Learning to live a permacultural life … one day at a time! … by Damon E. Farnham
I haven’t posted a new FCL DITL video for a few days, so I thought I better catch folks up on our local shenanigans.
If all goes well, we should have some new ducklings swimming around in the pond soon.
Lost 2 or 3 chickens to a coyote in a three day period … so I’ve got some active countermeasures in place, e.g. 30-30 rifle. I don’t mind losing a bird to the coyotes once in awhile, but one a day is just unacceptable.
Trees (falling), bees, hugel clover, Hooey & roaming rabbits. Oh, and lentil soup. Yummo.
One day in the FCL life: deer, dog, donkeys, ducks, disease, chickens, rabbits, donkey-on-dog bullying, mosquitoes, squirrels (monkeys).
Yup, that’s about it. That’s (mostly) what we’re about. Today’s cast of characters didn’t include: geodesic domes, rabbit cages, garden, soil blocks & greenhouse, pond, coyotes, hawks, snakes, bees …
… but the week is young. 😉
After getting all the animals up, out and fed this morning, Hooey and I spent most of the day inside … CLEANING. Fun. Fun.
Caught another black snake and took the opportunity to read him the riot act about eating baby bunnies … so hopefully he’ll spread the word through the slithering community.
Checked on the worm farm and found it didn’t have any worms left in it, but DID have a bazillion grubs of some unknown species. So I dumped the whole damn thing in the garden extension and let the chickens munch on the grubs.
Hooey puked up a big wad of fresh donkey road apples (poop), so she went without dinner. Don’t let her tell you I don’t feed her fat ass enough food. She eats well in terms of both volume and quality. She just likes eating donkey donuts for some (stupid) reason. When I tease her about it … she points out that I eat hummus. Really? Hummus vs. Donkey Doo? PLEASE … 😉
Check out Soleil (bigger badonkadonk). Doesn’t she look good. I started brushing her coat out a few times a week, and she looks like a show pony now. Used to look like a boxcar hobo.
I filmed the first few segments of this video specifically to update my niece McKenna on the status of her baby chickens (Kenna’s Krew) and the baby bunnies she helped me nurse for a week. But, I decided to share them will all.
Hooey? Well, she’s just Hooey … my chicken eat’n sidekick. 😉
For anybody interested in the RSOE website I feature at the beginning of this video, see RSOE EDIS.
I observed the drake (male duck) mating with one of the black ducks (female) … which bodes well for some baby ducklings perhaps later in the season. I haven’t researched duck procreation details yet (e.g. nesting habits, gestation cycles, etc.), so I better get off my butt and do so.
Drives me absolutely NUTS that $%^&* ticks figure out a way to climb into my rabbit cages and parasitically prey upon my bunnies. If I could wave a magic wand and make three species immediately go extinct … ticks would be on my list.
More deer. More rain. No specific correlation, except maybe the Muscatine grapes they plunder from Hooey’s horde. 😉
My Mom and niece McKenna started a 7-day NC visit from CA today. Lotsa fun animal stuff. First, the chicken egg set in the incubator started hatching a day or so earlier than anticipated.
Then, McKenna got a chance to experience what we call a badonkadonk rodeo. 😉
Just a quick product endorsement for Dr. Naylor’s Blu-Kote veterinary germicidal/fungicidal spray … and a newly discovered method of cleaning the highly staining purple med from a wooden floor … with cheap vodka!
Hunter (aka Hooey) has had a big ‘mass’ on her right rear ankle for a few years now. Our vet said it wasn’t cancer, or anything else that kind of serious, and suggested we just keep an eye on it over time for changes.
This morning, I noticed it was much larger, kind of shiny looking, and probably ripe to pop.
Sure enough, a few hours later, she was outside haranguing the UPS driver for setting the driveway motion detector off and forcing us to exit our nice, air-conditioned house to sign for a ‘stupid package’ (her words), when I noticed her ‘mass’ had obviously popped.
So, I coaxed her off the poor UPS driver and into the spare bedroom / animal hospital for a little patch work on her boo-boo.
Can you say … Drama Queen? Said it before, will likely say it again a million times, starting now … that dog has the most expressive eyes, ears and overall facial expressions. Cracks me up (most of the time), and some times breaks my heart.
Good patient. Great dog. 😉
Just a quick update on Hunter’s goings-on over the last few days.
We’ve got a herd of about 12 deer that have been coming right up to the house the last few days. Drives Hooey NUTS.
She’s indeed a clown, but she’s also my best friend (clearly).