FENCING COWS IN AND PUSHING DUCKS OUT.
Yesterday we were fencing. The weather was fine and cool. The ground is getting hard fast but other than that putting up an electric fence is not a hard job. And in this weather it is actually pretty satisfying to put in a good fence.
Of course I say we were fencing but we were fencing in between all the other things that needed doing in the course of an ordinary day.
It was very peaceful over on the West Side yesterday. The cows were calm and full of hay.
We have almost fed all the green hay out. The other bales are still smelling and looking good. No heat or mustiness. I have given the cows quite a bit though – they are feeling fat and happy!
We are almost finished moving the fence out – incorporating part of the hay field. As well as giving me more grazing in what might be a dry summer, the cows will fertilise the area. Initially the cows will go in and clean up any fallen hay then come back out next week before I go to Greece. There is lots of alfalfa in this field so once it is grown and mature I will strip graze the cows across it using an internal electric fence.
I am well pleased with our progress. The new solar panel that will electrify the fence needs one more day to charge up then we will hook it all together and let the cows in.
Anna is a strong intelligent worker who asks good questions and empathises with the animals. Plus being good company. We are rocking through the extra list I have for this week. As soon as the fencing is finished we start planting and sowing and weeding and working in the Kitchen’s Garden.
I herded the ducks out into John’s raised bed garden yesterday so they could eat some weeds and start their bug drive. But not a show. They fell all over each other trying to get back into their run.
They quacked and squawked and only stayed a minute before heading back to their muddy swimming pool area – they are SO timid. Though in the morning when they hear me coming across to let them out if their night house they set up quite a clamor. They know my voice alright and know the mornings routine.
They will start work in their own time.
I will open their little garden gate again this morning and hopefully now they know where it is they will go out by themselves. They have been ignoring it for two days now.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
WEATHER: Perfect for fencing and gardening and hanging over the fence watching the cows.
Wednesday 0% Precip. / 0 in
Partly cloudy. High 82F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night 10% Precip. / 0 in
A clear sky. Low 57F. Winds light and variable.
34 Comments on “FENCING COWS IN AND PUSHING DUCKS OUT.”
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thekitchensgarden 
It seems ducks really are daffy! It’s a very good thing they taste so good.
God. Don’t let the ducks hear you say that!
Welcome Anna!
She said – thank you
Celi, did you have to train the ducklings to go into their night house? Or herd them in nightly? We have our duck house inside a fenced off area. The ducklings will go from the brooder into the duck yard and stay there probably a month or so, and only get fed in there even after we open up the gate daily so that they can roam during the day. Just wondering about training ducks, as ours have always just lived their lives roaming about.
In the day time I lock them OUT of their house or they sit in there all day making an awful mess. They hang out under their trees and around the paddling pool for the day. I feed them about 3. Then at dusk I open up their night house and they rush cackling and complaining straight into the house and I close the door for the night. There is no food or water in there and it has stayed quite manageable. They are put back outside about 5am and the cycle starts again.
Things are looking very green and lush despite your lack of rain. It seems those ducks are still young and shy despite their lanky adolescent growth…
Yes – they are just babies and with no mother to follow around
Plus, didn’t you have a “Predator Episode” a couple of weeks back? That would also have made them fearful, yeah?
You’d think the ducks would like all that cover – it’s not like it’s an open field. Perhaps they just need to learn the culinary delights of bugs and slugs. Maybe a few well placed bowls of water would help. In the wild they can always spot a lake or similar to come in and land for the night.
Yes – bowls of water are a good idea- they are just scared- it took me days to get them to go into their first run – now they are always in there
Hopefully they can smell water, as well as see it from the air. I suppose that they look so big that one imagines they are capable of everything. In the wild they are out swimming behind their mothers within a few days, but that’s the missing link…
You could try bowls of water like stepping stones and move them a bit further away on a daily basis.
I laughed about you herding the ducks and them falling all over themselves. I could clearly visualize that…haha. I couldn’t keep mine close to home, which is why they became the fox’s dinner. They drove me nuts trying to protect them but I am surrounded by a forest.
Oh sad. But sometimes these things just don’t work out
You seem so casual about the fencing. Dogging post hokes must have been hard with the earth so dry. Isn’t that funny : timid ducklings! I love how you describe the weather – Perfect for hanging over fences and watching cows. Hope the mamas are settling in and ready for babies.
Darn it! Writing on my phone with a bad spell checker! Of course I meant digging!!!!! Not dogging! Although I do love your dogs! And hikes not hokes. Why would spell checker think I meant hokes. Sorry.
You and I must be sharing the new little man changing words and meanings inside our mobile. It is driving me crazy, he doesn’t like ms and is 😫 Laura
I have a post rammer that I call the bommy-knocker – it does the trick but gives me a good upper body work out
Wondering if you moved pool to John’s garden, but still feed them in their run, if they wouldn’t be happier to move between the two areas? Laura
good idea!
You are braver than me asking John if I could dig up part of his garden for a duck pond!!
Everybody looks happy 👍
It is one of those restful periods- long may it last.
Ceci, I was going to mention also how much I enjoyed your weather report! Much nicer than the normal gray-blah jibberish from the TV! Alisongk, did you perhaps mean ‘holes’ rather than hokes or hikes? I’m familiar with ‘digging post holes’ but not so much ‘dogging post hikes or hokes’. This, with the blustering ducklets, you ladies have given me a fit of giggles this morning! Good salve for all kinds of maladies! A BIG WELCOME TO ANNA Have fun!!!
We do have fun – thank you sunny
I can empathise with the ducks. I’m an introvert myself and don’t like leaving home (though I do)… Welcome Anna!
Silly ducks, my neighbor has runner ducks but she can’t let them free range if it has rained. Seems they figured out the worms come out on the pavement after it rains so they go marching all in a line down the middle of the road! Good way to end up as Peking Pressed Duck.
The fields look beautiful..such lovely countryside to live in..how lucky you are.. Cows are happy..and ducks are being stupid..fancy not wanting to root around in the weed bed..all those lovely grubs…but they have been tempted by the water…so weeds will wait. I am glad Anna is so helpful..you could do with a woofer there all the time.
Have a really great day….
Eeek…you may have to retrain. Since you want eggs they will have to stay in their night enclosure until about 8 am, maybe later until they get in a routine. Otherwise, you will have eggs in the pool, on the ground, who knows where. Eggs start coming at about 5 months so you have some time. And they can only go 8-10 hours without water and they need to go in just before dark. I put a little water in with my 3 at night and they still manage to make a bit of mess, but they are inside a long time so no choice. Some folks use a drip water system, like for rabbits.
Yes, they are so timid. They probably haven’t forgotten the possum. Scooting the pool closer to the free range area should help. It’s so nice you have lots of space for them. Mine really keep the grass trimmed down in the back.
All very doable! I can Keep them there longer. They only begin rustling about when they hear my voice. I have drip waterers but no bowls . Thank you!
What will the ducks be doing when they start work? I have never gotten eggs from ducks, so I do not even know how they work in that regard. I used to get eggs from a neighbor with ducks for another neighbor who baked, but I never bothered to ask how those things work. They can’t be as simple a hens. I dislike duck because I ate too much in school.
You and I are in the same boat- I have never had ducks before either! Well, not for very long. They lay on the ground – every day. Just anywhere apparently so we will have to see what happens!
Was there a plan, or are you waiting for them to decide? This is getting more interesting.
There is a plan. But I think there will also be some serious adjustments to said plan as we go along