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FCL :: Day in the Life :: 16-23 Jun 2019 (Deuce Injury)

Quite the week around here …

Migrated ducklings from brooders (barn & house) into a dedicated duckling coop in the barn.

Powerful thunderstorm passed through and knocked power out for a few hours.

Then, the Deuce fiasco. He recently started running round with a 8-inch tire/wheel combination, and in about a week’s time managed to shred the tire. So, a few days ago, we rolled out of bed to a BEAUTIFUL day … cooler, clear skies, nice breeze. As we walked round the property after letting the barn animals out for the morning, I kicked another (larger) tractor tire that was just lying around after having been used to boost a bird feeder off the ground (or some such).

Deuce saw me kick the tire, and thought (I’m sure) … GAME ON! As you can see in this video, we basically started playing tractor tire soccer. Unfortunately, I kicked the tire at JUST the wrong moment (in hindsight) causing the rim of the tire to collide with Deuce’s teeth, which were sunk into the rubber tire. I will NEVER forget the sound. First … a loud crack, followed immediately by his yipe. While you (thankfully) can’t see it on the video, blood was pouring out of his mouth like a ‘stuck pig.’

I called the vet and let them know what happened, and that I was rolling their way Code-3. I was pleasantly surprised to see that in the 20 minutes it took me to drive to the vet, the bleeding had mostly stopped.

A quick check by the vet determined that he had sustained 2 or 3 fractured teeth, including his upper-right canine tooth, which I could see was sheared off at about the halfway point.

They immediately sedated him and prepared him for emergency surgery. I got a call about two hours later, once they got him “off the table” (I hate that term), saying he only lost two teeth, his canine incisor and a pre-molar two teeth away. The tooth between them was fine.

Needless to say … I feel just horrible for having caused his injury. We were roughhousing … playing … but that doesn’t change the fact that my pup got f**ked up.

Happy to report that he’s doing well after about 48 hours of recovery. He tends to be a VERY ORAL dog, always has something in his mouth (stick, toy, chicken, rocks, Hooey’s neck, whatever …) so it’s been a chore trying to keep him from tearing his stitches open … but so far, so good.

I learned this AM that Deuce ‘has a thing’ for freshly baked sourdough bread. I made 4 loaves this morning and he’s literally crawled over me a few times to get some. It’s soft on his palette, so WFT … he can have some. Makes him happy.

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: 9-15 Jun, 2019 (More Ducklings!)

Because I staggered the introduction of duck eggs into the incubator over about a five day period, the “hatch” has also been distributed over about a five day period. Well, duh, right? Down to the last two eggs. I just poked my head in there, observed that at least one of the two eggs is still viable (heard chirping inside), and decided to intervene a little.

Historically, hatch interventions (trying to help a bird out of the egg when they get stuck) have been about a 50-50 prospect. Half the time, they don’t make it.

In this case, it was my assessment the membrane between the shell and duckling was too thick and malleable for the baby duck to break through, so she was likely to suffocate and die. So, I cracked the shell a little around one end, pinched the membrane and tore a small hole in it, then put the egg back in the incubator. At least I know she can get air. I learned the hard way in the past that getting more aggressive against the membrane can be detrimental to the bird for a few different reasons. So, just a minimal change to ensure she can draw air into the otherwise air-tight shell.

Deuce discovered another nest of duck eggs, which I decided (contrary to what I state in this video) to recover and setup of the next incubator run. Had I not, Deuce would have just eaten them.

Got my new IronMaster Quick-Lock Dumbbell System setup.

Also did a quick summary review (limited to “I really LIKE it!”) of a new pair of Trekz Air wireless bone conduction headset by After Shokz, which I use to listen to music on 5-mile “ruck” walks three times a week. REALLY happy with the product.

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: Sat Jun 08, 2019 (Duckling Hatch Day!)

Once again, covering about 5 days with one video.

Biggest ‘news’ is the duck eggs in the incubator started hatching yesterday, with three (of about 15) hatched thus far.

Ducklings are just SO damn cute. I’m always amazed to hear them sounding just like baby chicks, at least for the first few weeks. At some point, they take on the “duck sound” that differs from the “chicken sound” … but it takes them awhile to get there.

Deuce … as always … is just DEUCE (which is to say: a complete knucklehead). I could never hate him, so I’ll define our relationship as one of love-dislike. I love him in the extreme, but I dislike some of his behaviors and personality quirks. For example, he is by far the most vocal dog I’ve ever owned. He doesn’t just bark. No … any ol’ dog can just bark! Deuce yells, screams, sings and somehow vocalizes about a half-dozen other emotions. Can’t say I wasn’t forewarned. The breeder told me he was “very vocal.” He’s also one of the most destructive dogs I’ve ever had. You should see the porch. Absolutely LITTERED with rocks, shredded sticks, torn up boxes, and other random ‘toys’ he’s found around the house and property. I clean it up, and he takes it as a personal challenge to mess it up again, even worse.

Doesn’t matter how many times I correct him with his static shock collar … if he wants to do something, he’s going to do it. “Bring on the SHOCK! … that ALL you got?” … I can almost hear him thinking.

Kitchen counter surfing … check! Can’t leave anything out at night. As soon as I go to bed, he runs a nightly checklist. 1) Scarf any food off the kitchen counter, 2) drink out of the toilet, 3) if the kitchen garbage isn’t closed/secured, rip all the garbage out and distribute it over the front room and outside porch, 4) if the wind blows the front door closed, poop on the hardwood floor, 5) check for ticks, if any found, crawl into bed with Dad, … etc.

Okay, done venting. If you can’t tell by the videos I share, I clearly LOVE him more than I DISLIKE him. My love is unconditional. My dislike is episodic and transient (to use a few temporal geekisms).

As soon as the incubator hatch is completed (maybe about 5 days from now), I plan on putting another 10 duck eggs, and maybe about 10 chicken eggs, down for a second set. Need more ducks, and the chicken flock could use a few new recruits to keep the local hawks, coyotes and lone red wolf busy. 😉

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FCL :: Day(s) in the Life :: Mon, Jun 3 , 2109

This video covers about 4 days during which I was working through technical issues that prevented me from moving photos and videos from my iPhone to my desktop … so it’s a bit longer than usual.

Topics Covered:

  1. making sourdough starter and breads
  2. love my new aluminum non-stick wok
  3. scary story re: “green eyes” in the dark of night
  4. incubating duck eggs (candling update)
  5. homemade wood-fired pizza
  6. Deuce working through a hanger-on-er

Quick note re: the “green eyes” story. In the beginning of the segment, I said I saw “two pairs of green eyes” but what I meant was I saw one pair, or two eyes, staring back at me. So, there was only one animal, which i strongly suspect was the red wolf I’ve seen here before. SPOOKED the crap out of me. It was like a Stephen King thing … scary. 😉

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: Thu May 30, 2019 (Last Few Days …)

Howdy peeps … haven’t posted a video for a few days because my iOS (phone) to OSX (desktop) interface got screwy and I couldn’t move photos and videos from my phone to my workstation. Fixed!

No major new projects this week. Enjoyed a nice, long, quiet Memorial Day weekend … as everyone should. 😉

Kicked off a new sourdough starter so I can start making sourdough breads in the next week or so.

Picked up a new 12.6 inch My Grace Cooking (MGC) non-stick, aluminum wok and cranked out a nice hot & sour chicken dish first time out. VERY nice wok. Excellent chicken recipe.

The hot (and humid, and tick, and mosquito, and …) season is upon us, so I have a few more outdoor projects to wind up, then we’ll probably transition to a few indoor (read: COOLER) projects for the next few months. Stay tuned.

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: Wed May 22, 2019 (Donkey Escape & Capture)

I got tired of waiting for the pork roast in the wood pellet smoker to reach an internal temp of 205F, so I just went to bed at about midnight — only to have the thermometer app on my iPhone alarm at 3:30A when the roast was finally done!

Somehow (still an unsolved mystery) … both donkeys escaped from their barn pasture. Historically, that has led to a full day of chaos and frustration, chasing them around the property, and even in a few cases down the road (off property).

I’ve learned NOT to chase them (even though it can be fun doing so on my KTM 990 Adventure dual sport), and instead use “donkey bait” (carrots or peanuts (in the shell)) to coax them into a bridle, or in this case a rope noose.

Ended up deciding to let them stay in the garden pasture for few weeks, so they can graise down some of the weeds.

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: Sat May 18, 2019 (New Workbench Project)

Started the day by doing some periodic maintenance on the Mahindra 1526 tractor (oil & oil filter change, lube all the front loader joints). Then, I started a new project to essentially build a new workbench. The bench is designed to encapsulate a fully loaded 48″ x 40″ pallet, so it (the bench) is going to be non-standard in size (i.e. huge). I roughed out the design, then headed to Lowes for the lumber (mostly 4x4s). Spent all day working on the bench. Kicked my butt.

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: Fri May 17, 2019 (Donkey Escape & Capture)

Lesse … shot my workshop with a 12 gauge shotgun (accident, oops).

Luna the d.Bag donkey opportunistically broke out of her pasture when I bumped the fence with the front of the tractor and knocked one of the horizontal cross-members off. Put the ‘sheps to work chasing her down and herding her into a pasture for capture.

After about 4 hours of livin la vida loca by herself in the “big” pasture, she was clearly ready to return to be with Soleil. I ran to the local store to buy donkey bait (carrots and peanuts) and lured her into custody with a few carrots. Probably the easiest capture and return to date. She normally fights me like a ISIS noob and ends up choking herself out. Not this time! Easy Breezy.

I think I need to buy Deuce a hockey helmet, cuz he’s too damn dumb around the donkeys, and as much shit as I talk on camera … I’d actually HATE to see him get his front teeth knocked out, or his cranium vacated. Luna has it in her to kill with those kicks of hers.

Oh, yeah. And my rooster thinks he’s hen apparently. In this day of “gender fluidity” … no surprise I guess.

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: Wed May 15, 2019 (Beehive Inspection)

I was VERY surprised and more than a little disappointed to inspect my beehive and find it void of honey, with a small but active bee colony. I have a theory that I now need to test.

Basically, I have about 6 beehives in storage. Over the last few months, I’ve noticed a lot of bee traffic buzzing through the workshop where the hives are stored. I’m hoping the bees adopted some sort of “off site storage” strategy and put up a bunch of pollen and/or honey in the remote hives.

That would be an unorthodox bee behaviour, but it would explain why my single hive is so empty, given there was an acre and a half of crimson clover not 500 yrds from the hive. May investigate that hypothesis later today, if it doesn’t get too hot. On that note, it has been pleasantly cooler this week, but the temps are forecast to be back up into the 90’s by Saturday. Waaaaaaaaah.

I still have about 300 feet of garden fence to get strung up this weekend, so I bess go buy a case of Gatorade.

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FCL : Day in the Life : Mon May 13, 2019

For those perhaps interested, I filmed my daily “opening” process: feed the dogs, open the barn, feed the ducks, chickens and donkeys. As mentioned in the video, sometimes it feels like I’m in the Groundhog Day movie with Bill Murray.

Demonstrated the use of pallet forks on the front end of the tractor, used to first “stir” (mix) the compost pile, then use a 275 gallon “IBC tote” (THAT’s what the damn things are called …) to water the compost. Chickens everywhere … as usual.

Had a bit of a “snake surprise” in the barn. There are SO many mice running around the barn these days, I’m surprised and a bit disappointed the snake wasn’t twice as big (fat).