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- #171
Bruce
Herd Master
Yep, he is getting lots of "good boy" and ear scrubbings. He loves those scrubbings!
Bruce's Journal
- Thread starter Bruce
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- alpacas. chickens
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
Has he started moaning and groaning with pleasure while he's ears are getting scrubbed yet? His daddy does that.
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- #173
Bruce
Herd Master
No not yet, I'll wait for it. 
He has yet to say "thanks, that is enough" and walk away. In the morning I put food in his dish and put it down. He looks at it and then comes and waits for ear scrubbing. He might eat some while I deal with the chickens and alpacas but as soon as I'm available again, he's ready. BTW, I'm sure he has molars but I don't hear a lot of crunching. Maybe that is one way to be "feed efficient", no energy used chewing 
I was trying to collect all the burrs he stole from you so I could return them but he's not giving them up easily and now I can't tell which ones he has stored from here. I guess you won't get your burrs back after all.
He has yet to say "thanks, that is enough" and walk away. In the morning I put food in his dish and put it down. He looks at it and then comes and waits for ear scrubbing. He might eat some while I deal with the chickens and alpacas but as soon as I'm available again, he's ready. BTW, I'm sure he has molars but I don't hear a lot of crunching. Maybe that is one way to be "feed efficient", no energy used chewing I was trying to collect all the burrs he stole from you so I could return them but he's not giving them up easily and now I can't tell which ones he has stored from here. I guess you won't get your burrs back after all.
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
That's alright. You can keep them all. No extra charge.
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- #175
Bruce
Herd Master
Today I moved a ladder in the barn alley. WAY long ago a short vertical door was installed to get from the upper (original pre Civil War) part of the barn to the lower (early 1900's). Marks on the wall between the upper and lower parts suggest there used to be a ladder of some sort to make the ~5.5' vertical distance. The people we bought from cut out some of the ceiling (doubled TRUE 1 by) over the alley of the lower part. I think it was done so they could get larger hunks of round bale hay down into the alley. But that is a guess. I only know that they stored round bales they bought from Al in the "overhead" above the lower (shed) part of the barn.
True to form, the guy drove the screws in without pilot holes and kept going until the screw heads were stripped therefore impossible to remove. He did this all over the place
I had to take a "naked" hacksaw blade and cut through each screw that was holding the ladder in place. I took off the top 2 rungs, leaving 4 below. The 2nd from the top rung was was attached with spiral nails. Let's just say that the usable part of that board is now somewhat shorter. My guess is that the owner before him built the ladder and it was originally used somewhere else. Other than the 2nd to top rung, they were all attached with regular wire nails. Near as I could tell he used screws for everything (not knocking that, I do it too). Plus there were nail heads in the upper part of the vertical 2x4s near the screws he stripped in. But I didn't have to cut those, they were already cut, presumably when the ladder was moved.
I took a "pre picture" yesterday, no "post" picture yet. Should be a bit easier to get the alpacas' hay bales down from the drive bay now. The door on the back wall in the second picture opens into the drive bay.
When Merlin decided that I wasn't going to scratch his ears while I was working, he went out to lay in the snow. The alpacas have been hanging in the barn except to use their latrine.
After I finished this task, I decided to introduce Echo (the most handled of our not very often handled chickens) to Merlin up close and personal. I took her off the roost and sat down near Merlin. She wasn't at all impressed and wanted to leave pronto as he came over. He didn't even look at her. He looked at me as if I should be holding something else in my hands - his ears. I let Echo go and she went back into the coop. I don't guess she figured out Merlin wasn't a threat. I was expecting him to at least sniff her but he did not. He did get his ears scrubbed though.
True to form, the guy drove the screws in without pilot holes and kept going until the screw heads were stripped therefore impossible to remove. He did this all over the place
I had to take a "naked" hacksaw blade and cut through each screw that was holding the ladder in place. I took off the top 2 rungs, leaving 4 below. The 2nd from the top rung was was attached with spiral nails. Let's just say that the usable part of that board is now somewhat shorter. My guess is that the owner before him built the ladder and it was originally used somewhere else. Other than the 2nd to top rung, they were all attached with regular wire nails. Near as I could tell he used screws for everything (not knocking that, I do it too). Plus there were nail heads in the upper part of the vertical 2x4s near the screws he stripped in. But I didn't have to cut those, they were already cut, presumably when the ladder was moved. I took a "pre picture" yesterday, no "post" picture yet. Should be a bit easier to get the alpacas' hay bales down from the drive bay now. The door on the back wall in the second picture opens into the drive bay.
When Merlin decided that I wasn't going to scratch his ears while I was working, he went out to lay in the snow. The alpacas have been hanging in the barn except to use their latrine.
After I finished this task, I decided to introduce Echo (the most handled of our not very often handled chickens) to Merlin up close and personal. I took her off the roost and sat down near Merlin. She wasn't at all impressed and wanted to leave pronto as he came over. He didn't even look at her. He looked at me as if I should be holding something else in my hands - his ears. I let Echo go and she went back into the coop. I don't guess she figured out Merlin wasn't a threat. I was expecting him to at least sniff her but he did not. He did get his ears scrubbed though.
CntryBoy777
Herd Master
Well at least ya didn't have to use the hacksaw blade in the electrical boxes because of stripped screws....
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- #177
Bruce
Herd Master
That could turn out SO wrong! I believe I would cut the power first.
CntryBoy777
Herd Master
Hope so....
otherwise you'd be like hitting Mike's Hot Wire!!....
otherwise you'd be like hitting Mike's Hot Wire!!.... - Thread starter
- #179
Bruce
Herd Master
Nothing exciting today. Drained the well pressure tank. I think it was starting to waterlog. Shoveled heavy rain soaked snow off the deck. Scrubbed Merlin's ears a few times.
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- #180
Bruce
Herd Master
I added cleats to the ramps in the chickens' coop yesterday. They all used to fly down and some still do but I've noticed many using the steep ramp instead and they have to slide to each cleat. So now they are spaced 3" apart. And I replaced the "shelf" at the bottom where the ramp meets the side of the nest box since the old one was made with old wood that cracked and had fallen off.
2 days ago I moved the ramp in the alley that went to their "chicken door in the window" (missing pane, I had made a plywood door). They don't need to use the window exit since at least the alpacas' door is open 24x7 and they don't want to go out in the snow anyway. Or out of the coop with Merlin around. I ran it from the support for the broody buster box (at 4') which they have been using as more roost space (broody box not needed ATM) to the 2' high roost. No one ever roosted on it, they just stage the 4' roosts from it. Even though it is a LOT less steep than the other being a 2' drop over 6' length, they were wary of it so I added cleats to that as well again spaced at 3". Nothing doing. Don't know what is up with these birds. Guess they don't like change. The 5 that came down for scratch flew. Merlin was outside the door at the time and I think many of them won't even come to ground in the coop when he is visible. When he moved off, the Ancona came gingerly down the less steep ramp. By then most of the scratch was likely in the 5 brave birds.
And speaking of Merlin. He did his first bad thing that I have seen yesterday. Probably a repeat of what we didn't see when we came home and had to find the 3 missing hens. I fed Merlin, opened the chicken's door on the coop and tossed their morning BOSS in through the people door. Then I gave the alpacas their pellets, Merlin was over by the gate with me. 2 of the hens dared to venture out into the alley which is where they got their BOSS before I got Merlin. I don't know who saw who first but suddenly one chicken was running back into the coop, the other down the alley toward the open south door with Merlin chasing after I yelled but he didn't stop or even look at me. The hen took a hard left before the barn door, Merlin stopped at it. He got some "BAD boy"s for that. No contrite look from him. I was not expecting this since he didn't even look at the hen I was holding while sitting next to him the other day.
I found the hen in the 2' x 4' brooding box (no top, it is "stored"), the same place we found her last time. I don't know if he was hoping for play or chasing the running panicked chicken but either way, NOT OK. We then went back to the alpacas' gate. They backed away because they are always afraid I am going to do something nasty to them which has yet to happen. Merlin went through the gate and proceeded to check out and start to eat some alpaca pellets in one of the feeders. Got a "BAD boy" for that too. He still had plenty of food in his dish, I'm not starving him.
2 days ago I moved the ramp in the alley that went to their "chicken door in the window" (missing pane, I had made a plywood door). They don't need to use the window exit since at least the alpacas' door is open 24x7 and they don't want to go out in the snow anyway. Or out of the coop with Merlin around. I ran it from the support for the broody buster box (at 4') which they have been using as more roost space (broody box not needed ATM) to the 2' high roost. No one ever roosted on it, they just stage the 4' roosts from it. Even though it is a LOT less steep than the other being a 2' drop over 6' length, they were wary of it so I added cleats to that as well again spaced at 3". Nothing doing. Don't know what is up with these birds. Guess they don't like change. The 5 that came down for scratch flew. Merlin was outside the door at the time and I think many of them won't even come to ground in the coop when he is visible. When he moved off, the Ancona came gingerly down the less steep ramp. By then most of the scratch was likely in the 5 brave birds.
And speaking of Merlin. He did his first bad thing that I have seen yesterday. Probably a repeat of what we didn't see when we came home and had to find the 3 missing hens. I fed Merlin, opened the chicken's door on the coop and tossed their morning BOSS in through the people door. Then I gave the alpacas their pellets, Merlin was over by the gate with me. 2 of the hens dared to venture out into the alley which is where they got their BOSS before I got Merlin. I don't know who saw who first but suddenly one chicken was running back into the coop, the other down the alley toward the open south door with Merlin chasing after
I yelled but he didn't stop or even look at me. The hen took a hard left before the barn door, Merlin stopped at it. He got some "BAD boy"s for that. No contrite look from him. I was not expecting this since he didn't even look at the hen I was holding while sitting next to him the other day.I found the hen in the 2' x 4' brooding box (no top, it is "stored"), the same place we found her last time. I don't know if he was hoping for play or chasing the running panicked chicken but either way, NOT OK. We then went back to the alpacas' gate. They backed away because they are always afraid I am going to do something nasty to them which has yet to happen. Merlin went through the gate and proceeded to check out and start to eat some alpaca pellets in one of the feeders. Got a "BAD boy" for that too. He still had plenty of food in his dish, I'm not starving him.
