Dog, Chickens, Farming and a Shameless Plug

Asuka the Best Dog Ever

After a bit of training our German Shepherd, Asuka, is able to be out with the chickens at any time. Now we don't leave her out long unsupervised but we can let her out to go to the bathroom and come right back. She doesn't even chase the chickens much anymore. She will go find them for me if I don't see them right away but she just casually moves them along.

I love my dog she is doing so well with very minimal training. Plus she is just a great dog and I am so glad to have her.

Stripe the Dominant Chicken

Now we have one chicken we call Stripe because when she was a baby she had a stripe on her back. Now has the most unusual coloring of the bunch and she is also the boss of the chickens. It seems to be the way in the chicken world but Stripe has a strange tendency to challenge the dog. My dog takes it rather well and just barks at the chicken but I wonder what is going through that chickens mind when it stares down another animal at least 10 times larger for a marshmallow or nut. It is really funny to see now that my dog just brushes her off.

Stripe and White Birds

Asuka Guarding Her Chickens

Then There is Farming....

Well working at the farm is great most days. I don't like working in the rain at all. I am finding that I can deal with the heat a lot better than I can the cold. I don't like it when it is raining but I can tolerate rain if it is warm but not if it is cold. I wimped out on the day I brought my hubby with me last week. It was very cold and wet and I stayed like an hour. I was in a very wet sweatshirt and jeans and I just couldn't get warm.

Other than the crappy days I have learned a lot out there. I have also been able to try some veggies I have never tried before. I have to say kohlrabi is now one of my favorite veggies now and I had never even heard of it before. I am still going out two days a week but somehow I have become extremely busy.

Business and Other Stuff

Well I am starting to sell Herbalife products now. They have a line of weight management products that I wanted to try. In just a little over a week I have lost 3 pounds and I feel great. I am full of energy which makes it easier to work out. I have a website if you would like to order any products. You can contact me at sundcarrie@yahoo.com if you have any questions or visit My Herbalife Store.

Other than that I have been fighting with some companies that have ripped me off and worrying about fixing the duplex we own that was broken into and the copper pipes cut out of the basement. I suppose I should be grateful that I am getting some of my money back from the con-artists and that the thief's turned the water off but it just comes at a bad time. It is driving me crazy that I have to sink time and energy into these people when I really want to get my sales business off the ground so I can work to buy that farm of my dreams.

Sexy for Life, Fitness to Finances: My Crazy Life

Sexy for Life, Fitness to Finances: My Crazy Life: "This is just going to be a bit of rambling because I have had an almost unbearable week. I have had some victories but it is hard to focus o..."

The Great Chicken Escape

We went to my moms on Sunday and came home to just two brown chickens in the yard. One white chicken was two yards away and the other 3 were just one yard away in the opposite direction.

The lone chicken has gotten out once before it realized it could fly over the fence. The problem is when it gets out it freaks out. She gets loud and draws attention to herself but won't let us catch her. So they spent yesterday in their coop because I had to go to work on the farm. This morning my hubby and I clipped their wings.

I though it would be hard but they once we got a hold of each of them they would calm down after a few seconds. It was easy and it didn't hurt them. Hopefully we won't have anymore chickens running around the neighborhood. I am told once they reach full size they won't have an easy time getting over the fence but for now they will be grounded. I really don't want to loose my chickens to dogs who have not been trained to allow chickens in there yard. It took our dog quite some time to get used to them so I would only have myself to blame if they got eaten by a dog.

All About the Chicken Coop

Me and Asuka staining the chicken coop

Chicken coop with entry door open there is a drop down ladder so they can get to the bottom area

Chicken house built by Grandpa Sheldrick and stained by me 

I am sorry the pictures have taken this long to post. I have had a great couple of weeks aside from the sickness that just won't leave me. The chickens are growing at astronomical rates and they are doing great outside of their coop during the day. Around 8 or 9 at night they usually go into the coop on their own and all I need to do is close it so no predators can get in.

Now that it is warm we leave the drop down ladder down most of the time just in case I don't get up at 6 to let them out. The chickens can go to the bottom to soak up the sunlight if I am late and I don't have to feel guilty about sleeping in on days when I am super tired.

The coop also has a nesting box on the side you can not see and I keep the bedding in there very fluffy because they all gather up together in there at night. They won't lay eggs for quite some time but it looks like I will have to go on egg hunts once they do. They just love being out in the yard so I am not going to leave them in the coop when I don't have too.

For the next post I have a bunch of pictures of my dog with the chickens. She is shaping up to be a good at herding and protecting the chickens now that they don't looks so much like squeak toys.

Update Soon I Promise

Love this old picture of Asuka on the porch soaking up the sun.

I took a lot of pictures yesterday of the chickens, their coop and the dog. We had fun outside and I hope to get some pictures of the plants on the porch and the garden at my moms soon. I have a few posts planned but have not been organized enough to work on them.

I still have a bit of a cough but I have been going to the farm regularly and spending my off days working around here and reading when I feel really bad. I finished two books and have some reviews to work on for my Dark Novels blog. So I suppose being sick for nearly two weeks was not completely unproductive.

Well I must go and finish getting ready to go to the farm today. I found someone to car pool with at least some of the time. I should be able to save about 20 dollars a month in gas this way. Now I just have to clean out my cars so when it is my turn to drive they don't freak out about all the dog hair.

Small Farm Research Off to a Good Start

Books
I have been working my way through quite a few books about farming and eating locally and well anything that brings me closer to the food I eat. With my attentions span I have managed to start about eight books and finish none, not to mention the list of books I want to buy but can't justify the purchase until I finish the ones I have. There is just so much to learn and I just can't seem to focus on one book at a time.

I am learning a lot about farming from working on one too.  I need to finish You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise,The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights, Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold | Summary & Study Guide. That is just the books about food I also have quite a few books about writing and tons of fiction books to read. Once I finish the books relevant to this blog I will post reviews here.

Health
I can't shake this cold or sinus thing that I have. I feel better and then I go work on the farm for a day and I feel like crap again. If it is not gone by Tuesday I am going to the doctor but I am not all that confident in doctors these days. They just want to give you a pill to make things better and then another pill for the side effects from the first pill and so on and so forth until you don't remember what you went to the doctor for in the first place.

Right now it is in my chest for the most part so I have switched from taking Sudafed to Mucinex and I am hoping that will help. I have today to take it easy then I am back to work on Monday. I would really prefer to find some sort of natural remedy for this but I also want to get back to feeling like a human again.

When I felt good I loved going to the farm and now I still love it for the first hour or two then I start dragging because I don't feel good. It is the same way at home with chores and chickens and the garden at my moms house. All the things I enjoy are being affected by the sickness that has claimed my body for more than a week now.

If you are the praying type please pray for me to get better! 

Backyard Chickens and Farm and Garden Work

Veggie Garden In

My last week has been crazy. I am working Mondays and Fridays at the farm and it has been fun except that I have been sick. My sinuses are killing me. Despite that I have only missed one day (yesterday) and I plan on making it up today.

We went to my mom's house Monday and got the fencing up and carrots, radishes and three types of onions planted. Then on Saturday we planted a ton of different peppers and tomatoes and garlic, beans, spinach, brussel sprouts, cucumbers and zucchini. I might be missing a few things but it is really a huge garden. I am so excited that we got it planted with all the rain we have had it was rough finding the time in between rain showers to get things done.

My hubby also planted a few things here. I have a rose bush that nearly died on the side of the house that I used to plant flowers around. Since it probably won't fully recover this year he planted two pablano peppers and a roma tomato plant out there. I have another roma tomato on the porch and as well as a bunch of salad greens.

I am really bad at taking pictures but I must get some for you soon. I will have to charge the camera and take it out next time I go to my moms and take some pictures of all the things I have been missing.

Chicken Update
They are growing up so fast. I am amazed at how big they are. I think they are just over 6 weeks but I lost count. They can't get through the holes in the fence but a few of them can slip through the gaps where the gates open. They are out a lot these days as long as we are home to check on them every half an hour or so.

The best news is the dog has stopped bothering them as long as we go out with her. Well that is my guess anyway we don't leave her outside alone with the chickens. She wants to chase them when they start to fly but she has been very good at listening when we call her. It makes me happy that my chickens and my dog can exist together peacefully.

So with the all this stuff consuming my time plus having to get the house cleaned and yard work completed I just feel like I am running myself down. My hubby has picked up a few chores since being laid off but I might have to start leaving him a list. He has asked me what he can do and he does exactly what I asked him to do so I am not complaining.

I suppose I can't blame him for not knowing what the next logical step is when it comes to house work but it bothers me that he only completes the one task I ask him to do. I don't know if it is just a man thing or just a don't know what to do next thing but either way I have to make a more detailed list of things that could be done around here. I might just make a master list for the week that way he can choose what chores he would like to do I am not picky any help would be great and it isn't like he is refusing to do things but with neither of us working a job that pays in cash there is no excuse for a super messy house or the yard not looking nice.