On our garden look-see today Scarlet and I spotted a garter snake between the strawberry and sunflower beds. Wikipedia says that they like to eat, among other things, slugs. Carry on, brave fellow!
Two of the kale leaves that I harvested today showed insect activity. One had the characteristic tiny, bright yellow eggs of a cabbage white moth on it's underside, while the other had something that looked more like aphid or thrips of some sort. Lovely. I wonder if our snake friend has a thing for caterpillars and moths as well?
It looks like the verdict is in on my most recent transplants - the German chamomile is hanging tough, while the calendula went belly up. D'oh! Oh well, next year I'll try direct sowing them instead.
Red Russian Kale - 12 ounces
Sungold cherry tomatoes - 4 (You have to start somewhere, amIright?)
Lavender - 1 ounce
Lettuces - 6 ounces (Just enough for dinner)
Cylindra beets - 12 ounces
Sugar Snap Peas - handful
Eggs - 4
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
About half of the measly amount of lavender that I harvested today went to make a few glasses of my boo's favorite, lavender lemonade. After all, he did spend his Sunday building me a beautiful new farm stand (pictures soon). A farm stand so beautiful, in fact, that before he was even done building it, some guy drove up and asked Bill if he could have it. Uhhh.... no? But thanks, I guess.
The building of a small family farm from scratch, warts and all.
Showing posts with label Ewww. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ewww. Show all posts
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Monday, July 23, 2012
Weird Bugs!
Scarlet and her buddy, Sanne, found this pair of beetles with a recently deceased shrew in our bottomland today.
A little googling and picking the brain of my entomologist friend, Glenn, tells me that these are carrion beetles, but exactly what sort, we're not quite sure.
Regardless, the way that carrion beetles work is pretty fascinating, if you have the stomach for that sort of thing.
A male scopes out a "good" corpse, then sets about advertising the fact via pheromones. Eventually, if he's lucky, a lady beetle is thus wooed, and together they work to move and bury the carrion, preventing this tempting treat from being stolen by another carrion fan.
The new couple either bury the body where they find it, or transport it a short distance away (usually about a meter) by crawling under the carrion, flipping themselves upside down and "walking" the corpse (picture a bucket brigade handing buckets of water on down the line) forward a smidge, then either passing the load on to their partner, or repeating the whole exhausting process themselves. From what I've read, these beetles can lift something like 200 times their own body weight! This shrew must have been easy-peasy for them.
After burying their find, the female lays eggs in a chamber just above the burial site. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are then fed the carrion by their parents, via regurgitation, until they are able to go and dine on their own. Some bug sites suggest that the number of eggs laid by the female is proportionate to the size of their "meal".
I find their whole life cycle nasty, yet fascinating. The most unique characteristic though, is the fact that a mated pair stays together to prepare for and raise the young. That's pretty uncommon in most wild animals, and, I'm told, is extremely uncommon in insects of any kind.
So there you go - gross yet informative Boggy Hollow factoid of the day.
Carrion, my wayward bug! ;)
A little googling and picking the brain of my entomologist friend, Glenn, tells me that these are carrion beetles, but exactly what sort, we're not quite sure.
Regardless, the way that carrion beetles work is pretty fascinating, if you have the stomach for that sort of thing.
A male scopes out a "good" corpse, then sets about advertising the fact via pheromones. Eventually, if he's lucky, a lady beetle is thus wooed, and together they work to move and bury the carrion, preventing this tempting treat from being stolen by another carrion fan.
The new couple either bury the body where they find it, or transport it a short distance away (usually about a meter) by crawling under the carrion, flipping themselves upside down and "walking" the corpse (picture a bucket brigade handing buckets of water on down the line) forward a smidge, then either passing the load on to their partner, or repeating the whole exhausting process themselves. From what I've read, these beetles can lift something like 200 times their own body weight! This shrew must have been easy-peasy for them.
After burying their find, the female lays eggs in a chamber just above the burial site. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are then fed the carrion by their parents, via regurgitation, until they are able to go and dine on their own. Some bug sites suggest that the number of eggs laid by the female is proportionate to the size of their "meal".
I find their whole life cycle nasty, yet fascinating. The most unique characteristic though, is the fact that a mated pair stays together to prepare for and raise the young. That's pretty uncommon in most wild animals, and, I'm told, is extremely uncommon in insects of any kind.
So there you go - gross yet informative Boggy Hollow factoid of the day.
Carrion, my wayward bug! ;)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Goat Maintenance
UHG.
Today was hoof trimming/ear maintenance day for our goats, and well... yuck.
Goats are awesome little critters, and though they can be challenging at times, are sweet and fun 90% of the time. The other 10% - crazy, smelly, ornery and bitey.
Today was a 10% day. Their hooves all looked really great; no hoof rot, impacted gunk or anything else nasty. I am especially grateful about the absence of the hoof rot. One of our girls had a terrible case of it last year when we first bought her. It took a lot of foot baths, intramuscular antibiotics and constantly refreshed bedding to get her hooves back in shape. Hoof rot is also very contagious, so we were lucky that our other goats didn't get it. Keeping their feet trimmed and clean, and having dry, poop-free bedding are the keys to keeping their feet healthy. It is a lot of work!
When we do hoof and foot maintenance, we also do ear checks. Seven of our nine goats are Lamanchas, and have tiny little ears that occasionally need to be irrigated and medicated, because they have very small openings and don't "breathe" well. Needless to say, the goats are NOT fans of these procedures, and wrestle and wiggle the whole time that we're trying to flush out the gunk and administer the ear drops. It is thankless and messy.
So by the end of it all (today it took about 2 1/2 hours), you smell like a buck, have bits of hoof trimmings in your hair, have had ear goobers flung in your general direction and have probably had your finger chomped a time or two by an overzealous goat seeking his or her snack. A shower and change of clothes will knock the smell down, but not always out, and the "essence of buck" has a way of lingering in your sinuses and throat for a few hours after the fact.
Even with all of that, how could you not love sweet faces like these?
Just like with kids, all of the work and the craziness are rewarded with little moments of sweetness that remind you why you bother with it at all. I heart my stinky, ornery, snuggly little goaties, even on days like this. ;)
Today was hoof trimming/ear maintenance day for our goats, and well... yuck.
Goats are awesome little critters, and though they can be challenging at times, are sweet and fun 90% of the time. The other 10% - crazy, smelly, ornery and bitey.
Today was a 10% day. Their hooves all looked really great; no hoof rot, impacted gunk or anything else nasty. I am especially grateful about the absence of the hoof rot. One of our girls had a terrible case of it last year when we first bought her. It took a lot of foot baths, intramuscular antibiotics and constantly refreshed bedding to get her hooves back in shape. Hoof rot is also very contagious, so we were lucky that our other goats didn't get it. Keeping their feet trimmed and clean, and having dry, poop-free bedding are the keys to keeping their feet healthy. It is a lot of work!
When we do hoof and foot maintenance, we also do ear checks. Seven of our nine goats are Lamanchas, and have tiny little ears that occasionally need to be irrigated and medicated, because they have very small openings and don't "breathe" well. Needless to say, the goats are NOT fans of these procedures, and wrestle and wiggle the whole time that we're trying to flush out the gunk and administer the ear drops. It is thankless and messy.
So by the end of it all (today it took about 2 1/2 hours), you smell like a buck, have bits of hoof trimmings in your hair, have had ear goobers flung in your general direction and have probably had your finger chomped a time or two by an overzealous goat seeking his or her snack. A shower and change of clothes will knock the smell down, but not always out, and the "essence of buck" has a way of lingering in your sinuses and throat for a few hours after the fact.
Even with all of that, how could you not love sweet faces like these?
Just like with kids, all of the work and the craziness are rewarded with little moments of sweetness that remind you why you bother with it at all. I heart my stinky, ornery, snuggly little goaties, even on days like this. ;)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
New Digs
The baby chicks have made the move to their brand spankin' new big kid coop! And of course, today is the day that my camera decided to die, so I don't have any pictures to share of my happy chickens enjoying my husband's fine craftsmanship. :(
Billy worked his hiney off on that coop, and though there is still work to be done yet before it is officially complete, it's up and it's chock full of peepers tonight. Thank God, because the funk and dust/dander that those little buggers generate in a day is astounding, and was yucking the hot tub room up BAD. Now I get the joy of decontaminating the room of it's current smell - eau de chicken butt. The glamor never ends.
Billy worked his hiney off on that coop, and though there is still work to be done yet before it is officially complete, it's up and it's chock full of peepers tonight. Thank God, because the funk and dust/dander that those little buggers generate in a day is astounding, and was yucking the hot tub room up BAD. Now I get the joy of decontaminating the room of it's current smell - eau de chicken butt. The glamor never ends.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
BHF ~ Photo of the Day 3/20/11
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Care & Keeping of Goat Boobies
Poor Chardy has mastitis in one of her teats! One side of her udder has been milked bone-dry by her babies, and the other side is so full that the skin is stretched and shiny and her right teat looks like an Oscar Meyer wiener. (Don't say I never paint you glorious pictures with my words!)
Between googling and consulting my goat books, it sounds like there are two ways to go - the "natural" way and the "western medicine" way. The things that they both have in common is that you massage and "milk out" the infected teat (discarding the milk), then thoroughly clean the udder and teat and apply an udder cream and massage in well, followed by an application of teat-dip or anti-bacterial spray. The natural method also recommends applying a heat pack. The more medically invasive method suggests giving either intramuscular antibiotics (which Chardy just finished a course of) and/or injecting medicine directly into the teat orifice itself.
I'm going to start with the natural method in the hopes of avoiding having to give poor Chardy any more shots. Trying to give intramuscular injections to a rail-thin goat is hard on everybody involved, so we're going to do all that we can to avoid traumatizing or potentially over-medicating her further, but if I feel like she's getting any worse or simply doesn't start improving very soon, I won't hesitate to treat her with whatever antibiotics it takes to rid her of this infection.
And now I get to go milk a reluctant, under-the-weather doe, while dodging cranky kicks. What a way to spend a cold and windy evening!
Between googling and consulting my goat books, it sounds like there are two ways to go - the "natural" way and the "western medicine" way. The things that they both have in common is that you massage and "milk out" the infected teat (discarding the milk), then thoroughly clean the udder and teat and apply an udder cream and massage in well, followed by an application of teat-dip or anti-bacterial spray. The natural method also recommends applying a heat pack. The more medically invasive method suggests giving either intramuscular antibiotics (which Chardy just finished a course of) and/or injecting medicine directly into the teat orifice itself.
I'm going to start with the natural method in the hopes of avoiding having to give poor Chardy any more shots. Trying to give intramuscular injections to a rail-thin goat is hard on everybody involved, so we're going to do all that we can to avoid traumatizing or potentially over-medicating her further, but if I feel like she's getting any worse or simply doesn't start improving very soon, I won't hesitate to treat her with whatever antibiotics it takes to rid her of this infection.
And now I get to go milk a reluctant, under-the-weather doe, while dodging cranky kicks. What a way to spend a cold and windy evening!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
A Crash Course in Goat Midwifery
Chardy had her babies today! We have a boy and a girl, both healthy and spunky.
I had a feeling this morning when we did critter patrol that today was going to be that day. Chardy was very vocal, which she is not normally. She was MEEEHHing at me the whole time I was with her, and switched into MEHHH hyperdrive as I walked away from the pen. I debated about whether or not to walk back down there and sit with her for a bit, but I had planned a morning walk with my friend, and didn't want to ditch her for a baby that may or may not be happening. So I went on my walk, but I thought about my goatie girl and worried a little that I might have up and left her when she needed my comfort most. Mommy guilt to the bazillionth degree!
I hustled home from my walk, and even before I went down to the pen to check on her, just had the feeling that this was really it. So I brought my camera, my cell phone and a bath towel just in case. It was a good thing I did.
I found Chardy shifting around in the goat house, pawing at the straw. I looked her over and saw that her udder was now SUPER full, and that she had passed her mucus plug. It was go time.
She plopped down in the goat house, and I pulled up a little folding stool that I use when I'm visiting and brushing the goats. I had a ringside seat!
Thankfully having brought my cell phone with me, I started texting everybody The babies are coming! My friend and her daughter were able to make it down just in time to see baby #2 pop out. :) What a beautiful and educational experience! I only wish my girlies had been home to see it. Luckily, I have a bit of video and a few pictures of the blessed event. The video of Chardy's various stages of labor and birth are rather intermittent, as my camera batteries died right in the middle of it all and I was naturally more concerned about being able to support Chardy and the babes that I was with being a stellar documentarian. If you are curious and not particularly squeamish, check out the videos below. ;)
What a contracting goat looks like.
Her first bag of waters.
Baby Boy, just delivered.
And hot on his heels (and back), Little Girl.
Checking out her wee ones. :)
Chardy is doing great. She dealt with labor like a champ, barely making a sound as she delivered her beautiful babies. She is presently snuggled up with them and eating like a horse. I wonder if she wasn't able to eat to her fill before because her abdomen was so full of babies, because she's eaten more than a full day's worth of hay, grain and apples since just noon today. And as if she weren't spoiled rotten before, now she's getting room service so that she doesn't have to fight Blue and Fritzen for every last bite.
She passed her placenta within 2 hours of delivering, and has had minimal bleeding and discharge since, which eases my mind more than I can tell you. It sucks to fret over something that you're powerless to do anything about, so I am thanking my lucky stars that nature and instinct have seen Char and her kids through the danger of birth safely.
Everybody's looking good, but just for peace of mind, we've decided to check on them all every few hours throughout the night to ensure that no one gets too cold or wanders away from Mama. Imagine trying to mother twins who could both walk within 20 minutes of being born! No thanks!
So we've safeguarded everybody as best we can, but still, every little peep and strange sound from the vicinity of the yard makes my heart skip a beat. Fear of loss and the joy of providence are two sides of the same coin. I don't know if I'll be sleeping worth a darn for a while yet, 'til I can convince myself that they will thrive and be with us for many happy years to come.
I had a feeling this morning when we did critter patrol that today was going to be that day. Chardy was very vocal, which she is not normally. She was MEEEHHing at me the whole time I was with her, and switched into MEHHH hyperdrive as I walked away from the pen. I debated about whether or not to walk back down there and sit with her for a bit, but I had planned a morning walk with my friend, and didn't want to ditch her for a baby that may or may not be happening. So I went on my walk, but I thought about my goatie girl and worried a little that I might have up and left her when she needed my comfort most. Mommy guilt to the bazillionth degree!
I hustled home from my walk, and even before I went down to the pen to check on her, just had the feeling that this was really it. So I brought my camera, my cell phone and a bath towel just in case. It was a good thing I did.
I found Chardy shifting around in the goat house, pawing at the straw. I looked her over and saw that her udder was now SUPER full, and that she had passed her mucus plug. It was go time.
She plopped down in the goat house, and I pulled up a little folding stool that I use when I'm visiting and brushing the goats. I had a ringside seat!
Thankfully having brought my cell phone with me, I started texting everybody The babies are coming! My friend and her daughter were able to make it down just in time to see baby #2 pop out. :) What a beautiful and educational experience! I only wish my girlies had been home to see it. Luckily, I have a bit of video and a few pictures of the blessed event. The video of Chardy's various stages of labor and birth are rather intermittent, as my camera batteries died right in the middle of it all and I was naturally more concerned about being able to support Chardy and the babes that I was with being a stellar documentarian. If you are curious and not particularly squeamish, check out the videos below. ;)
Chardy is doing great. She dealt with labor like a champ, barely making a sound as she delivered her beautiful babies. She is presently snuggled up with them and eating like a horse. I wonder if she wasn't able to eat to her fill before because her abdomen was so full of babies, because she's eaten more than a full day's worth of hay, grain and apples since just noon today. And as if she weren't spoiled rotten before, now she's getting room service so that she doesn't have to fight Blue and Fritzen for every last bite.
She passed her placenta within 2 hours of delivering, and has had minimal bleeding and discharge since, which eases my mind more than I can tell you. It sucks to fret over something that you're powerless to do anything about, so I am thanking my lucky stars that nature and instinct have seen Char and her kids through the danger of birth safely.
Everybody's looking good, but just for peace of mind, we've decided to check on them all every few hours throughout the night to ensure that no one gets too cold or wanders away from Mama. Imagine trying to mother twins who could both walk within 20 minutes of being born! No thanks!
So we've safeguarded everybody as best we can, but still, every little peep and strange sound from the vicinity of the yard makes my heart skip a beat. Fear of loss and the joy of providence are two sides of the same coin. I don't know if I'll be sleeping worth a darn for a while yet, 'til I can convince myself that they will thrive and be with us for many happy years to come.
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