New years day possum

Our son Mike came up with his kids on New Years day. It was dark when they got here but after we ate the kids wanted to go to the barn and see the horses so we got some carrots and went. Lily was her usual sweet self but Charlie first tried to bite one of the girls then turned around to kick at us. That little bugger is getting a bad kicking habit. I need to work with him more, but it’s hard to do in the cold.

As we were getting ready to head back into the house, my grandson Devon asked “ Is that a possum?” Sure enough, a big possum was sticking its head out from a pet carrier near the cat dish. He was hissing and growling at us so we didn’t get too close, no playing dead there. But the kids were more thrilled at seeing the possum up close than seeing the horses and chickens. I didn’t know we had a possum in the barn again, but I suspected we might when one day last week I was in the barn during the daytime and heard faint snoring. I have heard possums snoring numerous times as they sleep in the day. Sometimes I can trace the sound to where they are hiding, but that day I didn’t try. I wonder why possums snore? You would think it would be a big survivor no- no, but then possums are a very ancient animal, maybe predators don’t learn to listen for snoring.

Both of my turkey hens are now trying to sit on the same nest. Since the eggs have been knocked out a couple times I doubt any will hatch. It keeps the hens from using at least one nest often both of the floor nests. We are still getting a good supply of eggs even though it has been cold. The chickens and turkeys are getting spoiled as they have had a lot of food scraps lately. We had a lot of Christmas leftovers and we have been buying them stale bread from the store at 25-50 cents a loaf.

The chickens recognize the sound of plastic bags being rustled and go nuts. I always carry stuff out in a plastic grocery bag or bread bag because it’s easy to carry with the 2 buckets of water I need to carry out. They jump right at the door as I open it and when the independent hen was out in the barn one day and saw me set a bag down on the feed table she came flying up in a rush. Unfortunately I had already collected eggs in a pan sitting on the table and she knocked them off. The cats and Miss Independent got several cracked eggs to eat, hopefully she won’t remember that trick.

I have been reading a lot about heritage breeds of chickens, turkeys and other types of poultry and getting this urge to order more babies. Then I remind myself as I am trudging back and forth in the snow twice a day with buckets of water why I don’t need more things to take care of. Same with thinking about a steer or pig to raise, good meat but a lot of work. And you have to build pens- my husband asked that we not spend all spring and summer putting up fences this year- but we do need a pen to separate the turkeys from the chickens and we need some fixing up of the west pasture and its shed so we can move the horses in the spring. Nice warm weather projects to dream about. If you have good pens and sheds, set up right - working with livestock is so much easier. I wish we could get running water in the barn that didn’t freeze in the winter, that would really be a big help.

I also want to add several more raised garden beds. We have lots of good horse manure and sawdust to put in them. Building the beds is easy, filling them is what’s hard. But they work so much better than conventional garden beds. I want to add a small patch of raspberries, and maybe some strawberries and move the grape vines over into the sun. I am planning the garden additions now including revamping my big perennial flower bed in the center of the yard, but I may not have the time and money to get them all done this spring. And the butterfly garden in front of the spruce needs re-working too, and the fruit trees pruned- so much to do - hope spring comes early!