Flow Hive

Flow Hive

www.honeyflow.com

You can't prove I am allergic to bee stings and I really like honey. 

Therefore, we have ordered a flow hive.  It will arrive in December. I foresee a bee suit for Christmas.  I am super stoked about this. The hive will go behind the garage near the garden. Bees will pollenate our plants and I will eat the honey.

If you are interested in purchasing a flow hive, follow the blog for updates when we receive it, I will write a review. I will also be reviewing the bee suit, veil, smoker, bee species and random bee keeping accessories. I'll let you know how docile or aggressive our bees are and if they seem to be susceptible to beetles, mites, etc.

If you want bees,  but are hesitant, following the bee thread will be a great opportunity. I know little about bees so I can give the lowdown for you as I learn about the process.

Summit

Summit

Age: 6

Breed: Husky

Crimes: runner

About four days ago Summit was acting slow and sick to his stomach. We monitored him for a couple days and made a vet appointment for yesterday at 5pm when he cried in pain from having his chin tilted up. 

His trip to the vet was fine. He got a shot of morphine for pain and was due to come back in the morning for sedation and X-rays. 

The whole night he cried and whimpered from discomfort. He was good for a few hours before we went to bed but as soon as he needed to sleep, he was complaining. It was a rough night for all of us (except Lady. She's bulletproof.) Meri and I were up trying to make him comfortable, moving beds around and eventually put him in the office with a bed. There was nothing we could do for him. He just cried. The vet even said no for antinflamitories. 

After a really poor nights sleep, we found the highway packed. There was a bus accident and all routes out of the country were slammed.  We sat in traffic for 40 minutes on a trip that should take 15 with crying Summit. 

[dropped him off. Went to work. Saw attorney. Went to gym. Ate smoothie. Came to get dog.]

Dog X-rays were inconclusive and are being sent to a special X-ray reading vet. $400 later we get home and Summit got out of the car and walked like a an old man to go pee. Meri told him to get inside. He sideways looked at her, saw she was out of reach and bounded through the bushes into our neighbors yard. 

It is currently an hour later and dog is still gone. Can't we lure him back with a chicken?

Update:  we got a call from James the neighbor. I was so grateful I forced him to take two dozen fresh eggs and my eternal thanks. James apologized for Summit smelling of tuna. I still made him take the eggs. 

Update Updated: The vet called. Summit is officially a giant baby. He has a pulled muscle. There is no spinal problems or degenerative anything.

Spring came early and so did the bugs (horse edition)

Right after I had surgery, I noticed River had a fly bite her ear and draw blood! I had my surgery Feb. 27. Early for flies, right?

I grabbed her flymask and threw it on her. Whistler did not seem to be bothered, but she seemed itchy. River kept her mask on for about 1.5 hours and then she takes it off. This trend went on for the next 4 weeks.

Then, I am busy doing my snuggling with Whistler and I looked at the skin on her neck. There was a very small orange wiggly insect on her neck. The insect was smaller than a grain of rice with a big head, flat striped body and it ran away when I tried to pick it off of her. It clung to the hair all the way into the house where I placed it on white paper and checked Dr Google.

Dr Google was not super helpful. I tried botflies, I tried pests on horses.... it was feeling hopeless.

I just went into the kitchen and decided to treat the horses naturally for bugs and dry skin. Whistler got vegetable oil mixed with garlic powder (bugs don't like garlic and some bugs will die when coated with oil). River got just straight oil.

That evening, I was consulting with Dr Google again and thought about lice. Lice had not come up on any of my searches before, but it would make sense. Dr Google confirmed lice. Flat bodies, stripes, very small, orange color and clinging to hair.... yep. my little girl has lice. *shivers* Can horses get lice from chickens? from goats? humans? pigs? I checked the whole farm. Lice seems to be species specific. Chicken lice like to catch a ride on a horse periodically, but it isn't their primary source of transportation.

 After a triple tequila and a scalding hot shower, I went to bed.

The next morning, we went to Coastal Farm Supply. I had a list. Not all of it was related to the lice. This was my grocery list:

• equine coat supplement
• any equine immune system booster
• two equine dewormers
• one equine 4 way vaccine
• CDT goat vaccine
• brushes and equine bathing accessories
• equine fly spray
• equine pesticide for treating lice

Over $200 later, sheep vaccine instead of goat, a cashier that counted every item 6 times and ended up not charging for Sheep CDT, an "exchange" for goat CDT, we were on our way home.

Whistler has never had a bath. She was cool until I got the hose going. Oh goodness, her person was straight up trying to murder her! It took 5 minutes of squirting her with the hose on a low spray and standing there talking to her before she calmed down. I wish I had gotten her on video when she tried to drink the water. She would put her nose near the stream of water, get wet and pull away. Then she would do it again. The last time, she tasted it. So cute. 

That was one seriously dirty horse. Whistler got adopted in the winter and we don't have a warm hose or wash rack. This was the first time we had a chance to bathe her. Once I soaped up her body and scrubbed dirt off of her, little orange rice looking things were visible on her pink skin in her white coat. The longer I washed her, the more bugs I found. The more bugs I found, the worse I felt. 

I realize that I have fairly good vision up close and identifying those things as bugs to someone with less than perfect close vision would be impossible. It makes me think the bugs have been hibernating on her since her time in the kill pen and once the weather got better, they came out. Apparently lice get bigger with age. If these are as big as they get then I am not sure how an older person would ever see them! 

After the bath, I mixed the pesticide formula in a bucket and saturated her fur with it. Meri cleaned both stalls out so they looked pristine. I went in with the pesticide and sprayed down the floor and walls. It seemed to do a good job on the flies. 

Now for River. That silly mare thought every time I sprayed her I was the boogeyman. I have never seen River act so Arab. If you had any doubt River is an Arab, get a spray bottle.

Both horses have clean and pesticide sprayed stalls. They are not allowed to turnout for 10 days. all blankets, halters, brushes etc are being bleached.  I have electrolyte paste for their immune systems and dewormer when they feel better. 

Battle of the bugs continues! 

Spring came early and so did the bugs (pig edition)

So I hesitated writing this one because I generally like to make posts cheerful. However, the point of blogging is to entertain, educate and give an unbiased view of what living on a hobby farm is like. So here it goes.

Spring came early because winter never came. All the bugs came early too.

Meri comes in the house and says "The pigs have worms. I'm going to work. Fix it." and leaves.
I began dosing both pigs for roughly 175lbs with Ivermectin. There was no way I was going to be able to give them a shot, so I chose orally as the best course of action.

Bacon ate his medicine (on a hamburger bun) and Ham just looked at me. Bacon wanted to eat hers. No, he can't have a double dose of dewormer.

I went inside and tried a new hamburger bun with peanut butter and medicine. No go. Bacon wanted to eat it. No, he can't have a double dose of dewormer.

I went inside and tried a blueberry yogurt with medicine stirred in. Again! No go. Bacon wanted to eat it. No, he can't have a double dose of dewormer.  Good thing I had a backup plan. While I was inside making the yogurt, I filled a syringe with a topical dosage of dewormer. when she denied my yogurt, I squirted medicine all over her back.

Two hours later, my job is done. Right?

No.

I don my muck boots and proceed into the pig pen to try to kill any worms in the ground. After identifying the worm in question as one the pigs will try to eat again, I had to kill them too. What awesome farmer bought 50lbs of food grade diatomaceous earth weeks earlier without knowing why?

I began spreading DE all over their pen concentrating on the muddy areas where the gross stuff lives. Once done, I spread a pile on their food. DE when taken internally, kills parasites. It is safe for human consumption, dog, horse, goat, chicken... everyone on our farm.

The next day.... worms are dying and Bacon is acting lethargic.

Will it never end?!

Bacon was not feeling great after his deworming. I worried about him all day and continued spreading DE in the pen. I checked on him hourly. It took about 48 hours before he started to get his energy back. This pig is wearing me out.

Bacon is totally fine now. Still trying to feed a lot of DE to keep his body as natural as possible while keeping him healthy. They're getting close to being slaughter weight.

Idea for the Farm

I have been thinking of ways to turn our property into a dual purpose non-profit education center/working farm. I went to the zoo a few days ago and saw the goat herd having social time. It then struck me: How many elderly goats have I seen?

It made me think about the baby bunnies that are bought for kids for an Easter pet. By August, Mom is the only one changing the litter box. By December, you find them at the Humane Society.  I love my goats. They are going to be running around getting into mischief for the rest of their natural days on my hobby farm.

There is a goat and chicken movement around Seattle. People are getting goats for clearing brush or because the kid was the cutest thing they've ever seen. Some folks want to milk. What happens when your goats run out of brush to eat? Many people are getting chickens for eggs. What happens when the chicken stops laying?

I want to use my hobby farm as an education center for the greater Seattle area. I want people to come take classes to learn about an animal BEFORE they get one. I will give you an honest reality of what it is like to take care of pigs, goats, chickens and horses. I will send you home with reading material on that particular animal and if you decide you are ready to take on the challenge, I will have a forum, help desk for challenges you may run into.

You may get answers to:
Is you goat projectile vomiting?
Is your chicken not moving or sleeping a lot?
Is your goat crying like it is on fire?
Is your chicken crowing?
Did your chicken lose it's feathers?
Is your goat starting to stink like urine?

I got this. I have had so many learning experiences with these animals. I wish I had a place to learn from or a person to go to. I am by no means an expert, but I am a jack of all trades. I want to help people find the best way to hobby farm. I want the animals to have happy lives and homes until their time is done.

Is this something people would be interested in?
Speak up! I will get some work done this summer on the farm and hopefully by next summer I will be ready to take this on. I may start with a few starter classes this summer if I get enough interest.

Sleepy Baby Chicks

Baby chickens sleep with their heads on the ground, stretched out and wings back. They pass out anywhere like tiny down cloaked drunks. The creepy red light is on all the time so it is hard to get a good picture. The red heat lamp prevents the chicks from getting all cannibalistic on one another.

I'm sure this post raises some questions so ask away!

Daily Goat Attack

Anything that comes in a bag is goat crack. This includes, but is not exclusive to: chicken layer, scratch, burn pellets, stall pellets, chicken starter, hog feed and  horse grain.

Bags of things are primarily kept in the red shed. Goats know this. Goats are naughty. 

Every day we feed the animals we have to use a bag of food. This creates a psychotic herd of needy goats jumping on you and trying very hard to knock the bag out of your hands. They succeed about 50% of the time. You will walk away cursing with your clean clothes soiled in several varieties of poop mixed with mud.

I outsmarted the goat swarm today.

Score one for the human.

Green Filly

I was told I needed to write on my blog tonight. I'm getting scolded for not writing enough now! Maureen, this is a blog for you.... about poop.

My trainer/friend.... Frainer.... said "you sure you want a white horse?" when I was first looking at taking Whistler home. Whistler was rescued from the Enumclaw feedlot as a 9 month old filly. She is a beautiful brown and white pinto with blue eyes. At first I was confused why a white horse is an issue.

I understand now.

Horse folk joke about "greys" becoming "bays" in the spring.

Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish brown body color with a black mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds.

Gray or grey is a coat color of horses characterized by progressive silvering of the colored hairs of the coat.

Spring is a season characterized by rain and mud.

A green horse (or rider, for that matter) is a horse that has little or no training.

It seems our little Whistler prefers poop to mud. I call her our "Green Filly" not because she is untrained, but because she is constantly the color green. I brush her daily to try to scrape the poo out, but when a horse rolls in poop daily, it is useless.  

Whistler works daily at grinding mud and poo into her coat. She manages to get it on her face, ankles, neck, under her mane....  Perhaps Pintos turn their sheen Green in the Spring while the Greys turn Bay. 

   

Mice in the Manure

Our "sick" day old chick didn't make it. We are now on our way to Baxter Barn to buy new chicks. For every sick chick you have to get exponentially more. I'd be shocked if we left Baxter with any less than 50. 

This morning, Meri was dumping a wheelbarrow full of horse manure to the compost pile. She lifted the tarp (poop is only compost while it stays dry and warm. Otherwise it is just a poop pile) and saw a mouse run into a hole in the compost. We have mice living in our compost pile. Meri's response? Stomp the manure pile to destroy the mouse house. She proceeds to come inside and complain about allergies. 

Update: my good friend has informed me we have "field/deer mice". The CDC says 14:100 field mice have some horrible disease transmissible to humans. When a human gets it, there is a 1:3 chance of death.  

We may need to hire someone. 

Time to get paranoid. 

Abscess

I've been treating Whistler, our Pinto Filly, for an abscess for a couple days now. Usually you hear about horses getting them on their feet, but Whistler has one on her butt. 

Don't worry, I called the vet. 

I'm applying a warm compress for 10 minutes to try to coax puss out. It's pretty gross. 

Whistler likes it. 

Baby Chicks

We got 11 chicks today. Two of the chicks are a new breed for us: The Leghorn. I will name them both "Foghorn." If any chick turns out to be a rooster, I will name it "Dinner."

Once situated Darwin's Law took over. One chick has a clogged vent and one is "sick". Let's discuss what this means:

1. Clogged vent - Very young chicks tend to have runny droppings as their bodies get adjusted to eating solid food after hatching. This can get clogged up in their new feathers to the extent that their vents are blocked. A blocked vent means that no more waste can be passed, and your chick will quickly die. 

Solution: apply a warm compress on the chicken butt to loosen stool and allow poo to pass. 

2. "Sick chick" usually means Coccidiosis (aka: cocci) is a common intestinal disease caused by several species of parasites. The parasites rapidly multiply, damaging the intestinal lining, preventing chickens from absorbing nutrients from their food.  

Solution: force feed with sugar water and medicate with ampro, but it is up to the chicken and the universe more than you as the farmer. This is a coin toss. 

We have made a beautiful little brooder in Porter the rabbit's greenhouse. It will stay clean and beautiful about 2 hours and 15 minutes. 

3. Brooder: a device or structure for the rearing of young chickens or other birds.

I'll keep you updated on the status of the brooder and the two chicks.

Flying Kuzco!

1. Kuzco Sizing up the jump

2. The approach...

3. The leap of faith....

She is so stinking cute... 😋

Greetings from Naughty Goat Family Farm

I grew up in the suburbs of Maryland. DC and Baltimore isn't far, Chinese food is rad, pizza is delicious, Blue Crab is plentiful and the neighbors are close. Really close. I had virtually no exposure with this whole farm life thing.

Now, at 33, I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest on five acres. Turns out - I love it! I am learning. Every day, something crazy happens - someone gets lose, there is a goat eating my neighbor's roses, it is hoof trim day or we find a nest of mice living in our lawnmower engine. RIP mice. 

Curious what and how many of what live here? 

We have: 19 chickens

6 Nigerian Dwarf Goats

2 Horses (1 Arab mare, 1 QH Yearling)

2 cross breed pigs

2 dogs (husky and rat terrier)

1 rabbit 

Honestly, the most well behaved one on the property is the rabbit.

The little guy in the photo is Four - short for Fortissimo. He's a little special. Born a runt and without proper nutrition, his mind and body didn't develop like his twin brother.  Anyone that visits here, he is usually the favorite. He may be small and a little dense, but he is sweet! 

Apparently on these blog things there is a comment section. If you have a question, ask. If you know me and want me to tell a story, ask. My job in the blog is to entertain and educate. No question is stupid.