Wordless Wednesday: Something in the Water, Part II

Wordless Wednesday: Something in the Water

Wordless Wednesday: The grass is always greener.....

Goodbye Sarge

Sunset over the barn

It's a feeling I never get used to... the feeling that comes over me whenever I lose a member of my farm family. No matter how many animals I've lost (and believe me, it's been a bunch...) I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that they're gone.
Gone.
Even days afterwards I'm still counting heads and missing one....

Yesterday I lost one of my favorite hens in the whole world... Sarge.
Now just for the record, Sarge was no sweet cuddly chicken who loved to be picked up and held or made on over... but she was so unique and quirky it was laughable and this endeared her to me. She was odd-looking from the beginning; she had a huge comb that made you swear at first glance she was a rooster, and beautiful dark plumage around her head and neck that gave way to golden mottled feathers on her back and bottom. But it was her personality that made her such a hoot... almost like a drill sergeant she made the other hens walk the line. There was no question who was at the top of the pecking order in her coop, and if you tried to buck the system you were rewarded with a swift peck on the head. And when I came to the coop with treats, the other hens would gleefully come running while Sarge would cock her head to the side and glance at me with one eye as if to say, "this better be good."

I was so very sad when I found the pile of beautiful feathers she had left behind in her struggle with the predator, but I had to smile when I saw another pile... then another pile... I have no doubt she put up some kind of fight, and I had to chuckle when I pictured the predator thinking to itself that she was probably the toughest piece of meat it had ever tried to devour.
Her sister and constant companion Big Bird is very silent and still today... almost as if she is missing her and waiting for her to come back.

I started to post a picture of the feathers that were left behind, but then I thought, "no, that's not fitting enough for Sarge".... so instead I'll post my favorite picture of her- the way I will always remember her, with her head tilted and giving me the "look".

Sleep tight, Sarge..... you will be missed.

Friday Farm Fotos: Breakfast

Happy Friday, everyone!

Friday Farm Fotos: Bathed in morning light

Linky Love

For this edition of Friday Farm Fotos I am linking up with my friends over at Verde Farm for their "Farm Friend Friday"- if you love farm photos and can't get enough of them, click on the button below and it will take you to many more wonderful farmy places to visit.

And the winner is:

I put all the names in the hat from the comments left on Tuesday's post and let Hubby draw a winner for me....

And the Rooster Pie Bird goes to:

Mary from Visits with Mary!

Congratulations, Miss Mary- email your address to me and your little pie bird will be on it's way.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Friday Farm Funny: Chickie Chatter

If I happen to be just a teeny bit late with the afternoon treats,
this is the reception I get....

Happy Friday, everybody!

Friday Farm Fotos: Sunbathing Chickies

Despite the fact that it was only 40 degrees outside, the clouds opened up long enough for Whitey and Ruthie to get the urge to soak their old bones in the warm sunshine for a few minutes.

(And I mean old bones... by our best calculations they are at least 7 years old, maybe more- which in chickens years is ancient.)

 

This is the poultry equivalent to a weekend in Palm Springs....

12:05 p.m.-

12:11 p.m.-

 12:15 p.m.- Tanned and refreshed, now back to the hunt for bugs.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Farm Happenings Thursday: Flying sheep and chicken tracks

"Did someone say...TREATS?"

I had a special "Home" Happenings Thursday to share with you today, but due to unforeseen circumstances (okay, okay~ I didn't have all the pictures ready... *sigh*) it will have to wait until Monday.
Instead, it has been replaced with another episode of  "Farm" Happenings.... besides, I just couldn't wait to share some pictures of our snowy week with you.

Hubby and I have so much fun watching the sheep when they take a notion to romp and play, but I never seem to have my camera handy when the mood hits them; even if I do, I'm never quick enough to capture the moment.

Until now.

No, your eyes do not deceive you~ on the far left of the picture is the very graceful and acrobatic Sweetie caught in mid-flight.

Not to be outdone, the not-so-graceful (and very plump) Tiny is bringing up the rear; trying his best to catch some serious air.

*giggle*cough*

Notice how even though his front feet are off the ground, the rest of him doesn't seem to be able to defy gravity long enough to take flight.

And then there is this...
 for some reason this makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.

Chicken tracks in the snow.

 Notice the single pair of huge feet leading up to the spot where apparently a group of cluckies were gathered to brag about who laid the biggest egg this week...

Or were they line dancing?

Unfortunately, I have not been able to capture that on camera....yet...

Happy weekend everybody!

Farm Happenings Monday: Snow, sheep, and eggs

We had another visit from Old Man Winter on Saturday and lots more is on the way today- it's 5:00 a.m. and the snow is piling up fast. Hubby just left a few minutes ago- he has to go to work earlier than normal in bad weather. Lily and I are sitting by the woodstove enjoying the early morning quiet.... (well, I am- Lily is snoring again.) The only sounds I hear outside are my wind chimes singing softly in the cold wind and roosters crowing... I love it when all the roosters wake up and get started- it's like roll call: first one is always Beau, my biggest black silkie roo; then my little buddy, Cecil; then Buster, the splash silkie roo, and then last but not least, Whitey wakes his old bones up and eeks out some noises that sound nothing like a normal crow at first...but once he gets the frog out of his throat he really kicks it in high gear and crows for the rest of the morning.

I'm trying to keep a good fire going in the woodstove just in case we lose electricity... I have enough stacked up on the porch to last through today but if Hubby gets tied up at work (he works for the power company) I'll have to load my little trailer up with wood from the barn and bring it down the hill with the 4-wheeler. I'm so thankful I have this little gem to make light work of some otherwise tough tasks around the farm:

From the barn:

We seem to be doing pretty good on our hay supply right now... I've been trying to keep track of how many bales we've used so far and we're just about to the halfway point. I'm really happy we were able to put up on own hay this summer.... even though it was very hard work, it is really good hay full of nutrients and the sheep love it. It makes my heart happy to know my animals are well-fed and content.

The scoop from the coops:

It's official- the cold weather and short days have caused the Americauna girls to finally quit laying. Sarge and Big Bird, my two oldest green-eggers, haven't laid an egg since Thanksgiving and my four newbies: Goldie, Blackie, Shirley, and Chatty Cathy, who were all spring hatchlings, have also gradually slowed down and finally stopped altogether. Chatty Cathy is an interesting bird- I'll have to do an entire post on her sometime. I had a Chatty Cathy doll when I was a little girl, but Chatty the Bird talks circles around the doll. She will stand at my feet and go "rah rah rah rah" NON-STOP. The only thing that shuts her up for a little while is a handful of corn, and she gets that quite a bit.

Hmmm..... maybe she's smarter than I think she is....

 

Chatty Cathy, in one of the rare moments she isn't talking.

 

 

Farm Foto of the day:

Can you spot the sheep in this picture?

I think Edie is convinced the snow makes her invisible.

Happy Monday, everybody... hope you're staying warm today!

 

Ruthie's Little Game

This is Ruthie.

Ruthie and Whitey like coming to the back door for treats.

If no one comes to the back door to greet them in a timely manner, Ruthie and Whitey leave poop as a parting gift.

Ruthie has decided she will make my daily routine a little more interesting.

She has started hiding her eggs.

Oh, Ruthie has her own little nest box if she gets the urge to lay an egg- never mind the fact that she is getting up in years and her little egg factory only pops one out about once a week.

But she doesn't want to use her little nest box. It's not as much fun.

She started out using other people's boxes...

This did not sit well with the Broody Girl Mafia.

So she has decided to look elsewhere for a nice secluded spot in which to work things out.

Oh, it gets better....

At the end of the day, Ruthie always gives me a smirk...

(See? She is smirking at me!!!)

Almost as if she's saying,

"Still haven't found that last one I laid, have you?! MWAHAHAHAHA."

*Sigh*

Happy Friday, Everybody!!

Chickie Chalet

Big Bird finds a cool spot in the carport to escape this past weekend's 90-plus temperatures.

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I had to laugh at the title I picked for this post once I typed it down.... it sounds like a bad name for a 1950's movie starlet.

Anyhoo...

Without further delay, here is the latest project Hubby and I can mark off our never-ending to do list.....

the new hen house for our egg-laying girls!

Hubby worked so hard and now our young Rhode Island Reds are very happy and contented.

Since the house sits out in the sun with no shade trees around it, we left the underside of the house open so the girls could get under the house where it's nice and cool to escape the heat this summer.

And they've already figured it out as you can see....

Although this is a "Women Only" facility, that doesn't stop Whitey from dropping by for an occasional flirt, just in case he might find someone interested in a *ahem* fling....

All we need to finish the project is to build the nest boxes for the girls to lay their eggs in. They're still about a month away from egg production, so we have a little time left for that.

"Y'all come back!"

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My little garden spot is doing great- tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, and peppers have really taken off the last couple of weeks with the warmer temperatures we've been having.

My little apple tree is looking good, too- this is it's third year. 

Hubby will be cutting hay this week- his first time with the equipment he bought last year, so this will be an exciting week around the Fraker Farm. Pictures soon, I promise!

Happy Monday, everybody!