Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Party or Tradgedy in the barn?

This weather is driving everyone nuts! 70 one day...7 the next.....rain and thunderstorms, followed by ice and snow. The chickens quit laying because of the cold...for a few days, then the warm weather makes them lay double yolker's I'm telling ya...I think we are in for one heck of a ride this year. So....a few weeks ago, we took in 2 Sheep. I think I remember telling you about them. One Ram....one whether. The Ram I named Rambo....the whether....Bo. Here is why. I had them in the same pasture...they came from the same place....figured they would get along. Hmmmm, my figurer must be broken. Rambo took over "possession" of Bo...and would NOT let him out of the shelter to eat. So, I decided to bring Bo into the pasture where the girls are...he can't really ummm, "bother" the girls. Everyone gets along swell....however, Rambo is NOT happy. He stands at the fence line...begging the girls to "come play" Well, if you know anything about sheep...you can figure this one out. His beckoning has brought the girls into "season" One of my girls...Angel...had been standing at the fence, with Rambo...for 2 days straight. She won't eat her grains....refused hay...and I never saw her leave for water. She had been bitten by the "love bug" and I was afraid she was going to get weak in these cold temps. I really had not planned for lambs this year...guess I better start planning now. I finally put Angel in with Rambo...it took him all about 2 minutes to ease her suffering. LOL After about 15 minutes, she was standing at the hay feeder...munching contently. *sigh* I left her in there over night...and by morning she was ready to come back to her pasture. Now I will be planning for July lambs. OK, so now to get to the meaning behind the title. This morning I made my way to the barn for morning chores. It was supposed to be a nice day, and I planned to open the front doors...and air everything out a bit. As I walked to the pasture, I was greeted as usual by the posse of cats...and the flock of sheep. I can "feel the love" Yeah, I wish...its more like ... "here comes the Chef" LOL So, as I walk across the pasture...I can just "feel" something is off. As I walked into the barn...I saw...well...I'm not sure what it was. There was either one heck of a party, that I was not invited too....or total chaos in the night. Either way.....there were empty feed bags strew all around...the pitch fork, rake and shovel that I had leaning neatly in the corner were now laying in the floor...the cat's food bowls moved, and a few turned over...the open bale of hay was knocked down..my little folding chair..knocked down...the goats feed dishes lay strewn in the floor. OK...this better have been a fight...because if it was a party..and I was not invited..I would be upset. Looks like the cats had a grand old time in there. *sigh* No blood, no foul. I started picking up everyone's feed dishes and getting them filled....under the watchful eyes of everyone. I could almost hear the whispers off in the corners.....yeah....I think I missed one heck of a party last night. I could see the guilt on certain faces...Autumn, one of the shy females was snickering I am sure! After I get everyone settled in with breakfast and fresh water and hay...I sit with Abby and brush her down...I tried to get answers from her, but she wouldn't talk. I even bribed her with peanuts!! Oh well....at least there wasn't any real damage...just a nice mess for me to clean up. After I got the barn cleaned back up and opened...I set off to the coops. What a surprise..no party in the coops. Just fresh eggs! Oh, I will get to the bottom of that barn party...someone will slip up...eventually. This evening as I went to close the barn, and settle everyone in for the evening...I warned them all...NO PARTY TONIGHT! Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit warmer....so I plan to get new shavings down in the coops. Those silly ducks are SO MESSY!! Good thing they are cute and keep me entertained...especially the Runner Ducks....Bowling pins with feet. They are all starting to lay pretty well too...The runner ducks....Oh so loud...are laying up a storm! Hmmmm....trying to convince myself that I do NOT "need" baby ducks...but they are soooo cute!! *walks off mumbling, where did I put those incubators?"

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