3+1 and It's All Over

It's all over in the chicken coop. 
 Little Ace sat on eggs from April 15-May 25, because I am an optimist to the ridiculous degree. It takes 21 days for an egg to hatch.  She started with 9, 2 of which another chicken pecked holes in within the first 2 days.  So since I didn't gather all the eggs and then put them all under the hen at the same time, they were mostly going to hatch on different days.  So the worst case would have been that the last chick would have hatched on May 15th.  That's 21 days and 9 more for each egg hatching 1 a day.

On Wednesday, May 25, Trinity and Bridget came down that night and we candled the last egg that Little Ace had faithfully been keeping warm.  It was egg #5, that we thought was sure to be the 1st to hatch the first time we candled the eggs.  But alas, it did not appear to have a chick in it now.  Trinity boldly gave it the sniff test and was sorry he did.  He said, "This egg is not good."  So I had him drop it over away from everything, so I could see what was inside.  Yuck--don't know why, just curious--just had to see. So today was the first day that Little Ace truly enjoyed her freedom. It seemed to have taken her all day Thursday to realize she didn't have any eggs to sit on. She doesn't give up either.  I let her out early this morning and all day she played in the unplanted vegetable garden taking dust baths. Hens love sitting in dry dirt and throwing it all over themselves.  They do it to keep insects off.

 See how much small it is and by itself.

I titled this post 3+1 because the 4 little chicks, that made it out of the eggs, and lived are grouping themselves.  The chick that hatched on day 21 and the 2 that hatched on day 23 are always huddled together.  They have also grown very quickly.  I hate to predict that they are roosters.  But that is what I am thinking.  Time will tell.

Mr. Big Foot

The baby chick, less than a week younger, is always in a far corner alone.  The others don't pick or peck on it.  It eats just fine.  But it doesn't seem to be growing as fast.  It is also not as frighten of me or doesn't make as big of a fuss as the others.  It's very strange.  When I ordered day old chicks in the mail, they have always been very friendly and easy to train to eat food out of my hand.  These are not so easy.  Another reason I think they may be roos. I just hope the baby one is a hen--surely there will be one--ONE, oh please.
Anyway, I will not be keeping any of them that turn out to be roosters.  There will only be one rooster in my chicken yard and that is Big Foot.

Whose Fault Is It?

I see several comments on my posts and Facebook page that Dr. Dawkins must go.  Though I did not vote for his contract renewal, it really won't help to get a new superintendent.  It's like getting a divorce. Many times when one remarries somehow they end up with the same problems or in some cases worse.  We are still a part of the new partnership. Most Superintendents want to do what is right by the students, of course there are exceptions, but the politics with Board Members bend his/her actions all out of shape.  The superintendent put forth a Vision 20/20 Plan that reflected the lack of vision found in the self-serving attitudes of at least 7 board members.  Then last night he proposed raising the teacher/pupil ratio because he could get at least 7 board members to go along with it.  We must cut 20 million dollars. How did we get in this shape?
From the messages the Superintendent gets from the majority of the Board Members.
Here are a few from the past couple of years.

1.  Problem: We have 3 high schools in Caddo with about 300 students with a capacity for over 1000. They are all in the city, so distance to another school is not a problem.
   Solution: None of them can be closed.  These 3 high schools are represented by 3 board members.   Millions of dollars just to keep them staffed and running. This is what Vision 20/20 plan became.  Save these 3 schools by sending 7th and 8th graders there to increase enrollment and let them also get an academically unacceptable education and maybe even increase their chances of becoming a 12 year old mother.
Costs: Lives, safety, and education of our students.  Don't have money total but in the millions. Mr. Hooks and I voted, No.

2. Problem: The state is going to take over these 3 high schools because they have been listed as academically unsuccessful for 5 years. 
Solution: We can't let the state take them, so let's send the state about a million dollars a year for 5 years per school.  The state will send consultants.  Synonym for Consultants-Cronies. \
Costs: There goes around $15,000,000
Board member Tammy Phelps and I were the only 2 who voted NO.  We said, Tell the state to take them, if they think they can do better. We knew the state would not take them.  They were bluffing to get money.

3.  Problem:  A group outside the school system didn't get their grant funded this year. They do work with children in Caddo Parish.  Also, very bad problem for Dottie Bell's daughter-in-law because she works for them and she has been told she will be laid off if the school board doesn't fund them.
Solution: Superintendent says we have a budget shortfall, so we can not fund their program for them.
Dottie Bell leads the charge to get them funded.  She actually said that at the board meeting. Lawyer gets up and informs Mrs. Bell it is not legal for her to vote on this issue.
Costs:  $260,000 for 1 year and 3 months.
Board member Tammy Phelps and I were the only 2 who voted NO.  Dottie Bell abstained after she lead the charge to fund it.

4.  Problem: We have 13 schools that are labeled academically unsuccessful.
Solution:  Hire consultants (refer to synonym above).  Best consultants are from Michigan where the Superintendent is from.  The majority of board members will vote to do anything to keep these schools open.
Costs:  We spend almost twice as much money per student in these schools. $8,000,000 was spent on various consultants the past 2 years.
 I do believe I messed up and voted for several of these.  I never said I was perfect. I wanted to believe.  And we did have money, then.  But you don't after you spent it.

5.  Problem:  Our schools need to have technology upgrades.
Solution:  Get a $17,000,000 interest free loan from the Federal Government. Take $17,000,000 out of our General Fund and set it aside in a separate fund to pay back the note at $1.1 million a year.  But instead of using money from the set aside fund to pay back the loan, our Finance Director decided to take the payment for the past 2 years out of the General Fund.
Costs: $19,000,000 to our General Fund. The $17,000,000 we set aside and the 2.2 we paid back.
I have requested at every budget meeting that we use $6,000,000 to cover our budget shortfall.  I do realize this is 1 time money.

6.  Problem: Our district's enrollment has dropped a little and shifted a lot.  In some schools the classes have 10-14 in a class and in other schools there are 28-40 in a class in grades 2-12. Too many schools and too many employees in our school system as a whole.
Solution:  Revise staffing formula, in other words, increase teacher/pupil ratio. We will then have 18 students per class in the under populated schools and 33 in the crowded schools.  Remember, we can't close any high schools.  We did close 4 elementary schools. But there are at least 15 that are under populated.
Savings: $6,000,000.
Costs: But where will we increase the ratio.  Only in the already crowded schools.  You can't create students where there are none.  And because a lot of those classes are already at capacity, they will be cutting music, art, band, Advance Placement Classes, and other none core subjects. By raising the T/P ratio at the under populated schools, there will not be enough teachers allocated to fund any classes but the core subjects.  All students lose, but the over populated lose the most.

7.  Problem:   We have a $14,000,000 budget deficit. Is anyone surprised?
Solution: Let Central Office Staff prepare list of proposed lay-offs
Lay-off 300 employees all but a small number at the school sites.  Central office needs to keep all of their high paid positions. They will be needed later to propose future layoffs at school sites.  They can cut 3 secretaries.

I have several proposals that have not been proposed by our Superintendent, because he can't get 7 board members to vote for them or maybe he thinks they are bad ideas.
Mostly, I don't want to make suggestions, I just want to not cut the classrooms that have the correct number of students.  I want the Superintendent and highly trained staff to make proposals ie. cut programs (not talking about classes like art, music)  We have millions of dollars of "programs"--like stuff sitting around in your house.  Every director and supervisor has several pet programs, move funds for set aside accounts, cut the 255 staff cars and trucks, cut all consultants and MOUs with the state, etc.

1.  Close 2 high schools. Leave the middle schools alone, except Bethune.  It's been on the academically unacceptable list for the most years, with the least improvement and the most money spent on it.

2.  Open another Middle Magnet School to keep us from losing those students to private schools. 

Explains how his leadership has caused most of  LA crisis?

3.  Roll forward the property taxes.  Collecting an additional $6,000,000 of taxes due the school board each year.  Problem is the property tax payers' children are in the over crowded schools and see that the school board wasted a lot of money already.

4.  Go to 4 day school week.  Estimated to save about 5% of our budget.  That's $17,000,000.

5.  Vote for a new Governor (anybody but Jindal) who supports public education and is not always cutting our funding and blackmailing us to hire his friends as consultants. We've already hired enough of our own. (I know that is not funny-it's true.)

If all else fails, get the hell out of Caddo Parish School System and make 2 new school districts called North Caddo and East Caddo.

Today I've Broken My Record!

Wedding Party, Paxton, Best Man and Gave the Bride Away

Today, May 20th, is my 19th Wedding Anniversary. Since Don works nights and sleeps all day, it just kind of came and went.

  I was first married the day after I got out of high school, on May 12, 1973.  I married my high school sweetheart and fellow bus rider; though we only rode the bus together 1 year because I was a sophomore and Robert was a senior.  We were married for 18 years, 13 years of college and 3 children.  I believe 13 years of college would kill any marriage.  We were both in school, having babies and going crazy.

Don was married to his first wife for 16 years and they had one daughter.  I told Don tonight, "Just think, we could have been married for 37 years, if we had married first."  He replied, "Yes, I'd be dead and you would be in prison, likely way before we made it to 37 years."  My question is, why am I the one that ends up in prison? Anyway, I know he is only joking with a tiny tinge of truth. But, maybe, that is why he gives in to me sometimes--he's afraid I'll kill him if he doesn't.  Okay, fear works for us!

Marriage License, Making it Legal

Don and I are both first borns. So both of us are in charge and we each are going to have things our way. Therefore, usually, he does his thing (read and nap) and I do my thing (everything else under the sun). But we really are extremely similar philosophically. He just expresses it in a low energy introverted way and I'm a high energy extrovert.  Psychologists don't recommend that first borns marry because they will always be butting heads.  Thank goodness we both are very hardheaded.  I think our little goats are very representative of us.  It is so funny to see how they are always playing round head butting.  I guess both of our first marriages dehorned us, making the head butting less painful.  Don claims he was very controlling before he met me.  Obviously, controlling would not work with me.  We, for the most part, got that worked out the 2 years we dated. We really didn't think we would make it, in fact, we broke up more than once.

Paper Work Complete

The first time Don called me and asked if I would go to a movie with him, I said "Maybe."  We hung up with that and then he called me back and said "Well are you going with me or not?"  I said, "Maybe, I haven't gone on a date since became a single mother of 3 and don't know what I'll do with them.  So, yes, if I get it worked out." 

Reception catered by Dominoes

Well, we managed to get a lot of things worked out.  Putting together 2 sets of children, buying a house together, working together in a business for 10 years and now being alone together. Now 19 years have passed and it's kind of amazing that we still love each other.

Our pasted together Family

And Now There Are Four!!!!

Little Ace taking a break.

Monday afternoon Bridget, Connor and I went to take a peek at the last 3 eggs in the coop.  Two of the chicks were pipping.  That means they had pecked a small hole through and the little chick was breathing through that hole. Little Ace had walked out of the coop and the eggs felt a little cool.  So we decided to take the 2 hatching eggs and put them under the lamp in the crate with the other chicks.  I researched on the internet how long it takes for a chick to actually get out of the egg.  There was information on how to help a chick that appears to be in trouble.  So I learned, it could take between 12 and 24 hours.  I could forget sitting there and videoing it.  Most information said it was very dangerous to help a chick because of the blood vessels attached to the shell and chick.  If you broke a vessel, the chick could bleed to death.  Also, many advised that if the chick is not strong enough to get out of the shell, then it will be a weak chicken and the others will pick on it and likely kill it.  All this lead me to believe that I would just sit back and let the process happen.  It did say that you can see the chick moving and hear it peeping.  Only one egg had a peeping and moving chick.  But being an optimist, I was hopeful for both eggs.  Then I saw the chicks pecking at the hatching eggs.  So I decided to return them to the hen in the coop, since she had returned and was sitting on the one left.

Sunny is the goldish hen.

Of course all night I dreamed and thought about those hatching chicks.



I really pretty well knew that one wouldn't make it.  When I put it back, there was no movement or sound. Anyway the next morning, the brown egg had hatched, but the one I was concerned about hadn't and it was a green egg.  I really wanted the green chicks because they have a better temperament than Omelet, the layer of the brown eggs. I brought the new chick in and put it in the crate with the others, so now I have 4 chicks.  3 are Omelet's and 1 is from Sunny the green egg layer. The older ones are not socializing very well with the baby, but they are not hurting it, so things will be okay.  Wednesday, Little Ace, pecked the other hatching egg open and it was for sure dead.  I had to clean out the nest.  So Wednesday and today Little Ace is waiting on one brown egg to hatch. I don't really know when to give up on it.  Maybe Little Ace will know and peck it open if it doesn't open.  We will see tomorrow. 

Kennedy wants a beak.

Are Kids Children?

Hallelujah the new fence is finished for the goat yard!! It took 2 weekends to complete the project.

When considering the enthusiasm my dear husband had for the project, that is quite a feat. All bets were, that for it to ever happen, I would have to fork out my money, not money for our joint account, and hire someone. But I worked right along side him since this whole goat thing is my hobby.  Once when I ran off for a moment, Don yelled at me "Where are you going?"  "No where. I'll be right back in just a minute." I replied.  "I know what you're doing and you're wasting my time." he yelled back at me.  And of course I asked, "What am I doing?" With some aggravation in his voice he replied, "You're going after that camera and I'm trying to get this job done."  Of course when I returned with the camera, I had to inform him, as I asked him to pose again for a picture, that this is not a job, it is an experience!  Didn't he understand WE were doing this for FUN?
But I'm not sure I ever saw a smile on his face.

I let go to take picture.

We took breaks.

 

Goats are more curious than cats.

Anyway the first Friday evening, Don tried to dig the holes with a posthole digger. With the clay soil and the large roots, he quickly decided to go rent an auger. He held one side of this monstrosity of a machine and I held the other.  I think I lost 5 pounds and my spine is twisted like a pretzel. But we got them dug.  Sunday, afternoon we set the poles in concrete.  So this Sunday afternoon all we had to do was put up the chainlink and the gate.  Dottie Belle and Gypsy had a good time running in and out of their new yard before and after it was finished.

Dottie Belle helped run the string so the fence would be straight.

See I am helping.

Even Connor helped.

But when it came time for me to leave them down in the yard so far from the house, I decided they really wanted to spend one more night in the dog yard next to the house. This morning when my daughter, Bridget, brought the baby to me she asked, "Why are the goats in the dog yard?  I thought you finished the goat yard."  I just said I wanted them to spend a whole day in the new yard before they had to sleep in it.

Hasn't everyone experienced how hard it is to sleep in a strange place the first night?

So most of the day and tonight, the girls are in their new place. I may have to leave the balcony doors open just in case they cry and I need to go check on them.     

3 Cheeps From the Coop

Connor with chick #1

I posted on Facebook the hatching of the chick on Thursday, since Blogger was down for many hours.

1st chick, Pooh and the other 2 against the bear.

Yes, they eat on nice china.

I was right about 2 chicks hatching Friday! Another one from Omelet's egg and one from a green egg or Easter Egger. They hatched a few hours apart and were still wet and couldn't walk very well.  The one the hatched Thursday was running around, drinking water and eating.  It must take about 24 hours for a chick to get hungry and strong enough to eat.

You can really tell the 3 different ages.

3rd chick just hatched.

Tonight all three are eating, drinking, running around and cheeping.

 

I do feel a little guilty taking them from Little Ace after she has sat on the eggs for 29 days.  None of the 3 that are left have hatched today.  Surely 2 more will hatch tomorrow.  I'm thinking about leaving the ones that hatch now with Little Ace.  I just don't know if they will be okay.  I don't have room for 6 more chickens, so I could afford to experiment.
I just hate seeing dead chicks.

See the yellow fuzzy butts.

  
Grandson, Chase, has named the first chick, Pooh, because when Chase came over I had put a little Pooh Bear in the crate for it to snuggle with. Tonight, I can no longer tell the first 2 chicks apart.  They are both black with yellow on their wing tips and fuzzy yellow butts.  The other one is a little strange looking.  It appears to be all black, but there is a hint of a brown shading.  When it grows up it will likely be mostly brown.

Anyway they are safe and warm under the red heat lamp and snuggling with Pooh and each other.
Just 2 brown eggs and 1 green one left to hatch.

What's Happening With the Hens and Eggs

Well Little Ace has been sitting on eggs now for 25 days.  Since she can not count, she will sit there until the last one hatches or I give up and throw it away.  She started on April 15 with 9 eggs.  Someone pecked holes in 2 of them.  One chick hatched on day 21 as it should, but the little chick got out of the coop and into the run and died.  I have checked in the coop for peeping chicks at least 3 times a day.  Today, just before dark I checked on them and found that Cracker and Little Ace are both sitting on the eggs.  I bet this is very rare.  Brooding hens are very protective and usually won't let any one-human or fowl near her nest.  But Cracker has been sitting on the eggs when Little Ace goes for a little walk.  I had to run and get my camera when I saw Cracker in the nest with Little Ace.  Surely tomorrow we will have a couple of chicks.

Mother's Day, Know all Your Mothers

Grandmother Murphy

I think it is so sad that most Americans can not trace their "Mother" ancestors back past grandmother and a few to great-grandmother. Mother ancestors are so hard, because their maiden names are often not recorded. So one of my many hobbies is genealogy.  I joined Ancestry.com about 5 years ago.  I get in the mood to work on it every time there is a death in the family.

Grandma Mae

Sometimes my mother would say to me, "You act just like your Grandma Mae.  She was bossy and rude like that."  Of course, I did not like that.  But now I understand that we are all made from the genes of our mothers and fathers from many generations ago. Both of my grandmothers were 5 feet tall, so is my mother and so am I.  My son once said to me, "You had better not make me short."  People, whom we've never met have a huge impact on our lives.
  

Great-Grandmother Blanche Hartley Washington

For instance, the way I walk. One of my former students, after not having seen me for about 10 years, was looking out the window from the 3rd floor of an office building when he saw me walking door to door in a near by neighborhood passing out my campaign literature. He quickly ran out of the building and caught up with me.  He said, "I knew it was you by the way you walked, not lady like."  Though I did not find that description flattering, I was impressed that he could recognize me from such a distance and by the way I walked.  Then about 3 years ago, I was given a picture of my maternal great-grandmother. She is Grandma Mae's mother. She is pictured walking in downtown Monroe. I just knew that was my walk.  Though shopping, she is a lady on a mission and that is me.  Never a stroll and certainly not a sashay. My 2 daughters have my mother's walk.  They stroll and never look like they are in a hurry, even if someone is waiting on them is--usually me.

I get my love for gardening and doing outdoor things from both of my grandmothers and my mother.  My daughter, Bridget, says there are blue jobs and pink jobs.  She does not do blue jobs.  Neither of my daughters want to do the gardening. That's a blue job.  Their father's mother was like that.  She was great in the house.

My last moments as an only child.

I learned to sew by working with my mother.  She and I would design an outfit and she would make the pattern and show me how to lay it out on the fabric and cut it out.  She couldn't actually teach me to sew,  because she was too bossy.  I got her back. But because I watched her for years, though didn't actually make anything until I was married; sewing came very naturally to me.

My mother instilled a love of learning in all her children.  But since I was her first child, I thought I could not read a book without her reading it with me. I think we read all the Nancy Drew books together.  She loved to read my history books too. If she had gone to college,  she likely would have been a teacher.

Yes, we owe who we are, to our mothers and to their mothers and mothers many generations ago. 
                                                                       

Bridget and my Grandchildren

 Paxton and Me                             Jacquie and Me                

Sad News from the Coop

Don and I went out to the chicken coop early this morning.  First thing I did was look inside the nesting box.

Little Ace was there as expected and no sign of a first chick.  Then I looked down in the run and there lay little chick from egg #5.  I yelled and Don scooped it up with a little sand bucket shovel.  I had not expected to see a baby chick.  It must have hatched in the wee hours of the morning and hopped out of the coop and fell into the run.  It probably didn't die from the fall.  Baby chicks have to stay at 95 degrees, so it likely got too cold. Cracker was standing beside it.  It was probably dead before Cracker woke up.  Anyway, I have shut the door so no more chicks can fall out of the coop.  When I checked tonight about 7, there was not sign of a chick trying to hatch.  It's wait and see. 

"The Little Family" just came over and we candled the 6 remaining eggs.  It wasn't egg #5 that hatched; it was #1. There was no broken egg shell, so Little Ace must have eaten the shell after the chick hatched.  Last week, we thought #5 would be the first to hatch. It didn't look so good tonight.  Anyway, we amateurs think #6 and #7 looked best tonight. We could see #3 moving around, but it didn't look big.   We are fairly sure all the eggs have chicks in them with the exception of #5--and we don't know what it is doing. I took pictures, but they don't really look like what we were seeing.  We could see feathers.
It's wait and see what hatches.  This time the door is closed! 

I had the flash on.

There is an air pocket at one end of the egg.

It Takes a Coop to Raise Chicks

Patriots Day at First Baptist.  Trinity was honored for his service.

We all know Hillary Clinton's book, It Takes a Village.  Life always goes better for adults and children to have loving, caring, and helpful people around them.  That is one of the main reasons I practically moved heaven and earth so my first daughter, Bridget, would live just one house from me and raise my beautiful grandchildren right in my line of sight.  It is true, that I can sit on the sofa in the living room and watch TV and keep an eye on her house.  Many nights I have seen something that sent me flying out the front door to check things out.  Not to be confessing that I sit on the sofa all the time watching TV.  There are windows in 6 rooms from which I can observe "the little family's house."  And yes, I often refer to them as "the little family."
Thank goodness, for my sake, I have never encountered something that I couldn't handle.  But they know that I am right down the street ready to be called into action.

Well, my idea for this blog was not to write about "the little family."  As the title would suggest, this post is about something going on in one of the chicken coops.  If you read the previous post about Little Ace, you know she is endeavoring to hatch 7 eggs.  This is very hard on a hen.  The eggs have to be kept warm 24 hours for 21 days.  She would have to sit for 21 days, only if, all the eggs started on the same day.  That is not true with these eggs.  I figure there could be a 5 day span.  But since this process started before I understood what was going on, I really don't know the hatching date.  Little Ace started brooding April 15, but someone pecked holes in 2 eggs, so I don't know if there will be one hatching tomorrow or not.  But it is Friday, so "the little family" and I will take flashlights out again tomorrow night and while Little Ace is asleep, we will look inside the eggs.  But hopefully, there will be at least one little peeping chick.  I've already gone out twice today and put my ear to the nesting box to listen for peeps.  I guess I'm just practicing.

Back to what a tough process this is on Little Ace.  When does she eat, drink or go to the bathroom?  Actually, I put food and water right up next to her.  But yesterday, I decided to open the door to the coop and let Cracker out.  Cracker is the only hen that I let stay in that coop with Little Ace.  The other 3 hens and Mr. Rooster are living in the other coop.  Much to my surprise, Cracker and Little Ace hopped out.  That's okay, I read that sometimes the hen will leave the nest for just a minute to take care of her needs.  So I went back into the house. 

Cracker was just posing for the picture.  I lost the real one.

 After about an hour and a half, I went back out to the coup and was shocked to see Little Ace wandering around and scratching in the dirt, like she didn't have 7 eggs to keep warm.  But then I noticed that Cracker wasn't out.  I looked in the nesting box and there was Cracker egg-sitting. Of course, when I looked in, Little Ace went back in to her nest. 

Little Ace has her feathers ruffled.  I'm annoying her.

  She doesn't want me to think she is a bad mother.   They did the same thing today.  So we humans may not have invented  "Mother's Day Out."  Even hens are smart and caring enough to help each other out.  But of course that is sweet little Cracker.  Nasty Omelet would have been in there pecking holes in the eggs.  And to think 5 of the eggs are Omelet's.  None of them are Cracker's or Little Ace's.  Come to think of it, the concept of surrogate mothers may have originated from hens.  I'll keep you posted. In the next few days, we will have either chicks or rotten eggs.