Hey, Everybody!
First, the word from Alison's guineas today is "Cold-FEET, more-HEAT!!!"
Second, there is no such thing as a good way to fix a spraddle-legged button quail. NONE. I have dental floss on it to form a hobble, and it's too big and robust for the little thing. Did I mention these are TINY animals? Danz is seriously not kidding when she says they're like spiders. TINY. Infinitesimally small. Itty bitty. I had to use tweezers to put the dental floss over the little feet. It slid right back over, so I finally resorted to using the paper medical tape from 3M that I used to order by the case of 12 rolls for my daughters (ballet, pointe shoes) and cut a tiny strip as thin as the dental floss and used it to hobble the legs back together until the muscles can tighten up a bit. I hope it holds, because I feel like I'm hurting it holding it still long enough to put the tape on. They're so quiet (tiny pipes make tiny noises!) you can't even hear their concern or fear. It's a bit frightening to have to work on them! But sooooooooo cute!
FYI, don't hatch them on an rcom floor without a paper towel. It caused spraddle so bad that the legs came straight out at the sides- a 180* spread. Poor baby!
Third, I have built a new passive solar heater for water, and I'll get pics up tomorrow. It's a frame of wood with a 2" styrofoam back. I used an old storm window for the front and have a zillion aluminum cans from Big-K water inside, spray painted black. It's not hooked up to anything yet, but I'll have a closed circuit of pipe so that it exits, coils through my rain barrel, and then goes back in the bottom of the frame to heat the air more. I'll have pipe insulation on the pipe that isn't in water. It was cloudy today and even so, the holes in the top of the frame had warm air moving out. Can't wait to see how well it does!
I'm totally wishing I could use a turbine to create power- there is a magazine called "Make" that has instructions in various issues about how to create things like that with consumer-available products. I'm going to start looking through it all, because I need to put a cistern in and have a pump that runs off-grid. I may go solar since so many solar panels are being sold cheaply right now since China decided to dump them on us cheap to screw up the trade balance. Good time to cash in on cheap!
There is a really interesting turbine on top of a local gas station that seems like the best design ever, and I'm wondering if it could be built by a DIYer. I''m going to research it, as I've only got a few months to spring, when I'll need power out on a 90 acre lot with NOTHING.
Okay, Danz, that story had me in tears- you'd better hatch me a pup!!!
Trish, those Lakenvelders are very much a Mediterranean breed temperament, even though they are technically a European breed. If you spend a lot of time holding them and carrying them around, they'll get used to you- just force them to let you hold them a bit as often as you can. I would scoop them off the roost, if possible and hold them for 15 minutes daily.
Regarding the bank crap, I'm soooooo done with these big entities taking our money, charging us to use it, and they make tons of interest off of the investments they make with it. It's nuts when you really think about it, and they ought to have us all fire them immediately. First State Bank is a little local Kansas bank, and I like them a lot. I keep my money at...hahahahahaha!!! Nevermind. I haven't any. No, I use Capitol Federal Savings Bank. They aren't a true Bank and have a great rating and offer reasonable and conscientious service. They were rated one of the strongest 10 savings and loans when everything started to fail a few years back, and I haven't really been unhappy with them yet.
No snow here yet. I'm hoping if I keep making preparation, I'll win. No winter.
If anyone hears of someone upgrading their wood stove, let me know- I need one and have little funding. A used one is what I'll get!
