Tuesday, July 28, 2009

More Updates

Well, we are down to 7 ducklings. We hitched the coop up to one of the vehicles and moved it to back behind the garden. It seems that the rain made the rat or whatever rodent that was taking them followed. So we put out a poison trap, which we both really hated to do, but we can't be losing any more ducklings. They rely on us for their care!

We also got us a "barn" cat. The wife is very allergic, but we needed to do something, so Jade, the kitty, is out in the chicken coop. Seems to be ok with it. Doesn't really like it, but I think she will grow accustomed to it. Her previous owners were moving to Phoenix and were not able to take her with them.

I don't think I mentioned before, but our neighbors across the street are really awesome. They raise animals and buy/sell at a number of the auctions around. They had gotten us another female muscovy, but between the time of purchase and the time we got her to our coop, it seemed like she broke her foot. She was hobbling and unable to move it or straighten it out. We were keeping a close eye on her in case it would be necessary to have duck for dinner some night, but she is doing excellently and is walking around with barely a trace of a limp.

Of course, the neighbors do just about every type animal under the sun except for three that we are interested in. We have talked about getting some pigs, some turkeys, and someday a dairy cow. They can point us in the right direction, but its not like sheep or goats where we can just walk over and they have some there for us to get used to. I believe a lot of what we are waiting for right now is the money so set up the housing and the fencing. Ha ha.

Then again, since our only pup now is 1/2 border collie, 1/2 brittany (100% spazmodic nutjob), we have talked about maybe some sheep or goats just to give him some meaningful work to expend some of his energy. Oh if only the neighbors sheep were dog broken! Although, he did do a really good job herding our muscovy drake back into the run last night. I really wish I had a picture of that... he looked just like he should, head down, tail down, stalking and herding that duck. Of course, I don't see a whole lot of sheep dog trials near where we are, but who knows, get a couple sheep and then maybe travel some to compete or something. Yeah, right.

I was laughing to myself last night... think about a sheep dog trying to herd some fainting goats. That would be hilarious. I can just see the dog looking at a goat after it fainted going, "oh my, oh my, i killed it, oh my, oh my!!!!" If you don't know about fainting goats, check out youtube and do a search. They are cute and funny as all get out.

Anyways, I think that's enough for right now.

4 comments:

scoutinlife said...

Enjoyed the post! Seem many of us have had critter problems as of late....

FarmerGeek said...

On top of the varmints, we have also been inundated with Japanese Beetles. To the tune of two or more trap bags a day! I hate those little buggers...

HermitJim said...

Glad to get the update, my friend! Also glad to hear the duck is getting around good...

Continued good luck to you!

Anna Larson said...

I love my muscovy ducks that are quite hardy critters.