Lazy Chickens?

That flock I got back in the summer (see earlier posts) as chicks have reached maturity, and should be laying... but they're not, at least not yet.

Don't know if the colder weather and overcast skies have been discouraging them, or if they're just lazy bums eating all my feed and giving me nothing in return.

Egg-laying is triggered by light, I've learned. So again, maybe it's the gray days we've had through much of December. But the combs have grown full and there's leg coloration (the legs turn yellow on many breeds when they're ready to start laying), both indicators that they're ready to start earning their keep around here...

On other fronts--- been spending time doing some basic pruning of domestic plants and clearing. You can never do enough clearing, when it comes to fire readiness. And no, we're not in any fire danger right now, but it's easier to do some clearing when it's cool out; less sweat, less heat exhaustion, and no canyon flies. Canyon flies are incredibly annoying miniature flies that zero in on moisture; so they're always diving at your eyes and trying to get in your ears. They're dormant in cold weather, which is very nice.

More About Wells

We had the temperature drop below freezing for several nights in a row a few weeks ago, and it brought to mind another issue about wells--- or at least my well.

Our well pumps water into a small pressure tank prior to pumping it up the hill to our house. Which means there are several feet of exposed pipe. And, when it freezes... well, so does the water in the pipe, which means no water gets pumped.

To combat that I use heat tape. Couldn't find any in the hardware stores around here (too urban) to I ordered some online. It works great--- it's just an electrical line encased in a plastic/rubber insulation which radiates heat. Not a lot, but enough to warm the pipe when you affix it with a loop of wire.

My understanding is that heat tape uses a lot of electricity, but I haven't noticed too big a jump in the bill, and it's not like we have a choice. One time when I forgot to plug it in and we got hit by a surprise freeze, my wife had to go down to the well and aim a blow dryer at the pipes so she could take a shower.

Needless to say, I never forgot the heat tape again.

Water, Water... Everywhere But Where it Oughta Be

If you're seriously thinking about giving suburban ranching a try, chances are you'll be sacrificing a few things, some of the niceties that most folks take for granted.

Like water, for instance.

My ranch is only two miles away from a city with a population of 123,000, and yet we get no city water here. We rely on a well. Which may not seem like a big deal to people who live somewhere other than a desert--- but let's face it, that's what most of Southern California is.

The water issue becomes exacerbated greatly during long periods of drought. We're at about the 7-year mark in our latest drought, and my well is sucking at water like a little kid slurping up the last drop of a milk shake. There's just not much there.

So, we rely on a back-up tank situated on a hill behind our house. The water is gravity fed, and is primarily for fire control. However, when necessary I can hook a hose up to a bib on the hydrant and run it to a hose bib on the house, thus feeding the house with water when the well is not able to pump sufficient water. We have to use a pump truck to fill the tank; there's no other way to get the water up the hill.

Saturday I discovered that one of the "L" joints in the 2" pvc pipe from the tank had cracked, leaking about $275 worth of water from the tank onto the hill. Meaning, we had no water in the well, and no water in the tank. Bummer.

I fixed the pipe on Saturday, replacing it with (expensive) UV-Resistant pvc because it's exposed (most of the piping on the hill is UV-Resistant; the joint that cracked was not). It was a rather dry weekend for us; couldn't run laundry, had to take abbreviated showers, run one load of dishes...

The water truck came Monday and pumped 4000 gallons up the hill. Another $275. I checked my repairs, and everything held, so we're back in business.

I say all this because things like well problems can often be overlooked when you're thinking about how cool it would be to have your own ranch. But let me tell you, when your well runs dry you'll be wondering if it was really worth it, and if you wouldn't have been happier being able to take a shower and water your plants any time you want.

When you look into getting a suburban ranch, be sure the SYSTEMS of the house are in good order. Those are the things that you tend to take for granted in a neighborhood or apartment building, but can create nightmares for you--- and be a financial headache as well. Water; septic; electrical supply; heating and air... get a level of confidence in the working condition of all of them before you make the move.

Chickens Just Drop Dead Sometimes

I've lost chickens to predators, sure, and I've lost 'em to Marek's (a sudden paralysis that they're typically vaccinated for as chicks). But this morning is the first time I've opened up the chicken barn to let everyone out for the day, and found a seemingly healthy 4-month-old bird dead on the floor.

Its head had a big, bloody wound on it, but I'm 90% sure that was post-mortem, as the rest of the chickens woke up. If one pecked and drew a spot of blood, the rest of them wouldn't be able to resist the incongruous red dot, and they'd all peck away. Chickens aren't known for their brains.

Anyway, as I say I saw no sign of disease, there are no poisons of any sort anywhere around, and it's too chilly for rattlesnakes. I don't know what the heck happened, but I'll need to keep an eye on the others.

Last weekend I installed new lay boxes in a seperate shed for them, as I expect the older birds will start laying in December. The "replacements" I got when the coons took 3 chicks a month or so ago won't lay until March or so.

This weekend I'm gonna take a nearby friend up on his offer for a free rooster. I want to have one around; next spring I'd like to incubate a fresh batch of chicks. Given the churn rate with chickens, you've gotta keep new ones coming!

Tractor Newbee Lesson Learned

I took the tractor into a ravine yesterday to dig out a big rock that I thought would look great in my cactus garden, and got the dang thing stuck. Dug a huge hole with my rear wheel, and couldn't get back out of the ravine no matter how many rocks I put under the wheel for traction. I finally got fed up and just left it there overnight.

Woke up in the morning thinking, "Hey, I'll bet I didn't have the 4-wheel drive engaged." Checked the manual, and yep, that's what was wrong. I stuck a couple planks in front of the wheels, put it in 4-wheel drive, and motored right out of the ravine, no problem.

Almost embarassed to admit to that one...

Got a "Buzz Worm"

That's what my neighbor likes to call rattlers. We've got a lot of them here in the chapparal, and this morning I moved a small bucket in an area I was doing some rock work--- and there was a sleeping little baby buzz worm.

The weather was chilly, so the little fella (or gal?) just sat there, flicking its tongue. It wasn't being defensive, and it was too young to rattle. Here's what it looked like when I uncovered it:

I got my snake-stick (the kind the fire department uses; basically a really long version of those "reach extenders" that have a trigger at one end, and a kind of pincer-device at the other) and put it into a bucket.

I took the bucket up the hill a little ways, and let it go into a sage thicket. It wasn't moving too fast, but it managed to get itself under cover, so it'll be fine. Which is good; the more snakes we've got around, the less rats, mice, ground squirrels and gophers.

Coons Had a Chicken Dinner

Those triplet raccoons living under our deck just wore out their welcome. They actually pried open a sliding "chicken door," a small hatch-type door that slides down between two wooden flanges. They pulled hard enough to bust one of the flanges, and treated themselves to one 3-month-old chick each.

Naturally one of the victims was the prettiest one, the Brahma. Coons have discerning taste, evidently.

Anyway, I reinforced everything so that can't happen again, but I'm down to seven chicks. I like to keep 10-12 layers at a time, so I'll go get some more this weekend. I'll keep them separate, since they're younger, and that way I'll have staggered laying, as their molt should hit at a different time than the current flock.

When chickens molt--- which they do about once a year--- they pretty much shut down, laying-wise. Takes a couple weeks before they're back to work, and usually each molt slows their production a bit. By their third molt, they're usually played out from a production standpoint.

By the way, I think I'm gonna live-trap the coons and relocate them. I'll post some pix if I decide to do that.