Silly Guineas

Well I'm no expert on the shepherdess but I think the one or two eggs the guinea hens laid a couple weeks ago were more than enough to say they were sorry about all the screaming they usually do.

However, they went and laid two dozen under the rose bushes and I think they are planning on laying even more.

I think their idea is that if they had a whole family then the shepherdess would be more happy with them, but I'm pretty sure this will not be the case. In fact I heard her talking about shipping them off to a new farm along with all their eggs. It may just get a lot quieter here very soon. Who will I chase then? Oh my, I never thought about that ... here kitty kitty ...

Redmaids

Look at these beauties. We have dozens of these beautiful flowers growing wild outside the pasture fence. They look as though someone planted them intentionally but that is not the case. After searching Google for a couple hours I found more information about them. They are wild flowers called "Redmaids" (or, more technically, "Fringed Redmaids"). 

They are a member of the Purslane family and are completely edible. The leaves may be eaten fresh, although due to their content of oxalic acid, they should be eaten sparingly.

This plant once constituted a major part of the diet of Native American Indians in California. The major food use of this plant is the black, oil-rich seed that is collected, winnowed, toasted, and ground into pinole, a course flour.

I think they are beautiful. I the fact that they are edible is a bonus.

Last but not Least

Liberty had her babies last night. She is the last doe on our spring kidding schedule for 2012. She had three huge bucklings. We were hoping for at least one doeling, as Liberty is so special to us and we would love to have some daughters out of her but it just was not the Lord's will for this go round. We can't complain though, the baby boys and Liberty are doing great.

Again, Kynnedy delivered the babies. This time it was not out of necessity but out of desire. She asked me if she could trade places with me and deliver the babies. Thus giving me the job of drying them off and placing them in front of Liberty so she could clean them up. Kynnedy did an amazing job. She was completely calm. She knew immediately when the second buckling was presented breech and upside down as she assessed the flexion of his joints and she knew without hesitation that she was holding his hocks and not his knees. Then when the huge third buckling was in the birth canal Kynnedy calmly held him and applied gentle pressure to help ease Liberty through her contractions and help her to deliver the baby.

I know I'm not needed for kidding season anymore but it does not make me sad. I'm proud of my daughters they know how to care for our herd without question. Kyrstyn was right there by Kynnedy's side doing all the aftercare for Liberty. They are a great team and we are all blessed for it.

Star's doelings

Miss Star took her babies outside for the first time today.

They are four days old so she kept a pretty close eye on them.

They wanted to run and play but she kept telling them to be careful and not to run and to stay together, buddy system you know. All in all I think they enjoyed the sunshine.

Liberty looked on in wonder. Everyone was thinking that maybe she was jealous, but I know she was just wishing that she could deliver her babies so she could start moving faster than a waddle.

Well, it's about time!

Those three guinea hens are good for nothing I tell ya! They are always yelling about everything. They yell when a car drives up the driveway. They yell when the barn door is left open. They yell when the chickens aren't let out of their house on time. They even yell when the shepherdess comes out to check us in the middle of the night. So far the neighbors haven't gotten mad about that because the shepherdess checks us a lot in the middle of the night. They are always yelling, about everything. So today when one of them gave the youngest shepherdess an egg to say sorry for always yelling I was thinking that it is about time! It is a beautiful egg. I think it is much prettier than the chickens' eggs. I hope they start saying sorry more often.

Willoughby

Yesterday miss Star had her babies, beautiful babies. She had two perfect little doelings and a very handsome little buck. However, right from the beginning of his little life we could all tell that the little buck was having a hard time breathing. The shepherdesses, the older one and the youngest one, fussed over him for hours. They made a decision to take him into the house after consulting with miss Star. Once inside they helped him to drink from a bottle and they kept him warm. The older shepherdess stayed up all night with him. Today the shepherdess took him to the doctor but the doctor said that he was born with a congenital defect and that it would probably be better if she were to let him go. The doctor was very honest and did not give any false hope but also said that she would do whatever the shepherdess asked. So the shepherdess said good bye to little Willoughby. When she came home she talked to me for a long time and I could tell how very sad she was but also relieved that little Willoughby was no longer in any distress. We never know why some things happen in our life but all things are connected like a big puzzle and someday, when we get to Heaven, God will show us the big picture, that all of these little puzzle pieces make. Well that is how the shepherdess thinks life works anyway. All I know is that we are very loved.

     Willoughby 4/10/12 - 4/11/12

Invasion of the Galliformes

Last night five wild turkeys stayed the night in one of our ancient oak trees. The shepherdess was beside herself with glee over the fact that more wildlife had come to visit our little farm and that they felt comfortable enough to spend the night. Yikes, I screamed. “What if coyotes come to visit woman!”

The small flock of turkeys consisted of a tom and four hens. I don't know if all those hens were his wives but it makes you wonder if all the banter of a bunch of wives would out weigh the other benefits of that kind of a relationship? What if they are all grouchy at the same time?

Two of the hens could be heard arguing as to who was more handsome, Tron or Wolverine. They argued this point for hours. I finally dozed off listening to:

“Tron”...”Wolverine”...”Tron”...”Wolverine”...zzzzzzzzz... I feel sorry for the poor tom. Maybe he is a jake and just doesn't know better.

Happy Easter

Copper hopes everyone will remember that this day is not about bunnies, colorful eggs, or candy but about forgiveness and the sacrifices Jesus made for us.

Happy Easter



Speckles

Speckles has made a complete recovery and has moved back into the hen house.

The Diva, don't tell her I call her that. She is the tiniest hen but she has some serious attitude. Well, she decided that while Speckles was away that she had moved up in the pecking order, so she gave Speckles a few sharp pecks to welcome her back and show off.

      The Diva

That only lasted a minute because the old Rhode Island Red queen put her four toed foot down and said enough was enough. Then she pecked them both and went about her day.

 

That's the Queen is on the far right.

That rooster should have done something but he just puffed up his chest and acted all macho. He's afraid of the old queen but he'd never admit it.

All seemed back to normal yesterday when they went in to perch for the night, so I guess they worked it all out.

“This is PG coming to you live from the farm.”

The shepherdess said I could take over writing the blog for a little while. She is super busy with her computer job these days. She has been burning the candle at both ends, if you know what I mean. I asked her if there was anything I could do to help out and aside from trying to persuade the herd to pee outside the barn this was the best other job I could think of. So over the next couple weeks I will let you know the news around the farm.


Look, I found a cute photo of me.

Ha Ha, I remember when that photo was taken. Jade and I were playing spin the leaf and I kept winning! Dear Jade, may she be rubbing against Jesus' ankles right now … she is very missed by all of us.