Fowl Pox

I feel terrible for our chickens, as it appears many of them are suffering from fowl pox (fortunately, it appears to be the dry/external type rather than the wet/internal/more deadly type).

Because Naked Necks have more "feather-free" areas, I noticed the spots on their necks before the faces, but I {think} fowl pox is the culprit.

 There's nothing to be done, and other than vaccinating, nothing to prevent it.  I haven't failed in sanitation or feeding, as pox is usually transmitted by mosquitoes.  What am I going to do about mosquitoes?

I pray we have few, if any, resulting deaths, and am grateful that thus far, their appetites and behavior seem to be pretty normal.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

No Idle Hands Here

"I don't know what that deer's thinkin', but she's thinkin' crazy."

The Assistant made the above comment about a deer that persists in running into our vehicles.  James has actually "love tapped" it once, and we've seen it repeatedly, usually far too close for comfort!

I think we might be "thinkin' crazy" around here too, as we have put far too many things on our plate!

There's corn to dry and separate for cornmeal.

A chicken coop to complete.

Neighbor's apples to harvest, juice, and can.  (I might try fruit vinegar this year as well!)

 Weeds (and more weeds) to pull.  At least I freed the mailbox from the volunteer mulberry tree and the chest high weeds.

 The same cannot be said about the flagpole bed.

 And then, in case we weren't busy enough, this lovely catapas tree was struck my lightning.  This was (and is) traumatic on many levels.  Firstly, it will have to be cut down, as the entire center is dying.

 Secondly, there is a large field of debris.  We are SO blessed that no one or no animal was near the tree, and that James' truck windows weren't burst.

 Unfortunately, said lightning strike fried a breaker in our house and I am having trouble getting an electrician.  We did get power back in a reasonable amount of time, and AT&T replaced our modem by midday, giving me the freedom of internet and phone access again.

There are bushes and weeds running rampant.

 At least I finally cleared the table of harvest mess.  You can still see the bucket of sunflower heads waiting me to the left, but all the peppers, beans, and tomatoes are corralled or preserved (for now!)/

With a grateful heart for the food and shelter around us, I'm back to work!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Free-Range Flock

For the first time, I caught our keets, Big Red, and the adult guineas traveling as a flock.  It must have been the day spent in captivity yesterday, when I had no adult to help with cooping up, so they were left in a fenced yard.  It's a good thing we do that rarely, as they hated it.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Chicken Update

The girls and I have been excited to collect our first eggs from the adopted chickens (not our original Naked-Necks... yet).  Knowing that I may not have to buy many eggs at the store in the near future is a rewarding feeling for all the hard work and trauma we've put into this chickens.

 Dinosaur legs!

The chickens have such different personalities.  We know exactly which two hens will be the last in at night.  Only one rooster (of three) crows of yet, and he starts early in the the morning.  Since their turken tank is directly outside our bedroom windows, I get to hear the symphony!  In reality, the noise is not yet as bothersome as some people make it out to be.  Since nearby neighbors have had adult roosters since before we moved in, the early crowing is a normal noise.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

YJ Acres

After 21+" of rain since July 14, we are enjoying drier.  I would not wish away any rain God sees fit to send us, but I am glad we are finally able to wade through the weeds and try to tame the chaos!

One of my three new rose bushes is blooming.  I normally don't choose something yellow, but this rose is cheery and bright against the rest of the green path.

The below hill has been a trouble spot for us.  We lost the only tree planted on it last year in the terrible drought.  When my mom and I were planting bulbs, the tree was so brittle that we could pop off large branches.  We planted a sweet cherry tree in its place.  The hill is also problematic because mowing over it, what with the stones and uneven ground, results in excessive need to trim as well as bald spots where the mower has scalped the high spots.  Our solution, over the next several years, will be to gradually kill of the grass and replace it with rose bushes and mulch.  I had to leave behind my collection of roses at our old house, so I am looking forward to choosing all over again!

 I started the spring with a cleaned up front walkway.  Herb plants were planted, weeding commenced, and... the summer and time escaped me.  This week, every time I leave the house to pick up or take the girls to school, I have been pulling a few weeds.  Although there's plenty left to do, I can now tell where the oregano, basil, echinacea, chamomile, sage, rosemary, lavender, and tarragon are... and where they aren't!  I ran out of mulch from chipped limbs, so I may be at a stopping place in this yard improvement for now.

 Apples and peaches are slowing approaching ripeness in our orchard. When we made a trip to Lowe's for supplies for the new and improved chicken tractor, we also splurged and bought several more fruit trees.  Even better, we already planted them!  Another honeycrisp, gala, and Wolf River apples were planted, as well as a plum.  We're looking forward to maturity in a few years!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

August 9

August 9 was a bad day here at YJ Acres.  It was James' first day back at school, so I was home alone with the kids and animals.

Around lunch, I went out to check on said animals, only to hear the guinea keets' characteristic "lost" cry.  Upon finding all the babies in a tree and no mama hen (Big Red near by), I began counting... and counted again... and again.  We were missing a baby and a mama.

I went to check the chicken's water and, upon opening the door, discovered two dead chickens.  Oh, did I mention that the Assistant was with me?  Yeah, welcome to farm life!

The Assistant and I fixed up the dog crate and patiently ushered in the lost babies.  After all, wouldn't repeated cries of "lost" call all the predators in the area?  We gave them food and water and settled them near the chicken tractor for company.

I sent James a message asking him to call.  After all, should I leave the chickens?  Bury them?  I didn't want to pull them out and have the dog eat the corpses.  The end result: James sent over a neighbor, who looked at the tracks I had found and declared them to be from a fox.  He helped me bag up the chickens and secure them in the barn until they could be used as fox bait.  Later, I found the hole torn in the chicken wire where the fox had gained entrance and vowed to be more proactive in closing the door to the coop at night.  We had been lax in our security, leaving the coop door open to the enclosed yard.  No more.

Then, coming out the front door, I discovered Big Red, missing half her feathers.  We followed her for a while, making sure she wouldn't run away from the yard, and finally released her babies to her.  They reunited happily.

For the rest of the day, I could not help but go outside frequently, paranoid that another bird would die if I stayed in for too long.

That night, James and Neighbor P set a live trap for the fox, complete with chicken corpses.  James also picked up four bedraggled hens from a too-crowded coop and replenished our flock.  (It is too bad that two of the hens, both grey, are meaner than the day is long.  They might become stew.)

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Canning Exploits

A long day was had by all at our house yesterday.  It began with defrosting three gallons of skinned tomatoes.  They bubbled away most of the day to join herbs, lemon juice, and salt for 15 pints of tomato sauce.

 Meanwhile, culled tomatoes from Tuesday's picking extravaganza (3 1/2 5-gallon bucket loads) were skinned, cored, and chopped to make 5 quarts of salsa.  Everything but the cilantro was homegrown or in the pantry!

We also had some cucumbers that needed attention, and we've been running low on pickles.  I love that my girls like "our" pickles better than store bought!

See how happy they make her?

We even ended the day with a decent plan for dinner, all the dishes washed, and the bedrooms vacuumed, thanks to my mom!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.