Cranky n Stinky.com

It's time for a quick farm update. Well, I actually have a lot more to say than this, but I'm too tired to write a full blog at the moment. Last Friday was shearing (I took the day off), which included 34 alpacas to do. It was an exhausting start to a busy weekend. Sunday, we had a different adventure to tackle.

Some of you may recall we had a dozen eggs make a trip a few weeks back. Well, here are the results of the journey:



That's right; 8 of the 12 eggs became adorable, fuzzy, healthy chicks. These are crosses of our Blue Laced Red Wyandotte rooster (Charlie) and our Easter Egger hens. The two grey chicks (blue in chicken parlance) are offspring of the roo and our Black Star hens. I had forgotten how fun chicks are, before they get big.



We will see how many turn out to be male or female. It's impossible for me to even guess right now. At approximately 5 days, they all have Charlie style combs (flat), and are getting wing feathers already. It won't be long before they have to go to the big brooder, but for now the little tub in the barn is working out well. These guys should be very winter hardy with Charlie's extra feathers and comb style.

This will never be a complete list, and we are constantly thinking about new projects as well as ways to improve what we're doing... but since it's always fun to share a list here are a few things we want to achieve around the home in 2009, ideas that we had in 08 but maybe didn't get to or ones we've had more recently. I'll divide into two groups.

Likely:
-Get a generator, so we don't face a multiday power loss again
-Put in a clothesline for less use of the dryer in warm months
-Rebuild our raised beds and use our own compost to fill them
-Set aside as much berries and meat as we did in 08 from local sources
-Process our fiber into yarn and goods [I should take a picture of starting pile... a lot!!]
-Stain the barn with the new paint sprayer we got (yes, my birthday present) - it's looking like it needs it

Maybe:
-Raise up our own chicks via incubator
-Actually do some canning this year now that we have some supplies given to us
-Try making new homemade items (yogurt, breads, and soaps come to mind)

Of course, we want to continue blogging, taking pictures, and trying new recipes out. We hope you'll stay tuned for '09!

Here are some parting pictures of our December 2008:

Alpacas outside after the ice storm:


After we had 3 days of continuous snow:


and lastly, some of the eggs we've been getting (no, this is not normal):


Happy New Year!

Just a few quick thoughts for this evening...

1. Why do cats after falling or some other clumsy moment invariably look like they were trying all along to do something else (like scratch or clean themselves, or rub your legs etc)? Today our bright kitty went sailing off the bathroom countertop. Of course she then proceeded to try and make me think it was fully intentional. Too funny! She does this a lot though, so I was only mildly amused by it.

2. I think our alpacas have learned how to turn on the barn lights. We have a weatherized outlet missing its top and the light switch is exposed. This is the second time "someone" has mysteriously turned on the lights!

3. I picked up a 23 lb fresh local turkey today, for a big feast sometime in the next few days. We weren't able to get one for Thanksgiving since we were out of the area, but I ordered one for this season instead. YUM!

4. There is nothing prettier than driving around snowy rolling New England backroads just at nightfall. People have their barn cupolas illuminated and it's just beautiful with the lights of the season glinting all around. We have a cupola too and it really is lovely when I turn on the light. Too bad no one can see ours (well, maybe the neighbors can). I think all barns should have one. I think I may go on a cupola photography binge.

5. Our fish have gone back in the tank and seem MUCH happier. We're hoping for it to stabilize and introducing some cleaner crew in about a week.

6. The egg count is being restarted. The storms of the last two weeks threw it all out of whack. We think we've gotten 48 eggs in that time though. The storms may have disrupted us, but not so much the hens!

7. Last, but not least, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone reading! Enjoy the time with your loved ones!

We'll be back with more soon!

Tonight, I came home to fin pd that I cannot get into the chickens' run. The metal swing gate is covered in ice and I couldn't work the latch. No problem, I thought, I'd go through the barn to the other side. I did, stopping to get the boys some fresh hay and water. On a tip from another pac farm, I am putting just a little water in the heated bucket, and I have another 5 gallon (their summer buckets) inside it. I can just lift out the interior bucket, empty/fill it, and put it back in the heated one. This saves a lot of effort and I don't have to move the heated bucket at all. Anyway, once they were happily munching away, I went to go try and take care of the chickens.

As I approached the coop, I noticed the birdnet was drooping down from the weight of the ice particles. It has pulled away from the upper wood slats and there are several gapped areas now. From a distance, it looks like a sheet of bubble wrap because of the ice. I thought I'll just get in there and knock some of it off to release the tension. Naturally the clasps on the run door are frozen shut too. So, at this moment I have no way to get into the run. Hopefully, Aaron will have some ideas on how to get us in there when he gets home soon. But it is nerve wracking feeling like I can't get in to check them and get them more food, yet the top is barely hanging on. Clearly, we're going to be doing some repair work this weekend. At least tomorrow Aaron will be here and can keep an eye on them.

Back to the pacs, the boys were soaked when I was feeding them. Yesterday (it was raining hard much of the day) they had pooped in the left stall, so I'd opened the right stall and put fresh hay in it. Now, pooping in the barn is not that unusual for animals, and it is after all a barn. But alpacas aren't barn poopers by nature, they just don't like pooping outside when it's unpleasant weather. I can't say I blame them. Well, I still was hoping "mine would be different." Nope - yesterday their weather bar was crossed, and pooping in the stalls it was. So, last night I'd closed the door to the poopy stall (so I could clean it later), but with the ice sleet horrible rain I opened it back up today...

I don't think pooping with ice pellets flying at you is something even a paca should have to do... I'm a softie I guess.

The funny thing is horses poop in their stalls all the time. And they poop a lot. I used to muck stalls when I was younger.

Horse people have a lot of patience!