Animals
- The Many Faces Of Jill
Some days are meant for silliness... and silliness comes naturally when you are surrounded by animals! I had my camera in the goat pen yesterday afternoon during feeding time. Our elderly Jill is quite the ham for the camera and offered to share her...
- No Shortage Of Winter Coats Around Here
After several days of what felt like a heatwave(high temperatures actually reached the 20's)... we have plummeted back down to almost zero again. Thank you, very much. I truly have just not had enough cold yet this winter.(kidding) Our snow seems...
- Brighter Days
Before getting to the heart of today's post,I must tell you that I was overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouringof love and sympathy that was bestowed upon me yesterdayover Hickory's passing. From the bottom of my heart....thank you. Today we...
- The Ladies In Waiting
This Fall's breeding season was successful.Now all that's left is the waiting. Becky and I spent a little time with the pregnant doesgiving Sissy and Sally their vaccinations, then trimming everyone's hooves and brushing through their...
- You Know You're Having A Bad Day When......
.....your best friend poops on you!!! Poor O'Malley was found waddling (yes, she has that pregnant waddle) around the goat yard yesterday with a pile of goat berries on her back. It's bad enough that Missy and Myrtle butt her with their...
Animals
Catastrophe!!
It's a cruel world we live in...
here on the edge of the woods.
We suffered a horrible loss in the brooder house Tuesday night.
Yesterday morning we found three decapitated chicklets in the house.
We have no other evidence of what transpired except the remains.
You have no idea how sad this makes me.
Sick in the stomach...desperate sadness.
I have these little souls in my charge, and somehow I have failed them.
I can only guess that a weasel or mink slunk into the house and found an easy dinner.
Needless to say, I packed up my tiny charges and moved them into the barn.
A large and deep unused water tub will serve as home for a week or two,
until they are larger and I go over the brooder house with a fine tooth comb...
looking for any holes that would allow a varmint to enter.
Of course I also had to assure that no barn kitty could make dinner out of them,
so the water tub is safely covered with wire.
Heat lamps will keep the cold away (our nights are still in the 20's).
Farm life offers constant reminders of how brutal the natural world is.
I try my hardest to shield the farm animals from predators,
but sometimes I am out-witted.
On another note, Smilin' Jill wanted to say howdy and give you a news
report from the goat pen.
It seems that O'Malley and Sally are shedding their luxurious winter coats...
a Springtime tradition.
These two redheaded mother/daughter beauties grow the most
amazing cashmere coats each winter...
giving them a more sheep-like appearance.
Sally, once as fluffy as her mother (above) has already changed into her
summer duds and is looking sleek.
For some reason, O'Malley is holding onto her coat...
perhaps it is the cold nights we've been experiencing.
O'Malley, being much older and wiser, knows the value in not putting away your
winter wardrobe too early in the season.
"These kids," says Jill, "just don't have any common sense!"
- The Many Faces Of Jill
Some days are meant for silliness... and silliness comes naturally when you are surrounded by animals! I had my camera in the goat pen yesterday afternoon during feeding time. Our elderly Jill is quite the ham for the camera and offered to share her...
- No Shortage Of Winter Coats Around Here
After several days of what felt like a heatwave(high temperatures actually reached the 20's)... we have plummeted back down to almost zero again. Thank you, very much. I truly have just not had enough cold yet this winter.(kidding) Our snow seems...
- Brighter Days
Before getting to the heart of today's post,I must tell you that I was overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouringof love and sympathy that was bestowed upon me yesterdayover Hickory's passing. From the bottom of my heart....thank you. Today we...
- The Ladies In Waiting
This Fall's breeding season was successful.Now all that's left is the waiting. Becky and I spent a little time with the pregnant doesgiving Sissy and Sally their vaccinations, then trimming everyone's hooves and brushing through their...
- You Know You're Having A Bad Day When......
.....your best friend poops on you!!! Poor O'Malley was found waddling (yes, she has that pregnant waddle) around the goat yard yesterday with a pile of goat berries on her back. It's bad enough that Missy and Myrtle butt her with their...