Monday, March 02, 2009

In protective custody; more at 11:00

Farmer Brian and his cat Oreo outside the sheepfold.

Sunday morning while Brian and I were doing chores, we saw Lucille in the ram lot. So we hung around, waiting for her to come through the fence to where we could more easily corner her. She did, we did, and now she in the henhouse in protective custody. Poor Lucille; she acted so hungry! Rick thinks we should keep handing her over to the neighbors, so she can keep escaping their sorry excuse for a chicken coop and potentially meet a violent end. I think we should pay them something for her and keep her. The only problem with my idea is that I think seven hens is plenty for our little coop; I don't want to overcrowd the ladies. I'll let you know what happens.Welsie trying to figure out how to get at that new hen to pick on her again.

While we were hanging around, I discovered the b/w function on my camera. Of course, I could have done this in PhotoShop all along, but it's fun to stumble across one of the many things my camera knows how to do that I am unaware of - hee!

Vaccinations were on the to-do list Sunday. Jackson needed his one-year rabies booster so he could be relicensed, the three horses needed their rhino/flu and Potomac Horse Fever boosters, and all the sheep needed CDT vaccinations. We got the dog and horses done in the morning; Rick even let Brian give one of the shots. Rick did all the sheep after evening chores before I could get down to help him - yes, he is a prince among men, and yes, it is nice to have a resident veterinarian. :-) Speaking of sheep, I will be starting a Boulderneigh lambing contest this week, so check back!

On Sunday afternoon we drove to Wilsonville to meet some friends for an early supper and watch Brian's first performance with the Academy Fiddlers Group. (Rick plays back-up guitar in the group, mostly to participate in something fun with Brian.) I took some video (another feature on my handy-dandy Fujifilm FinePix), and will try to figure out how to upload it to YouTube. I didn't get any good still shots of the performance, so you'll just have to wait for the matinee!

That's it for now from . . .

5 comments:

thecrazysheeplady said...

Well, she's obviously not happy over there and she's probably going to get picked off is she keeps escaping. If your hens aren't likely to be super welcoming to her then I think there is only one logic solution. A house chicken!

Now you might think this is impossible, but there is a lady in Cincinnati with a pet rooster in her house and he sits by her fire and puts his feet out towards the heat and she takes him to the groomers once a month for a shampoo and blow dry.

I am NOT kidding.

Claire MW said...

I think it's lovely that Lucille keeps coming back to you. I would welcome her. I think the hens won't mind. They are surprisingly adept at making extra room on their roosts, so I have noticed! You could give the neighbors some eggs in payment...LOL!

An English Shepherd said...

Interesting to read your blog. We don't have to have the rabies jab over here unless we want to go out ofthe country & come bac again :-)

melanie said...

I think she is very clearly stating her case - she needs to live with you. If she is willing to put up with the pecking, then let her stay. Room will not be a problem. And I think paying them with a few dozen eggs is plenty...

Kathleen Stoltzfus said...

The only problem with goose egg custard kits would be shipping the egg itself. So here's a solution for you - order a couple of goslings! Then next spring, along with my recipe, you'll have your own home grown baked egg custard! You'll have to wait about a year from now for gratification, but it's worth it. Seriously, though, if you want to try your hand at the recipe, you could probably just use chicken eggs if you make sure you use rich whole milk. I figure 2 goose eggs would be about the same as 7 large chicken eggs.
But I have to say that cracking open a 7 ounce egg is a hoot! I encourage everyone I know to get a couple of geese, but so far no one believes me about how nice they are to have.