So, what has been going on in my absence ? Little Cami and Carla the tiny lambs that were so unfairly born to a mother with neither the mental attitude or the physical attributes to care for one, much less two needy offspring have surprised us all. Early efforts to persuade them to suck were frustratingly unsuccessful. Force feeding with a tiny drench kept the little waifs barely alive and hope was fading for their survival but where there is life there is hope and currently Mom ( still hopelessly inadequate in the milky bar department and still disinclined to her new maternal status) and her two bouncy, springy little lambs are out in the pasture fortunately harbouring no resentment for her earlier resistance to the state of motherhood and shadowing mom’s every move. It has to be said, mom doesn’t move a whole lot, when the ewe formation team is in action it’s all heads to the ground and it is going to take an earthquake to distract them.
Cami and Carla ( the two legged variety) now understand why we refer to our meat chickens as the “Sumos”. Last week we bought fifty little balls of fluff and warned our enthusiastic WOOFERS that little fluffy balls of Cornish Cross origin don’t stay cute for very long. And they didn’t. Those fifty little chicks are eating/pooping machines and in a week the balls of fluff have morphed into squishy blobs that eat and poop. Exercise is clearly not an option consequently they choose to squat conveniently close to both the food and the water. A waddle to the waterer is evidently a marathon and the chicks take sumo squat breaks to ease the effort and exertion. Our chicks are raised totally naturally, we actually have to limit their consumption to keep them healthy. We force them to forage when the weather improves and although they will always be the giants of the chicken world, our sumos will at least live the life of a regular, very smelly ( fat) chicken.
Daisy May, Molly and Hol-ley the cows together with instigator Macho the buck and poor Rodney the ram continue to cause trouble coming in for dinner. Hopefully Greg begins calling the rebellious band. Consistently the girls wait with baited breath for five little heads to pop up on cow lane….Bran the border collie shivers in anticipation of the eventual inevitable chase… and repeatedly their hopes are dashed. There are however apparently increasing signs of a breakdown in their group resolve, yesterday Carla led Hol-ley who was unexpectedly co operative, Molly reluctantly moved, fearing her meagre grain ration would be inhaled by her fast growing offspring. Rodney, confused which side of the alliance he was on and not sure whether to hold out with the rebellion or surrender, quietly wandered down Cow Lane with a “not in a hurry” and clearly very pregnant Daisy May. “Macho the man” wasn’t going to capitulate too quickly but apparently a quick mental discussion with himself evaluated the benefits of obstinacy against an empty grain bucket if he held out too long. Everything considered and compared to the previous few days yesterday was considered to be a “sort of” success. We are easily pleased here on Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch.
Well, I’m glad to be back, I will try to keep the Almost Daily Diary going as my condition allows. Thank you all for your best wishes and prayers. Squeeze that angel a little tighter Mum J.
Please take care, keep safe. M