We had two broody hens this summer. They would sit and sit and sit. I didn't think anything was going to come of it. Well, I was wrong. This little guy made is his appearance a few weeks ago. What a little fluff ball.

Unfortunately, the two hens started squabbling over the space and several other chicks did not survive. We finally took the rest of the eggs away. I'm not sure if they were still viable anyway with all the fussing going on.

The little guy, is doing well and has moved down to the floor with momma. She keeps a good watch over him and he is doing fine.

Isn't he so cute. Here mom is sharing some crusts of bread with him.

In the Garden

A few shots from the garden today.

We have several frogs in residence in the garden pond.

Mr. Garter Snake seems to think perhaps those frogs would make a nice supper. He has been hanging out, in and around the pond this week.

The kids found this small Easter Milk Snake in the driveway today. I had not seen one in our yard before. He is harmless although he put up a good show, shaking his little tail and striking at us. I think he is quite handsome. We moved him out back into the woods.

Baby Bunny-Part 2

We are pleased to be able to report that the baby bunny did indeed survive and thrive. We kept him in a cage for two weeks, feeding him greens from outside and handling him very little. We did not want to try and tame him, just keep him safe while he recovered from his pool adventure and grew a bit.

We released him today into a large brush pile at the back of our property. He should have a pretty good chance of survival, well at least as good as any other wild bunny.

This picture was taken right before we set him free. Doesn't he look bright eyed and bushy-tailed?

Baby Bunny

I spotted this little guy in our pool late this afternoon. The shallow end of the pool is dry as our pool liner split this winter, so he wasn't in the water, but he was a long way down with no way out.

I have a suspicion that the cat chased him into the pool enclosure and he fell over the edge into the pool.

He was still alive, but not very lively, so we put him in one of our cages with food and water and will see if he survives. He may have injured himself in the fall or could just be in shock.

Random Shots

A little bit of this and that from today.

Another Lovely Spring Day

This week is spring break in our neck of the woods. We rarely follow the school year calendar, but we decided to take a day off today. It was another lovely day outside and it has been so wonderful to enjoy the sun and fresh air.

We made a library run to two of our local libraries. Our librarians are so wonderful and they seem genuinely pleased to see the kids. One of the ladies said we were their best customers. I do think we help keep their book census up. I know we would not be able do our schooling as frugally without such a great local library system.

Two shots from the woods behind our house

Our chickens have become so tame. They follow Bessie around the yard waiting for a handout of stale bread or corn.

Yowzer the cat enjoying the sun
Our neighbor plowed the field across the road today. I love watching the tractor move up and down the field tilling up the rich brown earth. Our Guinea fowl roamed the field for hours after he was done, pecking at all the worms and bugs the tractor stirred up. Some years he plants corn and other years he plants a silage mix. We will have to wait until planting day to see which will go in this year.

Brian finished up the raking around the house after he got home. We have three separate areas of our yard. In the landscaping world, they call these separate areas "rooms". The room between the house, garage and pool, is sort of my part of the yard. This is where all my flower gardens are and this is also where we have cookouts and relax when we have company over. I am pretty firm about not letting the kids ride their bikes here as it makes paths on the lawn. (Aren't I terrible!?) The side to the east of the garage is the kids room. This is a larger area and is great for riding bikes, playing ball, using the tramp and swingset. Behind the pool is where we have the vegetable garden. The chicken coop, shed and other misc. stuff (aka woodpile, brush pile and assorted bits of junk) is also back there. I am always glad when "my room" gets raked off and cleaned up. I can start working on my gardens in earnest now. Brian and I have lots of ideas for new features and added gardens this year.

Garden Visitor

This little guy visits our yard every few days. He is a white "Gray" squirrel. He is not a true albino as his eyes are brown and not pink, but he sure is pretty.

This time of year he is quite camouflaged against the snow, but he sure stands out in the summer against the green.

A Bat in the House

We have a very old house, ca. 1840s. Every once in a while, we get a bat in the house. It doesn't happen too often, but it does happen.

This morning as Dan and I headed into the downstairs bathroom, I noticed something on the floor. When it moved I have to admit to letting out a little start! It was a bat. I closed the door and gathered up my bat catching tools.

Poor little guy clinging to the wall in our bathroom

I used Gabe's bug net and a piece of cardboard. I gently put the net flush with the wall over the bat and slid the cardboard between him and the wall.

Safely in the net, I brought him outside. He seemed quite startled by the bright sunshine and took a few low wide circles before flying off, looking fine.

I'm sure he was just as glad to be out of the house as we were to have him outside.

My trapping technique

Bringing him outside

A Tale of Mistaken Identity...Part II

Today we decided to catch the baby chicken. He was doing well with the momma guinea, but she was getting lazy about sitting on her other eggs. We are still hoping she will hatch out some keets.

Catching him was not difficult. Bessie threw out some corn and I caught the little guy with our pool net. He is not particularly happy being all by himself, but he has settled down and at least seems less nervous than he was.

We also decided to try and improve our odds of getting some keets by removing some of the eggs from the nest and putting them in our incubator. They should only have three or four more days to go, so hopefully if we can keep them warm until then, they will hatch.

A Tale of Mistaken Identity...

Our female guinea has been sitting on a clutch of eggs. Yesterday, Bessie informed me that she had seen a chick with the momma, but only one. I was disappointed as she hatched out 13 last summer. It wasn't until today that we were able to get a picture of it. This is not a guinea chick.

My thoughts are that one of chickens found the guinea nest and laid an egg in it. It is out in the woods out back and the chickens like to lay their eggs in a place that already has an egg in it.

The incubation period for chickens is 21 days, but guineas are 28 days. I am hopeful that the female will stick with her own eggs and continue to sit them for another week. I'm not sure how will handle this little guy (or gal) as he will not be able to get up into the trees as easily as the guineas can, which will make him fair game for our local predators. We might be able to catch him and raise him like we do our other chicks and then put him in with the hens.

Saturday Work

Brian was away last week and we kept quite busy. We had a little birthday party for Dan at my folks on Monday, Mom and Dad came over on Tuesday and watched the Littles for me while I took Bessie to piano and then she and Gabe and I went and did some shopping. Wednesday we had friends over for a play date. This family also has several adopted children. Thursday we went to a friends house for a visit. It was fun and the kids had a great time.

We do not usually spend so much time on the go, but it was good with Brian away.

Saturday morning we headed out to the post office and the library. After lunch, Bri started working on the chicken coop. During the winter, it is almost impossible to clean as the manure freezes to the floor. The spring cleanup is the worst of the year. He also had some minor construction to do for the new chicks. The little "apartment" that we had before made it too dark for the bantams, so he took it out in the fall. He needed to put in a new place for chicks. We keep them separate from the main flock until the are big enough to hold their own as the other hens will hassle them for a few days until the peaking order is re-established.

Bri mucking out the hen house

I really enjoy my little chickens (bantams). They lay small eggs but they seem to have so much more personality than the big hens.

Betsy is Gabe's favorite

We also have guinea hens. This birds do a great job of keeping down the tick population. We only three this spring, but we are hopefully that the female will hatch out a clutch this year.

New Chicks

Brian brought home eight new chicks yesterday. They are so cute. I just love the little puff balls. These are Black Australorps. Every year we try and add 6-8 new hens to keep our flock young. We keep the old girls, even if they are not laying anymore. We figure they have worked hard for us and they deserve a nice retirement.