If It Can Go Wrong, It Will Go Wrong….

I swear, we take one step forward and three steps backwards every time we try to do something to improve the homestead. We had a very nasty storm roll through and then, another nasty one immediately behind it. The coop and run survived the first storm and held up rather well. Nothing flooded, the inside of the coop stayed fairly dry considering there is a large open window on the north side of the coop. The floor was dry and I was shocked. The second storm came with 85 mph winds and hail. The coop stayed intact for the most part. Some of the plywood is warped and will need to be reinforced. The run was demolished. The entire cover ripped off and two of the PVC pipes were ripped out of the ground and the lacing wire snapped from the force. Hubby and I took one look at the destruction and decided that we were going to wait until March to get chicks and try to find a way to keep the run intact during storms like the ones we just encountered. I have been trying to figure out some way to secure the PVC piping to the fence posts that will survive our destructive storms.

I have come to the conclusion that hose clamps may be our best bet for securing the PVC. (Most held fairly well with the lacing wire, but I want to be certain that every single one will hold in the future.) As far as the dump truck cover, I am still trying to figure out how to secure it without cutting any holes in it because that will just cause rips to form over time. Zip strips are not strong enough to withstand the extreme wind. We will also be setting the fence posts in concrete because they were pushed by the wind and are now leaning inwards instead of being straight. I have never seen such destruction from storms and wind, aside from hurricanes and tornadoes. These were just our normal springtime storms.

Aside from the chicken coop and run being destroyed, the air conditioning is still not fixed. The company that is supposed to be fixing it told me a week ago that they ordered parts. Yet, I am still waiting for them to come fix it. It has been in the 100’s and its brutally hot outside. (For those of you across the pond, that temperature is in Farenheit. Today, it is 39° Celsius, which is 103° Farenheit.) It’s hot and miserable outside.

Nice and frozen isn’t it?!

On top of the Air conditioning being messed up and the coop being destroyed, the lawnmower deck broke today. They say bad things come in threes, well, that’s three. I ordered a replacement deck for the riding mower. Thankfully we live outside city limits so we cant be fined for not mowing our grass. Hubby managed to mow the front before the deck broke. I didn’t bother planting a garden this year because of the lack of rain in March and April. We have had 5 days of rain since March. I would have lost everything I planted because of the temperature and drought.

I did plant some herbs in pots in the kitchen window and they are thriving. My aloe plant I was given 3 years ago by a friend in Florida bloomed again this year. She mailed it in a ziploc bag in the middle of summer. I am still shocked it survived the mail. It takes up most of my kitchen window now and will definitely need a bigger pot next spring. I have also been attempting to sprout avocado pits. They will be indoor trees if they survive, but I love avocado. My kitchen window extends outwards from the house by about a foot (30 cm) and it has shelves. It is a greenhouse window and I love it. Fizzgig makes it difficult to fill with plants because it is one of his favorite napping spots.

This is my little greenhouse window. I know it looks like that house is fairly close, but it is an acre away. This is a photo I found in my phone and my aloe plant is much larger now, but it gives a better idea of what I am talking about when I say greenhouse window. I love this window because the sun never shines directly in my face. It’s a north facing window so, it receives great light, without the harsh glare from the sun. On the top shelf, you can see a lumpy shape with points on top. This is one of my favorite finds from the attic. It is a handmade clay owl, which was made by one of the Bowlin children. (The Bowlin family were the second owners of our home and the house stayed in the family from the 1920s to the early 1980s.) I adore this little owl. It makes me smile even when it seems like everything is going wrong or falling apart. It makes me remember that nothing is perfect, but the imperfections are what make things both unique and beautiful.

We will get the coop and run situated and it will be able to withstand whatever Oklahoma weather can throw at it. (Hubby thinks he wants to make it bigger since he has until March to fix the run and work on the coop itself.) I am EXTREMELY happy that the wind didn’t rip the dumptruck cover completely off and take it away from our property. It has been removed, folded up, and stored safely until we can go get some hose clamps to secure it to the PVC. We are also going to secure the PVC to the fence posts with hose clamps. This seemed like a logical step for stability during storms. A few bags of quick settling concrete will help ensure that the fence posts stay in the ground during storms with high winds. The whole run will go up like a kite if the wind is strong enough and the fence posts dont have concrete. (Another reason Hubby wants to make it bigger is because concrete makes it permanent in his mind.) Some of the plywood warped from the winds so he will probably end up taking the whole thing down and starting from scratch knowing him. I am perfectly okay with this because I know no matter what he does to it between now and March, it will be the safest and most secure coop possible.

While I am a bit disappointed, I am also EXTREMELY patient. Things happen and you just do the best you can to continue forward and work towards finding a solution.

While writing and editing this post, one more bad thing happened. We lost one of the ginger kittens. I have no idea what happened to the little guy. I went to the dairy building to feed them and I found him outside of the building. The building was secured and there was no sign of anything trying to get inside. Mrs. Weasley moved the remaining three kittens and I don’t blame her. I buried the kitten and placed a very large chunk of rock over where I buried him. I didn’t want coyotes or anything else digging him up. He was killed by another small animal. I feel so bad for his siblings and his momma. She still comes and eats, but there has been no sign of her kittens. I have no idea where she stashed them. I only hope they are safe and sound wherever she has them. 😔

I think that is enough bad news for one post. Next time, I hope to have MUCH better news. Until next time…

Kitten Spotting Update # 2

It’s been a rough couple of weeks. I will do another post to explain, but I have managed to hold the kittens from Mrs. Weasley’s surprise litter.

This sweet little one was perfectly okay with being scooped up. I had to completely unseal her eyes yesterday and I guess she remembered that I helped her see again. They all have gooey eyes, which are being treated with an antibiotic ointment, which I have to hold them to apply. One of the three ginger babies hisses and growls at me, but the other three kittens don’t seem to mind being held.

This is the kitten who hisses and growls at me. I gave him some treats to try to calm him down. It didn’t work. He just growled and hissed. I managed to avoid being scratched or bit because I wore gloves to handle him. His eyes got treated too.

I have also dewormed them and Mrs. Weasley got dewormed as well because I mixed it with their wet food. I checked the kittens and didn’t find a single flea on them. They are very clean considering they live in an old dairy building, and the floor has a layer of sand on it from the wind blowing it inside. Mrs. Weasley has taken very good care of them.

I had to bring the Tortie inside because I had to clean her eyes. Both eyes were sealed shut. She was shaking until she realized that she could see again.

She curled up in my lap and went to sleep after I applied the eye ointment.

I snagged one more pic of her clean eyes (yes, I know I need to redo my nails.) She is so fluffy. I would bathe her, but Mrs. Weasley growls at me, from her hiding spot behind the mattress in the dairy building, every time I go into the dairy building.

I took her back to her home and she latched onto my shirt with her tiny claws. I held her for about 10 more minutes before carefully unhooking her claws from my shirt to set her down near the entrance to their hiding spot. She meowed a few times before running behind the mattress.

I was rather shocked to see Pooka and Little Momma this evening. I set a large amount of dry food on the front porch because Little Momma was napping there when I went to get the mail this morning. Fizzgig was chirping up a storm at the front door, which has a large glass panel. He was standing on his hind legs looking out the front door at Little Momma and Pooka eating the dry food I left on the front porch.

As I am uncertain where they are sleeping, I will continue to feed them on the front porch in addition to the massive amounts of food I leave in the dairy building. I will also be leaving more sources of water because it has not rained since the last time I posted about rain, which was about 2 months ago. We desperately need rain. I am going through bout 40 lbs of dry food every week or so with the kittens and the permanent barn kitties. So, I am glad to know everyone is still eating. I have 5 water sources, which I clean and fill each morning. I think 5 more will suffice. Until next time…

Kitten Spotting Update

I have been very careful not to disturb Mrs. Weasley and her little family. However, the other day, one of the kids left the door open to the old dairy building while rummaging through there looking for something to shoot for target practice. I was quickly informed that the kittens were outside without Mrs. Weasley.

I immediately went to ensure that all of the babies were back inside the building safe and sound. Once they were back inside the building, I took some pictures.

There are 3 Ginger babies and one Tortie baby.

They are so small, but so fluffy.

This baby kept running back outside before I could close the door. As you can see, he or she was not happy that I wouldn’t allow for outdoor playtime.

I convinced the Tortie that this was a perfect hiding spot and play area.

After a few moments, they finally went back into their safe little hiding spot that Mrs. Weasley had found for them. They are almost big enough for their new home and Mrs. Weasley will be going with them to this new home because I decided they would go as a family or not at all. I wanted to be certain they would be okay as barn kitties in their new home. Until next time…

Meet the New Members of the Homestead Family

This evening, I went to the dairy building to feed the barn kitties and to fill their water bowls. I have multiple water bowls around the property to ensure all of the wildlife and the barn kitties have access to water since we are dealing with drought conditions, even though it has rained recently. I was filling the dry food pan, which is a disposable aluminum roasting pan and I heard movement behind me so, I went to the area of the building where I heard movement. Suddenly I hear hissing and growls. I figured the possum was in the building and shined my flashlight on my phone behind the old doors leaning against the wall. This is what I saw:

I found a litter of kittens, but they do not belong to Little Momma. Apparently, Weasley, my ginger barn kitty, is a female and shall now be known as Ginny Weasley. She was hiding behind an old mattress, which is leaning against the wall next to the old doors. She continued to hiss and growl until she heard that familiar sound of a cat food can opening. I opened three cans and gently nudged one into her hiding spot with a broom handle. I proceeded to take some more pictures. Forgive the terrible quality, it was dark outside, I left the light off inside the dairy building, and took these by holding my phone over the area while snapping pictures quickly. I will get some better pictures during the day and as they get bigger.

They are so tiny. Based on their ears being completely opened, eyes opened, and how wobbly they are, I am guessing they are approximately three weeks old.

Look at that tiny paw.

I definitely need to put a sturdier box in this space. I had placed a cardboard box behind the doors, with the towels that Little Momma had her last litter nested in, inside the box. I wanted the box to smell familiar so they would use it to hide or sleep in during cold or rainy nights. I have a plastic tote, with two exits cut into the sides, ready to replace the cardboard box once the kittens get a bit bigger.

This little baby looks to be a black kitty with white tabby pattern. This is a very unique coloring. I am hopeful this baby will come out next time, so I can get a better picture.

I was only able to count four babies. Two ginger, one black, and the black and white tabby looking baby. Looking at this photo, I am seeing another tabby. This one is not black so, that makes five baby kittens as of right now.

Those paws are almost like a brindle pattern.

This picture was one that didn’t show much. You can see the outline of a kitten’s head, but I am including it to show just how protected this box is and why I placed it in this spot. On the left side of the picture, you will see the edges of the old doors. To the right, the corner of the building is seen, with a door frame against the wall. This is about a 2.5 ft wide space. That box is not very big. It should only fit one adult cat and it would be a cozy fit for that cat. Wedged between the leaning doors and the wall is an old bike, which is missing a front wheel. This allows the cats to get in, and out, but prevents any animal larger than a cat from getting inside that space. There is about a foot of space between the leaning doors and the wooden work table, which holds my toolbox and in that foot of space, there is a pallet standing on its side. The pallet is home to rakes, shovels, a broom, and other gardening implements. So, no animal or human can get to that space without moving everything to get back there. There is a loveseat against the doors, a mattress behind the work table, and fencing and random buckets and flowerpots under the table. Ginny Weasley chose a well protected spot for her babies.

I have placed plywood against the table to add some more protection. I also added food and water dishes under the table. Now, that I know she is there with a litter, she will have her own food placed in her area and the food and water under the table. This will allow her to avoid hunting if she chooses. She has plenty of food and water. I made sure she had enough for a few days just to keep her from leaving her babies for long periods of time.

If I do find her away from her babies and out hunting, I will put gloves on, swap out the cardboard box with a plastic one, and give her a bit more space to lie down to nurse her kittens.

I am still searching for Little Momma’s litter. I am convinced they are in the abandoned burrow underneath the dairy building. The Original Little Momma hid her litter there and the only reason I knew where they were was because I would see her sliding between the fence panel and the dairy building to get into the burrow tunnel. I also saw her kittens behind the fence panel poking their heads out of the tunnel to take a peek at me when I peeked in with a flashlight.

I know anyone reading this is wondering what is going to happen with this unexpected litter. Well, I have fabulous news. The entire litter has been spoken for to include Ginny Weasley. The owners of the horses we were boarding purchased 20 acres and they had asked about one or two of Little Momma’s litter, but I was asked for the entire litter when they heard that I had found a litter, but it wasn’t from Little Momma. They will be humanely trapped, one by one if necessary, and immediately taken to the vet for vaccinations. They will each be micro-chipped, spayed or neutered, and then brought to their new barn home once they have healed enough for release.

They originally wanted one or two barn kitties to help keep the mouse and snake population under control, but upon hearing I had an entire unexpected litter, they asked for the whole family. Knowing how well their horses are cared for, I have zero hesitation handing this little feral family to them once they are old enough. They have also picked up strays and taken them home during the drive from where they were living to our home. They currently have four cats under a year old that have been retrieved from the middle of the road, the side of the road, and one jumped into their trailer while they were exercising the horses at the rodeo grounds. This feral little family will be fed and kept out of the elements by being housed in the barn.

I will miss their cute little faces once they go to their new home, but for now, they are very loved new members of our little homestead. Once Little Momma finally brings out her new litter, they will be vetted, ears will be notched, they will be spayed and neutered, and released back onto the property to live their lives as barn kitties who are well fed and have their own building to call home. Until next time….