Reach Out and Find a Friend...

Late last December, I was perusing a local Facebook page for poultry folks. I look around frequently, but understand that my heritage poultry preference and soy-free, corn-free organic feed standards are not those of the typical backyard poultry enthusiast, so I am rather selective about what I post on, preferring to not get into debates where I am glad to agree to disagree. Still, there are so many places where we agree, and where we are able to support one another. Then one caught my eye.

There was a woman from my town who had a very small mixed flock, including a few bantams. The bantams were living separately from the standard hens, as they had been pushed around by the larger hens, and then of the bantams, one had begun to pick on the other. One little Sebright was being bullied, and then her companion bantam had passed away. Long story short, the Sebright was now very sad. Flock animals are meant to have friends!

As the little Sebright's owner was looking for advice for finding a suitable friend for her, I considered our own situation...

As breeders, we often have a wide variety of birds and ages in the grow out bantam or grow out standard pens. One of the little ones from this past year's bantam Cochin hatch had a cross beak. Not a true scissor beak, but her head and beak weren't truly in correct alignment.  This just happens sometimes, even though our poultry are bred to the Standard of Perfection, and many of the offspring do quite well at shows. I will never know if something went wrong in the egg, putting it in the incubator, or what really happened. Still, with the issue, the little one had not gotten along with the other bantam Cochins, and had moved over with the Silkies for some time. There were also a few other mismatched ones growing out in the group, but as they were growing and the Silkies and others gradually were moving out to their long term homes, we found ourselves debating the future of the little hen.

She would be fine for breeding, that isn't something she will pass on with young, and she is clearly healthy and eating and drinking and getting around just fine. She was due to begin laying once the light increased again. Yet, we are not only a little pressed for space in the Silkie pen, but also collect eggs there for hatching, and don't wish to have cross-bred bantam birds. The children and I had been debating the best place for her, and she deserves a happy life. So what to do?

I commented on the post that I had a little pullet who was not perfect, but was thriving, and who didn't seem to be finding her place here. A little bit later, I found a message from a sweet person named Jade, who surprisingly lived only about ten miles or so from me. We offered that perhaps due to the fact that the little pullet was different, she hadn't found her place yet in our home, and if Jade thought she would like to try, she was welcome to have her as a friend for her little Sebright. I stressed that she could not be shown, and her beak was not right. Jade thought it could be a good fit, as their chickens are pets, not show birds.

I was so excited that Jade and her husband were coming to get her the next day! Bailey gave the little one a bath to get ready, and she sat in the living room with her by the heater, with farm puppy Shadow watching over them as she dried. Within a few days, Jade sent me the photo above, of the lonely little one with the pullet they had brought home. She told me that initially that pullet from our place had definitely been in charge, but they were becoming friends and exploring together.

Then later, another message saying they were getting to be good friends! This is where the two sleep at night. I feel so tremendously blessed that Jade has let me know that this has been such a great move, and so blessed that the little pullet has found the place where she always belonged, we just had to give her the chance to grow and thrive and to reach out and help her find it. What a great chance for her to have a flock family! They are nestled so sweetly in this photo.

Then, earlier this week, there was another message... she laid her first egg! For any of you who also own chickens, you know the excitement of the first egg, and of the feeling like it is all working out. Honestly, I had the feeling that it would work out as soon as I had met Jade. And Bailey was glad that a little one from her breeding program would have a great place to be. Wyatt was not only thrilled to not have to figure out how to manage the egg situation in his Silkie breeding pen, but he got a little spoiled as well when Jade brought him lemons! (Many thanks, he feels he has now perfected lemonade!)

I reached out to Jade, and asked whether she felt okay about me sharing this story. I feel like it is important to see that the backyard pet chicken person and the egg and meat producing (and showing and breeding) folks can work together to enable a truly organic and humane industry on the producer side and great family flock on the backyard pet poultry side. 

The little bantam Cochin pullet and her new family sent us this video to share as well. Thanks so much! I think you all likely can also see that she continues to eat just fine!

Well folks, now it is your turn. How do you partner between small farms and backyard flocks? And between different herds of goats? Share your ideas and success and help inspire and educate. All the best to you!

Obediah's Adventure

One of the things about being a farmer is cultivating and growing things, only to let them go. This is certainly true about breeding livestock. We work with the best livestock we can find, and do our best to match them with others who will complement them in the best interests of the breed standard and future generations.  Some, we train to visit nursing homes and schools, some are show animals who are also breeding stock. Some of the little ones are sold as show animal projects for 4Hers, or as breeding stock for other farms.

One of the hardest things we do is to say goodbye to these friends who are certainly a part of our farm family, but in order to move forward with our breeding goals, or to function as a farm, we have to say goodbye and let them move on. Some animals will grow old with us, like the rather senile and goofy Treasure, or Huey who happily lived out his years with us. This fall, Obediah moved on to another 4-H family.

Obediah loved being an uncle and cousin at Patriot’s Dream, but he loves to go to shows and meet people, too. Since Bailey has been working more with the therapy animal program, he wasn't getting to do as much of the travelling and visiting and showing that he loves.   Obediah moved on to live with friends of ours, where he will be shown in 4-H and is doted on by four youth and their parents. He has also become buddies with a miniature horse named Frankie.

When Obediah first moved, it was a big change for him. He had never seen a miniature horse before! Within a week, though, they were teaming up to pull pranks and sneak into the chicken feed. While this sounds crazy, pranks are a hallmark of the pygmy goat personality, and let us know he was settling in just fine. The family’s neighbors had somehow no idea that a goat and horse lived there.  I find this quite surprising, since Obediah had long known to come running when called\. This means that anytime we stop by. or anyone comes through the yard and says Obediah, he runs to the gate of their pen talking and demanding an ear scratch!

At Patriot’s Dream, we free feed alfalfa pellets, so that there is always food available. So Obediah has never worried for food, he would just go get a mouthful when hungry, then go back to playing with his buddies. Some of you likely know that this doesn’t always work with horses, and Frankie gained weight having Obediah around. So he new family put the boys on a feeding schedule.

Frankie takes his food very seriously, and Obediah takes fun pretty seriously, so he started dragging the feed bucket while Frankie was trying to dig in! Obe’s new mama asked whether he was being a bully, or something was going on. They had already asked that anytime we were by, Bailey check and make sure he wasn’t getting too chubby or skinny with the adjustment to life in his new home.

It turns out Obediah had lost a little weight with this feeding schedule thing, so how were they to up Obe’s feed without letting Frankie get too fat? These are the moments that my friend Kate talks about being a flock or herd social director! We came up with a plan of stashing some pellets in a spot where Frankie could not get tot hem, but Obediah could get them anytime. Unfortunately, either Obediah was helping Frankie get tot hem, or something else was off kilter there, so Obediah’s new family as giving him extra a couple of times a day by himself. Frankie isn't too sure about this notion, but Obediah loves the extra attention, so there is a good bit of attention for the animals to keep everyone happy!

Another thing Obediah is loving about his new home is that there are several chickens who wander his pen every day. He and Huey used to let chickens ride around on their heads. After hawks moved in to the field down the road from us, we had to keep the chickens under a much closer guard, where they are only free ranging under supervision. So Obediah is enjoying have chickens around again, he loves anyone to play with. Before he left our house, he gave some young Polish pullets a ride...

So as much as we would love to have our animals with us forever, for others to enjoy the love and fun of goats, there have to be breeders, and for the animals to have full lives, they need homes with devoted families. And we are glad that Obediah has found a special one. I heard someone talking that they will be looking for a friend for him, too…

Baby Chicks Available at Local Hardware Store

A little over a week ago brought a new adventure for the little chicks of Patriot's Dream. One of the local hardware stores has begun carrying chicks. They ordered in some Ameraucanas from a hatchery, and since things were going well they wanted to add some local chicks as well. Four little ones from our recent hatch went along.

Wyatt packed the little ones in a crate lined with towels and played with them in the back seat on the way to deliver them.

I don't think they were too sure about leaving their friends in the brooder!

Here is Wyatt with the little ones, riding in to town.

Initially, the delivery went really well. But the littlest was just too little for the digs there, so Charlie stopped to pick her up on his way home from work (in the middle of a big rain storm, no less!) That little one came home and nestled right back in here. The Silkies long thought they were her mama, since she was younger than the rest, though in the bottom photo, she is nestled in to the feathers of a slightly larger chick of her own breed who we didn't take along since we believe it will be a boy. You have to look really closely in order to see the little one tucked under and a little behind the wing.

One of the many benefits of working with a local breeder is the support you get, and the service. For us, we are thrilled that the three little ones were sold to local homes, and things went so well, they asked for more chicks! We didn't have any at that moment, as we had cleaned out the incubator, but likely will soon.

Well, pretty exciting to have such positive partnerships with local businesses and good people! More exciting news to come as well!

Baby Gosling Watch

Mother Goose was off to go eat a couple days ago, when I peeked in and saw that she is up to ten eggs! Wow!!! She has been pulling out her downy feathers and making her nest nice and soft, but we have red flag wind warnings this week, so the nest has been work for her to maintain.

She doesn't like me near, nor does the gander, but she does seem to be doing okay. I would have loved to have her in her regular house, but this is where she selected so I am worried that moving her would be quite disruptive.

Gander likes to tell the other animals what to do, and protect mother Goose fiercely.

Still, he continues with his quality control behavior, here inspecting the job Wyatt and I did with our pens cleaning on Monday and putting fresh DE down.

Mother Goose has been fluffing and fussing and preening her nest, so I sure hope she gets some babies from the hatch. Do any of you have any experience with free range geese nesting in odd spots? Because we don't want her long term home to be so close to the swing set and the greenhouse, I am concerned about moving her other partial fence over there.

I will have to do something, though, since we will be dividing farm duties in rotation during county fair and we won't have as much time to help her around the time they hatch. I suppose I will do some more research today, though if you all have tried it, I would love to hear your experiences!

Always a Project to Keep Me Busy

This weekend was Charlie's Birthday. We packed up two cakes, and he picked up pizza, and we enjoyed the Arizona game with his Mom, Dad, Grandma and Uncle. Wyatt and Bunky were so funny about the scores up and down, of course we were rooting for our home team, my alma mater, but it was not to be. So we enjoyed sunshine cake and the family time and a good game anyway!

I got working on the garden Saturday afternoon. I have been wrapped up in pen building, seedlings, sprouting, baby chickens and baby goats and haven't gotten much done. Not to mention work and home schooling, right?  So I wet down a corner of the garden by the asparagus which just won't give up, got to pulling weeds (yes, it was the easier corner) and got the new blueberry and grape plants in.

The asparagus is just left of center. It always fights through a little on its own, but once I get things on track again it will come back I believe. Notice the hose? Cannot get the sprinklers o turn on, but we will work on that and until then I can get it done with a hose.

That is the little ten by four or so patch I got weeded. About one twelfth of the garden. Baby steps, right?

I really have my work cut out for me, though on Sunday, Charlie went in and burned a lot of the tall weeds so I can get to raking, pulling, and tilling faster.

The garden as a whole. Yup, lots to do. But it will get there!

The gander is being so very protective of his goose, who is sitting on seven eggs. They are an adorable couple. When he gets bored, he goes in and chases Shadow for fun, though, at this moment I had just changed out the feed and water in their regular enclosure, so he walked all the way back to where she decided to nest by the swing set, hollering for her all the way, and made her come back to eat.

I rather believe she just got up then to get him to pipe down and be quiet, though she does love the water when it is freshly changed each afternoon.

Shadow Paws is absolutely in love with the baby goats. She wants to be the babysitter, but we then babysit all of them, as this is her first time with baby goats. This little one had a hard time getting the suction going on mama, so we were syringe feeding for the first four days, trying a bottle but not getting anywhere. The other one only took a day, and this one had to go with us on Sunday so we could keep food in it. After a bath Sunday night, he took a bottle for me! Not much of it, mind you, but when his brother went out, and mama took him, and then this guy went out, his mama was climbing the pen gate to get to him, and he LATCHED ON! Thanks goodness!

He did get to visit the Sunday School classes at church, along with seven baby chicks, as they kick off the Easter units, and was a huge hit!  He did beautifully, and eventually we decided he on his name. But he evening, Bailey had both of their names.

So, introducing Patriot's Dream Freedom's Prayer on the left, and Patriot's Dream Let Your Light Shine on the right .

I also baked a large batch of egg shells. Did you know you can bake them at 350 degrees to kill any bacteria, then grind them up to add calcium to the hens' diet? Well, here is one batch!

Well, here we go, off to start another wild week as we get ready for county fair and the heat to set in. Hope things are beautiful where you are, and you are feeling all of the wonder of Spring!

March of the Pygmies (A little late on this post!)

The first weekend in March, Bailey and I snuck away for a day. We have had just about every cold that has gone through this year, so we could not make but one day of the show, but loved getting up there for what we could! We went up early Saturday morning for the March of the Pygmies Pygmy Goat Show near Phoenix. Over the course of the weekend, there were three open shows and a youth show, we attended the two open shows while we were up there.

Bailey only took little Verse (Aqua Patch Across the Universe), and still had plenty of practice helping show other goats and learning about little details of goat conformation from breeders and judges. This is such a great group that gets together and is always willing to share knowledge and teach, discussing the finite details of breeding and scorecards.

With kidding season in full swing for many breeders, I had the wonderful pleasure of cuddling this little one who had been born during hte night. He is a little bottle baby from Ferrin Farms, so I really got to relish the baby fix!

Bailey had a good time with youth showmanship, alongside her friend Joey, and most of these youth have showed together at these shows for some time. Sure missed her friend Abbey, though, they were up for the show on Sunday.

I find that when I am at home chasing animals and cleaning pens, I get great ideas for craft projects. I must not be the only one, because these are some amazing projects from other artisans who are breeders of pygmy goats!

This is my favorite photo of the day, of Bailey with her little buddy Verse. Since Bailey has taken to training an all new showmanship goat each year, it is a huge learning curve for the goat each time, and a lot of work for her.  This little one is learning , and had never been shown before Bailey purchased her last Summer, let alone been used for showmanship. She stresses a lot whenever we leave home, but by the end of the day, she had settled in and rode home well. We will see how they do come county fair time next month!

All the best to you all, hope all the animals are doing well at your place, and if Silver truly is pregnant, we will share all of the photos when the little ones arrive!  Our next project, though, is the remake of the doe barn, so I hope she holds off a little bit longer!

An update on Tiny...

As many of you know, Tiny was hatched in the big pen to a mama who couldn't juggle eggs still in the nest alongside her responsibilities as a mama of a live baby chick. On evening walk around one night, we found the mama up on her eggs, and the baby chick hiding in the corner of the barn, crying and hollering.

We brought Tiny in the house, where she cuddled with Bailey and even slept in a box in her bed, then the kids left town for a hunt and I was left with a very upset baby. By now we had nicknamed the little one Tiny, and I ended up giving her a stuffed animal to cuddle with. She apparently preferred it to me. Talk about putting me in my place!

I hope to put some photos in here tonight, but I realize just how late I am in sharing the update!

Tiny grew, and began roosting on the side of the trough she was living in. She started getting out of the trough,, wandering the house, exploring and talking to the dogs. Sometimes to us people, too.  Shadow would find her, hollering away from various spots in the house, and Shadow would be sure she was lost. She would either coax Tiny back tot he living room or come get me to help her.  Shadow was very concerned about Tiny.  Goofy animals!

Tiny wanted to cuddle with Vegas and Shadow. Vegas often ran away from her, Shadow was initially pretty stressed out by the notion, since chickens are off limits to her, but they eventually formed a great friendship.

Tiny really needed to move out of the house. Every group we tried her with was either too big for her, or they were very unkind. We tried putting her with the bantam chicks on the back porch who were only a little bigger than her, but both times we tried, they went after her, and he would pull her back inside.

Meanwhile, our friend Toni had left several eggs with one of her hens. Only one of them hatched, and was living in the bathroom, growing up and getting its feathers. The baby at Toni's house was a couple weeks younger than Tiny, but short of purchasing a a friend for Tiny, I didn't really have any options for her, and wasn't interested in having a "house chicken"!

So, I messaged Toni on facebook, asking if she would like to have Tiny as a friend fro her little one, so they could grow up together.  A few weeks ago, I got to see my friend Toni, and we sent Tiny along with her, along with her little stuffed bear.  Toni later let me know that Tiny has taken the other little one under her wing.  They have bonded and are now friends. Yay!  Seems like the best possible outcome to me.

Then, about a week later, Wyatt came inside to tell me that the straw I saw knocked down wasn't his fault. I was pretty certain that it had happened when he and his sister got straw to take some of the chickens tot he show in the rain. Apparentlym there was also a her up there, hatching a couple baby chicks...

So Glad to Have Everyone Back!!!

Being on my own for a week sure kept me hopping!  Thankfully, Bailey came home Tuesday, and the boys returned last night.  Shadow Paws really tried hard to help out, assisting with rounding up animals that snuck out, and taking her guard dog duties very seriously.  She and Vegas slept at my feet, and kept me company dutifully through animal chores, watering, cuddling babies and checking on the pregnant doe.

Still, Shadow Paws missed her Wyatt desperately, and wanted lots of extra attention and fetch time.  I love the little goofball too, but didn't get many of my own things done, like updating the website, blogging, and floors ( even sweeping seemed to require her constant presence!)

When Bailey arrived Tuesday night, we had to get things ready for her to take the PSAT Wednesday. After that, it was all about getting things back on track- I helped her with a solution to her framing project, cleaned the kitchen floor and got a little done on my furry fabric project.  And then I took a break...

OOPS!

I passed out cold, and had to give up for the night. No more breaks for me!

Well, for those of you following along on baby watch with us, not quite yet...  Because the kids were leaving town, I started watching a little early, I believe, to get used to any changes better so I wouldn't miss out on signs with all of the antics the animals like to pull when their preferred caretakers are away. And there are A LOT of antics. Just when I think I know what they will do, they come up with new capers.

Shadow was ecstatic to hear the truck coming down the main road last night. Since both kids had filled their elk tags, Wyatt had lots of big bones for her, and as I had asked, they saved the hides.  Why did I ask for that? I thought it would be a good unit to tan the hides like the Native Americans did.  That said, we did the first round with the traditional tanning solution last night- did you know what they use for the tanning solution?  Wow- this is really interesting!

Well, things came home in freezers, but the refined work of butchering still lays ahead for Charlie. And for us, too, as his assistants.  But for today, Bailey has a pygmy goat show. With Glory pregnant, and the buck dhow cancelled for not enough participation, only Miss Verse is going along with us, though Bailey is signed on to help with the showmanship clinic with her, and lots of other stuff is on the list, too.

I should have lots of photos to share, and hope to finish my furry project tonight- I got the pockets cut out while laughing through Bailey's leather class yesterday, and chatted with Auntie about the strongest placement of the handles while we were visiting during Bailey's debate class.  I am definitely ready to finish this project! Now that Shadow has her Wyatt back, maybe she won't feel she needs to operate the sewing machine!

For now, these are the upcycled roof tiles headed to the raffle table for today. What do you think?  I may have to make some similar ones to decorate the pens around here!  Well, you all have a great day!!!

Next Adventure!

It's hard to get rolling on a Saturday morning, but we are off to the races, so to speak. Bailey and I are loading up Powerstroke and Obediah and little Versie to head up to Cottonwood for a goat show! We won't be back until late tomorrow, so we are leaving the place int he capable hands of Charlie and Wyatt, as well as the farm dogs =).

Presently there are ten baby chicken in the house, five Brahmas, two Silkies, two Cochins and a d'Uccle.  The tiny Cochin front and center, as well as the little Silkie better seen on the right in the lower photo seem to ave the makings of being visiting chickens. They love being held and played with and jump right into your hand to go for a look around.

These group of them seems to like the camera, too! The remaining Brahmas hide when the camera comes around!

We have had five straight days with rain storms. Not all day, but at least once or twice a day. The geese are loving it, but the mud and the craziness have laying a bit off. The Ameraucana who laid this tiny green egg is two years old!

Well, with Bailey and I heading off, I thought I would share the contest one last time, and remind you to enter, we will draw winners shortly after we get back!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Share with friends and have a great holiday weekend, cuddle your animals and stay safe!

Sunday Funday?

Well after a long night, where Vegas slept beneath the brooder, and the baby chick was annoyed with a moth and hollering the whole night, it took a bit to get me rolling to have anyone ready for church! Bailey wasn't sure if she had allergies or was getting sick again, so she stayed home and Wyatt and I went to church.  As we pulled in, a boy from the 4-H club dashed across the parking lot to say hi and welcome Wyatt.  How sweet!

We ran a couple of errands, and found some cute little terracotta frogs for the front yard at a yard sale. Wyatt completed a math test on the way home, and we made lunch and he sat down to work on schoolwork he should have finished last week as I headed off to tear apart the shower and Bailey set up a Chemistry experiment.Life is never dull around here!

It looks like the shower is going to take longer than I hoped, will work on another stage of that tomorrow. After dinner, some folks stopped by the farm to look at something Charlie has available for sale, and little baby chick, who is presently on the way to either the name Munchkin or Cookie Monster, got her first round as baby chick ambassador.

Isn't she cute? I think she hatched a little early, based  upon the dates I have listed, and so far no one has hatched to be her friend, so she is spending a lot of time being held and cuddled!  She doesn't seem to mind at all. =)

I did transplant a few tomato starts. It was time to give up on those yellow pear tomatoes. As much as I enjoyed them, I will have to remember that they need to be earlier plants for next year!

During the evening news, I got the recent batch of Goat's Milk Lavender Soap into the packaging.  This was after reprinting all of the labels, because I forgot to put the cocoa butter on the ingredient list!  Oops...

 These photos are form an Emu Oil project I am working on. What is Emu Oil? What role does it play in soap? I will get to all of that tomorrow, I promise! It is enough for a post all in and of its own.

I will also cover the ins and outs of vegetarian soap, too!  But if the post gets too long, I might separate them!

For now, cute little paw prints and soaps and baby chicks will have to hold us all over until tomorrow, because I am TIRED!  Love to all!