little girl lost, planting seeds,

Happy ending but last night 5/3/13, 4-day old Bouquet added some gray hairs to our heads. Friday 5:45PM, I had Bouquet and Rhudolf outside while I was doing chores. Mike was still at work. A friend came over and I didn't pay attention to my babysitting duties for approx 30 minutes. The does, including Bouquet's Mama, went a long ways out from the barn to go picking. I returned to babysitting duties and realized Bouquet was missing. PANIC! To make an all-night long story short, Bouquet spent a cool, windy night out in the woods by herself. Mike woke me up at 6AM Saturday, hollering that he and Mama Rhubi had found Bouquet and she was fine! I couldn't believe she could have survived predators and 40 degree temps deep in the woods.

Bouquet is prancing around today like she fully expects Mike, me, and Mama Rhubi to always bail her out when she gets into trouble.

Aren't these the sweetest eyes you've ever seen?

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I started some seedlings this afternoon.

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Also, this afternoon, we went for a walk, minus Bouquet and Rhudolf.

Thursday photo's

 

Rhudolf is that you?

5:15PM Monday - arriving home from work. me - What the ...
Let me back up

6:30AM Monday - My 2nd freshener Nigerian doe, Rhubi, is having a rough labor, I pull out #1 kid head first, a doeling who was dead. Then, I pull out # 2 kid, correct position but dead. # 3 kid, a doeling was alive and well. Rhubi passes placenta with # 3 kid. I take my time getting a shower and getting ready for work, go out and check on mother and daughter one more time, leave for work.

5:15PM Monday - wonder if I'm seeing double. Who/what the heck is that? Rhudolf is that you? Sometime during the day Rhubi delivered two more, a buckling and a doeling but the doeling was dead.

All 5 kids were fully formed and decent size. And yes, after # 3 kid, she passed her placenta. I'll chalk it up to a new experience.

A Rhubarb Bouquet Arrived

#1 - a tiny doeling and #2 - a big buckling both drown inside Mama because I waited too long to be invasive. #1 I pulled out head first then legs. I helped Mama with #2 but too late. #3 I just helped Mama a bit and #3 a doeling is fine. I'm sad about #1 and #2, I know "it's a part of farm life" but that doesn't really help except that I do have #3 Rhubarb Bouquet.

goats and red Silkies

You want to know why I love having generations here?

The little girls got disbudded this week.

Remember the day-old red silkies in the brooder? Now, six weeks later, I've got 7 of 'em and we moved 'em to their new home with the 2 black Silkie hens. Aren't they cute?

I have these igloo doghouses so I can move broody turkey girls to larger spaces. When we move the girl and her eggs, we block the opening for a couple of days until she gets settled in.

goat kids at play

little goat girls and eggs

Here is a sampling of the chicken eggs that the girls are producing.  I like the various colors.

Here are Bourbon Red turkey eggs, and we have a turkey girl setting on them.