Finally got all the does bred! Mano...every single one was frigid! I admit I didn't try every day so I might have missed their receptive days if they had one during that time, but still pretty frustrating. The exceptionally warm weather this week motivated me to make a sincere effort, and every doe responded. Almost every doe. Every doe I tried. I'm keeping one just turned senior open for shows this month and next. I'll get her the next round. Also didn't breed Broken Dream because she's for sale.
The other day, I realized I hadn't seen Silky. Searched the yard for evidence and found nothing. I did find a skull and bones out back, but they're so clean and white, it couldn't be her. She hadn't been missing that long. I have no idea who that was. It must have been there under summer growth and only just now became visible. Tried to think when I last saw Silky but realized I hadn't counted heads for a few days. Probably due to the weather, or the fact that I've been keeping feed in the hopper for the winter. They don't mob me for food every time I go outside, and if it's crappy out, I don't spend much time looking for them. They hunker down under big plants when it's like that.
The day after I missed her, there she was at the water bowl in the early morning when I looked out the window. She had a long drink and looked extra fluffy and perky. Then she dashed into the Summer House to grab a bite. And then dashed out and around the backside (unpenned) part of the carport. All signs she's broody! I hurried out to see where she went but she had disappeared by the time I got there. Still haven't caught her in the act, but I think she's under the tractor's mower deck. There isn't any other place back there to hide a chicken. I had raised the deck and chute when I parked it there for the winter and apparently that's just enough room for a broody little hen. But I can't see her under there. I've found a few eggs in the yard here and there pretty much all winter. I replenished the nesting boxes with hay and placed some fake eggs in each one. Hope that gets them using the boxes. The only hen old enough to remember using the boxes is Buffy and I happened to catch the red roo mounting her the other day. Hope she shows the others the way.
In nature, this happened.
This is unusual because while I might see the occasional Great Blue Heron flying in the distance, I've never seen one here, and certainly not perched. This one apparently startled the neighbor's dogs. I don't think they knew what they were carrying on about, maybe they heard the wing beats. It's a BIG bird and would make a fair bit of noise in flight. I looked out to see what was the fuss, and this bird was flying low circles over the yard near the creek. Then it landed in the top of a tree above the creek and sat there long enough for me to grab the camera and attempt to capture it. Again, love my new camera. This was so far away, I could barely see it with my naked eye. Most of the shots were too blurry but this one was good enough to share.
In other nature news, I think I've finally foiled the cat. Abby is good! She's an excellent ratter, and too good at bird hunting. She launches straight up and snatches birds off the feeders. Grrr. I attached cage wire to the bottoms of bird feeders which did spoil her aim for a while, but she is really GOOD. At this time, I'm only filling the one feeder in the front garden, and she has honed her skills to where the wire isn't stopping her as well. When I found too much evidence that she was taking birds again, I tried something else. I made a barrier with some cheapo folding garden fence I had on hand. I set it out far enough from the pole that she can't get good aim from that angle. Of course she can walk right through the fence to wait under the feeder. I knew that and thought about attaching chicken netting to the fence to prevent her from doing that. Figured she'd just jump over it (it's about 3' tall). Laid some more wire across the top of the fence so she can't jump from inside, and I do believe that has put a stop to that. The added benefit is that the ground feeders like cardinals and juncos seem to feel more secure with cover over head. They are spending a lot more time under the feeder cleaning up dropped seed. I love watching my birds so I'm glad I can continue to feed them without putting them at risk.
Been trying to deal with a mess. Wicked windstorm just before Xmas blew off the entire tin roof of the old shed. This is the barnwood-slat thing that was here when I moved here. In its defense, the roof was hanging on by threads and it was just a matter of time. Mostly I just stored junk in it. A lot of junk that, you know, never know when you might need it. I don't even like to go in there during summer. Hornets and spiders and snakes, oh my. It was sort of an annual ritual to go in and straighten it up after enough cold weather had removed the creepy crawlies. The rest of the time, stuff just got thrown in any old where so I didn't have to go into it any farther than necessary.
Thankfully the wind didn't blow it where it could do more damage, like my house or rabbit barn. It did land on the carport but the next gust blew it down to the ground. I decided it wasn't worth fixing it. Hoping I can find someone to tear it down for the salvage. I can offer a lot of scrap metal for payment. There's an old lean-to type of barn at the back of the property that has been coming down little by little in every wind storm. That thing is like my own personal dump. I throw stuff up there that I don't know if the community dump will take it. A LOT of scrap metal back there. Before I can have the shed torn down, I have to go through what's in there and decide what to keep and where to put it. Trying to do that when weather permits. It has to be warm enough for me to work outside and not raining because...well...no roof.
tnt
