Rosie

We got a new cow!  Well I guess I kind of got a new cow.  Her name is Rosie!  She is a two year old jersy.  But she is a little skittish around people.  She also had a calf.  A little tiny Black Angus who as of today is eleven days old.  I named her Guinevere.  NOBODY can remember her name.  Mom has called her Maleficent, Nemo, Bozo, Genevieve, Gwyneth Paltrow, good grief!  I might need to pick a new name.  I think they pretend to forget to annoy me.  She needs to be milked once a day so she doesn't get mastitis.  Rosie has some problems but with good hay and medication she will be fine!

Parker

Happy birthday to me!

My birthday was yesterday! I am now 15 years old.  We also finished up music lessons yesterday too.  Pretty eventful day.  Oh yeah!  My sister had a softball game that day also.  But it was fn going to the ball park. 

We got four new chickens!  My mom's friend asked us if we would take some young chickens and naturally we obliged.  So on my birthday God gave me chickens!  Isn't that cool.  That night we put them with the other chickens.  They started exploring the coop and checking everything out almost instantly!  One of them kept trying to get out.  I got her back in though. 

We are currently trying to grow grass in the chicken yard so all the chickens are locked out.  They  get to range the whole farm now.  We put a motion detecting sprinkler in there too keep the chickens from eating the seed if they do get in there.

Guenevere is still afraid of people.  Goofy cow.  I like baby cows but no when they are like Gwen.  Nope.  If we want milk Gwen has to be separated form her mom at night.  OH yeah it's LOTS of fun running around the field trying to get the baby cow in her pen!  Not.

Parker

Spring

Well spring is coming around and I can't say I'm unhappy about that.  Finally after eight inches of snow we are through winter.  My Mom has already started her garden.  That means weeds to pull, plants to water, and vegetables to harvest.

At least it's warmer out.  The chickens will finally come out of the coop.  After spending all winter cooped up they have decided to come out and play..  We are leaving the chickens and ducks in the fence around the coop so we can grow grass.

The chickens have no problem getting around.  They run, flap, walk.  The ducks didn't get much chance to exercise before we tuned them loose.  When they go down the ramp from the chicken coop they fall off it.  Graceful.

We even have names for the ducks.  Gimpy Limpy, (Ping), Goosey Loosey, (Sonny), and Ducky Lucky, (Filbert).  Ping has a limp.  I think I already told you that.  So he was dubbed the name, Gimpy Limpy.  Though his limp is better now.  One of the ducks has figured out how to go up the ramp now!  Shelby is very happy about that.  Though she still has to put the other two in the coop.

And recently we have put the baby chickens out with the big chickens, and they have figured out how to get out of the fence.  So that makes the evenings more interesting.  They get out and can't get back in.  So it becomes my job to get them back into the coop.

Parker

Gizzard

We now have three ducks running around the chicken yard.  Ping, Sonny, and Filbert.  Or as my mom called her, Gizzard.  So now the duck is eternally Gizzard.  If you read my sisters blog you will see that she has to give the ducks water.  Which my chickens drink.  So I don't have to give the chickens water....  Happy dance!  So Shelby is ticked.  She was told that she would only have to give them water twice a week.  I said twice a day.  I was pretty close.  So now that there are three ducks they will consume 50% more water than usual.  Do the math.  It works.  So guess what?  We got pools.  Little kiddie pools for the ducks.  Son now Shelby doesn't have to haul a 15lb. drinker to the coop, and the ducks get a pool to, poop, swim, splash, poop, and drink in.  Happy ducks.  Here are some duck pics.

Ducks.

"HI!  WE'RE DUCKS!"

I have decided that the ducks scream everything.

They do!

"WATER!"

The chickens checking out the pools.

 

Parker

Chicken fence

If you have had naughty baby chickens you know one of the reasons we built the fence.  EVERYBODY says that if you leave chickens in the coop for 4 days they go back into the coop on their own.  I am here to tell you that they are WRONG.  Chickens don't do that. Sure they go in on their on eventually.  But not for the first week.  Oh no.  The first week it is a crusade of chasing little rebellious teenage chickens through 47 acres of land.  Fun.  I don't know why but for the first week they hate the coop.  Last time we let out new chickens into the world we spent half the night chasing them all over a briar infested hill.  Fun.  So that is when, yours truly (me), gets to put up the makeshift fence.  Fun.

So that is one reason we are putting up the fence.  Another is so that Dad can grow grass without the chickens eating all the seed.

But this fence is going to be nice.  A real gate!  Posts!  Were talking permanent!

Parker

Pooping stump

One day my siblings are up at the cow barn playing.  The girls are playing some kind of pioneer game and my little brother (4) is off doing whatever he does when no one is talking to him.  (Probably talking.)

Later my little brother walks up to Shelby (2) and says, "Hey Shelby, Want to see my pooping stump?"  

She said, "One. No. And two.  You have a pooping stump?!"

It turns out he does have a pooping stump.  I have seen it.  There is no cover around it.  It is a free standing stump next to a tree and completely visible to the house, cow barn, half the driveway, and the front and side yard.

Fast forward six months.

We are at the ball field for a practice.  My little brother decides he needs to go to the bathroom.  We try two bathroom areas.  Boys and girls bathrooms.  A total of 4.  All locked.  I ask him if he has too go number one or number two.  Number two.

"We're hosed."  Then I notice some woods.  I ask him if he can go in there.

He asked, "Are there any stumps?"

Now if there were stumps all would have been well with the world.  Though some bushes would have been nice too.

But I say, "Probably not.  Why can't you just squat?"

He says, "Last time I did that I got poop in my undies."

Lovely.  But there wasn't enough cover in the woods anyways.  We go back to my mom and tell her all the bathrooms were locked.  She asks if he has to go number 1 or 2.  2.  Great.  But some nice people pointed us in the right direction to a bathroom and we were all happy.

Parker

Shade

I got a new cat.  How you may ask?  Well my Mom and I were at the barn when I saw this black fluffy cat.  We tried to get close but she ran off.  Later my Mom saw the cat go near the chicken coop.  I went to check it out but of course I couldn't get close to her.  So I set a live animal trap with sardines. At first she was just scraping them out and eating them.  She wouldn't go in the cage.  So I made a trail leading in the cage and it worked!  She went in the cage and the door closed behind her.  Instant cat!  My Mom and I took her back to the house and put her in a dog kennel for the night.  She had food and water.  The next day we brought her in and gave her a bath.  She did not enjoy that.  Afterwards the vet came and vaccinated her.  She even got some de-wormer.  Now she is living in the house until she gets used to us.  But she is already really friendly.  As you might be able to tell from the title I named her Shade.  I currently don't have any good pictures of her right now so I'll need to get some up.

Parker