This Gorgeous Week

This week it was gorgeous! Weather got to about 21C (I have not figured out Fahrenheit for the life of me!) and I took advantage of it! It was t-shirt time, and I even brought out the shorts!

I have been taking the dog down to the creek lately. It's great because 1) there's no cows down there 2) the dog has so much room to run and burn her energy 3) there's water for her to play in 4) it's protected from the wind! We just walk and walk and sometimes I have No clue where I am until I get to the top of a hill and see Jed's brother Cole's house! We discovered this deeper pond for Sassie the dog to swim in. It was the first time she actually swam, and not just flopped in at the edges. She loved it. She would race out back to me and then spray me with water. Such a happy dog!

Drying off

Her swimming hole

Trying to take a picture with the dog without getting soaked with pond water!

SO happy!

This little one is quite timid!

Had about 2 minutes 'free ranging' in the garden before I threw her back in the run!

Started pulling this rose mess out, and will replant with some bulbs

T-shirt, shorts, smoothie, outside...Perfect day!

Passed out

More passed out...guess they don't like that roost!

 I went with a friend to Belle Fourche/Spearfish SD the other day. I discovered some seeds at Walmart for .50C, .20C and then this Huge collection! I Obviously had to buy some of the cheaper ones. It was such a good deal!

Every time. I just can't help it.

I transplanted some tomatoes the other day so this window is getting Super full!

Golden Hour

Happy Chicks

The chicks didn't really know what to think of being outside. For the first few days, I would have to carry them out, and then carry them back in. Once they were out they were happy. They hadn't figured out how to go inside if the wind picked up or anything.
I have since, put chicken wire up along the fences. They now are eager to go out when I let them out in the morning. I built them their own special little ramp. And they are slowly figuring out how to go back in! I actually haven't left them out until dusk, like you're "supposed" to, but i'm sure they would figure it out themselves. But I guess they do just have a chicken brain...

  

bribing them out

Worked until the sun set!

Weekend.

After a HUGE breakfast of biscuits and gravy which I had never heard of, together, we went outside. First of all though, Jed had been bugging me to make biscuits and gravy for breakfast because "Andrea made them for Cole" (Jed's brother who he works with) so that means I had to. I had never heard of those things. At least not together.  I guess what it is is ground pork cooked, and then added to a white special gravy thing, and then served over biscuits. Jed actually bought all the ingredients for it last week while he was in Miles City. (He knows I would never buy it when it's just me shopping! Mainly because I Really don't know what it is). He asked if he should get some biscuits. Clearly he's seen my fails and fails of bread making! However, I can make biscuits.
So Saturday morning, we made them. I had made some biscotti the night before and didn't wash the dishes. Which is totally Not me! I wash the dishes after every meal because I can't cook in a dirty kitchen. But it was like 9:30 when the biscotti finished and Jed was already making some popcorn so I definitely couldn't do dishes while he ate the popcorn!
That just meant that while Jed was making the gravy and pork, he took over the counters+stove. I made the biscuits on the table. It was a well dirtied kitchen!

Biscuit making. Or made. 

Eventually we I got the kitchen cleaned up and outside we went. We had to put fascia, sofit and trim on the coop. The sofit was leftover from a job Jed's been on, and the fascia likely dates back to the early 80's. (Joys of having many old buildings on the property to find materials!) It was a nice enough day that I hauled the chicks to an old fenced in area that they used to use for other chickens and bird like creatures.  It was in the shade, cool and damp. Nothing like toughening them up! 

I found an old basket around here and hauled them like that. Some of the littler chicks were small enough to escape out, so they got royal treatment and got carried by hand. 

Hand carrying the weird ones! 

We were looking through the old buildings here and found this gorgeous old stove! I'm going to stake my claim on it now. I also found some cast iron pans I want to refinish!

This little dog watched the bulls for half hour or so and then decided to take 4 steps into the pen...too bad for her (and us) it was about 8" of poop/pee/water all mixed together! 

She also met the chicks, but decided annoying a cow was a better idea than watching chicks

            

Perfect day for sheet drying! 

                           The little silkie! I think this is Jed's favourite chick ha!

              

Hauling them!

Another Week

It's sad. I realize that all my posts lately have been pretty much strictly chickens!!  I guess that's all my life is right now, or all worth photographing at least!

I did clean up some of my garden this week. There's a tree at the north end of my garden which I decided i'm going to plant a bunch of flowers all around it. Like a wildflower patch! And just hope they grow. But i'm feeling doubtful considering it was waist high of weeds last summer...
I started throwing out cow patties out of my garden. Most people Want manure, but I don't! I believe that the manure in my garden last year was too strong, causing death to beans, carrots, onions, peas, etc. I'm secretly hoping that my garden didn't do well last year because it hadn't been touched in Years. Let's hope.
I take my dog for walks everyday and one day this week there was a cow and her calf right where we wanted to go. I know better to let a cow-eager dog get near a cow+it's calf! This particular cow was Pet. You can Pet her. But not when there's a dog involved. We just took a walk a different way.

This is Pet.

Love getting photos of this little munchkin! 

I think they're remembering the head scratches I gave them when they were brand new.

Soak in the sunshine

Myrtle doesn't like pictures. I'm also terrified she's going to fly into my face!

I convinced Jed to make a temporary roost for the chicks. They like it! Each day it seems like more pile on. It's a tad too big for their claws but considering how fast they grow they'll be fine!

And then there's one that sleeps in the feeder.

                

Feathered Friday

I decided to do a 'chicken' post weekly. Mainly because they are what I spend a fair amount of time with, and plus it's like the only thing I really take pictures of ha!
I can tell that they're definitely developing a personality. (Do chickens have personalities? Like they hardly even have a brain...)
There is one who is often up on the edge of a box, or the edge of the board dividing the coop in half.
There is another one who is often flying around scaring the others, and he/she is also one that pecks and annoys the other!
The silkie, (Mr Kerfuffles!) used to be Super timid...wouldn't get in the middle of the chicks. Now he/she is not afraid. Last night we watched it try and shove the other chicks off the roost! He/she is also the smallest chick so it's quite funny to see!

What I've learned thusly:
-chickens scratch their head/neck/back like a dog does. With their foot!
-they also stretch. Stretch out their wings and their legs as far as they can reach
-they stink
-they peck at poop
-their wing span is quite big already
-some sleep past out with their head on the ground. Some tuck their heads in. They turn their heads pretty much all the way around and rest their heads on their wings. Some sleep on their sides!
-they're super super dusty

Injured one.

The other night we noticed that 3 of the same breeds (Ameracaunas) all had a wound of some sort right down the middle of their back. There are feathers coming in there so it may have been something from that. We put the 3 in a box, in the coop. Chickens will peck at a wound/cut on another chicken to the point of cannibalism! The next night one escaped back into the coop so I let the others out, but then saw one pecking at it. So I put it back in the box and it escaped. Twice! Enough of that.

They seem to be healing up well. Even if it's just dust covering it up!

New area, new sand=happy chicks! Bath time!

eating cucumbers...just not the skin!

Mohawk! And 'bathing' 

  

Loving strawberry tops!

Twinning Amercaunas. These type lay the blue/green eggs!

Silver Laced Wyandotte

A Golden Laced Wyandotte+Silkie