Journey to farmlife

Let me sleep! LOL

31 May 2009

May came in like a lamb and rushed out like a lion. Boy, where does the time go?

The inevitable happened with the pup the other day and I’m so angry about the whole ordeal. I really thought that if he grew surrounded with the animals that he would become accustomed to them and not worry about them. This is the story.

I’ve already told you about my idea to move the goats. My very bright idea to move the animals turned out to create a disaster I’m afraid, but I honestly had the goats best interests at heart. I was concerned that they might need some different scenery as I said before and it all started off rather well and then landed up bad. Well for one chook that is. I’ve learnt to keep them all apart in their own enclosures for a good reason. The goats will finish the chicken feed if they get in with them. The ducks mess the chicken’s water and dirty it terribly and the chickens just have it in their brains that the ducks crush is better tasting than their food, the laying mash. So you can see it’s quite a thing! Now back to the story. The goats were on the far left enclosure and I had to get them to the far right enclosure - this was a job but from the previous entry you can see was done. I won’t bore you with all the details but suffice to say I failed horribly at this rigmarole. I did manage to save all the food and water but the animals all landed up together in the far right area. I gave up trying to get them to go back and exhausted I stood watching them all. They seemed to be fine and were all co-inhabiting peacefully. I resigned to the fact that I would leave them there for awhile and then start the whole process of moving them back later on. The goats were clearly disturbed and didn’t like the idea one bit. Eventually they move around and ran up the sand mould I was telling you about before. They tasted a few leaves from the overhanging tree and made a lot of noise voicing their objections to the move. Well who likes moving? I certainly don’t so I understood. I wearily went upstairs to tackle the kitchen sink and watched from the window noting later on that morning all was well. I glanced at the gate and remembered that Johnny was digging there and there was a big gap under the gate that I hadn’t thought of. It pasted my mind that Spot was playing outside and may go under and harass the chickens and ducks. The goats have put him in place and he knows where he stands in the great scheme of things which is so good. So they weren’t my worry. My thoughts weren’t even cold and I saw the pup wrestling the chicken on the ground. He had done the exact thing I’d thought moments before. I charged out to rescue the chicken and only hoped that she would be okay. She just lay there. Spot got a real smack and I picked up my girl. She was bleeding abit but I think was just in shock. She wasn’t injured badly. I didn’t know if she would survive though. I was so angry with myself and spotty. Why didn’t I think about this? I guess I just hoped that he would become accustomed to the chickens and they wouldn’t worry him. I know its instinct for him and he is just being a hound but it doesn’t help reasoning this matter out. The chook is still hurt and so is my heart. I’m the one to blame.

I put her in the laying box and kept a close eye on her the whole day. She is eating and drinking and even laid an egg the following day after this incident. Her tail feathers are hanging down though and she’s not well. I’m not ready to cull her yet, it seems like such a brutal thing to do. You’re probably all thinking its part of farming! I know this but it’s still hard. Johnny tells me “it’s just a chicken babe” but she’s not just a chicken, she is MY chicken who I watched grow and I feed her everyday and collect her eggs too. I know it’s just a mindset. We eat chicken probably three times a week as part of our diet. Those were all chooks running around too!! What am I going to do? I think the first will be hard as all first things are tougher to do.

Right now she is still quite weak and doesn’t do much walking around. Yesterday I dug up some earth worms for her to try and stimulate her appetite. I don’t want her to suffer. She ate them but still looks unhappy. The other hens disregard her and bully her at the food dispenser. It’s like they sense she is the weaker one and peck her. It’s horrible! Nature is so cruel I think. A real learning experience again for me. She didn’t lay another egg after this but then the rest of the chickens seem to be having a break too. I think the cold weather has a lot to do with it. Yesterday I only got one egg.

On a lighter note and the house renovations front, things are looking up. The lounge is receiving tender loving care. Johnny changed the light fittings and plugs to new ones and I worked on the final tit bits of painting. I just have one more coat to do on the cornices and then the ceiling. I know we probable should have painted the ceiling first but hey we like to do things differently, what can I say. My beautiful curtains just complete the place. I have another idea to change the skirting boards from the plain ones they are currently there to the fancy molded ones. I’m torn between leaving the old ones there and having the lounge complete but as Johnny says I won’t be totally happy until the skirting I want are there. Besides it’s not such a job to change. I’ll go looking this week for nice ones.

Okay let’s move onto the garden landscaping. Johnny cleared and pruned a lot more of the front and I got stuck into the rose bed again making a little more headway there. The further along I go on the bed I clear, the harder the growth of roots seems to be. My humble tools are battling and I wish I had more strength in my hands. I will persevere and each time I get a little bit more done. It’s seems like I’ve been busy on this for ages but there have been lots of interruptions with the weather patterns etc. We have cut down a tree overhanging the garage. The branches got chopped up for firewood. It is amazing how much more it lightened up the back garden. It’s good. The goats enjoyed the leaves and have completed cleaned up the vines growing on the fences in their paddock. They seem to enjoy the little purple flower growing on the vine. Any flowers now that I think of it. That’s goats for you. They eat anything. While I was busy in the garden the children were helping me. It was a wonderful time for us working together. They lost interest after awhile and snuck off to go watch TV. Johnny promptly collected them and chased them outside. It was such a beautiful day outside with the sun shining and they want to be couch potatoes! They didn’t win and finally got stuck in with me.

I’m wondering what’s happening with our Dexter cows? It’s been about two weeks now and we haven’t heard anything. Johnny is going to ring David and find out. As a matter of interest, can’t recall if I mentioned it. A heifer’s gestation period is nine months just like us! I’m so excited to get them.