Baby Chicks

As promised I'm sharing some more farm animals today... I guess probably because these are the only creatures I get to spend time with... I talk to them pet them and sometimes if there good they get a squeeze!!! First are some baby chicks. Mama Farmer works for our local School District and she is good friends with the first grade teacher. And every year the teacher comes out to Mama Farmer's farm to get eggs to hatch for her class. The class learn about incubation and eggs, chickens and the whole nine yards and then when the baby's hatch they get sent back to Mama Farmer to raise. It's a fun time for the kiddos. The kids actually remember her years later when they see her in town and they ask about the chickens its pretty cute. This time around we had she had about 26 or so hatch and now we have a little coop of baby chicks to stare out each night. They are so cute when they first hatch.... And then they get to the awkward half chick/half chicken stage which is just scary!!!

See how cute they are here?


But now they are starting to lose the cute fuzz


And now!! They have hit puberty!!


It's just a matter of weeks from the time they are hatched till they start getting feathers. I hate it! I wish they would stay cute and fuzzy forever... But then I wouldn't get eggs... So I guess it's a good trade off.


See this little gal looks like she is going to be a loud one!! I can't wait.

And now for the horses:

Maverick And Misty

About a week ago we had a scary situation with Maverick. He's getting older and he has been losing a lot of weight. He's almost 26 years old. And he got down and wasn't wanting to eat. It scared us half to death. But the vet got him all fixed up and eating again but it wasn't a good week in the Farmer family Households!!! Maverick is Mama Farmer's Baby and she hasn't been doing to well her self and if we would have lost Maverick I don't know what she would have done!! She probably would have lost it. I know that some people wouldn't quite be able to understand that. But he has been a part of this family for a LOOOOONG time he IS a child to her. And I can't imagine what that would do to her. I just pray he doesn't decide to leave us anytime soon. Mama Farmer is still needing prayers though!! Keep them rolling her way please! She just can't seem to get a break. Although this coming Wednesday will be her LAST Chemo!! But the Chemo has just been whooping her teeny tiny behind. She has lost sooo much weight she doesn't even look like the women she was 5 months ago. Cancer has been so hard on this family!! I wish I could take it from her but I can't so we all do what we can. But it's so hard to watch this wonderful woman be eaten alive by a monster no one can see.

Melon Season II

It's spring time and that means WORK! Work Work Work oh yeah and More WORK!!!! Can you say YUCK? Yes it does get old and there are times I just want to scream for my hubby to come home and lay on the sofa with me for a couple hours and watch sappy movies. But I know better! I chose this life and that's what we do! So I put on my big girl panties and deal with it. Most days I don't complain too much because really it can be pretty fun!! So here are those pics I told you I would try and get. I didn't have time to get pics taken up close while the kids (Being of legal age to work... ie. local teens who help out on farms for extra cash and a good tan!!) were actually on the setter. Cause I had hungry horses to feed and they aren't too happy if your late!!! So I zoomed in as best I could and snapped a few and then ran back to the big babies to make them happy.

Farmer Kid is driving today... You see there is a pecking order in the whole produce production business... When it's nice out (meaning not 100 degrees in the shade) then someone higher up (ie old Farmer Father In Law's) would kick farmer kid off the tractor and Farmer Kid would be stuck on the back setting the melon plants and getting dust kicked in his face. But since today is UNBEARABLY HOT Farmer Kid is where he likes to be: Driving!!!

This is a Setter. The seats aren't too bad. The green framed trays hold the flats of plants. Which you can see sitting in front of the girl in the above picture.

This is the spiky thingy (Not the correct name but MY handy dandy Farmer is out farming so I can't get the info that I need. Sorry) that pokes into the plastic right before the plants are placed in the ground.

A MUST HAVE in Melon Farming!!! You will FRY in the Indiana Sun. It's terrible.

Plant stakes. These are in the flats when they arrive to our farm... Up until a few years ago most farmers actually grew there own seedlings here in greenhouses. But the costs involved are getting higher and higher and so it's just cheaper and actually healthier for the plants to start out at a nursery and then arrive right before planting season...

That's all for tonight! Tomorrow I shall share some pics of the Big Babies. Mavrick and Misty oh and maybe some not so baby chicks!!!!

Love and Hugs to you all!!!!

Answers for Marla and Circus Princess

Marla,
No we do not name all the hens or the rooster's there are just way too many. And quite a few of them look a lot a like. Although there is one little hen that has been named. She is a funny little gal that was hatched with a deformed leg. And hops around like she has a kick stand. She is a cute little gal. Mr Farmer named her Petie. Why he named her a boy's name I don't know but that's her name. She hides from the roosters and the other hens. Because chickens can be mean to one another. That is where "The Pecking Order" originated from. They can be down right terrible to one another. So Petie hides and we give her a special pile of food that the others can't get at. And the roosters are pretty much to blame when it comes to who gets pecked on.

Circus Princess,
Our roosters don't seem to need the Viagra. Those roosters are quite virile. So I don't think we will be calling the local vet for a big "boost of confidence" for my roosters.
But I think what really helps them perform is: Mama Farmer will fry all the slackers...
I think that little tactic keeps the roosters on their toes and in their peak performance

Now about the eggs: there is a VERY slim chance of getting a fully formed chick. It is usually only a problem if you don't keep track of your chickens or where they lay their eggs. And if you are not out gathering your eggs EVERYDAY!!! Some hens will hide their eggs if they are free range (meaning out in the "wilderness" 24 hours a day.) They will set on them for several days and then finally we humans stumble upon them and throw them in the basket... And instead of a fried egg you could end up with a fried chicken... It can be pretty gross!! But if you keep your chickens in a run so they can go out in the sun throughout the day. And then have a place for them to roost each night they will lay their eggs in the coop and not hide them. That way you won't have to worry about having half-formed chicks... Which by they way is about the worst start to your day!!!

Double Yolks: I know that some of our hens are pretty consistent at laying double yolked eggs or as my 5 year old nephew says: A Double yodder... They say that some of the bigger hens can lay double yodders every time. Not sure why some of them can and some can't It might be the DNA... Who Knows!! Also some of the little bitty hens called Banty's (Bantam is the proper name) they have little bitty eggs almost half the size of a regular chicken egg. When they first start laying they some eggs won't even have a yolk in them. So that would be an no yodder!!...