Adjusting

Now that we have even more critters to look after we have been busy! Chores start early - as soon as it is light out which is currently around 5:30 AM. I'm up early, so it's not that huge of a shock, but it does make the morning go quickly. I've figured out a good routine though, we'll see how long it works out.

Just this week I have learned that I need to let the two hooligans out otherwise Mr. Lenny will fly over the fence. He hasn't done that before and maybe he didn't realize what exactly he was doing, but I HAVE to get them out before I start working my way around the pens. In fact, when he popped over the fence and landed he just stood there somewhat dumbfounded - as if he were asking why didn't Sheldon follow him. I'm not sure that Shelly could actually make it. He's a duck and all, but he rarely gets his little squatty body off the ground and mainly uses his wings to run faster when he is playing with Tom.

ANYWAY

Boys come out and off to feed the pigs - they are super easy! I distract them with some bread and then quickly dump some of their feed onto the ground. Once they finish their appetizer they happily start munching away on the feed which then turns into a little grazing at the same time.

Rex is on the left...then girly Fiona with her cute pink nose and feet!

Next on the list would be the Magpie Squad...

We are still unsure what is going thru Lenny's head when he looks at the girls.

The little Magpies are just over three weeks old and growing like crazy! They definitely know where the food comes from and will stand at the end of their little courtyard and scream at the top of their lungs until I get over there to feed them. These 7 ducklings can make a lot of noise! That's okay - they are super cute!

As they grow I am noticing that most of them are quite large, there is one runt in the group. So I am hopeful that they are all female, just as I requested. The only thing about that is how does anyone know for sure. Man, I hope they're mostly girls...Sheldon is already pretty spazzy, what if we have one or two more drakes to deal with?

OYE!

Also, I'm not sure if we'll be housing these littles with the rest of the flock when it comes to that point. They might need their own home. Oh My Goodness...Lenny and 8 ducks?! We'll figure that out later.

Then at last the main chicken pen. The Javas are still not roosting in the coop at night so they are free ranging when I finally get to them. This is actually perfect though. Because they are new to the flock they still get bullied by the big girls when it's food time. So they get to eat before the others are released. While they get to eat, the hooligans are out foraging  so the Javas have a chance to eat in peace. As soon as a couple of the Javas are done eating and start wandering around I let the rest of the girls out and chaos ensues! 

Time to make my exit! 

Depending on the day, sometimes it is a chore to get the two dudes back in with the girls. They are usually pretty good though, except for yesterday. Little stinkers! Lenny was unhappy with me...which is fine because I was REALLY unhappy with him. Most of the time they are pretty easy and want to get back in and eat. It seems now that we no longer have a rooster, they don't care so much about going back right away. I don't know if they were trying to protect the girls from Thor, but they were always ready to head back. 

The evening routine is pretty much the same. Getting a second ration of  food to all of the babies and then scratch for the hens. The ducklings are the most work as they mess up the tub that they get to swim in pretty quickly. So sometimes it gets refreshed twice a day sometimes more. They are stinky little peepers for sure! I just don't remember Lenny & Shelly eating so much. Maybe they did...it's hard to say. 

Things will change yet again when we get the Freedom Rangers from the hatchery on July 3rd. We have until about the end of July to figure out what to do with the ducklings. Add them to the flock or give all the waterfowl their own area? 

That's still a ways off, so we'll just enjoy the process until then. 

The best thing from today...

The Kia is truly the All-Haul vehicle

That's a lot of bread! The back seat was folded down too!

 A friend of mine told me about how I could get Franz products at the local outlet for super cheap, so I went and checked it out.

For $10 I can get a Cart of bread that is not sellable to the general public in the outlet. These items are sold as hog & bird food. So last week on Monday I visited the outlet in Hazel Dell and I got onto the list.  Today was pick-up day. We had a lot happening today, so I was really hoping that the bread would be available during my lunch break...SCORE!! We got lucky today - the truck came back early. 

Anyway, the back of my car is filled with hamburger buns! If this is considered a cart - I am not sure that I want to know how much is in a RACK!

What is considered a cart? Well, that would be 10 trays of bread. In this case each tray had 6 packages of hamburger buns and for the heck of it we got a bonus tray. Each package has 12 buns...you do the math!

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

That should last us a while. On top of that the clerk handed Tom a few packages of bear claws and cinnamon rolls...seriously, this is getting ridiculous!

What have I gotten myself into?! Craziness!!

So while we continue to adjust to the changes at home and try to do the regular daily stuff...I believe more than ever that Farm Life is the Best Life!!

I still can't get over this!