Wheezy

 Oh Wheezy. I really thought Wheezy was a girl. I’m thinking now I was wrong. Wheezy is starting to look like a rooster instead of a hen. I’m still not convinced by it. I saw Wheezy on an egg the other day. I’m not sure who produced the egg. I’m so confused by them all. There are a few that look like hens and Wheezy doesn’t. However, I do think there are a few that look like roosters because of their combs, so I’m just not sure. What do you guys think?? Ronnie thinks wheezy is a hen but I think wheezy is a

Visitor

 The farm had a visitor today. The animals behaved properly and she had a good time. I know these animals love to see different people. I feel like they may get tired of seeing me and Ronnie. Probably not, but who knows. It does warm my heart to see others enjoying these guys and getting their minds off of things that are stressful. It’s amazing to see people’s faces light up and feel the love of an animal. I am grateful they all behaved so well. I’m looking forward to more people visiting and seeing what we are trying to accomplish out here. 

Busy Day

 We have had an extremely busy day today. Ronnie and I have been discussing getting prepared for winter. Winter here comes out of no where and can snow like crazy. Not to mention the apocalyptic ice storm we had earlier this year. We were not prepared. We are not going to be unprepared again. We had our new barn built but we needed to fix the old barn also. Today we got the sheet metal back up on the barn to make sure the 4 donkeys and 3 goats that live on that side. We also have 12 or 13 chickens that roost in there. Last year was brutal since the wind was not blocked because of all the missing sheet metal. That was all fixed today. We also were able to investigate Porkey and his limping. We also let the cows out to graze for a couple hours which they loved. Alex has been having difficulty with diarrhea so he was medicated. We dumped and cleaned all the water troughs today. We mucked pens out. We had a visitor to see all of the animals. That is a normal Saturday though, we take care of these animals and get projects completed. 

Better day

 The last few days have been rough around here just because I care about these animals and want to do my very best for them. Lucky’s eye seems to be better after a squirt of meds in it. I tried again today but he wasn’t having it. Skippy seems better, his comb is not as pale as it has been the last few days so something I am doing is working. Porkey is still having difficulty with his leg. I trimmed some stuff off his hoof to make sure it wasn’t the hoof and not the leg. Looks like it is the leg. His little joint is swollen still but he is eating and drinking. I just hate for him to be by himself. He has never been alone before. I’m grateful the other goats, chickens and donkeys visit him through the fence. I am going to try some vet wrap on his leg tomorrow and see if that will help. I think the rest of the animals are good right now. I’m hoping these 3 get better really soon. 

Another Day

 It’s another one of those days around here. Porkey is still limping, Skippy didn’t come to eat this morning, Waldo started having diarrhea, all the eggs are having to be thrown away for the next 2 weeks since I gave them all wormer, and Bella is still not eating like she usually does. That gets me stressed. The chickens, I’m doing all I can. I have wormed them all and kept Apple Cider Vinegar in their water. I found Skippy this morning after not coming to eat (I may have been late since I slept late) and she was hanging out in the cool. She did eat this evening and looks a little better, but we will see. Ronnie and I wormed all 3 little goats and got them feed sack things to eat out of. Porkey’s leg is not any better but he is by himself so he can rest it. Bella, I wormed the dogs so it may have upset her stomach. It’s days like the last few that I wish they could talk to me and tell me what’s wrong. I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow. Oh, Lucky won’t get close enough to me so I can put stuff in his eye to help him. And the last thing, apparently there have been hawks out, so Suzie Q was trying to keep all the chicks with her since Edith isn’t around hers too much anymore. They make me tired but I love it. 

Rough Day

 What is happening around here?? Things are going crazy and there isn’t even a full moon. Ethel passed away on Thursday and now I have some chickens showing signs of illness. We go out to feed today and one of the smaller goats is injured. Bella won’t eat and is limping. Lucky has an eye injury. Alex doesn’t want to let Jasper eat. What is going on?? I do love doing this with all the animals here, but when one thing goes wrong, a lot goes wrong. I wormed Skippy who looks the worst with liquid wormer. I have the rest of the chickens pellets, they didn’t eat a whole lot of that, but hoping they got enough. I will start adding some stuff to their feed for awhile to see if that fixes the issue. I have also added apple cider vinegar to their water to boost their immune systems. As for Porkey, one of the smaller goats, he is quarantined on his own so the other two don’t beat up on him like I watched them do. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but he has a little bit of a runny nose and will get meds tomorrow. He also has a leg he cannot stand on. Goats are ruthless and if they show signs of weakness, the other goats try to cull the herd. I don’t want that to happen, so I cleaned out the area Ethel was in completely and put him in there with fresh food and water. He was calling to the other goats and they were calling back. Hopefully he just sprained a leg fighting like they do and will be good as new in a few days. I have wormed all the dogs and outside cats, hopefully that’s all that’s going on with Bella and maybe a sticker in her paw. It has been hot lately, too, so she may just not want to eat. Lucky, I have to get close enough to him to put stuff in his eye, he may just have something in it, but it doesn’t look good. As far as Alex and Jasper, Jasper is still eating and Alex hasn’t been too terrible. We will see what happens there. Send help here, I’m going crazy. 

Sad Days

 Well, the last couple days have been hard around here. I know there is so much stuff going on in the world today that makes things hard and I know this is nothing compared to that. Around here, I do everything I can to make sure these animals have all they need. A couple of weeks ago I separated Ethel, an injured chicken into the coop to be by herself. I knew she wasn’t well and that she wouldn’t be here much longer. I was hoping she would get better and really she seemed to be doing well, until yesterday. Yesterday when I went in to give her food and fresh water, she was unable to get up at all. I am not sure what happened between the days because on Tuesday she was up moving around. Not Wednesday. She couldn’t move around. I picked her up and loved on her but I knew she was close. I didn’t expect her to make it through the night. She looked like she was turning really pale and she just couldn’t move around. This morning, Ronnie thought she was gone but when I went to check, she was still with us, though it wasn’t looking good. I knew she probably wouldn’t be here when I got home from work. At noon today I had an overwhelming urge to go home and check on her, but didn’t really have time to do that. I knew she was probably gone. When I got home, she had passed away. I am incredibly sad about Ethel’s death. My heart is broken. I also recognize she was suffering and it was time for her to go. That does not make it easier on me. Ronnie buried her for me this evening. I did everything I could and I think she knew that but tonight my heart is broken for Ethel. She was ready, I wasn’t.