So Jax starts obedience school this week. He's pretty good at 'sit'... we won 3rd place in musical sit at a fundraiser for the animal shelter! The Jax/Chels team even beat the veteran Dia/Rog team.
Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
chicken killer
We caught the chicken killer. Neighbor Bill has been patrolling our barn, and caught a dog coming out of the barn, next to a newly killed chicken. The dog was harassing other chickens. Bill shot it with a BB gun and it ran off. We waited for it that night, and sure enough, he came back. We called it up to the house and it very a very sweet, gentle, well trained dog. He knew 'sit' and 'shake'! He had a collar, but no tags. He was starved and covered in burrs.
He hung out in our backyard that night, and the next morning animal control came and picked him up. We hope he gets a good home. He will be adopted for sure. Very sweet.
On that note, you can check out my fundraising page for the animal shelter and it's annual walk.
http://www.firstgiving.com/chelsearoodemmick
We also caught a raccoon in a trap in the barn. Bill shot it for us with relish. We really hate raccoons. One of our farming friends told us he could give us instructions on how to butcher a raccoon, but I couldn't bring myself to each such a despicable, mean creature.
PS... We were totally right with our CSI-ing of the crime scene!! Dog it was.
He hung out in our backyard that night, and the next morning animal control came and picked him up. We hope he gets a good home. He will be adopted for sure. Very sweet.
On that note, you can check out my fundraising page for the animal shelter and it's annual walk.
http://www.firstgiving.com/chelsearoodemmick
We also caught a raccoon in a trap in the barn. Bill shot it for us with relish. We really hate raccoons. One of our farming friends told us he could give us instructions on how to butcher a raccoon, but I couldn't bring myself to each such a despicable, mean creature.
PS... We were totally right with our CSI-ing of the crime scene!! Dog it was.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Chickens, dog pool, and hops
Okay, good news first. We took the dogs to the 'Drool in the Pool', which is when they open the swimming pool up to dogs the day before they drain the pool. Dia actually got in pretty deep! She hates swimming, but we took her thinking Jax may be into it. Well, Jax had a great time but never got wet. Dia was actually coaxed into jumping into the 3 foot end. She can't resist when her mom is in calling her a 'good girl'. She'd run through flames if I was on the other side calling her a 'good girl'.
Yesterday I was woken up by my neighbor calling my phone every 10 minutes. Finally I got up and answered. Turns out, he had a dead chicken in his front yard. There were spots of feathers everywhere, like a path leading from the barn, around the barn, and ending in his front yard. We examined the body. Then we embarked on solving the mystery:
Something had a chicken dinner.
Okay, so the fact that the body was in the front yard makes us wonder if it could have been coyotes. Coyotes do roam our fields, but would they go that close to the road? We're thinking it couldn't have been a raccoon because the head was still attached, and the body was really eaten up. Raccoon's 'signature' is a missing head. The spots of feathers in the yard were about two feet apiece and a few yards apart. Like something caught it, shook it, and it ran a few yards and then caught again. There were no feathers in the barn or in the chicken yard, which means it was caught outside... sometimes (okay, often) the chickens get out of the fenced in area and do whatever they want. After counting them all, we realized we were missing three... the one body, and two others were missing. The rooster, and a fat feather footed chicken.
I took Dia into the field and had her run around in there... she usually finds dead things in the field. She did not find any chicken bodies. This means if the rooster didn't run off, he was carried off. And he's a big rooster.
We're going with 'wild dog'. Although coyote is still possible. Either way, there must have been at least two of them for them to carry off two huge birds.
We've started locking the birds in the barn. They're mighty mad about it, but they'll get over it, and it'll get too cold to free range soon anyway. We're going to install an electric netting fence.
In other news, Roger harvested his hops. They're growing along the trellis in the back yard. He's hoping he got enough to try to make a batch of beer. He's never brewed before, so this will be an experiment.
Also, the dogs love each other. Love. Here's a video of them making out. This never stops.
Yesterday I was woken up by my neighbor calling my phone every 10 minutes. Finally I got up and answered. Turns out, he had a dead chicken in his front yard. There were spots of feathers everywhere, like a path leading from the barn, around the barn, and ending in his front yard. We examined the body. Then we embarked on solving the mystery:
Something had a chicken dinner.
Okay, so the fact that the body was in the front yard makes us wonder if it could have been coyotes. Coyotes do roam our fields, but would they go that close to the road? We're thinking it couldn't have been a raccoon because the head was still attached, and the body was really eaten up. Raccoon's 'signature' is a missing head. The spots of feathers in the yard were about two feet apiece and a few yards apart. Like something caught it, shook it, and it ran a few yards and then caught again. There were no feathers in the barn or in the chicken yard, which means it was caught outside... sometimes (okay, often) the chickens get out of the fenced in area and do whatever they want. After counting them all, we realized we were missing three... the one body, and two others were missing. The rooster, and a fat feather footed chicken.
I took Dia into the field and had her run around in there... she usually finds dead things in the field. She did not find any chicken bodies. This means if the rooster didn't run off, he was carried off. And he's a big rooster.
We're going with 'wild dog'. Although coyote is still possible. Either way, there must have been at least two of them for them to carry off two huge birds.
We've started locking the birds in the barn. They're mighty mad about it, but they'll get over it, and it'll get too cold to free range soon anyway. We're going to install an electric netting fence.
In other news, Roger harvested his hops. They're growing along the trellis in the back yard. He's hoping he got enough to try to make a batch of beer. He's never brewed before, so this will be an experiment.
Also, the dogs love each other. Love. Here's a video of them making out. This never stops.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Snow
First big snow of the season... roads are horrific.
And a new wonderful dog chew... the cow trachea.
And a new wonderful dog chew... the cow trachea.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas
Merry Christmas from Dia dog and her Christmas presents... a stuffed 'Max' from the Grinch movie, and a huge, nasty knuckle bone.
Roger got me an egg incubator, so we can now hatch our own eggs... even if we can't get a hen to sit on them! I am so excited... I can't wait to see little chickens pop out of eggs!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Christmas
Well, once again, there's not much to report. The chickens are laying about 6 eggs a day. We're going to order 25 more layers to come in February. I'm still deciding which breeds to order... still loving the Australorp, but am a sucker for some of the stranger looking varieties.
We have foster kitties from the shelter right now. They are about 3 years old. They came to the shelter as strays, but they think they were owned together, and may possibly be brothers. They're the same age and both front declawed. Rhett is a black and grey tabby and Ashford is a red tabby. Rhett almost died... he was so skinny you could feel UNDER his ribs, like they were wings. He had horrible sores all over from fleas. He didn't eat for a week and I had to take him to the shelter for them to hook him up to an IV. They gave him B12 injections and iron supplements, and I was forcing baby food in him with a syringe. He also had some kind of virus/infection so bad that the mucus was coming out of his mouth because his nose was so blocked. Very gross.
They have both made dramatic recoveries and are eating, drinking, playing, and being great cats. They're scheduled to go back to the shelter Jan 3rd to go into the colony, where we're hoping they'll adjust nicely while they wait for someone to fall in love with them.
And Merry Christmas from the fam!
We have foster kitties from the shelter right now. They are about 3 years old. They came to the shelter as strays, but they think they were owned together, and may possibly be brothers. They're the same age and both front declawed. Rhett is a black and grey tabby and Ashford is a red tabby. Rhett almost died... he was so skinny you could feel UNDER his ribs, like they were wings. He had horrible sores all over from fleas. He didn't eat for a week and I had to take him to the shelter for them to hook him up to an IV. They gave him B12 injections and iron supplements, and I was forcing baby food in him with a syringe. He also had some kind of virus/infection so bad that the mucus was coming out of his mouth because his nose was so blocked. Very gross.
They have both made dramatic recoveries and are eating, drinking, playing, and being great cats. They're scheduled to go back to the shelter Jan 3rd to go into the colony, where we're hoping they'll adjust nicely while they wait for someone to fall in love with them.
And Merry Christmas from the fam!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The cone of shame
Rog and I discovered a bad rash on Dia's belly last night. I took her to the vet today, and they think she just itched, licked, and chewed on an itchy area so bad it turned into a rash... she has some allergies, probably seasonal. So they gave her more antihistamines (she was on benadry), an antibiotic, and a wide spectrum cream. She also has to wear The Cone of Shame (a la, the movie Up)
She keeps running around and whacking the cone on things.
She keeps running around and whacking the cone on things.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Walnuts and camping
We have a huge black walnut tree on the back property. We've been trying to figure out how to save the walnuts. From what we could tell from the internet, you pick them up once they fall off the tree, peel off the green hull and meaty stuff, then dry the nut for a few weeks before cracking the nut and removing the 'nut meat' or something. Here are the nuts after being rinsed and laying out to dry in the basement.
And here are Roger's fingers after peeling a hundred or so walnuts, even though he was wearing two pairs of gloves. Our fingers still have black streaks on them.
We went camping over the weekend. It was a bit chilly. We stuffed the trunk and backseat full of stuff, and there was about one square foot left in the backseat to stuff Dia. It was a 30 minute drive to the campsite, and Dia was pretty resigned.
Here she is with her backpack on and her crate covered with a blanket. She had to sleep in the crate the first night, although Roger compromised and let her sleep in the tent the second night... the low was 35 degrees. She slept really good in the tent... she curled up next to us and became deadweight for the next 8 hours.
And here are Roger's fingers after peeling a hundred or so walnuts, even though he was wearing two pairs of gloves. Our fingers still have black streaks on them.
We went camping over the weekend. It was a bit chilly. We stuffed the trunk and backseat full of stuff, and there was about one square foot left in the backseat to stuff Dia. It was a 30 minute drive to the campsite, and Dia was pretty resigned.
Here she is with her backpack on and her crate covered with a blanket. She had to sleep in the crate the first night, although Roger compromised and let her sleep in the tent the second night... the low was 35 degrees. She slept really good in the tent... she curled up next to us and became deadweight for the next 8 hours.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Lover scorned
Dia has fallen out of infatuation with Mini Mac. He comes out and they run around for about one minute and then she's over it and walks away. This has been happening for about a week now. It's like they broke up and she's doing the 'oh, hi, how are you, good to see you' while giving the passive aggressive 'I'm totally over you' body language.
Last night we went to the IU homecoming game. We won! First football game we've been to where we won. We also meandered into the student tailgating field.
Last night we went to the IU homecoming game. We won! First football game we've been to where we won. We also meandered into the student tailgating field.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The end of Agility Class
Dia's agility class ended yesterday with her class competition. This was the first time I had been to her agility class because it coincides with a pilates class I'm taking at the YMCA. I skilled my class to go watch Rog and Dia. Their best time was 31 seconds. Time on the course ranged from 25 seconds to 45 seconds. I took some video. First, the worst, yet cutest dog:
Next, a very cute and distinguished little guy:
And lastly, Dia monster, who had two very good runs and one run where she did pretty poorly because she wanted to stop competing and run over and sit with her mom.
And just to show you what a real agility competition looks like, this was a video taken from nationals:
Next, a very cute and distinguished little guy:
And lastly, Dia monster, who had two very good runs and one run where she did pretty poorly because she wanted to stop competing and run over and sit with her mom.
And just to show you what a real agility competition looks like, this was a video taken from nationals:
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Luffas, crushed pepper, seeds
We went to the Walk for the Animals this afternoon and Dia did really well. People and children came up and petted her and she sniffed lots of dogs and she was very well behaved throughout.
*Sidebar: Roger just came in from mowing to report that he saw a chicken catch a mouse and now the flock is out fighting over it. Good chickens!
We're in the process of drying lots and lots of red chili peppers to make crushed pepper. We have about 3 pints of crushed pepper right now. These plants don't stop!
We now have three dried Luffas. We have probably 10 more on the plant still growing. We are also saving the seeds from the Luffas.
We're saving seeds from just about everything. We're packaging them in packs of 20-40 seeds. We'll be selling them hopefully at the Winter Market this winter. We'll also be selling the crushed pepper, the luffas, and dried basil and catnip.
And lastly, we caught an Opossum in the live trap yesterday. Woodchucks aren't terrible because while they dig huge tunnels and endanger the barn's foundation, they don't eat chickens. Opossums eat chickens. We also have noted mice, moles (which Jeza actually caught one and brought it up to the house), rats, and the neighbor says he has spotted a raccoon by the barn. Raccoons are particularly bad news.
We've talked about getting a barn cat. Of course, the first problem with that is that the cat has to somehow know that rats and possums are good to eat and chickens are not. Also, we wouldn't want to get a barn cat unless it was a feral cat. We'd feel guilty leaving a domestic cat outside at night. So where does one get a wild cat? It's something we'll have to look into further. Of course we'll wait until spring.
*Sidebar: Roger just came in from mowing to report that he saw a chicken catch a mouse and now the flock is out fighting over it. Good chickens!
We're in the process of drying lots and lots of red chili peppers to make crushed pepper. We have about 3 pints of crushed pepper right now. These plants don't stop!
We now have three dried Luffas. We have probably 10 more on the plant still growing. We are also saving the seeds from the Luffas.
We're saving seeds from just about everything. We're packaging them in packs of 20-40 seeds. We'll be selling them hopefully at the Winter Market this winter. We'll also be selling the crushed pepper, the luffas, and dried basil and catnip.
And lastly, we caught an Opossum in the live trap yesterday. Woodchucks aren't terrible because while they dig huge tunnels and endanger the barn's foundation, they don't eat chickens. Opossums eat chickens. We also have noted mice, moles (which Jeza actually caught one and brought it up to the house), rats, and the neighbor says he has spotted a raccoon by the barn. Raccoons are particularly bad news.
We've talked about getting a barn cat. Of course, the first problem with that is that the cat has to somehow know that rats and possums are good to eat and chickens are not. Also, we wouldn't want to get a barn cat unless it was a feral cat. We'd feel guilty leaving a domestic cat outside at night. So where does one get a wild cat? It's something we'll have to look into further. Of course we'll wait until spring.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Family visits, Dog has allergies
The first Luffa turned brown so we harvested it. To harvest a luffa, you wait until the vegetable is dead and drying. It's pretty light at this point. Then you cut it off the vine, bang it pretty emphatically on the ground to loosen the skin and seeds, and peel off the skin. Then you can shake out the seeds and set it out to dry.
Roger's dad and brother went to the Lotus Festival with us, which is a huge music festival in Bloomington. There are seven stages playing at once. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard, and while the stages were either under big tents or in buildings, one had to walk in the rain to get from venue to venue. Here we are at the very beginning of the festival, waiting for the first show to start. At this point, we are only mildly damp.
And here's a pic of the boys:
And we think Dia has seasonal allergies. She's gotten really itchy the last few weeks. According to my dog books / internet (and the internet doesn't lie, right?) Dogs can take Benadryl. So I gave her a couple Benadryls with dinner and she's conked out right now. The internet says it shouldn't making her tired, but it appears the internet may have fudged the truth a bit.
Roger's dad and brother went to the Lotus Festival with us, which is a huge music festival in Bloomington. There are seven stages playing at once. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard, and while the stages were either under big tents or in buildings, one had to walk in the rain to get from venue to venue. Here we are at the very beginning of the festival, waiting for the first show to start. At this point, we are only mildly damp.
And here's a pic of the boys:
And we think Dia has seasonal allergies. She's gotten really itchy the last few weeks. According to my dog books / internet (and the internet doesn't lie, right?) Dogs can take Benadryl. So I gave her a couple Benadryls with dinner and she's conked out right now. The internet says it shouldn't making her tired, but it appears the internet may have fudged the truth a bit.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
family visits, Dia goes to agility class
Dia has been going to agility class and is doing very well. Roger takes her for an extra practice on Saturday, so I got to go watch some practice.
Also, we're getting close to the end of harvest. We pulled the last of the tomatoes, and the peppers are peaking.
Lastly, Roger's dad and brother are visiting.
And... a picture of the family.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Seed saving
This new world of seed swapping is awesome. So far, I have scored:
Jamaican Hot Pepper
Spinach
Mixed Lettuce
White Pumpkins
Genovese basil
I'm also participating in a seed swap... a bunch of people send any number between 3 and 15 seed packages to one person (and postage) and the person collects them all, puts them in a pool, and then sends you the same number you sent in. I sent in 8 packs.
I'm looking for interesting tomatoes (striped, green, or black) and basil (cinnamon, spicy, purple), but also just collecting things as they come up.
Here's a picture of the seeds as we collect them. We have SO MANY SEEDS. We're going to sell seeds at the winter market this winter. I have at least 150 packs so far.
Also pictures: Dia gets a toy we call 'the worm', and a picture of an Australorp, as requested. The best chickens EVER.
Added: What is the Australorp eating? That would be a bowl of old yogurt that got kind of moldy. Chickens LOVE yogurt. And yes, in light of the moldy corn incident, I scraped off the mold.
Jamaican Hot Pepper
Spinach
Mixed Lettuce
White Pumpkins
Genovese basil
I'm also participating in a seed swap... a bunch of people send any number between 3 and 15 seed packages to one person (and postage) and the person collects them all, puts them in a pool, and then sends you the same number you sent in. I sent in 8 packs.
I'm looking for interesting tomatoes (striped, green, or black) and basil (cinnamon, spicy, purple), but also just collecting things as they come up.
Here's a picture of the seeds as we collect them. We have SO MANY SEEDS. We're going to sell seeds at the winter market this winter. I have at least 150 packs so far.
Also pictures: Dia gets a toy we call 'the worm', and a picture of an Australorp, as requested. The best chickens EVER.
Added: What is the Australorp eating? That would be a bowl of old yogurt that got kind of moldy. Chickens LOVE yogurt. And yes, in light of the moldy corn incident, I scraped off the mold.
Neighbor Party
The neighbor whose house has been empty has finally rented it. The new occupants are a pair of 23 year old identical twins who work for a heating and cooling company. They have a very cute dog named Mini Mac who is a Black Lab / Basset Hound mix. He looks like a very small Black Lab. Dia is in LOOOOVE with Mini Mac. She shuns all the dogs at the dog park and just tolerates a friend of mine's dog, but Mini Mac comes outside and she just falls all over herself to go play with him. She chases him like a kindergartner flirting on the playground. Then she collapses and makes eyes at him.
Anyway, the neighbors had a big bonfire party for their 23rd birthday. They built a log cabin and then set it on fire. Here are pictures of the cabin pre and post fire.
Anyway, the neighbors had a big bonfire party for their 23rd birthday. They built a log cabin and then set it on fire. Here are pictures of the cabin pre and post fire.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Dia's training
Dia is definitely learning lots. She's graduated from basic obedience and is moving on to agility training next week. Just now she was pacing around the living room and generally being fussy, and I just mumbled, 'Dia, get on your rug', and she went right over to her rug and laid down. This was about 15 minutes ago, and she's still there.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
What to do with tomatoes
What to do with tomatoes... we had a very cool summer here and all of a sudden we had one really hot week and all the green tomatoes that had just been sitting on the vine refusing to ripen all turned at once. I'm talking a hundred tomatoes. Easily. We chopped and froze several quarts, made a dozen jars of salsa, and made chili sauce. Still deluged with tomatoes. So I give you...
Tomato Pizza.
Instead of sauce, we used thinly sliced tomatoes, some basil, and olive oil. Cover with mozzarella and other stuff from garden. Eat with ranch dressing.
Also... Dia at campfire. She's going real camping with us in October. We're going the weekend before Halloween and everyone decorates their campsite. Really decorates their campsite. I'm talking graveyards and blowup ghosts and sound sensor music... the whole nine yards. I think Dia should go as a Hellhound. No costume needed.
Tomato Pizza.
Instead of sauce, we used thinly sliced tomatoes, some basil, and olive oil. Cover with mozzarella and other stuff from garden. Eat with ranch dressing.
Also... Dia at campfire. She's going real camping with us in October. We're going the weekend before Halloween and everyone decorates their campsite. Really decorates their campsite. I'm talking graveyards and blowup ghosts and sound sensor music... the whole nine yards. I think Dia should go as a Hellhound. No costume needed.
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