One MegaWatt!

On Friday at work (www.sns.gov) we achieved a new milestone (http://www.oakridger.com/news/x1699589954/Neutron-facility-achieves-1-megawatt-power ) when the power of the pulsed proton beam produced by our accelerator reached 1 MW. The full design power level is 1.4 MW and we have already been approved for a power upgrade project which will go above 1.4 MW. Our pulsed proton accelerator set the world record a few years ago when we reached 160 kW.

Happy, Healthy Pigeons

This year I've tried a more natural approach to managing the pigeons with the goal of a happy and healthy colony. Birds that are happy and healthy will love their home and want to return to it.

However, in the last week I've had two pigeons get sick and die. It's been a long time since I lost any birds to illness (we lose quite a few to hawks), but I always seem to lose a couple each year. This year it was two of my cock birds that I raced in 2007; AU 2007 SMC 740 and AU 2007 SMC 705.

I had a couple of other pigeons that appeared sick, notably a very good hen AU 2007 SMC 754, she is recovering and doing better.

I suspect that this is a flare up of canker, which is something that all pigeons have. Canker organisms are usually kept in balance but can flare up when a bird is exposed to stuff or when a bird becomes stressed and their immune system is compromised.

The pigeons are in the midst of their annual feather molt (growing a new set of feathers), which introduces stress, so that may have been a factor. We've had a very wet season and pigeons like a very dry environment. Since I opened up all three lofts the pigeons have associated with some wild pigeons which can expose them to other germs. Opening up the lofts though is generally good because the pigeons get lots of sun and fresh air and exercise and can find greens on the ground etc.

Last week when I noticed a couple of birds that appeared ill I treated the entire flock with Multi-mix, a three way medicine mixed in the drinking water which treats for canker, coccidiosis, and worms. This was effective but did not work in time for the two birds that I lost.

Yesterday afternoon we examined #705 who had died earlier in the day. I was assisted by my capable junior vet techs John and Mary. We took cloaca and throat swab samples which we labeled and placed in ziplock baggies which then went into the freezer. We made up some slides and looked at them under the microscope. We examined the contents of the birds crop.

We have no local avian vet with which to work, and UT wants about $500 to post a bird with no guarantees. We've heard from others who did take birds to UT that it was expensive and the results were inconclusive.

In Europe pigeon racing is very popular and there are dedicated avian vets who specialize in homing pigeons. One of our goals is to learn about pigeon health and diseases and learn how to do proper diagnostics and treatment. Several pigeon fanciers are learning to do this themselves or in consultation with a knowledgeable avian vet.

Rain, Rain, Go Away ...

Come Again Another Day
It's raining hard, again. We've had way too much rain in the last few days.
Pigeon races were cancelled for this weekend.
I'm hoping that a good portion of the lime I put out actually got into the soil and did not wash away.

Lime Time

We did soil tests on our pasture and the ph levels are a little low (acidic). The report suggested spreading 1-1/2 to 2 tons of agricultural lime per acre for our cool season perennial grass hay/pasture operation. Adding lime to correct the ph will also help to suppress weeds.

We paid to have one large truck load of agricultural lime delivered to our farm, it was dumped near the barn. Ag lime is presently $20/ton, we bought 24.75 tons.

Next we rented a lime spreader from the local soil conservation office in Kingston and towed it home at less than 25 MPH with the Suburban. The lime spreader requires a 60+ HP tractor to use.

I then used the front-end loader on the tractor to scoop up lime and dump it into the spreader, when full I would then hook the tractor up to the spreader and go out and spread the lime. Spreading the lime is kind of fun but it's a lot of work.

I spread the lime primarily in the pasture area that goes from the barn to the well house. This is the area where we have been keeping four horses.

Before we could do the lime we had to move the horses. Debby helped me setup the fencing for the new pasture which is located behind the well house. So we now have two nice large horse pasture areas.

The most difficult part in fencing is clearing/maintaining fence lines. Weeds, bushes, thorns, etc grow up quickly along fence lines. We use mechanical methods to deal with the growth, we don't like to use chemicals (poison) as they are bad for us and the environment. This mirrors my approach to sun protection, I prefer to wear a hat and long sleeves instead of applying chemicals to my skin.

Gas Price Update

Last year I posted several times on local gas prices as they increased to $4+ dollars per gallon. Thankfully the gas prices have been low for a while.

Washington Tea Party

Mamaw and Papa attended the big Tea Party in Washington, DC a week and a half ago. They traveled into DC on the metro train and said the trains and stations were completely filled with people going to the rally. Mamaw and Papa said that people were singing patriotic songs in the trains and that everyone was well behaved.

While at the rally they were told that the park service estimated the crowd at 1.5 million people, although the mainstream media, those that decided to carry the story, put the number at several thousand people. Hmmm.....

One hand held sign at the event said "I'll keep my God, my guns, and my money; you can keep the Change".

Mamaw and Papa said they had a wonderful time at the Tea Party and that the reason they attended was that they wanted their grandchildren to be able to grow up with the same liberty and freedom that they enjoyed.

Pigeon beats cable company

In the news recently was a story about a homing pigeon in South Africa named Winston. Winston's owner has been unhappy with the slow internet speed provided by the his internet service provider Telkom. So they decided to see how long it would take to transfer 4 GB of data over a distance of 60 miles. Winston the pigeon took a little over an hour to transfer the data. In two hours Telkom had only managed to transfer 1/25th of the data.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm

All aboard!

Debby saddled up Morgan last night and John and Mary each took a turn riding him. After Morgan went back into the pasture the other horses were very interested in the saddle and had to check things out. Kia and Nellie usually are just ridden bareback. Afterwards Debby put the halter on Spirit and tried to desensitize him a little to the saddle pad. (cell phone pics, low light, sorry)

Garden update

The garden has been a real success this year. This is in spite of the fact that some things were wiped out by deer (most of the tomatoes) and a few things never grew at all (giant pumpkins).

The watermelons were probably the biggest hit. They were easy to grow, and they turned out great. We had watermelons growing in both John and Mary's gardens. Debby planted wildflowers and they grew nicely and have been blooming for months it seems. We just cut some and brought them inside.

Herbs have always done well, Debby has a nice variety of herbs growing in the garden. Nothing is better than homemade pizza with fresh basil picked from the garden.

The zucchini plants did great, and also the jalapeno (sp?) peppers. We got some strawberries but we pulled their flowers as we really planted them for next year.

Debby has friends with gardens and they share tips and ideas. Debby is planning on some cool season gardening this fall and has some ideas for next year.

We are thinking of also getting a few fruit trees.

Won a pigeon race

Our club raced last weekend, 108 birds in total were released from Hammondville, AL and my pigeon #412 was the winner. This was a difficult race as there was some rain and the speed was slow.

Pigeon race returns

If you ask a pigeon fancier about race returns it means how many birds came home vs. the number of birds shipped. Occasionally there are races that are called "smashes" because of low returns. Low returns could be due to a number of factors including weather, predators, etc.

Today our pigeon racing club flew it's second 2009 young bird race. The release station was Hammondville, AL which is 113 air miles from my loft calculated from GPS coordinates. I shipped 20 birds to the race, the same 20 birds I sent last week to Chattanooga. I got 21 birds back both weeks. How? Well, I just checked my loft and found that I have a race bird from one of my club mates that followed my birds home. Same thing happened last week although the extra bird was different both weeks.

I did not win the race but my birds did well, they arrived home in 2 hours and 38 minutes.

More eggs!

We have now started to get two eggs occasionally on the same day, so we must have at least two chickens laying. Beautiful large brown eggs. We are keeping a farm egg carton in the refrigerator. John brings in the eggs, washes them, and puts them in the carton.

John's a STAR volunteer

On Monday afternoon John had his orientation session as a volunteer at the STAR http://www.rideatstar.org/index.htm facility in Lenoir City. Several home-school kids volunteer there on Mondays. One of the guys I work with also has a son in high school that is a volunteer at STAR. John is only 10 so for now he will be a "barn boy".

Pigeon Racing update

Last weekend we (www.smokymountainclub.org) held our first pigeon race for the 2009 young bird season. The release point was in Chattanooga, TN which is 71 air miles from my pigeon loft. I sent 20 birds to the race and got 21 birds back, all 20 of mine plus one from another club member. My first two birds were AU 2009 SMC 420 and 412.

On Monday morning I took the extra bird about 20 miles from home on my way to work and released it, the owner and I had agreed to this the night before. When I checked my loft that evening the bird was back in my loft! I called the bird's owner and he said to put it in a crate and he would come and pick it up on Tuesday morning, which he did.

Our second race is planned for this Saturday August 29 with a liberation point in Hammondville, AL. Distance for me is 112 air miles. The birds are looking pretty good although they are in various stages of their annual feather molt. The weather forecast is questionable for this weekend so we might not fly as scheduled.

Horse update: Kia and Nelly are not pregnant

Yesterday afternoon the Thew family had a vet come out to check and see if their mares Kia and Nelly were pregnant. The vet said neither mare was pregnant. If you remember Morgan was acting like a stallion and our vet came out and said he had not been fixed properly so she fixed him properly.

Fire Ants!

We have what are called fire ants here in Tennessee. We have many fire ant mounds out in the fields. We've not had any problems with them until yesterday when Mary stepped on a nest of them and was stung/bit. Mary had a reaction, her face turned purple and she had some welts from the stings and her torso developed bright purple rashes that almost looked like someone had painted purple stripes on her.

Debby calmed Mary down, had Mary wash down in the shower, kept her cool, called the doctor's office, and gave her some Benadryl. Debby then took Mary to the pediatrician's office (I met them there), they checked her out and said she was fine but to keep her cool (no running around outside in the heat) for a couple of days. There were a couple of student nurses (?) at the doctor's office who are working on a paper/study about insect bites and they asked if they could look at Mary, which they did.

So, we need to control the fire ants that are near the house and where the kids play. We prefer a natural/organic method, if you have a suggestion please pass it along. I like the fact that the ants are natural and are aerating the ground but due to the danger we will now need to take some action.