Sleepy

I just did my usual check of the animals outside and found Speedy looking very tied. Her and Old Boy are sleeping underneath the mango tree. I've never seen her this tired she looked like she could barely keep her eyes open. I hope she is ok.
I have a feeling that she doesn't get much sleep at night due to all of the large amount of mosquitos living in the chicken pen. I hope she doesn't catch Ross River Feaver or Malaria? Maybe I need to get her a mozzie netting to cover her box at night. I'm sure she'd love that!

Old days

I just love this picture. I saw it on my desk top and thought I needed to put it up. The boys seem to be doing a lot better these past day or two. They no longer want to be penned up and prefer to sit under the mango tree. They also go to bed. I must admit I'm glad that Tommy and Beaker are the two boys together, it would have been hard had it been Mandy and another boy.

the return of Robin

The sun has finally come out long enough for our lawns to be mowed today, and you know I never thought that I'd be so happy to see them mowed. It's more symbolic to me as now the puddles are slowly drying and life can get back to normal and by chance no more may ducks die.

Robin came back to visit today and even brought along a friend, I was so excited to see him/her that I ran outside an took a photo.

Mongy Foot confirmed

I am 100% confident Mongy Foot is down at the neighbours house. I saw her prancing about with a chick earlier today. She appears to only have one baby left. I had another person confirm to me as well that it was her. Now what do I do? She was my third favourite chicken, do I go down and shoo her up here or just leave her. Its been a month or so now, she must be adjusted to life down there. What a traitor. To be honest I'm totally happy to leave her down there my main concern is that my neighbour told me that she'd be eaten by a fox. I remember it well, cast your eyes back to the original blog.

http://hydrorancho.blogspot.com/2007/12/see-ya-mongy-foot.html

I even doubted the story then, I know when an animal of mine dies because a part of me dies as well. Look at Mongy Foot, she had a face you're hardly going to forget, let alone her feet.

Booty

I just love love Old Boy, here he is ready to prance his way through the mud. It looks like he's got little booties on as the mud has come up quite a bit on his legs.

Rolex

A friend and I were marvelling in the beauty of Old Boy and she asked me how old he was, to that I responded "Timeless".

still water

The rain has been still off and on the last few days. Just when I think we get a break and the sun comes out (I do a load of washing) the clouds come out and it rains.
The puddle is yet to dry up in front of the chicken pen and still I wear gumboots outside. But I've slowly started to let Tommy and Beaker out of the front pen. They walked down to the neighbours house today, which is the first time I've seen them do that since Mandy died. Tomorrow it will be two weeks since Mandy died, I still catch myself calling one of the boys Mandy.

Crop Circles

I was giving someone the grand tour of the ranch yesterday and stumbled upon these strange marks in the grass. I think we have crop circles. Normally you can see the path where I walk in the grass, but these were odd circles. First the 30 days of rain, then the Sasquatch sighting and now the crop circle. What's going on?As a side note, I don't think the boys like me. I opened their pen door up this morning and they didn't want to come out. I tried to coax them out with patting and general talking but instead they moved far away from me.

Big Foot

The mystery that surrounds Mongy Foot begins. I spotted that precious little chicken yesterday afternoon when I was looking for Old Boy. I saw her with her two kids down at the neighbours house and I'm 100% sure that it was her. I'm so confident it was her I'm taking her out of the Pet Cemetery - but not in the Stephen King sort of way. She responded to my voice, no one ever forgets my voice. I'm such an animal PI, does this make me Ace Ventura? I hope not because that movie was shit.

In case you're wondering here's when it all started.

http://hydrorancho.blogspot.com/2008/01/melba-pi.html

Monday

I think Wednesday will mark a month of rain. This morning I woke up so early and after I saw blue sky I got up straight away. Sadly it disappeared soon after we departed the farm.
No real news at the moment, the boys are still hanging out down the front in their makeshift pen while the chickens roam around.

Attention seeker

You know what? I really miss my babies. My sweet baby girls. The ranch is so much quieter without them. I had so many egg shells from cooking breakfast this morning and gave a few to Speedy and the rest to the chickens. Normally I'd open the screen door and just that noise would bring those girls waddling down and the boys in hot pursuit.


Maybe I miss the attention.

caged eggs

Speedy loved her glass box so much she went back in it this morning. She was poking around the back door so we picked her up and put her in there. I'm happy with that, and the sun is out today...

Speedymobile

I got told by someone today that I should put Speedy "in something like the Popemobile- build a Speedymobile so that nothing can get in there to harm her? Bulletproof, weatherproof and snake proof?"Its funny because by the time I was told this she was already locked up nice and safe in her own little glass box. She even laid an egg. I ended up taking her out at about 2pm as she was panting a little and I though it may have been a little hot for her. I'm such a sucker. The rain eased today and I even saw a break in the cloud so hopefully that cesspit of a puddle in front of the ducks pen dries up.

Morning update

I was so damn worried about Speedy last night, I went to check on her a number of times. When I went out this morning she seemed much better. I've since moved her out to a smallish type cage on our veranda. I put some hay, food and water in it and will leave her there for the next day or so. As I've since found out with the botulism, it builds up in the animals bodies and they can only take so much. So it may not be one thing they have eaten. I'm not sure how long it takes for their bodies to get rid of it, or if they even can. While I was told from the vet that chickens aren't usually susceptible to it, I can't take any chances when it comes to my princess Speedy. Hopefully she likes it out there and lays an egg. Cage eggs it is, screw the free range.

Fingers crossed

I'm worried about Speedy. She seemed unbalanced on her feet this afternoon. I just went to the pen to check on her and although she was making a few noises it could have been that I was annoying her. I really don't want her to die.

Then there were five

Oh and I forgot to mention, we lost two baby chicks last night as well. We went over to the pen a few min ago to do a patch job on the fencing. We managed to find the culprit snake digesting the baby chicks in the chicken house.
After much prodding it moved on taking its full belly with it. Problem is we could really only see one chick in its stomach, so maybe another snake got in as well. We patched up all remaining holes we could see and did I mention its still raining here.
Old Boy looks like he's been to Gaia day spa for a mud wrap.

I'm really not happy with how big my pet cemetary is getting. Any more ducks pass away and I'm going to have to change my blog name.

2 lone ducks

Here are the boys in their makeshift pen in the driveway. We went to pen them here last night but they climbed the fence and went to their normal house. I put all new hay in there to make sure it was super dry. I had a terrible sleep last night worrying about if they were going to die. I half expected to go out there to see their heads resting down but not my boys. Beaker and Tommy are in the for the long haul. (I hope.)
I ushered them out of the pen this morning and have returned them to their new pen. Nice and dry.

RIP Mandy

So it seems another day another duck passes away. I came home today from my normal day in Brisbane to see two ducks sitting in a make shift pen at the front of our house. When I saw only two of them I knew another had died.

Papa arrived home last night from touring and did a head count at 2am and everyone was fine. When he went out this morning Mandy couldn't hold his head up. He was taken down to the vets but unfortunately there was nothing that could be done. Papa was with Mandy when he died and sent him to be with Katcsa and The Twins (at least now he may actually be able to get some, instead of being cock blocked by Beaker). Mandy is also burried up with the babies where there is soon to be watermelon.

Damn you Botulism. If the rain would only stop for a day or two it would probably help.

So now there are two. Its strange seeing only two of them, I always have said Tommy and Beaker are playing survivor, as they formed an alliance to beat Mandy in their quest for being top duck. Talk about out wit, out play, out last.

Mandy was my home boy, the only duck that knew its name and would run to me for help. Its a sad day at the ranch.

headcount

I did a head count this morning and all chickens are alive and accounted for. Looks like my midnight patch job did the trick. As I'm away tonight I'm going to put Speedy back in with the ducks. I feel that she is safe in there. My cotton wool chickens!
I've got 4 baby girl eggs left, so I'm going to make my last duck egg pasta this week. I'm sure it will be a great meal.

Snake watch

Tonight is the first time I've seen a snake on my watch while the tour has been on. Which I must admit is pretty good. I think they mustn't have liked all the rain. So tonight just before I headed off to bed for an early night (around 11pm) I did one last check of the animals.
Speedy alerted me to something as she wasn't sleeping, instead she was standing up appearing to be looking at something. On further investigation it was indeed a snake and one about the size that killed GOB not too long ago. So I moved it on and went back to check on them in about half an hour. Meanwhile I should admit I moved Speedy into the duck pen. I'm simply not prepared to loose Speedy and the female ducks all in one week. So now Speedy is sharing Mandy's top bunk.
I went out there again and sure enough the snake had returned but was trying to enter by a what appeared to be a large hole in my snake proof fence. So I set about patching it, in the dark with the thought of a snake looming over my head. It took me about 20 or so minutes and now I'm just waiting another 30 min before I go out again for one last look.
Mandy doesn't really like sharing his bunk as Speedy started tucking into his food, which incidentally I've never seen a chicken eat at night. Speedy actually was picking a fight with Mandy during the day today, always fighting over cucumber. It looked pretty funny, this tiny little chicken in fight mode with Mandy huffing and puffing. I wanted Mandy to swat at Speedy but nothing happened.
Well I'm fading so I might just go and check on them now.

Friday

I've been trying to give more attention to the boys during these times of mourning. Mandy seems the least affected by it all and seems to enjoy wandering around without the hassle of Tommy and Beaker chasing him. They even let Mandy in the pen tonight, but I still put him up on the top bunk.

The rain is still here and I'm beginning to think we're never going to have a sunny day again. The pond in front of the duck pen is yet to dry up and every time I see it I think of the girls playing out there. It really is a much quieter place without them. I no longer feel the need to just pop outside to say hello and to see what they are doing, plus the boys are hardly talking at the moment.

Also I just wanted to thank everyone for their calls and support. Those three baby girls meant so much to me, so thanks.

Beaches

After the last couple of emotional days I'm feeling slightly better. While the boys are still on the look out for the girls, I must admit I do to. I thought I saw a girl at my back door yesterday but it was just a white pipe (I mustn't have had my glasses on). I really believe that the boys think the girls are down at the neighbours house. The keep looking down there, but never actually walk down there. I think they only did before because they were following the girls.

I felt much better yesterday after I buried the girls. My neighbour helped me with the aid of his tractor. I choose to plant them up near our lime trees. Unfortunately the neighbour chose to start digging the hole near our water pipe. While I don't think he broke the pipe, he did manage to run over it countless times and then bury it so he could drive over it some more. I'm guessing he may have cracked it as I saw a puddle of water and I have less pressure today. I was thinking about what to plant on top of them and decided on some watermelon. If I could plant some bacon up there, they would prefer that, but as I can't - watermelon it is.

I actually had a really good day the day the ducks died (until I got home, that is). It was funny my friend and I went shopping and she purchased the dvd Beaches. We joked about how we cry every time we watch it. So when I got home that night and was nursing the two babies as they died I started thinking about 'you are the wings beneath my wings, fly etc' which cracked me up but then made me sad. Damn you beaches.

I just watched Tommy walk down to the neighbours. I feel bad for the boys, I wonder how long they'll keep looking for them.

Botulism

I didn't think I was going to post again for a little while, but I just found out the cause of death.

Botulism - it is a bacterial infection caused by ingesting dead animal matter or rotting plant matter. The babies having been keen explorers, I'm sure had a good ol' munch on some rotting carcass. Their pen is so muddy and there is so much rotting leaves that I'm sure that's what it was.

I'm leaving the chickens penned so they too don't die. The boy ducks are just sitting on the grass near the mangoes waiting for the girls to return. This morning when I let them out they ran around looking for them, even going back to the place I found Katcsa.

You know I always thought I was going to get ducklings out of the girls.

Below is a picture of The Twins.

RIP Baby Girl (again)

After the first Baby Girl died I went out to check on the rest of them and sure enough the last female duck starting convulsing.
I stayed with her, in the end I had to move her out of the duck pen as she was hitting her head and wings as she thrashed about. Its so sad. I'm so sad. All three females in one night. Perhaps they ate a cane toad, that's really the only thing I can think of.
I'm pretty guttered so I'll blog later, I just wanted to give you an update. I'm devastated, I can't even look at pictures to post because I get so sad. Its the hardest watching them die like I've done with The Twins.

RIP Baby Girl

From when I wrote that previous blog to going outside to move Katcsa, the other baby girl with the sore foot rapidly declined. I know longer think it was a snake that killed Katcsa.
Two ducks deaths in one night. I sat with the other baby girl as she lay dying as I didn't want her to die alone. I talked to her and patted her.
Tomorrow I will pen the ducks in with the chickens. I will probably bury the ducks under the mango trees.

RIP Katcsa

I'm completely devastated. I'm not sure what happened to her, I found her when I got home. Mandy was standing next to her. My neighbour seems to think it was a snake, but I'm not sure.

I'm going to bury her tomorrow.

Then to top it off, I saw Mandy trying to have sex with the corpse. One of the other baby girls has a really sore leg, so I'm guessing something happened. I'll write something a bit later.

Old Boy

Old Boy, like a fine wine, he keeps getting better with age.

He is still quite beat up after fighting with Young Boy. Young Boy still manages to hurt Old Boy fighting through a fence. With the rain easing Old Boy has been drying off and even ventured down to the neighbours place for a bit of a look. I wish someone would eat Young Boy already as I'm sick of having to separate them. Its such a pain having to have one locked up all the time. Penning them at night is difficult as Young Boy is normally in the duck pen so I can't put them to bed until all of the chickens are safely locked away. When Young Boy is finally let out to roam with other hens he chases them around like made mating with them.

Sunday

While I think the torrential rain may have finished, the mud is sticking around. The babies are so happy playing in the mud and preening themselves.

Something was definitely off with Speedy yesterday. After I found her, I caught her and she seemed a little fragile. My guess is that she was finally beaten up by the ducks.

Mandy and Tommy had a little rumble this morning. It was good they settled their differences early during in the day.

Melba PI

I can't find Speedy and another black hen. She's been missing since this morning which makes me think she's sitting on a nest but I'm just not sure. The rain has finally stopped and I let everyone out today to celebrate.
I could hear some major chirping going on down at my neighbours house this morning. I had a look as thought it was one of our chicks lost, but It was coming from his old chicken pen. I saw a black hen in there with at least two chicks (who look a about as old as Mongy Foots). Remember I never did find her carcass. I wonder if perhaps she didn't wander down there. While I'm not accusing and my eyesight is certainly not the best, I'm going to investigate later.
I miss Speedy and she's only been gone for a few hours. I miss her arrogance and patting her.
I got the chickens and ducks a bale of hay this morning. I bet they'll be pleased about sleeping on something dry tonight.

UPDATE: I was wrong to think that the neighbours had some how captured Speedy and locked her up. I found her in the afternoon under the shed having some alone time. I think she may have a nest under there.

What not to do

While I normally don't post information about myself, but I thought this story was worthy of telling. So as I've mentioned before it's flooding and raining a lot.
Last night I had to do a quick dash to Brisbane to drop off some cushion covers. And while it may sound rather unimportant, these cushion covers are a vital piece of furniture at the larder. Anyway I was hoping that I'd make it back in time before I was flooded in. I made to Brisbane ok and then on my return the water was well up onto the road on many parts of the street. I made it pretty close to my house and just when I got to the last bridge I realised I couldn't cross it. Lucky for me though I had actually followed another car all along the street. So I went and asked them if they were turning back. The driver was but the guy in the car lived not far and was going to walk the rest of the way. So we set about crossing the bridge. This isn't something I'd really recommend. Crossing a flooded bridge in pitch black. I grabbed the guys hand so we didn't float away and off we went. We made it fine and then just continued to walk home. Even that was hard as it was so damn dark. I've forgotten the guys name, but he was a chef from a good local restaurant. What a way to meet your neighbour huh?
After he left to go and climb his driveway I had to continue on to mine. I ended up having to take my shoes off (and you know how much I like doing that) so I could feel the road. Once I was on the driveway I felt slightly better, only to keep walking into my neighbours electric fence. I'm pretty sure the SES would recommend doing non of the above.
When I got home I couldn't even be bothered going and checking on the ducks.

I only just went and retrieved my car this morning from the bridge, as its low tide the water was under the bridge.

More Flooding

So now it's not just flooded at the chicken and duck pens, but all roads leading to the ranch are flooded. Its just me and the ducks until the flood waters subside. I'll try and get down to the creek today and get a photo. Problem is I really don't feel like getting wet.
It appears that the mother of the six chickens has also abandoned her kids. At least now Lucille 2 has some company to keep. I let the chickens out today, they look just like drowned rats, well chickens actually.
I'm still loving the rain, I think our garden is over it though. I'm really not sure how much more it will be able to take. The ducks are over it as well. I'm worried about them catching a cold. I just want to towel them off like a dog.

Love Boat

Have a mentioned that it's raining here? Now the water is running from the duck pen and into the chicken pen. I think the ducks are over it, they spend most of their days standing very still in the rain and then when it stops they preen. They do this until it starts raining again. However it hasn't really stopped this morning. I've stopped being able to take photos of the ducks as I don't want the camera getting wet, so photos will have to wait.
But the positive side of the all the rain (aside from all the rain) is that there are no snakes.

New Years Day

Here is Old Boy checking out the ducks playing in the mud. He was much more interested in having his photo taken. As you can see from the black on his face he is a little beat up. The rain is starting to clear (I think) so tomorrow I'm off to buy more hay as the duck pen is totally under water.

House boat

Well its still raining here, I'm pretty sure the duck pen is going to float away soon. I had to cancel the fireworks last night I'd planned for the ducks as it was far too rainy. I purchased them a can of corn as a celebratory meal for the babies but I forgot to give it too them.

On the positive side is that there have been no snakes due to the rain so we've still got 7 baby chicks. That black hen doesn't let Lucille 2 hang out with her during the day, but at night lets her huddle in under her wing.