Free range Fridays are back! The chickens are wandering the yard again. We took a month or so of lock down to show them where their nesting boxes are and where the food will be, but today they're dining on worms and grass. All under the watchful eye of their shepherd...
Well, with the first night of bad rain getting ready to come, I made sure that Bear, the Guardian of the Farm, had a good shelter. I set up two dog houses, one for sleeping (yes that is one of our bedroom pillows for her) and one for food (no one likes mushy kibble). Their backs are to the wind. There is also a 5 gallon heated water dish, for later this year and there is the possibility of adding a small heat lamp to the sleeping shelter. I'll plug them both into a thermo cube so they don't come on until it gets really cold and then turn off after it warms up.
Don't know what a thermo cube is? More to follow on those.
Took some time this weekend to improve Red's shelter. We moved it further downhill other of the wind. I also had to dig it in on the windy side to level it. Now hours water is out of the sun, less chance for growing bad stuff. Also his feed and sweet feed are in there. Should be good for my shelter shy friend.
I made this real quick last night. It's my answer to spreading feed over muddy and wet ground. Just an old piece of rain gutter from Mom's house, some scrap wood under it and some landscape timbers for support.
Sorry there haven't been a lot of updates lately! I'm about to catch up the last three weeks. Here goes...
Wow. This just blew my mind. I'm not sure whether the horse was grooming Bear or being playful or just trying to eat the dog! Give me your best guess.
Horse eating a dog: http://youtu.be/0dxy-LFEpZU
Well, after having turkey eggs in the incubator almost 20 days, it looks liked the first one that will emerge is Henny Penny's little egg that joined late. I've got the brooder in and ready to set up. Tomorrow morning we should have a new chicken on the farm!
P.S. don't leave the incubator open for very long when they're coming out. They need that moisture to keep the membrane loose and easy to get out of. We're keeping the incubator at 60 plus % rh.
