Chickens in the Freezer

On the day after Thanksgiving, we processed 20 chickens. Our neighbor, Bev, came and showed me how to clean a chicken. Andrew killed them, Bev and I plucked the feathers and cleaned out the innards. I washed them and put them in freezer bags. Andrew sucked the air out of the bags, labeled them and then, put them in the freezer.

Arianna's Week on the Farm

During her week stay with us, Arianna got to milk a goat (Mama Goat)...

...and feed a bottle baby (Patch) the milk.

Mama Hen and Chick

Soon after the kids and I returned from New York, we saw a hen walking around the barn yard with a chick. We're very excited! This is our first hen to hatch out a chick. The boys carry them inside every night to put them in a box in the den and carry them out in the morning at chore time. Here is a picture of the hen and chick in the yard with our Hurricane Ike debris.

Here is a picture of Mike and Zach holding the hen and chick.

Guineas

On the 23rd of September, my Mom, Dad and the boys got up early and went to pick up some guineas. They returned with 14 young guineas, 5 of which were "keets". (Keets are what the guinea chicks are called.) We already have one guinea. We thought she would like having other guineas to hang out with. She was raised with chickens and did not take a liking to the other guineas. Sometimes, they follow her around. She ditches them as quickly as she can. Dad thinks that she doesn't like them calling her "Grandma".
Here are the guineas in the yard.

Here are the guineas with one of our roosters and the duck.

Guineas are great watchdogs and they love to eat ticks. We love the guineas! They are amazing!
Love,
Lexie

Ike

It started raining on Saturday. The wind picked up that evening. Our electricity went out at about 2:30 in the morning. We woke up to a tree uprooted leaning against another tree that was starting to uproot and had pushed one end of our propane tank off its base. Both trees were resting against a walnut tree.

Thankful, they hadn't fallen and hit the house, power line, or the gas line. Andrew climbed the walnut tree and cut the other trees down before they fell. Our neighbor, Bev, let us borrow a generator. A couple times a day, we would plug in the freezer, refrigerator, and water pump. We have a gas stove, so all I had to do is light it with a match. We used hurricane lamps and flashlights for light. Our electricity came back on last night at 8:00. We were without power for 65 1/2 hours. The only thing we really missed during our "pioneering time" was the computer. The cleanup in our county continues. There was massive tree damage. I have never seen so many trees pulled up by their roots. The power company said that all customers would have power by today.

A bat and a dead chicken

On Saturday, Andrew and the boys went to his aunt's big holiday party down near Fort Smith. We decided that Lexie and I would stay home to man the farm and enjoy the peace and quiet. Lexie and I took the opportunity to have some girl time. We went out to dinner at a German restaurant. It made us homesick for Germany. Our friend, Kariann, went with us to dinner. When we came home to lock up the animals and watch a movie, we discovered a bat in the house. The bat hit the wall and fell into the dishpan. Kariann used salad tongs to remove it from the dishpan and put it outside.

Due to wet wings, the bat crawled across the porch and down the stairs.

Thank you, Kariann!

On Sunday morning, as Lexie and I were leaving for church, I ran over one of our chickens. The chickens always move out of the way of moving vehicles, just sometimes they run the wrong way! This black chicken just stood there. I asked out loud,"why isn't it moving?" So, it adjusted the vehicle to straddle the chicken. As the vehicle past over the hen, she decided to move and run right under my back tire. Lexie said, "Mom, you ran over the chicken!" She continued, "we need to go back and see if it's dead." I backed up the vehicle. "If it's not dead, you need to run it over again!" I looked at her and stated, "I don't want to! You get out and check if it's dead." I was pretty upset. I felt bad. Lexie got out of the vehicle and poked the chicken with a stick. It was both flat and dead. I called Andrew on the cell phone and told him. They made it home before we did and Michael disposed on the chicken for me. Thank you, Michael!

Snakes

Lexie found this snake as she headed to the barn. She thought it was a copperhead. She went back into the house and got a machete. She was going to kill it. I followed her back outside and convinced her to let her dad look at it. She yelled for her daddy. We've discovered that yelling the word "snake" makes Andrew come running very quickly. Come to found out, this snake is a water snake. It is now living at the creek.

The next day, I was hanging wash on the line, when the chickens started making a fuss in the barn. I walked over to the barn and found a black snake eating an egg. I yelled, "snake!" and Andrew came running. Andrew realized that the snake was caught in the chicken wire. I ran and got wire snips and we cut it free. Andrew and the kids posed for a picture with it and then Andrew relocated it to our pond on our other place.

The following day, Andrew and the boys found a pack rat in the barn. Let's just say, it was not relocated.

Goodbye Simon!

Today, Andrew buried Simon. We found him under the porch last night. When he left the house on Tuesday night, he must have gone under there to die. He will be greatly missed by his family. He didn't belong to us, we belonged to him! He was an amazing cat and Andrew said that we will never see his equal! Here is one of Lexie's many pictures of Simon, taken in January.

Thanks for your prayers!

No Kitty

After looking for Simon, our sick cat, for most of Tuesday, he finally showed up late afternoon. He kind of staggered out of the pasture and into the yard. I brought him into the house and we gave him more medicine. I also cleaned him up. He made himself at home in Lexie's room. Lexie's room is one of his favorite places in the house. We continued to medicate him through out the evening.

We woke up afternoon morning and he was no where to be found. He had somehow found a way to open the pet door and go out. He never came home yesterday. I spent the whole day looking for him. I am concerned. Andrew said that he's either dead or laying low and recovering. I'll let you know if he shows up.

Bobcat Fever

We moved here with two pets: Blackie, our 12 year old dog, and Simon, our 7 year old cat. We got Blackie from our next-door neighbor in San Antonio, Texas. She was so good with Lexie, who was 2 at the time. Blackie welcomed both the boys into the family and was always very protective of them. Even at 40 pounds, she thought she was a lap dog.

We got Simon from good friends in San Angelo, Texas. His mama was a stray cat, who showed up at my friends' house and had her 4 kittens in their closet. We were taken with Simon immediately. I thought I was allergic to him, so I spent several weeks rubbing him on me. In the process, I fell in love with him. As soon as I realized I wasn't allergic to him, we brought him home. In 3 hours, Blackie and Simon became best friends.

Blackie and Simon went to Germany with us. Here is a picture of them on 'their' chair in our German apartment.

In March, we lost Blackie, along with our new puppy, Red. We think they were eaten by a mountain lion. The kids and I have had a hard time with her loss.

Well, on Sunday, Andrew told me that Simon had a fever. I checked him and noticed he was sick. He refused to eat and drink all day Sunday. Yesterday, I took him to the vet. He was diagnosed with Bobcat Fever. The reason it is called Bobcat Fever is because bobcats carry the protozoan in their bloodstream. It is transmitted from a tick and almost always fatal. The vet gave Simon a shot of Imizol to try and kill the protozoan. He also got a shot of Metacam to lower his fever, so he would want to eat and drink. We also went to Dr. Fain in Eureka Springs for Monolautin and Pawier. Monolautin is a supplement that has an anti-microbial agent that can protect the immune system from a range of infectious agents. Pawier is vitamin supplement for pets.

This morning, Simon is no where to be found. I think he is hiding. Please pray for his complete recovery!

Baby Chicks

We bought baby chicks from the feed store. We bought 16 chicks: 9 Araucanas (which lay green-blue eggs), 3 Light Brahmas, 2 Barred Rocks, 1 Golden Comet, and 1 Buff Orpington. We lost one Araucana chick, so we have 15 chicks in a box in the den.

We have 4 new kids!

I was reminded today by my dear friend, Shawna, that I need to post pictures of our new kids. Thank you, Shawna, for nudging me in the right direction!

Michael and Zachary had been camping out in the barn to be close to Mama Goat if she went into labor. On Saturday evening, April 5th, when they went out the barn to go to bed, they found that Mama Goat was giving birth. Zachary ran into house to get the rest of us. We grabbed a bright light and some towels and headed to the barn. When we got to the barn, we found this little guy.

So, I immediately started wiping it off. The kid turned out to be a strong little boy. Mama Goat started pushing again and out came a kid still in the sac. Andrew broke the sac and we starting drying it off. This kid turned out to be a girl. Mama Goat took quite a break at this point, so we just sat there and waited (cuddling the 2 kids). Mama Goat started pushing for the third time and the kid seemed stuck. Andrew realized the kid was breech, so he reached in and helped pull it out. Andrew gave the kid mouth to month resuscitation and we dried it off. Kid number 3 turned out to be a girl, too. Here are both girls (#2 & #3).

Mama Goat seemed to be done having kids, so we waited on the afterbirth. She started the push out afterbirth. It was stuck like kid #3, so Andrew pulled on it and out came kid #4 behind it. We were pretty shocked that she had 4 kids. Last year, she gave birth to triplets. But, wow quadruplets!!! Here is #4, who also turned out to be a girl.

What an awesome and amazing experience witnessing the miracle of birth!

Andrew wasn't feeling well, so I volunteered to stay in the barn with the goats. I stayed with them all night and Mama Goat never finished delivering the afterbirth. At 6:00 am, Lexie relived me and I went to bed. At 10:00 am, I was woke up by the noise of my children. Mama Goat still hadn't delivered the afterbirth. Our friend and goat expert, Kari Ann, arrived and told us that Mama Goat was in trouble and going septic. She jumped right in and doctored Mama Goat. Here is Mama Goat and kids on Sunday morning.

Mama Goat stabilized, but still hadn't delivered all her afterbirth. We called the vet and he told us that we were doing all the right things. He also told us that he would come out if we needed him or we could bring Mama Goat to the vet Monday morning. At the next morning feeding, Mama Goat still wasn't eating or drinking, so Andrew loaded her in the truck and Lexie and I took her to the vet.

The vet, Dr. Toni Brandt, gave Mama Goat a few shots, took blood, and flushed out her uterus. She let me help. It was a learning experience! Mama Goat's sodium count was low, Dr. Brandt decided to give her an IV. So, Mama Goat stayed at the vet for the rest of the day in a large dog kennel. When I picked her up at 5:00 pm, she was eating and drinking.

In the mean time, we started bottle-feeding the quads. Mama Goat is getting better and feeding two kids, while we continue to bottle-feed the other two with milk replacer.

I would like to thank Kari Ann and Dr. Brandt for saving Mama Goat's life. I would also like to thank my daughter, Lexie, for taking all the pictures and videos.

Hunnicutt

This is a picture of our steer, Hunnicutt. He went the butcher on March 26th. We named him after the gentleman who gave him to us. I am really looking forward to home-grown, grass-fed beef. Only have a couple weeks to wait and he will be in my freezer.