Balancing Act

As time disappears into nothing more than brief flashbacks, I find myself wondering where the heck this summer has gone - and then it comes to me...  I've spent most of my summer trying either to be asleep or awake, neither of which has been much of a success.  Nightshift.  Extra shifts.  It's not that I'm ALWAYS at work - it's that the futile attempt of fitting a nightshift life into a dayshift world has left me hopelessly unbalanced.  So why do I do it?  Good question.

The easiest answer is the extra money.  (You didn't think we all sacrificed our sleep for free, did you?)  The less politically appropriate answer is bureaucracy, by definition "the organizational structure, procedures, protocols, and set of regulations in place to manage activity in large organizations."  At night, all of the people responsible for this go home and it is amazing how much more efficient the workplace becomes.  We still follow rules, protocols and regulations but it's without the chaos and banter of policy writers around.  It's quiet.  It's peaceful.  It's actually enjoyable.

It takes me a solid two nights off to begin pretending I'm the least bit awake before noon.  In truth, it takes a full 3-4 nights off to actually wake up before noon without an alarm clock.  We've all experienced Jet Lag a time or two in our lives switching time zones on vacation - well, offset your life by 12 hours and that is my time zone.  I am hungry at midnight, I am sleepy at sunrise and I am mentally just waking up around 6 pm.  I usually go to sleep by 8 am and my alarm is set between 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm - which still usually feels two hours too early for me.  I crave coffee between 7 pm and midnight and I don't really feel chatty until after 9 pm. 

For now, this is the way life is and instead of asking everyone else to change their lives for me, I do my best to accommodate them by sacrificing precious sleep.  This is not without consequence, though.  My mood, my memory and my ability to think clearly pay the price.  I spend those rare daylight hours I'm off and awake trying to cram in as many tasks and events as I possibly can - and on those nights I can't sleep (most of them) I try to keep in touch with friends and family via Facebook. 

I don't think it will be like this forever.  I look forward to the day that my eyes are not stinging, my ears are not ringing and my digestive tract knows what to expect.  It would be nice to get at least 8 hours of sleep within a 24 hour period more than 2 days in a row without neglecting resposibilities or letting friends and family down.  Right now, it's just not a possibility -- so I hold on to the dream of balance and just do the best that I can. 

So...

It turns out I'm not very good at blogging...  I think it may have been all of the time I spent on FarmVille.  I'm cutting back on that.  I'm experiencing some withdrawal but I've promised myself not to plant any crops until my real garden is planted.  I tried to convince Jeff that we ought to test out some farm implements this year - plow the front yard then drill it with hay seed.  Then - when it comes time to mow the lawn, we can bale it and feed it to some hungry critter around here.  He looked at me like I was joking - I think he may be in for a surprise down the road.

I'm resisting all temptation to order some turkey poults - so far, that is...  I'm not sure why I want them but I keep finding myself looking through hatchery sites to find them.  I have cut the chicken flock down a few roosters, I'm giving away 5 of my flightier hens to a fellow farmer who needs his flock boosted a bit - and I'm giving two of my calmest, sweetest hens to my just-as-sweet massage therapist who tragically lost one of her hens last week.  That ought to leave me with 65 birds total -- 6 roosters, 33 laying hens and 26 pullets that should start laying mid July...  If I only had another chicken pen and hired hand to help with the daily feeding/watering.

In truth, it sounds like more chickens than it looks.  Even Jeff was surprised by the number.  They really don't take up much space - and even if you give them space, most of them tend to huddle together.  I can't help but notice all of the empty old barns and sheds I see along the highway and think, "Geez - I could fit a hundred chickens in there!" 

You Might Train your Dragon but ....

How do you bathe a chicken?  I'm afraid this is my next adventure and I'm not looking forward to it.  And why is it that the roosters that fit within the breed definition are a bit mean and too rough on the hens but the ones with all the wrong colors are the gentle, nice guys?  I think Darwin is off the hook on this but Murphy and his annoying law come to mind...  Not sure what to do about it all, either. 

I'm averaging between 15-20 eggs a day and the best news is that my little Black Copper Maran has started laying those infamous "chocolate" colored eggs made famous by James Bond.  I'm still hoping to "bump" into someone willing to bring my eggs with them to a local Farmer's Market to sell this summer but it all usually sounds easier than it winds up actually being.  I've taken the "wait and see" approach.

Working night shift has been kicking my hiney and zapping me of energy these past few weeks so all of my great intentions have gone to the wayside.  Landscaping feels futile at this point.  Oh well, at least the house is clean and the hot tub has been refilled.  It's a start.  I keep expecting to tire of the chickens but they continue to entertain me.  I decided that it is because it's like an Easter Egg hunt every day.  I never know how many or what colors or what size will be next to fill my basket and every day it's a little bit exciting to find out. 

Today Scout snuck into the hen house while I wasn't paying attention - then she wouldn't come out!  She mostly herds them with a random good chase or two thrown in for good measure.  Hasn't hurt one yet but I keep a close eye on her.  Bitsy is more of a control freak.  She will bite them - not to kill but to hold.  The other day I picked one up and about the time I realized it was too heavy to be just a chicken, I saw Bitsy with her jaw locked on it's tail-feathers!  She let go but the trust is gone.

I'm still battling feather loss and mites.  I thought I had everything under control but I think it's going to take a few weeks to get ahead of the problem -- hence the chicken baths.  That should be interesting!

Spring

The cows are done calving, the newest chicks are brooding and the dogs are shedding - spring has sprung! 

Beautiful Day!

Awe, man! Today is a reminder that summer is on its way - and one of those days that I wish I didn't have to work... There's not a cloud in the sky, no gale force winds to contend with and temperatures are in the high sixties. The chickens have done very well free-ranging in the afternoons though I wish I felt safe enough to let both the dogs and chickens run free together. I try to give each 1/2 a day out in the sunshine.

My "tiny chicken" has found a home. My last hatch had a surprise banty cochin in it - and though I've had it in the chick-condo with the babies, it wouldn't be long before they would be double in size - which put me in a bit of a conundrum because big chickens could easily kill a tiny chicken without even meaning to. So tiny chicken is now "Chance" and lives with a sweet little girl addicted to the love of animals. Chance's biggest worry now will be Leo - the chocolate lab...

My incubator is on schedule to start hatching tomorrow. I have not been nearly as attentive to this hatch as my previous hatches due to respiratory funk that I've just not been able to kick. Respiratory infections can pass from human to egg - hence the worry with Avian flu - so I've been careful to stay away. We'll see if the hatch is successful or not within the next 48-72 hours or so.

Tonight will be my first night back to work after being sick. It’s one of the drawbacks of being a nurse. When sick people always surround you, it’s inevitable that eventually, you will catch something. Now the goal becomes to continue getting better and not get sucked back into the vortex of illness...

Spring Improvements

The chickens are free ranging and the dogs are not, I think we only have 1 cow left to calve this year and a friend is finishing my much desired garden boxes.  As much work as our lives can be at times, this is what makes it all worth it.  A ray of sunshine, two baskets of fresh eggs, playful calves running around the pasture, healthy happy dogs and dark fertile soil full of promises - this is the good stuff.

Learning to Blog

Inspired by a recent late night chick flick and the sad reality that technology has passed my comfort zone, I have decided to take on the blogging challenge. This is where you will learn that I can not spell, I spend too much time alone and that I learn everything I do from a book, the hard way or by winging it and getting lucky.

That being said, you will also learn that there are ranching books for hardcore farm folk - and there are animal hobby books written for city dwellers who have a few acres and a couple of farm animals but that when it comes to finding a book that teaches a subdivision kid how to manage a 160 acre backyard complete with cows, chickens and irrigation - well, not so much...  In truth, I've learned more about farm animals by reading the back of their feed sacks than any book. It's the equivalent of learning to parent by reading the cereal box.

Today's experiment involved cleaning outdated cans of food from the pantry and posed the question: What foods can chickens eat and what happens when they eat too much chili?  This will be one of those trial by error situations I was talking about earlier...