Friday, April 7, 2017

In the Poultry Yard

All the birds couldn't be happier since the snow has melted and they have the run of the whole poultry pasture again.  A sunny day and what more could a chicken, duck or goose ask for?


Yes, you are a good-looking boy.


The geese have to be in
the middle of everything.


This is Chatty Charlie.  
He "talks" constantly.


Who doesn't appreciate an
afternoon snack?


The pond ice is thawing fast now.


A fowl meeting.


This is Shivers, a bantam rooster.
  About a year ago,
folks we know decided to stop raising chickens
for a while and dispatched their flock
to freezer camp.  All except for
Shivers who had been
raised in their house.
They asked if we would give him 
a forever home.  We have and he's
adapted wonderfully.


Our two Black Australorp roosters
are almost as big as our
female geese.


These are two of the Muscovy boys.



Something strange is happening at the
upper end of our pond.
Can you see that hole
in front of Papa Pea's right foot?


It's appeared out of nowhere.  The pond
water is flowing into it and 
cutting a path underground.  The earth
looks as though it's going
to collapse into the flowage.
This is not good.  We've got to do
something about it.  The waterfowl
will be very upset if their pond
empties completely.  
We will be, too. 

14 comments:

Sue said...

Wow-I wonder how that started undercutting like that!?! I have no doubt you'll figure it out.

And I always appreciate pics of your barnyard buddies. I miss having poultry but always had that road trip thing happening. I'm ready to settle down now and join in on the fun with fowl. Until we find "THE place", posts like this sure help. Have a warm and sunshiney weekend, dear lady

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I love Chatty Charlie! Everyone should have one, ha ha! I hope your pond issue is resolved. Golly that would not be good. Guess what we are doing today? Picking up all the limbs the dead tree dropped. It's too wet to cut it down, but Hubby is really trying to focus on getting it felled.

Mama Pea said...

Sue - This post was for you, dear friend. (Sue needs to see poultry, I'll show her poultry!)

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - You should have a big celebration when that big, ol' tree comes down!

Susan said...

What a mystery! No underground caverns up there, right? My ducks would be so jealous of your pond, I don't dare show them this post....

Rain said...

That hole doesn't look good. Do you know what you're going to do about it? Is it earth erosion? It would be awful if the pond drained! I LOVE seeing photos of your birds!! Chatty Charlie is adorable, what a great shot you got!!

Mama Pea said...

Susan - You could pack them up and send them to Pond Camp for a couple of weeks this summer . . .

Mama Pea said...

Rain - Papa Pea, Gilligan (laugh if you must) and I were just a few minutes ago discussing what we're going to do about the "sink hole." It doesn't seem to be erosion at all but a deep hole that the water is flowing into. Hubby thinks we'll try dumping in some bentonite clay which is a mixture they sometimes use for lining a pond if the soil is too porous to hold water. It's like a sealer that keeps water from running through it. We just have to find a source and get it shipped up here.

Thanks for saying you like the pics of the birds. I appreciate that. I keep asking Charlie what he's trying to tell us, but so far we're just not communicating! ;o)

Leigh said...

Yikes! Losing the pond would be very bad news. I hope you figure it out. Wish we had a pond for our Muscovies. They do love their water and a bath in a bucket isn't their first choice, but they make it do.

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - As of the present, the Black Hole, as we're calling it, is just above the level of the pond water (if that makes any sense) so not much water is running down into it. Our good neighbor, who originally dug the pond for us, came over the other day and said he's never seen anything like it . . . and he's put in many ponds around the county.

Our waterfowl look so much better now that they've had the pond to splash in and take a good bath . . . finally! A whole winter without a bath? No wonder they look better now! ;o)

Laurie said...

Oh no, I hope it's not a sink hole. By the way, Shivers is one good looking bird!

Mama Pea said...

Laurie - I hope it's not a sink hole, too! I wanted to put some big rocks in it, but hubby said no so I'm leaving the fixin' of it up to him!

Isn't Shivers a purdy little guy? Wish I could get a picture of him next to one of our big Black Australorp roosters. He's really a mini.

Fiona said...

What wonderful poultry!
The 'ditch' by the pond is creepy.....any idea what is happening?

Mama Pea said...

Thanks, Fiona! Our birds sure seem happy as can be.

I agree with you concerning our "black hole!" We've never seen anything like it. A few years ago we had a resident muskrat who dug holes in the sides of the pond but this is different.