promiseacres
Herd Master
She looks like she's dropped.. 
Ella (A Barn Cat’s Journey of Mothering)
- Thread starter Wehner Homestead
- Start date
MiniSilkys
Loving the herd life
for a small amount and mostly boys. You don't want to have to pay for so many spayings. $99 here for females. 
and no discount for farm cats. Shelby county does them for $25 each!- Thread starter
- #33
Wehner Homestead
Herd Master
Last neuter I had done was $150!!!
Ella still hasn’t exploded. I really have no idea how.
Here’s her updated maternity photos from this evening.
Ella still hasn’t exploded. I really have no idea how.
Here’s her updated maternity photos from this evening.
MiniSilkys
Loving the herd life
Wow, and I thought ours was high!
- Thread starter
- #35
Wehner Homestead
Herd Master
@MiniSilkys i wish ours were as cheap as yours. That be almost two for the price of one.
- Thread starter
- #36
Wehner Homestead
Herd Master
We have kittens!!! 
Ella has five kittens currently and I’m not sure she’s done. DH saw her this morning and she didn’t greet us for evening chores. We hunted the barn and shop without luck. I went through the barn loft twice and threatened to move every bale.
The yellow tomcat was present when I was in the loft and DH saw another black tom this morning. I knew if I didn’t find them, that one of them would first. I couldn’t take that chance.
I was checking in Sweetheart and Flower’s heat barrel because Ella often sits on it and I was getting desperate for where they could be. I heard the tiniest “mew” but couldn’t locate it. I then heard a suckling sound. I narrowed it down to a particular wall of the barn but that left several places to look.
DH came to listen to make sure I hadn’t lost mine mind. He heard them too. There’s a panel wall with a gap between it and the tin on the barn. We checked the two I could get to from Nellie’s Kidding pen. There was one in the main doe pen that I wanted to check next. If they weren’t there, I had a narrowed down area of the loft to search.
Ella was behind the four foot wall and I could see several kittens nursing. There was no way to keep them safe from the toms though.
We hurried and set up a crate because I still hadn’t done that. DD1 was set down in the gap but due to a 2x4 running parallel to the ground, she couldn’t get all the way down in the hole. (She wasn’t standing on old loose hay that was in there on the one end but couldn’t reach Ella or the kittens.)
I snapped a pic of Ella down in the gap. DH and I tried several ways to reach her without success. I was 4-6 inches from the top of her head. (Ella is on a small space of the floor, there’s a main post in front of her.)
I was ready to rip out the paneling. DH looked like he was going to throw a fit before I did that! He then said maybe he could pull the tin out.
I stayed in the barn and when he was outside, I knocked on the tin until he found the right area. He then shown a light under the tin until he was right where Ella was. He was thrilled to find that there was a seam right there. While he waited on me to get outside to help, he took the nail out. The kids were holding flashlights for us. DH pulled the two pieces of tin out and I was able to scruff Ella and pull her out. I unfortunately drug some nursing kittens out with her so DH gathered them up quickly. He pulled the tin apart again as I held a purring Ella. He got the remaining kitten from the gap. We had a bucket with some straw and a fleece blanket ready to put them in, then the blanket tail was laid over the top of the bucket to keep the wind off of them.
We hurried to the garage with our precious cargo. DH carefully carried the bucket, older two kids had lights, and I carried Ella and DD2!
Once in the garage, I held Ella (still purring) while I carefully placed all FIVE kittens in their makeshift cave/bed. I then set Ella in front of it and she quickly joined them in the bed.
I peeked in on them quickly after we did another check of the gap to make sure we didn’t miss a kitten and DH fixed the tin and replaced the nail. All seemed to be doing well. Ella was purring and kneading, even bumping my hands a few times. Kittens were happily nursing.
I’m not sure she’s done as her belly was still quite large but I didn’t push the issue and will let her be.
So far there’s one calico and one tortoiseshell. Both of those have to be females. The other three I didn’t even try to check genders on since they are so little and I wanted them settled quickly. Two of those are gray tabbies. The last appears to be a smoky black but was still damp so time will tell.
I did get a few pics. I was trying to be minimally disruptive.
Ella has five kittens currently and I’m not sure she’s done. DH saw her this morning and she didn’t greet us for evening chores. We hunted the barn and shop without luck. I went through the barn loft twice and threatened to move every bale.
The yellow tomcat was present when I was in the loft and DH saw another black tom this morning. I knew if I didn’t find them, that one of them would first. I couldn’t take that chance.
I was checking in Sweetheart and Flower’s heat barrel because Ella often sits on it and I was getting desperate for where they could be. I heard the tiniest “mew” but couldn’t locate it. I then heard a suckling sound. I narrowed it down to a particular wall of the barn but that left several places to look.
DH came to listen to make sure I hadn’t lost mine mind. He heard them too. There’s a panel wall with a gap between it and the tin on the barn. We checked the two I could get to from Nellie’s Kidding pen. There was one in the main doe pen that I wanted to check next. If they weren’t there, I had a narrowed down area of the loft to search.
Ella was behind the four foot wall and I could see several kittens nursing. There was no way to keep them safe from the toms though.
We hurried and set up a crate because I still hadn’t done that. DD1 was set down in the gap but due to a 2x4 running parallel to the ground, she couldn’t get all the way down in the hole. (She wasn’t standing on old loose hay that was in there on the one end but couldn’t reach Ella or the kittens.)
I snapped a pic of Ella down in the gap. DH and I tried several ways to reach her without success. I was 4-6 inches from the top of her head. (Ella is on a small space of the floor, there’s a main post in front of her.)
I was ready to rip out the paneling. DH looked like he was going to throw a fit before I did that! He then said maybe he could pull the tin out.
I stayed in the barn and when he was outside, I knocked on the tin until he found the right area. He then shown a light under the tin until he was right where Ella was. He was thrilled to find that there was a seam right there. While he waited on me to get outside to help, he took the nail out. The kids were holding flashlights for us. DH pulled the two pieces of tin out and I was able to scruff Ella and pull her out. I unfortunately drug some nursing kittens out with her so DH gathered them up quickly. He pulled the tin apart again as I held a purring Ella. He got the remaining kitten from the gap. We had a bucket with some straw and a fleece blanket ready to put them in, then the blanket tail was laid over the top of the bucket to keep the wind off of them.
We hurried to the garage with our precious cargo. DH carefully carried the bucket, older two kids had lights, and I carried Ella and DD2!
Once in the garage, I held Ella (still purring) while I carefully placed all FIVE kittens in their makeshift cave/bed. I then set Ella in front of it and she quickly joined them in the bed.
I peeked in on them quickly after we did another check of the gap to make sure we didn’t miss a kitten and DH fixed the tin and replaced the nail. All seemed to be doing well. Ella was purring and kneading, even bumping my hands a few times. Kittens were happily nursing.
I’m not sure she’s done as her belly was still quite large but I didn’t push the issue and will let her be.
So far there’s one calico and one tortoiseshell. Both of those have to be females. The other three I didn’t even try to check genders on since they are so little and I wanted them settled quickly. Two of those are gray tabbies. The last appears to be a smoky black but was still damp so time will tell.
I did get a few pics. I was trying to be minimally disruptive.
- Thread starter
- #37
Wehner Homestead
Herd Master
I took a large dog crate and covered as much of the top and three sides with a sheet as I could. The completely open end is where the gate is. I then took a large diaper box and taped one side and one end flap shut to make the opening smaller and keep the kittens from being able to get out for now. I placed the box with the opening toward the side that was completely covered by the sheet. We gave her a litter box, water bowl, and some dry food in the other space of the crate.
I have some canned food to supplement her with but I don’t expect her to be interested quite yet.
I’ll need to figure out a way to keep the kittens from escaping around the bottom of the crate. This was something we had issues with when we had the bottle kittens last summer. I’ve got a few days to come up with a solution though.
I have some canned food to supplement her with but I don’t expect her to be interested quite yet.
I’ll need to figure out a way to keep the kittens from escaping around the bottom of the crate. This was something we had issues with when we had the bottle kittens last summer. I’ve got a few days to come up with a solution though.
Bruce
Herd Master
I'm sure glad she made it easy for you!
Very happy you were able to find her and rescue everyone.
Very happy you were able to find her and rescue everyone.
Carla D
True BYH Addict
They are beautiful babies. Ella is a very pretty cat. I’m glad you were able to put them in a safe spot. Your girls are going to love watching them grow.
promiseacres
Herd Master
silly cats... your DH sounds like mine....
