fuzzi's "Gardens and Chickens...and Goats? Oh My!" Journal and More Thread

[Finnie]

Merry Christmas @fuzzi

 

[fuzzi]

Thank you!

Back atcha.

 

[fuzzi]

Updating...

Wisp (bottom left) and squirrel (top right)

Though Miss Wisp has caught squirrels in the past, this squirrel was not harmed.

Another hungry stray shows up...

Alice (calico) is not amused!

Wisp

And Alice

Or why I have problems growing flowers in the "window boxes"

Abigail and Dinah, I think that's Julia in the back

Poor Esther, still molting

Priscilla caught immediately after laying, yippee!

Her egg is the big one!

 

[fuzzi]

Update Continued...

Thinned carrots.

I ate them fresh from the ground, the chickens got the greens.

Daffodils

Henbit and Purple Deadnettle (native)

Moon at dusk

And finally, a video taken while walking Caleb this evening:

 

[fuzzi]

Not much to report this week. The weather was nasty wet cold so I wasn't doing yard stuff, I did a little organizing inside instead.

I bought some more glass storage containers with Christmas gift cards.

The white lid containers are 24oz and perfect for freezing leftover meals, but I wanted a few larger ones. The green lid containers are 30oz. So far I am pleased with them.

My pullets are giving me 2-3 eggs daily. Since I had a couple dozen laying around I hard-boiled 15 (what the pot held), of which 13 peeled perfectly. I put approximately half in a jar of pickled beets brine, and the other half in soy sauce, as @canesisters suggested.

I used wax paper to keep the eggs submerged.

 

[fuzzi]

Today I went outside in the afternoon to tackle a project on my mind: putting up a visual barrier so I can allow Caleb to run in the backyard without freaking out my flocks.

Coops on left, barrier needed to the right.

First I cleared up the mess that my storage area had become.

This is actually the after picture. Trust me, it's a lot better!

I took the leftover siding pieces and part of an old metal shed to keep Caleb from running around the second coop.

I think it should work.

But I could not locate the privacy fencing. I think I'm going to have to empty the shed and do a complete reorganization.

I stopped this project until tomorrow, as I would not have enough daylight to clean the shed.

So...in the remaining daylight I tackled a project that was lower priority, but still "needed doing".

The chainlink fence on the north side of the backyard has been damaged since before we moved in. There was some flattened chicken wire loosely attached, and I laid down assorted pieces of fencing as a deterrent, but the cats pushed their way under/through anyway.

I removed the chicken wire.

That's almost a 6" high gap! Caleb could probably enlarge the hole, and escape.

There was a 4-5' section of chainlink fence left over from the repair job I had done last year, and it was just the right size.

I zip-tied the section to the remaining fence. To keep it from being dug underneath again I added a section of metal tube at the bottom, zip-tying it to the fencing. I wedged one end behind a tree stump, and put a metal stake at the other end, wedging it in tightly.

I think it should hold.

 

[drstratton]

He will love being able to run around in his yard without a leash on.

 

[Finnie]

That is how I fix things!!

 

[fuzzi]

That is how I fix things!!

@Baymule would probably say it was a craptastic job!

 

[canesisters]

Today I went outside in the afternoon to tackle a project on my mind: putting up a visual barrier so I can allow Caleb to run in the backyard without freaking out my flocks.

View attachment 124587
Coops on left, barrier needed to the right.

First I cleared up the mess that my storage area had become.
View attachment 124588
This is actually the after picture. Trust me, it's a lot better!

I took the leftover siding pieces and part of an old metal shed to keep Caleb from running around the second coop.
View attachment 124589
I think it should work.

But I could not locate the privacy fencing. I think I'm going to have to empty the shed and do a complete reorganization.

I stopped this project until tomorrow, as I would not have enough daylight to clean the shed.

So...in the remaining daylight I tackled a project that was lower priority, but still "needed doing".

The chainlink fence on the north side of the backyard has been damaged since before we moved in. There was some flattened chicken wire loosely attached, and I laid down assorted pieces of fencing as a deterrent, but the cats pushed their way under/through anyway.
View attachment 124594

I removed the chicken wire.
View attachment 124591
That's almost a 6" high gap! Caleb could probably enlarge the hole, and escape.

There was a 4-5' section of chainlink fence left over from the repair job I had done last year, and it was just the right size.
View attachment 124592
View attachment 124593
I zip-tied the section to the remaining fence. To keep it from being dug underneath again I added a section of metal tube at the bottom, zip-tying it to the fencing. I wedged one end behind a tree stump, and put a metal stake at the other end, wedging it in tightly.

I think it should hold.

Will done!