Don't Loose Chickens to Hawks.

Despite, the nice weather we're having here Mom and I haven't been able to let the girls outside for very long. Why, you ask? Hawks. They're not that bad most of the year, but every winter hawks from up North inundate the area. Which wouldn't be a problem if they only hunted mice and small birds and left the chickens alone. Unfortunately, they do not.
We lost our rooster to hawks last year, (That's how we ended up needing Abe) ever since then we do everything we can to avoid losing anymore chickens. Here are four pieces of advice for keeping your chickens safe.

   -Don't let them out when there are hawks about. Listen for their tell-tale screech, watch for large shadows flying over head, or large birds perched in neighboring trees, telephone wires, or fences. Don't let then out that day unless you can stay outside and around the flock while they are out.

  -Put a cover on your run. Putting wire on top of your run can also detour other predators.

  -Fishing line. I've heard that stringing fishing line over your run will detour hawks. They see the line shining in the sun and don't want to mess with it.    

  -If you can't put a cover on your run and the fishing line doesn't work at least make sure you don't build a run that is long and narrow. A hawk can swoop right into a long narrow run and get your chickens.


         Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day.

Make your own Knitting Bag

Need a bag to hold your supplies? Cut up an old pair of pants, the only thing you have to buy are the handles. That's how I made mine.

      It's not quite as neat as some of those roll up needle holders, but I can store those tiny ball of leftover yarn in it.

 One of the best things about using an old pair of pants are the pre-made pockets. If don't sew the top part down you can have two pockets in one spot.
   (Plus jean fabric doesn't unravel as easily as most fabric does and is very study.) 

  I cut the legs off the pants, so they were the same length, 21" long in this case. Then I cut up the seam so that they were flat panels of fabric.
   I lined the pieces up and sewed them together.
  After that I folded the top edge of the bag over to hold the handles. I just eye balled it when cut a slit in the folded over part for the handles to go out of.
   If you want a more finished look you could use chalk to mark where you need to cut the fold for the hands to come out of cut there and stitch the edges to limit unraveling before you sew the fold over lengthwise.

Now it's all about customization! I put the pockets inside by sewing the original pockets inside the bag. It was so easy I'm thinking of adding a couple more. All you need are an old pair of pants, a sewing machine, something to use as a handle, and an imagination.

  

                            Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day!

  

  

Pasture Time for the Little Girls

   The weather's nice here. Mom and I were able to start back up on our daily walk. We decide to let the little girl's in the new hen house have some supervised free-range time in the pasture. They were a little skeptical, but seemed to enjoy themselves. I think they will get used to it rather quickly.

   Quail, Lee(leopard), Miracle, and Ducky behind the hen house. 











   Tooie is crowing now and the eggs from the new coop look fertile. Speaking of eggs We almost hit one hundred percent production from the younger girls yesterday. I picked six eggs from the new coop. Only one didn't lay that day.
                            

Possum trying to figure out how to work the gate.

             


 Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day!

100th Post

This is my one hundredth post. I wish I had something cool to write about, but nothing interesting has happened lately. Just stuff to keep me busy, by the way I will not be writing a post this Thursday. The most interesting thing I can come up with to write about is what I'm knitting right now. I told you it's been boring here. 

  I've been making more of my rooster ornaments. I just finished a black one and am working on  another yellow and black one. Tonight I'm going to finish that eye and sew the other on. I doubt I'll have time to glue in the feathers tonight, though. My plan is to have at least two of each color already made so I can take them if I go to a craft show or a farmer's market. I've been thinking of getting my nerve together and asking a locale store to offer them for sale. But I'm not sure about it.

                      

                    Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day!