Cinderella and Prada

I am not sure Cinderella and Prada may or may not have an issue. Cinderella is turning into a bully. She is trying to get Prada off the hay and the feed. She is not trying to mess with Tinkerbelle, so that is good. I thought Prada was going to be the problem, but it is Cinderella. I am not sure when she went from being scared of everything to bully. I am not really sure what to do about that. I may end up moving Prada if she is pregnant and moving Bill back over to where he was, but we will see what happens. I am separating feed and hay so there are multiple places for them to eat so Cinderella cannot be in multiple places at once. 

Smart Mattie

Well, the gate between the goat pens did not get locked. It is not a huge deal as long as the gate to the backyard is locked. Mattie was in the walkway eating whatever hay was in that walkway. He was able to open the gate. He is smart. I was starting to wonder if he knew how to get out of there. Willow was in his way when he tried to get out the first time, so he just hit her with the gate. The second time, he swung that gate opened and got out of there fast. He has probably done that before. He looked like he had been caught, which he had. I had to look at him with a little bit of respect because that animals is so smart. Mattie is sure a fantastic donkey and maybe the smartest one here. 

Onyx

One of my nightmares almost came true this morning. I was going out to my car to go to work and I saw a car passing quickly on the road. That car almost hit Onyx. She stepped back quickly and looked shocked, but she did not listen to me on not going across the street anymore. Oh that makes me so crazy with worry. I know we are not suppose to worry, but she is making me worry with being across the street and this morning made it worse. She was home when I got home this evening. 

Oh My Goodness

So, I did something that I am so shocked at myself about. I guess I was feeling overwhelmed, I was tired and still has so much to do. It was getting late, etc. Anyway. I was unloading groceries and Ursula ran out. She does that, no big deal. However, I finished with the groceries and ran inside to change clothes to get the farm animals fed since Ronnie was home late, too. He had just gotten home while I was unloading stuff. I ran outside to help with the animals. I went back inside to cook dinner, which I do not normally do, but I was going to do it on this night, I needed to take the trash out and when I went outside, I saw Ursula on the trailer. I could not believe I had left her outside. Once she saw me, she ran up the sidewalk and ran in the house.  I just could not believe I did that to her. It was not on purpose, but I still felt terrible about it. 

Interesting

I found an interesting thing. These turkens are something else. I noticed when it is hot outside, their skin color changes. It made me a little nervous. I did not want one of them to be sick or something. I mentioned it to Ronnie. He said that happened because they were hot. I mean, it makes sense, but I was sure nervous when I saw it the first time. I went back when it was not as hot out and the color was back to normal. 

Tinkerbelle

Tinkerbelle is sure starting to look old. Her joints look like they are hurting and she is limping around. I know she is eating and she has been wormed, but she is looking skinny. I know she is another one of our old girls. I want them all to live forever and I know that is not possible. Tinkerbelle sure is a sweet heart. She loves people. She even gave me a kiss like Hercules does. I sure do love her. She is a beautiful little goat.  

Is She or Isn’t She

Well, I got to looking at Prada. I am starting to wonder if she is pregnant. She is really starting to look like it and she is hungry all the time. I wonder what I have gotten myself into. Prada is getting pretty big around the middle. I asked Ronnie. He said she did look pregnant. I sent some photos to some people, they said she is looking pregnant, too. This should be fun. I guess time will tell. I have been known to be wrong a time or two. If she is, we will just take care of her and her baby or babies. That is what we do. 

Snowflake

Snowflake is going to be so mad. I am going to have to take those eggs from her. They are not going to hatch and they are starting to stink. She is not looking too good from sitting on them for so long either, so there is that. I guess I will figure out what to do, but it is going to have to happen soon. 

Pete

Pete has been hanging back some. Either that or the other donkeys are just leaving him behind as they keep moving through the pasture. I am looking for a farrier to help him out. I may have found one. I am working on it. Poor guy. It may not be that, he may have just been hot since it is already hot out. Who knows. But, we are working on getting him taken care of. Out here, it is hard to find some of the things you need. 

Watering the Horses

It is hot enough to start spraying the horses down. They seem to love it, except Chief. Chief hates it. Jeb, Takua, and Spots all will fight over who gets sprayed first and the most. It sure is entertaining and I am glad I can cool them down on these hot days. 

Feeding

I got to feed some of the donkeys and the goats out of my hand. I am not sure what it is, but they love the corn. It cracks me up how fast they can get to me to get to the corn I have before I can get to the chicken coop. It does keep me on my toes for sure. I would not have it any other way. 

Banana

I got to see Banana again. I think he is hanging around here more often. He looks so much like Yeller. They have to be from the same litter. He is still not friendly. He is terrified and runs as soon as he sees me coming close to him. I wish he would trust me. Hopefully one day he will. 

Worming

Chief is the hardest to worm. I did manage to get him. I did have to trick him, but I did it. It caused the rest of the horses to freak out and be nervous around me. At least they have all been wormed now. That part is over. They will be mad at me the next few days though. 

Accidents

Some days I seem to be accident prone. In a span of a couple of days, I feel like I have been bound and determined to give myself tetanus. Good thing my shot is up to date. I hit my head on some chicken wire hard enough to bleed. Then I cut my arm on barbed wire. Then I cut my arm on a T-post. What in the world? Who knows really. Hopefully I cut that out. 

Bill

I finally got all the hair off of Bill. I know he is hot right now. He seems like he is still liking being in the pen on his own though, so I am going to leave him that way. If he continues to act like he is super hot, I may have to move him back over there where there is a fan, but I am not sure if he is going to be okay with that or not. There is something about Prada that he is scared of. I wish I knew what that was. For not, I am going to leave it alone. 

Hot

It is certainly hot out. The chickens were making themselves at home in all the water around the property. They were playing in the water and the mud to stay cool. These animals know what to do when they are hot. Their instincts are right every single time. 

Cinderella

I saw Cinderella eating the hair off of Tinkerbelle. Ted used to do that to Bill. It is so weird. I had not seen her ever do that before, but I saw it today. I need to get them another mineral block. That should fix it. It seems like it is from a mineral deficiency, so I will get on that. It is a weird thing to see. 

Alex

Alex allowed me to pet on him and love on him. He does not allow that too often, but today he just stood there for a long time and allowed me to pet him. He is doing much better. I am glad about that. As I was petting on him, I was helping shed his hair. It is already in the upper 90s now, so I know that will be helpful for him. 

Onyx is in Trouble

I caught Onyx over across the street. That terrifies me. Every time they start crossing the road, they disappear or get hit by a car. I started yelling at her to come home. She did come home before I left and it was like she was apologizing. She came over and rolled over and wanted me to pet her belly. I have not seen her across the street again. She needs to stay home. Onyx is going to be in big trouble if she goes back over there. 

The Stray

I had not seen, or smelled Banana in a long time. Ursula ran out of the house and she went over in the bushes. When I went to go get her, I did not see Banana, but I startled him and he ran out and under the storage building. I guess he is still here. I am glad he is doing okay. He needs to stay here. He actually has it made here even if he does not realize it. Later I went out and saw Banana in Yeller's old hiding spot on a tree stump. He was hiding. I was watching him and took some photos of him. Banana looks just like Yeller. He did end up getting startled and he was running off. He did not run very far, just under the storage building. He may never leave the property anymore. I saw him hanging out with Yeller a couple of days later. I hope he stays. He is safe here, as long as he knows where to hide when there is danger. 

Wild Day

I got home late, so did Ronnie. I ran in to change clothes while he started feeding. I heard him yelling. I finished changing clothes and ran out the side door. Ronnie was standing there. All the animals were looking to one particular area, which is where Ronnie was looking. I glanced over and whatever they were all looking at, I did not see it. I looked back at Ronnie and said what is going on. He said, do you not see that, so I looked back over to my right at the water trough the donkeys drink out of and still did not get it, but then did a double take and figured out what they were all looking out. There was a huge bull drinking out of our water trough. Our steers were calling to him. So, he went over to interact with them. It did not take long and the bull started going back toward his home. Ronnie went to the neighbor's house and they figured out who the bull belonged to and the bull did get home. The cows were upset and still calling for him. I guess they had not seen another one of their own so close in a while. It was such a wild day. That bull was huge. 

A Select Few

I have a former resident with whom I text almost daily. Her and I correspond about nothing really. However, the one thing she always wants to know is about chickie (Ollie), kitty (Yeller), big goat (Prada), and other Chickies (turkens). I love how she has her select few favorites she wants to know about. I do try to send her pictures daily of at least one or two of her list of favorites. It is nice to remember that these animals do make a difference, even to the ones who have never seen them. It makes me feel good that this lady texts me daily making sure they are okay. It means they have made some difference to her. That is the goal. 

Wondering Chickens

For a couple of days I have had a couple of chickens out in the pastures. One day they were out with the horses and then they were out with the donkeys and goats. They are not worried about a coyote or any other predator. I guess I should take a lesson from them. Those two were wondering around without a care in the world. I am glad they are going on with their lives. 

Yellow Headed Blackbirds

I had a day where I was feeding and watering on my own. It was such a beautiful day. I was also so excited to see yellow headed blackbirds. There were so many of them. They were everywhere. I stopped so many times just to watch them. That bird is beautiful. They are also loud. I do not think I have ever seen that many of them all together, but on this day, I did. They were interacting with the chickens and and the cows even. I had such a good time watching them. They were so pretty out in the pasture and up in the trees. It was a blessing to see that many at one time and so close up. 

Eggs

Some days, I really have to hunt for the eggs. Other days they are in weird places in plain sight. I get baffled sometimes on where they lay those eggs. I found two eggs just laying on the shelves in the shop. I am not sure who laid them, but there they were. I have to laugh about stuff like that. It makes no sense to me, but I guess it does to them. 

Big Red

This is my last Big Red update. I finally caught her to check her over. She had been running from me so I knew she was better. I caught her to look at her wounds. They are all healed up. Her feathers are growing back in. I did end up dying her feathers with the peroxide and the blue kote, but that will all go away eventually. I am happy she is healed up and she is doing so well. I just knew she was not going to make it, but she did. Big Red is doing well. I would say she is back to normal and going all over the place. Thank goodness. 

Willow

Willow came over and let me love on her. She has not done that in a long time. I was sure happy to be able to pet her and love on her. She is such a sweet little donkey. She is still giving the pigs a hard time. That might not ever stop. It is funny to watch though. Willow wants to get into their feed so bad. The pigs do snap at her when she tries to get the food. it is so funny. If she ever gets bit, it might not be so funny. Hopefully that does not happen. 

Noma

Noma is declining. She is lying down more and is not wanting to do much. She is still eating and drinking and doing all of those things, but she is happy when she is being left alone. It makes me sad. Noma sure does not want to be messed with, so we are leaving her alone. That is what she wants. I try to love her, but every time I try to get close to her, she tries to get up and kick me. I have tried for years to get her to love us back, and she never has. I guess I should admit defeat. I still am not giving up, but it is not looking good for me. 

Muddy Pigs

It is early, but those pigs are already needing mud holes. I am working on giving them the water to make the mud holes and they are doing the rest. They are good at it. Those pigs work fast at it. The pigs sure make me smile. I love watching them. They are smart animals for sure. I wish people could see how smart pigs were. They are so much fun, too. They deserve so much more than we give them. All animals do, in my opinion. The pigs are just the best.