Rain. What a bizarre idea. Water just falls from the sky? I got Dixie home and comfy before it started raining, but yes, Mel got rained on. If you're keeping track, I think she's gotten rained on at every ride but Tevis this year.
Rain also makes horses totally itchy.
This would be why I haven't shown you pictures of her amazingly pretty feet. I was too exhausted to take pics, then it started raining, and it hasn't really stopped yet. We've gotten at least an inch, possibly two! It's just been drizzling, but it's nonstop drizzle.
Mel wandered back over after her ride and got Farley comfortable, then we ordered pizza and bored my husband to death with yet more horse talk. We yapped forever, and I feel a lot better about how Dixie and I are doing in this crazy sport. They headed home Sunday morning.
Goats
While we were gone Saturday, G let the Scammers out of the crate again, and Billy picked on them til they ran through the fence, so G had to chase them into the barage and put them back in the box. Sunday I got up, only moderately sore, and fixed them a Nigerian Jail Cell - put chicken wire on the gate to the goat stall in the run-in. They were very happy to get out of the crate, very disappointed that my hay isn't 100% alfalfa leaf, and very sweet and friendly. We are considering a couple of long-term Nigerian Containment Solutions, and they should have more room to run around by the end of the week at least.
Dixie is filthy but seems fine. Friday was another one of those little breakthroughs where she really acted sweet on me - she swung her ass around and very clearly indicated that I was to scratch her tail. I scratched, and she rocked back and forth and made silly faces. Saturday was busy, and Sunday she was sweet again - let me scratch her head and neck and wiggled her lips a bit.
The mob of terrorist chickens have discovered my compost heap. Every day, they scratch it down, then I water it, add more manure, and rebuild it. I am not mad at all; I'm delighted that they're helping turn it! Sunday when I dug down and checked, the pile was actually steaming. I am so excited! I can grow bacteria!! Hell yeah.
I have some fabulous sunset/sunrise pics for yall. I'll share them later this week. Here's a picture of one of our crows, for Merri - we have two that hang around the neighborhood and croak mysteriously at me.
Aren't the chickens GREAT at turning the compost? I love mine because they also scratch the manure into the ground, so it decomposes super fast.
ReplyDeleteHowever... I keep hearing that chickens and horses shouldn't be kept together since the horses can get lice from the chickens. My horses don't have lice and as far as I can tell, neither do my chickens. Have you heard about this or had any experience with it? Google isn't much help...
Even if it's a possibility, frankly the benefits of having the chickens (eggs, manure management, compost turning, and bug patrol) seem to outweigh any possible negatives. What's your take?
climate detail: you water your pile? i cover mine and it's still always too wet.
ReplyDeletegoat observation: i countd 6 strands of electric wire and your goats still moved through it? were they shocked horribly?
~lytha
lytha, my goats scratch themselves on the electric wire. And it's HOT, too!
ReplyDeletefunder, your goats are adorable.
probably useless too, but who cares? They are adorable!
p.s. yes, I laughed at the watering of the compost pile. We don't water NOTHING around here, except maybe the pumpkin plants in August. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my chickens have lice :( and I'm deliberately keeping a closed flock. Ugh, I hope Dixie doesn't get lice from them! The chickens are very free-rangey, i.e. they do exactly what they want regardless of what I want, so there's no hope of keeping them away from the horse paddock.
ReplyDeleteSwampGirls - yes, I water the compost. This is almost as weird to me as it is to you! Memphians definitely don't water compost either.
And I think the goats are getting halfway through the fence before another pulse comes along and shocks them, which just makes them finish bolting through in a hurry. G and I have plans for containing them this weekend. They won't have to stay in Nigerian Jail forever.
Goat prison
SOUNDS GREAT!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved the cool photo of the light,dog,water of the compost...X-MEN!
KK
I used to like goats... Yours are pretty darn cute, though. :)
ReplyDelete: )
ReplyDeleterawk! rawk! back at them : )
we got the rain too! i love the gray skies, the floaty whisps of clouds, the wet sand and the smell of the wet sage...
- The Equestrian Vagabond
Thanks, KK! And i2p, we have opposite problems. Why can't the goats and the horses SHARE the pasture without tail-eating or fence incidents??
ReplyDeleteMerri, the wet sage does smell awesome. :) but I can do without the grey skies! My mood plummets when I can't see the sun all day. Did you like my crows? They're no ravens but they'll do.
Whoo! Look at that filthy horse! Hey, I have a couple that look like that quite frequently. :D
ReplyDeleteJenJ...the lice that chickens can get (and they are NOT common) are not cross-species lice. The lice on chickens are NOT compatible with horses, just as they will not infect humans or dogs. I've had chickens with my horses for decades and not only have I never, ever had lice on my chickens, I've never had lice on my horses. Chickens who get lice are generally kept in poor, unsanitary, crowded conditions.