Poinsettia Update

Just after Christmas I wrote a piece about keeping your Christmas poinsettia until next Christmas.  I kept two of mine in the south facing windows of my dining room and have had very different experiences with each.  The plant pictured on the left looked very good until early April, then it dropped all its leaves.  The one on the right didn't change much until the beginning of May. At that time it began adding green leaves on top of the red ones. They each sit in a different south facing window about six feet apart. Maybe the one on the left got more sun and dried out more. Not sure why the difference.

 

I'm sure its time to put them outside for the summer. They also need to be fed. I hate to put them out for fear of storms - lost a big tree in the yard this afternoon - it took out the barbed wire fence into the pasture.  Something more to deal with tomorrow or I'll cows all over the neighborhood!

 

Both treated equally, but one lost its leaves and one didn't.

Coyote Kills Chickens

Booster Rooster and his little sister, both hatched on the farm.

I lost four chickens this past month.  One of the older white hens died of old age, but the brindle colored coyote that's begun hanging around the house got Booster Rooster, Chloe the Aracana and one of the Buff Orpingtons.  Needless to say the chickens are locked up in the chicken house for a good long while.   

 

I hate to speak ill of the dead, but Booster was not the best at managing a flock. The hens didn't pay much attention to him and he didn't spend much time looking out for them.  I feel badly that he was killed but at the same time his death solved the problem of what to do about Big Chicky.

 

Big Chicky who is at least eight years old, which is old for a rooster,  had been deserted by his hens in favor of Booster, the fancy young rooster that was hatched here in August of 2011. Last fall, little by little Big Chicky's hens deserted him for Booster and  Booster was determined to kill him. As a result Big Chicky spent the winter in a separate room in the chicken house. 

 

All the new young pullets were housed with him this spring which was nice for him but I knew when they were big enough to join the other hens that Big Chicky would be left locked up by himself for the summer.

Big Chicky

With Booster gone however, Big Chicky has been able to return to the flock. He had one good week out in the sun shine before the coyote came back and killed the two hens.  Now he and all the hens are locked up in the chicken house until I can find someone to kill that coyote. That or I decide to put electrified poultry netting around the pasture.  I don't think Big Chicky minds though, because he is crowing again.

 

However, a few days ago, I was greeted by one of the Black Jersey Giant pullets with a good strong crow!  I had suspected for some time that one of my new chicks was a rooster and not a hen, and I was right.  Hopefully Big Chicky should have all summer before this new little guy starts to give him trouble.

 

 

 

Cattle, Chickens and Bees

I've not written to my Blog since March 24th. It's been a very stressful month and I've just not felt like sharing. 

The twins were born on a Friday morning.  We put my Dad in the hospital on Saturday.  A snow storm hit on Sunday night about the same time one of the cows went into labor behind the chicken house.  I managed to get her into the barn in a nice clean dry stall and she calved about two hours later -  a nice bull calf.

The next morning I went looking for my cows with calves. One of the twins was missing - vanished.  I tracked two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon in between hospital visits to see my Dad. No calf. It was like she vanished from the earth.  A couple of friends came by Tuesday afternoon and found the calf at the far side of the property, curled up against a tree and amazingly, still alive.  They brought her home and I bedded her down in a warm dry spot in the equipment barn, got her to take a bottle, cuddled with her to get her warm and she is doing fine consuming three quarts of powdered milk replacer twice a day.  Her name is Abigail. Her twin, Madison, is doing fine with their mother. 

My Dad died April 9 of complications from Parkinson disease.  We buried him on his 90th birthday.  I always used to think to myself that people who die at an advanced age have had a long life and we really shouldn't be too sad, but that's just not the case when its your father or mother.  We had him many years longer than we thought we would, but still I miss him terribly.

The day after my Dad's funeral I finally cleaned out the chicken house in preparation for the new chickens to start bunking with Big Chicky. I finally moved the first six baby chicks, now 10 weeks old, to the chicken house and Bib Chicky is thrilled.  They are too little for him to be interested in them as hens, but he's loving the company.  The next six will be moving to the chicken house this weekend. 

Last Thursday the bees arrived - a week early.  The weather was cold and stormy and my bee keeping friend Patty said to hold them in the house a few days until the weather warmed.  So, after watching several videos on YouTube about how to install bees in a hive, I felt ready to tackle the job.  I have a pith hat, a bee veil, gloves, etc.  The bees were very agitated Sunday morning and things didn't get any better that afternoon.  The upshot of the adventure included three bee stings and my opinion that I'm no longer really enthusiastic about bees especially after Patty told me I'll have to feed them cans of sugar water all summer!!  That means putting on layers of bee gear which is very awkward and braving the angry bees to provide them a can of home made simple syrup so they can make honey to survive the winter.  Then, if they live through the winter, I might get some locust blossom honey next year! 

At this writing we are waiting for my neice to deliver her first child, a little girl which she and her husband have named Natalie Jane.  She was due last Saturday.