Photogenic Mattie

I have really noticed how photogenic my animals are, I’m sure you have, too with all the pictures I take. Some of them do like the camera, others not so much. Mattie loves the camera. I will turn it on to the selfie side and he walks over to the camera. It is so cute. He will take selfies with me and he will actually look like he is striking a pose. He even gave me some smiles today during our photo session. It really is funny to watch him and then look at the pictures. He is one special little guy. 

Own Bowl

It looks like Mattie needed his own bowl these days already. Ronnie had started feeding Cracker Jack down by the horses to make sure he got some food. Today Mattie are out of his own bowl and Noma ate out of the other one. It just shows me how big he is getting already. He wanted to be big enough to eat out of his own bowl and he did that today. 

Update on Sick Chicken

Update on the chicken with her mouth opened. When I got home the next day, I found the chicken and she still had her mouth opened. I chased her a bit and then stopped and did something else that needed to be done. I found her again and was able to catch her. I cleaned out her mouth a little and cleaned around her mouth. I didn’t find anything that looked different again today. I put some vet rx on her to see if that would help. When she got down she went over to start eating so maybe she will be okay. I guess we will see. 

Rena

I have not said much about Rena the chicken lately. I have noticed that she is still running around like a normal chicken. She did not end up losing her foot but I do believe one of her claws is not useful anymore. She seems to be doing fine though. She does not act like she is in any pain. She seems to be doing fine. She still roosts with the other chickens and none of them are trying to attack her, so it looks like she is going to be fine. 

Standing Alone

I have noticed Red has been standing alone more lately. He is not doing it all the time but he is doing it often. I wish I knew what was going on there. It could just be he needs a minute to himself, I do not know. He does not act sick or have any weird symptoms, but he has just been alone more. He let me come over and love on him today and then he went back to his herd. He is a precious donkey, so loveable. I hope he is okay. 

Figured it Out

I watched Mattie this evening and figured out how he got stuck in the gate the other day. I watched him drop to the ground and start rolling over back and forth to scratch his back or cool off or whatever they are doing. As he did that, he was too close to the horse gate and it almost happened again. I saw the hoof in the gate but this time he was not stuck. He was able to get his foot out. I don’t know all the details from him getting still like but it looks like he almost did it again tonight so I figure that is what happened. Mattie is figuring things out and learning quickly. He is growing so fast. 

Goats and Donkeys

For a long time now, Red, Ned, Pete, and Pedro did not like the goats. In fact, Ned hated them and has tried to run them over a time or a dozen. The goats would hang out by the barn while the donkeys would walk all over the pasture. For some reason, here lately, the goats have been going everywhere with the donkeys. I’m glad they are getting along now and the goats are roaming with the donkeys. 

Fighting For Gloria

I guess Edith was hiding some today. I watched Gloria on the fence with Rowdy after her. I see her jump down and run to hide. Then I see Junior chasing Rowdy off. I’m not sure what it is about Gloria and Edith but they are liked by these roosters. They have 25 other hens and they go after those two. What is the deal?? 

Fighting Cats

For whatever reason, Earl and Jelly are still not getting along. They hiss at each other and do not end up in the same spot. Earl has been hanging out more in the shop, so Jelly stays out of it or in another area of the shop. I was getting feed out to go feed some animals and all I hear is growling and hissing. I walked out to the area where I was hearing it. Earl was laying close to Jelly. As soon as he saw me, he got up and walked away. What will it take for these two to get along?? 

Bees

It is springtime now. The trees are starting to bloom. I went to feed and as I walked out of the shop, all I can hear is buzzing. I had no idea what was happening. I knew we had some bees hanging around the chicken feed outside. I finally look up and I see hundreds of bees in the tree above me eating off the blooms. That is a sight I never thought I would see. It was quite a sight. I kept thinking, I’m glad I’m not allergic. Out here there are not many trees and flowers are not blooming yet. I have no idea where they went after they had eaten but I went back out a couple hours later to show Ronnie and they were gone. Y’all, nature is so cool. 

Protecting Edith

I get home and I usually start feeding and watering. I usually start with the chickens and then go to the barn to look for eggs. It’s just routine for me. As I walked over to the barn, I see Rowdy looking toward the barn so I figured Edith was close to the area. As I continued to walk, I was not prepared for what I saw. It looked like the goats were protecting Edith. Rowdy could not get near Edith. Now, Edith may have just decided to hide close to them but it was a sight to see. 

Eggs for Grandma

I was talking to someone about eggs not long ago and I find this little story to be blog worthy. If you follow my stories, you know I have so many eggs. We are still getting an average of a dozen a day. That’s a lot of eggs. Ronnie and I do not eat that many eggs. We hardly eat any if I’m being honest. Sometimes I do eat them if I feel like I need some protein since I do not eat meat anymore. So, back to the story. I know my Grandma and Grandpa love eggs. They like the farm eggs the best if they can get them. My friends were down a couple weeks ago and they were able to take back three dozen eggs to Arkansas for my grandparents. That meant a lot to my grandparents. I cannot thank my friends enough for doing that. Good friends are hard to find these days and I have had these friends for twenty years or more. They are so great!! Thanks, Tasha and Michael, you are appreciated!! 

The Things you learn

The things you learn on a farm. I talked about the teeth already. Something else about this baby donkey, Mattie, I did not know. I’m sure it’s all baby animals but I don’t know much about baby farm animals. So, donkeys nurse for four to six months according to my research. In my head, I felt like that’s all they would need is from nursing. Apparently that is not the case. Mattie is eating grain and he is already eating hay. He is not even a month old. He seems to be doing fine with it. He is a happy boy. 

Teeth

My sister is so funny. She texted me one day asking for an updated picture of Mattie’s teeth. I had no idea why but I was determined to get the pic and I did. The next day I received a picture with progressions from day one until that day. Mattie was almost a month old. I had no idea that these animals are born with teeth but if they aren’t, the teeth come in quickly. I had not really thought about it. My sister said she was obsessed with the teeth and after I saw the picture, I understood. You never know what kinds of things you will learn around here. Thanks to my sister for pointing out the huge difference. Animals are amazing. 

What Now

There is never a dull moment here. I saw a chicken running around with her mouth opened. I have no idea what was wrong. I picked her up and tried to see what was happening. She was not very cooperative and keep trying to jump down. I finally left her alone. She looked uncomfortable. She did try to eat and I saw her with the other chickens. I hoped she was going to be okay. She didn’t look like she was egg bound or had sour coup. I did not know what was going on. I felt bad for her. She did close her mouth but every few minutes she would open it again. 

That’s New

Edith was sitting up on the fence. That was her spot for a moment and she was not moving. She did not care who came near her, she was not getting down. Junior was sitting by her and when I came close, he left. Here came Carlos, he put his head right beside her and she refused to move. Hercules did the same thing. Then all four of the donkeys came over and did the same thing, they got so close to her. She refused to move. This when on for what felt like a long time but it was probably only a few minutes. Ronnie and I just stood there and watched. I had never seen anything like that. It was amazing to watch. 

You Don’t See This Often

I caught a picture that you don’t see often. I caught Fred and Rowdy hanging out together. It looked like Rowdy was showing him something. Who knows what. Roosters usually hang around each other. Rowdy has killed several of our others roosters, so it was interesting he was not trying to kill Fred. Maybe he likes Fred enough not to kill him. Time will tell. Fred usually sticks to himself to avoid conflict with the roosters. Who knows what will happen around here each day. 

Edith Again

Edith is something else. I know I talk about her a lot but she is definitely something to talk about. She cannot decide what she wants. She will still hang out in the chicken coop with the door opened. She was in there with Rowdy one day, her on top of the chicken laying boxes and him trying to figure out how to get to her. She jumped door and ran off. Then she just sat up on the fence line to stay away from Fred, who is absolutely a rooster. Junior just looks at her and she stops. This poor chicken, I do not know what it is about her but all three roosters chase her around. 

Funny Goats

These little goats are so funny. I watched them this week. It was a hot day and they were al laying down. I watched Porky stand beside Buckwheat with his little hoof almost petting him to get him to stand up. Once he finally did, Porky went over to Waldo and did the same thing to get him up and moving. It was sweet to watch. Those three love each other. 

Enjoying an Evening

When I have had a rough day, I try to spend more time with the animals to get over that rough day. I had one of those this week. The animals did not disappoint and I was in such a better mood. The lambs were in my lap, Mattie was following me everywhere, Chief even wanted my attention. They always make me laugh. These guys I know love me and they know when I’m feeling down and they work hard to get me out of it. It works, it really does. I do enjoy the evenings on the farm. 

Junior

Junior is such a mess. I do not know what is going on with him. He is definitely messing with Edith. She sees him and she cowers down. He stays by her most of the time. She does get away from him and tries to hide out from him. She succeeds sometimes and I can find her hiding. Junior finds her again. I do not know what to do with Edith. She obviously does not want to be in the coop anymore. I’m surprised she has not made it back into the shop yet. He is also after Gloria which used to be our other shop chicken. All three of them were here when we moved in so they have all been here together for years. 

HOT

It got HOT here in West Texas over the weekend. These animals were feeling it. The pigs kept getting into their water troughs and were dumping water out for a mud hole. The goats were laying down and panting. The sheep were staying in the shade and panting. The horses were laying down in the barn. The donkeys were staying in the shade. They were all so HOT. Ronnie turned on the fan for the cows. We are giving them more water since it’s so hot out. The cows are drinking at least half a water trough a day. If this is what we have in store for this summer, it might be rough. 

These dogs and the sheep

These dogs, all four of them love these lambs. They sit by the fence when they are outside most of the time. The lambs will run the fence line with the dogs. The lambs will stand there and let Daisy try to lick their fur. It is the funniest sight. The lambs seem to watch for the dogs to come outside and they get so excited to see them come running toward them. They play together so much. I don’t trust the dogs not to hurt them accidentally so I’m glad there is a fence between them, but I’m so glad they are having fun. 

Alfalfa Allergy

We have been feeding alfalfa to some of the animals. I didn’t know until we moved here, but I guess I have a hay allergy. It’s not terrible, but it definitely makes me break out. For some reason I always have those little red bumps on me after I handle the hay. You never know what you will learn out here. I learn something new everyday. 

Noma and Mattie

Noma and Mattie, those two are an experience just watching them. Mattie is a ball of energy, Noma is not. He is all over her trying to play me she tries to bite at him. He jumps around her and it seems like too much for her and she lays down. I have to laugh, that’s almost like some humans. Noma is a good momma though, she always is up when he needs to nurse. She makes sure he is close to her. She is teaching him things he needs to know. She shares her food with him. She needed him, that is obvious. It’s a great experience to watch them. When Mattie gets tired, he just plops down and falls asleep. It’s hilarious. Mattie is even trying to play with Cracker Jack. Mattie seems to be the glue for Cracker Jack and Noma. 

Sheep Experience

I had no idea lambs were so amazing. These guys are so friendly. They want to be loved on. They will crawl in my lamp. They want to be close to me. They are so loveable and adorable. Any one that knows me knows I love all my animals, but these guys are stealing my heart. They are so much fun. They will follow me. They run to the gate knowing when I’m coming in the pen. They get so excited. When I come outside that start talking to me. It’s hilarious. I think everyone should meet these guys. They are so awesome. 

The Dreaded Flies

Oh the dreaded flies are out and about full force. Cracker Jack struggles badly with flies. He let me rub him down today with some stuff that will deter the flies. Mattie might have some issues with flies, he was moving his head back and forth to get the flies away from him, so I rubbed him down also. I attempted to rub Noma down but she smelled the rag and backed up so I did not push her. Ronnie turned a fan on for the cows. It is a battle in the summer to keep the flies off the animals. 

Mud Holes

It got up to 93 here today in West Texas. I am pretty sure I’m not ready for that. All of the animals have plenty of water, we make sure of that. They all have shelter and a place to get out of the sun. It can get hot out here. The animals I get the most concerned about in hot weather is the pigs. I went out to feed them and they had left one of the water troughs still with water in it and they had dug a hole and dumped the other water trough out to start their mud hole. I started pouring in fresh water into their troughs while washing out the dirt and putting that in the mud hole. As I finished up, Darla comes over and gets into the water trough while some of the other pigs were playing in the mud hole. Gus attempted to get in the trough but he has grown too large, so the water dumps out. I filled the troughs up again. I think I used 18 gallons to fill up what they dumped out. I got Ronnie to fill up the bucket on the tractor to give them more water and let them play in it for awhile and they did. They loved it and probably needed it. The temps won’t be up all week but soon they will be. 

Peaceful

I may have talked about this before but I am going to talk about it again. Horses lay down when they are comfortable and feel safe. Jeb started laying down on day one with being here. Chief, it took a bit. So, when I go outside and catch both of them laying down together and in the barn looking so peaceful, it brings me joy. They know they are home and they know they are safe. That’s a big deal to me. They are happy. That’s all I wanted for them. They are living a life they deserve. They have fresh food, water, and a beautiful barn just for them. They are also loved and they know it. 

Not again

I attempted the pig hooves again. I have decided that I just cannot do it all in a day. These guys do not want to cooperate. I know it needs to be done. So, I was able to get several done but not all on the same pig. So, I am going to just start doing that daily. Get a few here and a few there and just keep it up that way. It’s a good plan until I can get another plan. This isn’t always easy and I know that. I was proud of how many I got done though. They are looking better already. It’s something for sure. 

Independent Jelly

I had started to get concerned about Jelly. I had not seen him in days. Ronnie said he saw him every morning at feeding time and I believed that but I wanted to put my eyes on him to make sure. Yep, he is fine. I have seen him in the shop more now that it is warmer out. Jelly has just been wondering around. When the time changed, he had been coming in the shop later since it was getting darker later. I just wanted to see him. Yes, he is doing fine.