A tithe

The two stray cats who arrived some years ago, never left.  We named them the Tractor Shed cats because that's where they stayed when they suddenly appeared.  Initially they were very shy and reclusive, but they have since become far bolder, and now, most days, can be found lounging on my patio table or even sitting on my patio chair - waiting very patiently for the one meal I provide them at the end of each day.  The other meal(s) they have to source or themselves, because that is the whole point of farm cats.

Tractor shed cats patiently waiting for their daily meal

By other meals, I generally mean rodents who enjoy feasting on my tomatoes, strawberries or baby butternut.  But occasionally, the farm cats need some variety to their diet, and this morning I found evidence of a mousebird who wasn't quite quick enough.

Evidence of a mousebird who wasn't quick
enough for the farm cats

There are plenty of mousebirds here in early spring - with the early season blackberries to devour.

There were so many a few weeks ago that I feared that I wouldn't get a berry crop this year.  Please, don't get me wrong.  I have no problem with paying a tithe, but sharing 90% and being provided with 10% isn't quite my idea of a tithe.

Partially eaten fruit

At least most of these berries were consumed

The mousebirds are also so wasteful.  If they would just eat a whole blackberry before moving onto the next tender morsel it wouldn't be so bad, but they seem to prefer sampling as many as possible.

Broken branch-lets = wasted fruit

They seem to be such an eager lot - in their rush to sample as many berries as possible they completely disregard the integrity of the bush - with many broken branch-lets being the evidence of this feeding frenzy.

A sample of the blackberries I have managed to
harvest for my freezer

I can't really complain though.  I have managed to pick sufficient blackberries for my freezer - for blackberry pie and jam in the future. 

 

Consequences of Insane

I'm not meaning to harp on the topic, but just want to show you the consequences of below average rainfall last winter, and non-existent rainfall this summer...

8 January 2017

The pic above was taken on the 8th January 2017 - a very sad looking dam indeed. 

There is evidence of nocturnal visitors in the exposed mud

A week later...

The state of the dam on 16th January 2017

What was interesting was to see what nocturnal visitors had left a sign of their visit / search for liquid refreshment in the wet mud.

But, it's not just the land which needs some moisture.  There is another very important part of the equation which is suffering.

Bees - clamouring round a rapidly drying lump of clay on what used
to be the bottom of our dam - seeking any moisture they can find

 Even the bees are battling to find water.

Bird bath / water bowl below the lemon tree.  In times of
 plenty it is a bird bath.  In times of drought, it is merely
a water bowl filled with anything to help retain moisture
 for the birds and the bees

 I have a "bird bath" / water source positioned below a lemon tree - the bees are making use of that.

Close up of the bird's water bowl - I added bits of wood
 chip to aid the birds access to the water, and to try and
 prevent excessive evapouration

Taps, which recently spewed out water, are being requisitioned for whatever remnants recently passed through the damp spout.

Damp taps - another important source
 of moisture for the bees

 This is the state of the land: 

Crisp and dry and depressingly brown... :(

 And, as for the dam...

The state of the dam on the 23rd January 2017.
The white which is visible on the bottom is no longer water,
 but is an indication of the bentonite which we added to
the dam to try and help seal the dam floor

A different angle of the dry and cracked dam floor

The dam is in a very bad way.  It has not run dry since we added the bentonite.  Now - it is a cracked mud hole in the ground.

These cracks in the mud at the bottom of the dam are at least 7 - 10 cms deep

At least the dried out cracks allow us to see the bentonite we added way back in May 2013.

The birds - they're fine.  I have various water bowls scattered around, as well as the sugar water bird feeders which we ensure are always topped up.

Our 8 X 5000 lt rain water tanks?  They certainly helped, but we'd need a 300 000lt reservoir to provide us with enough water to see us through a summer.

Following below average rainfall for quite a while and the distinct lake of manna from heaven this summer, the Western Cape is in a full blown drought situation with less than 40% water left in the dams which supply our towns.  That equates to less than 88 days of water left for the inhabitants of the Cape Town metropole.

Rainfall graph from November 2013 to date

Prayers, rain dances, whatever rocks your boat - please do any of them.

We need rain - urgently...!

Feeding the feathered wildlife

I feel so sorry for the wild birds in winter.  Seed is at a minimum, it's cold (and wet), and they are busy formulating their eggs for laying in Spring.

Our sugar water bird feeder

So, apart from our sugar water feeder, I try and give them some seed.

Grrrrrrr!  Those chickens just love the exact spot
where I throw the wild bird seed every evening!

I have been scattering it on the grass, but those wily 100% free range chickens and the rooster have found the spot where I normally throw a handful out for the wild birds in the late afternoon.

Their 24 / 7 / 365 source of food - apart from
 the entire garden...!!

Which chases away the wild birds so that they can eat the seed.  Given the gourmet food (laying pellets, sunflower seeds, pearl barley, crushed corn and lentils - not to mention the grated carrot and cabbage as a treat) that the chickens are provided with on a 24 / 7 / 365 basis, it doesn't sit comfortably with me that they need to guzzle the wild birds food as well.

Pretty - but surely a lot of seed must spill on
 the ground?

I have posted before about recycling plastic containers into bird feeders, but the above pic seems to me to be very wasteful.  All that seed on the spoon section that will fall on the ground.

I still want to make
one of these bird
houses one day

The bird house (above) is brilliant - if I could find a 3 litre milk bottle.  The largest we have in the shops in our town are 2 litre bottles.

So, I applied myself, and have come up with the following:

My simple version of a bird feeder which
 doesn't spill seed on the ground (and
 feel the chickens or grow potential weeds!)

It is a recycled 2 litre milk bottle into which I have cut a roughly 7cm (h) X 8cm (w) hole in the middle, and two smaller holes on the front and back of the bottle in order to insert a dowel rod for the birds to stand on to access the seed in the bottle.  I didn't cut a hole either side of the bottle because, with the wind we have here, I was worried that the seed would just blow straight out the other side.

Hanging in the shade, the plastic bottle should last a good long while, but it is so easy to make, that replacing it with another empty milk bottle when it perishes will take exactly 5 minutes.

I have assured RMan that I will not be decorating all the trees on our smallholding with milk bottles - and will limit myself, and the birds, to just two bottles :D

The little overhang certainly prevents the
 rainwater from entering the bottle and the
 dowel rod works well as a food perch

When I cut out the hole I left a small lip on the top to deflect rainwater away from the seed,

The dowel rod pokes right through the bottle
 feeder - and waiting birds take advantage
 of the handy perch close to the food

Also, as I discovered, you need to silicone in both sides of the bottle by the the dowel rod - and the two holes by the neck of the bottle through which the hanging wire is threaded.  Otherwise the rainwater drips through into the seed :(

That 5-odd cms of seed storage is perfectly
 large enough to hold food for 4 - 5 days.
 But, I have even seen a bird inside the bottle
grabbing the last of the seed lol

I placed the feeder in the tree, and I lie not - within 10 minutes the birds had found it, and they haven't left since...

Queueing up impatiently - I wish you could
see / hear the squabbles when a bird - any bird
 takes too long on the dowel rod...

 ... even to the point that huge barney's happen if a bird takes too long and monopolizes the perch for too long.

Some are patient, and some
 just can't wait!

Queueing up wherever they can -
even searching for spilt seed on the
 ground will do...

I have to replenish the seed every 4 - 5 days.  That's not too much of a hassle.

And the thought that local birds go to sleep at night with full tummies makes me happy.

I just wish it was as easy to help all the undernourished, starving children go to sleep at night with a full tummy too...

Feathers of a different kind...

RMan was walking outside when his sharp eagle eyes spotted a couple of these feathers lying on the ground.

A feather from the Cape Parrot?

Whaaaaaaat???

I have never seen a bird with these colours / markings here where we live.

The Cape Parrot is the one in the lower
 right hand corner

Consulting my Robert Birds of Southern Africa book, the only bird I can possibly identify it with is a Cape Parrot.  But, again, I have never heard anyone mention it...

The distribution map shows that although it's
 name Cape Parrot, it does not frequent this
  part of South Africa...

A Cape Parrot - which is not normally found in the (Western or any) Cape??

But there is no other bird in the book which comes even close to those markings / colour.

Naturally, I am keeping my eyes peeled for a repeat visit so that I can confirm the sighting.

But, if any of my readers can help me confirm / re-identify which bird these feathers belong to I would be very grateful.

~

We have been having a plethora of absolutely breath taking sunrises and sunsets - and I have to share these pics I took of the sunrise from the 20th June.

Skies such as this mesmerise me. 

The colours lingered for such a long time -
 almost right up until the sun rose above the
 horizon

And make me realize how starved I was for both whilst we were living in our town house in the valley.  Surrounded on both sides by mountains, view such as this weren't possible.

They provide such an incredible way to start (or end) the day... :D

Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee

I am so excited about this - I can't wait to share it...

One of our neighbours, Eddie, was kind enough to give us a hen and a rooster.  We seem to have an insect infestation in our shadecloth veggie hut, so I had asked his wife if we could possibly "rent" a couple of their chickens for a couple of weeks - to sort out the problem in as eco-friendly a way as possible.

New chickens exploring the shade covered
veggie patch

When she arrived with the chickens, she said that they have over 40 ("... which is more than enough...") and that we can have the two.  Yoohoo!!  RMan didn't want chickens - seems like he has no choice in the matter now ;)  (sly, aren't I?)

Please meet Tweedle Dum (the rooster) and Tweedle Dee (the hen) - Dum Dum and Dee Dee for short.

They were a tad nervous for the first couple of
 days - strange surroundings, and even stranger
 new "owner" ;)

We set up a temporary coop for them inside the shade cloth veggie hut - complete with roosting perch - but they weren't interested.  They settled themselves down on the ground every evening in the corner farthest away from the temporary coop.  Damn and blast it!

Once Dum Dum and Dee Dee were allowed outside
the shadecloth structure they rushed merrily around
- here, there and everywhere - at full speed.

After they had been locked in the veggie hut for a week (as per Eddie's instructions) the time came to let them explore their new surroundings.  They thoroughly enjoyed scratching below the lemon trees (eating the ants?)...

They fancy my strawberry / youngberry patch the
most - much to the inquisitiveness of the alpacas

...before investigating my strawberry / youngberry patch.  Much to the curiosity of Rupert and Minky.  They couldn't quite work out what these duck like looking creatures were - and they were the wrong colour.

But, the problem of their chicken coop / roosting perch remained.  I was very uncomfortable with them just sleeping on the ground - and was worried about karakul / otters gaining access to the veggie patch in order to snaffle the chickens.  All they had for protection was a single layer of shadecloth.

Not good enough.  I didn't sleep comfortably for that week.

1000 lt water tank

Wandering round the property trying to think of a solution, I spied the empty support cage from the one rainwater tanks which we had cut in half in order to store the alpaca's lucerne and oats away from the mice.

The one water tank was cut in half to be used
as a mouse free storage space for the alpacas
 lucerne / oats

My brain had a light bulb moment, and feverishly started conceptualizing what was happening inside it lol

Grabbing RMan, and dragging him to where the frame was located, I explained my idea.

We had some chicken wire which we were using to sort / clean the VM out of the alpaca fibre.

The arrows indicate where the doorway has been
 situated - bear in mind that the tank has been
 turned on it's side

If we took that chicken wire, turned the frame on it's site, used the two top cage structure supports as an entrance and covered the rest of it (top and sides - the bottom is a solid base) with chicken wire, we would have an instant secure chicken coop that no predator should be able to access.

So that's exactly what we did :)

The frame was completely covered with chicken
 wire.  The two top supports (shown with arrows
 in the above pic) are now a doorway, which I
 can easily access.

We placed a piece of galvanized roof sheet on the top to keep the rain out of the coop.  On top of that we fixed the chicken wire - thus the chicken wire is "holding" the roof sheet in place and preventing it from blowing away / rattling in the wind.

God bless the person who invented cable ties.  Cable ties (aplenty) secured the chicken wire to the frame perfectly.

Dum Dum and Dee Dee were easily coerced into
 their new home with some corn:)
(You can see the solid base now acting as a side
in the above pic.)

Having "taught" the chickens that the shade cloth veggie patch was their new home, I was concerned that I would battle to get them into their even newer home - which has been placed just next to the shade cloth veggie patch.

I needn't have worried.  Sprinkling a bit of food in the entrance and a larger pile further in, they couldn't resist.

Quick as a flash I closed the door that RMan had made out of a piece of plywood (hinged with - yeah, you guessed it - cable ties bwahahaha), and the chickens were safely ensconced inside for the night:)

Success!!!  Two roosting chickens :D

I went out ½ hour later and both of them had finished munching and were finally roosting :)

Hehe.  I do so love it when I'm on the same page as animals I am trying to assist.

This coop will also be easy to move whenever we need to - RMan and I will just pick it up and place it in it's new position.  Chicken poop will be easy to scoop up when the coop is moved.

And, with John's, (the casual labourer) assistance, RMan and he will be able to pick it up over the wooden fence and place it in the newer veggie area when we want / need the chickens assistance / nitrogen there.

Shadecloth draped over the top of the new
chicken coop will provide rain, shade and wind
 protection to the coop.
Note the nesting box just inside the door -
yup, I'm ready for when the hen is ready to
lay ;)
(in the pic you can clearly see the
 6 X cable ties which are the door hinges)

This morning we draped the top half of the coop with a double layer of 80% shade cloth and secured it with cable ties once again - to help keep the rain off them if it slants down sideways whilst they're roosting, and it will also give them some shelter from the wind, and help to keep the roof sheet cooler during the hot summer months.

Can you see the roosting perches?
I have found them on both the upper
and lower perches

I just l-o-v-e this little chicken coop.  Measuring 1.0 mtrs high X 1.2 mtrs wide and 1.0 mtrs deep it should suffice for at least 6 - 8 chickens.

Firstly, it is definitely secure against karakul and otters, and it will keep the chickens protected from inclement weather.

But, mostly importantly to me, the old water storage tank frame is almost serendipitously perfect to (re)use as a chicken coop, especially given that it had just been lying around - unused and unwanted.  Recycling at it's best :)

As for RMan - the chickens have worked their magic - if  they spot either of us outside, they immediately run up, and start following us.

"They're very cute", says RMan, "not ducks, but cute nevertheless" - with a smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eyes, as the chickens chase after him.

"...here kip-kip, kiiiiiip-kip-kip, kip-kip-kip..."

6th mass extinction

The warnings are all out there.

Does anyone want to listen now...?

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/mass-extinction-ehrlich-061915.html

Coo 2

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