Negative volume

On By CarynIn chickens

Not that it has been awhile since I was able to fill the chicken’s dust bath, but the volume in the tire was negative.

Photo description: old rubber tire used as a chicken dust bath with the inside soil level below the tire and surrounding ground level
Photo description: approximately six gallons of dust bath mixture (wood ash, soil, and diatomaceous earth) added to the tire bath

There is room for another batch or two of dust bath mixture.

Iron in the ash

On By CarynIn chickens

My folks visited and Dad burned some of our wood pile to make ash for the chickens, since we actually had an allowed burn day. I haven’t made ash in over a year because of time restraints and burn restrictions. As we shooed the spiders and geckos out of the iron cauldron I use as a fire pit, I noticed a large flake of rust fall off. I don’t want the chickens eating that, so when the ashes cooled, I used a fishing magnet to remove the metal.

Photo description: fishing magnet covered in ashy bits of iron, more ash in the cauldron in the background

I dredged the ash with a magnet four or five times before I was no longer collecting large flakes of iron.

Photo description: iron cauldron with about two gallons of ash, and a small metal bucket with about two cups of iron flakes

There is still iron in the ash, but small enough grains that it shouldn’t cause hardware stomach in the chickens. Hardware stomach is where the farm animal eats wire or nails or some other metallic object, and the object damages the digestive tract, often leading to death.

Butterflies and skippers

On By CarynIn Garden

I did not trim back the Gregg’s Mistflower this fall. It is now tall and gangly, but blooming and full of fluttering wings. We have many Queen butterflies, but I’ve spotted some others visiting the purple tufted flowers as well.

Photo description: Pearl Crescent butterfly sitting on a Gregg’s Mistflower
Photo description: Clouded Skipper sitting on a Gregg’s Mistflower

Gregg’s Mistflower is native to Texas and in proper light conditions grows to 2 feet tall. The front flower bed doesn’t get enough sunlight which makes the plants gangly and closer to three feet tall before it falls over and grows up again from the fallen stems. Since it is native, at the end of the season, and after a nice solid rain, I’m going to relocate these plants into our meadow, which does get a little more sun. They are self seeding and spread and the idea of a meadow full of butterflies is attractive. They also bloom in both spring and fall, making them a valuable source of nectar.

Face time

On By CarynIn Cats
Photo description: calico cat in an oval wicker basket on the floor

Izzy the calico cat has not had much face time on the blog lately, so here she is being her regal self in a basket I was getting ready to pack up for a spinning demonstration.

Another one down

On By CarynIn Cats
Photo description: large gray tabby eating a mouse on a rug inside the house

Thor the gray tabby brought another mouse into the house. At least this time he dispatched it himself. The last one hid under the couch and Sophie the calico cat had to take care of it.