fuzzi's Chicken Journal

[NanaK]

Wrong photo... that was at 8am.

Colder at 6am, 14°F

Same here yesterday morning. Much better this morning but the super cold stuff is coming back. They are hinting at snow for us mid week again.

We see a lot less snow here than what I remember growing up.
Every once in a while the cold air meets up with moisture riding up our coast and wham! Eastern NC is white!
It doesn't happen very often.

These are the last snows I remember here.

2021 The huge brown plant by the run is a dormant banana tree.

2014 Building coop #2 and framing the greenhouse. Yep in January. We seem to do things the hard way.

2011 This was a big snow!

I think it is very pretty when we do get snow but I am ready for some warmer days.

@fuzzi Glad things are going smoothly for you. I had several bumps in the road handling my Mom's and Dad's.

 

[paintedChix]

Just saw the prediction for this week. Will be interesting, we are usually 5-10° colder or hotter than predicted. That would drop us into the negatives...

Brrrrr....

 

[fuzzi]

Straw is from a local nursery, only $6 a bale. I'm keeping it in the small shed as I had a couple bales mold even though they were covered by plastic.

I threw a flake in the run, it WAS appreciated.

Back in September we had our crawlspace partly sealed, with a moisture barrier, insulation over the vents, a solid door over the entry, AND a dehumidifier. There's a monitor that reads the temperature and humidity under the house, and it never gets more than 10° colder than the living areas. I've put styrofoam covers over the outside faucets, but haven't worried as much about the other pipes.

I went to the clerk of court today, tax assessor's office, and credit union. I just have a few more minor phone calls to make. Then next week I get to fax the certificate to several different companies so that inherited benefits can continue, whew. Every little bit helps pay the bills.

I think Debbie knows...

(that's the wooden urn with Ron's ashes)

I'm hanging in, and was doing pretty well today until I heard a song from our dating days:

It'll be okay.

 

[fuzzi]

Same here yesterday morning. Much better this morning but the super cold stuff is coming back. They are hinting at snow for us mid week again.

We see a lot less snow here than what I remember growing up.
Every once in a while the cold air meets up with moisture riding up our coast and wham! Eastern NC is white!
It doesn't happen very often.

These are the last snows I remember here.

2021 The huge brown plant by the run is a dormant banana tree.
View attachment 4029870


2014 Building coop #2 and framing the greenhouse. Yep in January. We seem to do things the hard way.
View attachment 4029871

2011 This was a big snow!
View attachment 4029872

I think it is very pretty when we do get snow but I am ready for some warmer days.

@fuzzi Glad things are going smoothly for you. I had several bumps in the road handling my Mom's and Dad's.

I have banana trees, too, and had fruit in 2023, but there's not a long enough season for the bananas to ripen.

 

[Molpet]

Straw is from a local nursery, only $6 a bale. I'm keeping it in the small shed as I had a couple bales mold even though they were covered by plastic.

My cousin harvests hay for her horses for decades. They sell the extra at auction. They had hay wagons full of small square bails. One was covered with a tarp in her arena for a couple months. It molded and the uncovered didn't mold. Just had bird poops

 

[NanaK]

I've had trouble with straw molding covered with a tarp. Since we started keeping it in a small unused coop no more mold. The coop opens into the run so easier to pull out and add to the run. I mostly use leaves and pinestraw for the run as we have tons and they are free for the raking.

I love to watch the hens scratch through it looking for leftover seed. Wheat straw is easiest to get for me.

I have banana trees, too, and had fruit in 2023, but there's not a long enough season for the bananas to ripen.

I've had these for a long time. I had 3 blooms very earlier this year. I suppose due to the mild winter last year. 2 went on to ripen much to my surprise. The 3rd get really close and started showing some yellow just before the heavy frost.

Squirrels beat me to them. I found the skins on the ground. They also got my first few figs.
Tree rats!

 

[fuzzi]

I've had trouble with straw molding covered with a tarp. Since we started keeping it in a small unused coop no more mold. The coop opens into the run so easier to pull out and add to the run. I mostly use leaves and pinestraw for the run as we have tons and they are free for the raking.

I love to watch the hens scratch through it looking for leftover seed. Wheat straw is easiest to get for me.


I've had these for a long time. I had 3 blooms very earlier this year. I suppose due to the mild winter last year. 2 went on to ripen much to my surprise. The 3rd get really close and started showing some yellow just before the heavy frost.

Squirrels beat me to them. I found the skins on the ground. They also got my first few figs.
Tree rats!

I usually use the mower to shred and bag the leaves in our yard, dumping some in the run as well as in the raised beds. Ron's illness worsened about the time I needed to mow the leaves, so they're matted down, wet, in the street.

 

[NanaK]

Sometimes events in life makes us have to let some things go.

A member and long time friend here once posted this in another thread a long time ago. I copied and pasted it just as it was written and saved it to my laptop. When life starts getting to me I read it again. I call it a Great Philosophy of Life.

English is not their native language but I think you will understand it.

"don t stress .take it easy ,do only what can. don t force thing .we are passing {all the world} through hard times .
don t never forget after the winter ,there is summer . if you are not happy with a winter ,just wait for the summer ,because the winter will passes .nothing stay a same in this life .
if we can no do thing is Ok .we are here in life to live not to do things ."

 

[1muttsfan]

Music can be very evocative of both good and bad times. Things that are sorrowful in the early stages of grief can become bittersweet later. My favorite song by them is Landslide, which has become more meaningful as I get older.

 

[fuzzi]

Minor injury?

Esther, one of my pullets, has an open "sore" on her head, just behind the eye.

Will a dab of this (after dark) work?

I was going to disguise the wound with Blukote but a search here had a lot of negative comments about using it on an open wound.

@Wyorp Rock ? @1muttsfan ? @NanaK ? @Shadrach ?