Ok we have been waiting patiently, well some of us!!!! Any way but we need a update on the baby goat to be born, and ducks, and chicks, and rabbits, and sheep, and llamas and------and any other critter on you funny farm.
I check every---and I mean EVERY DAY!!!!!!
Cmoxon waiting for up date
LOL! YA!!!
Me too how the experiment with putting the new chickens with the old (sickness)??
What about the baby pigeon??
Enquiring minds want to know
me, too...me, too! :-)
Do we need to send out a search party to find you!!!!!!!! LOL
We need our cuteness fix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to know how all the Chickie's are doing and how the little pigeon is growing?
Need a update on all the curly sheep and oh the donkeys and llamas and ..........
Hurry up! ^_^
Oh maaaan....you guys are so demanding!!! Geesh! Not enough that I work full time and go to law school part time and also try to keep my house clean and my laundry done and all my animals fed....nooooo, on top of that I have to continue with my barnyard fairy duties AND my farm updates to my dear DG buddies. When I am supposed to eat, exactly?
update forthcoming...but no pictures because I am at work right now.
But if you want some pictures you can ALWAYS check the blog at
http://chooksiniowa.blogspot.com
(for example, last night's post is about having to wash motor oil off all my ducks, and the arrival of my loom, so maybe that will keep you busy while I write an update on the critters).
Chapter 1: Goats
Mini Goats:
Stuffin (pregnant goat) has not yet given birth. She has a very full udder and her back “area” is swollen looking so I keep expecting any day now, but she is on her own schedule.
Puffin is Stuffin’s sister. She keeps her sister company because they are in the barn together instead of out with the other goats (because of impending birth). She is very good at bouncing off the walls.
Cookie is a mini-Nubian (who had deer meningeal worm this fall, and who was paralyzed in the back legs for over a week and on brutal doses of dewormer to cross the blood brain barrier and get it into the spinal fluid) and has recovered so amazingly well that you would never know she had ever been sick.
Coffee (Cookie’s sister) is fine, as are the other mini goats Muffin (whose 2 babies died at Christmas) and Buford (wether). Pebbles (8 or more years old) needed to lose weight BIG time this winter, and she has. She was very overweight when we bought her. She is now much more svelte and has a lot more energy.
Our Nigerian Dwarf goats – Opal, Lotus, and buck Ramses (he is not in with the ladies) are all doing well. Ramses had pink eye earlier this year but is fine now. He won’t go in with the ladies until late next fall when they are old enough to breed and we will time it for spring kids.
Full size goats
The Nubian girls (Abigail, Laura, Savannah and Yolanda) and wethers (Zak and Xander) are all fine and nothing in particular to report.
Tulip, our animal rescue league girl, who is probably part boer and part dairy, is doing well also. She has made friends with Pebbles (see mini goat section).
Angora goats
Our newest boy is Valentino, and he is a very hunky angora goat boy with beautiful horns. He was also featured on the blog recently, so you can see his horns there. He will be introduced to the angora girls when they are old enough, but right now, he is seducing the Nubians, Pebbles, and Tulip. We would love some fiber/milk cross goats, and they would be smaller stature because of the smaller size of the angora genetics.
The four angora rescue girls, Cirrus, Isobelle, Meri and Anatolia (Ana) are all doing fabulously well. They have put on weight (which they really needed to) and lost all their mites and lice, and are developing lovely coats. We have the shearer coming mid March.
Chapter 2: Sheep, Llamas, Donkeys
Sheep
Our two rescue sheep, Petunia & Buttercup, have been doing wonderfully since their initial shearing. We just took off the top layer to remove the burrs. They are all more comfortable now and happy to eat from our hands. We are still not sure of their breed but the shearer said he can probably tell us in March.
Our three newer Icelandic sheep, Kitkat, Clover & Oreo are doing well and due to kid on April 27 (2 of them) and May 2. They all had triplets or twins last year (at their previous farm home), so we expect the same this year.
Our original three Icelandic sheep, Blizzard, Flurry and Bianca are also doing well. Blizzard is also exposed to Petunia, Buttercup & Poppy, so there might be more lambs.
Poppy is our Suffolk-Dorset-Rambouillet cross and is a favorite of mine – she is very sweet and I love her colored fleece.
We are going to get a Jacob sheep lamb from Fremont, Nebraska on March 7.
Llamas
We still have the three girls – Cabernet, Lilly & Hazel, and one boy – Rosco. They are all doing well. Cabernet was suspected of being pregnant when we bought her but she is not showing any signs, although that is normal for llamas apparently. She was due, if pregnant, in February, so we are still hopeful, but not sure. You can be sure I will post pictures if she has a cria.
Donkeys
We are enjoying Willow and her son Springfield, but they are still kind of skittish. Willow will eat out of our hands, but she doesn’t like to be touched. Springfield won’t even eat out of our hands. He is always next to mom, even though he’s over a year old. He is gelded. Willow sings every morning when we go outside. She’s pretty funny.
Chapter 3: Pigeons and Ducks
Pigeons.
We have the four roller pigeons still, and our indoor girl, Tarquilla. Tarquilla had laid 2 eggs but of course they were not fertile because she was not exposed to any males. She didn’t like it when I took them away. She kept biting my hand for a few days, but now she is back to normal.
The baby pigeon didn’t make it. He was fine for about 3 weeks, but after he started to get feathers, he died. I learned afterwards, from the guy that we got the roller pigeons from, that they generally do well for the first few weeks in winter because the mom is big enough to completely cover the baby. As they grow, and the baby gets bigger, it’s harder and harder for the mom to keep it warm, because it’s getting so big. So that is what happened – it died one night because it got too cold and mom wasn’t able to keep it warm because it was so big. A good lesson for me, but very sad. They have not laid any eggs since.
Ducks
We have 10 white pekins (of which we believe 3 are male), 2 blue Swedish (possibly mixed with mallard, of which 1 is male and 1 female) and 1 mallard (female). We also have 4 Muscovy ducks – Disston the drake, plus Daisy the female who lost her foot recently (it fell off, it was frostbitten before we got her and that’s why she has always had a limp, and now we are working on making a prosthetic foot). We got 5 new ones on Sunday, chocolate and black and white, but 3 flew away. We clipped the wings on the other two, so we have one chocolate and white and one black and white. We are very sad about the ones that flew away. I hoped they would come back but they have not. I have one Muscovy egg in the incubator that looks like it will hatch. (from 12 that I got from eggbid but they were hit hard in shipping and most were scrambled inside). There was a recent incident with motor oil detailed on the blog.
Chapter 4: Bunnies and Chickens
Bunnies
Butterscotch bunny is doing fabulously well. I ended up having to completely shear his coat off due to the mats. I have a lot of nice fiber out of it that I will be spinning. He is an English angora. On March 7, we are picking up 2 French angoras in light caramel color. They are very pretty – a male and a female, not litter mates, but same parents. The female has been bred to a Siamese grey colored English angora male. She is with him right now (but we are not getting him). She will have babies later in March that will be mixed breed French/English angoras. Hopefully we’ll have some color variation for the fiber. We will neuter the male and spay the female after that because we won’t need any more bunnies!
Chickens
There are now 90 chicks in the “tank” in the basement. They are all doing wonderfully well and nobody has died. There have been 2 new ones – a frizzle from my own girl’s egg and an Ameraucana cross that came out black and white, also from a blue egg one of my girls laid. I have some polish home-laid eggs that might be fertile, and also some black copper marans ready to hatch this week, as well as a few more Ameraucanas.
The adult chickens are doing really well and although I still have a couple with runny nose or rattle sounded breathing, generally everyone is fine and egg production is up. I had 2 days this week with 12 eggs, which is the best ever for me. The new birds I got and put with the birds who had been sick have not showed any symptoms or signs of the virus. I did notice I have a few with mites but I can treat that easily enough.
I am having trouble with a silkie with wry neck. I have been doing the vitamin E plus selenium treatment and although she appears to have improved, she is not “better” yet. Her name is Rosebud.
I am expecting an order of 50 day-olds at the end of February from McMurray. I also ordered some from Sand Hill Preservation. I have clearly lost my mind. I ordered those last fall. I forgot. Oops. I might be putting some chickens up for sale on Craig’s List when they mature and I can figure out who is what.
And that, is the end of the story.
Pictures when I have some more time. :-)
Thank you, thank you. I just love the life on the funny farm.
New chick pics!
This little one hatched today. It's from the egg of the buff laced Polish, although you'd never know to look at it! Do Polish babies show a topknot from the start? I wonder who the Dad is. Neat colors!
Just complete chaos....they keep knocking over the feeders when they get empty during the day, then I refill when I get home.
This cute little frizzle started out looking like she'd be all white....
not any more!
More chaos.
It is me, the RULER of the WORLD!!!
You will ALL listen to ME!!!
NO! It's ME!! I am the REAL ruler of the world!
(this one has an interesting profile. NO idea what kind it is....might be a mutt)
Would y'all just shut up and feed me?!
(these are particularly cute, in my opinion! I think there's a silkie or 2 there!)
Thanks for the pictures so cute!!!!!!
Wow.. No wonder you can't keep us updated!!! I love reading it.. it's like I'm there.. How cool.. Thankz!
Thanks So Much Claire looks like the Farm/Zoo is doing great!! Sorry about the pigeon but there will be more in the spring ^_^
I have let my Budapest sit as they are under my shed and i can provide them with heat. My Jacobin's have surprised me and sat and i will let them set too and give them a light for heat.
But as for all the rest they will just have to wait until spring. Oh and i got 10 eggs today i will soon have enough to fire my bater back up again.
I spoke too soon. Went out tonight and she's sitting on an egg. Just one. Same mom pigeon.
By the time it hatches, we'll be mid March, right? So by the time it's getting big-ish, it'll be late March, right? So maybe it'll be OK?
I do not know if it would help but could you put one of those plant heat mats under the nest and would that be enough heat?
I'll see what the temps are like when we get to that stage. It's a great idea, and I have some of those seedling heat mats and could certainly use one for that. Alternatively, I could bring it into the barn. By the time it is that size, I bet Mom would not reject it if I moved them.
Cute Claire!!
Here are my 2 Orloffs Valentine and Cupid.
They are 2 days old and awaiting the big hatch tomorrow with more friends. Faverolles and Black Copper Marans!
Awwww.....sweet!
Are they cuddling up to a feather duster?
Claire pigeons hatch in 18 days and that would be mar 7th or before it would be 2 weeks old by the 21st of march.
Do you really want to do this?
Hmmmm. Maybe not. Should I just take the eggs out when she lays the 2nd one? Maybe it is too soon.
Yes Claire it's a feather duster! When I can find those old timey feather dusters, I buy all I can get. They make great nannies. When they first hatch I put the babies under them and it seems very comforting. and after that, it's their security blanket whenever they feel afraid.
That is so cute! I love the idea. Now I need to look for feather dusters!
Claire if you are going to remove it do it now because if you leave it it will begin to develop if they sit on it. You can remove the second one when they lay it I remove mine as soon as they lay them
Be patient spring is coming and you will have more baby's this spring, summer and fall than you will know what to do with LOL
Harmony - maybe for the best....she did not sit on that egg overnight, and this morning it had frozen and the shell was cracked. No problem now. She might still lay another I guess. If she does, I will remove it pronto.
Thanks...
These bunnies just came in to the shelter. They look like angoras, don't you think? I am going to see them after work. Do you think they might be crosses? They are not full English angoras - no ear fur.
Here's another pic.
WOW CMoxon, you truely are busy. hehehe I love it all! I am sorry about the egg though, and the baby pigeon. :(
I love you partridge silkie (who just wants to be feed) LOL The chicks are getting so big! They grow so fast. I am glad all is well with them. Though they seem to be preparing for a full house invasion. Watch for hostile takeovers. The one on the water bottle looks guilty. ;)
Sewincircle....I think the one on the water bottle is planning a coup (or is that a coop?!) Hhahhahahaha.
He has a very beady look in his eye. I think there is a lot going on in that pea-sized brain.
Oh yes, This is how it all starts. They point out a few problems (no food, spilt waterer) and get the crowd behind them. They are good talkers too. Chicktators!!!
Chicktators....oh my goodness that made me laugh....perfect!
Claire,
I don't know how you find time to do it all. You must not sleep! Congratulations on Luna. I read some of your blog. Law school and patent law to boot. This is interesting and I have something to share with you sometime. :)
Karbear - I don't find time to do it all! That's why the kitchen is sometimes a disaster, and vacuuming only gets done once every 2 weeks, and same with the laundry! So it's all a matter of setting some priorities. Even then, not everything gets done as well as I'd like, but I do my best!
I've been a patent agent for almost 7 years now. It's the only branch of law you can practice without a law degree, and instead you need a science degree and you need to pass the patent bar exam. The thing is, you can't practice any other branch of law, and since my company would like me to do contracts and licensing, that's why I'm going to school. Four and a half years, but at least they pay for it (if I get a B or higher in each class). I'm always happy to talk about patent stuff - people have a lot of questions about it. :-)