Wasp War

The War with the Wasps was quick and decisive. Wasps: 1, Chelsea: 30+

At sunset (apparently when wasps are sleepy) I donned a thick coat, leather gloves, and a hat and went down to the trash pit with my new can of wasp nest killer. I sprayed the small nest first and dropped about 10 wasps instantly. I had planned on spraying and running, but the spray knocked them out before they were able to launch an offense.

Nest 2 was the particularly nasty one. The cement blocks were stacked 4 high and the nest was down in the first block... so instead of standing the suggested 20 feet away and spraying I had to stand right over the nest and spray down. And I could barely see the nest... it was covered in wasps.

I sprayed and ran a safe distance to see if any would fly up and come after me. They weren't flying, but they started crawling out from the cracks in the cement blocks. One after the other... it was like the March of the Wasps. I just kept spraying them as they came out and they dropped instantly.

I wanted to get a body count, but I was reminded of those horror movies where the victim leans over the bad guy and the bad guy suddenly comes back to life. And the entire audience is yelling, 'Who cares about him? Run for the hills!' So despite my curiosity, I did not lean over the pile of dead and dying wasps to get a body count.

Wasp Sting

I've been working to shrink the size of a trash burning pit made of concrete blocks the previous owners left. I burned and burned and shoveled out years worth of ashes (4 tractor carts full). Now I'm working on moving one of the walls in.

There are lots of wasp nests in the blocks. I've had success with just ignoring them and avoiding moving the blocks with nests when there are wasps on the nests. It probably has also helped that when I'm working there I'm usually trying to burn down tree limbs and such and it's smoky.

Well, today my luck ran out. There was a wasp that started to bother me, and in my casualness I waved it away and it kept coming back. Then I felt it knock against my hand, so I started to retreat. Then my hand started to hurt... a lot. Then it landed on Dia and Dia jumped about 10 feet, then it started to... well... chase me. Dia and I ran for the house.

Right now I have a hive on my hand that's considerably swollen, but doesn't hurt anymore. I'm on my way out to Kroger to buy wasp spray before I continue my cement block work.

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.

Porch Staining

When we bought the house it was apparent the porch had been neglected for some time. It was gray and warped. It looked like the wood had never been sealed.

Last week, Roger used a deck cleaning solution and pressure washed the deck and we were relieved to see it brought some color back into the wood, although it was still pretty pathetic.

Today we stained and sealed the wood! We used a tinted seal, so we only had to go over it once. It took four gallons of seal. The wood was very, very thirsty.

Before:


After:

ANOTHER EGG

Another egg!!!! I would post a picture of it... but it looks just like the last egg. But I love it!

EGG

AN EGG!!! IN THE NEST!! IT'S BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT!




Here it is next to a store bought egg. They'll get bigger as the hens get older.

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.

Australorps

In all the tough times and bad news regarding the chickens, I should take the time to write about something awesome. This is my ode to the Australorp.

The Australorp is a large black chicken that originated in Australia. They are known to be hardy, meaty, friendly, good mothers, and prolific layers. The world record laying hen (at 364 eggs in 365 days) was an Australorp. They are a great dual purpose bird because while they lay phenomenally, they still pack on enough meat to be worth butchering.

When we ordered chickens we ordered three Australorps. They are the best. With this infection sweeping through the flock, they never got more than a bit sneezy. We’ve lost three birds of three breeds to various ailments… not one Australorp. Their combs and wattles are much larger than any of other the other breeds, meaning they’ll be the first to lay. We still have some chickens whose combs haven’t even turned red let alone grown any. They’re much meatier than the others… I believe they’ll be very hardy in the cold.

Rog and I recently took a homesteading class. The man who taught the class owns a goat farm and chicken hatchery. When asked what his favorite breed of chicken was, he said Australorp. He said he would keep only Australorp if they weren’t so plain looking.

So, for anyone thinking about getting a few chickens for their backyard flock, get Australorps. Seriously. You’ll thank me.

Botulism

It was 50 degrees this morning and it was so cold! I got my first taste of what it’s going to be like to stomp down to the barn and feed the chickens in the morning when it’s cold. It’s going to be particularly terrible when the days get so short it’ll be dark, cold, and wet. The chickens are usually up and running around at 7:45 when I get out there, but this morning half of them were still sleeping. I don’t blame them.

So another horror story. (This has just been a bad few weeks!) So, remember the bird that had botulism? Well, after I dispatched her, I left her way out in the field under a bush. Frankly, it’s way too much work to continue to bury everything that dies. Dia reaaallly wanted to eat it, but we have a rule based on what other people have suggested who have chickens: dogs can eat chicken as long as it doesn’t look like a chicken. No drawing correlations between tasty food and hens in the field. Anyway, so I put her in the backyard and went to work. I got home and THE GATE WAS OPEN. She was in the backyard, but as we have learned by now, when she lets herself out she explores and goes back in before we get home. I hadn’t tied the gate shut because after a few weeks of tying the gate she stopped trying to open it. So I walk down in the field to where I left the chicken and… all that’s there is the head. Sans flesh.

I am horrified.

I continue to walk around in the area and find the rest of the bird. (Thank God.) I roll her over and inspect her and she’s all in one piece. You know, except for the head. No bite marks. This makes me pretty sure it wasn’t Dia. Dia’s a bit of a pig when it comes to eating animals in the field… freshly caught or rotting. I know, it’s gross. I really wish things would stop dying in the field.

So I go back up to the house and start thinking about it. I wonder if something that ate an animal that had botulism could get sick? I internet research. Yes… yes they can.

Fortunately, dogs and cats are apparently very resistant to botulism. Probably an evolutionary thing, because birds seem to get it easily and eating dead birds is tasty for wild predators. All the same, dogs can get it and apparently always get it from eating something dead. Symptoms (weakness and paralysis of legs) are supposed to show up in 12 – 48 hours. We spent a worrisome 48 hours, and now it appears we are out of the woods. Dia is just fine.

I’m not convinced at all Dia was the one that ate the bird’s head. But it is odd that something found it in the 4 hours I was at work. In the middle of the day. It makes me wonder what goes on in that field when we’re not there. I know we have lots and lots of snakes out there. The snakes are pretty bold too… one of them just showed up to a neighbor’s bonfire in the middle of the night… just slithered on into the middle of the party. We also have lots of mice and therefore, lots of owls and hawks. We also have coyotes, but I can’t imagine a coyote would have showed up in the middle of the day. Also a handful of feral cats. Still, I don’t know if a cat could have dragged the bird as far as it went.

It’s a mystery.

A sad day on the farm

One of the large, non-sick chickens has been acting drunk. She started stumbling around yesterday, but was still able to walk. This morning, I found her draped over the roosting pallet like she had literally passed out. I picked her up and she was unable to hold her head up. I tried to get her to drink but she couldn't seem to swallow. I put her in a sunny spot in the grass and went to work, believing she would be dead by lunch.

I came home at lunch and she was not dead. She hadn't moved at all, but was still breathing. I picked her up and she had no control of her muscles. Her head flopped around. I tried again to get her to drink by dunking her head in the waterer. Still wouldn't swallow. She was also really really hot. I carried her around and thought about it. She was completely unable to move except for her eyelids. I decided it would be the kindest thing to end her suffering before she died of dehydration. It was the first time I'd killed one of them myself without help from Roger. I walked out to the back of the field with her and sat down with her. I sat beside her for a long time before I got up the nerve... I really wanted to just leave her and let her die... but she was counting on me to put my own squeamishness aside and help her. I'll spare you the details, but I did the right thing and she's gone.

I've done a lot of reading trying to figure out what it was. I believe it was botulism from some moldy corn from the garden I fed them. She must have been a hog and eaten way more than the rest of them. A link to the Merck Vet Manual and botulism symptoms is here:

http://merckveterinarymanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/205400.htm

Interestingly, before it was called botulism it was called limp-neck. Which was definitely the predominant symptom she had.