Saturday, Oct. 18th… Back from the sheep & Wool festival…

We got home from the festival a little later than we thought and it was rather dark when we pulled into the house. All the ducks were at the duck house awaiting us. The younger ducks of 6 months, were actually in the duck house which surprised Vick and I. The other 8 were standing just outside the open gate quacking their obscenities about us being late, it being dark and they’re being scared of the dark. (but too stupid to go in like the other 6 ducks did) One turkey was out… the other was in the barn, but all the chickens were inside the barn or chicken house. We were particularly worried, as we sat in traffic, trying to leave the fairgrounds and it got darker and darker, because we do have Coyotes in our neighboring farm just beyond our back yard almost every night. They howl and squall at all hours of the night and you can tell a momma is teaching her pups to hunt as they squeal and yap in unison while they run some kind of animal. It was our fear that tonight would be the night that they decided to check out our farm with all the quacking and fowl smells around, and all the critters would be at a disadvantage with the doors open. The rear door of the barn was standing wide open and a light was on, making every bird on the floor in there vulnerable to attack by Coyote, fox, weasel or fisher to name just a few. You can imagine Vick and my relief as we pulled in and caught grief from the ducks and saw everything was ok. Whew!!

The festival was great, but due to a late start this afternoon, due to an important phone call and some pressing paperwork, we missed the sheep herding exhibition. We did however get to see a bunch of sheep, goats, Lamas and Alpacas and a bunch of Angora rabbits which Vick fell in love with. Looks like we just found what to fill the bunny house I’m building onto the end of the barn with. They were as friendly as a puppy and as soft as a cloud. Anyway, following are a bunch of pictures we took of some things we saw.



A band of American Indians playing flute type music up by the food court.

















More food vendors near the entrance

Bluegrass music by the food vendors near the entrance

Ba, Ba, Brown Sheep.

Friendly little cuss with the kiddies

Sheep in the show ring.

Hold still and look pretty now!!

The dread lock crew.

And that was about all she wrote......or about all we could write too, because the battery in the camera wasn't fully charged and it died.............

Our First Frost...How Lovely............................NOT

Good morning from the Cluckin’ “A” Critter Farm…..and a frosty one it is! It’s not that I hate the frost or the chilly (20 degrees) temperatures, but it is a bleak reminder of what’s to come, and coming fast! We still have lots to do to be ready for this cold weather, but today we throw caution and readiness to the wind and head to Rhinebeck…… peddling along route 9 to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds for the New York Sheep & Wool Festival. Lots to see….lots to do….lots to take pictures of! Watch later…..


I told you yesterday about receiving a comical joke type email from Bill yesterday about my everyday condition……remember?
Well, Bill sent a second more technical explanation of the disease that afflicts me. Here is his email in it’s entirety so you can read it and then tell me if any of you suffer from the same thing.


A.A.A.D.D. (age activated attention deficit disorder) affects millions of workers over 50 years of age all across the country. It is the advanced stage of C.R.S. (can’t remember stuff) which affects people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, but mainly those with DNA predisposition towards S.S.M. (significant senior momentitis) or B.S.Z. ( blank stare zoning). If left unchecked , the condition could fester into P.B.F.R.C. (proper bodily function release challenged) which not only is embarrassing ,but could be highly uncomfortable. Once proper treatment is applied , sufferers of these may lead semi-normal lives , unless they forget altogether to apply the proper treatment methods. For some advanced sufferers medication is recommended. Medication side effects may be memory loss, hardware store meandering , poor spelling, inability of focus, failure to find proper festival parking, vertigo, nausea and even in some cases incapacity to remember important dates or where you put stuff. If you experience one or more of these symptoms please contact your local Chinese take-out restaurant…… Oh , look a Butterfly……

Perhaps he suffers from something also…. I just haven’t put my finger on it yet.

Friday, Oct. 17th… Can a month fly past any faster? Yep… it did!!

WOW!! Look at where we are! It’s already half way through October and zipping toward November like a lightning bolt on steroids. The leaves continue to fall as mute testament to what is coming rapidly on the shirttail of Autumn and I don’t exactly like it. Seems we’re never ready no matter how hard we try.
We still have the water lines and freeze proof hydrants to put in and there are still a few electrical issues to resolve. I must have been temporarily insane to take on this furnace installation with all this stuff needing done here at home. Oh well, that’s what I do best……stupid stuff.

Anyway, we’ll tend the animals if necessary when we go out to the barn, which I already did this morning, but you always see more to do, and then I’ll start on the furnace duct work we’ll make. My helper, the computer whiz and love of my life will help keep me straight and watch my measurements for correctness before I cut the sheet metal for the plenum heat distribution box and the filter box for the cold return. We must fabricate both for the furnace and I have to make a 24” long section of 10 x 20 duct and then we’re ready to install it. I want to get this thing done so I can get back to our own stuff a.s.a.p.

NOTICE: Timmy D. Turkey is almost back to himself. He is preening and fluffing and pecking all around the yard again. Tina Faye Turkey is completely back to herself and all the other chicken illness’s have disappeared. This is the greatest news of the month, after losing one turkey and 6 or 7 chickens and lots of bad eggs during the inoculation period of the chickens when they were unfit to eat. We have 20 some eggs hatching in three locations…. 6 under one laying hen…..8 under another and 12 or so in the incubator in the basement, all of which will hatch around the 28th of the month. LATE, LATE, LATE for peeps, but thank goodness there are two hens to take care of them all.

Remember what we said about not missing fall festivals since we worked all summer long? Well, tomorrow we are going to be at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival at the Dutchess County fairgrounds along route 9 in Rhinebeck, NY 12572. It is scheduled from 9AM to 6PM and has a huge schedule of events and vendors. Hopefully, Vick's family can go along and we can make it a family outing. We’ll snap pictures while there.

If you can't do it.....Get your wife to!!!!!

Notice! You can now use our followers function. It is repaired thanks to Vicki the computer whiz!

It just goes to show you the best man for the job is a woman! Vick worked for a half hour and solved the problem that I've been working on since the 2nd day we were on blogger.com and couldn't.

The problem revolved around our name, which had apostrophes and quotes. If your followers widget doesn't work, make sure you don't have any punctuation marks in your headers. It gave us an error on page saying it was on line one and Vicki figured out that line one was our blog name Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm. Once she changed it to Cluckin A Critter Farm, the error was gone and followers worked.

So remember! If you need it fixed.....get your wife to do it!

Thurs. Eve, Oct. 16th… Long Day…Short on accomplishments, I think!

Well……… Today went whizzing by leaving us in the dust. Must have been the rain and dreary skies that cause a person to move in the “molasses in January” mode. I think about what we’ve done in a days time and I cannot understand how we could get any slower without going backwards. Most people around us say they wish they could accomplish as much as we do in a day, but I can’t imagine anyone slower than we are. ( I guess the older you get, the worse you think you are. Obviously, we’re our own worst enemy!!) We did get all the items we needed to install the furnace, but we will not be able to do the actual installation until the boxes and heat exchanger distribution box is ready, so we’ll make it tomorrow. Big job…big job…fun, fun, fun.
I got an email today about a condition I live with on a daily basis! Bill…… to you it’s funny… to me it’s how I live and why I am in such a slow mode. I never know where I am or what I’m doing and why I am or am not doing it! Talk about confusion!!! The condition Bill acknowledges is called A.A.A.D.D. ( age activated attention deficit disorder) Following is a perfect rendition of how it affects me.

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to pushthe Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water. I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses thatI've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where itbelongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: the car isn't washed the bills aren't paid there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only 1 check in my check book,I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys. Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem,and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....

Now, I want to know…… how many of you function this way? How many of you would think this kind of thing is normal? Vicki says it’s an age thing. If so….in another year, I will have problems with scheduling……… you know. Making your water and a bowel movement every morning at 7:00 AM, then getting up around 8:00.AM or so!






















Bye, Bye

Thursday Oct. 16th… A gloomy, rainy, day emerged today……

We needed some rain……… but who wanted to see it? There is nothing worse than drought like conditions…… low streams and our Pupskill Lake Pond (as we call it) in dire need of water so the fish don’t have to walk. (they hate walking…… and lay on the ground flopping around, throwing their fit, if they have to)

Even though we can use the water that rain brings….. We still hate to see it rain because it cramps our style. Take for instance the fact that because of this rain…… the chickens and turkeys can’t go out to play because they get sick. The ducks are then punished by not being allowed out either, (for fear of partiality issues) so they stand and quack obscenities all day long. We can’t do the things we wanted to do outside, like roll up the tarps that I spread on the ground yesterday to dry, because they are wetter now than they were yesterday, etc., etc., etc.
We should go and pick up the remaining parts and supplies needed for the furnace job, and we will……… but when? Where? I still need to find a place to get this stuff. Rainy days should be considered “off days”!! Nothing has to happen on those days…… just stay in bed if you must or sit in front of a TV or whatever floats your boat. Enthusiasm and rain showers are certainly not synonymous with one another and today proves it. All I’ve been able to accomplish this morning was drinking coffee, pissing off all the animals because I wouldn’t turn them loose to free range, updating the website “new barn” section and “products” page at http://www.cluckinacritterfarm.com and finally posting this blog entry. And the rain continues………………

Wednesday Eve Oct. 15th… Eggs are in the barn!!! Vicki is HAPPY!!!

Our New Barn!!













We finished placing the refrigerator in the barn this evening when we got home from picking up supplies for the furnace job. Since we couldn’t get all the parts needed today because of time limitations, we will do the rest tomorrow in Albany. That let us a few minutes this evening to bring all the stuff for the refrigerator to the barn and install it all. The pictures below show the barn inside and the refrigerator operating, keeping eggs cool along with some drinking water for us when we are working out there. Vicki is happy to have her refrigerator in the house back since the eggs from there went to the barn. All the eggs took up about an eighth of the inside capacity which she can now use for other food.
We got gas at Glenmont this afternoon for $2.99 a gallon while the vultures here are still getting as high as $3.36, with the average being $3.19. Nice to know you neighbors at home enjoy screwing you out of 20 cents a gallon yet a stranger in a distant town isn’t! Way to go Greene County. Greed…Greed…Greed! The entire world is running on greed and corruption. Maybe when our next president goes in and we are all forced to be towel heads we can get our gas at a better price. After all…..they’ll own America.
We’ll all work for the “Allah Babba” dudes and be paid in oil.
Good news!!!! Timmy Turkey seems to be perking up! Do you hear that Bill? Your prayers worked!!! Someone ate a bunch of hot dogs to give Timmy this much life force! Timmy was saved and is on his way to recovery!!!!! (we hope!!!)
We not only have been injecting him daily with the Penicillin, but he is now drinking water with ProBiotics powder in it to reestablish his digestive system since we believe he had a gastrointestinal disorder and the antibiotic kills even the good stuff in the stomach. The ProBiotics replaces the live cultures in the digestive system again.

Vicki doing something

The Egg refrigerator in the barn

It's ol' Vick Donald on her farm

eee III eee IIII Oh......

Eggs, Vaccines and our drinking water

more eggs

Mr. Timmy D. Turkey

Chickens in bed

more chickens in bed

Bunnies are never in bed!

One stable area not finished.

Feed Room

It's a junk room right now.

Needles and dry meds.

Bye, Bye

Wednesday, Oct. 15th… Tell it like it is Kelly!!!

I just finished reading Kelly’s blog post of yesterday, (http://thechickenchronicles.blogspot.com/) about the cruelty of farm animals and reference to a recent Oprah Winfrey show (http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow_20081008_animals)
that aired, showing the current “proposition 2” bill that is pending in California, which deals with farming, the treatment of farm animals and their living quarters. As small scale hobby farmers, just starting out with 120 laying chickens, some might say we should mind our own business, learn a little bit more about farming or look more closely at the financial impact that proposition 2 will have on commercial farming. I understand their plight and sympathize with them, but the fact remains……… it’s the animals life We’re concerned with.
We sell eggs daily to a growing clientele who don’t mind paying our price for free range eggs. We cannot make a living on what we sell………quite the contrary, because the eggs sales don’t even cover the cost of the feed right now, let alone the building cost of their quarters, etc., but we are fine with that. We house our chickens in two areas, an old hen house with an outside wired run and a larger in-barn room with a huge outside wired run. Our followers have seen the barn and related arrangements for the chickens on previous posts (which, by the way, can be accessed by anyone by simply browsing back through time, all the way to the building of this farm) to see how our chickens, ducks and turkeys live here. Also, you can see more at our regular web site entitled, http://www.cluckinacritterfarm.com which has been around a long time. I guess what I am trying to say is this: No matter the argument, God made man the keeper of all animals, to be used as food and to enjoy. That does not mean stuff an animal in a box and look at it…… and it also means we will not torture them for financial gain. Everyone that is promoting proposition 2, understands that it will increase the cost of food. What they are saying is that they do not want to pay less for mishandled food, both at the farm, slaughter house and market.
Every animal deserves to be kept in a pleasant surrounding, have food and water when it wants it and it needs to be able to move around and live. That is what we do here on the Cluckin’ “A” Critter Farm, because that is what we believe in.
We pay over $4.00 a gallon for gas, which places millions of dollars in foreign pockets when it should be under $1.00, yet we balk at the cost of treating dependant animals properly.
In my opinion proposition 2 simply deals with the root of all evil… Greed! It really isn’t about something we all know shouldn’t be happening…… mistreatment of animals is sick….whether for food production or just a person that ties a dog to a box in a yard to freeze all winter long. (another of my pet peeves) Why have any animal if you are not dedicated to their proper care and well being and why close your eyes to neglect and cruelty of others?

Tues. Eve, Oct. 14th… Back from Cobleskill with a metal brake…

We returned from our trip to Cobleskill Tractor Supply where we picked up the metal Brake we have been thinking about getting for two months or so. We wanted it to make pans for under the rabbit pens, but didn’t have enough use for one to buy it. Now with the furnace job we are doing and the fact that we need two more pens for young male and female offspring, we will have more than enough work for one now. 6 pens of bunnies make a powerful mess if there aren’t pans under them.












Sunday is a "Walk Along for Lupus" and our grandson Andrew is participating in it. Below, is a picture of Andrew receiving a citation for Extreme Community Service from NY Legislator Norma Gonsalves

Below is a letter composed by Andrew. Please read it and understand that you can donate toward his cause by going to the link provided.....

Hello, my name is Andrew "Mookie" Alderman and I am an considered an 18 year old Extreme Fundraiser.
Shortly I will be volunteering for the 6th year to help out at the 15th Annual “Walk Along For Lupus,” as well as walking 3.2 miles during the walk. This is my 8th year of trying to raise money to help find a cure for Lupus. Last year, I was able to raise $3,050, of the much needed money for Lupus research and care. This year my goal is to raise $5,000, and I an less than halfway there ,but Any amount you would be willing to donate would help get me closer to my goal.

The reason why I am writing is because I would like your help to reach my goal . I have asked a mutual relative/friend to forward this to you in hopes that you might be able to help. I have till November 7th to do this and submit the funds. This is the only Lupus walk on Long Island that not only supports research but supports the individual with Lupus as well. I would greatly appreciate it if you or your company could help sponsor me this year, for this worthwhile charity fundraiser. Any amount would be appreciated and is tax-deductible (checks can be made out to “Lupus Alliance” and mailed to the Bold address below). Or You can also visit my personal Lupus walk web page, where you can contribute ONLINE quickly, safely, and easily with the click of a mouse. Just go to https://www.firstgiving.com/andrewalderman and follow the links.
Lupus is a terrible disease that affects at least 4 million people. Lupus is a chronic, incurable disease. The Lupus patient9 9s immune system loses the ability to differentiate between foreign bodies, causing the body to attack itself. It can be deadly and we need to raise money to find a cure. A new drug has not been approved for its treatment in over years. Most of the medications given for Lupus aren’t even for the disease and cause the user to incur side effects almost as bad as the symptoms they are made to suppress. Many people know someone who has Lupus currently or had Lupus and has passed on.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this . Feel free to pass this email onto Family, friends and co-workers, i f you think that they would like a hand in helping me reach my goal. If you have any questions or would like to know more about Lupus, please feel free to call me at 516-505-9005.

Sincerely,

Andrew “Mookie” Alderman
1523 Rose Lane
East Meadow, N.Y. 11554

This afternoon before we went to get the brake, we looked out in the back yard in time to see a little button buck eating the chicken scratch & oats we throw down every morning. He didn’t seem to mind us snapping pictures, but he did object to Rooster Cogburn rounding up his hens and chasing lil’ ol’ Bucky outta there. Cogburn looks as if to say “OK Bucky…… this is war! Better Git!” Bucky slowly meandered out past the Wilson house fence and disappeared into the woods to return later.

Matilda...Matilda.... get back, get Back!! You don't know what Bucky may do to you!
















Look Bucky...... Don't be trying anything funny with my gals...See!
I fact.....Why don't you just buzz off?













All I ever get is chased and chased and chased. Nobody loves me!!!
















Hey Big Bird!! Kiss this!!



















On the road, entering Middleburg. What a quaint little town.













Another Schoharie County farm in Autumn.















Bye, Bye

Tuesday, Oct. 14th... Refrigerator day today.....a Big one!

This morning, we are going to go to GNH to pick up U-bolts so we can place the back piece of plywood on the hand cart to be used in moving our refrigerator from the Wilson House to the barn. After the move, we will use the cart in the barn to move feed bags, which will be very easy with the plywood bottom and back installed on the cart. Without it, the bags dragged on the wheels as the bag drooped around the pipe. Not any more!!!!

We then need to go to the bank and cash a check for operating money so we can go and buy the needed materials for installing the heater on the mountain. We will probably head to Albany to pick those things up.

When we get home, I suppose we will work in the barn on wiring or whatever we need to do yet before winter hits. Stay tuned for more fall pictures and our daily escapades.

A morning sight here on the Cluckin' "A"

Monday Evening, Oct. 13th… Return from the colorful mountains…

We made a good day of it here on the Cluckin’ “A” Critter Farm. We started off this morning by removing the pump/filter assembly and hoses from the pool, finishing up the necessary task of winterizing the swimming pool for another year. We then went to the barn and gave the turkeys their shots and checked for other sickly birds. The turkeys are the last in there to have a problem, it seems and only the male now. The female seems to have kicked it and is back to her old self…… If the male doesn’t turn the corner in a day or two, we may lose him and that would be a real shame. He has became an Icon of the farm…..out there, all puffed up and putting at visitors like a big shot. We don’t know what else to do for him if the Penicillin shot fails to work.


We returned from the mountain after 5:30 this evening, so we could not get the u-bolts from GNH that we need to repair the cart to use it to move that monstrous refrigerator from the Wilson house to the new barn. It will go on the pad we built yesterday and once running and up to temperature, will house the Penicillin, Epinephrine, eggs and any butter Vicki might make for sale in the Hospice House when we build it and start selling in it.
Here are a bunch of pictures of the trip up the Katterskill Clove Road to Haines Falls.

We have our own Jack-o-lantern cutters here on the Cluckin' "A"!!

Bastion Falls

Crowd of hikers ready to go up to the Katterskill Falls.

Houses in Twilight Park have no yards....... they're built on sheer cliff.

Wouldn't you know?

Picture of "Fawn's Leap"

Bye, Bye