Friday, June 28, 2019

Chicken Shaming and Odd Problem

I raised a ruckus to wake the dead because I wanted the nest box Harriet was in - not one of the 8 others! 

You can't see clearly in the photo above - but there are two hens in the box - jostling for position. Harriet won...and was indignant when I proceeded to take the eggs from under her. 

It started with the weasel attack. Then one of the hens attacked Lucille.  Shortly  they all had missing feathers....tail feathers at first. They had cabin fever. We put "no more peck" on the spots.  The bare spots grew. Their tush's are completely plucked. We gave them plenty of things to do instead of pecking. We isolated Lucille. Each time Lucille goes in she is TERRIBLY injured. She now free ranges during the day and sleeps in the garage.  The girls continue to lose feathers. Around their tails, their bums....Maybe you can blow up the photo and see. Any ideas? Could it be lice or mites? What have you found to help best if it is mites? They have dust baths. I have DE, but haven't used it on them. 

They all look like this.....

This year's group is happy on their side of the fence. There hasn't been much interest from the big girls at this point. 

Full Friday

My marching orders for the day came from an unexpected quarter. Benny said his first sentence. 

"Go find Yay ya."*
I got a picture of his first sentence 
The poor thing has been a bit at a loss with 3 of his people gone from the house.

 Dad, Nolan and I left the house shortly after this conversation. We stopped at Sportsman's Warehouse for a return.  Then we drove out to camp. Everyone was right on time and we were able to pick up Yayya and Ax. *
Beautiful camp
 Our first stop after camp was Walmart. While everyone picked out a sandwich from the deli for lunch, Nolan and I went to pick up a few fans.  We were unsuccessful.
Not ONE in sight. 
 Our next stop was the oral surgeon. Nolan is our 7th to have wisdom teeth extracted. I have never had this experience. No pre-consult. No ice packs, meds and such when we left the office. I expected to be given that stuff and had to run back to town after I got him settled at home.  I'll know what to expect with Alex. Nolan's jaw had started hurting and they got him in and took all 4 impacted teeth out. They had to drill, slice, dice and stitch.  I posted this photo on FB when we got home....

Then, I ran to FM to see if THEY had a fan, to buy some cold, soft food for Nolan and pick up meds for him. Everything cold is missing from the shelves. LOL I bought juice and made popsicles.   Brenda called me as I got home and said she had something which would be useful.  She insisted on bringing it to me, rather than me running to pick it up. Look at this - a jaw bra. I think I'll buy one.  This has made it much easier to ice around the clock.  

Somewhere in here I got dinner for everyone - though I couldn't tell you what it was.  I also connected with both  Alex and Stacia and heard about their camp experience. Their story to share or not to share.

10:30 p.m. is my favorite time of night around here. Here's a shot of the mountain. I love the light.  There is still a tiny bit of snow on the mountain - but it's in a crevice I didn't catch.

I was watering and heard a noise...we've not had moose since they tangled with the electric fence. 

 This one was very interested in our home....greenhouse and garden in particular. She wasn't too impressed with Phoenix's crowing. 

I took photos of the flowers in case she ate them. Can you believe this was about 11 p.m.? 

 I have been watering late at night....leaving the house open as long as possible so it can cool off....I will buy fans the next time they are in stock....even if it's 30*.

*Yayya is how Benny says Stacia (Stay Shu); Ax is Alex