Sheep in the backyard

Did you know we have seven lawnmowers?  Here they are!

They do a pretty good job, although they haven't acquired a taste for certain weeds.  We may have to actually end up mowing weeds, but they do a good job with the grass!

I think they were plotting their break out in this pictures...caught ya!

How's that door taste?  Better than grass?

We haven't moved them fully out yet on pasture, just to the backyard for several reasons.  We haven't set up good tight fence yet.  And we've been having lots and lots of coyotes in our neighborhood.  Since it's been so nice outside, we have had our windows open.  And boy oh boy are coyotes loud at 1:00 in the AM!  I looked out my window as soon as I heard them one morning and could have sworn they would be in our backyard since they were so loud.  Jon even got on the four wheeler with a spotlight and shotgun to see if he could take care of a few.  No luck, but it does make me a little nervous to put the sheep out by themselves in the pasture.  We either need to get a guardian dog, put them with the cattle or bring them back to an enclosed area at night.  But we all know our luck with dogs....

Why yes, that is a pool noodle wrapped around my dog's neck!  Why in the world would a dog have a pool noodle around his neck?

So, he doesn't rip out his new stitches, of course!

Hopefully this experience will teach him not to mess with a heifer who has horns....

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Sometimes I think my dog is dead..

Sometimes I walk by the window, clutch my chest and exclaim..."Good lord, Max is dead!"

Oh nope...he's just sleeping...

Phew!

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our latest visitor

I was working the other day and I heard Max making a racquet. But not his normal, incessant barking. So I go outside to find this:

We have a visiting cat that Max is trying to welcome to the farm but, apparently, the cat isn't feeling very social. He's the black spot in the crook of the tree.

Even the ewes came over to see what all the commotion was about.

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Oh Maximus...

Some days you are such a sad sad puppy...

He's had a rough month.  And our pocketbook has had a rough month as well.  First he had his little stay at the vets office getting IV fluids.  And then he goes and gets hit by a car...by our landowner nonetheless. 

He's okay now, but he was pretty shaken up.  He had recently gotten into the bad habit of chasing and swooping at cars when they were in the farm yard.  He still won't go out of the farmyard due to the electric fence, but he was getting pretty close to cars as they drove into the yard.  We thought we were making progress on getting him to stop that bad habit, but one night when we weren't paying attention he got a little too close.

We heard him yelp and saw him come running up to the house, dripping blood.  Turns out he broke a toe and needed stitches to repair some lacerations on the inside of his thigh.  Sigh...there goes another $500...

And worse of all, he needed to wear that dang collar to keep him from licking at his wounds.  And he was not a happy camper.  He's such a good dog that he always let us put it on him without much fuss, but you could tell he hated it.  We would give him a little reprieve from it at night when we were watching him, but it had to stay on the rest of the time.  I think we FINALLY have his wounds healed up nicely.  Because after two weeks of having to wash off that dang collar so he could come inside, I was getting pretty tired of it.

Dear Max, we love you lots, but please please....could you stay out of the vets office for a couple months??????

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This is what $400 looks like...

A shaved leg on a dog!

Ignore the large sunspot as it was very difficult to get this dog to stay still tonight.  He was extremely focused on his ball...can you tell?

Anyways, Max's stomach issues are back again.  And this time they required IV fluids. 

It all started off last Wednesday night.  Max was being a pain in the rear and wanted to go out multiple times that time.  We couldn't figure out why, but we were so tired we just let him out.  The next night, he started in again at 1:00 in the AM.  And that was too much for me!  I refused to let him out, yelled at him to go to sleep and slammed the door in his face after multiple attempts by him.  And here is where the bad doggy mommy part comes in...he was vomiting downstairs and having bloody diarrhea.  He was trying to tell us that he needed to go out, but I was so mad about having my sleep interrupted that I wouldn't even listen.  I feel so guilty...

So, the next morning we found the spots and realized that he was not feeling well.  I took him in to the vet and we got our diagnosis.  Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis...basically the poor dog had so much bacteria in his stool, he was bleeding from the inside.  He was anemic as well from the blood loss, so he needed to stay all day at the vet to get some IV fluids.  Another shot in the heart for this bad doggy mom.

He's feeling much better now and is now two antibiotics.  I'm just glad that we realized what was going on, so we could help him.  As much as it hurts that I was so mean to him that night, I'm grateful we figured out he was sick before it got worse.  And as much as it hurts to pay for NINETY dollar for a 35 pound bag of dog food, I do it because I love that guy.

If you're not a dog lover, you probably don't understand why someone would spend so much money on a dog, especially their food.  If you are a dog lover...you get it!

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Mr. Rooster...I've got your number...

There may be some rooster butchering around the farm this weekend.  Highly likely in fact!

It all started when I was feeding the chickens one day and I felt a thump on the back of my legs.  I whirled around and there was a rooster just standing there like nothing had happened.  My first thought was that the dog had dropped something on the back of my legs to get me to play with him.  Then Jon said that he had the same thing happen to him.  Thump on the back of the legs and there was a rooster!

It escalated last night.  I was feeding the pigs and I hear little footsteps coming at me fast.  I turned around as fast as I could and I'll be darned if that dang rooster come to a sliding stop within a foot of me.  Of course, he was very nonchalant after that like he was saying.." Who me?  I wouldn't dare thump you in the back of the legs...I'm just an innocent little rooster...."

HA!  Innocent rooster, yeah right!  That darn thing was going to claw my legs and I know it.

Here's a pic of the culprit.

And even further proof that he was out to get me...this was taken a few seconds after I walked by him.

Definitely out to get me.

Plus these darn roosters crow all day long as part of a competition.  It was cute at first, but now it's extremely annoying.  And I just figured out why Max was howling in the mornings.  He was answering the chickens!  He did it a little tonight while I was feeding the pigs, which is funny because he never used to howl.

A rare picture of the diversity of our farm.  I spy a chicken, a pig who is out of his pen, a spunky little kitten and a dog who wants nothing more than to chase the rest of the animals in the picture.

Our remaining Royal Palm turkeys who thankfully turned out to be a male and a female.  Can't decide if we should breed them or eat them.

And a little fellow who was very curious.

When I ordered chickens, I ordered a straight run of Silver Laced Wyandottes.  But I'm pretty sure this guy is a Dominique.  You just never know what you will get with a chicken order!

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from around the farm

Spunky little things aren't they. I wish I would have had a camera with me when one of them was laying with a chicken yesterday.

Here's an older one the morning after a heavy rain (the stuff is still set up from the Pekin ducks). First are the runner ducks and then I find the other four ducks...

Here's a shot of Jamie's brief time on the mower. She's always been more of an artistic/abstract type and apparently that carries over into her mowing...

She never made the upcoming turn but she did manage to stop before running into the tree. 

POOLS FOR EVERYONE (wait where's our pool!?)

Here's Max chillin' in his own personal pool. I've had to move his to the east side of the house so the ducks/geese quit getting into it and making it all muddy. They have their own pool too.

 They boars have really mangled their plastic pool but it's still holding water. It'll work for this summer. I have grand plans for next year though.

Even the cattle get to swim. They're still skinny and we can't figure out why so we moved them to a big area with shade trees and a pond to see if that would help.

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Bob is in rehab...

Bob had a rather unfortunate run in with Max.  Max nearly killed the poor duck.

We pulled up late on the 4th of July and I could see Bob right up by the porch by himself.  The headlights shown on him and he didn't even move a muscle.  I immediately knew something was wrong, because ducks do not like to be by themselves and his feathery hairdo was all askew.

As I walked up to him, I saw the damage.  Max had ripped out a huge chunk of feather on his back and sides.  He even ripped out some feather on his head.  I started to pray the Prayer of All Mothers "Lord...give me strength....", because that dang dog had done it again. 

I picked up Bob and took him inside to wash him off as Jon scolded Max.  Poor Bob's skin was all bright pink where his feathers were missing.  I hoped that by washing off some dog slobber that Bob would have a chance.  And don't think that I didn't want to smear triple antibiotic ointment on him, because I did.  But I also didn't want to mess with his digestive system if he started to clean his feathers.

So, we put him in a cordoned off area of the shed and hoped for the best.  I should also say that poor Bob was in shock the entire time.  He didn't even move at all when I set him down or picked him up.  The next morning he was running around and a little bit and his skin wasn't so bright pink.  I took that as a good sign. 

This Bob when he was little...wasn't he the cutest!  Now keep in mind, that I just assume Bob is a male, I don't actually know.

This is Bob now.  You can barely see a few spots where his feathers are starting to grow in.  Oh, and right at that moment he was falling.  He is walking with a huge limp, which is why he is in rehab, aka "The Duck Pen".

He was all alone for a couple days, but I couldn't stand to see him lonely.  So, I captured a few stray ducks.  I could tell he immediately brightened up and started to shake his tail feathers.  Lonely animals are sad to see, because all they really want to do is be by each other.

So, hopefully Bob is on the mend and we scared the crap out of Max so bad that he won't do this again.  But you just never know with that dog...

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What a nice summer day...

A little relaxing in the hammock...



Watching a few duckies stroll on by...



Admiring some pretty flowers...



Smiling at the spunky kitty...

AND THEN BEING ATTACKED!!!!

By a puppy who really really wants to play...

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My dog is officially a chicken killer.

And it is very frustrating.

I should be more exact...a turkey killer.  Somehow he has managed to kill ALL of our remaining Bourbon Red turkeys.  Only one or two chickens actually met their demise. 

He's not getting into the pen with the turkeys....no...he's just waiting for them to fly out!  I'm tired of going out to the chicken coop and finding dead birds in the yard.  Even more so, I'm tired of yelling at my dog and trying to resist the urge to hit him.  I would never beat a dog, but ooooh boy, he pushes me to the limits.

Yesterday, we let him out for ten minutes unsupervised.  I couldn't hear his tags anymore and I just knew what happened.  It's just like when a little kid is being quiet and you know they are getting into mischief.  And sure enough, when Jon and I came walking up there was our last Bourbon Red.  He was still alive, but not for long.  The absolute most frustrating part was that as soon as Max saw us, he put his head down and started slinking to us.  We hadn't even found the bird to yell at him yet.

So, any advice?  If it came down to the chickens or the dog, I would pick the dog hands down.  He was here first and chickens don't make me feel safe at night.  We've heard of tying the dead carcass to the dog and leaving it on them until it rots off.  The problem is that Max absolutely loves anything dead and stinky.  He will roll on an ity bity dead bird, just for the heck of it.  I really don't want to have to go to a shock collar, but he is petrified of our electric fences.  The only other thing Jon and I thought of was to get a guard bird.  Not a guard dog, but a guard bird.  We are on the hunt for the meanest goose or turkey that we can find.  Max is afraid of the cat, so maybe we just need another animal to put him in his place. 

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Don't mix first trimester pregnancy and a brand new farm...

...it may drive your husband crazy...

So, that probably explains the lack of posts on my end.  I'm currently 14 weeks pregnancy and keeping my fingers crossed that the nausea, superman smell and exhaustion are close to being done. 

Like I said, new pregnancies and new farms are a difficult mix.  Thank God my husband is a superhuman, because he was doing it ALL for awhile.  And he never complained...not once.  He's my hero!

My husband and I are extremely grateful for this pregnancy.  It was quite a long road for us filled with many tears...mostly on my end.  It took us well over a year to even get a positive test and that's only after we went to see the fertility specialist.  Literally two weeks after seeing the fertility specialist, I was pregnant with no interventions.  I know God has a sense of humor, because he must have been chuckling over my reaction to a positive test. 

But onward with more farm stuff.  Since I actually feel well enough to get out of bed and do some chores, I took some pictures this morning.

First up, the dog and I are both on the same medication again.  I think he just gets my sickness just to sympathize with me.

See those spots on his face?  That my friends is what we call ringworm...it's great!  Max has a face that only a mother would love right now.  I have two spots and I'm pretty sure that we both got ringworm from the cat.  Whenever I put a little Lotrimin on me, I just call Max over and dose him up good.  He walks over to me with his head down, ears back, like I'm about to serve him his final meal before the electric chair.  It's pretty sad and pathetic at the same time.  But darn it if I don't love the crap out of that dog!

One of our newest calves.  I can't remember if this is a boy or girl, but I've named him/her Pal.  That's short for Palomino, because he reminds me of a horse.  So, we have a cow named after a horse.  That's typical in our household.

Here are three of the calves.  Bam Bam's getting a good lick from his mom.  Marty/White Chocolate is staring us down and the third calf has no name.

And this is what happens when my husband has the camera.  I'm curious to know what was going through his head when he took these pictures.  Was he practicing his camera skills?  Was he letting a little OCD out?  Quite an interesting pictures, don't you think?

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I'm still here!

I've been wrangling runaway turkeys...

Playing with cute puppy dogs...

Taking care of baby chicks, baby ducks, baby turkeys and a few guineas as well...

And taking care of some BIG, noisy ducks...

I know people say that you can't brood ducks, turkeys and chickens all together, but it's worked out great for us!  We did lose a couple turkeys when we first got them, but they are notoriously hard to raise.  So far, everyone gets along great.  Although I did see one little Bourbon Red poult pecking on an Indian Runner duck who finally got tired of it.  So, he turned around and whacked the crap out of the little poult with his beak.  It was pretty funny...

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There were no small bunnies harmed in this photo...

Although it looks like Max tore a bunny up... 

All I have to say is God bless the Furminator!  This is the undercoat of a hairy German Shepherd.  AND this is after Jon brushed him this afternoon.  AND this is after all the fur that's still in my house....

German Shepherds are hairy....enough said.

Back to the Furminator.  If you have a hairy dog, this is literally a god send.  It's a bit pricey, I think I paid 60 bucks for it at my local pet store.  I almost wept with joy when I saw how much hair it was getting off Max.  It really gets out that undercoat, which is the majority of the hair that I find around my house.  I would highly highly recommend this to anyone who loves a hairy dog!

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We got ourselves a groundhog!

For the past few weeks, we've been hearing something chewing on our floor boards in the living room.  We could see where something had crawled into a crack in the foundation.  Whenever I would hear the chewing and it was LOUD, I would walk over the spot and stomp on the floorboards.  Of course, praying that I wouldn't fall through since we weren't sure how much he had chewed off. 

One day, Jon saw the little booger run out from under the house.  So, he got a live trap to see if he could catch a groundhog.  And it worked!  Just this morning my dog was freaking out while I was trying to sleep.  I'm ashamed to say I yelled at the poor dog since he was interrupting my sleep.  He was just trying to tell us what we caught!

Wild animals are a change for me in my life.  I grew up in a small rural town, but I never had to deal with wild animals.  Max was playing hide and seek with a raccoon in the machine shed one day and then had him cornered up a tree the next day.  Now, I am not a fan of just shooting animals.  It just makes my heart hurt to think about shooting either a raccoon or a groundhog.  I know that seems silly since I am not a vegetarian, but it's the truth.  So, I made Jon promise me he would take him a couple miles away and let him go.  Now we'll shall see if my opinions change if the little booger comes back...

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Ducks and chicks and ghosts dogs...oh my!

First up, the ghost dog.  Obviously it's just Max taken with a too slow of a shutter speed, which is why it's blurry.  But to me, he looks like a ghost dog!  Or even an angel dog, which he is...

Here are the ducklings!  These are Pekin ducklings, which are primarily used for their meat.  I thought I liked chickens, but man do I like ducks.  These guys have such personality!  They will come running right up to you peeping (they don't quack yet) and I can just imagine what they are saying..."Where's our food, We're hungry...he pushed me..no, she pushed me!"  As you can see Huey, Duey, Louie and Bob are in the mix as well.  They have a nice open space to run, which is more than they had in the house.

This is blurry again, but ducklings are hard to instruct to stay still.  They came running up at me as soon as I opened the door and just about all fell off the step.

Jon is on his way this morning to pick up either some turkeys or more ducklings that came in the mail!  And maybe some yummy donuts for his hungry wife too...

And we also got our chickens last Saturday.  We were not expecting them until Monday, so we were surprised to get a call from the Post Office that our chicks were here.

I was always partial to chickens, but ducks are definitely edging closer.  These guys are so cute and little.  Three days later, they are already starting to feather out.  We've had some of the ducks for two weeks and they still haven't feathered out.  We did get one free exotic bird, which is the yellow one in the middle that's dive bombing the rest.  He's starting to get big cheek feathers, so we are interested to find out what he or she will be. 

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Sooo.....I lost my shit today...

...and it wasn't pretty.

Let me rephrase that, I lost my shit this morning.  At three o'clock in the morning to be precise.

I woke up at two o'clock this morning to the sound of Max shaking his head, which also jingles his tags.  That pretty much always wakes me up and today was no exception.  I rolled over to check the clock and there was nothing....  No clock light=no power.  Which means the batteries ran out of juice.  I was so tempted to turn back over and deal with it in the morning, but I knew that no power=no heat for the ducklings.  Sure enough when I went down there, they were about 60 degrees, when they should have been around 90 degrees.

I woke Jon up to go turn on the generator and tried to act like I was helping.  I wasn't...who was I kidding?  I wanted to be in bed!  I went to lay back down in bed and was scratching my head, when I felt it...dear Lord...please don't let it be........................a tick.

And that's when I lost it.  This one was attached.  Not like the two others that were just crawling on me.  This sucker was firmly attached in my hair.  I made Jon get it out with tweezers, while the whole time I was trembling and saying "I can't deal with this...I can't deal with this..."

My fit was almost full blown at that time.  And then I got mad.  Dang blast those ticks!  Why aren't they on Jon?  Why me?  And what does every female do when they get really angry?  They cry....as did I.

So, now it's three o'clock in the morning and I was 99% on my way to a full blown fit.  As in I'm a two year old....I'm gonna scream and wail and throw myself on the bed, while kicking and punching.   My poor husband....

I continued to scratch all over my body and freak out thinking every little thing was a tick.  Jon and I checked the blankets and of course there was another tick under the covers.  He wanted to be nice and warm right?

I was able to pull myself together and put my big girl panties on and fall asleep.  But not before twitching like mad, continuously scratching my head and flipping over every time I felt something.  So, I got very little sleep last night. 

Such is the life in the country...I'm pretty sure if I knew about this before I may not have moved so far out into the country.  Oh well!  That's life!

Did I mention I had to do the Heimlich maneuver on my dog this morning?  What is my life coming to.....

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Sunset

Sometimes it's good to stop and remember why you're doing what you're doing...for us that was sitting down to enjoy the sunset.  One of the major reasons I wanted to move to the country was because I couldn't see the sky in town and I missed it. 

And guess who the happiest dog in the world is right now?  Max!  He always has to find the biggest sticks to drag around and he's so happy when he's doing it, his tail is curled all the way around.

Still slow going with the internet.  Our mobile broadband is not working out as we had planned.  It's hard to make that transition from Turbo speed internet to slooooowwww internet.

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