I was going to start off my blog with a typical introduction of myself and all of the crew, but that would be boring and expected. Luckily we just had the second most favorite type of day (for dogs anyway) on the farm second only to irrigation day, it was "move the chicken tractors" also known as "mice apocalypse"day. For those of you that don't know, our feathered production staff live in what are called 'chicken tractors' aka Feathered Production Staff (FPS) dormitories. No, they aren't living in our John Deere, they are movable chicken houses that have wire floors so the chicken 'stuff' falls to the ground below the chicken house. Much cleaner than a traditional chicken house, well theoretically anyway, you probably don't know how much chickens poop but it's ALOT.
Once the chicken houses are full, the assistant farm manager and the CFO (my mom) hook them up to the John Deere and move them. "Well what's so exciting about that?" you may ask. Some of you may think you know, you probably assume that it's the stuff that falls through the bottoms of the chicken house that we are so excited to get to. In reality, we have so much chicken, duck and goose poop around the farm that it is not a delicacy. So even though, when the chicken houses are moved, a lot more of it is available in a convenient pile, poop is easy to find around here. (side note: I am drafting up a business plan to package and sell farm bird poop to city dwelling dogs who otherwise have no access to high quality organic bird poop). What we do care about is the hundreds of mice that are living beneath the FPS dormitories. If any of you have ever seen the videos of the seals jumping out of the air to get away from the great white sharks in South Africa, it's the same thing here but it's mice jumping out of the straw underneath the chicken houses. There are literally hundreds of mice that run everywhere, so my crew and I are on scene to catch these furry little scavengers.
Yesterday my count was five mice, Rio easily got twice that number. George stepped on one and then picked it up in his mouth, but didn't like how it was wriggling around so he dropped it and Shadow finished it. Due to dietary restrictions, Shadow is not supposed to have corn products and since these mice are corn fed, he's not supposed to eat them, but I saw him sneak a few. He's lucky the CFO didn't see him. Smokey provides perimeter security so we can conduct the extermination operation without any interference, (sneak attacks by Hanz and Franz) , killing mice really isn't his thing. He accidentally stepped on one once, it got stuck between the pads in his feet and the CFO had to remove it for him. He then went into the orchard to contemplate the fleeting lifespark of a mouse. He's so existential, which is fine, it doesn't interfere with this core duties most of the time.
The truly shocking events of yesterday, which is another thing that you may not realize, is not only do us dogs go after the mice but the chickens, will tear them apart! The peacocks, also come calling for their share of the bounty. It's not unusual on "mice apocalypse day" to see chickens running around with mice dangling from their beaks. The chickens are terrorized by these small phantom menaces, they steal food from them, ctrack their eggs and who knows what kind of smack talking goes on. How scientists missed the connection between these birds and dinosaurs is beyond me and a huge 'DUH" moment. One you see a chicken running around with a mouse dangling from it's beak, you can never un-see it and you think twice about turning your backs to them, especially when they are all together in a group.
If you are ever visiting Frost Farm on "mice apocalypse day" there are a few rules that you want to follow:
1. Keep your pants legs tucked inside your boots, or put rubber bands on your pants legs because the mice will run up a pants leg lightning fast. I've seen this happen before and while it's hilarious, it seems to be very distressing for humans. I'm not sure if it's the fact that the mouse is running up their pants, or if' it's being knocked over by one of my crew in hot pursuit of the fugitive.
2. Do not accept doggie kisses! If you do, you will get a mixture of things that most humans do not like to be kissed with!
All in all, it was a great action packed day and my crew performed very well (George still needs work, but that's always the case.). Now it's time to rest and recover. Hopefully the CFO doesn't decide I need a bath. Til next time, nap well my friends.
Once the chicken houses are full, the assistant farm manager and the CFO (my mom) hook them up to the John Deere and move them. "Well what's so exciting about that?" you may ask. Some of you may think you know, you probably assume that it's the stuff that falls through the bottoms of the chicken house that we are so excited to get to. In reality, we have so much chicken, duck and goose poop around the farm that it is not a delicacy. So even though, when the chicken houses are moved, a lot more of it is available in a convenient pile, poop is easy to find around here. (side note: I am drafting up a business plan to package and sell farm bird poop to city dwelling dogs who otherwise have no access to high quality organic bird poop). What we do care about is the hundreds of mice that are living beneath the FPS dormitories. If any of you have ever seen the videos of the seals jumping out of the air to get away from the great white sharks in South Africa, it's the same thing here but it's mice jumping out of the straw underneath the chicken houses. There are literally hundreds of mice that run everywhere, so my crew and I are on scene to catch these furry little scavengers.
Yesterday my count was five mice, Rio easily got twice that number. George stepped on one and then picked it up in his mouth, but didn't like how it was wriggling around so he dropped it and Shadow finished it. Due to dietary restrictions, Shadow is not supposed to have corn products and since these mice are corn fed, he's not supposed to eat them, but I saw him sneak a few. He's lucky the CFO didn't see him. Smokey provides perimeter security so we can conduct the extermination operation without any interference, (sneak attacks by Hanz and Franz) , killing mice really isn't his thing. He accidentally stepped on one once, it got stuck between the pads in his feet and the CFO had to remove it for him. He then went into the orchard to contemplate the fleeting lifespark of a mouse. He's so existential, which is fine, it doesn't interfere with this core duties most of the time.
The truly shocking events of yesterday, which is another thing that you may not realize, is not only do us dogs go after the mice but the chickens, will tear them apart! The peacocks, also come calling for their share of the bounty. It's not unusual on "mice apocalypse day" to see chickens running around with mice dangling from their beaks. The chickens are terrorized by these small phantom menaces, they steal food from them, ctrack their eggs and who knows what kind of smack talking goes on. How scientists missed the connection between these birds and dinosaurs is beyond me and a huge 'DUH" moment. One you see a chicken running around with a mouse dangling from it's beak, you can never un-see it and you think twice about turning your backs to them, especially when they are all together in a group.
If you are ever visiting Frost Farm on "mice apocalypse day" there are a few rules that you want to follow:
1. Keep your pants legs tucked inside your boots, or put rubber bands on your pants legs because the mice will run up a pants leg lightning fast. I've seen this happen before and while it's hilarious, it seems to be very distressing for humans. I'm not sure if it's the fact that the mouse is running up their pants, or if' it's being knocked over by one of my crew in hot pursuit of the fugitive.
2. Do not accept doggie kisses! If you do, you will get a mixture of things that most humans do not like to be kissed with!
All in all, it was a great action packed day and my crew performed very well (George still needs work, but that's always the case.). Now it's time to rest and recover. Hopefully the CFO doesn't decide I need a bath. Til next time, nap well my friends.
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