It turns out if you leave tender seedlings in the same room as little chicks, the warmth and humidity really helps them take off.
But if you wait too long to transplant them (say, because it's the wettest Spring anybody's seen around here for a long, long time and your first efforts at garden digging have resulted in little ponds around the yard...), those same chicks will throw off enough dust and ammonia to kill off or badly damage those same seedlings.
Also part of the learning curve - there is such a thing as Floppy Kid Syndrome. They don't really know what causes it and because recovery can be spontaneous, aren't really sure how to consistently treat it. If you know what to look for between the 3rd and 10th day of your new (goat) kid's life, you can give them a tablespoon of baking soda to drastically increase the chances of survival, should they come down with it. Unfortunately, we didn't know this and were working with the suggestion that Flower (Violet's kid) was simply dehydrated and undernourished.
Flower succumbed about a week ago. To add insult to injury, Violet picked up a lice infection from that pygmy goat we'd gotten at auction some time back and is now about half bald and has lost a lot of weight. We're coddling her, trying to get her back up to full health (lice can consume as much as 10% of a goat's blood volume per day!). But she's had a rough couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, the "barns" we've built were based on this plan we got from MaryJane's Farm magazine
and while we had guy lines and stakes on the 3rd structure we used as an entry and storage space...
...it turns out the weight of the pallets that form the half walls really do make the difference of what you wake up to after an early morning storm that includes 55 mph winds...
As Sam would say,
Fortunately, all the animals were fine and the chickens that were just inside that right side 'barn' (which happened to have the door open into the 3rd one that flew away) seemed fairly unfazed but the sudden absence of protection over their doorway.
While part of me feels like it's been the Week of Job around here, in reality we've been very fortunate to have relatively minor setbacks to really build our learning curves. Just think - the plants could have all died in the middle of the growing season whereas for now, we can get more seed and/or pick up some starter plants from the local nurseries. While it's sad we lost Flower, it could have been a contagious illness that might have taken out all 6 of our young kids. While I'm bummed the storage shed flew away, it is still salvageable and no animals or tools got hurt/damaged.
Thanks, Adonai, for lessons that show us where the weaknesses in our homestead are without incurring any major damage. We keep learning and You keep showing what can be done as long as I keep trusting.
But if you wait too long to transplant them (say, because it's the wettest Spring anybody's seen around here for a long, long time and your first efforts at garden digging have resulted in little ponds around the yard...), those same chicks will throw off enough dust and ammonia to kill off or badly damage those same seedlings.
Meanwhile, the "barns" we've built were based on this plan we got from MaryJane's Farm magazine
...it turns out the weight of the pallets that form the half walls really do make the difference of what you wake up to after an early morning storm that includes 55 mph winds...
"Uh oh. Big uh oh."
We found the missing structure upside down on the other side of the apple orchard.
Fortunately, all the animals were fine and the chickens that were just inside that right side 'barn' (which happened to have the door open into the 3rd one that flew away) seemed fairly unfazed but the sudden absence of protection over their doorway.
While part of me feels like it's been the Week of Job around here, in reality we've been very fortunate to have relatively minor setbacks to really build our learning curves. Just think - the plants could have all died in the middle of the growing season whereas for now, we can get more seed and/or pick up some starter plants from the local nurseries. While it's sad we lost Flower, it could have been a contagious illness that might have taken out all 6 of our young kids. While I'm bummed the storage shed flew away, it is still salvageable and no animals or tools got hurt/damaged.
Every blessing You pour out, I'll turn back to praise, and
When the darkness closes in, still I will say...
Blessed be the Name of the LORD
Thanks, Adonai, for lessons that show us where the weaknesses in our homestead are without incurring any major damage. We keep learning and You keep showing what can be done as long as I keep trusting.
Ahh well... you live and you learn, right? I can't even begin to imagine the sheer volume of knowledge there is to absorb when you're starting up something such as farming. If I know anything about you Val... and I do think I know a fair bit;-}... you'll have a very short learning curve.
ReplyDeleteFarm on girl!
Diane, thanks for the vote of confidence!
ReplyDeleteWhen checking on the chickens this morning, I stepped on a rake (causing it to fly up and whack me in the head); I laughed hysterically (after a couple good, loud curses) at just how Elmer Fudd-like some days are around here.
It HAS BEEN a rough couple weeks of it, ey? However, you are strong and all of this will make you stronger. There is a lot of allegorical lessons that your homestead will teach you about faith.
ReplyDelete