Homestead Update 1

I'm excited that we got a Premier1 electric fence for the chickens! I've been wanting one since we got the chickens, for many reasons...

When they free range they don't really stay together and they wander all over the property.

One day we had to go on a hunt for a lone chicken that wandered WAY FAR from the rest. Scared us that something had grabbed her and taken off, but thankfully our daughter found her in the woods.

We rent cabins out to people and we don't want the chickens around the cabins.

I need the chickens to work for us. They are excellent mulchers, can clear grassy areas for us, and can even spread compost and wood chips.

The fence is powered by solar. It will help keep wandering dogs and other critters from hurting the chickens.

We've lived here a year and a half and have already had FIVE lost dogs here! Three of those we took to the shelter. One keeps coming around at odd times and won't let us catch it. And the last one, the person responsible lives across the street and was out looking for their dog and saw that we had her, she's come over twice.



We tried it out for a couple of days by Cabin 2 where the grass was needing a mowing anyway.



Only one chicken managed to get out and her wings are clipped now so hopefully she won't be able to do that again. The chickens aren't use to being out in the grass and having to stay in one area, they weren't happy with this fact those first two days.



The ducks seem to like hanging out by the chickens even though our white duck named Grapes would bully the hens. Unfortunately the next day Grapes was run over and killed by a cabin renter. They didn't see her or know that they ran her over. The kids and I were totally devastated for a couple of days. She was more like a dog than a duck! So now the ducks don't get to roam anymore. We allowed it because they stayed together and they stayed close to their run. So no more running loose for the remaining three ducks without supervision.



We took the fencing box and another large box and created a playpen for the bunnies. Totally supervised because there's nothing to protect them from predators in this pen.



The bunnies enjoy looking around, chewing the grass, and running and kicking up their heels. They are so cute!



They love the boxes, which makes them even cuter. LOL



I caught the ducks walking by in a row! And this is my last photo of Grapes. We miss her. :(



We had a couple days of spring like weather. Then it got cold again. Then it turned to summer weather. And now today it's raining and snowing again. *sigh* I hope spring comes back!

Cat Tree Fun

Navarre sleeping upside down with his back paws in Little Star's face.



I love this one, he looks like he's giggling about something.



Little Star left so Navarre stretched out more. I love that he has his pinky toe sticking out. ;-D The blanket he is on is my Snoopy lap blanket. He LOVES it and has officially stolen it from me. lol. He loves to sleep on it and seeks it out to make biscuits on it. He's so cute!



We got the boys the biggest cat tree on Chewy.com. They love it! And that makes me super happy. And I hope it helps to keep them off my chairs! So far Navarre is still clawing my chair and sleeping on it. So I moved my snoopy blanket into the lower cubby on the cat tree so hopefully he will choose to sleep there.

Had to use the flash to get a halfway decent pic of the boys crammed into the upper cubby together. lol.



Little Star figured out on day 2 of cat tree bliss that he can get up into the loft. For now the loft is just junk storage. We will be cleaning it out and getting rid of the previous owner's junk up there. It's only accessible by ladder, someday we hope to put in stairs to get up there.



Little Star taking a siesta. They both love the dangly mice toys. There's 4 dangly toys, but so far they just like the mice.



Navarre looked like he was going to go up into the loft too, but all he did was peek up there. He's a bit heavier than his brother and not as agile or adventurous.



Anabelle decided the big box the tree came in would be fun to play in! She's small for a 13 year old and fit well. lol. First she hid in the box and called for the dogs, who went crazy trying to find her and trying to figure out how to get her out of the box! It was hilarious. Then later she got Sadie Mae to get in the box with her, by force, mind you, Sadie Mae is scared of just about everything, including boxes!



Pay no mind to the mess around her. We're getting ready to redo this house! I'm very excited!

The bunnies also got some goodies from Chewy.com. Some new toys to chew on and new water bottles. They've never been able to drink out of the one we got them from TSC. It just won't drip the water out for some reason. It's too hard (literally the bottle is unsqueezable) to squeeze a little water out to get the seal just right. These new Lixit bottles work fabulously and they started using them right away. So no more bowls of water for them to get all gunky. :-D



We've been waiting for spring to sprung, so tired of the cold and snow! We're busy discussing house plans. Hubby has been cleaning cabins for our next renters. Homeschool is always on the plate as well. Anabelle is going to be a vet someday!

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Currently listening to Crowder * American Prodigal (All We Sinners, All My Hope, Back to the Garden)

Furries

The bunnies names are Panne (brown) and Julia. The kids named them after game characters I think, but I don't remember which game. The buns are sweet and I do hope they stay that way! For now they seem to be doing well and are bonded.



They've been living inside the house while we waited for them to get bigger. They spent their very first night outside last night. This morning they were chipper and happy so I'm glad they like their homemade hutch!



Did you know rabbit waste can go right in the garden without hurting the plants? This is why I want rabbits. Plus they are super cute.
I raised rabbits for show in 4-H so they will always be pets, not food for us.

We bought this old ladder for our daughter's loft, but it doesn't fit. :( We will have to do some rearranging and try again. The ceiling is slanted so that doesn't help either. The cats like sleeping on it in the entryway though.



Little Star (black) and Navarre are BFFs. I love having cats that are bonded. They sleep together, clean each other, and play together.





Navarre is a HUGE couch potato though! He sleeps anywhere and on anything. I posted several photos of him on instagram sleeping in front of the pellet stove. He's pretty funny.



Our sweet Sadie Mae is almost a year old now. She really is a sweetie, but also gets into a lot of trouble. Hopefully after year 2 she will start maturing. She's also very easily spooked. I have wondered if she was abused some as a puppy. I've never seen a dog afraid of so much. We got her as an older puppy.
(Her mom is Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shephard. Her dad is Great Pyrenees and Saint Bernard.)
She's trying to get a ball from under my shoe here.



Zorg is forever with a stick or ball or other treasure in his mouth. He is OCD about it. My son and I were going into our cabins collecting laundry and he followed us to each one trying to get us to throw his big stick. LOL.



Fall has been here, it's so lovely! This picture is between two of the cabins.