Not Normal

We are not a normal "farm". Any one who knows us is, at this moment, emphatically nodding in agreement!

I now have photographic evidence! Hannah went in the goat barn yesterday to check on the new babies. She took pictures (a little blurry and grainy because she used her ipod) of what she found in a corner of the goat stall:

Yes. That is a cat (Irene to be specific) setting on chicken eggs.

Busy Times

We've had a busy couple of days! Some good things, some not so good things.

1. All of the turkey eggs have hatched for a total of 14 babies. We'll see how many live long enough to weigh enough to be butchered! The last surviving turkey of the first batch, was set free in the woods. It had a bad leg and the girls opted to let it loose and let it be a link in the food chain. Rachel is holding out hope that we'll see a full grown, limping, turkey come fall.

2. We had Minnie, our 17+ year old dog put down. It wasn't an easy decision, but we knew it was for the best. The last time the vet came out, she confirmed that Minnie's heart wasn't in good shape and neither were her lungs. She was struggling in the warm weather, and we aren't even into the really hot days yet.

3. We also had one of our cats put down. This cat was given to us because it had kind of "snapped" at it's former home, when a new puppy came to live there. Well, it had what appeared to be a nervous breakdown over the last few weeks. It decided that it hated every other cat that lived here and would stalk and attack them at all hours. This cat also started to become aggressive towards the chickens. (She was up to date on all her shots so it wasn't something like that) The vet took one look at her behavior and suggested that we do what was best for all the animals. So we had her put down the same day as Minnie.

4. We have found a home for Honey. She'll be going to Sam's cousin's farm on Saturday. She'll live on 20 acres of pasture and woods with goats, and four young children to ride her.

5. Bob Scalopini has his date with destiny on July 11th. While I wish we could feed him a bit longer, with all the milking goats going to the National ADGA show at the end of the month, there will be no milk to feed him. Our next calf we won't have that issue.

6. Hannah had her back evaluated for hyperlordosis. While she is a bit "swaybacked" the orthopedist felt it wasn't significant enough to warrant any further care.

7. Sam installed electric fencing along the outside bottom of the back pasture to discourage the coyotes. We've also now given Turk, the livestock guard dog, full run of the pastures. So far, no more loss of chickens at 4AM.

8. Abby completed her first goat camp week at the New London County 4-H camp. Tomorrow she leaves to teach the same thing at the Windham County 4-H camp. Instead of paying her, they are letting her stay at the camp as a Teen Leader for the week, for free! New London 4-H caught wind of this and, not to be outdone, offered Abby a free week of camp as well! She'll be attending that camp the day we get finished with the Windham County 4-H Fair.

Summer is starting to ramp up in activity, not the least of which is the National ADGA show at the end of July!

Two New Friends

Spook, our cat, is getting on in years. At the age of 16, he has started to show a significant slow-down. Having a barn and animals, means having mice. Spook is no longer, shall we say, enthusiastic, about catching the mice. We put the word out that we were looking for some barn cats.

Now you would think there would be barn cats available everywhere. You would be wrong. The humane society has lots of cats available, but they won't let you have one if you aren't going to keep it indoors. Other pet places want you to pay $75 adoption fees for animals that will still need to be "fixed" and many of those places also won't adopt out to barns either.

While at the Ledyard fair, one of the sheep people had a sign up advertising kittens. We got to talking and these kittens are barn kittens, 7 weeks old and eating solid food. We agreed to take two males. Sam brought them home after work at Tractor Supply. He had already named one "Herbie" and Rachel and Samantha named the other one "Shadow".

Of course, not an hour after we brought these kittens home, a friend put me in contact with a woman who is fostering 2 cats; one male, one female. They are 5 months old, have all their shots, and are already fixed. They are standoff-ish and so have been deemed "un-adoptable". They come for food and will put up with the occasional pat, but are not cuddly. This organization has decided to bend the rules and let us adopt the kittens as otherwise they would have to be put down. So next week, those two will come to live with us also.

I think we have enough barn cats now.