Hummingbird

I was at the sink and I saw a hummingbird trying to get some nectar out of the feeder, which I had not put anything in yet. I stopped what I was doing right then to put some nectar in that hummingbird feeder. I have not seen another one yet, but I am sure I will at some point. I do like to see those little things. This is an old picture and it did have nectar in it when this picture was taken. 

Poor Bill

Bill has been hiding, not eating or drinking much since Prada got here. I cannot take it. I do not want him to be upset and I do not want him to be so scared of her. I wish I knew why he was so scared of her. He has been that way since the minute she got here. She did head butt him right through the gate which was rude, but apparently she is a bully and I did not know that about her. Ronnie and I moved Bill to allow him to be able to eat and drink when he wanted. We will see how it goes. He was not really happy about that. Cinderella was hollering at him missing him already, but she tortures him mercilessly. If Bill stays sad over there, I guess we can try it again in that pen, but who knows what is going to happen. I know Bill is missing Ted right about now. I know I am. 

Yellow headed Blackbirds

I got to see some yellow headed blackbirds. I had only seen the one up until now, so I was very happy to see a bunch of them up in the tree. They are so beautiful. I wish they were around more, but they aren’t so I will continue to watch for them during the spring and stay hopeful that they will camp out here some. I know they had a nest of eggs last year. I am guessing they will again this year. 

Worming the Pigs

Worming the pigs is one of my favorite things to do. They love it. Of course, they do not realize what I am doing, but they are so entertaining. They will fight over the concoction I make to feed them on a spoon and they all eat it without any difficulty. I love that they are easy to medicate and I can spoil them some. They will jump for the food, fight over it, and eat it off a spoon. If that is not farm entertainment, I am not sure what is. 

Donkeys

The Pasture donkeys have been coming over to say hi lately. I love to be able to pet on them. They are such sweet little things. Each of them are so much fun. Pete is still standoffish, but I do not think that is going to change any time soon. He is so much better than he used to be. The donkeys are loved around here, but every animal on this property is loved and they all know it. 

Momma May

As you know, May broke her leg last year. Well, Mattie stepped on her and her leg was broken. She has been close to the shop since then. Well, I found her back in the pen where the chickens roost. It has been a long time since I have seen that. It made me happy to see her in there. I doubt she will stay in there, because she is unable to roost like she used to be, but she is making the rounds again. May is our oldest chicken here. I am glad she is doing well. 

Prada

Well, Prada is here. She seems like she is going to fit in with Tinkerbelle and Cinderella just fine. Bill, however, that may not work. He is terrified of her for some reason. The entire farm has been curious about Prada, except for Bill. She is a friendly little thing. She was once attacked by dogs, so her ears are shredded, but other than that she looks to be in good health. She is pretty. We will see what happens. I know new adjustments are hard sometimes. I do not want Bill to be miserable. 

Big Red Again

Well, I may be in shock, but Big Red is doing better. Her wound is starting to fill in and her feathers are growing back. She is not hiding as much. The other chickens are hanging out with her and not bullying her. I know prayers work and this one worked fast. Big Red looks like she is going to make it. She never stopped eating, but she does seem to be eating more. I am happy with her progress. I am still cleaning out her wound twice daily and it looks better. She seems to be feeling better. I am so grateful for that. 

Alex

If you remember a while back, I thought Alex was dying, but the vet said he was fat which was why he did not want to get up and move around. Well, we changed his feed and he is doing so much better. He has been up and around more lately which shows he is doing better. 

The Cats

I caught all the cats in the shop together again and getting along. That really does not happen often, so when it does, I am happy to see it. I sure do love all those cats. 

Yeller and the Turkens

Yeller has been seen several times over by the Turken’s coop. Yeller seems to like them. I think that is sweet. I have seen him over there in the same spot. He just hangs out over there with them. I am not sure if he is watching over them or trying to interact with them or what his thought process is, but it is sweet. I love it. 

Big Red Update

GRAPHIC WARNING

Big Red’s wound is getting worse. The smell is terrible and I found maggots in the wound. I will be cleaning the wound out twice a day instead of once a day from now on. I was able to flush out all of that stuff. Big Red is limping around and she is acting like she is feeling bad. I am wondering if she is going to make it now. The other chickens are leaving her alone more than I thought they would. They do get a peck in on her a time a two. I am keeping her in the shop as much as I can. Poor girl. I am faced with putting her down or continuing to try to save her. So, I am praying she will be okay and we will continue to try, but if she gets worse, I will not let her suffer. Makes me sad. I am just not sure she is going to make it. 

Request

Several weeks ago a friend of mine asked me about taking a goat from her. I talked to Ronnie and he said we would take the goat if she asked again. Neither of us really want to take anymore animals, but in this case, Tinkerbelle is getting old and Bill is questionable at the moment, so I do not want Cinderella to end up alone, so that would be why we would take another goat. Well, she asked again after 2 months, so I told her we would take the goat. Let’s see how this goes. The goat’s name is Prada. She will be here soon. 

Oh Hercules

Oh Hercules. He is such a good boy. He still has an injured leg and I have no idea what happened to him. I did get close to him and was looking him over. He decided my effort needed some love. I swear, sometimes I think that goat thinks he is a dog. He gave me a big lick on the side of the face. Good thing he is cute. I am hoping maybe he just got into it with a donkey or something and he is just sore. Surely he will be fine. Hercules is also becoming an old man, too. I guess time will tell. 

Athena

Athena may be softening a little bit, or maybe it is a fluke thing. She was laying up on a hay bale. I walked over to pet her and she actually did not move. She always runs when I get close, but this time she did not do that. She let me pet her. I did not push my luck. I only petted her for a minute, but that is not a normal thing. Hopefully she is softening. She has never been a friendly cat. 

Ollie

Ollie is a different chicken. She likes tight places. She has found herself in all kinds of tight areas, some she needs help to get out of. Ollie has found a place in the hay which gives her a tight enclosed feel where she can lay her eggs. She seems to need that. I am surprised I saw her, but I did. 

Big Red

As I was letting the chickens out of the coop, I noticed Big Red had a wound on her back. It looked pretty bad. I am guessing it is from the coyote. I was not sure which chicken he got, but I am now thinking it was her. I picked her up and doctored her wounds and put her in a box in the shop which she can get in and out of and went to work. I will be watching her. That wound looks pretty bad. I know chickens are awful to each other, too. When one has an issue, they bully until they kill them. I will have to really watch this situation. 

Saverine

Saverine seems to be doing fine in the pen. The thing is, it is already hot outside and she is not shedding like she normally would have. I am guessing it is because she is in the pen and unable to scratch on things. I have been working on brushing her out. I did not realize how much hair horses actually had in the winter verse the summer. It is going to take a bit for me to get it all off of her. She has been cooperative about it which is a good thing. I think she is so glad to be away from Jeb she would do anything I asked her to do. She seems happy and I hope to keep her that way. 

Oreo

I caught Oreo in the window. He was watching the bird who have made a nest in the carport. Both of our inside cats like to watch those bird while sitting in the window. I am sure it passes the time for them. They are cute sitting there looking at them. 

Looney Tunes

Let’s just say, this is one for the books, I do not even know where to start. My husband was so good and decided to stay up all night and hunt for the coyote without seeing him. I got up to go out and feed. It was around 9am, I slept in. As I was out feeding, I had let the chickens out of the coop, I was over by the hay to feed the goats when all of a sudden that coyote walked right past me to grab a chicken. Literally 10 feet from me. I panicked, of course. I did not have a gun on me. I do not carry a gun, I guess I will have to start, but I sure do not want to do that. Anyway, on

with the story. I have to pass the coyote to get back to the house and I did not waste anytime doing it. I ran in the house screaming for Ronnie which woke him up. He ran out with a gun as that coyote had one of my chickens and was running off. Ronnie took a couple shots off at him and he dropped the chicken and ran off. Well, you would think the story would end there. Nope. Ronnie left to go run some errands, by this time it’s like 10:30 in the morning. I was making coffee. I happened to look outside and see that coyote again in the same spot going after another chicken. I run into the room and grab the only thing I could find which was a 9mm. I run outside in the shop and grab the 4/10 shot gun. By the time I have all that done, that coyote is in the pasture with the cows and donkeys. Those guys were just watching, along with the goats and the sheep. He finally gets into a corner and I take a shot. I miss. I am running around the pasture desperate to not let that coyote get to my chickens. I call Ronnie and tell him to get home in a hurry. He had just got to town, so had not gotten anything done he wanted to get done. Well, I am chasing a coyote. I assure you, I did not sign up for that. Well, I know so little about shot guns, I did not realize that 4/10 needed to be reloaded after the shot I took. That coyote had me in his sights. He just stood there looking at me. I took aim and fired and of course nothing happened. I had to get through a gate quickly, but that coyote never tried to come toward me, but he is not scared of me. He ran back and ended up with the horses and the horses ran him off. I saw him running across the road again. We did not see him again that day. I did see some wild turkeys eating the chicken feed and I saw a road runner running around. It was quite the stressful day. Guess Ronnie will be hunting the coyote tomorrow. We also had another issue with a hen and an egg stuck on her behind which I had to take care of and we found a new nest of eggs. I think that is enough for one day. 

Coyote

So, Ronnie had to take me to the dr in Abilene. It was a cloudy looking day, but nothing really out of the ordinary. As we got home, a coyote ran out from by the storage building and across the road. It was 11:30 AM. That was crazy. All the animals were on alert. I went in and went to sleep because I was not feeling too well after being at the dr. when I got up, I went out to check the chickens. I had checked them before and had not seen anything a miss but this time, I noticed one of my chickens was injured. She was breathing funny and she could not walk. I held her and loved on her. She ended up seizing and dying in my arms. I was heartbroken. I know that coyote will be back and that makes me terrified for my chickens.