It Has Finally Cooled Down!

Yesterday morning the horses and donkeys ate their breakfast in the dry lot.

Normally they are just coming in from the pasture at that time of day.

However, the previous night had been stormy, so we elected to 

keep everyone in overnight.

(They did get to spend last night out in the pasture, however.)

While I was cleaning up manure from the previous night,

I heard a loud bleating coming from the pig yard.

I went over the the pig house to find that Faith was in the pig house,

while the pigs were eating their breakfast.

The bleating had to have come from Hope.

I peered around the corner of the pig house to find Hope

sticking her nose through the fence and loudly calling to get our attention.

The first one to see what all the noise was about was Sammie.

He was very interested in what Hope had to say.

Next, Scarlet wandered over to have a tete-a-tete with 

the complaining sheep.

I get such a kick out of watching animal behavior.

Every time I am out with the animals, something different is happening.

It's all so fascinating....

all of these personalities all mixed together.

Yesterday we had to let the older ducks out of their yard to free-range.

They have been getting a little rough with the youngsters.

[chalking that behavior up to testosterone... that nasty hormone!]

The new plan is to have the youngsters stay in the yard with one pool of water,

while the older ducks will stay outside during the day with a second pool of water.

Separating them for a portion of the day will give the youngsters a bit of a break.

It won't be long until they are fully grown.

At that point they will be able to handle the older ducks just fine.

The baby hens are getting bolder with each passing day.

They venture out in their yard quite often, but take refuge in their house

as soon as I approach.

Last evening we found two youngsters that had somehow worked their way 

through the fence around their yard.

Jack rescued them and put them back in their house.

(naughty adolescents!)

All were present and accounted for at bedtime.

We are still picking blueberries every few days.

Last night's haul was about 20 pounds.

We are seriously thinking about opening a "pick-your-own" next summer.

We have more blueberries than we can use in a year's time...

almost half a freezer full of blueberries!

The farm is in Hubb's capable hands today as I am headed to NYC

for a girls' day.

I will miss visiting with you tomorrow,

but will be back with more tales from the farm on Friday.