Hey Quackers.... This is supposed to be our pool and that's our cage. What do these cows think they are ...trans--species!!!!

Hi,
It's been a few days since I posted so.... Friday we were at the Amish auction and livestock sale . we managed to buy about 14 dozen eggs, very fresh large brown organic , some for as little as 50 cents a dozen. Locally at the stores they are about 4 times as much. I did buy a number of plants for th garden and i need to cut this short because i should collect some manure and do some planting.
I did a quick trip to Pittsburgh PA to drop off a few things Mary had made for her friends, and bday presents too. The kids liked the easy bake oven and candy and coloring books and hotwheels toys. Vicky our mutual girlfriend loved the rug Mary made for her. It was a latch hook rug with a Navaho pattern.
Vicky spent about 5 Hours setting up mary with an website on Tagged... I learned that her computer is now acting up with some kind of virus... I will stay out of there.
We stopped and paid Mary's bill for 10 cents at the Pharmacy there . They have been sending her a bill for 10Cents for three months... It costs 41 cents for postage each time.

We did get home Sunday around noon.
In the morning we had a Badger in the trap we set out for the local predators around here to keep our chickens alive. It appears rather young so i figure mom and dad are nearby too.. reset the trap.
Monday we went into town to get more calf formula as the charlotte is not eating enough yet. She seems to like the duck food.. better then the calf pellets. When we stopped for groceries we picked up a lot of markdowns to avoid last date of sale losses . We also picked a pool for the ducks at Mary's demand, A small wadeing pool. While checking out Mary discovered that they had ducks at the othe farm supply place still. Guess where we went!!!!
We managed to escape the tractor supply place with 3 ducks and 4 little chicks. A few were the Rhode Island Reds that seem to be very good from our first batch very friendly and large. We needed a minimum of 6, so we picked up a pair of small white chinese chickens too... I love chinese food....Do chinese eggs taste different? We did fill the pool when we got home and let the new ducks swim for a while ... the large ducks seemed to pick at the baby ducks , possibly a clumsy attempt to groom them. so i seperated them. the large ducks had to be thrown into the pool at first. then they loved it... after a while Charlotte the baby heifer claimed the pool and the ducks stayed away . It is now dumped due to the mess the critter made of it ... It will be interesting to see who claims the pool when i refill it.
This Tues morning I captured a mommy Oppsum in my trap. She had a group of about 4 tails sticking out of her pouch. This means there has to be a daddy around too. the trap is now reset.
So now you are caught up a bit.. i need to plant my Tomatoes. See you later... Dianne

Yesterday morning i checked on my chicks in the coop/ it was their first night there. I found 5 dead. Most with head trauma or without a head. I was rather upset 5 others were missing. I went to town a purchased a cage trap for the culprit. I had already lost a duck to a beheading. This morning i had a racoon in the trap that was baited with a dead chick. The racoon was disposed of, and the trap is now reset.

I took a walk in the wood so since this i a woodland home i should post some springtime pics.

The fencework to be done later on this field near the house.

The insurance co needed some pics for underwriting... a little bit small for asingle peron ehh. m porch facia needs replaced and gutter here. the original builder used wood which was not treated or kiln dried, was easily atarget for pests,

Just afew of my dresses i have been collecting over the years,

Calfs have been tough to raise from babies, I am very frustrated by them. They catch pneumonia very easily. and if it is bacterial or viral the wrong treatment can result in mortality, They often do not adjust to the milk replacer well and develop diarehea and dehydrate. They refuse to eat and have to be forced with a tube down their throats and be kept hydrated , but not too much as they get scours. I am learning to hate calfs. They are cute and playfull and expensive to feed and care for. I have just lost two to pnuemonia. I was at the point where several others were ready to be weaned from the bottle , but they refused to eat food .... i was hoping they would start eating soon. It appears that two starved themselves waiting for a bottle that never came. I started two others back on the bottle but it was too late for one of the others which seems to have also had a flu like symptoms. It is tough to bury a group of baby calfs. the holes are pretty big. I thought the vet was expensive , losing all that invested in the calfs is worse.

chickens for Mary and Easter

It is a custom around here to get chickens and ducks and rabbits for the kids around Easter, So we got the works for Mary. makes her feel like the little girl she never had a chance to enjoy. it seems that we are running a petting zoo at times.

Mary and Charlotte

I thought I would send in a picture of my roomate and our cow heifer named after her sister . If you have a bottle of formula she will follow me anywhere .