rufus and station

So here's Rufus now. He's pretty big. I love that he's pretty much afraid of the hens. I was hoping he was a gay rooster, but no such luck, as it turns out. Hopefully he'll just be a gentle creature who isn't needing to attack the hens every minute. The other rooster who hid during butchering days is quite aggressive, and he'll be in the oven soon. I'm so much less inclined to put up with roosters sneaking up behind me to attack me then previously. That gets a bit tiring. Like I can't even be comfortable in my own yard because this bird that weighs 8 lbs can freak me out? Seriously.

And the little chicks are finally starting to lay! They are all in the big barn now, which is really so much easier for us. The turkey hens will get moved this weekend after I have cleaned their coop out. That will make it even easier, I think. We'll put Lizzy in there with them, and perhaps one male as well. She tends to chase the chickens around and is a bit rough on them. That's no good for laying purposes. We'll see how the mr. turkeys get along with the young boys, which will give them more room to roam. If they don't, I'm not sure what I'll do about them. Wouldn't another barn be great?

Oh, so I counted like 67 hens the other day and I have only been getting 6-8 eggs a day. I'm thinking this doesn't make sense, but then again, what do I know? Maybe it's the heat. Maybe they are eating the eggs, maybe they are still hiding them. I can't find new nests anywhere, so I've no clue. I'm starting to go out there to collect eggs every few hours. Yesterday I got a dozen eggs, and at least half of them were from the new chicks. Pretty small and cute. Hopefully they'll all start laying soon.

(Looks like I'll have to upload pix later. For whatever reason, they are refusing to load.)

on electric fencing

Finally! It is up and running. Jarvie came over to help me hook it all up earlier this week. And it wasn't that I couldn't do it myself, just that I was freaked out about doing it and needed moral support. And someone to touch it when it was all finished so we could test it and see if it worked! Of course, she refused, so I let everything sit for a few days until yesterday I decided to just go for it and let the girls out. The worse that could have happened was that it didn't work and they would have broken through it, and the best was that it worked fine.

It worked fine!

Here's the thing about electric fencing: it isn't a physical barrier but a psychological one. These girls weigh at least 200#, and at 135#, I get dragged along behind them whenever I try to lead them anywhere. They flip me like a rag doll unless I am really digging in my heels. And even then.

So here are these big girls with these little wires. A touch of the nose here, and then over there, and again over there was enough to give them a healthy fear of the fence. It was so awesome. Once they figured out the boundary, they just ran and ran. At first, they'd run right for me and I was sure they'd simply fly into the fence, but they'd turn at the last minute to run the other way. They were SO happy to get out of their pen. I can't quite figure out how they can run so fast being so fat, but they managed.

I wonder how much the world around me is like an electric fence. A shock here, a shock there, and suddenly I have this psychological barrier that keeps me from doing and being all that I can do and be. What limits me, really, save for a few strands of wire? A story about some events that happened in the past?

Ooops. As I was writing so philosophically about the electric fence, Hershey got out! Dammit! See, I don't want an electric fence to limit me, but I certainly want it to limit her! It's possible that the 5 strands being hot are making it not so shocking. I'm not really sure. It's got a 50 mile radius, so that should be enough. What do I know about these things anyway? I put her nose to the fence a few times, and maybe that will work. But she was actually standing on the wire and I'm betting she wasn't feeling the shock through her hooves. Well, we shall just have to see. I'll make sure nothing is touching it, perhaps put another ground halfway around, and see what happens.

Seriously, goats are the most stubborn, strong, annoying, delightful creatures that one can take care of. If this doesn't work, I really have no idea what I'll do, other than keeping them in a very limited area. That would be a bummer for them, but then again, at least they'd be safe there. As would my gardens, the ducks, the chickens, the turkeys, the house, the barns, and anything else they could get their paws on. Seriously, who in their right mind would possibly think of taking care of adolescent children who weight over 200#? I'm a freaking nut case!

richard

Well, I haven't written much these last few days, mostly because I really haven't done anything. I did get the wire for the electric fence up, but still need to tag it so people don't run into it, and also put the unit up. I found a copper pipe by the little chicken coop that had a ground wire attached to it, and think it might have been for the phone line that had been there. Or it does look like there was an electric fence that had been attached to the coop at one point, so maybe it was for that. Regardless, figuring that part out has been taken care of. Now it's just a matter of attaching the wires to the unit and plugging the thing in. Gulp.

On to Richard: there has been an interesting development in the fate of Richard. Amlan is concerned that there will be too much of Richard to consume without any of him going to waste. It is so interesting how the way we think about these things changes when we are connected to our food sources. There is way more to think about, actually. We are taking a life, and in that taking, one of the ways we show our respect is by making sure there is no waste. I love this.

If Amlan can't get any partners, he has committed to adopting Richard. This is awesomely cool. I have found myself growing increasingly fond of Richard now that Flower has her own pen and he isn't taking nibbles off her wool or harassing her for her food. He's turning into a kinder, more gentler, Richard. This afternoon I went outside and found the 2 little chicks sitting on his back roosting. He was just looking at them, and didn't move a bit. I think he really liked them there. I tried to get a picture, but by the time I got back with the camera, they had jumped off. But it made me like him even more.

So I'm hoping that Richard stays. And if the girls truly are pregnant (Amlan told me I can give them a regular pregnancy test to find out), then this means he can continue to be the farm stud and Isaac can become a wether. I like this idea. Flower will have an ideal companion, and we can love on Isaac when he gets older without smelling like a billy goat. Hate the thought of the process, but I think it will be worth it. I'll hunt up a pregnancy test this weekend to make sure, and then I'll call the vet to get Isaac taken care of. I'm thinking the sooner the better.

Well, I didn't get much work of any kind done today, and it was supposed to be one of those days! So goes it. Now I'm heading for bed with the fan on so Vanna can't hear the coyotes. It's the only way to get any sleep these days.

Oh, and the guys come home from their vacation with Tim on Sunday. Woohoo! I've sure missed them, as have all the animals.

I have to remember to take a picture of Rufus. (Remember him? He's the little chick that got his beak ripped off who fell in love with Dan. He's been hanging around the house these days. I really like him. Except I forgot how we spelled his name, originally.)

Anyway! Goodnight!