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| Cloud chills out. |
Because I spent last weekend planting azaleas and etc, until I nearly passed out, this weekend all the animals need clean housing. I started with my cat, Cloud's litter box. If nothing else gets clean this will. It is in my house.
Next the rabbits, Oreo's and Butterscotch's cage. It is a large aquarium that my grandson's turtle once lived in before he set her free in a near by pond. It is much more difficult to clean since it is not a standard cage or hutch. But I thought the bunnies would be more comfortable in the house. I have to use a step stool to reach in and a shovel from a sand bucket. I put the bunnies in the bathtub while I did this. So then I have to clean the bathtub. Oreo actually escaped and ran down the hall. But I captured him before Cloud decided he might offer some amusement. Cloud really wouldn't hurt him, as anyone can see in his picture. But I'm not 100% sure of that. He is a
huge cat.
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| Home of Big Foot, Omelet, Little Ace |
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| Easy to clean tray |
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| Big Foot supervising. |
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| 2 girls contribute |
Next the two chicken condos. I read on some website that chicken houses should be cleaned at least once a year. No way! Two weeks was too long for these. I do not want to know that I have backyard chickens by the smell. Besides these are so easy. Each one has a tray that slides out from the bottom where all the
future garden fertilizer accumulates. These little houses are so cleverly designed. I ordered them from the website
www.mypetchicken.com. That's where I also bought 3 of the chicks when they were one day old. They box as few as 3 chicks and put them in the mail. The post office called when they arrived in Shreveport and I picked them up. I don't believe the people in the mail room had ever had a box of peeping chicks there before. They were very amused. I washed out the trays and added fresh wood chips. Then I cleaned out the egg boxes. The older house has a removable box for the hens to lay their eggs. I scoop out the old chips and hay and put in new chips and hay.
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| Inspectors arriving |
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| Gypsy says, "Okay." |
Just as I finished the chicken houses,
Inspectors showed up. No these inspectors are not FDA certified. But they were very thorough. They even chatted with the senior resident, Cracker. Finally, Inspector Gypsy gave me a hoof-up.
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| Dottie Belle Chats with Cracker |
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| Now our house!!! |
Now we, the inspectors and I, are ready to clean out the goatgloo. Yes, it is a dog igloo, but I don't tell that to the goats. I do have plans for Don to build Gypsy and Dottie Belle a real goat house. I just hope he has the same plans. For now the goats are living in the dog yard with Diva and Megabyte. Of course Diva and Megabyte sleep in the house. They just play with the goats during the day. Much to my surprise and relief, the dogs get along with the kids. They had to get things straight the first day I introduced them. Gypsy, the extrovert, went right up to Megabyte and headbutted him. Megabyte stood in shock. Then Gypsy headbutted Diva. Oh NO! I thought Diva was going to eat Gypsy. I stepped in and calmed Diva. But Gypsy won't mess with Diva again.
Gypsy didn't know that Diva is a real DIVA.
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| They kiss and make-up. |
Back to cleaning the goatgloo. I raked out the old hay. Got the hose and washed the igloo out. Then I let it dry in the sun for a couple of hours and replaced the hay.
Tonight all the critters in this urban farm have clean sleeping quarters.
Now I need to clean my house.