Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Gotcha! For cattle, two strands of electric tape or wire should be enough but not sure that would keep the dogs in? Of course the geese would need netting or some other form of fencing anyway. I wonder how much a cow/calf pair would increase the workload if they were beef breeds. You'd of course need to keep water to them and a salt lick, but I can't think of much else they'd need so if you can figure out the fencing, that might be a neat set up.

I need to get out and do some mowing. For the most part we've been letting the grass grow this year and then grazing the sheep and goats on it, one section at a time, so I haven't had to mow very much. But this will be their last rotation on the front yard and after this the hay will be cut and then we'll be moving them out to the hay pasture to graze. So, I'm going along behind them now and every time we move them, I mow the section they left, to cut down any of the grasses that they didn't eat short enough. It is already a hot day and I'll need to wear long sleeves and a hat so I expect to be drenched by the time I get in from working.

 

[chicken danz]

I figure with the dogs I need one low strand and one middle strand. They can dig and jump but I figure if I place a couple strands where they'll hit it it will teach them to stay in. I have field fence between me and the neighbors but it's in terrible shape. The owner rents out the acreage behind me and told me his renter would gladly fix the fence but he has never touched it. It's not really been a problem but a portion of my land isn't fenced off separately from his. I don't really need it but it's nice brome so I am sure I could get some use from it. I'm not sure I want birds there any way cause it is on the back side of the property. There is an area of a natural spring near there though and it would make an excellent pond area for the birds. Not that I can afford to have one built.
I've been doing the same thing with the geese. I rarely mow any more but I go through with the mower and catch the taller weeds that they don't care for. Of course we have a huge weed patch out back that is always 8 foot high. It's uneven and it's nearly impossible to mow without a brush hog. I can't hook up the tractor implements alone due to how much they weigh so it just keeps growing.

 

[Trish44]

@HEChicken I really didn't get a good look at your fence setup when I was there, I should have but I was looking more at the sheep & chickens at the time. I guess what we have decided to do is try to start working on fencing the 5 acres the house is on next. The first one will be the one to the east where the sheep like to escape through to run rampant through the neighbor's places. I'm sure they would just find another place to go out but that is where they go right to now. That would be the first one anyway. I would love to have the whole rest of the place fenced but we'll see how far we get. If the fence wasn't so darned expensive it wouldn't be so bad, but we have a lot of area to fence & it's hilly as well, which causes issues. I don't know why my sheep can't just be happy to graze here because we have plenty for them to eat up here in the 5 acres around the house but they insist on going & trying other people's grass instead. I could keep my dogs in as well, which would be a plus, but they really don't go far usually, especially right now while it's so hot, they're usually just moving around trying to find the coolest spot in the shade to lay during the day.

We just got back from a flying trip down to Dallas & back, ugh riding in the car is so tedious & tiring for me any more. I'm behind now today because I was so tired & slept even later this morning since I didn't sleep well while we were gone.

 

[HEChicken]

Danz I have found that my dogs REALLY respect the electric fence, but they do have to get zapped one time to "learn" it. Kilo was zapped the first night we set it up, but unfortunately didn't understand what had "bitten" him out in the pasture so for several weeks he wouldn't go out very far at all. However over time he figured it out and he now seems to know it is the strings that bite so he can go quite close to it as long as he doesn't touch it. I had never seen Karina get zapped but assumed she must have experienced it, because it had been out there for many weeks, containing the sheep and goats to various areas. Then one day she followed me as I carried a bucket of water out to them and to my horror - and before I could stop her - she reached through the fence to drink water out of the bucket I had just set down. Of course, right as I started to yell to her, she got zapped and she ran back to the barn crying the whole way, and hid in her sleeping hold in the barn. After that she was reluctant to even come out of the barn for a few days and once she did, she didn't want to venture too far from it. So, as impossible as it seems, I think that was actually the first time she had been zapped. Prior to that, perhaps she just hadn't tried to go through the fence because Kilo wasn't going near it - I don't know. In any case, they both really respect the fence and have not gone back for a second zapping.

Meanwhile, my other dogs all had to experience it once too. Sammie is so terrified of the fence that she won't go anywhere near it. One time I didn't notice she was in the area I was fencing off, until after I had turned on the fence. At that point it would be a hassle to open it back up to let her out, so I turned off the fence and decided to lift her over it. Well, you can picture me trying to carry and lift a terrified 45-pound lab/border collie. She was trying to climb up onto my shoulders to get away from the fence - and I was blinded by her legs sliding around in front of my face. That section also had some non-electric fence so in the end I carried her over to it and had to hoist her over. She didn't relax until she finally understood I was NOT going to carry her close to the biting fence

Tequila and Dizzy aren't near as fazed by it. They've both been zapped but all they do is yelp when it happens and then go about their business. Just like with people, I think dogs have lower and higher pain tolerances and though these two don't like the fence and won't deliberately stand where it can zap them, they don't seem to find the shock nearly as bad as the other three dogs.

Trish44, you'll have to come by again and see it sometime. They'll be up front where its easiest to see the set up for about the next two weeks and after that they'll be moved to the back of the pasture. Yep - your property is vastly different to mine when it comes to grazing and fencing.

Well, I got my mowing done and then spent about another hour outside working as it actually doesn't feel too bad out there yet. I still have a bunch of stuff I need to do today but decided I had earned a little sit down and a nice, hot cup of coffee

 

[chicken danz]

I got so little done yesterday. And today is going to be busy as well. I got my cake decorated but took a picture before the colors finished blending which made it look a lot more realistic. I'm counting on my little friend's mom to post a picture when it had finished coloring up. Here's one that I took right after I was done. At any rate it was a hit. More with the adults than the kids I think.

My little friend gave me a rock that said I was the best chicken lady ever. And she made me a chicken out of a baseball. Pretty cute. I got a chicken cup and a dish towel as well. I was especially thrilled when her sister gave me a hug when I got ready to leave. I wish I knew what she enjoyed cause I'd love to spend time with her as well.
It's going to be another hot miserable day out there today.
It's cloudy this morning. Since it's bringing in humidity its a shame it won't stay cloudy and keep the temperature down.
I've been having a problem of snakes raiding all the duck eggs. Instead of swallowing them they open their mouths and crush the egg then eat the contents. Grrrr! There are still plenty of mice around. I'm wondering if the snakes haven't been eating my peafowl eggs all along. I saw some in the peafowl pen and thought I'd leave them alone to kill mice but I'm thinking after seeing what they do to duck eggs that was a huge error.

 

[Trish44]

I got so little done yesterday. And today is going to be busy as well. I got my cake decorated but took a picture before the colors finished blending which made it look a lot more realistic. I'm counting on my little friend's mom to post a picture when it had finished coloring up. Here's one that I took right after I was done. At any rate it was a hit. More with the adults than the kids I think.

My little friend gave me a rock that said I was the best chicken lady ever. And she made me a chicken out of a baseball. Pretty cute. I got a chicken cup and a dish towel as well. I was especially thrilled when her sister gave me a hug when I got ready to leave. I wish I knew what she enjoyed cause I'd love to spend time with her as well.
It's going to be another hot miserable day out there today.
It's cloudy this morning. Since it's bringing in humidity its a shame it won't stay cloudy and keep the temperature down.
I've been having a problem of snakes raiding all the duck eggs. Instead of swallowing them they open their mouths and crush the egg then eat the contents. Grrrr! There are still plenty of mice around. I'm wondering if the snakes haven't been eating my peafowl eggs all along. I saw some in the peafowl pen and thought I'd leave them alone to kill mice but I'm thinking after seeing what they do to duck eggs that was a huge error.

That's really cute Danz, good job! I've never really tried to decorate cakes, I just never had the time when I was working & raising my DS & now we just don't need a whole cake here for the two of us to eat.

Yep it's going to be a miserable two weeks weather-wise here, ugh I'm so ready for this summer to be over. I'm for sure not ready for winter but just a bit cooler weather would be nice.

 

[HEChicken]

Great job on that cake Danz! When my eldest was born, I happened on a book on decorating cakes for kids so we had a tradition where every year they got to look through the book and choose the cake they wanted that year. I am not a cake eater and had never decorated a cake before but I told them I'd try anything out of that book. The only "rule" was they weren't allowed to choose a cake I'd already made. That book looks a little worn these days but we continued the tradition up through high school and it was a "thing" around here in the days leading up to their birthdays, where they'd get out the book and start poring through it, trying to decide which cake to choose. I sure had some fun (and some challenges) trying to get my cake to look like that in the book, but most of them turned out pretty well. I never ate any of them as I've just really never liked cake, but I loved seeing their faces when I presented the "creation".

We got .15" of rain overnight - not enough to count but enough to raise the humidity through the roof again. At least there is a little breeze out there, which helps.

I was busy in the garden yesterday. I harvested some of my Glass Gem corn but have yet to shuck it. I also harvested a bucketful of Apple Cucumbers and a few Lemon Cucumbers, along with some Rainbow carrots and some onions. All varieties of beans are setting a lot of new fruit so I guess I need to get busy checking them daily as they grow so fast once they start. The animals are faring well out of the garden as my Swiss Chard is huge - it looks more like a bush than a plant - so every day I cut an armful of chard, kale, collards, chinese cabbage and comfrey and carry it out to the goats. I figure we get the nutrients back via the milk. Before taking them to the animals, I pick off the caterpillars the chickens get those, so everybody is happy and it turns out the garden is feeding all of us in some way, shape or form.

 

[Trish44]

@HEChicken it sounds like you have some interesting varieties of things in your garden. Let us know how you like them. I haven't heard of the apple & lemon cucumbers but then I haven't grown that much for several years since I haven't been able to grow a big garden any more. We have tomatoes & banana peppers in my little space but that's it this year. I do grow a few herbs in various pots & places as well. That's neat that you can give those nice veggies to your goats.

 

[HEChicken]

Here is a pic of the two best ears of my glass gem corn. I'm really happy with how they turned out. One thing I did learn is that if you leave it on the plant until the husks are dry and brown, the color will be better than if picked when the silks are brown but the husks are still green.

It turns out that goats LOVE corn silks. I carried the husks and silks out to them and they ate some of the husks but really dove into the silks.

 

[chicken danz]

HEChicken I used to make gobs of cakes, even made cakes for other people on occasion including a couple wedding cakes. But my arthritis in my hands is so bad that I just can't control the deco bag any more and it's very painful to do. I always themed my kids birthday cakes around whatever they were interested in at the time and often along the lines of what their gift was. Everyone got a cake for valentines day too. Of course with teenage boys they could consume an entire cake in a days time so it's not like we had tons of cake sitting around.
I have a huge collection of pictures of cakes. It was always fun creating something entirely different. I just wish I had better pictures of this one.
I was rushing around too much to get pictures before I took it and it was settled.
I spent last night putting things in the freezer. I still have some more to do today. It wasn't things I produced, but picked up yesterday. I got several things that were close to being on their last leg so I have to get them done soon. My freezers keep getting fuller and I still have a bunch of cockerels to butcher. I guess I need to have a big day of cooking and cook them down for meat and broth so they take less space.
My food sealer quit a while back so I got a new one. This new one works so much better. I realize now the old one was a piece of junk comparitively. Same brand but tons of improvements.