Spinning more mohair

On By CarynIn Craft

I washed some of Rutabaga’s fleece! I bought the goats’ first clip from the grower Merrytale Farm, and the owner also sent me a picture of Dottie (mom), Rutabaga, and Sasparilla (Rutabaga’s twin) to use in this blog. I absolutely love that I know the name of the animal that provided me fiber!

Angora goats, picture by Merrytale Farm
Washed and carded colored mohair (left), same amount of skirted fleece (right)

I washed this fleece the same way I did Dottie’s, and it came out well. Where I just flicked open the ends of the locks of the adult mohair, Rutabaga’s first cut locks were smaller, so I used two wire dog brushes to card small portions. I then spun a handful of fluff at a time. I am still at the park and draft method of spinning, but I posted a video to show what I’m doing.

Using a top whorl drop spindle to spin single ply
Transferring single ply yarn from the spindle to a spool (yes, I figured out a way to spin with the cat on my lap)

I like my Frankenstein’d top whorl drop spindle with the long shank because I can spin it by rolling it along the arm of my chair and spin with the cat on my lap. She appreciates that too.

Count the spiders

On By CarynIn Wildlife
There are spiders in this photo

This is a photo of the sky above the coop. Spiders have made canopies spanning between the trees. It is a little intimidating walking to the coop and seeing these hunting trapeze artists suspended overhead, but I have to say that our fly population is low. Good for the spiders, good for us, good for the chickens. May have nightmares.

Spiders circled in red (ain’t tech neat)

I Love Volunteers

On By CarynIn Flora

Pretty plant volunteers that is. We have a wondrous blanket of volunteer morning glories on the slope in the back yard. I love it! They may be doing so well because I’ve been dumping the lanolin water from scouring mohair on that slope. I’ve read the lanolin can gum up septic systems, so none of the water involved goes down the drain. No worries, the morning glories are all the more glorious for it!

Volunteer morning glories

Navi update: Still massaging her crop. It seems like the size is reducing. The poor chicken is so skinny underneath that huge crop. We gave her some nutridrench today just to keep her energy up. It is just too hot to put her in the isolation ward, though.

Egg update: Found an egg still warm in the pine shavings under to roost this morning. I turned on the light early to check on Navi and saw one of the chickens already on the ground. Perhaps she just couldn’t hold it anymore? My eldest thinks Sunrise and Pooh are laying because they are the two that are crouching in submission.

Hindsight

On By CarynIn chickens

We did our monthly health check of the whole flock: checked vents, looked for parasites under the wing, checked feet, checked weight. This time we moved all the bands to the chickens’ left leg to make it easier to identify them. Navi’s colors were changed too, because a white band on a white feathered leg is not helpful. Although honestly, it is really easy to tell which one is Navi since her crop is distended.

Updated weight chart, note Navi’s decline

Not surprising, Navi lost some weight. It looks like what ever is ailing her started over a month ago. Although she gained weight the month before, it was not in proportion to her flock mates and dropped her to the lowest weight bird. Her comb also has not developed, which may or may not be related. Most of the flock now have bright red defined combs, while Navi has almost no comb and the area is still light pink.

Green onion experiment

On By CarynIn Garden
Green onions in window

My eldest likes the green part of the green onions, but not the white part. She will eat them straight! So when it is her turn to cut up the onions the white bulb is left behind. On a lark, I took one of these lonely rooted ends and stuck it in a plastic baggie with a wet paper towel and hung it in the window. It grew. So I stuck a couple more in there too. We’ll see how sustainable this system is!

Update on eggs: two more eggs! And we had our first egg breakfast. And I remembered to take a picture of an egg in the nest box.

Freshly laid egg

Update on Navi: Her crop was smaller but solid in the morning, so we are treating her for impacted crop. I have learned how to hold a chicken, prop open her beak, and squirt vegetable oil down her throat. Not easy, let me tell you. I have also been massaging her crop. I can nearly get my fingers to touch through the middle, so I am hoping I have been able to break up the mass. I let her roam for awhile then put her back in the isolation ward.