Texas is known for "Big" things...sometimes our weather is one of those things. A common saying is "Go big or go home!"...well this last week a lot of people have no home to go to. East Texas was hit by tornados, lots of tornados. We were fortunate not to have any bad damage here, the day before they hit, we had high winds that caused about an 8-1/2 hour power outage...I lost some eggs that were developing in my incubators, but that is about it. I put some of the Hot Hands body warmers in with the eggs and in with the chicks that were in the brooders...all but one chick made it, I had hatching going on and it just got too cold. I took the rest out that did hatch, as they hatched and put them in the brooders with the older chicks for additional warmth. I even carried the one that died around in my shirt for awhile trying to warm it up before putting it in with the other chicks.
I think the last count on tornados was 9. One of them traveled for over fifty miles on the ground and I believe it was rated at an F-4. Lots of buildings and homes were destroyed and people died. The storms came within 11 miles or so of us, but we mainly had high winds and heavy rain. I had a hen that didn't make it into a coop that died during the night, my husband found her in the mud hunkered down the next morning. Please say a little prayer for all those affected by the tornados, and if you can help in any way, one of the hardest hit areas was Canton, Texas. They are still trying to determine how many tornados spawned and based on damage, what categories they were. It is time like these that I wish we had a tornado shelter. I am sure all those in the paths of the tornados are probably thinking the same thing.
We were under a lot of weather warnings yesterday, high wind, thunderstorms, tornados to the north and south of us, there was hail and tornadic conditions 50 miles from us...I kept a watch on the weather yesterday, the thunder was awful and scaring the animals...but there isn't anything I can do about that. When the rains hit us it was extremely heavy, but fairly brief. It sounded like I had a stampede going over my roof...but by the evening it was over and the skies started to clear. We are suppose to have a bit of a reprieve, until next week. With the storms came a cold front and it dropped our temperatures down to about 50 last night. It is cloudy here this morning and windy again today, and rather cool outside. It is suppose to be decent weather the next several days, so I have some work to get done outside.
I got rid of 42 roosters in the last week and a half, but I need to get rid of more...I just need to try and get the ones I want to get rid of penned and call the man who took most the others, to come get more. He is trying to sell them and said he would split the money with me. I need the money, but I need the roosters gone more than anything else. I always thought it was cruel for hatcheries to kill the male chicks after they sexed them...but, I am starting to think differently now that half of my grown chickens are males! They can be mean, they can gang up on a hen and hurt or kill her, the hens try and stay up high and away from them and don't eat as much as they should...so they have to go. I have been hurt several times by roosters, when I tried to get them off of a hen...there may be six or seven on one hen...the more I can get rid of the better. I only need so many for breeding purposes. I have also been spurred and had a hole in my arm at least a quarter of an inch deep because of one rooster.
On a bright note, I did get some fencing put up for tomato plant supports and got most of the plants that survived the greenhouse roll-over planted. I started some more seeds a few days ago, but they haven't sprouted yet. I have a ton of work to do, but wanted to update my blog at least once this month. We decided to try and make a batch of Dewberry wine this year instead of jelly...but I need to go pick more berries. I think some of my blueberries may be ripe too...and I also have lot of strawberry roots to plant! Lol, I think I have sixty to plant...so I need to get busy!
