Fan-friggen-tastic.....ughUgh, I hate this weather...
The automatic door to my bachelor coop has stopped working. Actuator is dead, I think. So my male duck is being separated from the girls because he's being a jerk. He's distressed by the quarantine and, since the door won't close, he stays out in the run at night unless I manually put him in.
In the process of doing that 2 nights ago, I realized one of our horses was colicking. DH and I had to stay out in the freezing 20 degree weather for an hour and a half (at midnight) administering to her. We got her through it... Then she colicked again the next morning.This time of the year it's very common... And also life threatening. So I've had to keep her stalled so we can keep a close eye on her.
And, as if I needed any more drama, my daughter's dog (5yr old, half Husky-half Great Pyrenees) has decided to start acting out. I think maybe because my daughter is living on campus this semester and I'm no longer working from home most of the week. She has started destroying things in the house and has had several episodes of diarrhea/pooping on the floor. DH hates this dog...so naturally this is causing a lot of conflict. I've had to start crating her at night and locking her up outside or in a room when we are gone.
And now we are expecting 5-7 inches of snow this weekend. I can only imagine what other crap is going to go wrong this week.
We caught that bug too... Mostly because we ended up with 2 stray rabbits... A buck and a doe. We built an outdoor pen to start a colony. Our doe should kindle in the next 10 days.
Since this picture was taken, they've dug an entire warren in this dirt mound...
View attachment 4286663
They fly up to the top rail and walk along it past the fence. 
One of my pullets likes to spend sunny afternoons perched on the 7-ft peak of my greenhouse. This only worries me because the wooden privacy fence is only 6- ft. I don't relish the idea of an escapee.I have three hens that now fly over the top of my 56" pool and go eat my garden.... My spinach seeds and lettuce got completely scratched up today. I need to figure out a way to keep them down off of the edge of the pool. I may have to shrink their free range space to exclude along the pool wall.
Looks tasty already.
I would say that is not a variety just German for blackberry. I do not know much German but schartz is black and beeren is likely berry.
I think it's a type of nightshade and unripe berries have the same toxin as green potato
We have coyotes, coons, Hawks, etc... I currently have a heavy duty tarp over the top. In the spring, I will attach tin sheeting for a more long-term protection. I also need to finish adding some fencing up to the roof. It currently stops about 4 - 6 ft off the ground. I also want to add some electric netting around the base to act as a predator (and goat) deterrent. But for now, it's good enough to get me through. Unless it's something that can climb the fencing, nothing is getting through. I've got wire under the dirt too...to keep them from digging out or something digging in.
