Chicken Wrangler Sara

6 09, 2019

Are You My Mother?

By |2019-08-29T10:39:59-05:00September 6th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Texas is hot in August. How hot you ask?  It is so hot that eggs can hatch without a chicken sitting on them.

I know this because we picked up an orphan chick from a person who had several chicks hatch without a hen. She gave four away and then there was a late bloomer.  We still had our chicks separated so we thought adding to them would be fine.

We brought the little black chick home and put it in with the others that night.

We have discovered that when you move chickens at night they wake up and think they have always been in their new home.  (At least that is what we assume.  They transition very well.)

The next morning, I moved the chicks outside in their wire cage to enjoy some grass. When I checked before I left for school, the little black chick had managed to get through the wire and was wandering around in the big world alone.  This was not a good idea.

I put the chick back in a cardboard box in the house and went to work. The little black chick lived in the box until it was too big to get out of the wire cage.  It was still considerably smaller than the other chicks and they began to pick on it.

I moved it back inside into a larger tub.  It was safe but very lonely.  It cheeped all the time. Beekeeper Brian put the stuffed cat in the tub with it.  That made it happy.  Now it snuggles up with the stuffed cat every night.  I guess it thinks that is its mother.

23 08, 2019

New Shoes

By |2019-08-10T10:14:41-05:00August 23rd, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I started teaching at a new school last year. It was quite an adjustment.  The classes were larger and longer.  I did not know what the students had already learned so I spent most of the year floundering.

About December, I decided that this job would require good shoes. I had enough challenges without suffering from aching feet.

I mentioned this to Beekeeper Brian who immediately took me to what I like to call the “old lady” shoe store.  Actually they carry men’s and children’s shoes but they specialize in comfort.  We bought a pair of sturdy black shoes and I wore them every day.  My feet never hurt even after doing Animal Boogie and playing the turkey game repeatedly.

In the spring I decided to get a pair of sandals.  While I am not a fashionista by any means, wearing my black shoes with my light color clothing just didn’t seem right.  I found a pair of tan sandals of the same brand.  I was a little leery – after all how could sandals be as comfortable as my black “old lady” shoes.

Well one morning a chicken got on the wrong side of the fence and I found myself engaged in a rousing game of “catch the chicken before the dachshund does.”  Of course I was wearing my new sandals and they did great.  If I could chase a chicken certainly I could chase my preschoolers.

This summer the store had a “tent sale.”  I figured I could use a pair of black sandals so off I went.

Alas, there were no black sandals with a back that were in my size and price range.  They did, however, have a pair of slip on sandals with the same sole as my brown ones.

I talked to the salesman at length about the possibility of them flying off as I chased children.  He could not say from personal experience but he had never had any returned for that reason.

So I bought them and brought them home.

I wore them to teach preschool this week.  It was my last week for the summer so I chose to do some of their favorite things – including Ruckus on the Ranch.  This meant galloping around like Wyatt and Ruby in each of three classes.  Not once did my sandals fly off!  They passed the Wyatt and Ruby test.

Now all I need is a pair of brown close toed shoes and my collection will be complete!

16 08, 2019

Welcome Ducklings

By |2019-08-07T17:11:43-05:00August 16th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

We moved the ducklings outside this week. They are in the pen where the white chicks had been.  They seem to have adjusted very well.  I close them in the coop at night and they come out during the day.

Lucy and Ricky noticed them pretty quickly and seemed very curious.  I may never get the big ducks back into their pen.

 

We are keeping Elvis, my friend’s dachshund, while she and her husband are in Alaska.

He seemed curious as well.

I’m not sure the ducklings realize what a novelty they are.  It is nice to see the rest of Miller Farm welcome the new ducklings!

9 08, 2019

Space

By |2019-08-03T15:19:16-05:00August 9th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

After the recent hatching was complete, we have 6 chicks and 2 ducks. We have kept them all in a tub in what was Rachel’s room and is now Brian’s project room.  They seem quite content most of the time.

The ducklings are really messy and like to play in the water. Based on the actions of our grown ducks out back I can safely assume they will not outgrow this trait.  I recently put them in a wire cage outside in the shade while I cleaned their tub.  They seemed to enjoy the grass.  We hope to move them outside to a small pen in the chicken yard this weekend.I was thinking about all this morning. They started out in an incubator and then moved into a slightly larger brooder tub. As they grow, the tub becomes crowded. Then it will be time for them to go into a small pen and finally be incorporated into the big chicken yard.  I was pondering whether or not the little chicks are ready to be in such a big chicken yard.

I was reminded of our children. They started in the house and as they grew it became crowded.  Then they moved on to various locations.  One is still in town but in a different house, one is in a town about an hour away, and the oldest is married, in a town 3 hours away and traveling all over the country.

I sometimes ponder whether or not they are ready to be out in the big world.  I do enjoy the added space in the house.

2 08, 2019

Time on Her Own

By |2019-08-01T10:27:25-05:00August 2nd, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

One of the Buff Orpington hens started losing feathers on her back thanks to an overzealous rooster. One morning I discovered her in a nest box with a gash on her back.

Having watched Rachel many times, I donned gloves and treated the hen with Blu-Kote – a germ-killing fungicidal wound dressing. True to its name, it is a dark blue liquid that stains whatever it touches, hence the gloves.  I thought I was being smart.  The hen, however, shook her head in disagreement and flung blue everywhere.

At least the wound was covered.

A few days later, she wandered into an empty run, and I closed the gate and got her food and water.  The isolation did wonders for her and before long her feathers all grew back.  She even started laying eggs again!She got out of her pen and I figured she was ready to be with the others.  However, a few days later I found her back in the nest box with missing feathers.  I returned her to the isolation pen.  She was not quite ready to join society.

As summer comes to an end and the start of school/work looms ever near, I can say I may have to agree with her.  I’m not quite ready…

26 07, 2019

Lost and Found

By |2019-07-23T08:04:43-05:00July 26th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

One of the chicks I brought home from school disappeared last week. I looked everywhere and didn’t find nary a feather.  I was concerned mostly because I was afraid the kids at school would ask about the chicks and I would have to confess to losing one.

The other morning Max was very intently looking at the pen where the chicks had been staying with the rooster.  He started growling and I figured there must be something there.

I hesitantly entered the coop fearful that I would encounter a snake.  I saw a bunch of white feathers under the coop and realized they were attached to a bird.

I carefully lifted the coop, thinking the bird was surely dead.  I was wrong.  The poor chick wiggled out from under the coop and stumbled over to the water.

I was pleasantly surprised.  I kept an eye on it and made sure there was plenty of water and food.  It seems to be none the worse for the experience.

I’m glad Max was insistent.  He gets credit for saving a chicken.  He only needs to rescue 6 more to replace all the chickens Bella has caught over the years.

And now I can honestly report that all the chicks are doing well.

19 07, 2019

Not Quite Empty Nest

By |2019-07-18T08:47:29-05:00July 19th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Rachel recently moved to Huntsville to be closer to graduate school. After she left I discovered she had left some things – like the incubator.  That made sense because her research was dealing with horses and they don’t need an incubator.  I figured we would pass it on to another young chicken lover.

Well that is not exactly what happened.  Beekeeper Brian filled the incubator with chicken and duck eggs.  I was a little frustrated at first.  I thought we were done hatching birds. 

Then the first baby duck hatched.

It was so cute and I remembered how much I like baby birds.

Rachel was in town for a doctor appointment and stopped by.  She thought the baby duck was lonely so she put a stuffed animal in with it.

It seemed much happier.

Another one hatched today so now there are two.  Eventually we will also have chicks.

So much for an empty nest!

 

12 07, 2019

Memories

By |2019-07-10T08:25:30-05:00July 12th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|5 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Times are changing on Miller Farm. It’s just Beekeeper Brian and Chicken Wrangler Sara in the house now so we are painting and rearranging rooms. In this process we have made some interesting discoveries.

Behind the lawyers stack, for example, were some posters. Most were disposable but one brought back fond memories. It is a large poster with Sara Lynn carefully written in it in large bold letters. It belongs to a long ago time in my life – my junior year of high school.

The senior class was holding auditions for their variety show and my group of friends decided to do a humorous skit about Julius Caesar. At the last minute everyone backed out leaving me alone at the auditions.

I had been taking piano lessons all my life and always had a song ready for performance. So, without any plan or preparation when it came time for my group to audition, I sat down and played a Tarantella.

As it happened, my piano performance was chosen to represent the junior class in the variety show.  They asked for the name of my act and all I could think of was my name.So, they put my first and middle name on a poster that I have managed to hang on to through three children and two countries.

The experience of performing in the variety show was actually very lonely. I sat by myself at the rehearsals and even won a patience award. This should have been my first clue that performing was not the career for me. I much prefer being surrounded by kids making music in a classroom. This is especially true during the summer when school is not in session.

5 07, 2019

Unlikely Coop Mates

By |2019-07-01T17:01:08-05:00July 5th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The chicks I brought home from school have grown considerably. I had them in their own pen but one of them kept getting out. Then they all started roosting on the chicken wire.

Every night I would go out and put them all in the coop so they would not get eaten by whatever was hungry for chicken at night.  Then in the morning I would open the coop and let them out into their pen.

Eventually they all followed the chick with wanderlust and began exploring the larger pen with the big hens.  They seemed to do fine so I stopped locking them up at night.

One morning I found all four chicks in a pen with one of our roosters.We had separated the roosters to prevent them from fighting.  I was initially concerned about the safety of the little chicks.  Apparently this rooster does not consider them a threat and is leaving them alone.

So once again my plan for organizing the flock is undermined by the plans of the chickens.  Oh well, as long as everyone is happy and safe.

21 06, 2019

Gertie the Great White Whale

By |2019-06-20T10:43:15-05:00June 21st, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog By Chicken Wrangler Sara

Beekeeper Brian and I were married August 15, 1987.  In November of 1987 we purchased our first car – a 1987 Honda Accord LX. We named her Gertie the Great White Whale, or GGWW.Gertie carried three babies home from the hospital.  She and Curtis the Camel Car were our means of transportation until we moved to Mexico in 1997.

Since moving back from Mexico we have owned many cars of many makes and models. The three babies have grown up and learned to drive.  Some of the cars have gone to live with our children.  Most recently Catherine and Caleb purchased the Honda Fit I had been driving.  Brian and I began the hunt for a new car for me to drive.

Rachel has moved closer to where she is attending graduate school and Bill has graduated from high school, returned to China and will attend college in Denton.  This means that Brian and I are once again alone in the house.

The car we purchased to replace the Honda Fit is a 2017 Honda Accord LX. Brian named it Gertie the Great White Whale Take Two or GGWWTT. We have come full circle.

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