Meet the Chickens

Thought you'd like to meet my girls - the chickens, that is. Sophia (or Sophie) is a Silkie. She's as soft as a bunny. Pure white. In this pic, my daughters put a barret in her "hair." She lays a small brown egg.

Harriet is a big brown hen. This pic is of her on a perch in their kennel. She is special because she lays the green eggs.

Red is a Rhode Island Red. Our hair is the same color. Well, her feathers and my hair. She lays the big brown eggs. Two of Sophie's eggs equals one of Red's.

The girls are very friendly. They not only provide us with eggs, they are our pets. They have a nice kennel area, but also a fenced-in "play pen," as we call it. They have lots of room to run around and play. Of course, they love being left out to run around the yard. The garden is one of their favorite spots because of all that grows there and all the bugs.

Feeding the Hungry on Thanksgiving

We went to Sharon's for Thanksgiving. I took dessert - apple pies, pumkin rolls, and Tastycake Tandycake (which tastes just like the real thing by Tastycake). Since the frig was full, I put the cake outside on the deck to keep chilled. During dinner, I happened to be facing the back door and watched a squirrel up on the railing of the deck eating, then jumping down, getting up to eat again. Being the animal lover, I was entertained until I wondered what he could be eating. Yep, my cake was right under where he was.

Hidden Picture

Remember those Highlight magazines from your childhood? Wasn't your favorite page Hidden Pictures? So in this picture, can you find the black kitten? This is now her new favorite place.

Buttons :(

My little Buttons has slept ALL day in a corner of my bedroom. A couple times we have taken her to the food and water, but she just heads back to the bedroom. She hasn't played all day. She doesn't even open her eyes the whole way. I called the vet at 4:15 and took her in. She has a slight fever. The vet couldn't find any definitive sign of infection, but said Buttons is getting a really big tooth. This could all be teething - like a baby. He gave her a shot of antibiotic and something else (I forget). I have liquid antibiotic to give her for a couple days. We'll see if she is better in a couple days. Poor baby. :(

Barney and Friend

We have several neighbor cats who tend to be at our house on occasion. I'm thinking it's cause I'll feed any cat.

This cat comes around every night. If I'm in the family room, he comes to the basement window to get my attention. It used to drive our cats nuts, but they are getting more used to it. They jump up into the window, but they don't try to attack through the glass anymore.

Of course, when he'd show up, I'd race out to the porch to give him some food. He was very shy and would eat only when I'd come back in the house. I am pleased to say that I have been able to pet him recently. I can even pet him while he's eating. And three nights ago he left me check out the tag on his collar. His name is Barney, and belongs at the farm house across the street. Barney is a ferocious eater. He eats the food like he hasn't eaten since the last time I fed him. I'm not sure how much the owners feed him. I'm thinking they might have him as a mouser. I wonder what my feeding him does to that. He likes cat food, that's for sure.

Anyway, Barney's becoming pretty friendly with me now. I took this picture last night. I went out later to see him, and there was an orange cat there with him! First time I saw him. He stayed at a safe distance. Snapped this pic to prove it. Let's see how long till he's my friend.

Baby

Thought I should post about the other cats occasionally. Maybe even a chicken report soon. I know you are anxiously awaiting each one. :)

Baby is our oldest cat and the lap cat of the decade. If you are sitting, she's on your lap. She prefers you combing her at the same time. Baby is also the fattest cat in the house. Thought I'd post her eating the other day. Just too much effort to stand up and eat!

Buttons Update

Where did this month go?

Buttons had her first vet appointment this week. Turns out she is older than we thought. She's 4 1/2 months old. She is still a little thing. The vet thought she was such a great kitty with a wonderful personality! I knew that. Buttons came home from her appointment exhausted. The affects of the shots put her out for about 24 hours. She was not herself at all.

Buttons and Zippy are still crazy. When we are in the basement and they are racing back and forth from the kitchen to the bedroom over tile and hardwood floors, it sounds like a herd of horses upstairs.

I spoil the cats with some canned food in the morning. As soon as Buttons sees what I'm doing, she races into the dining area of the kitchen - to the far corner of the room. She jumps up on the chair in the corner, hops up on the buffet, runs across it, leaps across the counter stools and onto the counter, and runs on the counter to where I am. This takes about 1.8 seconds. It's like a dart. It's so cute. What a smart girl.

Buttons

It took a week, but we decided on a name for the addition to the farm. Because she is so cute, her name is Buttons. She is cute as a button!

Zippy and she are best friends. They race after each other. We'll see Zippy chase Buttons down the hall and into the bedroom. Then they'll come tearing out of the bedroom with Buttons chasing Zippy.

Zippy is really enjoying life. When she wants to play hard, she takes on Doodah who is much bigger than she. That's always quite a wrestling match. But Zippy is very gentle with Buttons.

The pictures are of Zippy and Buttons at out bedroom window, just hanging out together.

Replacement Pet

Well, I kept hearing about this incredibly friendly, six week old kitty in need of a home. I actually thought she'd be a good pet for someone else I know (I'm not mentioning names), but she is now at my house. She's all black with just a little bit of white on the front of her neck. She's on my lap right now.

I'm requesting name suggestions.

I lost one pet this week, so I guess this is the replacement. At least it's not as bad as when I would replace a pet with two new ones!

Chirpy's resting place

Sharon got her first bird at age 13. Chirpy was a parakeet. At 14 she got a yellow cockatiel, George, named after Curious George because he was into everything. The next year, one of my clients gave me her grey cockatiel Chirpy. For many years we had the three birds. They got along great. Sharon went off to college, and the birds became mine.

Our yard is the resting place for the three birds, numerous cats, rabbits, mice, hamsters, and guinea pigs.

Chirpy

Sunday evening I took care of Chirpy, my 15 year old cockatiel. I filled his food dish, gave him a special treat of seeds, and filled his water dish with fresh water. We talked and whistled while this was going on. I am very sad to report we found him lying on the bottom of the cage this morning. He gave no indication last night that anything was wrong. He didn't act sick; nothing was out of the ordinary. The average lifespan of a cockatiel is 12 to 15 years. My consolation is that he was happy up to the end.

Cats with Manners

We feed our cats on the washer and dryer. That started a few years back when we had a dog. We had to get their food up so the dog wouldn't eat it.

Baby is such a fat thing that we have to put a little table there so she can get up on the washer. It's probably the only exercise she gets.

I fed them one night this week and saw Doodah, Snickers and Baby jump up to eat. Zippy waited on the little table for her turn to get up. I snapped a picture of that. Then I noticed Rocky was waiting patiently on the floor, so I got a pic from that angle also.

What polite and courteous kitties I have!

Animal Infestations

This happened the beginning of August -

We've had a few animal situations at the Adams Farmette.

The neighbor's hawks seem to like our yard, with the chickens, rabbits, squirrels and birds. A couple weeks ago, one of the hawks was sitting on the shed roof, watching the chickens. We are glad we put a 6' high fence around the girls' (chickens) "play pen" and put netting across the top. We would like to find out which tree the hawks live in and offer to pay to have the limb removed from the tree come fall. Maybe they won't come back next year.

We have a chipmunk, which is adorable. Parke has seen him leave the garden with a tomato in his mouth. The chipmunk(s) sometimes are in our basement wall. They enter where all the wires and cables come into the house. There isn't a lot of space, but they get in. Parke has put steel wool in the openings, but the chipmunk takes it out. We know there is one in the wall when the cats are lined up in the family room at that wall. The chipmunks come in at ground level, but come down the inside of the basement wall. It drives the cats nuts.

Earlier this week, Parke saw the chipmunk go into the bottom of the rain spout. There's a 3' black extender pipe at the bottom. Parke plugged up the end with a towel. Because of how it is all put together, he decided it has to be disconnected at the top - at the gutter. He was on a ladder, taking it apart. I, of course, am safely on the ground, camera in hand. My job in life is to document everything in pictures. As soon as Parke had the spouting off the gutter, the chipmunk came jumping out the top, "flying" 10' to the ground. It was amazing!. Since we weren't expecting that to happen, I have no pic. :(

Yesterday I was away all morning. When I got home, Parke told me how he almost ended up in the hospital because of this chipmunk. Once again, it was in the down spout. Once again, Parke was on the ladder. I don't know exactly what happened, except Parke fell off the ladder, hearing bones in his back cracking and the wind being knocked out of him. He was a bit stunned. I told him we are letting that chipmunk alone now and he is not to be on a ladder again. Do you think he will listen? :)

Then we have a mouse issue. This is usually an autumn event. Some years we have mice coming in when it gets cooler outside. One night last week, three of the cats were laying on the kitchen floor near the back door, looking at the cabinetry. We know that means "mouse in the house." The wires coming into the house are right behind that cabinet. There was evidence of a mouse in the junk drawer, which had Lifesavers, etc in it. Parke set a mouse trap in the drawer. Bait gone, no mouse. Dumb trap. After a few nights of setting the trap, we got the mouse. Last night we were in the basement, and Zippity had a baby mouse. She was happy as can be. She'd set it down. As soon as it would scurry off, she was after it again. She wasn't trying to kill it, just play with it. She would not let us close to her. She wasn't giving up her toy. We finally got her in the sewing room and closed the door. It took about 30 minutes to get the mouse from her. They were both so fast. There is so much for her to hide under and around in that room. After that was over, Parke and I rested for 30 minutes! Zippy was walking around looking for her little friend. She was kind of whimpering. We went upstairs, only to find Doodah playing with a baby mouse in the dining room! In less than 5 minutes, we had that mouse taken care of. It's never a good thing to have a mouse nest in your house. I forget how many babies they can have, but it's a lot. There was evidence again this morning in the kitchen drawer, so there's a trap set again there. (The picture above is of Zippy with tail of mouse in her mouth. Mouse is hanging down. Rocky is waiting his turn to play with the mouse.)

See how important it is to have five indoor cats! They provide the mouse alarm, search and rescue services, and entertainment for people with no life!

So, what's new with you????

Chickens on the loose

I was just outside with the chickens to gather three eggs. My life is so ridiculous! I brought the girls' water container in the house to scrub and bleach it (my Sunday job). When I took it back to the pen, I didn't have the gate closed. It was open maybe a foot!

If I'm in there, they want to be with me and don't wander out usually. Well, Harriet bolted across the "play pen" and out the gate. She raced toward the big maple tree. She caught a huge bug!

Red, not to be left out of anything, ran after her. Harriet, with dinner in beak, raced across the yard toward the garden, Red at her heels (if chickens have heels). They went behind the evergreen tree and out of sight. I go in that direction to get them as Red comes flying up the yard with the bug in HER beak. It was a battle to see who was going to get the special treat.

Meanwhile, gentle Sophia is meandering out of the play pen and into the grass to scratch around and find something to eat. I am trying to keep the two big birds in the yard and back to the pen. It wasn't working. I ran in the house and got a container with some treats for them. They love to see us exit the house with a food container. Red came running to me, followed by Harriet. ( I missed who got to eat the big bug.)

I walked into the play pen with them following me. Meanwhile, Sophia is staying in a small area, checking out the ground for juicy snacks. I got down on her level and talked quietly to her. She came right over and we walked into the play pen. WHEW!

Parke wasn't home, so it was interesting doing this myself. Thought you'd enjoy my adventure. :-)