New Toy

Louie has a new toy. It is nothing but an old bucket of mineral, but he is sure jumping off of it. So far I am having to put him up on the bucket, but he is sure loving taking advantage and jumping off of it. He is such a cutie and is loving his life. He is full of joy and fun. 

Hot

It is so hot out. The cats are hiding. The chickens are playing in the water. The other animals are staying around the fans or water to try to stay cool. The shade is always a good option. It is just so hot. I hate it for all of them, I really do. I know they will be okay, though. Their instincts are better than ours. 

Wildflowers

We do have these wildflowers growing that look like sunflowers. The butterflies have been all over them. They are too pretty to mow down, so I am leaving them there. I sure do love to watch the butterflies. It is so beautiful. 

Tina and the Goats

Tina Turken is still hanging out with Louie and Prada. Louie is chasing her around and loving her. Prada likes having her around also. She is a one of a kind chicken. I sure do love this little trio. I cannot even tell you how fun they are to watch. Louie sure does love Tina. Tina might not want to be chased by him in a few more weeks, but for now, she is tolerating him just fine. 

Louie is Growing

Louie is growing. He has his teeth now and he is eating hay and solid foods. He is drinking water from the trough. He is still nursing, which he is supposed to be doing, but he is growing so fast. I just love to be watching him growing up. I just did not realize how quickly it was going to go. 

Noma

Noma has been up more lately since she got her feet trimmed. It makes me so happy that she is up moving around. I know she feels better since she is up and moving. It sure makes a difference in her attitude, too. I am grateful for all of those things. 

Slide

I Bought a slide 5 years ago for the little goats and they never used it. Well, Louie loves the slide. He is having so much fun with it and really, so am I. I had no idea baby goats were so much. They really are so much fun. Louie just bounces around all over the place. He is the best little thing. So much fun!

Survival

It was 105 degrees and I knew Tina was hot. I was filling up water troughs and Tina run up under the water troughs, so I put water under the trough for her and she acted like she was not going to survive if I had not done that. I poured water over her, too. It seemed to help her. She is one funny chicken. Some of the other chickens, including Craig, the rooster followed her lead to cool off. 

Muddy Goodness

Those pigs are loving their muddy goodness. You can tell all of them have been in the mud because they are all covered in it. I am so glad they have all that mud and can stay cool in this West Texas heat. They need that for sure. If you did not know, pigs cannot regulate their temperatures, so they have to use the water and mud to cool themselves down. That is why we usually keep a big lake in each pen, so each of them have plenty of mud to roll around in. 

Poor Bill

Poor Bill. I feel so bad for him. He is really having a rough time. Cinderella is such a bully to him. She runs him off the hay and runs him off the feed and basically just runs him around. Either that or he just does not want to be around her which is a good possibility. She is so mean, I would not want to be around her either. I do what I can to make sure he gets to eat. I hate it for him. He does not like Prada either, so I do not have any place to move him which I hate that, too. Him and Tinkerbelle do well together, so I may have to do that again, but it will be a while before that can happen. Louie cannot be in that other pen, he could get out of there too easily with how little he is at this time. I just hate it for Bill. I miss Ted terribly, too. 

Baby Bird

I found a baby bird in with the turkens. I knew that baby would not survive in with those chickens because they would kill it. I had to move that baby. I hope that baby survived. When I went to go back and check I could not find it, so it either did or didn’t. I just do not know what happened to it. I am hopeful though. That was the cutest baby bird I have ever seen. It looked like a baby starling. 

Quail

I got to see a lone quail on the property. I am not really sure what in the world it was doing, but I had fun watching it for quite a long time. I took several photos of it. I know it was eating the chicken feed, which is fine, most of the other birds around do that, too. I do get to see quail sometimes, but it is not often, so when I see one, it is an experience. 

Horny Toad

Out here in Texas we have horny toads everywhere. However, I had not seen them on our property. As I got out of my car one afternoon, I saw one on our little fencing around the front yard. I was so excited to see it. It also have heard if you see one on your property, it means your yard is healthy, natural ecosystem with abundant ants and a warm, sandy habitat. They are also a threatened species in Texas, so they are protected. I hope the cats know to leave them alone. Those things are super fast though, so hopefully the cats cannot catch them. I have not seen the horny toad again, but I hope it is still here. 

Scary

The Cows do this thing where they lay down and tilt their head over with their eyes closed and they look dead. It is terrifying to see them do this. I know they are just sleeping, but they really do look dead. It scares me every single time I see them do this. I usually call out to them and wake them up so I know they are fine. 

Turkens

These new turkens just make me laugh. I don’t even know what else to say about them. They interest me so much. They are so funny looking. They are just different from the other chickens, but I just love them. They make me so happy. I guess all the animals do, though. 

New Routine

There is a new routine at night and in the morning. Ronnie and I had to make sure there was no way Louie could get out of the pen, so we had to move things in front of some openings. Well, those openings are where Tina got in and out of the pen. She sleeps in the pen with Prada and Louie, so Ronnie and I are having to let her in and out of the pen at night and in the mornings. Sometimes it is easier than others. Some days I have to corral Louie and Prada and get Tina in all at once and it seems more like a rodeo. Those are the days I need a YouTube channel because it may be annoying to me, it would be hilarious to watch for someone else. 

Prada

I was concerned Prada was not going to do this whole mom thing to well, but she really is. She is doing really well. She is attentive and loving. She is doing all the things right and is not acting like she is annoyed at all. That might change, but we will see. So far, she is doing amazing. Things might have been rough for the first day or two, but she has got it down now. 

Tina and Craig

Tina and Craig are still hanging out together all day. Not only does Tina have a bond with Prada, but she has a bond with Craig. Those two got here about the same time and decided to be friends right off. Craig was bullied, too, believe it or not. That did not last long, but it did happen. Introductions of animals is hard, just like humans in some cases. Territorial is more like it. I am glad they have each other. 

A Fan

Who would have known that this baby goat would have been such a little cutie? It has been so hot outside, Ronnie went a bought a fan for him and Prada. This baby is going to be so spoiled, but right now, Louie needs that fan. He keeps getting into the corner of the shelter where he was born and it is too hot for all of that. Ronnie had to take part of the shelter off because he continued to get into the corner. I was concerned he would get too hot back there, so now they have a fan. Can we say spoiled already? 

Pete

Well, Pete is sore from his trim. He was lying down out in the pasture with the other donkeys around him. I know his feet were bad and we have been unsuccessful with keeping a farrier here consistently, but I think that is going to change. I know he is sore, but it will go away. His feet have to feel better than they did. He will just be sore for a bit. 

The Pigs

I have not mentioned the pigs lately. They are all doing well. I went and cooled them down with some water and redid some of their sun shades so they would have them. it is so hot outside. They are all starting to shed which seems late in the year to me since it has already been hot outside. I did give some belly rub and loved on the pigs. I know they are hot, but they do have their mud holes, so they will be okay. 

Snake Skin

I had been having weird feelings around the trash can for a bit. I never did see anything, but every time I went to the trash can, I wanted to run away from it. I felt so dumb acting like that and never could put my finger on why I was acting like that. Well, I went out and that feeling was gone, but there was a snake skin right behind the trash can. I guess that explains the feelings I was having. That sure is interesting. 

Oddest Relationship

Tina Turken and Prada have been best friends for a while. Now that Louie is here, she is still a part of the crew. It is the sweetest relationship, but it is the oddest little relationship. Those three are inseparable, but only in the evenings and early mornings. Tina still goes out with the other chickens during the day. I do find it entertaining to watch the three of them together. I could watch them all the time. I just wonder what they are thinking. I feel like Ronnie and I should get a YouTube channel just for them. It’s hilarious. 

Farrier

Ronnie found a new farrier. The guy came out to work on Noma and Pete. They were in desperate need of some hoof attention. This guy had so much patience with both of those donkeys. He did not even want to drug the donkeys. He wanted to work with them to learn that he was not hurting them, he was helping them. Those two have not had good luck with humans and getting their feet done is like torture to them. This guy did help them. Pete fought him good, too, so he is still walking around a little sore, but Noma has been up more and doing better. That is a win for us. 

Rooster Wars Vocally

The roosters cannot be in the same area. The Turken rooster and Craig will have vocal wars. One will crow and then the other will crow. This will go on for a really long time. Long enough I end up blocking it out and that is one of my favorite sounds. It is funny when it starts. The Turken rooster is so much bigger than Craig, so the Turken rooster is going to have to stay in the coop. I am working on a way to make the coop larger for them.