Bernal Homestead

10/14/2026

This girl has been in Turkey Traction for a little over 3 weeks after shattering her right tibiotarsis bone. We splinted her leg with a popsicle stick and coban, confined her in a “straight jacket” made from a sweatpants leg so she couldn’t flap her wings, and suspended her between 2 chairs in a sling made from the other sweatpants leg. Low enough she could put her good foot on the ground and maintain its strength, high enough she couldn’t contact the floor with her injured leg. The bone fused enough she can put her weight on it and it’s straight enough she should be able to walk again but she needs to re-learn how to use it. Over the past week we’ve been giving her time off the sling to learn how to balance and move with her “new” leg. Until tonight she has been unable to lay down completely, probably a combination of pain and lack of flexibility. But she did it! She earned her way out of the sling! We named her Patience.

10/13/2026

Treat time

10/07/2026

Major Tom is such a gentleman. I will never get tired of watching chickens jump to try and get persimmons off the tree.

10/06/2026

All the things I want to say would get me banned from Facebook.

10/05/2026

10/03/2026

Hindu succumbed to her injuries last night. We buried her with her sisters under their favorite persimmon tree.

09/30/2026

The Fat Girl house was dug into by probably the same fox that killed our turkeys. Snuggles was killed. Precious is missing and presumed dead. Pumpkin survived without any visible trauma. We put 2 sets of stitches in Hindu; if her wounds don't get infected she should pull through. If it weren't for Snuggles working her way into my heart I probably wouldn't care so much about chickens. Rest in peace my poor sweet babies :(

09/22/2026

New house made for the guineas to live in. Super happy with how it turned out.
Equilateral A-frame. Faster/cheaper to build than a Suscovich tractor because it only requires the cheapest dimensional lumber, and every piece is either identically cut or requires little to no cuts/measuring. Just 18 pieces of 2x4x8 lumber, 50' of hardware cloth, some 1x4 for the door frame and some hinges and latches. Has 4 square feet more floor space. Full standing headroom inside. Could be hard or soft roofed. Could even be made longer in 2' increments if need be.

09/19/2026

I like big bales and I cannot lie.

09/17/2026

It now costs $116 to fuel up my tractor. If you’re ever wondering why you need a second mortgage to buy groceries.