Not year of the chicken....

When is it all going to end!! I guess we were having it too easy the other years. Because we aren't having it good this year.

Some of the fancy hens in their new digs.

First let me say that we had only moved the fancy birds in the new chicken palace. The brown comets were still in the temporary pen in the goat barn. It wasn't very safe for them but we thought they would be fine for awhile.  I guess I was wrong.....

We got home late one day and Dave and I were rushing to make supper.  We sent J. to change the water buckets and feed for the goats. We usually all go and do this together after supper.  But we wanted to go for our evening walk since we're doing good in our Biggest Loser competition.

J. had been gone about 10 minutes when I hear this unearthly scream coming from the barn.  Dave heard it at the same time.  We ran outside and J. is screaming at the top of his lungs..."A MINK! A MINK!!HELP ME!!!!!" 

Dave turns on his heel and goes to get the gun.  I run to the barn and close the door to trap him in.  If he escaped (the mink, not J.) we'd never catch him.  Meantime Dave comes a running with the gun. We shoo J. outside and Dave gets on the milking stand to get a better aim...or so he says. lol.  The mink was under a metal shelving unit.  So here I am with a long stick trying to shoo the mink from under neath.  The thing is screaming at me and they have a creepy scream.  It finally sticks it's head out and it's the last thing he ever does.  But I also go deaf for an hour.  Boy oh boy does a gun blast sound loud in a barn. Jeepers.

In the end we only lost 6 hens. It could have been worse if J. hadn't disturbed the mink.  He said he never heard anything until something ran in front of him. He thought it was a rat at first but then realized that it wasn't, it was a brown mink.  

And people wonder why I hate minks! Of course it just left the carcass there, killing for fun.  One of the hens seemed ready to kick the bucket, she had blood on her head.  But she ended up being fine after a few days.

I'm just so thankful that we sent J. out when we did. If we would have waited they'd all be dead!

I just thought I'd leave you all with photos of my darling husband eating corn.  I have never seen anyone eat corn like this other than in cartoons.  

First we start with a nice piece of corn.

We now have it half gone....one kernel...one row at a time. Not willy nilly like he accuses me of doing.

Gone! Not a kernel to be seen anywhere. How does he do it? Has he been talking to the cartoon characters to get pointers? Who knows! He says just lots of practice.

The goats really hate him when he does this, cause they get the left overs. With me there's lots. With him....notsomuch.

Have a Blessed Evening

Lisa

It's mating time!

Litter of mink kits.

Ok, well maybe not in the goat world, but in the world of mink ranching it is.

One of the major industries in our neck of the woods is mink ranching. Even though I hate the little buggers, if it wasn't for them this area would be dead. Most of us would need to move away for work.

J. holding a mink kit. These photos were taken last year.

So in a little while the ranchers are going to start getting their mink mated. By the end of April / beginning of May it's kit time! Kits are baby mink. The mink start giving birth. They are soooo cute! Too bad they can't stay that way.

I mean, how cute is that!!But then they grow up.

In July they begin implanting. Which means vaccinating against distemper and other such things. It's really an amazing process for start to finish.

Babies everywhere!!

By October is when they are humanely put down and prepared for the fur sales in March and May.

Mink is one of the warmest things you can wear. Cold climates like Russia depend on our mink to last their harsh winters.

I know GreenPeace and Peta would love to shut these places down, stating that the mink are inhumanely treated, but take it from someone who's seen it first hand, these animals are treated better than most people treat their pets! If they weren't treated well it would show in their pelts meaning less money for the rancher. Maybe it's not the best reason for treating the mink well, but at least it's better than nothing.

One of the real threats for the mink ranchers now is a disease called Aleutians Disease. Or AD. It kills the mink early or if it doesn't kill them, it kills their kits. It also is very contagious from mink to mink. We are hoping and praying for a vaccine or cure soon for them.

Well I hope you liked the world of mink!

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa