Lessons Learned From Hoof Trimming

1. Macadamia is cuddly.  And she also enjoys eating post-its.

 2. Filly is hard to catch. (Unless you're comparing her to Aunt Elsie!)

3. Barack O'Llama takes good care of his sheep.  In this picture, he's trying to help Macadamia find her mother.

4. Sandy is fat.

 5. Pistachio is RUDE!

 6. Scott makes multi-purpose animal equipment...It's a hay an grain feeder AND a chicken roost!

7. Chickens can be annoying.

Runaway Chickens

Last night, the neighbors called to let us know that there were four hens in their barn and one on their back porch.  We walked over to retrieve them, but the only living thing in the barn was their calf.....

their attack calf...

(Okay, okay, I admit I'm being a little dramatic.  The neighbors are Scott's parents, and the calf is being affectionate....or at least just looking for some udders where ever she might be able to find them.  Still, I think Scott was glad it wasn't this guy--by the way, he's the calf in my very first post.)

The chickens had flown back into the pasture, so we don't even know who the offenders were.

Hazel received a hoof trim (everyone else will be getting theirs this weekend).  The big girls knew to stay back--they didn't want to be next!--but the little sheep wanted to see the action.

Barack O'Llama was on guard, as usual.

Caught in the Act

Siobhan just finished laying her egg.

Barack O'Llama dust bathing in a location with no dust.  He's in the back field today, and he's found a spot with actual dust. 

He also likes to rub his head on people--usually me.  Last night, he tried out Scott's arm.

Tennessee: proof that even well-behaved chickens beg for snacks.

A Dirty Llama and Other Weekend Adventures

My llama is really, really dirty.  As dirt comes out of fleece a whole lot easier than hay/plants/vegetation, it's not too much of a problem--except that he likes to snuggle when he is wet and/or filthy.

 All the black sheep in one place:  Pecan (large with horns), Henrietta (small with green ear tag), and Macadamia (itsy bitsy).

 Family picture: Elvira and Peanut.  They might not look alike, but they do lay alike.

Yes, it's lunchtime and my child is wearing PJs.  And why is it that all the animals follow him even when he doesn't have treats?

 A rare close-up of Sandy.  She forearmed the other sheep in order to get closer to the source of the peanuts.  Poor Pecan.

Family picture: Elsie, Pistachio, & Pecan.

In Motion

It's always good to know that someone is happy to see you. 

Pecan is really excited to see us.

Hazel, of course, is ignoring us (or at least pretending to do so).  She and Filly always are the last ones to go in at night and the last ones to move from pasture to pasture.  It drives Scott insane.  But they are such a pretty pair.

Hazel and Filly: Slow sheep

Do you recall the mystery of the missing eggs?  Eventually, we did find the brown eggs, too--high up in a corner of the barn on a stack of straw bales.  It makes getting the eggs an athletic event.

Unfortunately, she's an excellent flyer.

How high is she? Well, the top of the futon is a big leap down from their nest.  (In case you are wondering why there is a futon in the barn, it's our skirting table/fleece drying rack.)

And finally...a picture of Cashew (and Acorn).  I don't think I've managed to get a fully body shot of Cashew since she was in the lambing jug.

Calico's fabulous twins, Cashew & Acorn.

It Shouldn't Be

The lambs are between two and four months old.... And most of them already are bigger than wee little (3 year-old) Henrietta.  She is shocked.

Henrietta: Smaller than Peanut

It's no surprise to Macadamia, who must lie on her belly to nurse.

"None of the other kids have to lie down!"

We did know that the lambs would most likely outgrow Henrietta; we just didn't know that it would happen so soon.  We really didn't expect any of our ewe lambs to have horns.

It is difficult to get a picture of the top of a sheep's head.

Pistachio has tiny horns growing on her head. (It's common for Shetland rams to have horns, but it's rarer for the ewes to have horns.  She might be taking after her Icelandic side.)  We're not sure if her wee little horns will grow more or not.  Of course, a certain someone had to go around feeling heads after this discovery.  (Catch-able heads, that is.)

There's something that shouldn't be happening in this picture.  Can you find it?  Hint: It's not a sheep gone bad.

Llama's Big Night Out

Barack O'Llama went for a walk tonight.  (A llama needs to keep his skills sharp, after all.)

He went to meet the new neighbor.

She seemed pretty excited to meet him.

 They exchanged herbivore greetings.

We continued on, and Barack contemplated eating the neighbors' apples.

After his adventure, Barack helped move the chicken coop to the front pasture.

The cargo made the trip safely.

The Llama Asks...

...why are the chickens getting all of the attention?

Llamas eat, too, and it's just as exciting!

No, I'm not a messy eater.  Why do you ask?

And llamas are super-friendly, even when they've just finished their afternoon showers.

How can she resist petting a soaking wet llama?

The sheep are being neglected, too.  Sandy is extremely dirty, isn't that interesting?

Where did she find that color of dirt?  I want to roll in it, too!

Almond splintered his horn--certainly that's worth mentioning.  (And I've heard you people say that he's pretty cute.)

Wouldn't a llama look fabulous with horns?

If I were in there, I'd be eating--not playing!

Calico has even had to stoop to putting flowers in her fleece to get a little attention!

I need to remind Calico to stay away from the horse nettle.

And everyone knows that fleeces are better than eggs.

-By Barack O'Llama

Corn-mergency

When I saw this:

 I knew we needed to act fast.  It was only three chickens at the time, but if one chicken finds something good to eat, they're all there within minutes.*

We removed the chickens from the corn patch.  We extended the portable fence to keep the chickens out.

The other animals had to wait in the rain for their lunch.

 We decided not to take anymore chances, and picked some corn.

* Example: I gave a banana peel to Violet.  Almost instantly, Poppy was there.  In a few minutes, all the big girls were there and the banana peel was completely gone--and I didn't even know that chickens liked banana peels!