Egg saga

 Edith and Suzie Q have been sitting on eggs. I went to check on them this week to see if they were still doing that. I got a surprise. The eggs were gone. All of them but one. I didn’t see the chickens either. I didn’t want to get too close because in my head I was thinking, I do not want to tangle with whatever ate or stole all of those eggs. I walked closer and I did find Edith but the grass was high and I could not see her eyes. To be honest, she did not look to be alive. I was concerned. I also knew, if she was alive and I put my hand near her, she would peck me. So, I found a wooded stake we had for building fence and took it over there. I didn’t even have to touch her, she pecked the stake so I knew she was fine. Obviously I left her alone after that. As I continued to look, I noticed eggs under her, so I guess the chickens decided to move their eggs. I’m not sure how many are left, but those girls are still sitting on those eggs. I’m curious to see what happens. I wish I knew how long they have been sitting on them. Only time will tell. 

Mean Dogs

 A few months ago, Ronnie saw some dogs out in our pasture that were not ours. They looked to be ‘mean dogs’. I’m not of the mindset that the type of breed, which I’m not sure what they were, had the look that they were mean. It was the behavior. They had big shock collars on and they were not where they were supposed to be. We both saw them again not long after that in the pasture behind ours. They a few weeks ago, the neighbor came by to see if they were ours. The dogs were loose again. It’s not good when you have dogs out in the country that look like they could take down a horse. I saw them out again on my way to work one morning and called to let the neighbor know. The dogs looked like they were watching their sheep. A little scary. Then I get the call a couple days later that the dogs did in fact get in the pasture and killed some sheep. The sheriff was called. It makes me sad that people can mistreat an animal to the point they will kill for food or they train them to kill other things. I felt bad for the owner of the sheep as well. The dogs had killed a mom who had given birth 2 hours before, so they lost the babies as well. It was really a sad thing. I do realize this does happen but it just makes me sad. I’m not sure what happened from that point and I do not know who the dogs belonged to but it is just sad all the way around. I will say, I checked on every one of my animals, which I do everyday, but looked extra hard for every chicken to make sure they were all around. I also prayed extra hard for protection around the animals while this has been going on. 

Laying Down

 For a few days, Jeb had been acting strange. He would lay down for long periods at a time and then not be able to get up. Ronnie would go out with the lead rope to get him up. We had noticed this and was not sure what was causing it. We also finally noticed he was getting into some yellow flowers. Well, I have been doing some looking into these flowers. They are evil. These are the ones with thorns and they are poisonous. We have bought some stuff to get rid of these nasty flowers that have been sprouting up everywhere. I had no idea how awful these flowers are. Now that I do, they will be gotten rid of as fast as it can be done. Ronnie and I worked hard today getting rid of them, but there are more so I’m sure we will be doing more tomorrow. Jeb learned his lesson and is staying away from the yellow flowers now, but I do not want to chance it. Especially with so many more animals around here. 

I thought Jeb had learned his lesson, turns out he didn’t and was down again this morning, but Ronnie is getting rid of those flowers now. 

Feeding Wars

 Jelly just cannot win. He has been traumatized after the dog incident. He is eating very little. I know he is scared and I just want him to be okay. I know all of this is new for him. I brought out some tuna and figured out possibly why he isn’t eating. Peanut Butter is trying to eat it all and Jelly is letting him. I will be working on this. I have been making sure Jelly is getting some food. He is so skinny. I think he has been traumatized too much to go outside again but I don’t want that for him. Peanut Butter actually started to go out the door and saw a chicken run by and ran back into the shop. Earl is friendly with them but apparently has decided to sleep on my car. Not sure I like that arrangement. I’m still working on Peanut Butter and Jelly. It’s only been a little over a week and it takes time. They will both come to me now. Peanut Butter is even going up to Ronnie now. He is settling in well. Jelly will get there. I just know it. 

Injured chicken again

 I am going to retract what I said about the injured chicken. I thought I had seen her roosting with the rest of the chickens and I think she was but she decided to go back to the goat pen. I actually think this chicken, who I am calling Ethel at the moment, has kicked Wheezy out of that pen. Ethel is looking like she is healing, but she is still limping and is missing feathers. She looks okay other than that. We have been feeding her in there. Bless her little heart. I think she is going to be fine but she needs time to heal. I’m hoping she gets better soon. I really hate when one of them is sick or injured. 

Double Trouble

 If you haven’t seen my post about the missing eggs, here is another one. As I’m sure you have seen I thought the chickens had stopped laying eggs because of the weather or they had hidden them so well I couldn’t find them. It’s definitely that they hid them. I had not been able to find them and then I started missing chickens, 2 of them, Edith and Suzie Q. Ronnie found Suzie Q and Edith a few days ago. Now, Suzie Q is laying on about 2 dozen eggs. Apparently, when she isn’t laying on them, Edith is. They are the double trouble. I just keep thinking with the week I had, I will leave all of them alone because I might lose that battle. I’ve had enough of that this week. I’m also thinking, what the heck am I going to do with 2 more dozen chickens?? I already have 2 dozen chicken roaming the property. That would be crazy. I guess we will see what happens. They have never sat on their eggs like this before so I am assuming they are hatching them out. This should be interesting. 

Jelly

 It’s been a week and a day with a rough encounter and lots of hiding for Jelly. He has not really want to interact and has stayed hidden most of the time. I walked out to the shop a few minutes ago and was saying hello to Peanut Butter who always runs out to greet me. The next thing I know, Jelly is running out of hiding toward me to get petted on. That made my day right there. He didn’t leave my side while I was out there. I knew he just needed time to adjust. I’m so happy he now knows I’m not out to hurt him and he has a home here.