Author: Mr Rob

It was briefly a winter wonderland here. I thought I would share a few images.

I’ve been busy installing a PacaCam so Miss Lynne can check out her girls while she is in the frozen north.

Update: Pacacam2 is now available!

Take a look if you would like.

Pacacam1: Just go to http://di6249.myfoscam.org:88/ in a web browser.

Pacacam2: just go to http://dl6595.myfoscam.org:89/ in a web browser
user: visitor
pw: visitor

Note the instruction in blue. Click on the link to download the required plugin.

Once the plugin is installed, go to http://di6249.myfoscam.org:88/  or http://dl6595.myfoscam.org:89/ once more

User name = visitor password = visitor

There are also apps for Android and iPhones  –  quite a few of them.

Pick one that handles “Foscam” cameras. The model we have is FI9821W

If you are a techie and using a media player like VLC or Mplayer, you can open this stream:

rtsp://visitor:visitor@di6249.myfoscam.org:88/videoMain

The weird weather in the south continues. The locals keep apologising to us; “It’s not normally this wet/cold”. It was VERY wet last year.

This winter has started off VERY cold and yesterday we had 2″ of snow. Oh my. Did that cause chaos or what? Atlantans are just not used to snow and ice. They don’t have this infrastructure to cope with such events like the northern states. If you add in the inability to drive in such conditions you will understand that the roads were not a place to be yesterday! There were bangs, bashes, slips and slides. Some were stuck on the road for 6hrs going nowhere. There were kids stuck on school buses and lots slept overnight at school. I stayed at home in the warm in between feeding and (warm) watering the animals. There was only limited poop scooping as it was frozen.

As always, the chickens were total amusement. As it began snowing, they were out and about on their normal circuit of the property. As the grass got covered they made their way to the barn to gaze out in bewilderment. Come the end of the day, when they would normally go back to the coop, they simply refused to cross the snow to get in. They needed persuading 🙂

This morning I cleared a path to their normal feeding area. They ventured out for a few minutes and then, one by one, retreated to the coop. I let them have breakfast in bed today. Poor things.

The alpacas are quite a sensible bunch as they came straight in when it started to snow. This morning they are out and about in the sunshine.

Our barn cats, Big Cat and Knee High, live outdoors and are coping with the weather well. Big Cat has lots of fur and Knee High stays in the cat igloo with the heating mat on full! Big Cat is braver and was out exploring the territory this morning.

Meanwhile the pampered pooches, Cagney and Lacey were loving a run around in the white stuff that they’ve not seen in over a year.

I can hardly believe it but we have been here a whole year. We haven’t made a lot of changes about the place. As we were new to this part of the country, I wanted so see how things happen naturally. As we start the new cycle, it’s time to put thoughts into action.

My priority for last year was to understand the pasture growth. We have hardly a flat spot on this red Georgia soil and when it rains, it runs straight off ….. taking the soil with it. Erosion is a big potential problem. The pasture is seeded with Bermuda grass. It does very well in the hot summers but is not, as yet, very dense. I’d like to increase the density to help slow the water flow. Over the last year, I experimented with different mowing schedules and it seems that the density increased more in the areas that were more frequently mowed. I will extend that area, I think.

One of the first jobs I had to do, last year, was to remove the leaves from the pasture. This would help with the acidity of the soil. Last year I was out there with a rake. On Monday, I was out there with a collection bag attached to the mower … much quicker! Then it will be time for the lime, weed killer & fertilizer routine.

On the animal front we have increased the Alpaca herd from 5 to 16 with 4 young ones expected in May. Lots more poop for me to scoop. We’ve gone from 3 barn cat to 2 and with the chickens we’ve been up and then back down to 8. After a couple of months break, they are back to laying again.

We have 25 chicks coming in April so I’d better get busy with the coops. Other new arrivals in April will be 2 bee hives ……. no, never done that before either!

A new year and a new adventure.

So much for “Hotlanta” ….. it’s blinkin’ freezing. I woke up this morning to the predicted 8f (-13c) temperature. Brrrrr,

I had taken some precautions to help the animals cope. I’m pleased to say they all seem to be taking it in their stride. I built a hay wall to give the ‘pacas a little more shelter from the cold wind. I think they see the benefit in more than one way.

The sun is shining and the sky is clear even though it’s well below freezing. The alpacas are enjoying themselves in the pasture. Some take any opportunity they can.

The chickens polished off a big bowl of oatmeal (porridge) and the two barn cats have been seeking out the sun.

I’m staying indoors with a constant supply of hot tea!

Friends back in Pine Bush NY tell me that they’ve had over a foot of snow in the last couple of days. Well, I’m feeling quite nostalgic for the white stuff. On the other hand, I won’t miss the inevitable power outages that we were used to. Miss Lynne, who is working in Connecticut, confirmed the frigid conditions. Meanwhile I was basking in temps in the low 70s yesterday.

To ensure that Miss Lynne retains her Christmas spirit, when she travels back south, I have been decorating the Christmas tree. Good job we don’t have house cats.

We had an unscheduled trip to the vet last week. I’m not quite sure how he did it but Magic managed to lacerate his eye lid, overnight Thursday.  Luckily it was a clean cut and there was no damage to the eye or major blood vessels.

Miss Lynne was already on her way out as we made the discovery and so I’m pleased to say that Magic was a very co-operative boy for me, allowing me to capture, harness and load him into the trailer single handed. OK, it wasn’t entirely straight forward. He did hesitate when he saw the trailer and slipped his bridle. He quickly retreated to the unfenced pasture that is lush with winter rye grass. I can’t say I blame him.  On the second attempt he gave me a resigned look and a hum and then settled down for the ride to the animal hospital.

The vet took a quick look in the back of the trailer to decide the right action plan. It was clear that Magic was in need of a clean up and stitches. This would require a general anesthetic and could not be performed in situ.  Persuading poor Magic to get out of the trailer was no problem but asking him to go into the building, past the reception and into the clinical area was interesting. It took a few minutes but eventually took it in his stride. The dogs and cats didn’t know what to make of him.

We reversed the process a few hours later and he was very pleased to see his friends back on the farm. I just have to give him a short course of antibiotic shots and he will be as right as rain in no time. All in all, not as much trouble as Lacey’s emergency vet trip just about a year ago.

Well there is not much to report …… and that’s a good thing. In the last couple of weeks I’ve over seeded the pastures with some annual rye-grass that has already started growing.  The Denver 9 have settled in very well. They seem happy with the routine and have gotten used to the chickens. I did have to move the chicken feeders further back in the coop as they were being raided by the pacas. All in all, we couldn’t have wished for a better start.

The big cat has decided that the big barn is going to be home and spends all day patrolling the back yard. Funny thing is that he/she likes to sleep outside at night and plonks down right in the middle of the driveway. We have to be careful to remember.

Down at the small barn “Knee High” enjoys the quiet life away from the other animals …. especially dogs.

I’m a little afraid for our other little barn cat though. I’ve not seen her about for over a week now. Fingers crossed that she’s found a safe place to be pampered.