Summertime!!

July is almost over and I have been missing from blog-land (again)
I am pretty sure I will never be consistent in blogging, but I will always eventually check in.

So excited because we have added some new members to our ever growing farm!
We have 5 new kittens... and just in time, all of our barn cats disappeared over the long winter. The kids are thrilled and have already claimed and named them :)

Turner

Calypso

Swabby

Freckles

Jonah

And a new Silkie Family (they would not face me for a family picture)

Silky Jack

The mama & baby (not named yet) 

This hen won a blue ribbon at the Griggs County fair this summer :)

We also got 4 new guinea keets...

 I actually stole this picture from Annemarie, my friend who gave them to us. 

They kept some of them and gave the other 4 to us :)

We brought the baby guineas home and immediately they ran out to the tall prairie grass. We spent almost an hour looking for them, but only found 2. We thought for sure the others wouldn't make it through the night, as it has been chilly and damp this week during the nights, but surprise, surprise! The 2 showed up outside the coop the next morning and were happy to be reunited with their siblings!


It is always a lot of fun getting new animals. I am still on the search for an appropriate husband for Gracie- girl... I would love some baby goats in the spring and some goat milk! She is a purebred Nigerian Dwarf, so her mate would need to be also. I just didn't realize how hard it would be to find one in our general area (or even this state)  I found this adorable guy on Craigslist- "Tim McGraw Buck"... he would have been perfect! But alas, someone else got to him before I did. *sad sigh*

Look at this sweeties face!!! Does anyone have any leads on a Buck for our Gracie? Let me know if you do!

Oh and Julianna wants to get a baby bunny or two... so the next blog post will probably be about that!

August Updates

I can't believe we are already half way through August. The summer is flying by and school starts here in 11 days. Where did the time go? The heat wave is over, thankfully and we have had much cooler days and LOTS of rain and thunderstorms. I actually love the rain, but a lot of people here don't because of the flooding and the fields being too wet. I can certainly understand that!

Lots has been happening in our family lately, hence the lack of blog posts. Times have been stressful, but in all things we will give thanks- or at least try to. When life gets busy, the farm gets put on the back burner. However the farm is growing and everything is green and lush and full of life!

We have 14 kittens!!!! All 3 of our barn cat mamas had litters within a couple weeks of each other. Sadly, 3 kittens didn't make it, but the others are all healthy and playful (and ready to find new homes soon...) The kittens all grew up together and they all play together. The funny thing is, the 3 moms take responsibility for all the babies, they don't discriminate. I see kittens from all 3 litters nursing from the same mom- it is quite humorous to me!

how many kittens do you see in this picture? There are 8 here!!

In other news, we had decided to give Scurvy Dog another chance. We tried in vain to find a new home for him, and after a few weeks of searching we decided to give him another shot. Unfortunately, that was a bad decision on our part. One day when we were gone running errands, he broke off his chain and killed 6 of our chickens. It was a very sad day because one of them was Anabelle's beloved "Mohawk". Of all our 38 chickens, any one of us would have gladly given one of ours to spare Mohawk. He was such a special Silkie, and he and Annie had a very special relationship. I am glad I have many pictures of the 2 of them together (I even have a video of her riding her bike down the sidewalk with Mohawk sitting in the basket on her handlebars!)

I don't think any chicken could ever take his place, but we do have the 3 young silkies that haven't been named. I am hoping that Annie will bond with one of them.

Anyway hopefully one day soon I will be back to blogging my funny farm stories... I promise to let you know when I do!

Gardening & Worming

Weeding Stinks!
But chickens love to come and help.

I never realized how much work a vegetable garden takes!
I started late to begin with.
I underestimated the amount of preparation and work.
Then I got this stupid Tendinitis, and now my left & dominant arm is basically useless.
Even just spraying roundup causes me pain.
Luckily, I have several servants that I can get help from.

Julianna, & I went out to the garden and we started weeding.
Anabelle started raking the dirt ("so the worms would come out").
It wasn't long before the rumors reached the coop,
and 1 by 1 the chicks wandered over looking for a handout.
They were in luck- the worms were abundant!

As the sun beat down and the afternoon wore on,
different chicks came and went.
They ate their fill and then found somewhere better to be.

The Silkies especially seemed to appreciate the help in locating the worms,
I have heard & read that breeds with feathered feet don't forage as easily,
so they were happy to be hand-fed!

Hours later, and exhausted, we called it a day.
Lots of work, not a lot of obvious progress.
Don't tell anyone, but I am starting to give up hope of growing anything from seeds.
I have a feeling it is just too late...
I might sneak over to the nursery and get seedlings that I can plant in the garden
and then pretend that I have a green thumb after all.

Insanity Has Set In

My self control lasted exactly 2 months and 2 days... then it ran out.

I brought home 3 new chicks today- I just couldn't resist!!!

My friend Liz and her family came over for my Birthday cookout a few weeks ago 

and she fell in love with my Silkie chicks. 

So she contacted the breeder we got ours from back in March and set up a time to go see them. Naturally, I wanted to go along!

I forgot how adorably sweet newborn chicks are... 

they suck you in with their cuteness!!! 

Then the girl said they had some blue and red chicks.... SOLD! 

I came home with 3 new Silkies for the brooder: 2 blue and 1 red. 

I can't wait to see what they look like as they grow!!!!

Aren't they ADORABLE?!?!

look at that face! a real "angry bird"?

Dark Blue has somewhere to go... I guess the photo shoot is over!

So 25 chicks + 9 chicks - 1 chick + 3 chicks = 36 chicks

36 chicks + 2 special needs chicks (Julianna's project) = 38 chicks in the coop

38 chicks = Chicken Math

(see explanation of chicken math HERE)

I REALLY am done now.... at least until next year. I think. 

Silkie Kisses

A goodnight kiss?

Farm Happenings & Visits

This week we have been having lots of rain and thunderstorms.

Normally, I LOVE rain

(a shot of the farm at sunset during a storm)

But this week my mom is here visiting from Florida 

and I was hoping we could spend the week outside in the garden.

(nope, too soggy)

(my mom, Annie, Oliver and me at the airport)

So we have not been able to spend much time outside.

We have been in the barn a lot though, trying to teach 

the new babies how to take a bottle

They are starting to catch on, but I have been worried 

because they haven't been drinking much at each feeding. 

I read that it can take 3-4 days for them to figure it out, 

so I am hoping that will happen soon.

***

Oliver is also here for a couple days and 

he was thrilled to meet all the new animals!

(he was fine being outside, despite the rain)

Annie showed him all her favorite chicks 

and how to hold them and smile for a picture

Good Job Anabelle!

(and great pose for the camera Mohawk!)

As for my mom, she leaves tomorrow and 

I still have not been able to get her to hold an animal...

I was hoping to catch her snuggling a chick or one of the baby goats 

so that I could put the picture on my blog, but so far no such luck!

I will have to settle for just her-  without an animal.

Love you Mama,Thanks for coming to visit!!

We've Got Chicks!

The chicks are HERE!!!!!

Look at how adorable their little fluffy bodies are!

Originally Matt said we could get 12... but I talked him into 18

(since there were 3 breeds, we could each get 1 chick of each breed: 6 x 3= 18)

Matt reluctantly agrees to 18. 

Welllll... we came home today with 25 chicks!!!

HAHA!!! It honestly wasn't planned, but we got a little carried away.

(I learned that this is called "chicken math")

We got 8 Easter Eggers (Americauna), 6 Bantam Cochins & 11 Silkies in 4 different colors.

****

Here are some pictures of the kids:

 Julianna and 2 of the chicks she picked out

 Simon's Chicks

 Anabelle and her white Silkie chick

I am excited and very nervous. 

I am scared to get attached to any of the chicks in case some of them don't make it. 

I hope that I am doing everything right with the brooder and heat lamp!!!

YAY FOR CHICKS!!!