Swimming Lessons

For some unknown reason, The Red Cross training manual does not have any information on training your young goose how to swim.

It was time that Wilbur graduate from the bathtub,so we have started to take him out to the pond for "Goose Swimming 101".

The first step in Goose Swimming 101, is finding someone willing to wade out into the pond, and since it is nearly impossible to keep the kids from getting their feet wet, they appeared to be the perfect choice.

Wilbur heads straight for shore. If this doesn't work, maybe we can get a bigger bathtub!

Birth Annoucement

Mr & Mrs Goose, of Mansfield Ct, are proud to announce the hatching of their 5 new babies.

Because we have, Owls, Hawks, Crows, Fox, Weasel, Mink, Raccoons, Bobcat, Snapping Turtles, and other critters looking for a baby goose super, we have decided to give them a better chance at survival by locking them up for a couple of weeks.

It was extremely heart breaking last year when a predator of some type preyed upon their only hatchling. Because Swamp has spent the past couple of weeks chasing Mr Goose away from the nest, and this has lead to a couple of bloodied fights between the 2, we had no choice but to lock Swamp out of the temporary pen.

Swamp does have visitation rights and takes advantage of them. When he is not visiting he goes back to the nest site and waits, hoping for a baby of his very own.

Dangerous Crossings

Yesterday I spotted a small Painted Turtle, attempting to cross the road in our neighborhood. As I turned the car around to execute a rescue, I watched as she was nearly squashed by 2 trucks passing by her.

With the warm weather approaching, the turtles are on the move as they search for a mate and nesting sites. Some populations of turtles are seriously affected by encounters with vehicles and some say is a major factor in their decline.

It only takes a few moments to save a life. As long as you don't endanger your life. Stop and help the little creature reach it's destination. If possible move it in the direction that it was headed. They say you should not relocate the turtle to a new area, but the painted turtle is very common and its numbers in the wild are strong, so I had no problem removing her from certain death, and releasing her on our farm near the water.

It only takes seconds, but it is a very satisfying experience knowing you saved such a awesome little creature that is often overlooked and under appreciated..

Life Is A Dream

The one thing I am sure about, is most of our animals are a bit confused. We have 3 baby turkeys that hatched in our incubator, and during this critical time are being raised in our living room. We made a "intensive care brooder" out of a 20 gallon fish tank. This allows us to closely monitor them and I believe it also helps them bond to us.

So I was thinking, we have baby turkeys in a fish tank, that think we are their parents, we have a swan that thinks he is a goose, we have a baby goose that thinks I am Papa, and the kids are his playmates. We have a couple of giant tortoise that graze like cows, and a baby goat that sleeps in Jeanne's mudroom at night, and I don't think he realizes he is a goat. We have a Blue Fronted Amazon Parrot that thinks I am his mate, and will attack anyone and anything that comes near us when he is on my shoulder. We have another parrot that will say "I love you". We also have a Male Turkey that waits for the Mail Truck and will stop traffic so that he can strut his stuff.

Like I said, I was thinking, and I asked Jeanne, "when you were younger and had dreams about a home of your own, and starting a family and raising a couple of kids, did you ever in your wildest dreams, imagine you would live on a ARK"?

She either did not answer me, or I fell asleep waiting for a answer.


Hope found a small clutch of chicken eggs and she hatched out 3 of them. She now carefully watches over them and they consider her Momma, and she considers them baby turkeys.

Goat Bloat

I will admit that I was one of those who thought raising goats was not much more then a fence, a bucket of fresh water, and some hay. I remember cartoon goats eating tin cans, so naturally I thought goats eat anything.

The truth is, goats are complicated eating machines, and it really does not take much for one to eat the wrong thing and get very very sick.

Little Willie our baby Saanan Goat started crying around 11pm, and this was not normal for him. When I checked on him he was obviously in pain and his sides were bloated.

I remember being told if a horse gets colic, which I believe is like a goat with bloat, you need to walk him and keep him moving. I took poor Willie outside and he had a very hard time staying on his feet. He would take a few steps and his legs would give out.

A little voice inside my head told me to start rubbing is belly and sides. So I started to massage his sides, and I could see it was relieving his pain. Little Willie curled up next to me and I rubbed and massaged him for the next 2 1/2 hours non stop.

I must have done something right because after 2 plus hours of thinking we might lose him, he rose up on his feet and acted as if nothing had happened. I ended up spending the night next to him, and I am very pleased to say he is doing good.

It has been about a week and I still get up a couple of times in the night to check on him. And for the first time I am happy about little voices in my head.

Wilbur

Ever since I read the book "Charlotte's Web" when I was a child, I have secretly wanted a pet pig that I could name Wilbur. Every farm needs a pig named Wilbur.

When We hatched out a baby goose in our incubator, Jeanne went and stole the name "Wilbur", and gave it to the new baby goose. This might have been a deliberate attempt on her part to keep us pig free. How can we have a little piglet if we can't name it Wilbur?

Now I am thinking, "if i can name a Turkey Bob, and a possum Frank, I can think of a new name for a pig.

.
Maybe because Wilbur is so cute, I can forgive her if she was to forgive me for misplacing Chester the snake in the house.


Wilbur thinks he is one of the kids!

Please Come Home Chester

Chester has to be close to 4 feet long and very brightly colored. I don't understand how he can be so hard to find, and I don't understand why Jeanne is so nervous, and maybe a little bit upset.
Its not like I intentionally let him escape into the house.

Sooner or later he will show up.

Half A Farm

What is the definition of a Farm? Do you need hundreds of acres of land, a big red barn and silo? Do you need 500 chickens or 600 cows. Do you need many miles of white fences and big green tractors?

The definition of a farm employed by the USDA is "any operation that sells at least one thousand dollars of agricultural commodities or that would have sold that amount of produce under normal circumstances."

Other definitions of a farm are:
A tract of land cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production.

A tract of land devoted to the raising and breeding of domestic animals.

Definition of a gentleman's farm:
A farmer with an independent source of income who farms for pleasure rather than for money.

I asked Tommy if we lived on a farm, and I was a bit disappointed when he said, "No".

We have chickens, ducks, geese. turkeys, goats, guinea fowl.
We raise some pumpkins every year and plan on raising vegetables this year. "Why can we not call our place a farm"? He then conceded a bit and said we have a, "Half Farm". Why a half farm? "Because we need a cow, a horse, and a pig to be a farm".

My opinion:
It does not matter if you have 1/2 acre or 1000 acres. You don't need the large red barn with all the traditional animals and accessories.
If Baseball can use the term "Farm League or Farm Team" because they grow Baseball Players. If that cozy Bed and Breakfast with beautiful cottage gardens, or that convenience store can use the word Farm in their name, then so can we

And,
After years of hatching various eggs in our incubator, one of our hens hatched out her own little flock.
Now if that is not life on the farm, then I must ask, "what is"?