Update on the Pond

Once our pond filled up and the frogs all came a courting, we had tadpoles. Lots and lost of tadpoles.

But this is a seasonal pond, and when the rain stops, the pond dries up. And when the pond dries up, the tadpoles do too.

We tried to save some and put a couple handfuls in a bucket. We weren't sure how many we had saved, but we did find this big guy the other night and we have found a bunch of little ones in the pool filter, some alive, some not so much. 

Ron built a little frog house in the garden and we placed some of the saved frogs there. I haven't seen any frogs when we go to the garden, but we did see a gopher snake visiting.

Lost Chickens

After about a year of keeping out chicken coop open all night, we lost a couple chickens and one rooster to a predator one night.

We don't know for sure what got them. In the morning, when Aaron and I were walking out to feed the pig, we saw a large number of feathers in a small area. It was far more than I'd seen in one place before. When we checked the coop, we were missing two hens and our favorite rooster, the maran. He was such a good rooster; he watched over the hens and he never gave us attitude.

We looked on the internet to see if we could figure out what got them based on the evidence we found; a little lost chicken forensics. I found http://www.raising-chickens.org/chicken-predators.html and http://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/chickens-101/what-killed-my-chicken/ to be very helpful. Based on what they said, it seemed like it would have been a fox or coyote because we saw no dead chickens or chicken parts left behind. But then I also noticed some scat on our patio area and after more research online (http://icwdm.org/inspection/Tubular.aspx and a Power Point from Penn State University) I identified it as raccoon scat. The research on predators indicated that raccoons typically leave part of the chickens behind, and all we found were feather. Maybe a raccoon caught them and an owl took the carcasses away. We'll never know for sure, but we will now be closing the coop at night!

Catching Up Part 3: My Broken Finger

Note to self: when you have a goat on a leash, have a firm hold, be sure the end is not wrapped on your fingers and do not startle the goat.

I was taking Daisy to the vet for some blood tests (CAE, CL and Johnes) so I can take her to a farm where she will meet her stud and hopefully get pregnant so we can start getting our milk. As I was getting her ready, I had her on a leash and was not really paying attention, dropped something that made a loud sound and she took off and took my pinkie with her.

I managed to get her to the vet, bring her back home and go to work. My co-workers convinced me I should go to urgent care because my finger was quite swollen and bruised. I grudgingly went and was told I had a pretty bad break. This was a Thursday and I was scheduled to go away for work Sunday through Tuesday. The urgent care doctor got me in to see an orthopedist on Friday. He said that he was pretty sure he could reset the bone and just cast it, but the break was at the joint and he would consult with a hand specialist. I thought I would be good to go with just the cast, but he called back and said that I needed to see the hand specialist. I made that appointment for Tuesday and I was able to go on my work trip. The specialists gave me three options, 1) let it heal in just a cast and likely have pain, stiffness and arthritis, 2) have surgery and get screws which may still leave me stiff and sometimes the screws need to be taken out, which would mean a second surgery, or 3) get a pin in it and a crazy contraption with a rubber-bands attached to the pin that allowed me to keep the finger in constant traction and move the joint so it would not freeze. He was clearly selling me on option three and like a fool I went along and got the pin put in Thursday, one week after the break. I had the crazy contraption pictured above (I guess it's called a dynamic traction splint)on for about two and a half weeks. I thought that I was going to be up and running Friday, the day after I got the pin, but it turns out that having a piece of metal stuck through your bone really hurts, even when it is just a pinkie.

I guess I was lucky to only have it on for two and half weeks. My occupational therapist (oh yeah, I get to have therapy once a week -it's just a pinkie!) said that they are often on for six weeks.  The pin was taken out last Monday and I just have to "buddy wrap" my pinkie and ring finger together for a few more weeks now. My doctor said that he only does about one of these a year by the way. I was the lucky one this year. I'm thinking that he just does it for kicks to see who he can convince this is a good idea,

Catching Up Part 2: Our New Goat Georgette

Our neighbor had kept one of their New year's babies, Georgette. She is a cutie, but she was not weaning and they were not able to get milk from her mom, so they asked if we wanted another goat. I decided to take her because we are going to be sending Daisy off to get pregnant next month and I didn't want Bibi to be alone for a whole month. Georgette is full blooded Nubian so it will be fun to see the difference between all the goats' milk. We now have a Nubian, a Nigerian dwarf and a Nubian-La Mancha mix.

Catching Up Part 1: Southwest Road Trip

So much to catch up on!

Since my last post, we went on an amazing Southwest road trip for spring break, I got a third goat, and I broke my pinky finger.

First for the road trip. We made lots of stops, but some of the highlights were:

Tombstone, AZ: This was a fun tourist stop. The food is over priced and not that great, but we got to learn a bit if history and watch a fun show of the shoot out at the OK corral. After this stop, we have to rent and watch the movie (the 1993 version with Kurt Russel, Val Kilmer and San Elliot).

Deming, NM where they have an amazing little museum and a Elisa's House of Pies and More which had amazing Southern food.

Las Cruces, NM: This was just a quick stop, but it was a cute little city with lots of great jewelry and a book store that we spent way too much time in talking with the store clerk.

El Paso, TX where we found the Chamizal National Park and Monument and learned all about "the peaceful settlement of a 100-year border dispute between nations. Not one shot was fired; not one war was waged." We ate at L & J Cafe for dinner. When I looked up restaurants on Yelp, it was one of the most highly rated and when I asked the guy at the Texas Welcome Center for a recommendation it was the first one he mentioned. We were warned that the parking was bad and the neighborhood was sketchy, but the food was really good. The restaurant is across the street from a cemetery and right by the border; it definitely had a "gritty" feel. The people in the restaurant seemed to be from all parts of life, business suits to biker gear. The waiter was extremely helpful and the food was delicious.

When we left El Paso, we drove by an old Salt Lake which led to a war I'd never heard of.

Carlsbad Caverns, NM: This was our main destination; the destination that led to the road trip. It did not disappoint. One of the main events at the caverns is watching the bats leaving the cave at dusk and returning to the caves at dawn. Summer is the best time to see this because the bats hibernate. Since we were there for spring break, we weren't sure if we were going to get to see any bats, The park ranger we asked about it told us that he heard there were some bats trickling in and out, but it was not going to be very spectacular this time of year. We decided to go to the caves at dusk anyhow, just to see what we could see. It was amazing! If that was "just a few bats trickling in and out," I cannot even imagine what it must look like in the summer when there are even more bats. The way they fly out of the cave was beautiful to watch. First, a group of bats congregates at the mouth of the cave and they all fly in a circle at the cave entrance. After a few minutes, most of the bats in this group detach from the spiral and they fly off into the distance together. Then more bats congregate at the entrance, circle for a while, and another group detaches and takes off. This went on for at least half an hour. Apparently in the summer when all of the bats have woken up, it can take three hours and the number of bats in each group turns the sky black. I definitely want to go back and see that some day.

The area around the caves is desolate. You look out into the desert and there is very little life out there. But walking back to the car, after watching the bats leaving the cave, we looked out and saw a whole bunch of small lights all over the land that had looked so empty in the day. It was eerie to see all these little fires when we had seen nothing out there in the light of day. We had heard that they were doing a lot of fracking out there, so we assume the fires were from the fracking. Below if a picture of one of the many drilling sites were drove by when we left the park.

The caves themselves were beautiful. Of course, we had to show up when the elevator was broken so we had to hike all the way back up the 1.25 mile and 750 ft. ascent cave entrance, but it was worth it. My pictures do not do it justice, you can see some better pictures here.

We stayed in the only hotel in White's City right outside of the park. The hotel looked very run down from the outside, but luckily it was nice and clean inside.

Roswell, NM: We just had to stop for lunch in Roswell since we were driving through. We did not make it in time to go to the museum and we did not spot any aliens.

Santa Fe, NM: We splurged on a nice hotel and stayed a couple nights here. What I can say about Santa Fe that others haven't already said. The art, shopping and views were beautiful. Definitely a nice place for a vacation.

Puye Cliff Dwellings, NM: We ended up just looking around the museum store and taking pictures from a distance because it was very expensive to take a our of the dwellings.

Chaco Canyon, NM: This was not a place that we knew anything about prior to our trip. We found it when we were Googling cliff dwelling in New Mexico. They are not actually cliff dwelling, but large ruins from "a civilization that flourished between the 9th and 13th centuries." It ended up being the only night we camped and the highlight of the trip. I don't have the words to describe how it felt to wonder among these ruins of great buildings in the middle of nowhere. I realized how little I know about the history of my own country. It was just awe inspiring. And as we were leaving the park, we saw a large herd of sheep on the road being shepherded by a couple dogs. Not a human in site. The dogs even moved them off the road when they saw our car. Ron said he's pretty sure one of the dogs waved him by with his tail.

Durango, CO: This was a last minute decision to stop. We were so close, we decided that we should at least see one city in Colorado. It was beautiful. I definitely want to go back and explore more of Colorado some day. Unfortunately, Tally and I got sick and ended up throwing up all night in the hotel our one night here.

Mesa Verde National Park, CO: Most of this park is only open in the summer because of all the snow. The only places that we could have hiked into this time of year were closed due to hazards. Tally and I were recovering from our illness so we didn't even get out of the car. Ron, Aaron and Lacey went to the visitors' center while Tally and I slept. Another place to go back to.

Canyon de Chelly, AZ;  An yet another place that we need to go back to. Tally and I just weren't up for any walking around. I want to go back and camp for sure.

While we were at the park we saw a young man on a horse riding along a ridge. He took off kind of fast and then we saw him come back bringing in two more horses. As we are watching and admiring this site, feeling like we were being taken back in time, the guy pulls out a cell phone, riding in with one had one the reins and one hand with the phone to his ear saying, "I found the horses and I'm bringing them back." Yes, you can hear clearly from a distance in an open space like that.

Four Corners Monument: Not much to see, but we had to stop for pictures. There were a lot of Native Americans selling art.

Grand Canyon, AZ: What can I say, it's the Grand canyon. Tally and I felt better,but Aaron got a cold and wasn't up for much hiking. We just walked along the rim for a bit. Another place that we will go back to for a longer trip and some camping.

Las Vegas, NV: We had to stop and see Grandma Pat for a bit. This was the first time we've ever gotten a separate room for the kids. We ordered room service and didn't leave the hotel room other than for lunch with Pat.

Calico Ghost Town: After all other other places we'd seen, it was kind of a let down. A fun tourist stop though if you're ever driving past.

Thanks to my amazing parents who stayed at our house to watch our menagerie of animals (one pig, two goats, 10 hens, three roosters, two guinea pigs, and one dog) while we were gone! 

I'll write all about the new goat in the next post!

New Goat

I am so happy to finally have my goat. I don't know why I've wanted a goat so badly. I think they just have such interesting personalities. Plus, I love goat milk and cheese and now I can try making my own.

Daisy is a Nigerian Dwarf goat. She will stay small and provide ample milk for our family. Since goats are herd animals, we are also getting a baby from the neighbor who is part La Mancha and part Nubian, both are good milk producers.

I will try to stagger their pregnancies so we can have a continuous supply of milk. Now I just need to learn all about the whole breeding process!

Life Isn't Always Easy On a Farm

We decided to try hatching some eggs. We got an incubator and put in our seven eggs.

The incubation period is supposed to be 21 days. Somewhere around day 10, we candled the eggs and they all looked fine, except one. We could see a big dark spot (the eye) and a little movement in six of them, but we couldn't really see anything in the 7th. We decided to open the one that we were unsure of, and were saddened to see that there actually was a little developing chick inside. It was kind of upsetting to see the poor little embryo.

Around 5:00 am on day 21, we heard some chirping and we got out of bed to see a single little chick had made it out of its shell. We left him in the incubator for a day and were hopeful that the others would soon hatch. It is now three days later, and none of the others have hatched. We have our little survivor in a brooder in our bedroom.

You can barely see our survivor's head peeking out form the warmer.

Yesterday we did a "float test" to see if the eggs might still be viable, and they did just barely float, indicating that they are still viable, but I am not very hopeful. One more day and we will have to give up.

Frogs

Each evening, ever since the Potter Pond filled up, we are serenaded by a cacophony of frogs and toads. To date, we have to actually seen any of these frogs or toads. Last night we took a flashlight down to the pond in hopes of finding one of these troubadours, but we didn't have any luck. I tried to make a recording of the sounds on my phone, but it didn't sound very good. I will go out again this weekend and see if I can get a good recording.

Last year we did find what we think was a California Toad on the property. We thought maybe he came back, with A LOT of friends. Based on the croaks that we hear each night, it sounds like there could be many different types.

I found a website that helps you identify frogs and toads in California (www.californiaherps.com). In addition to pictures, they have recordings of their croaks. Based on the recording I would say that it is NOT the California Toad that we are hearing. Based on the ranges and the sounds, the toads that I think we might be hearing include the Arroyo Toad, maybe some Red-Spotted Toads or Sonoran Desert Toads. As for frogs, the possibilities include the Sierran Treefrog, the Baja California Treefrog, the Northern Pacific Treefrog, the Rio Grande Leopard Frog, or maybe an escaped African Clawed Frog. 

Pig Escape Artist

We built Carnitas a new home in the back of the property, across the pond. She has more space and can see the neighbors' goats now. We thought she would like the extra space, but turns out she does not like change and she does not like to be alone.

We built the new pen on Saturday, knowing that a storm was coming in that night and she was getting to big for her trash can bed/shelter. The new pen has a large covered area and a larger space overall. We needed the panels from her old pen, so as we were building her new pen she got to be out and free. She was following Maya everywhere. The pig really enjoys playing in the pond.

The new pen was made using plywood sheets for three sides of a covered area and metal panels for an open space. We set four wood posts to attach the plywood.We used staple nails to attach the metal panels to the plywood at the posts. We used metal posts at the junctions between the metal panels and attached those using metal wire. We use these junctions as our door by undoing the wire and making an opening. We will put in a real door at some point.  Once we got her new pen set up, she would not go in. Our usual trick of having Maya go in first did not work. We tried to chase her in, but she would just go around the pen and manage to get by us. The neighbors were at the fence having a good laugh at the show we were putting on for them.

We were all getting very tired form all the running around, including the pig, and I decided that we really needed to try a different approach. The pig was laying down, completely exhausted. I got as close as I could get without her running away and called Maya to me. We stood there for a little while and then Maya and I walked very slowly towards the pen. The pig started following. I kept the pace very slow and the pig kept coming. I had the kids open the pen fairly wide and strolled in. She actually followed us and I had the kids close the pen slowly. Maya and I managed to squeeze our way out without her escaping. She was not happy. She was squealing and pushing at the panels as we were reattaching them with the wire. Have I mentioned how strong the pig is? We figured she would settle down and get comfy once she realized she had her water and food. She did eat as soon as we fed her.

At some point, after it was dark, the kids went out to check on her and discovered that she has escaped her pen and was out pacing along the fence where her old pen was. We realized that we had forgotten to attach one of the metal panels to the post with extra nails at the bottom, so we got her back in the pen and put in the extra nails.  Later in the evening, Ron and I went out in the hot tub and we heard her snorting along the fence again. At this point, we were all pretty tired, so we filled her trashcan with hay and put it by the fence so she could at least stay dry over night. We knew that she was not going to stay in the new pen until we figured out what to do, but we were confident that she wasn't going to try and leave the property as we tried to come up with a plan.

The next day, the kids went out to feed her and found her in the trashcan nice and cozy and dry. They took the trashcan to the new pen thinking that maybe that would make her feel more at home there.  We decided to put some wood strips over the wire panel after we nailed in back with the staple nails. As long as the wood strip did not break, it would stop the nails from popping off when she pushed on the panel. Ron and I went out in the rain with Maya to make this fix. We found Carnitas laying by the chicken coop getting drenched in that rain. When she saw us, she followed us happily to the new pen. We made the fix, and got the pig to follow Maya in the pen easily this time. We closed up the pen and reattached the wire to keep it closed and crossed our fingers that she would not be strong enough to break the wood strips we had used.

As we left, we could hear her screaming all the way across the property. I was hoping that the neighbors weren't going to get mad at all the racket. Before we made it all the way to the house, I turned and saw her running towards us. I should point out that it was raining fairly hard and was getting pretty windy at this point. I had to go back in the house to take care of the cheesecake I was making, and Ron went out to see how she had managed to get out this time. As I got in the house, I saw that the neighbor had sent a text letting us know that she had escaped but was OK. It was nice to know that the neighbors were helping us keep an eye on her.

After I took care of the cheesecake, I got a better, warmer jacket and I went to help Ron figure out what had happened this time and come up with a new plan. I found Carnitas next to the chicken coop again, getting soaked in the rain. It turns out that our fix with the wood strips had worked, but that we did not put the metal wire low enough on the panel. She pushed her way out at the bottom of the metal panel junction. Since when I headed out, we did not know what had happened and how long it would take to fix it, we had not brought Maya with us this time. She was warm and cozy in the house with the kids. Since all we had to do was reattach the wire, just using better placement, I turned to go back to the house and get Maya, so we could get Carnitas to follow her into the pen again. As I turned, I saw Carnitas walking to us. Apparently, part of her realized that shelter was better than sitting in the cold rain. We stood by the pen with the panels open for her to get in. She walked around the pen, but did not go inside. We thought that perhaps we were too close to the pen and making her nervous, so we stepped away to give her space. Turns out that she really wanted to be near us because she followed us away from the pen. So, I walked into the pen and she followed me in. Even after the stress of chasing her around the day before, her instincts to be with other creatures was too strong.

By the time we were done, Ron and I were soaked! I had a big jacket on, so my top half was dry, but my jeans were so wet, I could wring water out of them. My hands were frozen from dealing with the metal (note to self - use gloves next time). But, I was really happy. It was actually a lot of fun for me to be out in the rain fixing a pig pen. I probably wouldn't think it was fun if I had to do it on a regular basis, but for one day, during a rare rain storm in San Diego, it felt more like a fun adventure than hard work.

I am happy to report that she has not escaped again. She seems to like it when we come to visit and bring her food, but she still gets upset when we leave her. It seems that she just wants to be with us. Who knew that pigs were so social.

Farm Babies Grow-up Fast

I am surprised at how quickly animals grow. Carnitas is already as big as Maya. We've had her for about a month and it's amazing how much bigger she is. She is also very strong. Pigs just seem to be pure muscle.

Taken January 6, 2016

Taken January 30, 2016

The neighbors had triplets over the weekend and seeing the new born kids next to the kids that were born on New Year's Day let us see how much they grew in just a month.

New born kids are in the center and the one month old kids are in the right front.

Building a Raft

The kids decided that it would be fun to build a raft for our pond. I, of course, encouraged them. We have lots of wood scraps around the property and even some old pallets. The kids tried using one of the pallets as is. Lacey was the brave one who took the first voyage. It did not go well. She sunk. In pond water covered in algae. They have the best childhood!

They did try to improve the raft. Lacey Googled how to build a raft and went back out with a plastic garbage bag filled with empty water bottles, duck tape and twine. I didn't get to see the final product, but apparently the bag got holes and the raft still did not work. Hopefully they will go back out this weekend and try again.

Why You Should Never Get a Long Haired Dog If You Live on a Farm

This face often greets us at the door, and we were never really sure exactly what she was up to, though it is obvious a lot of dirt was involved. Now we have photographic evidence of how she gets so dirty:

She is going to get herself stuck one of these days!

Carnitas and Maya

When we picked up our little piglet, Carnitas, we were considering getting two (or borrowing one until they found a home for the second one) because we were kind of worried about the pig being lonely. But the family we got the pig from mentioned that the pig would be more likely to bond with Aaron if there was only one pig, so we opted for the single pig. Of course we got it right before a cold spell and then massive rain, but we visited Carnitas each day to make sure she was OK.

The first day we got her home, she actually managed to get through the holes in the hog panels that we had used to build her pen (actually we used multi-purpose panels because they are taller and we will eventually use the pen for goats - didn't think that the pig could fit through the bigger holes!). We fixed that by putting up some scraps of corrugated metal we had along the bottom of the panels. While we were able to stop her from escaping, we learned that Carnitas could be very hard to catch, and so we didn't let her out of the pen the first few days. But after a few days, she got used to us and would actually come to us when we visited her, so we decided to let her out and to let Maya get comfortable around her. I remembered that at one of the 4H meetings I had asked how the pig would get along with out dog and one of the kids said that the pig would probably start thinking she was a dog. That has turned out to be true for Carnitas!

Carnitas actually tried to nurse from Maya. We were surprised that she would still have that instinct, and I am not sure that I would have recognized the behavior had I not just witnessed the baby goast with their mom. Maya just kind of stood there unsure what to do.

We had to make sure that Maya didn't get to rough, she thought Carnitas was another dog and treated her like she would a dog with all the jumping that entails. Maya is pretty easy to train, so we weren't really worried. Carnitas didn't seem to mind much and after a couple of minutes was following her around like, well, like a puppy. Now we can let Carnitas out any time and all we have to do to get her back in the pen is to call Maya to the pen. I wonder what the relationship will be like when Carnitas is bigger than Maya...

Rising Water In the Dam

This is our first time seeing the dam out back fill up. We have no idea how much water it can actually hold and how much of our land will end up being flooded when it is full. The water looks pretty muddy now, but we think that it will all settle after a while. It would be fun to put some fish in, but since we have no idea how fast it will dry up, we won't try that...yet.

The previous owners and the neighbors have told us that when there is water there are also a lot of frogs - to the point where the noise gets pretty loud. Let's see how long that takes!