Category Archives: Chickens & Rooster

many hens, few eggs and a loud rooster that has his days 7 nights mixed up

Life Cereal? Llama Burrs? What do they have in common??

Chickens & Rooster, Dunkay the Donkey, Farm Life, Goats, Horses, llamas, Uncategorized
Oh my gosh…the 1970s Life Cereal commercial was just played out in the back pasture!!

Scene… 4 llamas munching away, all of them are filled with burrs. Chad and I standing there, hands rubbing our chins trying to figure out the best way to remove burrs from 200 pound animals.


Me: “we need to try to get those burrs off of them”
Chad: “well, I’m not going to try it”
Me: “I’m not trying it”, as I push Lincoln our Alpaca towards him
Chad: “I said, I’m not trying it”, as he pushes him back towards me
Me: “I know, let’s get kyle to do it! He’s right over there”, as I push Lincoln back towards Chad.
We both turn around and yell at Kyle….”hey Kyle, wanna pick burrs off the llamas”??  He looks at us, glances at the llamas filled with prickly plants, then responds, “sure, I’ll try it”!!

Ps, kyle got 1/2 a burr off of Sammie then quit. He stomped away as he mumbled something about ‘not being our amusement for the day’, as we tried to hide our face while giggling!

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Back To Normal? HA!

Bunnies & rabbits, cats, Chickens & Rooster, Dog, Ducks, Dunkay the Donkey, Farm Life, Goats, Horses, llamas, Uncategorized
Now that I’m feeling almost ‘normal’….my animals have decided to be themselves again and show me just how ‘normal’ it is around here. So far…today…. Bouncer chased one of the baby chicks, it ran to the trees where both mama hens were sitting with the other peepers. Both chickens FLEW out of those bushes and went after Bouncer, wings flapping, loudly squawking! Bouncer ran the other way a…nd they FOLLOWED him attacking! Dillon the stupid goat, worked the fence to get himself on the other side where Stormy our boy Llama was and got himself stuck there. He trotted back & forth BAAAAAING trying to get back to where our mountain goat was. I went over, lifted the fence up as far as I could with my back and right leg, to let him come back to his side of the pasture. I looked like a weight lifter! He stood there staring at me, so I took my left arm, went under as far as I could, grabbed his collar, trying to force him under and back over to me! He gets half way under and does his famous stiff front legs out, digging into the grass trick, letting me know that ‘he aint going nowhere’! It looks like me and the goat are playing Twister! Right at that moment, a young mom with her little girl drive up, get out, asking me from afar if I have eggs for sale! Do I look like I can go check?? After threats, grunting and pulling, he gets on his side of the field and runs to Sierra. The black mama hen and her 7 fluffy chicks found their way outside the fence in the farthest back pasture, staring at me trying to get back inside, I can’t get at them, I need Super Farmer to help me, so there they stand, the 8 of them, lined up along the fence, clucking to get back in!!
After about an hours rest, LeAnna, Isaac and I, decided to do some Goodwill shopping. She accidently left the gate open and I just happened to look up to see Lincoln across the street in our neighbors yard, munching away at their bushes. Sammie is in the driveway a few steps from joining him! I yell at LeAnna, “HELP ME”! We run out to where the escapees are, they look up, spot us running toward them which makes them take off galloping down the street! Now, I have a truck coming towards them and a car coming up behind us, both vehicles stopped to let the circus perform. We are running as we zig zag with outstretched arms., I tell her, “herd them back my way’!!. LeAnna isn’t familiar with farm talk, she looks at me funny, so I say,, “bring them back my way”…she then looks at me bewildered! I yell, ‘just help them to come back towards our yard”, she understands and starts to herd those animals. I run in front of the bushes to keep Lincoln from going around them and back into the street. The lady in the stopped car, has her window down. I smile as I say running past her, “never a dull moment”! Her mouth is open and she stares with an amused, yet concerned look at this crazy lady running down the street behind two llamas with her arms frantically waving as another young woman with an ‘oh no’ look, follows in a nice dress and shoes!! Lincoln sprints through the open gate and I tell LeAnna, ‘just wait, Sammie will follow’…he did. We both grab for the gate, slamming it behind both animals that are now running to the back yard as the others join them. Stormy is watching all the excitement which makes him agitated cause the boys are a few feet away from him enjoying some freedom. He screeches out his alarm call as he runs along the fence trying to find a way over it so he can fight!
When I came back home, my chairs were knocked over from the donkey, they forced my bird feeders off their stands, eating ALL the birdseed, pushed over Isaac pup tent which is now laying in a heap, the trash can was on its side again and the goats ate my flowers. Yep, back to “NORMAL”.

Dunkay & the gate

Chickens & Rooster, Dunkay the Donkey, Farm Life, Goats, Horses, llamas, Uncategorized

We’ll, Dunkay managed to fit his plumb, furry body through a tiny opening in the back gate and got into the forbidden pasture with Stormy. The tank tried to follow him but is a bit chunkier than he is and didn’t make it. She twisted, snorted and tried to jump. She gave up and backed out while Dunkay stood there watching with a mouthful of grass. Sparky thought she could get through to the yard of plenty and squeezed, whinnied, stomped her hooves and got stuck. I’m standing there watching the performance as my eyes roll with the words, “oh brother” coming out of my mouth over and over. I get on the other side with Dunkay and I push Sparky’s head, forcing her to go backwards, freeing her from the trap (I was tempted to leave her there) as I tell her, “bad horse, very naughty”! Now I turn my attention onto Dunkay. We stare each other down for about 15 seconds, me with squinted eyes, his with amusement cause he knows it will soon be chase time! I step towards him, he steps back. I raise my arms to start my ‘famous crazy farmer lady yell’ and he turns around and trots to the back part of the pasture! The games have begun! I chase, he runs. I yell waving my arms, he throws his head back and ‘Hee Haws’ loudly mixed with laughter. We run back and forth as Stormy stands in the corner watching. The chickens scatter, feathers flying, the mama hen protecting the chicks as we sprint through the middle of the flock that was peacefully pecking away at the grass!! I get mad, he gets happy. He won. I left him there for Super Farmer to deal with when he gets home. Later on around dusk, I hear Dunkay roaring out his amusement as Super Farmer chases him back and forth yelling out words like, ‘Idiot, stop, come on’!!!! I quickly go outside to watch the show and they gave me my money’s worth!!! They ran back and forth for about ten minutes and Dunkay won! Super Farmer gave up. He came back to the house mumbling as he was scraping the poop off of his dress shoes, his tie flapping behind him. He gave me a ‘don’t even say it’ glare, so I didn’t. I silently giggled and gave a thumbs up to Dunkay. I will tempt the donkey out with carrots and threats of living in a cage later on.

An Alpaca chasing what?

Bunnies & rabbits, cats, Chickens & Rooster, Dog, Ducks, Dunkay the Donkey, Farm Life, Goats, Horses, llamas, Uncategorized

I need to strap a camera around my neck every time I go outside.  My animals never fail to amuse or surprise me! Lincoln our Alpaca was munching away in the back yard with Sammy one of the lamas. I decided to let my two Chihuahua’s out in the back with me while I fed the bunnies and chased the ducks back into their own pen.  Out of the corner of my eye, I  could see a blurry movement of a large brown animal, head bent low to the ground chasing a tiny tan thing. I looked up and what crazy sight did I see on this bright sunny day?  An Alpaca chasing the smallest animal on the farm, Chippie my 5lb Chihuahua! They ran from the very back of the yard all the way up to the door where I was standing.  Chippie yelping in fear as Lincoln tried to head butt him all the way to the house! Oh where was my camera? I quickly grabbed Chippie who wiggled  under my shirt as I scolded Lincoln (with a suppressed smile) about how we don’t chase our family members. Lincoln blinked at me with disappointment in his huge soft eyes, he  turned  around trotting back to where Sammy was feasting on the fresh spring grass! I coaxed Chippie out  from under my shirt, examined his shivering little body, then winked at him…he was not amused. So far on the farm I have seen out of place images such as…cats chasing goats, horses chasing chickens, bunnies chasing ducks, llamas chasing dogs and Dunkay the donkey chasing his tail!

Super Farmer VS Mr Possum or 4!

Bunnies & rabbits, cats, Chickens & Rooster, Dunkay the Donkey, Farm Life, Goats, Horses, Uncategorized, , , , ,
yep, Super Farmer and his possums! He sets out traps and catches hens, eggs, various small animals and lots of air! He plotted and schemed! Setting up the sneaky trap under hay bales, behind piles of lumber, on top of the kitty condo, next to a rubber tire (where we found 3 dead bunnies that the possums killed), on top of the straw, behind boxes….you name it he hid the cage there! He caught c…hickens, bunnies, an egg and lots of teasing from his loving wife! He stalked those possums all winter! He tells the tale of when he walked in the barn one night and caught daddy Poss munching away on their favorite meal…’Meow Mix’ on top of the feline gym! ‘Mr P’ looked up at Super Farmer, blinked a couple of times and purposely fell backwards like he had a heart attack and just died. Chad cashed him yelling out the ‘war cry’ all the way to the wood pile but he got away! That’s when the serious battle began…Super Farmer VS the possum family!! The animals won all winter as the humans grew more frustrated and set up wire traps all over the barn, garage and yard! Then he brought out the big guns….CANNED CAT FOOD! Chad drew a map of the barn trying to figure out where a family of dangerous and out witting possums could hide and what their next move would be! He had canned cat food everywhere, we were buying it by the case! Unfortunately, chickens LOVE turkey giblets as much as possums do! Super Farmer would set a cage with greasy delicious food, put it next to the wood pile only to trap a hen or rooster! The possums ate the chicken food, cat kibbles, goat grain, an occasional bunny, hay and lots of farm fresh eggs! They had access to clean water and got to play a good game of hide and seek with the humans! They loved their cozy home and refused to leave….heck, I think they invited granny, gramps and every cousin within a 10 mile radius to share their warm nesting place complete with flowing non
stop cat food! Chad kept up the brave battle and is now winning! So far in the last month, we have caught 3 possums and 1 sort of died. That’s 4 that out lasted us this winter! We will win!
Super Farmer intelligent human! Possum…he dumb animal!

Special K cereal and 4 cats with 1 hen

cats, Chickens & Rooster, Farm Life, Uncategorized, , , , , ,
Well, it is spring! Why? Because I had my first bowl of cereal on my swing with Chick Chick and FOUR cats! Yep, it was relaxing to fight off a chicken and starving kitties who swiped at the hen, who in turn pecked back at furry faces. The gang then pushed each other away from me along with a few loud meeeeoooowwww’s and a SQUAWK! I ate as fast as I could throwing some Special K flakes in the middle of the squabble so they would leave me alone, which by the way, didn’t work. They turned into sharks circling the milky morsels  then pouncing upon it in a pile of fur and feathers! After the attack, they all looked up at me with squinted eyes demanding in their silence for more….not a few flakes, but the whole bowl! I retreated as fast as I could back to the house with my breakfast held high above my head as the herd of cats ran after me. One kitty ran in front trying to get me to stop as the other 3 sprinted to the back door where they stood like soldiers guarding the entrance, nobody in, nobody out! Chick Chick waited by the swing hoping I would come back and reward her for being good. The cats won. I gave up my cereal and placed it on the porch. It was completely gone within 4.5 seconds. I grudgingly went back to my swing and sat with Chick Chick who was not interested in me anymore now that the food was gone.  She jumped down and strutted away looking for early bugs. The kitties relished in their victory and cuddled in the warm sun, paws and tails wrapped around each other, glancing at me with a satisfied look of ‘yep, we rule, you drool’.

Stir crazy animals!

Chickens & Rooster, Dunkay the Donkey, Farm Life, Goats, Horses, llamas, Uncategorized

My poor animals are so barn crazy!  The back llamas haven’t been out for a month now. Although we keep the front door open a little so the others can go outside to stretch their legs if need be, the only animals or shall I say, animal, that comes out for more than 30 seconds is Sierra the staring goat! And she does what?  Stare at the house…waiting, watching, stalking, plotting. As a matter of fact, there is a tiny trail going from the barn to the gate. Those are her tracks.  No other hoof prints anywhere else by the other animals in the snow! Sometimes it feels creepy to have a goat watching your house 24 hours a day, everyday….waiting for you!

Goat Chasing Bunnies!!

Bunnies & rabbits, Chickens & Rooster, Farm Life, Goats, Uncategorized, , , , ,

Just when I thought I’ve seen it all, my animals surprise me with something else to shake my head at. I was in my office working when I looked out the window to see what the naughty’s were up to. Seemed normal, not much going on in below 0 weather.  I had left the barn door open just enough to let them go outside in case they needed a break from each other.  I saw two bunnies run out as fast as they could, following close behind was our goat Sierra. She chased those bunnies with her head bent low an inch or three behind a bunny butt all the way to the trees! She then walked back to the barn satisfied that her personal pile of hay was safe from un-wanted dinner guest!