I hope I don't lose one. They dumped their water today and the one was soaked and cold. I put her back in the incubator so she can warm up and dry off. She does seem to be doing a bit better.
She is perking up, so I'm hoping she'll be OK. Once she's all dry, I'll put her back w/the others.
I've been so busy that I haven't updated what I've been doing. So, I'll start w/yesterday.
RU's mower hasn't been working. It would start up, but not move. And her bush hog also isn't working. She took the mower to a shop and they found that the frame was cracked. So, they welded it back together. She has not had time to do any mowing. Her daughter is getting married on Sunday, and she's been trying to get a ton of stuff done. So yesterday I mowed my field, then started on the riding arena. Got most of it done when I ran out of gas. She went and got more. Once she got the gas in, I was able to finish the riding arena, CL's field and PT's field. By the time I got done, it was trying to rain.
I managed to get home B4 it really got heavy. I had a load of sheets out on the line, so I was able to get them off the line in time. Fed the goats and went in to be greeted by the chicks! I was supposed to go canoeing yesterday, but between the weather, the chicks and doing all that mowing, I just wasn't up to it. I was beat. The only thing I did do was go and get some milk.
This morning, I got the bin set up for the chicks. I have a smaller base for my chick waterer than the one you normally see. I had been going to get rid of it. I've changed my mind. The chicks kept climbing up on it, and walking thru it, so I went and got the other base and swapped them out. They were doing fine when I left.
I spent more time at the farm than I wanted to. Hubby is STILL taking my truck. I still have to get my hay, but more importantly, I had enough feed for this morning, but not for this afternoon and I couldn't get the feed. So I had to wait until hubby was done work B4 going to the feed store. He got the feed, helped me unload it and left. But at least w/the time that I was at the farm, I got a bit done. At this time of year, I leave the horses on 2/3 of my field. So this morning, I put down 3 bags of lime on the one section. I also worked on weeding where my hay shelter is going to go. I had been going to get one that's 20x12. But, that's really too big. TSC has one that I'd have to order that's 16x12. That would be the perfect size. It would fit very nicely in the space I have, and should hold all of the hay I need at the farm. They have free shipping to the store, so as long as hubby says OK, I'll be ordering it.
Once I got tired of doing that, I did some cleaning up in the feed stall. I couldn't get to my cans easily. Then I did some cleaning in the tack shed. I would have like to have done more, but I was getting some dirty looks, so I left and went to TSC. I killed some time in there, then when hubby finally called, I went to the bank, then went to the feed store. Once he got there, I got my feed, we went back to the farm, I did everything I had to do, then left. And, I might have a broody hen. She's about 3 weeks too late, but if she is, I'll be putting all my eggs from tomorrow under her. Then when she gets close to hatch date, I'd figure out a way to block her off so none of the other hens disturb her.
When I went to feed the farm chickens this morning, I was greeted by this!
KN was there late and says she has 14! Right now, I'm up to 5 duck eggs. So come Sunday, I should have my 7.
Other than that, all I did was put away a couple of loads of clothes.
Thought I posted this yesterday. The chicks managed to dump their water yesterday and one of my chicks got soaked. Hubby noticed it was all wet when he got home, and rather than taking her out and figuring out where to put her so she could warm up and dry off, he called me. Of course, I couldn't leave the farm when he called, but left as soon as I could. He didn't have a clue as to why she was wet, either. When I got home, I took her right out. The only thing I could think to do w/her was to put her back in the bator to warm her up and dry her off. But she didn't look good. At first she seemed to be perking up, but that didn't last. And, I lost her last night. I can't help but think that if I hadn't had to wait on hubby, or if he had bothered to try and figure out why she was wet and try to figure out how to correct it that I wouldn't have lost her.
I didn't get much done today. I had a horrible dream last night. I was climbing up a mountain, pushing my motorcycle and leading Misty. For some reason, I wanted to leave my bike up there, but it was hard going. I finally got up high enough, and was trying to push my bike up the last little bit. I didn't want Misty to come up any higher since there wasn't good footing for a horse, but she followed anyway, and slipped off the side. Needless to say, I woke right up. It was 4:00, and I didn't really sleep the rest of the night.
Went to breakfast w/my motorcycle group, but I didn't stay for the whole time. We're supposed to get done by 10:00. We didn't, so I left. Hubby had a lot he wanted to get done today, and he said we'd discuss it when I got home. I needed gas, but it was trying to rain, so I came straight home w/out getting gas. I could have stayed. We didn't really do anything that we had talked about. He got my mower running, and I thought we were going to take it out to the farm, then go and get my hay. Well, that didn't happen. I forget now what his reasoning is for not taking it. But, I still had to get my hay and the lights aren't working on my trailer. So hubby decided he'd follow me to pick it up so I wouldn't have to worry about having anyone behind me. I got the hay, took it home and disconnected the trailer. The hay will stay in there for now. I have to clean out my home hay shelter, then I'll put it all in there.
I was going to get a new shelter to put up at the farm. The one I wanted is 16x12. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but out of everything out there, it was the best there was. Well, they don't carry it in the store, and I would have had to pay over $100 in shipping costs! That would have made it more expensive than the bigger ones they had. They had another one for less than half price in another store, but it wasn't quite big enough, and I'm not sure that it's any better than what I had. So, we're going to figure out how to make one. I have plenty of tarps, so we may end up not putting out any money.
Hubby wanted gas for the lawn mowers, and I wanted gas for my bike. I normally get it in a 5 gallon can, so I took both the can for the mower and the can for the bike and got gas. This was the cheapest station in the area. Then I went to the farm. I was glad I had the truck. It was trying to rain again. Got Stormy fed, then checked on my hen. And she is broody! But, my guys only laid 2 eggs today, so I got 6 from the farm chickens. So, she's sitting on 8 eggs. And, I got another duck egg! Tomorrow, I'll plug the bator back in, get 1 more duck egg, then put them in. I also got all the trash collected that I wanted to bring home.
Other than that, I didn't really do anything. But, I should get a ton done next week.
And I'm almost positive it was a pullet. Last time there was a solid yellow chick from that combination, it was a hen, and she's a good broody-she's the one raising my first batch of chicks. I've been trying for awhile to get that combination. I do have another that's solid yellow, and I tried feather sexing her yesterday. I don't know if it works on all breeds or not. But if it does, best I can tell, I have 4 pullets, and 1 cockerel. If that's what I have, and if the one I think is a cock is, he'll get to live.
I need to get off the farm. It's getting more and more urgent. RU is away for her daughter's wedding. I get a call from her while I was in a meeting at church. (I didn't answer it, so it went to voice mail.) Her neighbor called, there's loose donkeys. Since I couldn't get there then, I called CL to see if she could round them up. She was quite upset. CU was in the process of making her field smaller by putting fence posts in. Plus, he shut off the water cuz he said there was a leak. I couldn't talk right then, so I told her I'd get there as soon as I could.
I get home and there's a text from KN about the water. So, I called her. She was at the farm. CU had left by then for his sister's wedding,so they were pulling the fence posts out. But the problem was, he didn't do anything about the water. Almost all of the horses have auto waterers in the field and no other water source. They didn't know what to do. I told them where I can some jugs, and told them to go across the street and ask there. I know them-I've known them longer than I've known RU. I hope they're able to get some. Thank God, I partially filled my 70 gallon tank yesterday. I just hope I have enough. When I get there, I may see if I can find the main and turn the water back on and fill a bunch of things w/water, then shut it off.
If I could move I'd do it in a heart beat. Hubby and I need to sit down and talk seriously when he's not drunk. He keeps saying he wants me to get off the farm, but does nothing to make it happen.