It’s been a week of new babies around here. We started out last Wednesday with a baby chick hatched by a broody hen. She sat on eight and hatched one. Checking the eggs to see if others were viable was a whole other story. My house smelled like death and destruction and burning it seemed a viable option for a few hours there. Live and learn. Never do that in the house again.
Meet Chirp. He’s the tamest chicken we’ve ever had, and also will be the most expensive by the time we raise this singleton to a reasonable size to go back into the great outdoors. I’ll never be able to butcher this one. For now he lives in my kitchen, all the while begging anyone to pick him up.
A week a day later, Millie had twins. Thing is, we were watching Hazel. Millie wasn’t fat, I’d never seen her come into heat, and she gave no indication that she was about to kid.
Meet Mallie…
and Mack.
Less than 24 hours later, Hazel, the watched goat that refused to birth, finally got it done. She had triplet bucks, but two were dead before we found them. It was a cold, sad morning, but baby Hank is cute and doing well. Hazel is taking a bit to recover and I got to be goat doc this afternoon. She’s by far the friendliest and sweetest. It’s been sad to watch her struggle. I wonder if she’s mourning. Almost seems so.
It’s been a fun week. It’s not at all helping my case that the goats ought to be sold though. Baby goats are the best.
Oh my, lots of babies indeed. Triplets?? Now that would be alot of goats. It is sad that 2 were dead. Only 1 egg hatched, wow. That seems like a low percentage.
I can how selling the goats would be hard especially for the kiddos.
Oh, why do the baby goats have to be sold? I’m not surprised Hazel is grieving her babies but won’t you feel even more terrible when you remove Hank from her, too?!
Oh dear, life is hard sometimes….
Or am I just a totally oblivious fool about what life on a farm entails?
Take bringing the hen indoors to hatch— admittedly you yourself said you won’t do that again— but I would not have the guts to have the mess inside my house! Don’t you fear attracting rodents with the chick feed, for example?
I have always had a romantic longing for farm life. Hoewever it’s a longing that exists because it disregards the real-life muck and mess that real-life people on real-life farms confront everyday.
It would be funny to see me in your surroundings just for one day, that would set me straight quickly, lol. Well, whatever. I still think your life is idyllic.
All the best!