Donna's Korner

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Yard Ladies

You know chickens can be quite comical!
Each morning when I 'tend to the animals' I let the chickens loose.....well, sort of loose anyway, (they have their own yard). I open up the door to the coop (aka the goat house)so that they can get outdoors and enjoy the 'good things' like sunshine, air, grass, bugs, water, dirt, etc.

As soon I step out my door I can hear them bawking, you know..... bawk,bawk,bawk. Their excitement grows as I get near to their place. I can practically count all 9 + the turkey (Jake) from afar because their heads are all sticking through the wire door watching for me. They know exactly why I'm heading their way. As soon as the only thing separating them from all the 'good things' in life is out of the way, they run toward the water trough to quench their thirst. And then they run toward me all at once each one trying to reach me first... just in case I have something extra special like bread.

Chickens come in several breeds, styles and or varieties. I personally have 3 beautiful rich red almost mahogony colored ones called Rhode Island Reds, 1 Americauna, her name is 'Girlfriend', 2 black & white Light Brahma's with funny little feathers growing on their ankles (do chickens have ankles?) 1 Buff Orphington and 2 Bantam roosters aka Banty Rooster, a little red Sebright and a little Black Silkie.

Even though all my chickens havn't been named the Sebright and the Americauna have been. The Sebright rooster earned his name (s), Pecker, Boyfriend, Little Man and most recently "CUSS' because he will attack!! I have to go in armed at every visit!! The Americauna's name is Girlfriend, sweet little thing that she is, she belongs to CUSS!! And, boy does he watch over and take care of her!

They bless me with usually 5 eggs a day which I share with my family and friends.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

I absolutely love BARNS! I think they are beautiful, unfortunately we had to 'knock down' Old Blue who had been around since 1916. In it's place a new barn is going up. It doesn't hold a candle to Old Blue. I suppose it will develop it's own character as time goes on.

I'm glad barns can't speak because I would most likely sit in them for hours on end listening to their stories, thus I would get nothing else done! I imagine if they could speak they would share the history of their era and stories that no one would otherwise know about.

When we first moved to our present location, I remember walking into 'Old Blue' and smelling the musty air. It filled my nostrils with a mixture of oil, dust, urine and donkey pooh! The previous owner had 3 or 4 donkeys around and they spent their nights in a portion of the old barn that had concrete floors, a raised area for their hay, a water spigot, and a drain in the middle of the floor.

It's ceiling was rather lofty, as most barns are, and stored remnants of old lumber.

On it's back side, there was an old rusty metal conveyor that transferred hay from 'down below' up into the rafters of the old loft.

At dusk shadows darted around the top of it like a large halo as the bats set out for the night in search of food, mosquito and the like. During the day they nestled up underneath a loose board that hung on a wall in the donkey stall. I discovered them quite by accident one day as I heard a scratching sound somewhere on or in that particular wall. I called to Tom "honey, there are RATS in this wall, or something!" He lifted the loosely hung board and the swarm of bats came exiting in disarray and fear. Tom ran out ahead, leaving me behind to fend for myself, he later felt guilty for not having 'protected his wife'. I'm sure the bats were just as terrified.

Did Old Blue invite them in? Did they just move in unannounced one day? How long, I wonder had they been inhabiting the old barn?

When Old Blue came down on that sad, sad day the bats were so confused. They flew around and around not knowing what just happened and where to go now!! I'm sure the daylight hours didn't help any, either! At any rate, they are gone now, I wonder sometimes where they went?

So now with the new barn going up, there is excitement in the air......something about a barn party? We'll see :)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Changes at the Ranch

We've made some changes on the ranch! Awww, Tom will sleep anywhere LOL. We have finally collected eggs from our chickens. Turkey Lurkey thinks 'the girls' (chickends) are his! And, the goats, Momma, Maxwell, Betty and Coco have a life of luxury!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

My First Blog Post

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