And now it's June

Not great at updating, am I? Yep, I'm one of THOSE bloggers. Well, what I'm doing now is so exciting (to me) I'm posting just a couple of sentences every hour on Facebook, and that makes me one of THOSE friends. So here's to trying to fix both of those issues. I'll just up date my blog every hour. One post per day/edited every time I want to post something farm related on Facebook. I'm using my blog like a Twitter feed/Instagram? Ok. I'd rather do that than add those to yet another online way of socializing.

So quick update: we are still at our new wonderful home, and now I have a garden,

a dog, a cat (plus two other cats we occasionally see keeping our yard pest free), an albino snake somewhere in the house if it's still alive,  

a goat (!)

 6 guineas I hatched from eggs in an incubator (!!),

8 ameraucana chicks about 5 weeks old I bought from my eating egg lady,

6 mixed breed 2 week old chicks I bought from a homeschooling friend, and 4 brand new hatched TODAY chicks (2 barred rock and 2 rhode island red),

and a whole lot of eggs still waiting to see if they will hatch today or tomorrow.

Oh, and my oldest daughter owns two pure bred French Angora bunnies, one of which is pregnant. 

These are the Facebook posts I've made over the last week:

June 4

Got home from church to find the neighbors' dogs attacked our goat. Thankfully First Born Son was home sick and rescued him, but his wound, which had looked so close to healed, is ripped back open and won't stop slowly bleeding. He is also favoring one leg. Ironically, this is the same neighbor who knocked on my door last month at 12:30 AM (yes, I was asleep) to let me know our dog had chewed up his rubber boots and stolen a baseball cap. Percival (the dog) has since been on a chain but his dogs weren't. He and his girlfriend are a young couple with a week old baby, and dogs that have the same ability to sneak out doors and slip off chains our dog had. I feel bad for them, and our goat, but mostly I'm worried about our future livestock. I hope this gets worked out with no hard feelings and no dead animals. — feeling worried.

June 8

Lost another chick this evening. I have no idea what happened. He seemed fine this morning, just like all of them, they spent the afternoon outside and before we moved him back into the brooder he was lethargic and had really watery poo. Kept him separate from the others for a bit and gave him vitamin water, then he started twisting his neck weird and stiffening his legs and losing balance and shaking. Died about 3 hours after we noticed he wasn't doing well. 

Well, those started out depressing, huh? It gets better.

17 hours ago

My eggs are chirping! My eggs are chirping! I'm going to have zombie chicks!

(I'd thought all my eggs were dead for sure...the temperature had NOT stayed steady.)

13 hours ago

Chick number 1 has emerged! It's a Barred Rock!

6 hours ago

Getting up this morning a Rhode Island Red has joined my Barred Rock in the incubator, and a third one is almost out! Two Rhode Islands Red! I have two of each now and at least 3 more working their way out! I have 9 hens at least out of the other chicks so far, and if these are 50/50 I'll have another 2 or 3 at least, depending if more hatch. Then, of course, we'll have to see how many actually survive.

5 hours ago

These red heat lamps aren't kidding around.

4 hours ago

Y'all are going to be so sick of my chicken posts, so here's a chicken/child post. Tavi is being sooo good, she is leaning over and cooing at them, and gently reaching in with one finger to pet them. I haven't had to stop her once yet. Well, not since last week. That's awesome for a not-yet-two year old.

And the one I just resisted adding to Facebook:

2 pm

Newest chick has a large unabsorbed yolk sac. :( I have placed him on a small saucer in the incubator with a damp paper towel to keep him clean and safe. Hopefully it will reabsorb and not start bleeding everywhere.

3:11 pm

It looks like the yolk sac has been absorbed. I'm going to put Neosporin on his belly and then try to fix his toes. They are all curled up. Supposed to be an easy fix, I think I've heard.

4:59 pm

I'm not sure what to do now. I don't have vetwrap, we are out of pipe cleaners, the yolk sac won't absorb, and the chick is not interested in just laying down and dying. :(