Black and gold - Steeler chicks!!
This one has black stripes down its back.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
One Day Old
We ended the day yesterday with 6 chicks - 4 yellow and 2 black. Three other eggs had pipped and I could see that one bird was breathing and trying to get out, but nothing yet. I'm afraid it won't make it. You can't help the bird while it's trying to get out. If it's not strong enough to break through the shell, it won't be strong enough to survive outside. There's no NICU for chickens.
These babies have moved from the incubator to their first home in an aquarium. They'll live in our guest bathroom for a couple of months or until my house smells too much like the barn. Then it's moving day!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
New Baby Chicks
We finally have some new baby chickens. Our first 2 attempts using a broody hen failed. Our first attempt with an incubator failed - thanks to TXU for a 6 hour power outage.
Three weeks ago today, we put 17 eggs in the incubator. We candled them at 10 days and removed 5 that we could see weren't developing. This morning at around 8:00, 2 were showing the "pip" - the place where the beak first breaks through the shell. By 11:00, we had our first chick - a black one. We watched it break through and emerge from the egg. Amazing! It's exhausting work being born.
Seven hours later, we have 2 black and 3 yellow peeps. They're all still wet and will stay in the incubator until sometime tomorrow. I'm hoping we have at least 3 more before then. There are pip holes in at least 2 other eggs that I can see.
We're hoping these chicks (assuming some of them ARE hens) will start laying eggs this winter when production from the rest of the flock goes way down.
Three weeks ago today, we put 17 eggs in the incubator. We candled them at 10 days and removed 5 that we could see weren't developing. This morning at around 8:00, 2 were showing the "pip" - the place where the beak first breaks through the shell. By 11:00, we had our first chick - a black one. We watched it break through and emerge from the egg. Amazing! It's exhausting work being born.
Seven hours later, we have 2 black and 3 yellow peeps. They're all still wet and will stay in the incubator until sometime tomorrow. I'm hoping we have at least 3 more before then. There are pip holes in at least 2 other eggs that I can see.
We're hoping these chicks (assuming some of them ARE hens) will start laying eggs this winter when production from the rest of the flock goes way down.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Farm Business Cards
We got our new business cards today and I really like them. Thanks to Ellen at Top-Dog Marketing for helping with the design. Ellen did my Distinctive Dog Training business cards as well and I've been really pleased with her creativity and prompt handling of my orders. Next thing - getting a web site up and running!
Friday, September 17, 2010
New Digs
I knew it would happen sooner or later....Chet wants me out of the house. Or rather, he wants all my dog training and fiber stuff out of the house. Over the winter we had some construction work done on an open shed on our property to make it into a real building.
These photos are from half the room which will be dedicated to my fiber work and sales. I'll bring my spinning wheel and carder up here along with the fleeces I'm working on. Nice big windows and lots of natural light on this side. The other half of the building, not finished yet, will be for dog training equipment and an area I can work with clients who want to come to me with their dogs.
Our house is small, about 1600 square feet, and having this extra space is going to help clean out a lot of clutter there. Working out here will also get me out of the house, which may be Chet's ultimate ulterior motive :-)
This is what it looked like then:
And thanks to my wonderfully motivated hubby, this is what it looks like now:
These photos are from half the room which will be dedicated to my fiber work and sales. I'll bring my spinning wheel and carder up here along with the fleeces I'm working on. Nice big windows and lots of natural light on this side. The other half of the building, not finished yet, will be for dog training equipment and an area I can work with clients who want to come to me with their dogs.
Our house is small, about 1600 square feet, and having this extra space is going to help clean out a lot of clutter there. Working out here will also get me out of the house, which may be Chet's ultimate ulterior motive :-)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Growing and Dying
It's been a hot, humid spring and summer here - my first in Texas. After living 9 years in Tucson with little to no humidity for 10 months out of the year, I've been extremely uncomfortable since around May. It's only started to let up in the last few days and actually been nice to be outside.
The alpacas had been enduring the heat as well. They got their bellies squirted every afternoon and played in the sprinkler in the pasture. Their fleece actually acts as an insulator from the extreme heat, but they enjoy the coolness of the water on their bare undersides.
Two of the boys we got from the LSU vet school in March, Excalibur and Durango, were extremely thin and never gained much weight over the summer. These guys were part of a research study looking at the effects of anesthesia on alpacas. They were put under anesthesia every couple days for about 6 months. They were kept in stalls and not allowed to graze at all. I'm sure the stress level was pretty high. We lost them both in the last 2 days. Durango was our oldest boy - 12 years old - and a real sweetie. He loved to eat and wasn't shy about trying to get whatever you had in your hand. He was a fun personality. Excalibur was a little more shy. He never really warmed up to us, but would take food if you offered it. He was 5 years old and a cute little boy.
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Chet's garden grew really well this year. We're getting peppers galore right now and beans are starting to come up again. The surprise crop of the year is cotton. Chet planted it for fun to see what would happen and he got a bumper crop. He's been picking it and pulling out the seeds so I can prep it to spin. Spinning cotton is pretty tricky, I guess, so I'll be learning something new.
The alpacas had been enduring the heat as well. They got their bellies squirted every afternoon and played in the sprinkler in the pasture. Their fleece actually acts as an insulator from the extreme heat, but they enjoy the coolness of the water on their bare undersides.
Two of the boys we got from the LSU vet school in March, Excalibur and Durango, were extremely thin and never gained much weight over the summer. These guys were part of a research study looking at the effects of anesthesia on alpacas. They were put under anesthesia every couple days for about 6 months. They were kept in stalls and not allowed to graze at all. I'm sure the stress level was pretty high. We lost them both in the last 2 days. Durango was our oldest boy - 12 years old - and a real sweetie. He loved to eat and wasn't shy about trying to get whatever you had in your hand. He was a fun personality. Excalibur was a little more shy. He never really warmed up to us, but would take food if you offered it. He was 5 years old and a cute little boy.
Durango
Excalibur
We're not certain what caused both of these boys to die within a day of each other, but we're keeping a close eye on the rest of the herd. All the others are a much better weight and aren't showing any signs of illness.
We only lost one chicken this summer, but the heat has caused them all to slow down on the egg production. We're trying again to hatch some eggs, but this time in an incubator. Our last couple attempts using the broody hen didn't go well. We're hoping to have some nice young laying hens for the winter.
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Chet's garden grew really well this year. We're getting peppers galore right now and beans are starting to come up again. The surprise crop of the year is cotton. Chet planted it for fun to see what would happen and he got a bumper crop. He's been picking it and pulling out the seeds so I can prep it to spin. Spinning cotton is pretty tricky, I guess, so I'll be learning something new.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
My First Commissioned Piece
I only started spinning last summer just after we got our alpacas and picked up knitting not long after that. My Grandma Stacey taught me to knit when I was young and I never really forgot, but hadn't done it for many years. I was determined that if we were going to have alpacas I would learn to do something with their wonderfully soft fleece.
A friend asked me to make a couple of scarves for Christmas presents and I've been thrilled to be able to do this. We have one gray alpaca - Dude. He's not the cutest boy in the herd, but I love his coloring.
I finished the first scarf yesterday. It's the "Misti Chunky Ribs & Ruffles Scarf" pattern. You can find it free on the internet. It's a very feminine scarf with pretty ruffles at the edges. I used size 9 needles and made it according the pattern otherwise. It came out 3" wide and 81" long. There's so many cool things you can do with long skinny scarves. I need to find a mannequin, cause I'm sure not modeling anything!
I'm taking more orders for Christmas, so if you're interested, let me know: FleeceFurandFeathers@gmail.com. The gray is all gone now, but I can make any other color or blending of colors that we have in the pasture. Or if you'd like to do it yourself, I can provide the yarn.
A friend asked me to make a couple of scarves for Christmas presents and I've been thrilled to be able to do this. We have one gray alpaca - Dude. He's not the cutest boy in the herd, but I love his coloring.
I finished the first scarf yesterday. It's the "Misti Chunky Ribs & Ruffles Scarf" pattern. You can find it free on the internet. It's a very feminine scarf with pretty ruffles at the edges. I used size 9 needles and made it according the pattern otherwise. It came out 3" wide and 81" long. There's so many cool things you can do with long skinny scarves. I need to find a mannequin, cause I'm sure not modeling anything!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Baron and The Rose
I've been busy spinning dog hair again - this time from my nephew dog, Baron. Baron is a handsome German Shepherd Dog (or a German Shedder, as his mom refers to him). He's getting up in age and I wanted to give Mary Ann something that she could always have to remember him. Mary Ann is a crocheter and I believe she's going to make a keepsake pillow with a Shepherd design once she gets enough yarn.
She sent me about 2 ounces of fur to start with. I washed it, let it air dry, then ran it through the dryer on the air cycle in a netted laundry bag to remove some of the guard hair. The more of the prickly guard hair that can be separated from the fluffy fur, the better yarn it will make. I ran it through my Fancicard to straighten the fibers and remove more guard hair, then started to spin it into yarn. I was amazed at how nicely it spun up. Just from looking at it, you wouldn't know it came from a dog. It has no odor, except maybe a little lavendar scent from the soap I used to clean it. It's not the softest yarn and you wouldn't want to wear it around your neck, but I think it's a great way to honor a special pet.
The big excitement of my day was the acquisition of a new spinning wheel. I started to spin last summer on a Majacraft Pioneer. It's a starter wheel, fairly inexpensive but spins nicely. My only issue was that it couldn't handle a lot of yarn on the bobbin at one time. The wheel would quit turning after I got a couple of ounces of yarn plying on it.
I got a Majacraft Rose today from Leef Bloomenstiel at Apple Leef Farm in Van Alstyne TX. The fluidity of the motion of the wheel is so nice! And it's a very pretty spinning wheel, too. The accessories from the Pioneer will work on the Rose and vice versa. I'll keep the Pioneer for my travel wheel and for demonstrations where people might want to give spinning a try. Spinning is a great relaxation activity for me and the Rose is going to make it all the better.
She sent me about 2 ounces of fur to start with. I washed it, let it air dry, then ran it through the dryer on the air cycle in a netted laundry bag to remove some of the guard hair. The more of the prickly guard hair that can be separated from the fluffy fur, the better yarn it will make. I ran it through my Fancicard to straighten the fibers and remove more guard hair, then started to spin it into yarn. I was amazed at how nicely it spun up. Just from looking at it, you wouldn't know it came from a dog. It has no odor, except maybe a little lavendar scent from the soap I used to clean it. It's not the softest yarn and you wouldn't want to wear it around your neck, but I think it's a great way to honor a special pet.
The big excitement of my day was the acquisition of a new spinning wheel. I started to spin last summer on a Majacraft Pioneer. It's a starter wheel, fairly inexpensive but spins nicely. My only issue was that it couldn't handle a lot of yarn on the bobbin at one time. The wheel would quit turning after I got a couple of ounces of yarn plying on it.
I got a Majacraft Rose today from Leef Bloomenstiel at Apple Leef Farm in Van Alstyne TX. The fluidity of the motion of the wheel is so nice! And it's a very pretty spinning wheel, too. The accessories from the Pioneer will work on the Rose and vice versa. I'll keep the Pioneer for my travel wheel and for demonstrations where people might want to give spinning a try. Spinning is a great relaxation activity for me and the Rose is going to make it all the better.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
How Our Garden Grows
This was our first full year having a garden here in Texas. Chet had a small raised garden in Arizona, but nothing planted in the ground. We had a fairly large area here so he planted a variety of things there to see what would grow.
The zucchini grew to incredible sizes. The peppers were perfectly sized for stuffing; tomatoes were nice, but probably not enough of them for Chet. I asked for lots of onions, which I got - Texas sweet onions, green onions and some Vidalias, too, I think. He didn't label them, so we're not sure what was planted where.
The sweet corn and potatoes were disappointments. The corn was very tasty, but only grew in very small ears. Too little water, too many bugs?? The potatoes were extremely small - most no bigger than my thumb. Not sure what happened there. I know they didn't get in the ground on time because of the snowstorm in February.
We also got some nice green beans and shallots; some great head lettuce that got eaten quickly. Had to get that harvested before the giant rabbit got it all.
We got lots of garlic, too, which is great because I use it a lot in cooking. We haven't seen any vampires here either, so I know it's working.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Critter Update
Our second attempt to hatch eggs under a hen failed as well. We tried with a different brooding hen, a small Silkie-x, who was a fierce protector of her clutch. She went for days without getting off the nest to eat or drink. The problem came when she pooped on the eggs. They were all covered with poo and were disgusting; too nasty to even try to clean up. So, no baby chicks this year.
We had 2 of our 3 Silkie girls brooding and when they brood, they don't lay eggs, so aren't contributing to their room and board costs. We put them on Craig's list and they went home with a guy looking for female companionship for his Silkie rooster. We went and got 6 new Americaunas (Easter eggers) who lay the green and blue eggs. They've been great layers so far. So, the henhouse is full again, but it's been so hot production is down from everyone else.
We also sold 2 of our alpacas to a great lady who does Pyrenees rescue and trains them for livestock guardian work. We're at 14 alpacas and the llama now.
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Our own livestock guardians, Luke and Leia, have been quite a challenge in the last few months. Between the 2 of them, they've been in trouble for barking at the alpacas, chasing the alpacas, escaping from the yard, and barking at nothing during the night. Teenagers!! They'll be a year old on July 1, so I'm hoping they'll settle down soon.
We had 2 of our 3 Silkie girls brooding and when they brood, they don't lay eggs, so aren't contributing to their room and board costs. We put them on Craig's list and they went home with a guy looking for female companionship for his Silkie rooster. We went and got 6 new Americaunas (Easter eggers) who lay the green and blue eggs. They've been great layers so far. So, the henhouse is full again, but it's been so hot production is down from everyone else.
We also sold 2 of our alpacas to a great lady who does Pyrenees rescue and trains them for livestock guardian work. We're at 14 alpacas and the llama now.
.JPG)
Our own livestock guardians, Luke and Leia, have been quite a challenge in the last few months. Between the 2 of them, they've been in trouble for barking at the alpacas, chasing the alpacas, escaping from the yard, and barking at nothing during the night. Teenagers!! They'll be a year old on July 1, so I'm hoping they'll settle down soon.
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