Yesterday I saw a turkey buzzard, a solitary bird floating in the sky, a sure sign its spring even though its cold and we have been having flurries all day today.  I hope it knows spring is coming because I am having difficulties seeing it.  But yesterday when it was a bit warmer I also heard red winged blackbirds singing another good sign.  But when the frogs sing- then I’ll know for sure.

I am getting estimates on having the huge spruce by our barn taken down.  I sure hate to do it but the tree is now dead two thirds of the way up.   I decided to take it down and put my new vegetable beds in that spot.  The estimates include chipping the branches and leaving me the wood chips, which will mean I won’t have to buy wood chips and that kind of offsets the cost of taking the tree down.   We were going to put new veggie beds in the old horse pasture but this spot is closer to the house and water.

I went out to the barn yesterday morning and Brandy, the Jack Russell left in the barn was barking.  I opened the door to the kennel area and stepped into the small room.  Brandy kept barking at something behind me so I turned to look and saw a possum trying to hide behind the chair in there.   I opened Brandies kennel door and let her at it.  She chased it into Sarah’s old kennel which was open and nailed it, shook it until it went limp, then she went back to her kennel to eat her breakfast.  I noticed the possum was still breathing but I wasn’t sure it was playing possum or just dying. 

I went to feed the chickens and in a moment I heard Brandy barking again.  The possum had revived and was behind the doghouse in Sarah’s kennel.  I moved the doghouse and Brandy ran in and grabbed the possum again.  This time she shook it for several minutes, biting it in several places.  It went limp and she once more abandoned it.  I returned to chicken feeding but when I went back to check the possum was once more hiding behind the doghouse.  I got a rabbit carrier and managed to chase it into the carrier with a stick.  It was growling and snapping pretty good.  I couldn’t see but one puncture wound on it from all that dog mauling.

It looked at me and its coat was so pretty, a soft gray, nice from eating all my eggs and cat food.   I started having second thoughts about killing it, maybe dragging the cage out to the woods and releasing it.  But I knew I couldn’t drag it far and that it would just come back.  I really do hate killing things but I have had possums in the barn before who just ate cat food and chicken feed and left my eggs alone.  I left them alone too. These last possums are very greedy buggers; they are eating our table eggs as well as killing potential baby turkeys and ducks.  I am worried that if I buy chicks, they might eat those too.   So I went inside and informed Steve and he loaded the gun and dispatched it after breakfast.  I do hope it’s the last one.  That makes three.  Just stay away possums, so I don’t have to kill you.

I have opened the back barn door and gave the turkeys and ducks the option of going outside, but there is still snow and ice behind the barn and they haven’t been outside much.  Both Bourbon Red turkey hens are sitting, although I know the one only has 4 eggs, courtesy of the possums, and I think they are duck eggs.  I can’t see what the other hen has as she sits very tight when I’m around and is way back in a corner behind, not in a nest box.   

Look at the size of this egg we managed to keep from the possums.

One of the ducks is also sitting on a huge pile of eggs, some of which are chicken eggs.  She was very clever in that she squeezed behind a net pen divider that was leaning against the wall to make a nest and is well protected from possums and such- hopefully.  Since she just started sitting she won't hatch until mid April- which should be nicer weather. My canary should be hatching eggs if she is going to-I’ll give her another day or two. 

Still no kittens or signs that any of the cats are pg and that’s a bit unusual. Usually by March kittens are being born.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and they are all infertile.  I can’t afford to spay them.  My experience with barn cats is that as soon as you spay or neuter one it disappears or dies.  I am going to have the youngest dog we have, Tina, spayed soon though, when she is out of heat, because she is a monster when she is in heat.  All the dogs have been in heat and it’s been hell.   Some of them are quite old, Sadie is 15, you would think they would go through menopause or something.

where is the sun?

The one bad thing about living in Michigan’s thumb area is the lack of sunshine in the winter.  We get this perpetual cloudy sky- light flurries thing from the lake effect (Lake Huron).  I am so sick of gloomy days I could scream. A bad case of cabin fever is setting in.  It’s too cold and icy to work much outside; I just want to get outside off by myself for a while.  Supposedly we will get some sun and warmer temps this week, but at this time of the year a warmer pattern usually means clouds.

We have been getting more eggs lately although I suspect a possum is still around.  The lights come on in the coop at 5:30 am and it takes a little while for the hens to start laying.  Now it’s getting light outside as they lay so I think it cuts down on possum visits as they come out in the dark.  I got a huge egg two days ago- see the picture.  That must have hurt as it was laid.  The next day I found a tiny pullet sized egg and today I picked up the smallest egg I ever saw from a chicken- more like a canary egg.  I don’t know if it’s from the hen who laid the large egg- compensating – or another hen.

Two of my turkeys are sitting, although I don’t know what kind of eggs they are sitting on.   The ducks and chickens were all laying in those nests with them.  We could get a whole range of babies. And my horny little canary girl already has eggs and is sitting on them.

The dogs and cats are in heat.  There will be no puppies but if the cats get bred at least in two months it should be reasonably warm enough for kittens.   I have debated on having the old dogs spayed.  They are getting old to weather the surgery. You would think that they would stop coming in heat at 16, 15, and 14 years of age but there is no dog menopause. Our two males are neutered and two of the females, but the others are still whole females.  It’s such a mess when they are in heat and they fight more than usual.  And they all come into heat at once.  I just may start spaying them after this round is over.

A red squirrel has been visiting the back porch again, eating my plants out there and digging in the pots.  The dogs can see it from the window in the kitchen and hear it but its back in the ceiling as soon as we open the door to let them out there.  The squirrels get in some way through the soffits outside.  We have them fixed every year but they manage to get inside anyway.  We hope to re-do the ceiling out there- maybe I’ll put up metal on the inside roof.  I set a rat trap but the thing sprung it without getting caught.  That’s one animal I could sure do without.  Steve wants to sit out front and shoot them with the 22 but I think it’s too close to the road.

We have had a ton of cardinals at the feeder this year.  I have never seen so many.  What I am not seeing is English sparrows. I think the cats may have killed most of them.  They tend to roost in the barn and the other birds don’t.  They are easy for the cats to catch in there. We also have a lot of nuthatches this year both red breasted and white breasted.  I am waiting to see or hear a red winged blackbird – my sign of spring.

It’s my husband’s birthday and I suggested we go out to eat.  You know where he wants to go?  McDonalds.  Sunday dinner at McDonalds.  You can see he doesn’t get junk food very often.  I will be making him his favorite banana cake with cream cheese frosting though.