https://www.merlinsilk.com/neologism/ Getting higher!
Guineas Started Free Ranging
https://www.petwantsclt.com/petwants-charlotte-ingredients/ And were almost immediately decimated by predators! I installed an door on the coop controlled by an electronic eye, open at dawn, closed at sunset. Unfortunately the guineas left the coop but never came back! Worse then that, they didn’t roost in the trees, but on the ground! By the time I got back down there I could only rescue 4 of the 12+ guineas! I locked them in the coop after this disaster to rethink how to get them to free range but return to the safety of the coop at night.
Pond Continuing to Fill
Pond is Filling
Dock Complete!
Pond Excavation Complete
New Batch of Guineas
Ordered 36 guinea eggs of varying colors and hatched them in the incubator. Unfortunately only 16 hatched, but that is still plenty for us.
As part of this new batch I moved the guinea ‘house’ across the hall in the barn so that they can eventually free range from the lower part of the barn instead of through the area we keep the tractor, avoiding a huge mess. Below are a few shots of the build-out process and end result.
Pond & Dam Work Phase II
Great Weekend
Spent the weekend at the farm. Taught Patty how to use the zero-turn mower, which she had a blast with. I set her up with a small rectangle to mow and she ended up mowing the whole place, about 7 acres of grass in all. She had the noise canceling headphones on and was evidently singing out loud the whole time.
That night we had one heck of a bonfire!
Pond and Dam Repair Underway
Finally have the contractor engaged and onsite to dredge the pond, install a proper overflow pipe, and repair the dam. It is still slow going as he’s trying to get the pond drained as much as possible so he can get his equipment into the pond without getting stuck. So far he has installed the pipe and riser but has left the ‘tee’ at the bottom open so that water will drain through the pipe instead of continuing to erode the dam. Once he gets a little further we’re going to have a dock installed where the overflow pipe is right off of the dam. Should be a pretty darn nice pond once its all done.