Category: farm animals

Baby Huey Fights Back and Wins! (Well, sort of)

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I have been taking the babies outside for a bit of exercise, greens, and some sun.  I also want the babies and the Mommas to get used to each other.

Polly seems to be genuinely interested in the little Hueys, but the Hister Sisters aren’t so taken with them.  They hiss, stretch their necks, and wiggle their neck feathers at them.  When they do this their eyes seem to get this fixed stare to them and it is genuinely scary looking.

The Hueys don’t seem to mind so much so long as I am in view, but if they can’t find me then panic ensues!  They stretch their necks up like periscopes and swivel their heads, all the while peeping in unison, it is a frantic sounding call.

Yesterday on our little walk the Mommas came up and stood their ground, as if to say, “This is our turf, go find your own clover to nibble.  The little Hueys just hid under my skirt.  Then one of them popped out and peeped at Polly, whereupon she stretched down and bonked him on the head with her bill!

Ouch!

The little Huey sprang to action and raising himself up to full stretch he flapped his little winglets and charged her!  She, being caught off guard, tried to avoid his lunge and nearly fell backward onto her tail feathers!

I am sorry there are no pictures of this little battle, but it was such a shock, and it all happened so fast…

It was hysterical!

The Hueys have been here since May 1st, and that is only two weeks, but Oh how they have grown!  When I got them they were shipped in a little cardboard crate like this one.

This is Polly and her siblings in the box, when they first arrived in April of 2010.  They were so small!

The new baby Hueys are so inquisitive, so cute, and so B-I-G!

Can you see their white down growing up through their baby fuzz?  There are the beginnings of pin feathers in there too!

Would you believe me if I told you they used to BOTH fit in their food dish?

They do grow fast in only two weeks.  😉

~*~

UPDATE:  Here is a nice article that you might enjoy on geese from Hobby Farms  http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/raising-geese-14963.aspx

Just pictures ;)

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I have been taking advantage of all the almost perfect weather (it’s been a bit windy) to do  a bit  A LOT of gardening.  Suddenly I realized that it has been two weeks since my last post!

So, without further adieu,

I share my progress with you!

In no particular order…

Want the weeds to go away?  Leave the oak leaves in place!  Herbs, roses, and old-fashioned posies all vie for my affection.

I have forgotten this little girls name, but I love her simple pink petaled face.

The geese chewed this one down to the ground, and look!  You’d never guess!

Even my chicken yard is sporting roses!  They make a nice foil for the ugly storage shack in the neighbor’s yard, don’t you agree?

The native bees were finding these delightful in the morning

Look at all those buds!  The Mermaid is going to be stunning for the first time since I planted her!  Covered in big, yellow, seven-inch blooms everywhere!  She has wicked red thorns…

But the chickens find her shade inviting!

Well, it’s chicken and goose thirty and I need to get busy!  I will post more tomorrow…

~*~

What’s growing in your garden this spring?

Spring Happenings: a mini tour

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Spring came early this year and I was prepared.  My tomatoes and peppers were started in the kitchen window, lots of them, and as soon as I could I was out planting peas, broccoli, spinach, lettuces, rutabagas, turnips, beets and more!  All this work attracted the attention and the admonishment of a neighbor that, “We could still have a cold snap as late as April…” but I am feeling fearless because I have frost blankets to keep their little roots warm!

I even bought myself a new little tractor to help me get the job done!  Last year when I gardened I cried.  Literally.  I have a herniated disk in my lower back and getting down to ground level was a not working for me.  Hence my garden was not what I wanted or usually have here on the Farmlet.  However, now I have Violet to help me get the job done!

What!?! 

You’re laughing? Well hey, if men can name their cars then I can name my lovely new tractor assistant.

Meet Violet!

In this photo I was under the shade of my pop up to keep the sun from scorching my skin while I worked…  I went in to eat lunch and when I returned the pop-up was in the neighbors fence with broken legs…

!!! 😦 !!!

But I kept the poles to be used as tomato stakes! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, right?

OK, so how about I just quit talking and show you spring on the Farmlet?

So, without further adieu…

Little Dorrit  and one of the Hueys assist with the weeding of the onions and garlic.

A gratuitous dog picture.  Gotta have a dog in this post, and so I introduce you to Buddy, our other wonderful dog.  Isn’t he beautiful?  (It was brought to my attention that I have a tendency to overlook him in favor of the Little Dog.    This one’s for you Pam 😉 )

Remember this little hen?  Can you believe she’s the same one I almost lost last year? (read about that HERE)

Iris in the morning light.

These grow with abandon all over our little acre, and in many colors too!

~*~

The following photographs are of the native plants I have growing here.  Growing what is native to the region in which I live is a passion of mine…

We have eight of these lovely trees here on the Farmlet.  We used to have more but we lost them to storms, age, and unfortunately, the new garage/barn.  We are loosing a couple more to termites as well.  I think I will replace them, but perhaps not in the same place.

You may also recall my visit to the Lovely Plant Lady last April?  (look HERE) Well, I was certain that the May Apples and Trillium hadn’t made it, but NO, here is the May Apple…

and here is the Trillium!  So glad I haven’t lost my native garden gardening skills. Can’t wait to see this garden in bloom this year!

These are Red Bud blossoms.  Roughly the size of a small pea, they pop out from the bark to cover the branches.  It is stunning to see them all throughout the woods here.

~*~

And finally…

These are Mystery Berries.  I have a whole patch of them in the front under the Pin Oak.  If you know what they are I would appreciate knowing so I can put them where they will be happy and productive.  (Currently, they are not.) The berries are the size of blueberries, the color of green grapes, with a bit of lighter striping from stem to blossom end.   Oh yes, and it is thornless!

The leaf and fruit form remind me of the RIBES family.  Anyone?

UPDATE:  The mystery plant has been identified as Clove Currant or Ribes Odoratum.   Thank you Lori at Day by Day the Farmgirl Way!

You can find out more here on Dave’s Garden:  http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/15424/

 

~*~

Thank you for visiting today and come back again soon!

~*~

NOTE:  Due to so many photos I kept them smaller to help with download time.   However, all photographs are clickable for a better view.   So, did it help?

Polly Wanna What?

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One day my goose Polly honked at me through the back door.  She climbed right up the stairs to the mudroom door and honked loudly until I finally went to see her.    Then she hopped down and began to walk away!   She did this many times.

On this particular day I was cold and I looked out the window to see what was up…

She must have heard my footfalls on the wooden planks as I walked over to the window because when I looked out this is what I saw.

She looked at me as if to say:  “Well, I’m waiting, com’on out will ya, I got something to say!”

Well, when she put it that way, I donned my Crazy Chicken Lady attire and went out to see what she wanted.

Seeing me she quickly turned and waddled to the gate by the barn and began to rub herself back and forth along the gate.

She reminded me of the prisoners who rattle their cups along the bars in the old movies.  This was a signal I immediately recognized, and so I opened the gate for her.

Quickly she continued on

Waddling as fast as those little flappy feet would take her.

They are quite fast this morning because she is a goose on a mission!

Polly wants to lay an egg!

~*~

Looking about in the sleeping nest she moves a bit of straw around and then honks at me again:  “Meh!  I can’t lay an egg in here.  It’s filthy!”  Which is putting it politely…
Geese are not the cleanest of bed mates I am afraid.
I see her moving the straw again, and know what she wants.  She wants a clean nest! She begins rubbing herself on the back of the kennel fence this time.  (I use this fence to keep them out of the rest of the barn at night, because geese just LOVE to chew and dibble and will ruin even the toughest of items if you let them.)

I open the kennel fence and she goes over to the bales of straw.  Clipping the twine allows a flake to fall to the floor and she immediately begins to tear it apart moving it and arranging it to her liking.   While she works I put up a blockade to keep her out of the other side of the barn where she might get herself into trouble.

When I am done I leave and pull the kennel fence shut so the cats and other animals can’t get in to disturb her.

In about a half an hour I return to let her out, but whoopsie!  She’s not done…

Laying an egg is strenuous work. She looks at me as if to say, “Hey, a little privacy here!  Come back later!”

And a bit later…

There it is!

~*~

An interesting factoid for you:  One goose egg is equal to three chicken’s eggs.

One goose egg will make any cake you bake the best you have ever eaten!  Now don’t feel too bad that I am taking Polly’s eggs to make cake… You see, her eggs are not fertile this year, because I have no ganders.  I thought I had a gander when I got the three baby Hueys, but it turns out they were all girls!  (You can read all about the arrival of the Hueys HERE)

Oh, but never fear.   I have new baby Pilgrim ganders arriving on April 30th, and next spring it will be as it should be!

~*~

Now, because she is done, and ready to go join her friends, I open the kennel fence and we walk back to the side of the yard where the rest of the geese are eating and swimming.  They honk greetings all around and then continue their grazing.

Polly has been telling me when she needs to lay an egg for about a month now.  Last week was the first time she came calling at the back door for me.

Strange, smart, amazing goose!

~*~

ADDENDUM:   Because so many of you have remarked on Polly’s intelligence,  I  have added a link to a 2007 article from the Boston Globe entitled,

Eggheads:  How bird brains are shaking up science  <— Click

This article is on the intelligence of the avian species!  They really are quite remarkable in their thinking and reasoning abilities.  Far more than we have ever given them credit for. 

So, from now on when someone calls you a “birdbrain” you may just take it as a compliment!