Sweat, Swearing and Happy

Yesterday was a day of sweat, swearing and finally a few happy moments.

The sweat and swearing involved separating 7 of these 3 month old Silkie babies

from one rooster, 3 hens, and 6 five day old chicks. The moment we ( Fred and I ) tried doing any type of herding, chaos ensued.

Once the adult birds realized we weren’t coming after them or the wee ones, they told the 7 teenagers to go hide somewhere, stay together and to shut the fuck up.

Seeriously, they told them that.

They told them and they listened so damn well we started thinking they had fled the yard and were now carousing the streets of Hope.

Hacking my way through Blackberry AND Raspberry bushes 8 miles thick *shaking fist at Fred  and his lousy non-existent pruning skills* I spotted them huddled in a corner almost completely camouflaged.

And not saying one damn word.

A 1/2 hour later, 6 were all safely crated. The last one was just too damn fast!, or we were just too spent from it all, whatever. The 6 were loaded into the car, ready for the trip to be passed off to the sucker lady who was offering them a new home. She’s known as the Food Lady and her blog can be found right there  → Woo Tube. ( for future reference, a link to her blog is also found in the link at the top here under “Human Stuff”  Also for future reference, she, along with others operates a Border Collie rescue right here →  B.C. Border Collies )

We went in the house, bathed our wounds, and headed off to meet up. Then came the spectacle of exchanging them from Fred's crate to the Food Lady's. 5 of them were easy peasy, but the last one loosened itself from Fred’s grip and took off running like crazy for grass and bush that was even more foreboding looking than the Blackberry/Raspberry jungle at Fred’s house.

Fer fuck sake man.

The 3 of us were vainly trying to catch this 8 inch chicken in grasses that at some point were over our heads. Absolutely ridiculous. The Food Lady sent in a young pup she is fostering to perhaps flush out the chick. Seconds later, the sound of a chick being eaten alive came from the grass.

The chick was fine. Oh, there was a bit of canine saliva on it. And it was obviously traumatized from the whole wicked morning, but then so was I. Fair’s fair.

Happy moments from yesterday; 1 ) I was able to grab a big ass bale of shavings while out. It’ll keep some of the silt that sits on top of the dirt in my small yard down. Less dust in my home. I really could use 3-4 more, but was in someone’s car and not my van. Next time. 2 ) Received $12 in coupons for free products from Island Farms! I had purchased some milk from a store here and it curdled ( ewwww! ) within 2 days. Long story short, the store owner blamed it on crappy milk, and the company blamed it on poor handling on the store’s end. I profited, and that’s all that matters to that story. :) 3 )  Was asked to house and dog-sit for 3 days next week. It's within eye sight so it's only a matter of feeding and tending to the dog. I'll take Ticket over to play with it daily as well as take it on walks with us. Also, they've offered me the use of their tub so I can bathe my  guys! It's been almost a year since they were bathed; there is only a 6 gallon hot water tank in this sardine can and that wouldn't even get one of them damp. So, I'll make a few bucks AND have clean dogs. Sweet!

I took the next 2 photos of the field where we met up with the Food Lady

This one shows the height of the grass the bastard chick escaped to. Told you it was head height!

And that was my yesterday.

Today has been calm and quiet. So far.