Four Winds Ranch: " Life on the Farm "

[Four Winds Ranch]

I had 2 hens setting on eggs! About 8 eggs each. They are each in their own brood boxes, and a couple days ago, while I was out feeding the chickens, I could hear little peeps! I was extatic! I love new/baby/animals!!!!
I checked to see how many each had, and was a bit dissappointed to find one had 4 and the other only 2! For some reason most of them didn't make the trip out of the shell. Have to figure out what is causing the shells to be too hard) But, all the same, 6 chicks is nothing to frown at!!!
A couple days ago, I went to out to feed the cute little things, and was horrifide to find one dead, and its mother was attacking another! As fast as I could, I managed to grab the little one she was after, only to find her going after yet another! She is a black bantem hen and the only chick she doesn't attack out of the 4 of them is the black one which I left with her! ( I think black bantems are evil!)
I gave the 2 disowned chicks to the other mother hen, who accepted them with no problem. Not before I realized that one of the attacked chicks was bleeding! Upon closer inspection, I noticed that its little leg was broken! I decided to see if I could help the poor little thing, so got out my first-aid supplies. I attemted my first splint cast/wrap sucsessfully, ( I think) on a 2 day old chick's little toothpick sized leg! It was definatly a delicate procedure to say the least!
It is now on day 3 with my splint job, and is hobbling around fine, eating and drinking!
I may be congradulating my self early, but only time will tell!!!!!

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[Four Winds Ranch]

This year, my sheep have had a pretty good year with lambing! Yes, I couldn't help but to mention to a few people how easy my "Do-It-On-Their-Own" herd is!!!
I bragged to soon and jinxed myself!
There was one ewe left to go (Elsie), and I figure with the way the year is going, piece of cake!
One afternoon, on my regular checks, I note that she is in labour! Yes! Lambing is done now I can sleep! p!!!!!
I leave her for a bit, and return in about 30min., and disappointedly notice she hasn't licked the lamb off and was standing at the opposite end of the pen as the lamb. :/ I grab a towel and dry the little thing off, gentlely push it towards its mom to nurse as the Elsie starts kicking and jumping around like crazy as the lamb walks towards her! After a bit I grab Elsie and hold her so the lamb can suck.
A little while later I check and find that Elsie was still thinking the lamb is some sort of monster that is going to eat her! Dissapointed, I held the her again so the lamb could nurse. not sure how much the little thing was getting, I started mixing up a bottle to suppliment after the he nursed. This became my daily, and nightly, routine.
Day before yesterday, things got a bit easier, cause whenever it was time to feed the lamb (which I named Energizer), Elsie would still run around and try to kick as the lamb tried to nurse, but, once I entered the pen and squatted down, she would stop dead and let her the lamb suck! This is a lot easier than catching her and holding her every time!
Last night at midnight I mixed up the bottle and traipsed down to the barn in the dark for my nightly ritual. As I walked, I kept telling myself, " what are you doing, it has been 10 days, if she hasn't accepted the lamb by now she isn't giong to! Face the fact, you have a bottle lamb!" As I get to the barn and open the gate, all is quiet, no running every which way or lamb bleating. They are both asleep. Elsie gets up, and the lamb slowly WALKS over to see me, takes a couple sucks from the bottle and walks away! What is going on? The little fella always runs over and guzzles the bottle like he is starving! I pick up Energizer and his little belly feels full!
As I go out of the barn and turn to look over the gate, Energizer runs up and starts nursing from Elsie!!!!
This morning, yep sure enough! She was still letting him nurse!!!!! It is amazing! I wonder what change Elsie's mind about her lamb, I am definatly not complaining, and am sure glad I didn't give up on her and take the lamb away for a bottle lamb!!!

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

Well, here we are, almost the middle of June, and all the babies this farm will see this year have been born!!!! Or so I thought!
Every day when I go out to check sheep, milk the cow, and about three-quarters of all the chores every day, I walk by a huge log pile . The logs are big ( at least 2-3 feet around), old and gray, about 20 feet long. I have a black tarp thrown over part of the pile in hopes of keeping the logs dry so we can use them for firewood. Well, today as I walked past the big log pile, I heard a horrible commotion.....somewhere...... I think the log pile.....! It sounded like one of the chickens have gotten out and invaded some birds' nest, and something was killing them all, something like that anyway!!! I very carefully (as this log pile has been known to house a few skunks in the past) circled the pile trying to find where the noise was coming from, exactly. I THINK I have the spot, so I grab the edge of the tarp and throw part of it off! There is one of the farm cats looking at me.....mmmmm... I throw up more of the tarp and find my chicken, which I could have sworn had gotten eaten by something, sittin in the crack between a couple of the logs! She has been missing for weeks!!! :/ The cat runs off, and I reached down to pick up the hen. She pecked me but never even moved! Thats odd, usually they try to get away even if they know there is no chance! :/ Maybe she is hurt after all! I put my sleeves over my hands and pick her up there are 7 little chicks that start to peep loudly, and run every which way!!!! No wonder this missing chicken was upset a bit ago at the cat sneaking up the logs to where she and the chicks were hiding!!!!
I now have the mother her and her 7 little chicks in their own cat-proof cage! It looks like I will have a growing number of chicks to come, as another hen has decide she needed some babies and started setting on some eggs of her own!

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[TTs Chicks]

Glad you found the momma and chicks before kitty had a snack or got beat up by the momma hen

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

Today, I found myself a new addition to the farm!!!!!
Her name is " Oprah ", and she is a pot-belly pig! My baby " Johnny " (who is also a pot-belly pig) is pretty impressed with his self! I think I have been replace!
Oprah is about 18 inches tall and a touch over weight. By this fall some time I should have some baby piggies!!!!!

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[Four Winds Ranch]

HOLIDAYS!
They are sooo relaxing and fun, but once you get home you wish you never went!!!
I was gone for 2 weeks and got a farm sitter. He did an excelent job, everything that went on would have happened whether I was home or not. It is just the shock of change once you get home!
When I got home, my 2yr. old Katadin ram, Andy, had lost a lot of weight! That was quite a surprise as he has always been a very healthy active young fella. Upon closer in spection, I realized he isn't eating much at a time before he goes and lays down. I THINK he must have have some of those nose fly larvas (bots), because he seems to have a bit of discharge, he interupts his eatig suddenly by whipping his head to the ground and sometimes giving his head a shake before he lays down. Poor Andy! Don't think there is anything I can give him to kill the larva, I don't want them stuck in there!

The other after holiday surprise is........ my chickens! When I left, I had 49 and 3 roosters! Now that I am back, I now have 16 hens and 2 roosters! One word " F-O-X "!!!!! My chicken yard is a carpet of feathers, and the wire has so many round holes that there is more holes than wire! To make matters worse, the sneaky fox has been back almost every day for another chicken!! How does one get rid of these nasty little THINGS!!!!!!!?????

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

Well,..... I havent been on for a while.
Our farm has been pretty busy lately! but, not in a good way! :/
Not to mention my, on going problem with Mr. Fox and my poultry, but now, in the last couple weeks I have been waking up every few mornings to a horror show!!!
The cayotes have discovered where I keep my sheep!!!! just from looking at the ground, fence, and sheep that have been grabbed ( dead and alive ),one can totally read what happened during the night! I have suddenly become a marks woman, vet, and the grave digger! I have come to the conclusion that cayotes are very disgustingly, violent, unfeeling animals, and it wouldnt be soon enough if I never saw another! ( But, that is the problem! You can never see them; the sly, sneacky, evil things!) I am sure they serve a purpose, but what?
My gaurdian dog, Mick, has lost his hearing this summer so I am assuming that is why I have the cayote issue.
Just last week, I have gotten myself a couple gaurdian pups!!!!!!! Pyrenees/Maremma. Their names are Jessie and Jake. Lol, next summer... cayotes, I dare you to try and have lamb dinner!!!!! (at least I hope....)

 

[Bridgemoof]

Hi FourWinds,

I really enjoyed reading your whole blog, start to finish! You have great animal stories. But I need to know, did you ever find out HOW THE LLAMA got pregnant? And did the other llama have a baby, too? This is like reading a soap opera and I missed some episodes!

I'm so sorry about the fox, and the sheep and the coyotes. I would be so devastated if a coyote showed up on our property and my sheep showed up dead in the morning!

And what about your Katahdin ram? Did he turn out okay? Maybe it is a urinary calculi, just thinking.

How about the pigs? Did they mate? (Now I'm thinking how much fun to have some pot belly pigs roaming around the barnyard...hmmm).

Keep us up to date on everything! I love your stories. Sounds like a really fun farm.

 

[BrownSheep]

I never minded coyotes till I got sheep...now all I see when I see them are lamb corpses....those look like good coyote eaters!

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

I never minded coyotes till I got sheep...now all I see when I see them are lamb corpses....those look like good coyote eaters!

Lol, yes I am hoping they will grow fat on coyotes! I have a question! What are chukars?