A box of cuteness

Look what came in the mail a couple of weeks ago (yes a couple of weeks ago...sigh...never enough time in the day to the Blog updated!).

I woke up in the morning to a phone call from the post office-your chicks are here! I got up and drove down and there was a chirping box.  These weren't day old chicks so I was pretty worried about their travels. They came from South Dakota to Denver and then on up to Bailey by express post. Even though they were express going between here and there it's a two day trip. And Denver was getting pretty warm (mid-90's).

Here is the box they arrived in...

And this was what was inside! An assortment of colors and sizes

Pretty cute aren't they?

I was shipped 11 chicks alas 2 didn't survive the journey, one was dead on arrival and another despite my offerings of sugar water and egg died a few hours later.  Despite the losses which saddened me, I was quite happy that the others had made their long journey without harm.  I'll only be keeping a few of these as I don't need this many chickens, now how to choose amongst them?

Of Chicks and Chickens

I've had a fondness for Cochin chicks since I purchased my first paid a year ago so in February I decided to order some Cochin eggs for hatching. Then I read about how hard it is to hatch eggs that were shipped from a lower altitude. Sigh. It really does pay to research before you buy.  I don't know how I missed this tidbit of information before I ordered.  I dutifully set 15 eggs for hatching and immediately broke a couple because my incubator is too small for that many-but how could I not try to get them in?

In March after painstakingly candling the eggs (the process of shining a bright light into the egg to see it's development) I was down to just 3 eggs that looked viable. Of those just one hatched. What a cute little thing.

Trey hatching

A day old..

Wanting buddies for my little chick, I purchased a couple of Silver Laced Wyandotte Chicks in April, and then at the end of April a couple more Cochin Chicks.  All went well until it was time to graduate from the hutch in my office to the outside world.

The Wyandotte Chicks,

"Trey" my sole hatching chick went out first as he was the oldest. My plan was to slowly acclimate him by putting him out for short periods in the chicken pen. What's that saying about "the best laid plan"?  Jinny my cochin hen didn't think much of the new addition and chased him out of the pen. I didn't realize that a chick already feathered out could slip so easily between the wire mesh.  Jasper alerted me to his escape but I couldn't find him, so I let Jasper off his leash and "whoosh" Jasper was chasing from his hideout. I quickly grabbed him and brought him inside and decided to wait a little while before putting him out again.

I reinforced the pen with chicken wire and tried again the following week. This time things went even worse...Trey got out and Jasper got him. I found him limp and bleeding and laid him beneath the nesting box to peacefully pass. An hour or so later he hadn't passed. I decided to bring him inside and let him die in peace. He didn't die. I examined him and found that he was missing a wing and his wing socket was protruding. I didn't have much hope, but washed his wounds, put an antibiotic cream on them and put antibiotics in his water. I put him in the hutch for the night not expecting him to be alive in the morning. I lifted the hutch door with trepidation the next morning and there was Trey drinking and eating as if nothing were wrong. His injuries didn't seem to bother him anymore.

A couple of weeks passed and the "Eau de Chicken" smell in my office was driving me crazy, so I decided once again it was time for the birds to move outside.  I moved all three into the coop and watched carefully as I planted my garden. All seemed OK-the chicks were keeping to themselves in the coop.  Jinny was clucking scornfully but wasn't chasing anybody.  A couple of hours later I checked again and Trey was gone! He was nowhere to be seen. We searched high and low but couldn't find him.  I hoped we'd find him the next morning but there was no sign. The two Wyandottes seemed to be faring all right in the big coop so I left them there.

That evening when I went to shut everyone in-the Wyandottes were gone too. I searched some more but they too seemed to have vanished.  How dissapointing, all that work raising the chicks only for them to disappear.

The birds later showed up dead by my guesthouse-dogs had got to them but I don't think they intended to kill them as they weren't torn up. It looked like the birds had probably run and the dogs chased. It was sad-especially as Trey was found a week later and it looked like he had just been killed as his little body was limp with no rigamortis. 

Meanwhile the fearsome Ginny who probably was the cause of all this trouble through her chasing of the chicks...crawled under the chicken wire around my garden and proceeded to mow down all of the plants I had so painstakingly nurtured all Spring. She left just one lone potato and the pumpkin plants.  Ginny is sure lucky she lays well as she'd be so out of here...

Planting Dreams...

I've planned since  before we moved here to plant some fruit trees. After seeing how well my plum tree is bearing (now that I have left Texas) I knew that planting some fruit trees would be a priority. Is there anything better than sinking your teeth into an apple freshly picked from the tree? And they are something to get planted earlier rather than later as my plum tree in Texas proves-I planted it about 5 years ago and it was just last year that it really started to bear.

I have heard you can't grow fruit trees here...early thaws will bring the trees into bloom and then a frost will come and make them drop.  The winds are too bad....the dirt is not right.  Yet I see some who manage to grow fruit trees and actually harvest crops. I believe it's all in the selection of the right tree and right place to plant them.

I have done my research and selected just three trees to start-two apples and a cherry.  Though I have high hopes for these trees there is no point in spending the family fortune to be proven wrong is there? I found a very reputable Nursery online, St. Lawrence Nurseries, out of Potsdam, NY.  They have a huge selection of fruit trees, a great reputation and the USDA zone chart puts them as a 4B while they have my zone as 5B-so these plants should be hardy.

I researched success stories, and also read the failure stories and finally settled on the following choices:

For the Apples: 

September Ruby-this one originated from Canada-it should be hardy (I've seen accounts of it growing in Alaska!).  One backyard grower had this to say about the apples "

"I too have September Ruby, mine seem to ripen in late August, early September most years. The taste reminds me of a macintosh, crisp and juicy, sweet, great for fresh eating, but also excellent in pies"

Yum...sounds good to me! 

The other selection I made was is a Norkent Apple. This one is rated for zone 2-another hardy variety.  It's described as "very large apple, sweet crisp, perfumy with excellent flavor".  Keeps well in storage. 

The Cherry Tree-I have always wanted a cherry tree, so I succumbed to temptation and ordered one. Unfortunately it seems sweet cherries don't grow in Northern climates but I did find some pie cherries do, and some are even good for fresh eating.  I chose a Bali Cherry because it was discovered growing near Edmonton, Alberta after withstanding -43F. It's supposedly a vigorous grower and precocious producer yielding large 1 inch fruit. I hope I'll be needing a bird net in a few years...this just sounds to good to be true!

Bali Cherries-I soo want to tast these!

My order came in from St. Lawrence at the end of April-they are ship bareroot and dormant and it is recommended to plant them straight away so I not one to not heed the sage words of those who are wiser than me-I did. I planted them on April 22, the day before we got about 8" of snow.  The instructions said "the weather might not be good for the humans for planting, but it is for the plants".   The first flakes of snow started to fall as I planted

Here are my pictures of the planting.

An Apple tree before planting 

Same Tree in hole ready to fill in

The Cherry tree-I have high hopes for this twig!

I have all the twigs trees wrapped in little cages of poultry wire to protect them from oafish dogs that go by the name of Jasper who I can just see grabbing hold of one and running. I'm faithfully watering them often as per the instructions "5-10 gallons regularly-regularly being every day, 3 days a week or a good soaking every weekend. Dig under the mulch to feel the soil, if it is waterlogged pass for a few days".

It'll be a few years before I get to taste the fruits of my efforts...I hope it pays off!

A sign of Spring...

Today is a day to mark on the calendar.  I collected my first egg of the year! One of the gracious duck ladies decided the days are long enough and the sun is bright enough to grace the laying box with an egg. It's certainly not because this week is any warmer-it's been rather cold with nightly lows hovering around the zero mark.

The First Egg of the Season

The egg weighed in at 2.1 oz, a pretty average size for my duck eggs.  I'll have to see if I can squeeze in some baking time this weekend-there is nothing like fresh duck eggs when baking!

Painted Deserts and 50% Katahdins for Sale

My flock has been growing quickly and it has come time to part ways with a few sheep.  Here is what is currently for sale:

On the left is a 2.5 month old Painted Desert Ram-good stout prospect, dam Santana Sayen -6th place ewes 6-12 months, 2012 PDSS show. Ram $125, Ewe-$200 SOLD

Spot recordable 50% Katahdin ram lamb born Jan 18, 2013, dam Teanna above, sire "Potter" pictured at bottom of page  $175.00 SALE PENDING

Estrella's Ambrosia "Brandy"-PDSS ewe, she was bottle fed and is the friendliest ewe ever $125 (to someone who will love her), Moon-4.5 month PDSS ewe lamb. $75.00 SOLD

Tammy-a great PDSS ewe, dam of Pebbles (pictured below). Currently has a 50% Katahdin ewe on her side who I will be keeping. $200-Tammy will be available at the end of Feb 2013. I will hold her with a deposit. Sold

Bella is a really nice PDSS ewe, born in  2010, dam of Luna (listed below) and Arabella (in photo) a 2013 50% Katahdin ewe lamb (Arabella is not for sale).  $175

Luna 2012 PDSS ewe out of Estrellas La Bella and Estrellas Brennan. Has been exposed to Katahdin ram. (Pictured at 5 months old),  $175.00

Aleshanee Tiponi, 2010 PDSS ewe. Tiponi has produced two sets of twins for me to date. She was 2nd in the tough  6-12 month old ewe class in the 2012 PDSS show.  $200

Hugo fancy recordable 50% Katahdin ram lamb born 12/21/12. Dam is Aleshanee Tiponi PDSS ewe above, and Potter, Katahdin ram pictured at bottom of page. Combines the best traits of Katahdins and Painted Desert sheep.  Badger markings around eyes. $175

Ella 2012 yearling PDSS out of Aleshani Tiponi (pictured above) and Tejas Ranch Red Cloud exposed to Katahdin ram. $150 SOLD

Yearling ewe, Pebbles exposed to Potter registered Katahdin ram. $200 SOLD

"Potter" Registered 100% Katahdin Ram, born Jan 2012. Good size, good natured and proven sire (sire of all the 50% Katahdin lambs on this page) $350

I will offer a discount for purchases of 3 or more sheep.

Revisiting the Bucket List

The beginning of the year is a great time to review what we accomplished the prior year and make plans for the upcoming year so today I'll revisit my 2012 bucket list and see how well I did (this may be scary-I have a  sneaking suspicion I may have been gotten a tad waylaid last year.

The 2012 Bucket List:

• Move (first my dd and I)  ✓-Happily accomplished in May 2012
• Secure the fencing -happily most of the property is fenced, we just need to fix/improve it.  1/2 ✓ -we did get gates put up to secure the perimeter but our guardian dog just jumps over it. Not sure what we'll do here.
• Set-up dog kennel- X-not started, I'm putting this one on hold since I may build a kennel into the house addition/garage when that eventually happens.
• Make sheep shelter X-I cheated, I used the barn, but this will go on the 2013 bucket list so the horses can have the barn back!
• Move the livestock to property ✓
• Research what fruit trees do well at 8800' altitude (no that's not a typo -this property is located at some serious altitutude! Plant test trees. 1/2 ✓ -I did the research but didn't get the trees bought. Thiswas late to get a lot started. 
• Fix greenhouse 1/2 ✓ -I did fix it, but the wind ripped the new door I built off so it still needs fixing! 
•  is going on the 2013 bucket lits.
• Research and plant berry canes 1/2 ✓ -Again I did the research and actually ordered the plants but they are schedule for April 2013 delivery, hence only the 1/2 checkmark!
• Plant vegetable/herb garden ✓ I did get some herbs and vegetables planted last year, but with our May move date 
• Remove fallen tree from pond, remove beaver dams where they are changing water flow-X-we tried to haul it out with the mule but it wouldn't come. We started chopping it up for a pond side fire last week!
• Fence bottom pasture. X-just not enough hours in the day! 

Results:   ✓=3 tasks completed (yikes this is bad!)

           1/2 ✓=3 tasks partially completed

                  X=4 tasks not started

The results don't exactly look stellar but as always there is all sorts of accomplishments that were completed that never made it to the bucket list, such as building the doghouse, fencing the side pasture, seeding the side pasture etc.

And now for the 2013 Bucket List:

• Make the sheep house with at least 3 pens. 
• Fence bottom pasture
• Order and plant fruit trees
• Fence/cover vegetable garden so chickens can range in it, put in duck pond.
• Fix greenhouse
• Get ancona ducks
• Start aquaponic system in greenhouse. Something like this one:

• Stock pond with trout
• Complete alternative driveway entrance

Dog yard (our backyard is about 2 acres-too big to watch them at nighttime. I don't want any predators getting my pups!)

This concludes the 2013 Bucket List.  

A new year...some new babies and a farewell to 2012 and a friend

Well the new year has come upon us despite the Mayan calendar ending.  Maybe 2013 was just too far in the future for them to consider?  I read the other day that Jan 04, 2013 was the day Marty of Back to the Future fame was supposed to land in his Delorean...I haven't heard of any sightings yet, but it sure does make me feel old that the future is now!

Sadly just after Christmas we lost our favourite ewe "Delilah", Katielyn's bottle fed lamb from two years ago.  She was nearing the end of her first pregnancy and suffered pregnancy toxemia. We tried to save her with an emergency visit to the vet, but she passed away while trying to revive her. We suspect she was carrying twins and what with the cold weather, and nourishing the babes in her womb she used up all of her energy reserves.  Farewell Delilah, we miss you and the babies we never met.

2013 has already brought us some bouncing baby lambs...our first offspring by the Katahdin ram, Potter purchased in July. To date we have 3 ewes and one ram by Potter with a few more in the works. 

L to R, Single Ewe Lam born 01/03/13, twins Ram on left born  12/21/12

"Maya" ewe lamb born on 12/21- the day the world was to end!