonny, and Filbert.  Or as my mom called her, Gizzard.  So now the duck is eternally Gizzard.  If you read my sisters blog you will see that she has to give the ducks water.  Which my chickens drink.  So I don't have to give the chickens water....  Happy dance!  So Shelby is ticked.  She was told that she would only have to give them water twice a week.  I said twice a day.  I was pretty close.  So now that there are three ducks they will consume 50% more water than usual.  Do the math.  It works.  So guess what?  We got pools.  Little kiddie pools for the ducks.  Son now Shelby doesn't have to haul a 15lb. drinker to the coop, and the ducks get a pool to, poop, swim, splash, poop, and drink in.  Happy ducks.  Here are some duck pics.

Ducks.
"HI!  WE'RE DUCKS!"
I have decided that the ducks scream everything.
They do!

"WATER!"

The chickens checking out the pools.
 
Parker

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Chicken fence

If you have had naughty baby chickens you know one of the reasons we built the fence.  EVERYBODY says that if you leave chickens in the coop for 4 days they go back into the coop on their own.  I am here to tell you that they are WRONG.  Chickens don't do that. Sure they go in on their on eventually.  But not for the first week.  Oh no.  The first week it is a crusade of chasing little rebellious teenage chickens through 47 acres of land.  Fun.  I don't know why but for the first week they hate the coop.  Last time we let out new chickens into the world we spent half the night chasing them all over a briar infested hill.  Fun.  So that is when, yours truly (me), gets to put up the makeshift fence.  Fun.

So that is one reason we are putting up the fence.  Another is so that Dad can grow grass without the chickens eating all the seed.

But this fence is going to be nice.  A real gate!  Posts!  Were talking permanent!

Parker

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Pooping stump

One day my siblings are up at the cow barn playing.  The girls are playing some kind of pioneer game and my little brother (4) is off doing whatever he does when no one is talking to him.  (Probably talking.)

Later my little brother walks up to Shelby (2) and says, "Hey Shelby, Want to see my pooping stump?"  

She said, "One. No. And two.  You have a pooping stump?!"

It turns out he does have a pooping stump.  I have seen it.  There is no cover around it.  It is a free standing stump next to a tree and completely visible to the house, cow barn, half the driveway, and the front and side yard.




Fast forward six months.

We are at the ball field for a practice.  My little brother decides he needs to go to the bathroom.  We try two bathroom areas.  Boys and girls bathrooms.  A total of 4.  All locked.  I ask him if he has too go number one or number two.  Number two.

"We're hosed."  Then I notice some woods.  I ask him if he can go in there.

He asked, "Are there any stumps?"

Now if there were stumps all would have been well with the world.  Though some bushes would have been nice too.

But I say, "Probably not.  Why can't you just squat?"

He says, "Last time I did that I got poop in my undies."

Lovely.  But there wasn't enough cover in the woods anyways.  We go back to my mom and tell her all the bathrooms were locked.  She asks if he has to go number 1 or 2.  2.  Great.  But some nice people pointed us in the right direction to a bathroom and we were all happy.

Parker

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Shade

I got a new cat.  How you may ask?  Well my Mom and I were at the barn when I saw this black fluffy cat.  We tried to get close but she ran off.  Later my Mom saw the cat go near the chicken coop.  I went to check it out but of course I couldn't get close to her.  So I set a live animal trap with sardines. At first she was just scraping them out and eating them.  She wouldn't go in the cage.  So I made a trail leading in the cage and it worked!  She went in the cage and the door closed behind her.  Instant cat!  My Mom and I took her back to the house and put her in a dog kennel for the night.  She had food and water.  The next day we brought her in and gave her a bath.  She did not enjoy that.  Afterwards the vet came and vaccinated her.  She even got some de-wormer.  Now she is living in the house until she gets used to us.  But she is already really friendly.  As you might be able to tell from the title I named her Shade.  I currently don't have any good pictures of her right now so I'll need to get some up.

Parker

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Baby Peepers! Again.

Ok so I am at home and I get a call from my mom and she says,  "You might want to prepare for some new guests."  I ask her if they are chickens and she says she got six. 
baby blended

So I go out to the barn to get hay and supplies so we can keep them in the house away from the cold.  I walk in the house.  I see two chick holders.  There should be one.  Turns out Mom got 4 chicks and........  Wait for it..... The suspense......  Is it killing you yet????  Here it is........  2 baby ducks!  Ping and Sonny.  Shelby has Ping and my little brother has Sonny.  I didn't name the ducks.  The duck lovers did.  Ping has adopted Shelby as his mom.  So Ping follows Shelby everywhere. 

ping13
Especially since they put a diaper on the duck and let is run around the house.  No offence to you people that put diapers on their fowl but....  Weird.  So the house has been invaded by ducks.  I think baby chickens are cuter.  You decide!

Ping.
ping 1

Or chicks.


baby chick 3
My cat still isn't sure about the duck.
ping8


Parker

Snow

We have 6 or more inches of snow outside.  It has been there for over a week.  Now the surface is frozen so we can walk on top of it.  Though it makes chores a little harder.  Like how the ATV gets stuck at every turn!  Ugh.  The chickens are slowly overcoming their fear of snow.  I might just have to go and put them in it.  I did that with one chicken and now she is used to the snow.  1 down 17 to go.

Winter break was last week so we had a laid back week of school, snow, fires, and movies.  Though I am glad that doesn't happen every week.  It is a little overwhelming.  And the -22 degree weather.  Well..... -22 with wind chill.  But still cold enough to give you frostbite.

Crumple and Faith are seperated again.  Crumple is NOT having fun.  We are back to pacing the fence and mooing.  

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Cow

Well.  They let crumple back in with Faith and guess what happened.  Crumple started nursing.  And Faith started giving milk.  So now Mom and Shelby are milking the cow.  If they don't milk her I think they give the milk to Crumple.  Mom is SO happy that they get to milk the cow and get milk again.  I am happy that the cow isn't a poop making,money eating machine anymore.  Now she is pulling her weight.

We have a live bait trap by the chicken coop to catch the mystery animal that was eating the chickens.  So far I have caught 3 possums and a chicken.  Twice!  The first time I wasn't there so my parents let her out. The second time I let her out.  Goofy bird.

Parker

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Snow birds

Spring chickens hate snow.  We got about a centimeter of snow. That apparently is enough to make the chickens fly everywhere.  Or just stay in the coop.  They walk out onto the ramp that leads up to the little door that lets them in the coop and fly to the compost pile for food, then fly back to the ramp and go back into the coop.  Except for the roosters.  They just strut everywhere.  And spar with your foot if they think you are another chicken.  It can be scary.  Especially if the rooster is three feet tall. It can be freaky.  

Parker

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Cows

Mom let crumple back into the field with faith.  Crumple goes over to Faith and WHAM!  He gets kicked in the head from trying to nurse.  This happened about four more times before my little sister who was up there at the time noticed what was happening.  Later my mom asked her who she was talking to while Crumple was getting attacked.  She answered with, "I was talking to Scruffy!"  Scruffy is her cat.  How she missed the first part of Crumple getting kicked is a mystery.  Scruffy must have had some interesting things to say about life.  But now Faith and Crumple are getting along again.

Parker

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Cat trap

We have had a problem with a raccoon eating the chickens.  Again.  Well, we usually lose half our flock in the winter.  So I went out to check the trap and caught our neighbors cat.  Why?  We used sardines as bait.  I bet we had every cat in the county lined up outside of the cage.  The best part?  I forgot to tell our neighbors.


Spring chickens are kind of wimpy.  We need some not wimpy winter chickens.  But taking care of chicks in the spring and summer is easier than in the winter.  For instance, at least one rooster gets frostbite.



Poor Foghorn Leghorn
Those photos are kind of old.
Now the top part of his comb is completely black.
It stinks but he will live.

Parker

Birthday party

Well.  Mom planned a surprise birthday party for me.  I had no idea.  This happened on my actual birthday.  All of my best friends were there.  It was awesome.  First it was our neighbors.  Then three other families.  We had an airsoft war, rode 4-wheelers, played Wii, ate good food, talked, roasted marshmallows, it was awesome.  When one of the families showed up they said that they were getting instructions on how to take care of the animals while we were at Frip.  They also acted surprised that it was my birthday.  I fell for it.  I had tons of fun.


This is a little late because I never got around to publishing it, but I thought you might want to know.

Parker

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The chronicles of Duke No.1

W have a basset hound named Duke.  He has a very limited vocabulary.  It consists of, "Hi. My name's Duke."  "Cheese!"  "Poor me!"  And sometimes, "Evil cheese!"  Shelby is working on a post kind of like this but I started this last night and she copied me.

1

Duke has this stuffed pig.  He loves the pig.  He got it for Christmas and it has only lost an ear.  That is a pretty good run for a well loved dog toy.  He'll do about anything for the pig.  Like play ice skater.  Tee Hee.  He can barely get a grip on the laminate flooring in the kitchen.  He likes to chase the pig.  Put that together and what do you get?  Hours of entertainment.  Who needs I pads?  We have a dog.  This one time my little brother threw the pig too close to Duke's water bowl.  BLAM!!  Water and dog are everywhere.  My little brother got to clean that up.  It's pretty funny.

Parker

Monday, January 26, 2015

SNOW!

It was snowing.  In April!  We have the stock tank that we swim in filled with water.  Sheesh.  I hope it passes soon.  I am not in the mood for any snow days.  As my dad said, "This weather is nuts.  The winter that won't end."  I agree. 


I caught another cold.  And no I did not eat a train this time.  Humph.  It sucks.  My nose stdecided to try to kill me.  I hope it goes away.


A note to you followers of my blog.  You can comment now!  Give it a shot.  But be warned,  only certain people can comment.


Parker

Meat chicks

You know those 50 cent chicks my mom got.  They are meat chicks.  How do we know this?  Well for one they eat too much food to be normal chickens.  They have poop stuck to their bums.  And they are ugly.  All the signs of being a meat chicken.  We moved Whitey, Rocky, Silver, Turkey junior, and Cravin out with the other chickens.  The other night, Whitey was out side.  Yay!  But she stood in a corner all day.  Why?  Because when she went out she got attacked.  Yep.  And her friends are being treated as the odd ones out.  But I think that the other chickens will warm up to them eventually.



Parker

Don't let your son grow up to be a cowboy

My little brother had the idea that he should ride our steer calf Crumple.  So Dad said he would take him up there and put him on Crumple.  Crumple is a Brown Swiss.  The laziest cow in the world.  Not when people are jumping on him.  Dad didn't think that my little brother would get on Crumple.  He did.  So dad is petting Crumple then out of no where.  Boing!  My little brother is riding a cow.  Dad was surprised so he grabbed my little brother and yanked him off the cow.  So he rode Crumple for all of 1.2 seconds.  Not exactly a whole ride but not bad for a first time!


So yeah.  We found out how to get Crumple to move.

Parker

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Winter has some of my least favorite things.

I just posted about how winter has some of my favorite things.  Here are some of the worst things about winter.

1. Snow.  Like I said snow should be in a category all it's own.

2.  Working in sub zero weather.

3.  Working in snow.

4.  The cold.

5.  The fact that the heat pump can't keep the entire house warm.
But we have a fireplace.

6. Everything is frozen.

7.  Having to break the cows water with a sledge hammer.

8.  Hauling 500 lbs. of fire wood to the garage.

9.  School.

10.  It gets dark out at 5:30

And there you have it.
Parker

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Winter has few of my favorite things.

As the title implies there aren't many good things about winter.  Except a few....

1.  Snow
Snow should have a category of it's own.  There are about 5 good things.  And about 50 bad ones.

2.  Sledding
This would also go under the category of snow

3.  Fires
These are always fun to have in our wood burning fireplace.

4.  Soup
(Mainly beef stew.)

5.  Hot chocolate
Wouldn't be winter without it.

6.  Watching movies inside.

7.  Playing games inside

8.  Sledding while attached to the back of a moving 4-wheeler.

9.  Christmas

10.  Staying up until midnight on New year's eve.

There you have it.  A few good things about winter.
Parker

2015

Welcome to 2015!  Another year.  2014 went by pretty fast for me.  And now Christmas break is over and it is back to getting up at 6:20 in the morning.  Joy.

Who had a good Christmas?  I did. But it went by too fast.  Faster than last year.  Which is way too fast.

We went to a new year's party at our neighbors house.  So we got to stay until midnight.  I mainly just played video games the whole time.  It was fun.

What stinks is that we aren't getting any snow.  We got, what?  One snowfall this winter?  Before Christmas.  We might get some Monday but I doubt that.  How about some rain in really, really cold weather?  That would work.  But no.  Just rain in 40 degree weather.  But I'm sure we'll get some snow soon.

Parker

Cold

-1. It was -1 degrees at eight o clock.   The best part?  Our heater is broken. Joy. So now there is a fire in the fire place. The only place with heat is the basement. And my room. Lucky me. I don't have to freeze to death at night now.

When I went to let my chickens out this morning their water was completely frozen. The whole way through. Shelby has to break up crumples water with a shovel. She can't just dump it over like I do. Her water tank is 100 gallons.

I don't know how the cats do it.  They have to live outside in the freezing weather. Then again there are those thick coats.

Wrong picture. 

There we go. 
I think that would keep you warm outside in this weather. 
Last year the cats huddled together in a one cat bed. 
Stay warm. 
Parker