Sometimes Ranch Life Sucks

This post is a brief tribute to a few of the animals we've lost lately.


Fluff was not just an all-around fabulous barn cat.... she was our favorite barn cat.  She had the sweetest disposition, and loved following us around as we did chores every day.  As is common with farm animals, we're not sure what happened to her.  She didn't show up in the evening to eat, and when I didn't see her the next day, I knew she was no longer with us.  There are so many predators out here -- coyotes, owls, and numerous other threats.  Even though Fluff was a very savvy cat - she seemed to realize the dangers - something finally caught up to her.

We miss her all the time.

The recent heat proved too much for our little Ameraucana hen, Midge.  I noticed her in a corner of the coop last Monday evening, but later when I checked on her, she was up on the roost with the rest of the birds, so I thought she was doing better.  Alas, the next morning she was laying on the floor beneath the roost.  No more bluish-white eggs to add variety to our dozens, just brown eggs now.  Perhaps next year we'll add a few hens to our flock.  For now, 4 hens and a rooster-that-will-not-be-with-us much longer is enough.

At any rate, just thought I'd mention that even though we love our life out here, sometimes it's not all rosy like I might paint it.  True farm people are used to these occurrences I'm sure, but let's remember.... I'm not a true farm person!  I'm a fake, a fraud....  I'm a city gal relocated to the country, and add to that my love for animals, then it makes it tough for me when something happens to one of the creatures in our menagerie.

Even with the doses of real life, though, I still love our prairie life and wouldn't trade it for a minute of city living, nosireeeee!!

 

Absence Update

Quite simply, the pressures of working two jobs finally became more than I could bear.... I could not keep up with my blogs or my photography... even having time to visit our own sweet animals became elusive!

And so I quit. I left the hospital. I am now only working part-time for the Kansas Turnpike. And that's how I like things to be.

I just returned from an Ohio visit. My beautiful and sweet granddaughter just turned two.... how is that possible? It just seems yesterday that she was born!!!

Leah on the carousel at the Akron Zoo,

with her daddy (my son, Josh)

Today I am going to make strawberry jam.  My cupboard finally became bare of last year's stash, and I'm so very partial to my own canned jam that I cannot stand the taste of boring ole Smucker's from the grocery store!

Our resident Canada geese, right before they finally left and headed north

Right now, I need to head outside and take care of all the animals -- feed the barn cats, let the guineas and chickens out, and then out to feed the horses.

A late update:  No, all of those guinea eggs did NOT hatch.  We finally had to throw them out.  I think they were "scrambled" too many times there in the corner of the coop.

More updates to come.  I know there is lots to catch up on here, and I'm looking forward to it.  Can't wait to begin visiting all of my bloggy friends!  :-)

 

Geese & Guineas - Update

I took a picture of the guinea egg clutch on April 3rd.  Then after I uploaded the pics to iPhoto, I printed out one so we could get an accurate count of how many eggs have been laid. I kept losing my place when I tried to count them in the coop, and the same thing happened when I tried to count them on my computer monitor!

62 eggs!!

Now our guinea hen has some help too.  Looks like one of the other guinea hens decided she needed assistance covering all those eggs.

It's going to be interesting to see how this all turns out.  My best estimate puts the hatch date around April 20.  One part of me wants to let the moms take care of everything, but then another part of me says they are in a small coop with other guineas, including 2 males, and I'm not sure how well the newborn keets might fare in that situation.  

So perhaps we'll get the brooder ready, and move the new keets as they hatch.  It would be easier to introduce them to food and water that way also.  

We'll need to find new homes for the keets ASAP.  Our coop space won't tolerate even 2 more birds.  We've been discussing our future coop options - either enlarging the current coop, or building a separate coop east of the house on an existing concrete pad near the horses and the shop.

On a somewhat related note, the two Canadian geese who were hanging around the last few weeks decided to set up their new home near our pond. Their nest is on a small peninsula that hubby started to build last fall when we rented a Bobcat over Labor Day weekend.

I didn't want to get too close and upset them, so here's the best photos I managed to get a few days ago, from the opposite side of the pond.  The male (see photo below) kept a close eye on me the whole time.

Sorry.... you'll have to click the photo to enlarge it!

The goose is laying her head down to hide from me.

Both times that I've visited the pond, this is what the male does.

He flattens himself to try to hide from us, all the while keeping an eye on us.

I wish them both the best of luck.  We have so many coyotes around here.  I've heard them howling a lot lately, or rather, the dogs have woke me up because they hear them howling first.

So all in all, the next few weeks should be interesting here on the ole homestead!