There's nothing wrong with giving a chicken a bath

Big Red is still holding up.  She seems more swollen, but each night I watch her going to eat and she manages to get out of the coop every day.  Thursday night when we went to go lock the birds up, my heart ached for her.  There, standing at the door, was Big Red.  She couldn't get up the ramp into the chicken door because the goats broke it and it's too steep for her now, so she was just standing there at my door.  I don't know if she was waiting for me to come let her in, or just standing there because she didn't know what else to do.

This afternoon she was standing in the goat pen for awhile before I scooped her up and brought her in the house for a warm bath.

After soaking in the warm water in the sink for twenty minutes, I bundled her up to dry and went back outside.

She hates me now, I'm sure of it.

I did get some pictures of her bloated belly...

I keep thinking that I am going to have to have a vet put her down, but I haven't found a bird vet around here and I keep trying to convince myself she will be fine.  I know that's not true, her belly is so large that it's usually resting on the ground and she has a red area that's rubbed raw now.

How to Milk a Goat

Saturday, several of my students came down to the farm because their parents had bid on "Farm Day" at the school's silent auction fundraiser.  They hung out with the animals, ate hot dogs, and roasted s'mores.

At one point they were asking questions about goat milk and since Jenny was in the goat house, and therefore easy to catch, I decided to let them try to milk a goat.

I wasn't exactly dressed for goat milking

 Each student wanted a chance to milk Jenny.

Faces removed for the privacy of the innocent :)

 Clearly Jenny was not thrilled.

Later, one of the girls wanted to try to get Jenny out of the house and to milk her.  She couldn't get Jenny to budge so the older son decided to step in to help.

I wish I could leave her face on this picture, it was pure amazement.  :)

What we don't have pictures of is when the kids were each getting Jenny's milk to squirt at each other.  The youngest son had goat milk all over his face.

Is there something wrong with this picture?

That is my driveway.... 

And those are goats....  That belong in the pen.

Done!

We just finished getting all of the strawberries taken care of.  Last night we made Strawberry jam and tonight we made Strawberry-Peach jam.  We also made more strawberry ice cubes (for summer drinks) and frozen strawberries to defrost as needed.  I'm so excited.  

I didnt need this today

I went out to feed the goats and open the coops at 5:15 this morning.

While standing on flat ground in the run, I turned to take a step towards the door and somehow manage to slip and fall.

I still have no idea how this happen and can only be thankful that I take care of the animals before I shower and get dressed for work.

Now that's a weird one

Check out the top of the egg I found in the coop this afternoon.

It was all hard like a shell, but there is a hole and that strange shape.  I've heard of things like this happening, but we hadn't seen it yet.

Another Strawberry weekend

We did it again.  Saturday morning we went to the farmers market and then we drove out to pick strawberries.  We came home with 4.5 gallons of them, again.

Strawberry stained doesn't count as "dirty"

I managed to get about a gallon of them frozen and dehydrated, but the last 3 gallons are screaming my name.  I have to get them hulled and cooked into jams tonight or they'll be bad before I have time again.  Wish me luck.

Guess he's attempting to make himself at home

Last night the visiting rooster was back in the coop.  I hadn't seen him all day, but he was in a nesting box with one of the 3 month-old chicks when I did the head count.

This morning I opened the coop door and Clyde and several girls hurried out into the run.  I walked around to open the big door so that I could let the chicks and the guinea out to free range and there was the rooster, attempting to blend in.

Just don't make eye contact and she won't see me

I had to go in and usher him out of the coop to free range because I knew Clyde would tear him apart if he was in the run.

This time I watched where he walked off to, just a short distance behind the coop.  And a few hours later, he was still in that same area.

I haven't seen him come out into the yard area where the birds have been free-ranging this afternoon, so I think he's keeping his distance from Clyde, which is a pretty smart move.

I'm still not sure what to do with him, but for now, this is working.  The only problem is that on week/work days I don't like to put any of the birds out before I leave since it's still early enough to be fox time, but I know I can't leave this guy in the coop or run or Clyde will kill him.

First day of real freedom

I let the youngest chicks out of the coop today to free range.

Freedom!!!

Most of them made one step out the door and then flew the rest of the way

Look at the expression in the eyes of the flying bird

Looking for bugs

They are so pretty

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I think these birds like to take flight more than the others ever have

Some chickens were still hiding in the coop (pun intended)

Chicken!

Just too weary to leave the comfort of the coop

An adult that didn't attack!

Look at the feather on its leg

I think nothing says it better than the look Clyde was giving to the chicks over his shoulder....

Sunbathing

It was about 90 degrees outside today.  Clyde decided to do some sunbathing and a few of the girls joined him.