May 21 Photo ~ Chick

A dark fuzzy picture of a dark fuzzy chick!

 

May 13 Photo ~ Witnessing a Miracle & Other Little Ones

3 years ago we lost 2 foals shortly after their birthings. I’ve been watching Rawnie Spangle for weeks & checking her every morning as laqst time she foaled over night, This year I was so lucky to be able to be present & watch the process. The vet was not quite so happy as I kept ringing up for reassurance. They were so patient with me & understood my paranoia.

These pictures will need clicking on to enlarge them as my telephoto lens is still packed. Here the foal is just starting to emerge. This point lasted, to me, a very long time, so I went into the field & Rawnie Spangle pulled the foal back inside, refusing to proceed. I left the field & rang the vet!

Rawnie Spangle seemed happier lying down for a while, changing position occasionally

The head & front legs emerge, still in the sac

Once they are out

Rawnie Spangle stands up & spends what seems to me ages walking around with her baby half inside & half outside, fore legs “walking” with Mumma

I left Rawnie Spangle alone for a while to watch some other babies. The 1 & only incubator hatched egg this year gave us a chick who had no friends. After a few lonely days under a heat lamp, Mumma hen took pity on it & added it to her brood. The tiny brown fluff is the incubator chick.

Zorba inspects the new additions to the flock.

More foal comes out, watched by Mumma

Nearly fully born

Foal born, licked & upright on her own 4 legs.

Another baby arrived this day: meet Skoryy Lovok. He’s 4 months old & is a Russkaya Psovaya Borzaya (Russian dogs are generically female) or more commonly known as a Borzoi. His full breed title means “Russian Longhaired Sighthound”, just “Sighthound” in the more common English usage. He’s already the height of a Whippet & has 16 more growing months…

He has only his puppy coat at present ~ his breeder thinks that the colour will change, the white & beige being his undercoat & he’ll have a white & blue top coat as the 2 coats develop

He’s having to get used to his new home & to being an inside dog, not a yard dog

I think he’s started to feel a little relaxed with me

 

May 1 Photo ~ Mother & Chick

This is 1 of yesterday’s Murderous Mothers with 1 of the chicks ~ the other is hiding under her skirts. The photo’s so dark because I took it quickly & forgot the flash.

 

April 18 Photo ~ “My Turn Now!”

 

Bathtime!

Ducks like water & I have all kinds of containers around to collect the rain for those times our water supply is interrupted by tap-dancing cows, obese frogs or other breakages/blockages from the Well-spring up the mountain.  The ducks think that every bucket, tub, bath is solely there for them, but ignore the full size tin-bath I have in 1 corner!  There is the old bathroom bath in the goat field that was put into a hole in the marsh ready for their removal there.  A little more work needs to be done before that field is ready for them as they  can get out through the sheep wire & I want them to stay IN that field,  They can also get through the gate, so I’ll have to attach chicken wire to that to prevent their escaping & small dogs joining them in the field

 

Feb 25 Photo ~ Dinnertime

Ducky & friends

Evening feeding time in the ex-cowshed

 

Feb 18 Photo ~ Hennies

Hennies

2 Banty Hens ~ a topknotted black & 1 of my strange Phelans.  I had some orange chickens hatch out 2 years ago & I’m not sure of their parentage as most of my chickens are black!  They were from mine own eggs as I didn’t buy any in.  I called the 1st to hatch “Phelan” after the Homesteading Neophyte (link on side bar) & the other 2 became Phelans, too.  I only have the 2 girls left now.

The yellow snake is 1 of the hoses about the place

 

Feb 14 Photos ~ Fish & Chi……..ckens

Charlotte Shabunkin

That's MY girly

Standing Guard

 

Jan 19 Photos ~ Geese & Puppies

I spent all day 18th & yesterday trying to upload Sunday’s pictures & nothing would load, hence yesterday’s pictures are late as well.

Annon’s home from school as her taxi to the school bus can’t get up to us & I’m paranoid about walking down the steepest part of the hill as I can & do easily slip.  I’ve gone down the hill on my backside, but thankfully I was wearing a  thick woollen skirt at the time.  If Annon starts slipping, that’s enough to make me give up & head for home.  Walking to the village in daylight isn’t as bad, but trying to negotiate the hidden ice on a steep hill  in the dark isn’t easy & if I fall & hurt myself, who’ll look after my animals & Annon?  There’s just me, I have no sense of balance, can’t stop once I start falling, can’t save myserlf & am already useless on1 side, hence my paranoia.  She was home yesterday (19th), too.  I should be shopping now, but no bus.  Ireland’s not good with snow!

Anyway, on to the photos I took yesterday:

Geese

The Geese really aren’t sure about all this funny white stuff.  They did try eating it, but gave up, left the yard & wandered off to try to find some of the elusive green stuff, but ended up behind the house in their favourite place with yet MORE of the white stuff.

All of the poultry were quite happy to spend time in their shed, until I went out to feed them & then they all trooped out, until I put the feed in their shed & they all trooped back in again!

PiriPups in the Snow

These are the babies, looking rather large in the snow.  Chut’Chut’’s in front (I think) , with White Tip behind.  They love the snow, going out whenever they can at times, but they also refuse to go out when *I* want them to!

 

Jan 17 Photo ~ Ducks Again

Adult Ducks with Pilgrim Goose

These are the adult ducks ~ Khaki Campbells & the white drake who seems to be far too small to be the Aylesbury I thought he was.  In front of the flock is my Pilgrim Goose.  The person who gave her to me didn’t know what she was other than she is a goose, but someone else identified her as a Pilgrim.  I thought she was an Embden/African cross as those 2 were the only ones I’ve met.  That is NOT grass under their feet ~ there is no grass in that area, it just sort of looks greenish! but the camera can see grass

 

Jan 15 Photo

Up to date finally ~ IF this posts this night.  It didn’t post ~ lost my connection, then the computer shut down on me

I’d planned on taking photos of the ducks to go with yesterday’s marshy picture, but the wretched birds decided to put themselves to bed before I fed them, instead of my rounding up the 2 groups. I took some pictures, but not the ones I wanted. I wanted to take a picture of each of the groups ~ the adults & the youngsters ~ in their favourite places, behind the house for the adults & either in the yard or in the haybarn for the ducklings & take them as groups of Khaki Campbells with the 1 white drake & the Aylesbury & Magpie young ones. They don’t mix yet.

Adult & Young Ducks with Cockerels

Ducks & Chickens