Everybody out at Rock Bottom seems to be growing at a breakneck pace! These chickens were insubstantial fluff balls just eight weeks ago, and now they're almost six pounds! We have three batches of chickens going at the moment, and luckily we've had a little practice by this point because there's great potential for chaos. We accidentally spaced the batches a little too tightly on this last group, and the new chicks were ordered to come in the same day the three week old group was headed out to pasture. Unfortunately that Friday was the one rainy and cold day in weeks, and we ended up losing 40 of our freedom ranger chicks to cold. Well, we technically lost them to smothering from the overzealous "huddle for warmth" efforts of of their siblings. Alas! We seem to have a 40/batch trend going here. My favorite old man rancher friend suggested I make a head stone for the chicks reading: "40 Freedom Chicks. Ranching Lesson #106." He's great at putting things in perspective for us, being exceptionally encouraging, and treating us like compentent buisness partners despite some evidence to the contrary :) Too bad none of his good looking sons are single!
In addition to the chickens, the piglets are growing like mad, and I'm hoping all my fence repair will mean larger, greener pastures for them as soon as they're weaned. Burdock the calf is also growing (no longer heft-over-the-fence-able), and is as handsome as can be! We vaccinated him in my home-made livestock chute, and he was the only victim who didn't even flinch. His two older siblings put up such a dramatic fight one nearly gave Caitlin a concussion while she was closing the butt gate! Such spoiled critters.
The laying hen chicks are almost chickens now, though still significantly smaller than their meaty counterparts. As the peacock was recently widowed (some predator was delighted the peahen decided not to roost safely in the hen house that night), he's started making moves on the laying hen chicks. Unfortuntely they don't even bat an eye at his impressive strutting - which I have yet to capture on camera. To most everyone's surprise, "Eve" the peacock has become a well-loved member of the menagerie and visits every corner of the ranch to deliver his eerie calls and class up the place with his good looks. My (mostly-suppressed) animal hoarding tendancies may have been partially responsible for his (unwelcome) arrival at the ranch as I OKed the avian donation. Luckily, instead of becoming yet another unproductive burden for the staff, Eve requires no care and bequeaths us with a great deal of entertainment. Yay!
One of the rabbits gave birth, but I couldn't see them way back in their nest box so I'll just have to take Peter's word for it. So excited for them to become furry, ambulatory, and adorable! We'll have to fix up one of the chicken "tractors" for them soon, and I need to get the third one all ready for my turkeys who are slowly but steadily getting pretty big! A little boy told me the other day that one of the six week old turkeys was the momma bird for it's much smaller siblings, which made me think of how far they have to go before they're actually mom-turkey size. They currently couldn't look much less like their adult counter part, King Louie.
Caitlin and I are finally making some changes to the goat herd which before last week had one productive member out of eight. Charlotte (Delilah's bitchy daughter) is headed for the rainbow bridge (and stewpot) this week, and the two pigmies will hopefully find a new home on craigslist. Deb has some dedicated fans (my sister included), so we're giving her yet another chance at breeding which goes against most everything I learned in grad school about herd management. Grandma Corona is also well loved, so she will be kept as a pet, fed and doctored through her geriatric years. Charlotte, Gray, and Rosie have been replaced with mother-daughter milking team Pomegranate and Persimmon who are far more cuddly (and polite) than anyone else in the herd. They also enjoy my singing (Firework was a big hit on the milking stand this week).
5 comments:
Sounds busy! What an enjoyable update! The new goats are pretty cute!
Hi there! I'm delighted you're singing to the animals -- I can't tell you the scorn & derision I endured from your Mom & Uncle J when I tried to keep a slow-poke nag on the move by singing to him. (Every time I stopped he dropped his head and chewed at the roadside weeds.) They were convinced he was keeping going because he was trying to get away from me! The jury is still out. So you go, girl! Maybe those ornery goats should get a dose of "Hit me with your best shot..."
Hugs,
Aunt N
Good one, Auntie Nan! You so deserved the derisive comments slung your way, singing to that horse...when Nick and I were trying to be very cool cowboys!
We'd love some blog updates when you have time!
Deb is my friend! She nuzzled me with her one horn.
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