I promised myself I'd try to keep up with the blog. Things might seem day to day for us, but I know for those sitting at home, they are thinking "wait, what did you guys do?"
So first, we added to the farm family - I got chickens! Hubby built a coop and a run. It took forever - weather, other projects, life just took over, but I call it the Poultry Palace. There's a nice coop with roosts and nesting boxes, and then a run that is partially roofed, all fenced in, and I can see it from the kitchen windows. So finally, I was ready to get chickens!
What I found was it's sometimes hard to get chickens that are coop ready. I wanted youngsters, but not chicks. We ended up with 5 week old Olive Eggers that I named Janis and Etta. They will lay olive green eggs. But we wanted a few more chickens, and a friend offered to let me borrow her brooder, so I got week old chicks. I said I'd get 2. I came home with a Buff Orpington, a Speckled Sussex, and a Rhode Island Red. I named them Stevie, Cher and Reba. If you've never heard of chicken math, you were just introduced to it.
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| Cher, Stevie and Reba, 2 weeks old |
We swore we didn't want to raise chicks. Now it's something we're glad we did. They were so cute and fluffy, and they would sit in our hands and eat or peck at our fingers or just snuggle. I'd walk into the garage and call "chick chick!" and they'd start chirping.
But then they got to be teenagers around 4 weeks and I said ok, once the weather breaks, it's time to send these kids outside! So yep, at 5 weeks they went out. Chicks grow fast! They are all much happier now that they can walk around and do chicken things all day. The little ones were not getting the concept of roosting at night. I should have probably charged admission to see us catching them and putting them in the coop. We even gave them "training roosts" that are lower and thinner so they can feel more secure. It took a while to get the concept. But, as hubby says, there's not a whole lot of room for brains in those heads.
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| Reba, Cher, Stevie, Etta and Janis. They grow so fast! |
But they sure are cute when they come running for treats, and when I have a little flock of chickens following me around in the run. When they are older and bigger I'll let them out in the yard, but only when I can supervise - too many predators around.
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| Look at that full frame of honey! |
My beehives finally did what I was hoping for - they made lots of honey! I extracted honey in April, and then again in June. I think I ended up with a total of about 90 pounds. Some day I'm going to figure out how to convert that to cups of tea, at half a teaspoon per cup... But for now, we've put it on ice cream and I've baked with it and I understand from the other half that it's also good on blueberries. And no, I have no intention of selling any honey. I said I worked hard for this over the last 2 years. I was going to enjoy this year on my own.
My other bee news is I am now a North Carolina Certified Beekeeper. I passed the written and practical exams and took the first step in the NC Master Beekeeper Program. I wish this meant I'd learn to avoid getting stung, but nope, still happens now and then!
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| Learning to go over stuff, instead of tripping over stuff. |
Joker is still having training sessions with me as often as possible. We take breaks for super hot weather, but other than that, I try to work him 4 or 5 days a week. He's been learning about going over stuff - poles, cavaletti (raised poles) and some other things that help him sort out his balance and where his feet are and teach him how to rate his speed and adjust his stride. He's doing really well, especially for a gangly 3 year old. He seems to enjoy his lessons. I haven't found anything yet that worries him, and I want to keep it that way. He trusts us, so we are careful not to let him get hurt. At the end of every session I lead him to the mounting block, and I stand on the block and put my arms over his back, and he just stands like a bored teenager. He's not mentally or physically ready to be ridden, but this is good practice for him. I have some plans to show him again in September, and then I think we'll send him back to school for a bit.
Deuce...he's had a rough time. He was finally cleared to go back to full work, and at first, he was doing really well. And then his workouts got kind of "meh". Like he lost interest in what he was doing. I tried changing things up on him, giving him a bit of time off, wondered if I should try hauling him somewhere for lessons or a trail ride just to get some new scenery, and then he started some very strange behavior. When I put his saddle on, he could hardly walk. And when he did, he was crossing his front legs. So had the vet out, she scratched her head because he passed all the neurological tests just fine - he knows where his feet are, that's not the issue. So I said you know, I feel like this comes from his back. She said ok, how about we take x rays of his back, because this is weird. And there you have it - Deuce has what's called Kissing Spine. The spinal processes in a few vertebrae rub together and it's painful. The vet said "this horse is in a world of hurt, I cannot believe he hasn't been bucking you off". Nope, Deuce was willing to try to work, but the pain was enough that he just couldn't bring any energy into it. But he never did anything to get rid of me. He's a good boy.
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| Deuce's "normal" spinal processes - see all the space? |
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| I said "Doc, even I can see this isn't right! There's no space!" |
So Deuce got steroid injections in his back, which really helped, and then he got shockwave therapy, which brought him back to the speed demon we know and love. We have to make sure that he's holding good posture, and I do a lot of varied work with him to keep him strong, but the vet feels he can go back to being competitive, and based on our last few rides, I think she's right. Will he ever be "cured"? No. But we can do the therapy needed to keep him comfortable and happy at work. The vet feels his long layoff from his leg injury allowed enough muscle wasting for his core muscles to weaken and his back to hurt. So no more extended periods of rest for Deuce!
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| A stroll around the farm after an early morning workout |
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| The boy loves to work, he didn't want to take his bridle off. |
Old Chuck isn't having a good summer. In May he seemed like he was limping some. So we soaked his foot, hoping for an abscess, since that's easy to fix. Didn't help. I gave him some NSAIDs, we did ice, rest, etc. for a few weeks. Didn't help. Vet came out, x rays weren't really pointing to anything, but he's had arthritis in his feet, and steroids have helped him before, so we tried that. It helped some, but not much. Same with shoes. So we did an ultrasound, and found Chuck tore a ligament between his ankle and hoof. So the old guy gets time off to rest, ice, and shock wave therapy. We'll reevaluate his situation in a month and see how he's healing. Not the greatest news, but also not quite the end of the world. I offered to let hubby ride Deuce, but I think we're going to wait and see what happens with Chuck's leg before we decide if we need a spare horse around here. Plus it's the middle of a hot summer, so hubby wouldn't be riding much, anyway.
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| Chuck in all his UV protective gear. |
And poor old Chuck has pink skin under that white hair, and he was starting to sunburn badly. We bought him a UV protective sheet to wear during the day. It's a fine mesh that protects his skin, and it keeps the flies and gnats off him. I think he likes it.
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| Willie and Joker, sharing a salty snack |
And Willie, he babysits Joker (since we don't want Joker trying to play with Chuck right now) and is happily staying fatter than I'd like to see him. Still sweet as ever, and doing the job no one else wants by putting up with the kid all the time.
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| Joker, for the love of god, please stop growing! |
So now you are all caught up. I think. At least until the next great idea we have.
Happy trails!
-J.
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