2. Brett is at the Mark Rashid clinic through today. He'll be heading home after his lesson, hopefully arriving in time to help with the evening chores. I asked him to ask someone to take pictures Thursday and he did that. They will be sending me the pictures and I will share them with you. The clinic is four hours away and I couldn't take any time off work to go and watch. I want to see pictures too!
3. Thursday, Brett and Pistol had another good lesson. They spent most of their time with Mark working on lateral work: leg yield, turn on the forehand, and turn on the haunches. Pistol leg yields like a dream but she had some trouble with turning on the forehand. She couldn't quite get coordinated enough to cross her hind feet correctly as she pivoted around her front legs.
4. The nights are getting cold; it has been in the low 40s when I do the morning chores. I love this weather; I love the bracing breeze, the mix of colored leaves and acorns on the ground, the golden light, and the first fires in the wood stove. I roasted a chicken for dinner the other night and made a big batch of applesauce, full of brown sugar and cinnamon.
5. The chickens continue to molt. How long does this go on? We've never had chickens molt all at the same time before. Our egg production is down from an average of 6-7 eggs per day to one or two. Production typically slows way down in November when the days are short and cold but it is only October and these are young chickens.
I always loved to ride when I was young, but I never got into such details. That is amazing and I would love to see you and Brett ride. I buy fresh eggs from my neighbors and their chickens slowed down last month. So it probably varies, but I don't know anything about it. I am glad I live in a small house. Living alone it's good to know what goes on in your house, from end to end.
ReplyDeleteOh it is getting colder here too. One or two eggs is better than none:) Molting goes on for I have no idea I forget. Have a nice weekend my friend, I am sure riding will be involved. HUG B
ReplyDeleteThe same thing is happening with my chickens!!
ReplyDeleteThe original girls (9) are 18 months old and have gone from 7 - 8 eggs daily to 0 - 2. One is hard molting, but they are all losing feathers to some extent. Just around the equinox we had two straight weeks of rain. The consensus around here is stress from the wet weather is exacerbating the seasonal slowdown.
I'm giving the girls some extra protein - catfood and meal worms to help them grow the new feathers, and treasuring every egg. Homegrown eggs spoil you don't they?
I'm looking forward to those pictures! I imagine he will have some wonderful insights to share after such a long, devoted amount of time in a Rashid clinic. Speaking of bucket lists....
ReplyDeleteDon't know much about chickens even though I was raised with them. My dad always did the caretaking.