I am sure you have figured out that we are having a crazy spring here at Jack Creek,and as a result have suffered from a serious case of 'lack-of-blogging'. With the first session of classes at the newly opened art school and a very busy trip to Connecticut, we have barely had time to breath this May. Whew! I will try to catch you up with all the happenings on the ranch witht his short entry.
Pinky and Flo have been growing like weeds. They are so heavy that I can barely pick them up! I am still locking them away from mom for half of the day and they are successfully weaning themselves and you can see how big they are growing in the photo above. Finally tall enough to eat from the hay bin with the "Big Goats", they enjoy some snacks and look very cute trying to be adults. They also love to snack on grass and weeds out at pasture (when it isn't downpouring). Too bad it's been raining alot lately and I don't have any great photos to post of them eating grass right now. I'm just happy that with all the flooding we haven't had any problems with our pasture and they can still go out when it's nice for a few hours. It's important in the spring to introduce your flock to lush spring grasses in small increments so that they do not overdo it and suffer from bloat, which can be deadly. I have been putting the goats out for no more than 4 hours at a clip to keep everyone healthy until thier rumens are used to the greens again.
Ummmm....? I guess I have some laundry to do. Look at the baby chicks out and about in the background! I guess they really aren't babies anymore...
We lost one of our turkey poults who suffered a splayed leg at 8 weeks of age, but our remaining turkey is growing pretty huge. He is on the right in the photo above, the ugly looking one! You can see that the barred rock chick in the foreground is almost the same size as Delilah Jones, my adult hen. I just love those barred rocks.
Well...out of the four barred rock chicks, it looks like only one turned out to be a rooster. Sigh.
He is already crowing. ALOT.
Will we ever rid ourselves of roosters!?
Apparently this secret snuggle spot is popular.
And one last parting shot of the local elk we have been invaded with as of late. I can't wait for them to starting calving, the baby elk are so cute and we see them often on our road.
Unfortunately this is all the info I have the time and energy for this weekend in blog land, but with school ending next week, I will be working many less hours and can spend more time catching up on our posts and working outside if this rain would ever stop.
Coming soon: Freedom Ranger meat birds! (due to arrive around June 15) and Gardening! (my peas are coming up and look GREAT)
take care now~ The Jack Creek Coyles
