What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

Well crap. I went out in the pouring rain this morning to open up the coops (automatic doors aren't working at the moment), only to discover one of my ducklings (3 weeks old) dead in the duck coop and a young pullet (10 months old?) in a nesting box in the goat house. No obvious wounds on either of them. Both seemed perfectly fine yesterday. No sign of illness that I noticed, anyway. I should probably get a necropsy done but that would entail having to drive to Little Rock. I abhor the thought... I guess I will burn the corpses. If I have anymore mysterious deaths, I will get a necropsy.

 

[WthrLady]

Got a mink running around?

 

[Smokerbill]

Well crap. I went out in the pouring rain this morning to open up the coops (automatic doors aren't working at the moment), only to discover one of my ducklings (3 weeks old) dead in the duck coop and a young pullet (10 months old?) in a nesting box in the goat house. No obvious wounds on either of them. Both seemed perfectly fine yesterday. No sign of illness that I noticed, anyway. I should probably get a necropsy done but that would entail having to drive to Little Rock. I abhor the thought... I guess I will burn the corpses. If I have anymore mysterious deaths, I will get a necropsy.

@TJAnonymous , I don't know if you're into doing a DIY necropsy, but have you seen this necropsy manual? I found the link somewhere here at BYC.

Sorry for your loss.

https://breathitt.murraystate.edu/department/PoultryToolbox/Poultry Necropsy_Manual_ZP130193_PrintReady_Zoetis.pdf

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Life in the tropical rainforest continues. Of course we got a thunderstorm last night, and of course scattered showers all day today and likey for the next week. It's so humid regardless how "cool" the temperatures are, it's just humid. I got all but 2 of the hot peppers potted yesterday. The cucumbers are loving life in the old pea patch, oh and did I mention it's getting ready to dump more rain outside? I manage to get another round of fertilizer spikes into the nightshades. I thinned the leeks so the bigger ones can get bigger and thicker. Then I started picking green beans. I have enough for my dinner. The pepper plants really look like they enjoyed the new pots. I left them outside and they look like they grew overnight. I also put my lime tree outside about a week ago. I thought it was dying. It's looking so much healthier and growing new leaves like crazy. It's also blooming. I really would like to get it into a larger pot. Despite all the rain, the vegetables are all doing well. The okra is still struggling but one of the plants is doing much better and two others look like they are ready to start growing. Can't complain. The three sisters garden is growing along very nicely and the cherry tomatoes are plumping up. I also have blossoms on the Brandywine tomato plants. I'm feeling very positive about the garden this year.

Today's little haul, green beans and baby leeks

 

[Sueby]

Morning all. @Wee Farmer Sarah it is just disgusting out there, huh? Cool but soupy, not looking forward to the sun coming out. We got just over 2 inches of rain, looks to be clearing up for the moment but more on the way.

I have small, green tomatoes on the volunteer sungolds. Pulled the last of the garlic & it's drying. I picked beans & a cuke last night & my neighbor brought over a bunch of stuff from her CSA today, it's too much for the 2 of them - banana peppers, radishes, lettuce, snap peas, a zucchini and summer squash!

I forgot to mention I basted some chicken breasts on the grill with the rhubarb sauce I made, it was delish! & today I have some pork butt chunks in the crock pot with it, we'll have it over riced cauliflower & broccoli.

For the first time in the almost 8 months since my back surgery - I am FINALLY starting to feel better! *knockonwood* These last 2-3 weeks have been such a relief. I thought I was never going to get better.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Got a mink running around?

Wouldn't that leave a wound though? Or even partially eaten?

The duckling was laying on his belly with his neck stretched out. I have a puppy gate up to separate them from the adults. Yesterday I noticed that the ducklings (there's 3 of them) were bum rushing to puppy gate and trying to squeeze through it. I wondered if maybe the duckling stuck his head through the puppy gate and one of the adults grabbed him, potentially breaking his neck. Except that he wasn't found laying by the puppy gate... So if that happened, he would have had to have gotten away and walked away from the gate before collapsing and stretching himself out. It's just weird.

Similarly, I found the young pullet in the nesting box but her head and neck were draped over the side at a very strange angle. Not broken exactly but definitely not a normal angle. It was like something tried to pull her out by the neck but couldn't lift her. She is very small though...probably 3 lbs? The nesting box is about 2.5 ft off the ground (attached to the wall) inside the goat house. She has been broody lately and hiding out in that box. She was the only hen not secured in the main coop. No wounds on her either...

None of it makes sense to me... Maybe I need to put up a coop cam.

 

[TJAnonymous]

@TJAnonymous , I don't know if you're into doing a DIY necropsy, but have you seen this necropsy manual? I found the link somewhere here at BYC.

Sorry for your loss.

https://breathitt.murraystate.edu/department/PoultryToolbox/Poultry Necropsy_Manual_ZP130193_PrintReady_Zoetis.pdf

I've done them before. The University of Arkansas actually released a public video about Backyard Chickens. In the video, one of the professors does a necropsy on a chicken. It provides a wonderful step-by-step tutorial for someone to do their own using the video as a guide. He also tells you certain things to look for...

I thought about doing it myself but I won't have time this weekend and I don't want to freeze/thaw them later

 

[Smokerbill]

I watered parts of the garden that needed water. I checked the soil moisture level around the tomatoes with a tester I bought a while back and it indicated ideal moisture. Same with the winter squash, so I didn't water either of those.

Newly planted bean and squash seeds haven't sprouted yet, but with the coming warmer weather they should pretty soon.

 

[WthrLady]

Wouldn't that leave a wound though? Or even partially eaten?

The duckling was laying on his belly with his neck stretched out. I have a puppy gate up to separate them from the adults. Yesterday I noticed that the ducklings (there's 3 of them) were bum rushing to puppy gate and trying to squeeze through it. I wondered if maybe the duckling stuck his head through the puppy gate and one of the adults grabbed him, potentially breaking his neck. Except that he wasn't found laying by the puppy gate... So if that happened, he would have had to have gotten away and walked away from the gate before collapsing and stretching himself out. It's just weird.

Similarly, I found the young pullet in the nesting box but her head and neck were draped over the side at a very strange angle. Not broken exactly but definitely not a normal angle. It was like something tried to pull her out by the neck but couldn't lift her. She is very small though...probably 3 lbs? The nesting box is about 2.5 ft off the ground (attached to the wall) inside the goat house. She has been broody lately and hiding out in that box. She was the only hen not secured in the main coop. No wounds on her either...

None of it makes sense to me... Maybe I need to put up a coop cam.

A couple small puncture marks is all.

 

[WthrLady]

just had 1.87 inches of rain. incredible.
We'll take it, every drop. I had to dump a bag of wood pellets in the run to soak up a massive puddle, 6 inches deep. I also added another bag of pine shavings.

Now comes the smoke from Canada and the heat, humidity and FLIES.