I took both the house phone and my cell phone to bed last night as I was afraid that the post office would call early to let me know my turkey poults and ducklings were in and that would wake the children up. I need'nt have worried... the phones never rang. I got up before 8am as usual and got dressed and checked my e-mail real quick. I was just about to go out the door to do chores when Evan stumbled into the kitchen. He wanted to come help feed the animals so a few minutes later after getting him dressed we headed out to the barn.
My routine now is to give Cherry Blossom and Riona their scoop of grain as a treat and then throw some hay down in the barn and then some in two places out in the pasture runout. This allows Cherry Blossom, Riona and the two mini donkeys to all eat some hay without getting in Blossom's way. Blossom will still usually check out every pile of hay before settling on the one she wants that day. I pick up the grain bowls and return them to the grain pail for tomorrow.
Next, I scoop food into two bowls for Emie and Berk our LGDs. I also scoop alpaca grain into the three bowls for Peter, Celtie and Joy. I take all five bowls around to the alpaca runout. I feed the dogs first then put the grain down for the alpacas. At this point I need to stand gaurd for the alpacas as Emie and Berk at four months old with stick their noses in and eat the paca grain if I'm not there. Once the pacas are done with their grain I pick up all the bowls and return them to the barn and return with more hay for them. I dump the water buckets, give them a quick scrub if needed and refill with fresh water.
Finally, it is off to the chicken coop. Our little chickens are four days old now and have almost doubled in size from Monday. Feeders get cleaned out and refilled as well as the waterers. Once done I just lean back on the wall and watch the cute chicks run around doing their thing.
This morning though, as I was finshing up with the chicks I finally got the phone call from the post office. My turkeys are here, but no ducks! The ducks were only quaranteed to arrive by tomorrow at 3pm. Evan and I headed to the house just as McKayla was coming out to check on us. We hurried in and got McKayla dressed and drove to the PO. Once home we got the 15 little turkeys all settled into the brooder next to the chickens. These little guys (and girls hopefully) were quick! They would zoom from one end of the brooder to the other. I had to be extra carefull not to step on any of them!
My routine now is to give Cherry Blossom and Riona their scoop of grain as a treat and then throw some hay down in the barn and then some in two places out in the pasture runout. This allows Cherry Blossom, Riona and the two mini donkeys to all eat some hay without getting in Blossom's way. Blossom will still usually check out every pile of hay before settling on the one she wants that day. I pick up the grain bowls and return them to the grain pail for tomorrow.
Next, I scoop food into two bowls for Emie and Berk our LGDs. I also scoop alpaca grain into the three bowls for Peter, Celtie and Joy. I take all five bowls around to the alpaca runout. I feed the dogs first then put the grain down for the alpacas. At this point I need to stand gaurd for the alpacas as Emie and Berk at four months old with stick their noses in and eat the paca grain if I'm not there. Once the pacas are done with their grain I pick up all the bowls and return them to the barn and return with more hay for them. I dump the water buckets, give them a quick scrub if needed and refill with fresh water.
Finally, it is off to the chicken coop. Our little chickens are four days old now and have almost doubled in size from Monday. Feeders get cleaned out and refilled as well as the waterers. Once done I just lean back on the wall and watch the cute chicks run around doing their thing.
This morning though, as I was finshing up with the chicks I finally got the phone call from the post office. My turkeys are here, but no ducks! The ducks were only quaranteed to arrive by tomorrow at 3pm. Evan and I headed to the house just as McKayla was coming out to check on us. We hurried in and got McKayla dressed and drove to the PO. Once home we got the 15 little turkeys all settled into the brooder next to the chickens. These little guys (and girls hopefully) were quick! They would zoom from one end of the brooder to the other. I had to be extra carefull not to step on any of them!
We hadn't been back in the house long when a mail car pulled into the driveway... the ducklings! The kids were in the living room eating lunch so I snuck out and got the little ducks and took them right down to the barn. I opened up the box and out stepped seven little ducklings. Oh... these little ones were the cutest babies yet! The wattled around finding the water and food. So, now our poultry house is complete... chickens, turkeys and ducks. I can't wait to watch them all grow up!
This evening at feeding time I made great progress with the donkeys. Mal ate about 5-6 horse cookies right from my hand and I got to give him a few short strokes on the muzzle. His sister Inora is still a little reserved. She sniffed at the cookies but wouldn't take them. They both stood and ate hay while I was standing right in front of them. These are all BIG steps forward for both of them. I am very pleased!
Side note: I broke the digital camera today just as the ducks arrived! So, no more photos for a while until we figure out what to do about that. Darn!
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