Yikes...it's been a while

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, it seems as if the days are just flying by.  As far as the animal front its been a rough one.  We have lost 9 out of the 10 Russian Orloffs.  I'm not exactly sure what went wrong but they didn't seem like a very hardy group.  We added 3 muscovy hens that died 3 days after I bought them.  I have a feeling they were sick before I even got them.  That is why you should always quarantine new additions to your flock.  Capone and Turbo are fat and happy.  Capone still thinks he is a dog and loves to play and will even try to jump up on me like Bailee does.  We adopted a mallard name Rene, apparently he is a french duck haha.  His family decided since he was the only one that hadn't died out of their flock they would just rehome him.  So he went from being in a garage and having cooked rice for dinner every night to being a barn with crumble.  Poor Rene.  The ducks love the snow so much it really is a amusing to watch them just walk out in there line and just sit down.  We still are in an egg drought since its cold.

The pigs were sent into the butcher so we have been enjoying them which I can't say I'm sad about considering all the damage they caused to my flock.  I had no idea when we got them that they would be the most dangerous predator to the flock.

I plan on trying to hatch out a few more ducks and chickens in the Spring.  I think I'm going to look at my "Chicken Bucket List" and see which ones would be good and could handle the weather.  I think more muscovies and Cayugas for the ducks.  The chickens, well I think I might try to get some more Buff Orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Brahmas, Faverolles, Javas, Sussex, Wyandotte, Ancona, and Andalusion.  Obviously I won't try to get all of them.  They are usually purchased by the dozen so that would be crazy to by a dozen of all of those.

On a very sad note, we had to put Lilly down on 11/23/13.  She had sodium poisoning that was affecting her brain.  She escaped the week before and came back but the vet said she thought it would be best if we put her down.  The cause is unknown but there a few things that could have caused it such as a salt block that was left out for the deer or some sort of disease.  We buried her overlooking the field where I deer hunt, it is also the woods where she treed her first coon.  My precious Lilly will be very missed.

In other news I'm officially Aunt Tiffy :) My beautiful niece was born 11/23/13.  Her name is Kaelyn Nicole and she is one of the beautiful things I have ever seen.

:(

So for those of you who didn't know, pigs are omnivores. They love the fresh weeds we throw in with them, the fruits and veggies and of course their grain. However, while we were on vacation they managed to break into the duck, chicken and goat pen. The first night Chris's brother called and said hey they got two chickens, that was Thursday night. Well we arrived home on Friday and the pigs decided to eat more. This time they managed to get at least 5 ducks and multiple chickens. All of our older hens were able to get away as they can fly higher up to roost and get away then the little ones can. So needless to say on the 7th I'm buying myself some belated birthday presents at the swap meet. My Cayuga and my Cayuga/muscovy mix managed to survive which made me very happy. The mix does have a spit missing from his back but seems to be just fine. 

We went to Gander mountain yesterday and I was able to get some arrows and a release for my bow. So I was able to sight it in and hopefully I can get a deer this year :)

Long time no blog

Since it has been a while since I have updated I thought now would be a good time.  When we went and pick up Capone there was another little goat that was born around the time we went up there.  I would say he was about a week old when we picked Capone up.  Needless to say I fell in love with him and gave the guy a $20 deposit.  Well this Friday afternoon I went and picked up the new goat.  He was just banded and tagged that day so he was a little grouchy.  His name is Turbo and he is considered Chris's goat.

We celebrated Chris's birthday a little early this year.  His birthday is on the 15th and we celebrated it on Sunday.  Both of our families came over and a couple of friends.  It was fun but a little too chilly to go swimming but the boys went anyway.  We just got the pool a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately we won't be able to enjoy too much of it this season because we bought it so late.  I can't wait until next year when we open it up and have it for the whole summer.

The little chicks and ducks are starting to get so big its crazy.  They sometimes aren't sure of my motives for hanging out with them but Buffy(the Buff Orpington) seems to be ok with hanging out with them.  Nothing else really new to tell.  I'll make sure to take new pictures of the little ones and the pigs too.  The pigs are getting really big and so that means they are almost time to eat :)

On August 5th miss Abigail was born.  She will be our new moo when she is weaned and ready to come to our house in a couple of months.  Jenny is being a good mommy now.  She did have a little bit of trouble at the beginning since its only her second calf and the first one she completely rejected and she had to be bottle fed.   I'm really glad that I don't need to get up earlier and bottle feed Abigail, although I would have probably enjoyed it a little bit.

Been a while....

So it has been a little while since I last posted.  We have been really busy trying to have as much summer fun as possible.  I had to take Bailee to the vet yesterday which is never a fun thing.  Bailee is a submissive peer when it comes to the vet.  I don't know if he makes her nervous or what but I told the vet tech to get the paper towel ready lol. She is absolutely fine and and excited in the waiting room and even when we are in the actual room just with the vet tech.  However, when he comes in it's just a 180.  For the first time though he actually sat on the floor and let her come to him.  He usually just forces her to come near him and that just makes her pee more.  So I was genuinely surprised when he gave her a chance to warm up to him.  She still peed but not as much.  So what Chris and I thought were bug bites were actually just allergies.  Thank goodness, its something simple that she can get on meds for and relieve the itching and redness.

On Friday I am picking up 5 Muscovy ducks at 1:00.  I'm so excited to have them even though they are actually quite ugly and gross looking lol.   I am about ready to just let the little ones go in the big pen.  The ducks make a mess of everything.  They want to play in the water so they get the water dirty then they are all wet and make all the paper wet so literally I'll put new paper down and 10 minutes later its gross again.  Crazy ducks are making me crazy.  They are still too little to be put outside though.  They could probably fit through the fencing right now so I'd have to put up chicken wire all the way around the outside and inside, plus I think Capone could easily hurt them if he is not watching where he is going, and last the other hens would try to establish the pecking order and the little ones would not be able to take that kind of abuse quite yet.

We spent the 4th relaxing.  I took Lexie and Levi to the groomer, my cousin dropped of the chickens, then we went to his parents house for dinner and fireworks.  We could see quite a few different towns' fireworks. I took Friday off and we went to dinner and the drive in movie. Then on Saturday we went up to our friends cabin and spent the day on the lake.  We went tubing, and swam a little then we went fishing later that night.  I got a little red but for the most part it has just turned into a nice tan.

We are going to try and go camping Saturday.  Chris bought a truck tent that just fits on the bed of his truck.  If the weather cooperates and the tent gets here we will take Bailee and go for the night.

Here are all the little guys together

There is a drive in movie theater that opened close to us

My new girls.  My cousin had some things change in her life and needed to find home for these four lovely ladies.  They  want to get out and free range so bad so I think we are going to try that this Sunday for a little while.  Supervised free range with all 6 girls should be fun.  They will enjoy some time away from Capone. 

This is what the sky looked like on the way home from the vet yesterday.

Fun Weekend

One of the last little ducks to hatch. This was right after he hatched.  I didn't think he was going to make it so I just planned on holding him until he passed away.  But I needed to go to bed so I put him in the incubator for the night.

To my surprise I woke up to him looking like this the next morning.  He is doing very well and is playing around just like the other ducks and chickens. 

  

Just a sweet looking moth I seen at the gas station Friday Morning.

The storm was headed our way.  Luckily it didn't get too bad.

This is Capone.  He is about 7 weeks old and he is in the chicken pen to help keep other animals away.  We picked him up from a guy in Carson City on Saturday morning.  He is banded so as soon as they fall off he will be a wether instead of a buck.

Petunia is getting really big.

However, Porky seems to be growing faster.

Theodore

:)

Look at his nice wing feathers coming in

Haha! My little brother at his job.

Target practice.  Not too bad!

They are getting so big!

This is one of ours that hatched from Blackie and Phoenix.  Phoenix must have had a dormant gene for feathered feet and legs.  I hope they stay, I honestly don't see why they wouldn't. 

Pretty wing feathers!

Oh jeeze, I still love that crazy kid

Freshly hatched little duck

Our soon to be goat.  We pick him up Saturday.

Freshly hatched duck all dry

Another little chick just being all cute