The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

Bee,

I remember a while back Jake had fleas and you had a tough time getting rid of them. What finally worked? I have not had fleas since we moved out of town 9 years ago and now all the sudden they are popping up. DH said he has had 3 land on him. Thanks for any suggestions.

I had tried Advantix II and it didn't do it, then I tried the other one...can't remember the name of it. It worked a little but not real well. I also used some Permethrin dust on him out of sheer desperation and I spread pelleted lime all over the yard in his area. The lime is supposed to produce a more hostile environment to the eggs and to decrease their cycle through the earthworms as the worms ingest a more alkaline soil. Not sure about that but Jake has been pretty flea free all winter and still isn't digging yet, though a wet spring will bring that more into reality, I'm sure.

I'll try the Permethrin first this year and see how that works. I'm also going to spread more powdered(this time) lime in that area of the yard to try and keep up with it this spring. One place I bought many years ago had a yard just jumping with fleas and the neighbors said the previous owner had three dogs in that yard. We spread lime all over that entire yard and it took care of the fleas....my dog only had to wear a flea collar after that to handle the fleas that survived. The lime will also help the lawn around here as we tend towards acidic soils, so it's a win/win for us.

A different view of my First Favorite Tree.




And a close up of the blossoms.

That is a lovely tree, LJ!!! What is it? Magnolia?

I finally let Katy off lead this morning when we were marking property lines for the fence. We had The Pup loose too. She took off running for the woods leaving the whimpering pup behind. I didn't know if she would come back. She did after about 15 minutes, then up our lane she went. Now our lane is about 700 feet straight up to the road. When we went up in the truck with the pup to get some equipment she was exploring around the old barn. As soon as she heard the pup she jumped in the truck. The ride back down was a bit crowded lol. When we got back to the pasture she took off with the pup and headed straight for the creek which is down a steep embankment. Of course the puppy fell in and couldn't get out. Doug had to climb down to rescue him. Katy was sitting in a pool of water just watching. I carried a wet and tired little boy home to his kennel. She followed and they are both having an afternoon nap after their adventure.. I think she knows where she lives now and is happy here. We really love both of them. They are sweet. I just hope she learns to watch the cattle or I will have a huge feed bill for a freeloader. Everybody around here earns their keep.

These GPs are something else, aren't they? This one has a mind of his own too but, luckily, his mind is not bent on mischief and is more focused on guarding the property....even from the vicious, fanged and very dangerous deer that wonder through.

Jake never even gave them a sniff all these years but this dog seems to have assessed the situation and decided we need protection from the deer.

He's sticking around close and leaves the chickens and cat alone, moves slow and sleeps a lot. We don't know quite what to think of him just yet....he's a sweet dog but not much personality, doesn't bark a lot, which we like, can't be contained by the electric system~which we don't like, and is needing neutered...which I will call about tomorrow.

TW, I got dibs on him if Bee doesn't want him!!


Lisa

Bee careful what you wish for, lady.....you might find a polar bear on your doorstep.

He doesn't eat much at all and would make someone a great LGD. We haven't decided what to do with him just yet.

 

[RachaelS]

Quote: Lime, never heard of that. Good to know!

 

[downrangechick]

That sounds awesome!!! I love real maple syrup. 

It is! It's the best syrup I've tasted. It's not real dark at all. I don't know if it's something with my trees or area or what it is but other people's tastes different.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

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[Ms Jellybean]

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[RachaelS]

Quote:
You must send me some

 

[RachaelS]

So dinner was wonderful! Had enough left overs for one or two more meals depending on what I do. The dogs will get a nice treat tomorrow, all the fatty stuff, on their dog food. The bones went in a bag and into the freezer to make chicken stock at some point. I still have two bags of frozen ice cube stock to use up. Thank God for chickens and thank God for The Front Porch!

 

[lindz8504]

HEY GUYS!!! Miss me? LOL....

I've been getting 12-14 eggs a day. I think both the cochins are laying. I got another egg yesterday and today, and they are a little different in color AND texture. If they are anything like their mama, I will be getting 5-6 bitty eggs a week out of each of them. I let the littles out this weekend with the big girls, and they were fine. They go back into the coop if they get chilled and the big girls pretty much ignore them. We got a lot of stuff done this weekend, including putting up some wire around the top of the run so they can't fly over the fence. We spread lime and fertilizer this weekend, and are going to be sowing grass seed and putting out the garden, so I want to be able to keep them confined if needed... Picked up limbs and trash ect that got blown around in our big storm the other day. I added some bedding in the coops, and refreshed the nest boxes. Cleaned up the feed room, and rearranged some stuff in there. The kids picked up rocks and sticks out of the yard so we could work on getting it ready to sow grass seed. Busy busy!!!! I candled a few of the eggs again, and there is still movement and I've seen a couple of them rocking! Lock-down is on Wed!

 

[RachaelS]

Great pics!!!!

 

[lovingmyhens]

Compost. I love composting!! It is like growing a garden....without lifting a finger! I put all sorts of stuff in mine...a 5' fence wire circle. Leaves, cut grass, kitchen scraps...the things the chickens don't get. Well, now they want the grass clippings, as well as some of the kitchen scraps. So now, when I clean out the deep litter, it all goes in to one of the compost piles. I usually have 2 going. One for fresh stuff. One that is finished and can go into the gardens. I even taught my new husband about composting. He likes it now.

how do you know when it is ready for the garden?