Friday, October 23, 2009

Moving Around on the Farm

It won't be long till snow covers the ground and limits the animals travel about the farm. It has been getting cooler over the last week. We have made some animal moves. The guineas went in with the hens to make room for the turkeys in the barn. It took a couple of days but the guineas finally made it outside. They were very excited about taking their first dust bath. They made it out ok, but had to have a little help getting back in at night.

The hens took it all in stride.

The goats took time out of their busy schedule to check out what was going on.

We cleaned the shavings and put up new green mesh between the turkeys and the hens. They can see each other but share completely different sections. So far no eggs. When do turkeys lay?

We opened their door and.......

out came a pug. No, Ivy was just there helping out. She thinks all of the animals are her babies. She never chases anything. She checks them all out to make sure they are okay. She still can't understand why we won't let her into the pasture to see the sheep. We truly don't know what Fuzzy the llama would do.

We finally know what our rooster Hawk is. He was a freebie with our last order of Cornish Rock X from Murray Mc Murray Hatchery. He is a Silver Laced Wyandott. At first we actually thought he was a she and named her Ladyhawk. Then Ladyhawk began to get friendly with the other hens and crow. Now, this is Hawk. Lord of the chicken yard. He has dethroned Samson our Partridge Plymouth Rock rooster.

We have had to work the last 2 nights so we have accomplished nothing besides milking and feeding animals. There is that sleep factor that gets in the way. We will have 6 nights off and plan to finish up alot of the last chores on our to do list. The weather is cooler, winter is near and time seems to slow a bit. Work on pastures and fences will halt till spring arrives. We will pay more attention to things like weather reports. Occasionally we get a weather report that will make us laugh out loud. Tell me where but Maine will you get the following from your local weatherman: "Well, it has been warmer than it's been". I love Maine. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.
Kelly

8 comments:

Bee Haven Bev said...

Beautiful rooster!! Good luck getting those guineas to come in at night. Most nights we have to herd ours back into their house. As I said before....half a brain...and it is split 20 ways in ours' case.

Have a great weekend!!

katiegirl said...

Hey Kelly, I think Hawk is gorgeous. I'm also thinking he's actually an Easter Egger rooster, not a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

Look at this picture and see what you think.

http://etherbunnyonline.home.comcast.net/~etherbunnyonline/chickens/bantychickmomeebreed.jpg

I got a bonus chick from McMurray also, and I think he's exactly the same thing. Their legs are greenish, not yellow like SLW. And they have cute little puffy cheeks.

Kelly said...

Beverly- Thank you. I wish the roo wasn't so intent on covering every hen. He is a bit much. I don't think Samson ever had that much strength. I agree with you about the guineas. One has been found dead outside. The puppies brought her to us the next morning. In our case their 1/2 brain is split 26 ways, makes it even worse.

Katiegirl- See above. I think you may be right. He does have green legs. Maybe we will rename him The Grinch. LOL

Thank you for visiting and leaving your comments.
Kelly

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

Whatever Hawk is, he is a gorgeous roo! And the virility of a teenage roo is stunning. Mine are so rough on the girls - and that annoys me beyond words. They do seem to settle down and learn it's not necessary to be so dang rough as they get older, but it takes a while. Little snots.

Jen's Farmily said...

We have a golden laced wyandotte rooster. I'm going to be ordering some new chicks this spring and I'll probably get a couple of silver laced wyandotte hens. I think they are so pretty!!

Jen's Farmily said...

I agree with Katie too, after looking at it closer- your rooster is definitely an Easter Egger.

LindaSue said...

Beautiful rooster - really special coloring. We had guineas a few years ago - they didn't last well for us - never would come back in their coop at night. Predators and various mishaps really did ours in - perhaps your colder weather will encourage the guineas to come home. My husband said we should have known they weren't too bright - they poop bigger than their brain! Lots of work going on - good you have energy and enthusiasm and that smart little pug to help!

Kelly said...

Penny- He may be beautiful but if he doesn't slow down a bit he will die from exhaustion.

Jen's Family- We will be ordering a few more hens this spring. Maybe we can get an Easter Egger hen for Hawk.

Linda-ya'll are definitely right about the guineas being shy on brains. Only time will tell.

Thank you all for visiting and leaving comments. We love to read them.
Kelly