Em Nau Farm BLOG

Hot……damn hot

Over the past weekend most of the Brisbane City Council (BCC) area had a public holiday to coincide with the G20 summit that was being held in the CBD.  This enabled Heather and I to have a day off from our paying jobs even though the farm is not in the BCC boundary – a bonus for us having to travel the hour to two hours each way each day.

The weather forecast was for 40 degree days over the Friday to Sunday and to make the most of the day off we went on a duckling run to Richlands and Peaks Crossing to purchase some ducklings (30 in total) and out to Grandchester to purchase some Pilgrim geese (a gander, three gooses and two goslings).

We set off at about 0830 and it was warm then but as the day progressed the temperature rose and it was stifling when we were out of the cars air-conditioning. The ducklings were all able to be accommodated in two cardboard boxes and we had three cat carrying cages to house the geese (we had made the assumption that the goslings would be the size of a medium chook).  On arriving to pick up the geese we realised that our assumption was a tad off as the geese were all huge and the bloke we were buying them off had serious doubts that they would fit into the cages we brought.  We need not have worried as the gander went just fine into one of the smaller cages and we accommodated two of the goose in one cage and the mother and two goslings in the larger third cage.  We loaded up the car, by this time the temperature was pushing 35C, and headed for home.

About 10 minutes into the trip Heather looked at me and I looked at her and we both wound down our windows as the smell of goose sh!t permeated the car.  After a little manipulation of the AC system in the car (set on super blow, extra cold, draw air from outside) we had the smell pushed to the back of the car where it proceeded to blacken the windows and peel the upholstery. We travelled like this for the two hour trip home and on arrival back at Em Nau we proceeded to put the ducklings in a temporary cage and the geese in with the older ducks.

On the Saturday we were up early for the daily tasks, so as to beat the heat, and we were finished all the outside work by 0700.  We decided that we keep the geese in the duck enclosure for at least the day so they got acclimatised to their new environment.  This plan in itself presented the added problem that there was limited shade for them and with the day forecast to nudge 40C we would need to leave the comfort of the cool house to ensure the geese’s water was continually topped up.  As a side note we would have needed to do this anyway for all the other animals as a cow can consume about 200 litres of water a day and the goat and sheep can consume around 4 litres.  Considering we had around thirty-five goat/sheep/cows that only had access to two bathtubs full of water we needed to constantly refill all day.  We would also need to monitor the chickens as they normally suffer from the heat.

About mid-morning we noticed the small kiddies wading pool we set up for the free range ducks to utilise for both water and swimming was being used by most of the flock.  They were having a wow of a time splashing about, then going and sitting in the shade before coming back for another turn.  It was funny to watch.

As the day progressed we carried out our water resupply for the animals and around afternoon milking time, the temperature had hit and passed the predicted 40C, we had our first casualty when I found one of our chooks, sitting on three eggs, dead from heat stroke.  She had a full crop so she had been down and fed and watered but the heat must have been too much in the confines of the nesting box.

As the day turned to twilight and the temperature got down to a more comfortable 30C we made the decision that on Sunday we would allow the geese out to free range like the ducks.

As Sunday dawned we once again got out early to complete the morning routine and on completion of our tasks we opened the duck enclosure and herded the geese up into the house yard so we could keep an eye on them.  Like the ducks the day before the geese made great use of the kiddies pool and all day the ducks and geese alternated in taking turns in the pool.  Also similar the Saturday, around afternoon milking time, we found a rooster who had succumbed to the heat. The predicted temperature for Sunday didn’t eventuate in my opinion (Sunday was due to be hotter than the Saturday) but still hit the low forties I reckon.  On Sunday night when we were putting the animals down for the evening we decided that the geese could nest by the house as opposed to us trying to push them back down to the duck enclosure.  The good news was that they were still there when I left for work at 4AM this morning

Until next time remember it’s not how much we own but how we live our dash that is important. Take care.