An Affair to Remember

This chick, Cheep-Cheep, got her foot caught in the incubator fan, then got a bit squished, so she's taking some special care. She's recovering nicely but is quite lonely and would happily reside in my hand all day if I let her, so I tried putting another chick in with her for companionship. The other chick kept pecking at Cheep-Cheep's discolored foot and wouldn't leave it alone. Last night, I found this perfect companion in the kid's toybox!





I'm not sure how long this can last, it's cuddly but not very warm, and it doesn't talk back to her... but it's sure cute!

Raspberries galore!

The kids and I were at my sister's picking peas today and could not resist the heavy laden branches of the raspberry bushes nearby. We took a break from the peas and picked a bucket of the largest, tastiest, most beautiful berries I've seen in a long time. I was in raspberry heaven, standing in one spot in the center of the patch and filling my bucket!  I picked 6 gallons last week but today's picking was so... fruitful!

When we got home, my 5 year old daughter came to me with her eyes aglow.

"Mom, could I have a bowl with some raspberries... and some sugar... and some cream? That would be the best snack ever!"

And it was.

Maybe I'll reward myself with a bowl once I've finished shelling the 10 gallons of peas I picked today...

Chicks the natural way!

I love seeing animals function the way God designed them to. Today I witnessed our mama hen take her 2 day chicks out for a "nature walk" for the first time! It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen in my life.

Just under 4 weeks ago, this hen decided to accept the invitation of a bowl of eggs we had left for her to sit on. She is a year old Buff Brahma Bantam hen, and we had left an assortment of Buff Brahma Bantam and Buckeye eggs.

After 21 days, the allotted time for incubation, we saw no sign of hatching, no pipped eggs, no peeping from inside the shells. We decided to leave them for a few more days to see what would happen. Finally, on day 23, the first chick hatched, and several others were pipped. By day 24, the rest had hatched. We lost 2 chicks the second night when they weren't able to get back into the nest, so now we're left with 4 Buff Brahma Bantam chicks and 1 Buckeye!

Today they ventured outside, the bantam chicks are smaller and have a little difficulty getting around on the grass, but they soon figured it out and were dashing around pecking at this and that. Occasionally the hen would make a certain cluck and the chicks would all come running, good practice for when danger is near.

The Buckeye chick caught a moth (below), and the hen chased the chick around for a while, not really trying to take the moth away from the chick, but it seemed she was just trying to make sure that whatever the chick had was safe to eat.

Seeing such young chicks learning how to survive outside is so cool. No heat lamps, no carefully monitored temperature, lighting, and cramped quarters, just a mother hen teaching her chicks how to feed themselves, come to her for warmth when they get cool, and watch for danger.

Just the way they were made to.

Kids! Finally!

 

After 2 years of goat ownership, we finally have kids born on our farm! Lady gave birth this morning to 2 little boys, both seem to be doing well and sucking. Lady is of the Saanen breed, and she was bred to Monty, an Alpine/Nubian cross. It's too bad the kids are both male, they would have been good milkers. Lady is an excellent milker, and we plan to steal a bit of her delicious, ample milk supply for our table!

The children are excited at the kids arrival, I think we'll be spending a lot of time around the barn this spring!