Category Archives: Animals

Chickens in Illinois

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Exciting news from Sarah in Illinois. The new additions that she’s been working for all season have arrived!

Last weekend was very busy for me, so I am going to let pictures so most of the work for this post.

They’re here:

Chickens eating a tomato

Chickens

I haven’t had much time to spend with them but I have already determined a couple personalities. I keep saying that I am not going to name them, but I am sure it will eventually happen.

This one is the boss. She is the leader and the noisiest. She is the first one to make noise as I walk up.

Bossy chicken

This one is shy. She is the last one to approach me, the last one to come out of the coop, the last one to try the new piece of food I give them.

Shy chicken

This one is the tallest and always has her neck up high and reminds me of a lookout for organized crime.

Young brown chicken

I haven’t determined what personality this last one has.

Chicken from the front

I still have a lot to learn, but as I write this, I have kept them alive about 32 hours! So I consider that a win.

I have two outdoor cats and I have been very concerned how they would react to them. One really couldn’t care less about them. The other:

Cat walking amongst the chickens

Black cat in the grass

I guess time will tell.

This is so exciting, Sarah! Have you had any eggs yet? What kinds of chickens are they? I think I see a Plymouth Rock and a Rhode Island Red? Shy and Lookout look different from the breeds I’m familiar with. Good luck with kitty. Hopefully it’s just a case of curiosity.

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Gotcha Day 3

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Last week marked three years since Baxter came to live with us.

Inspired by Tracey at Oh Melvin and Yo Jake, I have a tradition of writing a letter to Baxter on the anniversary of his gotcha day. Now that I’m writing for ThatMutt.com, I decided to share my letter there this year.

I invite you to visit ThatMutt.com to share in the love.

Baxter and me

Want to look back at how we got here? Here are my letters from year 1 and year 2 and Baxter’s adoption story.

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Update and a new adventure in Illinois

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Sarah in Illinois is back today with a bunch of updates on what’s happening at their home. Hint: some new additions are on the horizon.

This may be a disjointed post. I had been working on a project, and I thought I would be done before I had to send this week’s post, but it didn’t turn out how I had planned. (Argh. So frustrating when that happens, Sarah.) I will be sure to include why it didn’t work and I had to regroup in a future post.

This post will be a little bit of an update and share what I have in the works.

Kittens

Tiger stripe kitten

As of when I am writing this, the black kitten has been reserved and the tiger-stripe is still waiting for a new home. The mother cat has been to the vet and spayed so I will not have to be in this situation again.

The cutting garden

Zinnias in a mason jar

There are about a half dozen different varieties of flowers that are growing. Right now the only one ready to cut is the zinnias.

Three zinnias in milk bottles

Future posts

I hinted in one of my comments a while back that I am getting chickens! My neighbor has been raising several chicks and offered four of them to me. They will not be ready to lay until about September, but I can get them as soon as I have a secure place for them.

So my free time has been spent reading and reading about chickens and working on making a secure coop for them. I have never had or really even been around chickens so this is all a new learning experience.

Some of the books I have been reading include (not affiliate links):

I think I am ready to start this adventure. I have been told that I am overthinking everything and that chickens are a lot easier than I am making it out to be. I hope so! I will be sure to post about my adventure and in the meantime, any advice would be appreciated.

Cute kitten, pretty posies and exciting news–this worked out to be a post after all, Sarah. Congratulations on the chickens. I confess, I’ll probably take the same approach as you when it comes time to add birds to our farm. Your forethought just might make you a more successful chicken farmer.

Having grown up with backyard chickens, my best advice is to make sure to collect the eggs a couple of times a day. We got a bit lazy and our hens started eating their eggs. That was a hard habit to break!

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How to help a turtle cross the road

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Our farm is in a very marshy area. On the roads around the farm, I often encounter turtles on the move from one marsh to another–usually on the opposite side of the road.

A turtle covered in moss

Fortunately, most drivers seem to be pretty conscientious about doing what they can to protect turtles (I saw one car yesterday with an “I brake for turtles” bumper sticker). So it’s not unusual to see cars pulled over or stopped a safe distance from a crossing turtle.

Most times though people don’t seem to know what to do with the turtles. They’re obviously not the fastest creatures in the world, so it’s usually necessary to help the turtles on their way.

Here’s my technique to move a turtle along.

First the basics: safely pull over your car making sure to get as far out of traffic as possible. If you have to enter the road, look both ways and make sure you’re going to be safe.

Now the more complicated step: picking up the turtle.

Most of the turtles I encounter are large snapping turtles. I have a childhood paranoia from swimming at my grandparents’ cottage about being bitten by a snapping turtle–not that I’ve ever been bitten. It’s just a childhood hangup.

However, I’ve learned it’s very easy to pick up a turtle without endangering yourself or the turtle.

My technique is to grab the turtle with both hands on the rear half of the shell. Get a firm grip. If the turtle’s on the small side, you might be able to grab it with one hand, but it’s safer to use two hands. The turtle might squirm a little bit or might be heavier than you expect.

Now lift. Her head will maybe turn around, but she won’t be able to reach you if you’re on the back half of her shell.

Make sure to hold the turtle away from you. It will likely be slimy and wet. And the last time I moved a turtle, I swear it tried to pee on me.

Now carry the turtle across the road and gently set it as far from the edge of the road as possible.

Wipe your hands (the grass will probably work if you don’t happen to have tissues in the car) and go on your way.

Have you ever helped a turtle cross the road? What’s your technique? What animals do you encounter around your home?

Guess who’s at the door

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In a bit of poor planning, a robin has set up her nursery right by our front door. There was already a nest in the yew bush, but it was a bit rundown. We didn’t notice it was being rebuilt until the eggs showed up. Actually, we didn’t notice the eggs either. We noticed the robin exploding from the nest every time we used the door.

Three robin eggs in a nest

The last time we had robins outside the door, it was the back one. It was relatively easy to avoid mama and the nest and the babies.

The front door is a little more challenging.

Three robin eggs in a nest

She sat for a few days, and we managed a couple of entries and exits without spooking her, but we haven’t seen her in a little while, and I think she might have given up on her nest.

I’m not sure how this is going to play out.

The highlight of my week

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Mother goose and gosling

The highlight of my week happened last Wednesday. I held a brand new baby gosling.

It was just a few seconds, but it was pretty special.

The gosling was outside at my work. His Mom was in the flowerbed above, but he couldn’t make the leap up the ledge. She just stood in the flowerbed and kept calling him, and he kept valiantly trying to leap more than 6 times his own height.

After observing–and (who am I kidding) talking to them–for a few minutes, I decided I would see if Mama would let me touch the baby. I walked over to the ledge, kept a close eye on Mama and made a quick grab. I set baby in the flowerbed, and he and Mama trotted up the hill.

No geese or geese-crazy women were harmed.

Although my geese craziness has reached a new level. I think coop construction just moved up the priority list. I need some birds back in my life.

What was the highlight of your week (or weekend)? Do you have any goslings in your neighbourhood?

Nesting instinct

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We have a new tenant at the driveshed.

It took about a dozen false starts, but a robin has finally managed to construct a nest.

The start of birds nests at the front of the driveshed

Robin's nest

The streamers of grass waving over the door track caught the building inspector’s attention. Matt gave her a boost so that she could check the construction up close.

Ralph inspecting the birds nest

The mud wasn’t dry, but the robin got a pass nonetheless.

Robin's nest

Now she just needs to move in and start her family.

Is anyone constructing a new house where you are? Or do you have any birds sitting on nests? Who’s your building inspector?

Deep thoughts on DIY from the dog

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I’m excited to share that I’m now a regular contributor to ThatMutt.com. This gives me an outlet to write about dog training, care and of course my favourite dude, Baxter. You can read all of my posts at ThatMutt here. My latest post went up on earlier this week. A slight variation is below.

“I’d help you put up those curtain rods, but I don’t have a drill.”

Uh-huh? What about no thumbs, no vertical reach and a tendency to spend most of your time asleep, dude?

Baxter installing curtain rods

“You think a paintbrush makes up for not giving me a drill? This pooch likes power tools, lady.”

Baxter and his paintbrush

“Oh, and you made fun of my thumbs and my height. You’re on your own for painting that mirror. This is what I think of your paintbrush.”

Baxter avoiding painting

“Ahhhh… dreamland, where doggies have drills… and thumbs.”

Baxter dreaming of not painting

With Baxter’s help (or perhaps despite it), the guest room is now done. The reveal is coming up next.

Nature

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Teri the turkey is no more.

We hadn’t seen her for a day or two and then Baxter found a fresh coyote kill behind the barn.

Wild turkey kill

All that’s left are the feathers. The distinctive turkey wings give away the identity of the victim.

Wild turkey kill

I can’t really be upset. The coyotes are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. If Teri was doing what she was supposed to be doing, she would have stayed roosted in her tree–or with her flock instead of with us.

Still, it’s obviously not what I was hoping for.

Close encounters of the turkey kind

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Matt has a thing for wild turkeys. So you can guess that this made his day.

Wild turkey looking in the window

For me, walking into the laundry room and seeing a turkey peering through the window was a bit disconcerting.

Wild turkey looking in the window

Teri showed up about two weeks ago. At first, we saw turkey tracks all around the house. Then we saw the turkey.

While turkeys are usually shy and private, Teri is social and curious.

She clucked around outside the kitchen window while I was making my breakfast the one morning. And then she walked around the house to pace in front of the dining room when I sat down to eat.

According to the footprints in the snow, she has even climbed right up to the kitchen window sill.

As I’m not inviting a wild bird in for breakfast, we’ve sprinkled some grain in the side flowerbed where she seems to spend most of her time.

Wild turkey tracks in the snow

Teri’s presence took a bit of getting used to.

Matt, Baxter and I each spooked her several times in the first few days after her arrival. Having a turkey erupt right in front of you and violently woosh-woosh-woosh her wings as she attempts to lift off and fly to the nearest tree is possibly even more disconcerting than having the same turkey attempt to help with the laundry.

She appears to spend her days doing laps around the house. We’ve gotten a bit accustomed to each other, and she doesn’t spook quite as much anymore. We’re also conscious to check where she is and try not to infringe on her personal space.

Wild turkey walking around the house

Baxter doesn’t have quite the same sensitivity and wants to get as close to the turkey as possible. There have been long staring sessions into the woods beside the house (where she sometimes retreats when we come outside) and lots of conversations about “no, you can’t follow the turkey tracks.”

I gotta say, there are moments when I ask, “Is this really my life?” Even though it’s sometimes disconcerting, I love living here.

“What do you mean ‘disconcerting’?”

Wild turkey hen