Two Chucks

Yes, the two chucks (ducks that think they are chickens) are a pair of male ducks added to our farm for the crime of having relations with chickens. They were raised with chicks and when mature tried to mate with them. This pair thought they were chickens.

The owner was done with ducks and wanted the gone. So we picked them up and locked them in a cage in the coop with our chickens and ducks. After a week they were set free at night in the coop. Instantly they went for a hen. However my three roosters had none of that. The chucks were jumped and spurred and sent into the corner to think about things. They were not used to roosters as the previous owner did not have any, just hens. The next day, freedom and the chucks tried to figure out what they can and cannot mate with. My older female ducks attacked them as the chucks were low on the pecking order.

After three weeks the chucks have learned to go into the coop at night and be with the rest of the ducks. They have learned to be ducks and had no diseases. No more beat downs from the roosters and our male ducks are fine with new competition.

 It is not easy to re-home a farm animal/pet. Too many times it ends badly for both the new and established animals via fights, diseases or wandering off. These chucks did get bloodied and that scent sets off my guard dogs as well as other predators. It takes a lot of planning and participation on my part to keep them all happy and alive. The cold weather also helped keep predators at bay. If the chucks had not joined I would have no choice but to sell them at auction. Many new to homesteading are not prepared for what happens after animals mature and are no longer cute babies.

Down and Rebound

Osa the oldest shepherd taking advantage of the wood stove.

Last week our youngest shepherd cut her leg. It was a very deep and fresh cut. I triaged it and realized she needed stitches. Wrapped and blanketed we drove her to the vet. It was a cut tendon and very deep. He weighed her at 112lbs ( she was the runt of the litter). The vet gave her a sedative and we hoisted her onto the table for a quick tendon reattachment and 3 stitches over her paw. She was in the house with Osa for a week in my office. After the cold snow and ice both are now outside and loving working again. No poultry was lost during the guardian vacation.

Teadium Beadium

A friends vintage Indian beaded necklace was pulling apart. I offered to get it tight again.

Here is a handmade butterfly made in the 1980's that was falling apart. Regular thread was used and it was shredding. 

Some old glue was used in a repair in the past. 

Pulling string and keeping count.

Keeping the beads in check.

I used beading wire to replace the old thread.

My kit.

Day two.

Used a stronger wire for the join.

Back to fixing this one.

I left all the original threads and just bypassed the break with a finer stronger Nymo.

Had to re-string after dropping a wire loaded with  beads. Practicing patience and counting.

Day three. This is the finished with the new magnet clasp and mood beads to hide the crimps. Wire nylon coated replace the old threads. This is stronger and will last longer.

Winter Still Here

We have no ice one day, everything melts then more ice by weekend. It has been like this for the last 2 months. Ice weighs everything down and makes driving more difficult.

Very cold days then warm up then ice and sleet this year.

Ice and more ice then lots of rain, flooded roads then more ice. It has been a winter of lots of weather watching for us. Lots of days staying home and off the roads. Keeping the farm fed has been a challenge with ice, rain or mud. Snow is so much better to deal with. 

My poultry are wanting to get broody and hatch. Egg production has been very high this late winter. 

New Study and Japanese

Here is a good read from LSU School of Medicine for  possible help for people with Alzheimer's.

My husband and I are studying Japanese. We hope to go to Japan one day. There is a neat program called Drops for language study of usable words and stuff you might need to read and say.

It is cheaper than Rosetta and easier to learn. It has visual, verbal and written all at the same time. It is fun and it sticks. Worth a look for language studies.

This is a handmade goldfish by Wee Folk Studio. I have been following Salley Mavor's neat creations and publications. Worth a look at this talented woman's creations. She shows how she creates and you can see she loves what she does.

Helping the Woman in Blue

This is a silent auction in a neighboring town here in the Ozarks. A friend, bee keeper, police woman and park ranger was run over and almost killed while walking and crossing the highway. Many cars, bears and people have been run over by trucks not making the stoplight on this highway. But this time it was an elderly man almost blind who ran her over. We have many over 80 year old seniors who still drive in the Ozarks. Ellie survived only because she was in such good physical shape. Plus, with the government shutdown and poor insurance, she has a lot of medical bills she must pay for. The man who hit her has no insurance. So the town is having a silent auction. All money goes to Ellie Carson. She is one of the good ones. Donations can also be sent to the Mountain View, Missouri Police Dept, Care of Ellie Carson.

You can find her here: 

You can find out more about the fundraiser.

Shell-y

I saw this while looking for sea shells. I thought it was a neat way to display shells simply. Out of the way and great way to see them all.

Local Farm for Sale

For all my readers yearning to live in the Ozarks there is a listing. Actually, there are several listings in an around our pop. 500 of out town. This one belongs to so friends who also run an Air B&B. You can see the barn, house and the cottage in the photo. She has a pretty busy Air B&B going during the  spring- fall season. Hunters, visitors, river rats and trail riders all come and stay here. My friends want to relocate to Branson, MO. So their place is for sale. The barn is HUGE for horses or whatever. I thought I'd share.

Farm for Sale

Contact realtor: Marla Denton 417-247-5052 or 417-934-2427 or United Country Realty.

http://www.mountainviewmorealestate.com/index.html

Winter Chicks

Last week my banty hen surprised me with 4 newly hatched chicks. She is a broody blue grey banty that always sneaks off to hatch only her tiny blue eggs. This time she got into a 3 inch space behind a stall door and straw bales in the dog kennel. She was easy prey for snakes, coons or packrat. I found her abandoned nest with 2 unfertilized eggs she left behind. With winter on I was worried about the chicks surviving outside. So I put mom and chicks in a cage with a light and lots of straw. All are doing well. The chicks wings are fully feathered now and they are big. The weather will warm up next week and I will let them out of the cage to join the flock. 

Normally every year around February I get a hatch of duckling. I have a few broody gals waiting to set. My ducks do not seem to be the best mama ducks. I usually raise the ducklings inside our house. Then I use a foster mama duck to show them the ropes. It would be great to have good mama duck just once. But Runners, Campbells, Cayugas and Rouens have not been able to do this for me in 8 years of raising them. But that is fine, we like raising them indoors.

About Simone and her Robots

Simone Giertz is one of our fav vloggers who has created a lot of robots - Shitty Robots. She is very intelligent and fun to watch. If you like anything about robots, technical sculptures this is a fun one to follow. Last year she had a brain tumor removed- Brian. It came back in less than 6 months and now she is doing  radiation. He new campaign is "Burn Brian" with radiation. The t-shirt she is wearing is her brain scan after the tumor was removed. She is selling these shirts as a fun raiser. I am hoping she will get this tumor thing without harming her brain. If you want to support her go here. Simone is one of the good ones. Would hate to have to lose her and all her ideas.

Rain, Sleet, Snow and Ice, Oh My!

Half the US is dealing with the ice and arctic blast this January 19th. Here in the Ozarks we got rain in the morning, snow by noon and it is all ice by nightfall. This is our well head of our hand dug well.

Our driveway is ice all the way to the top of the hill.

Sugar maple tree

Our pond

Black walnut tree 

our herd of fox trotters

Maple

duck prints going back into the coop

buffalo grass

chicken prints in the ice

quinces

Shelby in the snow

the evergreens in ice

Snow Me Down

Woke up this Saturday to rain then it got cold and turned into snow.

Lots of wind and lots of snow in what was wet and green a few hours ago. Here are my gourds drying in the slings hanging from the trellis. Old swim suits and underwear are perfect for doing this.

 My truck covered in ice and snow.

Skylight covered in the white fluffy stuff.

Winter bean patch.

Been flocked

The wind is gusting a bit as the temperature drops into the teens with this arctic blast.