Sunday

Busy day!

Finally some sun again! So it made a good day for the farm!

Boss had Linnea and Bonnie in mind-neither one suitable for Willow, so I headed over to the wether pen and picked out Jackson, Lincoln, and Jasper as possibles for her. I brought Jackson right over, and Willow just loves him. He is a giant, and the joke at the farm is that he was raised on poptarts-he came back to the farm from another household. He was raised with rowdy kids (poptarts) and is very gentle for Willow.

I took on Linnea, very cautiously. She nearly broke my kneecap last year, so today I kept my distance, but actually, she was very good. She only tried to get me once. I got two big bags of fiber off her, and Willow combed a ton off Jackson, too. Then I brought the other two wethers over, but Willow said Lincoln wasn't releasing, and she didn't want to deal with Jasper's long guard hair, so she chose to hang with the new babies.

That's right, the babies have started arriving at the farm! Last week Coretta dropped a set of twins, both does, and Bonnie had a single buck. Then Dancer had twins, one of each, two days later.

I released Lincoln and cleaned Jasper up, and then moved on to Bonnie. I opened the pen after I chained Bonnie. She wasn't releasing much fiber, and then her buckling darted out of the stall and she started flipping out, so I released her. Dancer's babies were napping, and since she was the only goat not out in the field, I collared her and cleaned her up. She kept trying to get me, so I had to hold a horn in one hand and comb with the other.

In the meantime, Coretta and Bonnie had moved out of the barn, and Willow was hanging with them and the three kids. Bonnie has her hooves full with that little buck!!! He was romping with the little doelings, and Bonnie was having a fit!!! He would run and she would go after him with buggy eyes. Then Corretta's black kid was trying to nurse and Bonnie butted her because she thought it was her little black buck!

Finally we went to Prescott and I combed Duke. He was being very jumpy-finally I had one of the weekend boys hold him, and Boss worked on his neck while I wailed away with the slicker.

I found some pussywillows in full bloom as we were leaving, and they joined the vase of forced forsythia on the kitchen table when we finally arrived home.

I have been looking for at least one more goose for our lonesome gander. I found a couple of female pilgrim geese down in New York, but the price and the shipping is steep. We could get eight goslings for a better price from Metzer. Hmmmm-I don't really want a big flock of geese, so Lucifer might have to content himself with the chickens for company for awhile....

Monday

Last night was bitter cold. The single paned window behind my bed was solid frost on the inside this am, so I knew it was cold. A look at the thermometer at 7:30 am when taking Peko out for his business showed 9F, and the wind was howling out of the east, with gusts to 40mph.

I let Loosey the goose out as usual, and he raced out, flapped his wings three or four times, and collapsed on the snow, shivering. Wow.

I fixed up some lukewarm water for him, and set it on a pile of hay. He was so happy! Tonight I picked up a bale of coarse hay from the local everything store, and spread it out extra thick in all the houses, giving Loosey and extra thick layer. Then I closed up his house as best I could, and did the same for the main chicken flock.

The rooster, Bloody Baron, one of two which roosts in the trees, looked especially cold today as well. The Firebird noticed him in Loosey's house this afternoon, shivering. I figured it was a good time to catch him and lock him in with the main flock. They hang out during the day, so I figured he would be ok there.

You should have heard that rooster scream when I finally cornered him. You would have thought he was heading for the chopping block. He did finally settle down in the house with the rest, so we will keep them all shut in for a few days until he figures out he can sleep there at night.

One less rooster crowing outside my window!

I missed the chance to grab Duke of Tails. I am going to secure the lower building and try and catch him and his two hens and get them in there. The hens are sleeping under one of the goat houses, so they should be warm enough tonight. I just ran out of daylight. I need to fix the door where the raccoon or fox tore a board off to kill my nesting hen this summer. Once I get that fixed, the remainder of the outdoor chickens can go in there.

If Lou looks cold again tomorrow, I am going to try and rig a house within the larger chicken house for him. I am not sure what the roosters might do if I stick the goose in there loose. The goose rules the roosters outside, but they could gang up and corner him in the house.

Warmer weather on the way for Wednesday-near 50, then back to cold weather again. A temperature roller coaster, according to the local weatherman. Oh fun.