The sewn-up duck has healed well- she still has a barely perceptible limp, but I almost can’t tell her apart from the other adult ducks. Amazing!
Her adopted babies are the result of my next generation of duck egg incubation attempts. Still not good: 7 hatches out of 36 eggs! :-{ Again, I had a lot of eggs that appears to be fully developed, but never hatched. Continue reading “Status: Duck Incubation and Sewn-Up Duck”
In 2006, when the house was being moved and rebuilt, it was necessary to move the dogs from my old house in town out to the farm. I needed to get the old house ready to sell, and not have four Border Collies greet potential buyers at the door! With many things going on and lots of money being spent, I had to make a lot of quick choices on getting things done efficiently and cheaply, rather than well. đ The dogs’ potty yard was one of those things. 
Continue reading “Goodbye Old Dog Potty Yard”
I ordered two more rolls of Electronet from Premier. Now I have four 164′ sections of netting. Now, I can give the sheep a pretty big rectangle, and not have to move it so often. It also gives them a more comfortable grazing section, that’s not so cramped. I like for them to be able to do a bit of walking each day.
Late last night I heard a radical thudding on the front porch, and went to check it out. It was our clumsy cat, and she had caught this giant moth after leaping about after it.
But, typical of Mrs. Pete, she got distracted and let it go a moment later. Then it landed and I was able to coax it onto my hand.
It’s rare to see such large moths here, we mostly have little, plain brown ones. This one was as big as my hand!
I spoke with a neighbor this weekend who said she is having a terrible time with domestic dogs chasing and/or killing her livestock. So, she’s been shooting them (this is entirely legal, btw). I don’t blame her, this kind of predation is perhaps the most frustrating of all, because it doesn’t need to happen. These dogs have kibble at home, they aren’t trying to make a living like a wild predator, they are just out having a good time! Continue reading ““Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up””
This weekend I caught all the lambs individually. I wanted to trim their hooves and weigh them. Continue reading “Weighing Lambs”
We enjoyed some summer weather last weekend with Chicago Style hot dogs (well, sausages, actually) made on the grill. Oh yeah! Continue reading “Chicago Style Dogs”
This week we had a little earthwork done for the farm. I say a little, and for the farm, because in our state, under the “right to plow” law, if you are moving a reasonably small amount of dirt and it is for farming activity, you don’t have to get a grading permit. Continue reading “A Little Earth Moving”
I’m gearing up to start another round of fencing. I do add concrete my fence post holes, because in the floodplain, the flotation forces of full-submersion flooding can cause whole fence lines to float- or so I’m told by a neighbor who learned this the hard way! So the question I’m pondering this year is, pour the concrete in the hole dry and let it cure on its own, or pre-mix the concrete first? Continue reading “Fence Posts: Wet or Dry Cure Concrete?”
Kirk continues to find any excuse to use his “Inferno” propane tank torch attachment. This now includes lighting the BBQ grill. đ
On the plus side, we don’t need to use lighter fluid or chemical-ey charcoals anymore. This baby lights up plain old charcoal in a minute or two!