Babies, babies, babies.......

With that lead in you would think I was going to tell you about babies, well I am, but not yet. First lets talk sheep. As you know, (if you've been reading)the sheep were in need of shearing. Well they got their fabulous hair cuts today and they look great. Very different for sure. I did not have the two lambs sheared, but the 3 ewes and Apollo are all sporting new doos. Once the girls were all back together, there was much head butting and getting to know one another again. the ewes look almost like 2 tone sheep. I don't think the fiber will be any good this time around, due to the matting from before, but we shall see what it comes back as.

Mom is that you?

Everybody squeeze together, share the warmth.

Do my horns look bigger?
So, lets talk about babies. Isabella our Egyptian Fayoumis aka bitch chicken, pms chicken etc etc, has been broody again. The last time she was sitting on approximately 30 eggs, from various chickens. Nothing came of that large clutch. She went broody again, but this time she picked a more secluded safe spot to sit on her own eggs. Well today, when Mom was walking past the chicken house, she heard frantic peeping, she finally located a lone chick under the chicken house. After she rescued it, we went to see Isabella.
Sure enough, she was sitting on a bunch of little fuzzy babies. We reintroduced the escapee and it seems to be going well. Concerned about more escapees, we had to move the brood into a safe box. Isabella did not approve, but we finally got everyone set. Enjoy the pictures.


Some look like Dusty, some like Beetle, either way they will be interesting chicks.

New Barn Kitties

Yesterday we took home 2 tiny barn kitties. Bryan and Sarah went to the bookstore in town, and they had a box of kittens that had been found in a box. They came to tell me at the Farmer's Market. When we got there after market, only 2 where left a boy and girl, black and white almost identical. Of course we took them, I had originally been looking for girls.

Well it turns out, we have 2 boys, why does this keep happening? Anyhow, they are the tiniest things, we figure about 4-5 weeks old.


They settled into the barn quickly and showed no fear when it came to Terra and Luna either. Thankfully the girls don't seem at all interested in hurting the kittens, just like to watch them.

So Spot and Slinky are warming up to us as well as the dogs and sheep.
Yes in this picture the kitten and sheep are touching noses.
Terra and Luna are growing like crazy, though Luna appears to be the better guardian dog, she has no problem staying with the sheep or goats, while Terra seems to find any way to escape the pens. Sometimes she spends her entire day in the barn, electric fences don't seem to slow her down.
I am a bit worried about the pups, they are definitely submissive to the goats, but Flo the goat and the new ram have been butting the girls and they immediately drop to a submissive posture, but both of them will keep butting. Flo seems to take delight in actually going after the dogs, while Apollo usually does it if the dogs are in front of the barn door, which of course means in front of the food.
I still have not found anyone to shear the new sheep, I think I must see what I can do on my own, the fiber isn't worth saving this year so I only have to worry about the sheep and not the fiber. I am also not sure what to do with Apollo, I don't completely trust him and his horns.
Bryan has almost completed the concrete in the barn. Our barn was an old milking barn complete with drain troughs. This made walking and working in the barn difficult sometimes. One of our stone walls had separated at some point, but what concerned us was that some critter was digging in it and pulling out the dirt. By filling in the troughs with cement, it braces the walls a bit.
I spent a lot of time taking pictures of the kittens, so I decided to take some of the goats as well. Our weather has been very nice the last couple of days, cool and clear. This view just reminds me how lucky I am to live here.