Back To Mormalcy?

I love summer.  I think summer is the most wonderful time of the year.  Even from a kid I always enjoyed summer.  I was very close to my great aunt.  My great uncle passed away when I was four years old from cancer.  My aunt remarried and moved from New Jersey to Texas.  So from the ages of 8 to 18 I flew to Texas every summer to stay with her and her husband.  I've also spent summers working on fishing boats, playing football in the fields, building forts in the woods...you know, all that boy stuff boys do when they are young.  From the time I can remember, my summers have always been busy.  This summer, really, has been no exception.  It's been one thing after another. 

Of course, I was a pall bearer at my cousin's funeral last weekend.  That's not an activity anyone wants to attend during the summer, or any other time of the year for that matter.  My poor aunt told me that she was holding up okay, but the hard part was going to be after all the people were gone.  She has a 21 year old son with Down Syndrome.  Her son was her support line.  I told her that her other sons would help look after her, but she said it was different with Charley.  She said they looked after each other.  She's still gonna be in need of good thoughts and prayers.

My great aunt that moved to Texas is coming to visit next month.  They are on their was to visit friends in New York, but they are stopping by here in Greenville to give my mom a break.  She has been living with my other great aunt (sisters) who is 91 years old.  She has broken her hip twice and is not mentally or physically able to care for herself any longer.  I'm gonna try to take a day off to visit her for the weekend while she is here.

We are once again in possession of too many chickens.  We've had a good hatch or two this year, and we have lots of young chicks.  Since I am completely unable to sex a chicken at hatch I often wait to see if it's gonna be a cockrel or hen before getting rid of it.  I try to keep some of the hens to replace to older hens that are no longer laying.  The older hens end up in chicken and pastry like the one we had last night.  In fact, I'm having leftovers for lunch today.  My two biggest daddies are Perogi and Bucky.

That's Bucky on top.  He's my mixed bantam and Perogi on bottom.  He's RI Red, but I'm sure he's got something else in him because he's got a pea comb.  But I've got other daddies, too.  I've got a couple of silkie roosters that mated with white bantam hens.  So I've got some bantam chicks running around with feathered feet and five toes.  But I need to get rid of some of them, so I will be putting an ad in the Carolina Bargain Trader to sell some of them off.

Oh, I also got another pigeon chick born!  My white pair has laid on eggs three times this year to no avail.  Finally, yesterday, a single white chick hatched!  I'm so hoping it lives.  My black pair has hatched two chicks this year.  Four actually, but only one gets the needed attention, I guess.  So only two have survived.  She is now sitting on another egg or two.  Here's to hoping!

This and That and a GIVEAWAY

What a week last week was!  A co-worker's daughter was in a bad car accident a week ago yesterday.  She was driving when she ran off the road.  She over-corrected and rolled the Suburban 4 or 5 times.  She was the only one badly injured.  She's in a neck brace for at least 8 weeks and cannot take it off, even to shower.  She shattered a vertebrae in her neck and was inches from paralysis.  She went home from the hospital on Friday.  She was qutie lucky, to say the least.  But that put her dad out of work for all of last week.  So I was doing my best to handle my job and his.  He is our inside salesman, so I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with customers and outside salesmen.  But we got through it.  It's always rough at work when anyone is out, as we are at our limit with personnel.

I entered a giveaway this morning! Pam and Farm Man over at A Southern Farm are doing another nest box giveaway.  I didn't enter the last couple cause I thought others deserved to get it.  But I am entering this time.  I may not win, but it's still fun, nonetheless.  Maybe you are interested?!  Go check it out!
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com/2010/06/henpals-3-hole-chicken-nesting-box.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LifeOnASouthernFarm+%28Life+on+a+Southern+Farm%29

 I spent the weekend doing things around the house.  We had a couple more chicks hatch this weekend.  There were three actually, but  I think the other hens got a hold of one.  It was missing the next morning, and I found just a small tuft of downy feathers.  I gathered the two remaining ones and put them in a brooder box.  We've still got four more hens sitting on eggs.  They should all start hatching soon, I think.  I didn't really keep up when they started sitting.  And sometimes it's hard to tell when they don't sit constantly.  I had a hen hatch some out at nearly four weeks once cause she wouldn't stay on the eggs.  I almost threw them out!

My Garden is looking okay.  My corn is growing cobs now.  I have watermelons I'm hoping will be ready for my vacation in two weeks.  My crookneck squash is all dying, though.  Same thing happened last year.  These stuid little beetles eat holes in the base of the stalk, climb in, and eat my plants from the inside out!  Makes me so mad I could spit! 

Our baby pigeon is out and about now.  He's still a bit ugly with his oversized beak, but I'm sure he will grow into it.  The white pair keep laying eggs, but none ever hatch.  She sits for maybe two weeks, then abandons the egg.  I put a pigeon egg under a chicken yesterday, but I'm not sure how that will work.  She may crush the poor thing. 

Sorry I haven't posted much lately.  It just seems I always have more to do than I really have time for!  I'm going on vacation in a couple of weeks.  My family is driving up from Beeville, Texas.  They have rented a large house out at Rodanthe (Yes, the same place as the movie Nights in Rodanthe) for a week.  So I will probably be out there with them.  They rented the house a couple of years ago, but I didn't go then.  I couldn't get off work.  I hear it has a private in-ground pool, and is only a block from the beach!  It will just be nice to see them all again.

Pigeons? Or Rats With Wings?

I like our pigeons.  We've lost more than we've kept.  Quite a few flew off and never came back.  I truly believe that they went right back to the man we bought them from.  Of course, we asked.  He said he'd keep an eye out for them, but we heard nothing back.  Now, I'm convinced he's gotten my money and the birds.  I only paid $5 USD a piece for them.  Some I got for free.  So I really shouldn't complain too much.  But we were down to five birds.  We had two females and three males.  After being cooped up all winter and most of the spring, Mike thought it was time to let them fly.  I knew that extra male wouldn't return.  He would scrap with the other males on occasion, though nothing serious.  He was more of a picked-on loner, really.  I can't say I blame him for not coming back.  On my drives to and from work I often see the power lines by the overpasses holding the weight of 20, 30, or more pigeons.  There are even a few that hang around my work.  I've I were a lone bachelor like him, I'd have done the same thing.  Why hang around, when you can find the life you really want is out there waiting for you. 

That left us with two pairs;  one dark pair and one light pair.  I haven't really named them, though I'm sure they will not end up on a dinner plate.  I have flirted with a few names, but I haven't really stuck with anything.  Somehow, I don't think they really care.  As long as I keep giving them cracked grains and pellets. 

I guess you are wondering if I've had any babies?  Well, we have.  The light pair started laying first.

This is the white pair.  That's the female on the perch.  The male is behind her in the nest box.  He's more gray with brown bars on his wings.  She's layed eggs three times.  The first time she layed three.  One got broken, one was pea sized, and the other she sat on, but nothing came of it.  I thought it was still a bit early in the year, but then I thought of the pigeons in New York.  The second set she sat on for a bit, but those two didn't hatch either.  She is currently sitting on her third set of two eggs.  I'm hoping it works out for her, as they are both dilligent parents.  They take turns sitting on the eggs.  You can tell from here, as the male is sitting on the eggs. 

Then I have the dark pair.  She sat on two eggs, and hatched out two babies.  But one of them died.  We had a few cool nights with rain early in the spring.  I think the poor thing got too cold. 

This is moma sitting on her baby.  She puffed all up when I got too close.  The baby  was the ugliest little baby bird I had ever seen!  At one point I thought something was wrong with it.  It's neck was all puffed out.  But it turned out his moma was just feeding him quite well.  (I'm assuming it's a him.  I can't tell them apart except for their cooing).  Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the baby.  I just never got any.  He's most grown up now, except for a few scraggly feathers on top of his heard.  She and the male, both look pretty much the same, also take turns with the eggs. 

They are in a new coop then last year.  This one is sturdier.  Some of you may remember, last year I lost a couple of pigeons to an owl attack.  It was a very large owl with a four feet wing span.  We built a stronger coop with a better area for nesting.  Just before we did we had a Cooper's Hawk try to attack, but it was just about the time I was leaving for work.  A shot from the .22 rifle sent him flying, and we haven't seen him since.  The owl will never be returning. 

Here's the five before our lone ranger left.  That's him in the front.

An Unpleasant Chicken Day

Yesterday was NOT cool.  We went about two months without a dcent amount of rain.  Jim Howard and Greg Armbrect said we were getting some, but we didn't.  I'll bet Greg Fischal said we were, too.  But very little rain came if any.  Friday we were slated for a 60% chance on Monday, but by Sunday night it had jumped to 90%.  And the rains came.  My garden needed the rain, too.  I was carrying 5 gallon buckets out to water my veggies one at a time.  It's about a quarter acre, so my arms were a bit sore. 

As most of you know I had chicks hatch last week.  Some came Tuesday or Wednesday with more to follow Friday.  I never got an exact number, but I believe it was around 18 or so.  The bantam with the silkie rooster kept losing hers.  She hatched out 8 in total, but they were dying one at a time.  She still had 6 when we left on Friday.  Dustin, our neighbor fed and watered for us.  He's farmer's grandson. We got home late Sunday so the birds were left to sleep.  I didn't have time to check them before work yesterday, but when I got home I changed and went out to see.  It was still raining and all the birds were soaking wet.  The two hens were huddled over their chicks.  But the bantam/silkie only had 3 doing well with one squished in the mud!  It was the last black one.  I had to put it out of it's misery, and I was at the very brink of tears.  I didn't make Mike do it.  And I felt just awful!  Mike did tell me he pulled one dead chick from her that morning, and two from Bucky and China.  So I wrangled up the remaining chicks...three silkie/bantams and six from Bucky and China....nine in total.  I put them in the brooder box with feed, water, and some wheat straw for warmth.  Both hens clucked on calling their chicks, and the chicks peeped quite loudly from the box.  I felt awful for that, as well.  But I felt they would be safer that way.  I do have a heat lamp for them, as well. 

We also had a couple of pigeon squab hatch last week.  I think one of them is dead, too.  Mama was sitting on them and wouldn't let me check.  But I know one is still living.  I could see it moving.  Got another pigeon sitting on two eggs.  Baby pigeons are so UGLY!  Their beaks are way to big!  Glad they are pretty when they grow up. 

I haven't been commenting as much lately.  I've been busy as a bee in a clover field.  But I still pop in to check on each of you.  Just cause I don't say anything doesn't mean I'm not reading!  I'll try to get some pics up in the next day or two.  I have some, but they are still on the camera.  Have a pleasant day, all.

Guess What Didn't Get Done!

Laugh Out Loud!  I didn't get half of my list done this weekend.  Not by a mile!  Not that it's all that surprising.  It was such a lovely weekend.  Saturday was mid-sixties, bright and sunny.  I spent a good part of the day rearranging some of the chickens.  Our newest buff pair got moved out from under the shed, as we needed the room.  Bojangles got a bigger pen.  Little Chicken and the black star that was with him got moved into the big pen with all the ladies.  And, of course, Mike smoked the butt roast. 

Now, to explain the butt roast.  I can't believe all you pervs and sick-o's!  See, here in the Carolina's we love our barbeque.  It ain't Texas BBQ.  They have brisket and beef ribs with red, tangy suace.  Here in eastern NC we do pork.  Pulled or chopped, on or off a bun, cole slaw, french fries, and the sweetest iced tea!  The best part of the pig to use for such (though other parts can be used is a Boston Butt.  It is a large hunk of meat that comes from the upper part of the shoulder.  I don't know why it is called a butt, but it is perfect for smoking.  We put it on the grill with oak or hickory wood chips (a few weeks ago we used apple wood).  Mike soaked the wood in water to make it burn slowly, but hot.  Our butt roast smoked for nine hours on Saturday!  Then we used a blend of secret herbs and spices mixed in a gallon of apple cider vinegar to barbecue sauce.   Mmmm...mmmm...mmmm...mmmm!  Good stuff!

Sunday, Mike helped Pat clean and partially paint a trailer he bought to haul his lawn mower and other stuff around.  That took up a good part of the day.  I was working on the double-decker pen.  Little Chicken was in the lower part of the dbl decker.

Isn't it amazing how big he's gotten!  He's the first chicken we hatched in the incubator!  He's RI Red (rooster with pea comb) and White Cornish Rock (meat hen) mixed.  He's a gorgeous bird.  He and the little black sex-link were moved in the all the other hens.  We cut out part of the floor of the dbl decker to make it into a more sturdy pigeon coop.  They need something better than what they are in, really.

It was a productive weekend.  We ended it with my nephew, Joel's birthday part at Pizza Inn.  While we were there a nasty thunderstorm blew in (because it was 72 degrees according to the weatherman).  The wind blew at over 40 miles per hour.  But it was a nice party  Happy 6th Birthday JJ!

Got more pics for later this week.  I got the camera back from Mom at the party. 

Pigeon Update

I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that the other pigeons came home to roost in the coop again.  I'm sure they were afraid to return for a few days because they were frightened.  That owl incident was awful for them and us.  But that mean old bird won't be bothering them again.  They are safe and some in the coop, which we might be moving closer to the house this weekend, anyway.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that one of the pigeons still alive had been injured by the owl.  There was a visible gash in it's chest that I had been considering stitching.  However, she got close enough to Michael the other day when she was eating and drinking for him to see that she was getting no sustenance.  Everything she ate and drank poured out of a hole in her throat.  It was only a matter of time before she would either starve or dehydrate.  She had to be humanely euthanized.

....and then there were three.  We down to only three pigeons.  I'm not going to buy any from a market breeder.  They are just too expensive.  Mike said he'd check with Mr. George to see if he has any he'd be willing to sell.  He races his, and has a ton of them.  Sometimes he gets too many and sells off a few to get rid of them.  We will see.
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This farmer has about 200 hens, but no rooster, and he wants chicks. So he goes down the road to the next farmer and asks if he has a rooster which he would sell.
The other farmer says, "Yeah, I've this great rooster, named Randy. He'll service every chicken you got, no problem."
Well, Randy the rooster costs a lot of money, but, farmer decides he'd be worth it. So, he buys Randy and takes the rooster home.
He then sets him down in the barnyard and gives the rooster a pep talk, "Randy, I want you to pace yourself now. You've got a lot of chickens to service here, and you cost me a lot of money. Consequently, I'll need you to do a good job.
"So, take your time and have some fun," the farmer ended with a chuckle.
Randy seemed to understand, so the farmer points toward the hen house, and Randy took off like a shot.
WHAM! Randy nails every hen in the hen house three or four times, and the farmer is really shocked.
After that the farmer hears a commotion in the duck pen, sure enough, Randy is in there.
Later, the farmer sees Randy after the flock of geese down by the lake. Once again, WHAM! He gets all the geese.
By sunset he sees Randy out in the fields chasing quail and pheasants. The farmer is distraught -- worried that his expensive rooster won't even last 24 hours.
Sure enough, the farmer goes to bed and wakes up the next day to find Randy dead as a doorknob -- stone cold in the middle of the yard and buzzards are circling overhead.
The farmer, saddened by the loss of such a colorful and expensive animal, shakes his head and says, "Oh, Randy, I told you to pace yourself. I tried to get you to slow down, now look what you've done to yourself.
Randy opens one eye, nods toward the buzzards circling in the sky and says, "SHHHH, they're getting closer..."

Pigeons

So I finally got me some pics to post.  These are my pigeons.  They are a lot of fun.  I haven't trained them for miles, so they just fly around home.  But we let them out in the afternoons and they take off flying around home.  Sometimes they go out of sight and are gone for some time.  I have no idea where they go, but quite often they simply fly circles around the area.  When they are done flying they land on the shed or in the yard, or in the very tall pine tree at the back corner of the back yard.  They ocassionally find water to bathe in.  They when the sun begins to set they fly back into their coop, and I toss them some mixed grains to munch on before sleepy time.  But since the owl incident they won't even land in the yard.  They are staying high in the pine tree.  It may be safer for them because they have a chance to fly away, at least.  I just don't want them to feel so comfortable outside that they don't return home.  I never named them.  When I got them they were very skiddish.  They would fly to the top of the coop when I tossed grains or bread in for them.  As of late they would fly down to eat when I would feed them.  Hope they are okay. 

Got chicken pics in a third post for today!!

Eventful Weekend

Well, I promised pics last week, and I failed.  I failed you all when I said the end of the week had not yet arrived, but I would post pics by then.  I did no such thing, as I am now a failure.  But I did get some pics this weekend which will follow in the next post.  Mike and I had a scary Saturday night.  A little after 3:30 a.m. Mike woke me to tell me something was getting the chickens!  Occasionally a rooster will crow in the middle of the night, but most often the hens are sleeping or at least trying to do so, with little or no noise of their own.  But Saturday night the whole lot of them were making quite a raucous that woke Mike.  There was a huge (wing span of about 4 feet) owl claws first in the pigeon coop!  It flew off, and we wait 10 minutes or so before returning to bed.  Once again, the chickens started squawking and we raced out again to see the owl fly off!  This happened several times before the owl finally succeeded in killing one of the pigeons and maming one other one.  I was so angry!  We were sad at the loss of our only barred racer.  One of the dark racers was injured.  They next morning they flew out and about and returned Sunday evening, but refused to go back into the coop.  They still fly around, but will not go in after that incident.  I don't blame them.  The worst part is they are a protected species, maiking it illegal to hurt or kill one of these (beautiful) birds of prey.   All I can say is that my birds are well protected from that owl. 

A Camera, A Visit, and Some Steaks

I have so many things to take pictures of.  I haven't even posted pics of my pigeons!  But I don't presently have a camera.  I so much would like to get one, but there's always something else demanding. I am hoping to visit a pawn shop or two this weekend to look for a used one.  I think it is getting to be a necessity. 

Well, Robert will be arriving tomorrow afternoon.  He's flying directly into Greenville airport, which is nearly halfway between home and work.  Mike is dropping me off at work tomorrow morning.  Then he will be going to pick Robert up at the airport.  He is arriving at two in the afternoon.  I thought that perhaps they might just come straight to pick me up from work.  I'm miss an hour or two, but I could easily make that up on shortened lunch breaks.  I'll decide that this evening and let everyone who needs to know at work tomorrow.  Mike is going today to buy some steaks.  I believe he said the T-bones were on sale, but he knows that my favorite cut of steak is the New York Strip.  I'm not sure why it is called the New york Strip.  But to me it is a lean, tender cut of meat, that certainly is not like the filet mignon.  I don't care for filet, as it is too mealy for me.  I just don't like the texture.  But I do like a tender steak.  Not too tough, not too fatty, and not to gristly.  And I look forward to showing Robert around, showing him the chickens, the pigeons, the 6 week old kittens (anybody want one?), and all the animals.

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!!

I'm not dead!  Really, I feel fine!  I suppose you all thought I had died or something to that effect.  I'm guessing that thought had crossed your mind since I have not been around.  That's not the case at all.  I just have been way busier than I really want to be.  I am still quite busy, to be honest.  That's why I gotta make this post a bit short.  But I will try to fill you in with the short version.  I have been on the truck lately because we had a driver out on vacation.  Filling in on the truck is not my job, but the guy who was filling in cut his hand pretty badly and had to get stitches.  So, I found myself driving a delivery truck last week and this week.   I will be on the truck more this week, as well. Ugh!!  Se la vie! I have sold off a bunch of my chickens.  But I needed to do that because having so many was getting quite expensive.  I have a few eggs in the incubator, but I'm not sure how many will hatch.  I had to take out a few last night because they were bad.  But China is sitting on 10 eggs now.  The eggs in the incubator are due the 19th and China's eggs are due on the 22nd.  I've got a Buff sitting, but not regularly yet.  She sits for most of the day, but roosts at night.  I'm not sure what to do about her. 

I also got some racing pigeons.  I got eight of them, but one got away.  It came back the next day, so Mike thought they all would come back.  He let them all out.  I've only got four left now.  There are three or so that have been flying around and have landed in the yard, but are not going back to their coop.  I think they may be gone forever, and I'm not very happy about that.  But the man I got them from said he'd get me some more if need be.  I will see what happens by the weekend.

Our friend Robert is coming to visit!!  He lives in Texas (about 1500 miles/2400 kilometers).  He will be arriving here in North Carolina  the first week in October.  He was Mike's friend years before I met either of them, but we are good friends now.  He's been there for us through some tough situations we've had to face.  He came to visit a few years ago, but that's a bit too long.  We are certainly looking forward to the visit. 

That's what I got for now.  Hope all is well in Blog Land.  See y'all in a few!!