Musical Shelter and Pens

The goats and cows got new surroundings as well. The goats took over the cow's shelter and Scott even got them some feed dishes after researching and finding out they like to eat food up off the ground (who knew?). Sedona is staying in her pen slightly more often than not, but even when she doesn't, she just follows Scott around like a puppy, even coming into the barn! She will be the easier of the two to milk, that's for sure!
We are working on little miss Mocha though (a.k.a. Kiera for her underbite similarity to Ms. Knightly).

And, since the cows didn't mind too much giving up their shade, but mind a little bit more watching the goats eat hay that they could be eating....they have their own new spacious living quarters...

Don't worry for them though, Scott is working on building them their own (mini-cow size) shelter! And, they are fed aplenty.

Chickenitis

What a weekend!
Saturday started off with some pretty lengthy chicken wrangling, trying to get the chickens, yes, all 11 of them, including Rooster Bob, into the Chicken Palace. You would think they would WANT to be in there, as nice as Scott made it! Scott and I tried for about a half hour in the morning, and then I headed off to my mounted shooting, and left the deed to Scott, Cal & Marcy...and they got the job done! When they went out to start their wrangling later in the morning, 9 of them were already in, so Cal shut the door and Marcy and Scott got to wrangling...they were able to catch the slippery little suckers and get them in. Here they are, and you can also see the renovations Scott & Cal made...
 New windows...

Spacious nesting box accomodations...

And nice airy roosting bars for perching and resting...

Once all the chickens were snuggly in their palace, it was time to move the pullets out to their new humble abode...

Now that everyone is out, we have room to hatch and brood our little egg! Saturday evening to our delight, we saw a new crack in our incubating egg...

So we watched and we watched, and we cheered it on...PECK PECK PECK!!

And then we told it to PUSH PUSH PUSH...and out it came!!

Well, it's certainly not too cute coming out, so we let it stay in the incubator for the recommended 24 hours...and voila...!!

Now that's better!! Scott named HER Stewart...haha....she is still drying but can you imagine...all these pictures were in the span of 24 hours...time really does fly!

What a weekend!

Houdini wannabe

Well our new little dynamic duo (goats) are getting more friendly and comfortable, maybe a little TOO comfortable...! Tom warned us that little Sedona was an escape artist and he wasn't kidding! Scott, Cal and Marcy had to round her up twice after she rolled under the fence. So, out to the cow pasture with them! They are now kicking it with the 3 Amigas (Rosie, Jewel & Ginger). Scott found some real nice 4 way hay and drove into the pasture to put it in the Barn, and Sedona followed him right in, checking out the place! Little does she know, this will be her future milking station, so get used to it!

Speaking of getting more comfortable and friendly...the Spice Girls (the little chickens) now allow us to pet them and hang out on Scott's arm without jumping away. They are almost ready to get out of their little brooding pen and out into the chicken coop, which will be just in time, because if all goes well, our incubating egg should hatch this weekend, and we will need the brooder for the little chick! Any guesses on what it will look like?? White Leghorn (White) / Barred Rock (Black & White striped) cross...

Working Weekend

Well this weekend was HOT, but that didn't stop us from working on the Farm. Joined by Alberto, Nick & Matt, we tackled the daunting task of building a 10' X 10' wood shed...aka "The Chicken Palace"

In the chicken's expansive courtyard around their palace, it became necessary to do some landscaping and fence building to give them a "storage area", so Alberto built a beautiful redwood fence just for that purpose

Since the Palace was such a feat in itself, the gate to the storage facilities will need to be completed by Scott. As you can see, little miss Rhode Island Red is checking out the workmanship (or looking for leftovers)

And to complete the weekend, first we had a fun morning of mounted shooting practice at Raahaugee's in Norco where Champ and I ran patterns and dry fired, learning more and more from our friends with the SoCal CMSA, and taking things slowly (since we tend to rush, it was a good experience for us). Then Tom and Sunni came through again, providing us with 2 female goats for future milking prospects - Mocha and Sedona. Here they are in their new crib...

Bomber and Moxy think they are loads of fun too because they RUN...! Going to have to nip THAT in the bud...This morning it was drizzling, which gave the girls a little shower, which never hurt nobody...

Barn prepping

We have moved the chicks into their own "brooding room" equipped with chairs for us to sit with them...

And we have even cleared out an area to be the designated milking area, with a bench seat, a bucket and a grain bowl...

Joining in the Farming fun

Cal and Marcy are back in town and have joined in on the fun. Farmer Cal is mowing it up getting the front grass trimmed down...

The girls are very appreciative as well of Cal's mowing...they say moooooooorrrreee please!!

Garden Maiden Marcy trimming the trees...

Pole dancing

The Spice Girls are loving the roosting bar Scott made and put in. They are getting bigger, soon they will be ready to get out and play!

They are getting much calmer about being picked up and held too. We are planning on making these tame girls...Oh, and the egg we are incubating looks like its got something growing inside, how exciting! It would be a Barred Rock/White Leghorn cross...what would that be? A Barhorn? Legrock? Hmmm...

Not so Manic Monday

Pretty easy going evening at the Farm, was able to finally catch and hold the littlest Spice Girl..she's very quick & agile! The cows now know the horses feeding schedule and attack the cart, so I have to be fast to get the hay out to Rio and DP...! It is starting to warm up so soon no blankets, woo hoo!! Scott must have a really green thumb because the garden is getting greener (don't worry, my un-green thumbs are staying clear)...Veggies are on their way! Our owls were pretty vocal last night and the momma is keeping those eggs warm, hopefully soon we will see some little ones!

What a Weekend!

Well, we decided Rosie and Jewel could use one more friend to complete our herd, so off to Los Banos we went early Saturday morning. We made it there in great time and brought home a 3 yr old heifer who was vet checked as pregnant (1+ month). On the way home we racked our brain for a name for her and came up with "Ginger". Introductions went well with Rosie and Jewel, and voila! Our herd is complete (well, once we pick up Shorty, their betrothed)! Ginger is furthest on the right (no horns).

Here are the Three Amigas...

And, in case you are wondering how big (or small) these ladies are, here is some perspective...

See...MINI!!

So that took the good part of Saturday, and we took it easy the rest of the evening. Sunday morning we woke up early and ate some more of our home-grown strawberries with granola, bananas, with honey and goat milk. Scott then decided to use the left over bananas and our farm fresh eggs and make Banana Bread! The house smelled SOOOO GOOOOD and the bread turned out AMAZING!

Then we were off to the local Farmer's Market where we bought some lettuce and snap peas for salad for dinner, some granola for breakfasts, some home made doggy treats for the pooches, and sunflower seeds for the chickens. It was fun supporting the local community, and getting fresh food in the process. We even checked out Fresh & Easy on the way home and got a couple organic avocados and salsa to make some guacamole along with chips with a hint of lime for a tasty lunch!

Then it was back outside to take care of the farm. Bomber and Moxy came out to join us (first indulging in their home made dog treats which they were very happy to partake) and then hang with the cows...Moxy and Rosie liked the same shade spot, but Rosie won out in that debate...

Then Bomber joined in the fun. Rosie decided it was naptime so Bomber watched over her.

It was such a nice sunny day that when the water bucket was full, everyone shared in a beverage.

Oh...almost forgot the chickens liked their treats too...! Especially Rooster Bob, who follows Scott around like a puppy and he's even got him eating of his hand...

The Great Escape

Rain was in the forecast for today, so I put all the horses up last night so they could be nice and snuggly warm and dry in their stalls. They aren't quite as appreciative as you would think they would be...So this morning started off with a jailbreak by little Doctor Peppernic in which he had to taunt the rest of the "prisoners" with his freedom, not to mention visit with and show off how cool he was to the neighbors horses. It took a few minutes to catch the escape artist and put him away, and I made sure to tie his gate closed (which he was trying to untie at the same time)...What a morning...

New Kids on the Block

We added to our "flock" some 4 week old Barred Rock pullets last night. They aren't quite old enough to be out with the big girls yet, so they are in the barn in their little cage Scott bought under a heat lamp. I have nick-named them, the "Spice Girls"...

They have settled in well, the one on the left is the brave one of the group, I shall name her "Sporty Spice"...

Attack of the Pinwheels

Alright...take THAT you corn pecking birds! It's a full pinwheel assault...

And a red attack pinwheel for the strawberries...

Gardening 101

So, with gardening apparently comes birds. They were pecking at our newly sprouting corn, so Scott used his ingenuity and our old CD's and made a CD Scarecrow...seemed to keep the little corn peckers away for the meantime

We have a couple mini-herb gardens growing in our bay window over the kitchen sink, so we can have some seasonings and even some salsa...

and today, Scott found our first herb sprouts!

And the strawberries are bursting out all over, so Scott decided to have homegrown strawberries on granola, goat milk and honey, breakfast of champions! Champion Farmers that is...

Chill-axing

Jewel and Rosie kicking back in their shelter that Scott built. They are very appreciative for the shade to relax in...

Remodel

And he figured the chickens could use an upgrade to their "home"... So he added a roof...

Then, what is a home without good landscaping? So he added a peach tree for future shade (and the added bonus of peaches for us)...

Green thumb?

And what is a proper ranch without a Garden?
So, Farmer Scott built these, and filled them all with good manure/dirt with the tractor...

Then planted some strawberries...

And even some corn...which started sprouting up over the weekend...

Fast Friends

But little Rosie wasn't happy all by her lonesome,

so Sunni and Tom came to our rescue, and on a rainy Sunday afternoon, we picked up little curly haired Jewel...

Literally as soon as we opened the trailer door and Jewel stepped out, She and Rosie became BFFs...

Moooving on up...

Well...we don't do anything half ass, so after careful consideration and weighing the pros and cons of goats vs. cows...we went with a compromise....MINI COWS! With the helpful input of Sunni & Tom, we decided Mini Herefords were the cows for us. We searched and searched and found a bull calf we couldn't live without...his name is Short But Mighty...How could we resist??

And, of course, Shorty was going to need a future girlfriend, so just down the road in SLO (my old stomping ground) was Rosie...We loaded her up and brought her home...

The Growing Flock...

We liked them so much that we got 5 more..this time 2 more White Leghorns, 1 more Americana and 2 Rhode Island Reds (a month younger than the Americanas).

What is a harem without a man....so enter ROOSTER BOB (fondly named by Scott)...he's an approx 6 month old Barred Rock Rooster...and well, let's just say, he's a happy camper...