Turtle vs duckie, Chickens started laying, and everyone is growing!

We were fortunate to be chosen by Izzie's Pond as release site for some wild mallard ducks. We have really enjoyed having these beautiful animals as an addition to our farm.

Unfortunately, we also have a snapping turtle (or maybe two) in our pond and they can do a number on the poor waterfowl.

We recently had a hen mallard attacked by a turtle....I won't post any pictures, but the poor thing lost all the webbing between one, and the turtle stripped the skin off her middle toe down to the bone, and broke the middle toe....I sent my Farmer Man the pictures via text the day it happened...they were awful!  She apparently had been injured the evening before or even day before because maggots had set in and hatched by the next morning....ewww!

Thankfully Angel Durham at Izzie's Pond was so very helpful in getting us on the right track with Capstar, yes, the dog flea medicine, to kill the maggots and Baytril orally for the infection. We soaked her little foot daily and kept her in a dog crate on the screen porch. She was a trooper!  After about 2 weeks she was quacking up a storm DEMANDING to be let out of the crate. We started to let her out onto the porch for some exercise and soon she was healed well enough to allow her some"swim time" in the sink in my laundry room.  We still kept her on the porch for another week or two until we were sure the wounds were healed. She was MORE than ready to be back down at the pond with her flock since she quacked each morning talking back and forth with the rest of the girls.

She's been back on the pond for about 3 weeks or so and she is doing well.  It took her a little while to figure out how to swim with that poor foot, but she is managing very well.  She is a little slower than the rest, but she does very well in the water.  Walking on land, she hobbles a bit, but gets around ok and makes it no problem to the food bowl!

Here's Duckie today:

Our chickens FINALLY started laying on October 11th.  They were 25 weeks when we got our first egg :0)

Our girls even gave us a double yolk egg in the first few weeks they were laying....this was two eggs I was going to use to make breakfast one morning :0)

This is "Rudy" my buddy. He courts me every morning and will come running from anywhere in the yard when I call him.

"Rudy's" favorite girl is "Woobie".  She is also very tame and come to sit with me when I am supervising free range time.

The turkeys are growing too!  "Tommy" is a fine looking boy and "Diva" and "Baby Girl" are beautiful, full figured girls ;0)

Our "Tommy" <3

Our "Diva"..you can just see the attitude!

"Baby Girl"...always curious and always into something!

I will have to get updated pictures of the guineas...IF I can get them to stand still long enough! "Popcorn" aka "Poppy" the white guinea has grown into quite a handsome young boy.

We are hoping that our rescued wild Canadian geese, "Porkie", "Weeka Weeka", "Toes" and "Gimper" will all return come Spring.  They had two wild geese join them at our pond and they were soon pond hoping with the newest arrivals.  They would fly off for the evening and return in the morning spending the day on our pond and munching away on food.  A month or so ago, they started staying away for a day or two at a time before returning, and eventually they did not return one morning.  We were hoping they would stay year round, but if the wild geese were used to migrating, they may have migrated with them.  We'll be looking for them come Spring!

So much more to tell about the happenings of the farm, but I'll save it for another post.  Thanks for checking in with us!

Been a long time! What we have been up to....

It is a cood, breezy, Fall day here on the Farm.  A good day to take the time and post to the blog!

Some of the happenings on the farm:

My nephew, Gideon, brought us 4 orphaned, baby flying squirrels.
One of our rescued ducks was seriously injured by a snapping turtle
Our chickens started laying!
Our turkeys, chickens and guineas are all growing up.
We added to the raised bed gardens.
Septic issues...ewwww.

The babies first!

On October 2cnd I received a phone call from my nephew.  He was at work and found a fallen tree on the property he cares for.  When he went to clean up the tree he found a dead squirrel lying along side of it. :-( He went about clearing the tree only to have several little squirrels come running out of a hole in the tree.  They were very small and seemed a little sluggish....so he called Aunt Mae!  A few texts back and forth with Mr. Farmer Man and Gideon aka G was on his way to bring them to us. Here's the picture G sent us....

Notice...this little one is in the gloved hand of my nephew...he is only the length of his little finger!

Mr. Farmer Man has rehabbed and release well over 100 grey squirrels so he knew what they needed and what to do :0)  They were dehydrated so were concerned about getting them hydrated first thing. We managed to get some electrolyte solution in them and they really perked up.  I found a website online that had specific instructions for caring for flying squirrels. www.arcforwildlife.com It was a great help!  It shows photos at different ages, amounts they need to eat, when to introduce solid foods, etc.

We figured these little ones were about 7 weeks old when they came to us.  I was momma squirrel and got up during the night to feed them.  

They were SO adorable!  I found them sleeping like this one day.

It was a wonderful time and these little ones grew quickly! We introduced nuts, seeds, butternut squash, carrots, apples, etc. and they soon were munching away.  They still would come running for the syringe full of formula though :0)

Time passed on and they were old enough to be off the heating pad and then outside on the screened porch to get accustomed to the changing weather.

They spent a few weeks on the porch and then it was time for them to be moved, safe in their cage, up into a large oak tree. My sweet Farmer Man helped me find the perfect, big, beautiful oak tree for them.  He climbed up a ladder and built them a nice, safe, secure platform for their cage to rest on.  He lashed the cage to the tree to be sure they were secure.

We gave them a week to get used to their new surroundings and for that cold snap to pass before we opened the door of the cage.  I went to check on them that evening, after dark, and they were venturing out to check out their new area.

I checked them for the next few days, in the morning, to be sure everyone had returned "home".  All four were home each evening until night before last...only 3 returned.  This momma squirrel was worried about the one missing so I checked them again the next morning...now no one was back in the nest box :-( I know they are supposed to become independent and move out of their temporary nest box, but I wasn't ready! LOL

A quick check the next morning and I found all four babies back in the nest box, curled up and sleeping :-)

I was one happy squirrel momma! I filled their food bowl with fresh walnuts, pecans, grains and seeds so they would have plenty to eat tonight when they wake up.

We will continue to feed them and make sure they have fresh water through this Winter to give them time to find a new home and learn how to forage for themselves.

Taking care of these little ones has been such a pleasure and blessing.  It is so rewarding to help some of God's littlest creatures <3

Well, I think this is long enough for this blog post, so I'll post again soon, I promise!, and fill everyone in on all the happenings on the farm  Thanks for checking in with us!

The Chick Inn II/Poultry Palace latest renovations complete...well almost!

It's with great pleasure and a small sigh of relief that we can announce that the latest renovation to the Poultry Palace are complete....well when I find the latches for the nesting boxes it will be!

The complete coop and pen.  The coop if 8 feet by 12 feet and the total pen area is approximately 25 feet by 50 feet.  There are several areas of sun shade cloths over each area of the sections. The residents are allowed supervised free range time in the coolness of the morning and later in the evening too.

The latest renovations included sectioning off an area of the pen for the turkeys, adding two new gates, adding two perches and a slanted roof for cover.

One of "Tommy's Girls" was always ready to help Mr. Farmer Man.....she'd walk right up to you, no idea of personal space, and look you right in the eye...I mean two inches from your eye!  She was a great help finding screws, staples, shiny drills, etc. Here She and Scott are working on adding hardware cloth to the eaves to keep out predators.

My Farmer Man <3 Building yet another gate for the pen

One of "Tommy's Girls" enjoying the new roost complete with "air conditioning"!

"Tommy and the Girl's new enclosure.  They much prefer the open pen than the coop, but really didn't like getting wet so we added a roof for them.  We just purchased a Grandpa's Feeder for the turkeys....it is so wonderful!  No more wasted feed.  You can see the grapes planted around the coop in this picture too.

We had to add some stairs to the far end of the outdoor pen to have easier access to the turkeys

Here's our little guineas in the completed Chick Inn II and their pen area

Our Beautiful Golden Laced Wyandottes in their pen with access to the coop.

"Tommy" on the left and both of "His Girls" in their new enclosure

I was so thrilled to hang these cute chicken hanging baskets on the newly completed coop.  My dear, sweet mother gave these to me many years ago.  They had hung on the original Chick Inn and the coop now seems complete now that they are decorating the new Chick Inn II.

Thank you to everyone for their kind words about our Farm Blog and for checking in to see just what we've been up to.  Stay tuned for more projects, updates on the residents, and just happenings going on around the farm!

A Weekend Away From the Farm....

A few weekends ago, my sweet husband found the perfect getaway for the two of us.  We have been working non-stop around the farm and we both were in need of a break. Some folks would say, just stay home and don't work....that's not possible!  There is always something or someone that needs tending to and the only way to stop and really relax is to get away.

Mr. Farmer Man called me from work and said he had found a cool place in the mountains of North Carolina that we could get away from it all.  He found Fire Mountain on the internet and had researched their site.  It sounded like just what we were looking for!  We both LOVE the mountains and with all the heat and humidity here on the farm, a cool mountain getaway was just what we needed.

We arrived and were greeted by one of the owners, Matthew, who personally showed us to our room in the Treehouse Inn Cabin.  It was absolutely beautiful!

Our room is the second one....second floor balcony.

The view from our balcony

 I was a little concerned since we found out there wasn't air conditioning in the rooms, but we learned that the average day time temperature was 71 degrees and the average night time temperature was 56 degrees!  We were told to just sleep with the sliding glass door open and pull the screen.  The room has a nice ceiling fan too.  There are no televisions, radios, clocks, etc. in the rooms or cabins.  Nothing to distract you or remind you of time.We settled our belongings into the room and decided to walk around the beautiful grounds.

Blackberries were ripening

Black Eyed Susan were blooming

Baby bunnies were out in the coolness of the evening

Touch Me Nots aka Jewelweed were blooming

A little plant growing out of rock foundation of an old barn foundation

A beautiful iridescent green beatle

Tomatoes growing under the watchful eye of Mr. Scarecrow

The beautiful, organic garden

Beautiful tower in the middle of the garden...sunflowers growing around

 

Beautiful, red apples bending the tree limbs with their weight

A huge field of cabbage

A plow waiting for the next job in the field of cabbage

 The grounds of this wonderful getaway are so peaceful, beautiful, and calming.  We enjoyed the beauty all around us. We drove into town and found a BBQ restaurant for supper and came back to just relax and settle in.

Breakfast is included with Treehouse and Inn rooms.  It is on the second floor of the Main Inn along with a lovely library full of books and games for the guests.  The dining area has huge windows for a beautiful view of the mountains or you can choose to dine out on the open deck.  The tables are adorned with table linens and fresh flowers and herbs from the property.  Matthew and Hirem greeted each of us by name, asked how over night was and what our plans were for the day giving us suggestions or additional information.  It was like we were guests in their home not an Inn or cabin.  It was quite nice! Coffee was served at 8:30 and breakfast at 9:30....plenty of time for a very relaxing start to the morning.

My sweet Farmer Man enjoying his cup of coffee and the awesome view before breakfast

Breakfast on Saturday morning.....eggs with cream cheese and chives, bacon, biscuits and homemade strawberry jam.   There were other items like juice, milk, granola, fresh fruit, etc.  It was a wonderful breakfast.

We headed into town and found this really cool, old timey store on the way. Scott particularly liked the old Sinclair sign.

 We heading into the town of Highlands, NC and did some shopping and gem mining too.

Our "haul" for washing dirt!  Looking forward to having some of the gems made into jewelery!

After a fun morning and lunch out we headed back to the Inn for a much needed nap!  It was so nice to just slow down and enjoy the beauty around us and just being together. Another trip into town, a little more shopping and a nice pizza before we headed back for our last night on Fire Mountain.  On Saturday evenings, they provide a fire for all to enjoy where you can just sit, relax and watch the sunset over the mountain....just beautiful.

We enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing Sunday morning with a yummy breakfast before checking out and heading for home.  A few stops along the way at some great antique stores and we returned home Sunday evening. A big thank you to my Farmer Man for taking me away for the weekend.....I feel so renewed, energized, and ready to work!

We enjoyed our visit to Fire Mountain in Highlands, NC and plan to return again very soon! You can find their website here Fire Mountain, Highlands, NC and they also have a Facebook page you can find here Fire Mountain's Facebook Page