Quail_Antwerp: Words from the Barnyard...

[keljonma]

I clipped a wing on my BO roo, Pocket, today. That Big Ol' Roo just refuses to stay in his own run! He keeps hopping out and flying into the bantam pen and beating them off their feed. I snatched him off the roost this evening and lobbed off the feathers on his right wing. He wasn't too happy with me. They'll grow back eventually.

He's been in quite a tizzy since I separated out the Speckled Sussexes. He goes nuts when he sees Big John or Strut getting cozy with their 6 girls. I think it's hilarious. He can't figure out how to get into the chain link run, and I'm thinking that's great! LOLOLOL

Poor Pocket! Maybe you could try flight netting over his run?

 

[lorihadams]

Sounds like things are busy still. At least they are trying to make an effort, that's a good thing.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I clipped a wing on my BO roo, Pocket, today. That Big Ol' Roo just refuses to stay in his own run! He keeps hopping out and flying into the bantam pen and beating them off their feed. I snatched him off the roost this evening and lobbed off the feathers on his right wing. He wasn't too happy with me. They'll grow back eventually.

He's been in quite a tizzy since I separated out the Speckled Sussexes. He goes nuts when he sees Big John or Strut getting cozy with their 6 girls. I think it's hilarious. He can't figure out how to get into the chain link run, and I'm thinking that's great! LOLOLOL

Poor Pocket! Maybe you could try flight netting over his run?

Well, that's the next step because even with the clipping of his wing, he's flying out and into the other runs. So tomorrow, we're working on covering the run.

Couple months we sold the pygmy goats that had belonged to my parents to a neighbor. Well, she lives over the hill from us, and she's become a fast friend, and we enjoy that we still get to see Sassy and Snowball without all the work.

Well this morning I get a semi-frantic call from my friend. Turns out, Elroy had managed to breed the pygmies, and Sassy had kidded out twins this morning around 10 am or so. Would we be able to come down around noon and make sure mom and babies were OK, she's gotta go to work and won't be there. We say sure. Head down around 12:30 and we find Sassy with two gorgeous twin bucklings. One is red all over with two white knees, and the other one is tan with black markings across the face and black on the legs...just beautiful!!

We manage to get both kids on mom and nursing, as my friend said they hadn't nursed by the time she had left. One kid had a fairly empty stomach when we got there, but the other one had obviously nursed before we arrived. Once we had seen both kids nursing, stop, nurse, stop we moved on to check on Snowball.

Snowball was very uncomfortable and HUGE!! Now, these two goats were over weight when they came to us, but Snowball was just ginormous! DH checked her over and said she was definitely in labor, and she had a discharge coming out her rear area.

So we went on home. Goats were fine, not in distress, figured there's no reason we needed to be there.

Two hours later I went back down to check on them, and arrived just in time to see Snowball deliver a solid white kid!!! I was so excited!! Then I looked down to my left and saw two more kids!!!! She'd had triplets and I arrived just in time to witness the last one being born!! I ran back to my friends house, grabbed a towel, and back down to the pasture because Snowball wasn't trying to clean her babies or anything. She left them lying cold and wet in the mud. So I grabbed her phone and called DH who had stayed home and told him what I had found. He said make sure you get them out of the mud and dry. Well, duh!

I ran back down to the pasture, towel in hand, and I had my SIL and Niece with me, so they helped me get the kids dried off. Mom wanted nothing to do with her new babies, so we forced her to stand still while we got all 3 kids to latch on and nurse several times. It took us a little more than an hour, but by the time we left, all 3 kids were dry and mom was letting them nurse, and she had passed her afterbirth. All was good.

This evening DH and I went back down after my friends husband was home to see how the kids were. They were doing fine, but the mom's were trying to kill eachother's kids!! So we hurriedly helped him separate the two moms and their kids, and he said he was glad we came because he wasn't sure which kids went to which mom LOL

I took several pictures of all the babies.

Oh and all FIVE babies are bucklings!!!!!!!!

Of the triplets, one looks nearly identical to Elroy. One is pure white, and the other is white with black spots. Just darling.

 

[keljonma]

That is the second kidding this spring that I've heard were all males.

Good thing you were around...

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

You know what, I've been in such a tizzy the last few days that I completely forgot to mention that my ducklings arrived from Metzer Farms on Tuesday! My mom and a friend and her neighbor and I all went in together on a duck order. My friend had ordered 2 Cayugas, 2 Khaki Campbells, and a trio of Welsh Harlequins. Her neighbor ordered a runner duck.

My mom had ordered 2 Harelquins and I had ordered a trio of Harelquins, 1 mallard, and a straight run blue swedish.

One of my Harlequins were DOA so I called Metzer Farms and told them what happened. I was willing to take the loss so everyone else who had ordered the Harelquins could have their ducks, and I figured Metzer's would just refund my money. Nope. Metzer Farms offered to send a replacement duckling!!!!!!!! I was quite surprised!!

So yesterday I had to call Metzer back because over night one of my friends ducklings didn't survive. She called me and told me what happened, so I called Metzer again, and they are going to replace her, too! I thought that was really nice! They said they will probably send an extra duck, but in order for me to not have to pay for anything with the replacements, the extra duckling will be hatchery choice. I said that's fine!

I mean, why wouldn't it be fine? It's a free duck! They said they will be shipping them on Monday!!

Dh and I managed to get to the woods my parents own across the way and cut more fence posts. We hauled 6 fence posts out of the woods and two got set in the ground. We need to put in about a dozen more I think, and we have a nice locust across the road already downed from the last windstorm waiting to be buzzed up and split into fence posts. We save the smallest locusts pieces for next winters firewood.

My two blueberry bushes have been planted and are already blooming. I'm excited for them!

One of my Speckled Sussex is setting a clutch of eggs under DH's mini barn. I am not sure if they are any good or not, as Zoe the egg sucking fiend was caught under the barn...and since I can't fit under there I'm not sure where the nest is or how many eggs, or how long she's been setting, either. She only shows up early in the mornings when I am checking feeders and waterers. The whole time she's out she's in a super sonic speed mode, and all her feathers are bristled up. It's too funny.

The goals for today are to get laundry done, finish my A-Frame house for Robert and Fran, and maybe start a second A-Frame house for another set of bantams. We'll see though. Oh and I want to get the Speckled Sussex and the layer flock runs covered.

 

[keljonma]

Sounds like you have been busy... again!

Don't forget to post pics of your new ducklings.....

 

[BeccaOH]

So glad to hear about the duck order. If you've tried to reach me through BYC, I'm not getting the message.

Glad too that you found the missing SS.

Ray told me about the kidding. That was awesome!

Talk to you soon.

 

[TanksHill]

Wow, sounds like you have had an exciting week.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I have had a few busy but rewarding days here.

Today DH and I planted 2 locust fence posts, I tilled the 3 not planted garden spots, and we mowed the grass. Plus all of the regular feeding/watering of the livestock.

Then at 2 pm I went to another local farm and picked up two new doelings! They are Nubian and Oberhausen (sp?) mixed with pygmy. They should be medium sized goats when grown (they were just weaned) and they are sooooo tame that I will hopefully have no troubles later with trying to milk them. On top of that, I will be getting one of the five buckling kids from my friend!! I have already made my choice of which one, I'm just waiting for him to be old enough, too.

The plan is to sell Elroy as soon as possible. He's so large, and mean, and I can't handle him. I want tame, medium sized goats that I can work with. Nan is bred again, and DH thinks it's just one kid again, but we're not sure. We felt him/her kicking the other morning. We think she's due Mid June, but since we aren't completely sure when she was bred, that's not a given. We do know when she was in heat, so I'm going from that for now.

My speckled Sussex have been separated out for a week now. Tuesday I will start collecting eggs for my 'bator to fill my first order for Speckled Sussex chicks.

BBS Orp eggs in the bator now humming along like they should. They are due May 4.

 

[Beekissed]

Mrs. Doolittle rides again! It sounds like you are up to your ears in animals and babies, ducklings and chicks! What heaven!!!

I hate to see you get rid of ol' Elroy....he's beautiful~ for a cranky old goat!

Have your guests settled down into being helpful and a blessing yet? A new apartment? A new job? Hopefully?



Hey, Aly! I maybe, could be, hoping to be, praying to be getting a little ol' Jersey cow who will calve in May!