It's iris time and almost chicken time

My husband and I took a quick walk around the gardens today (before it got too hot to work) and I counted 11 (I think!) different kinds of iris. I don't know their names. I just go by their color and their smell...mmm! I love iris time. I think it's one of my favorite times in the garden.

Black-purple iris

Maroon and white iris

Purple 'pez' iris

Light blue iris

Two-tone white and blue iris

Maroon with yellow tongue

White iris

Yellow iris

Heirloom peach, yellow and pink iris

Heirloom white and purple

Siberian iris

This is a few of them and it's not counting the ones that haven't bloomed yet. Still waiting on those.

I'm also waiting for our new babies that are supposed to come on Wednesday (15 chicks and 15 guineas). How exciting it will be to see them.

Feeding the birds

Normally I don't put much birdseed out in summer, mainly just thistle seed for the finches. But since I did not get out to feed the birds this winter as much as I should have-could have-wanted to, I ended up with a lot of extra food this spring. So 'what-the-heck' it's taking up space in my cabinet, why not feed them.
Wow, what a difference from the normal winter birds that visit my feeders. Here are a few.

Rose-breasted grosbeak pair

Sparrows

Goldfinch pair

Red and gold finches

Gray Catbirds 

Brown-headed cowbirds

(By the way... cowbirds are lazy, they let others raise their young.)

Male cardinal and house sparrows

Male goldfinch in a maple tree

And look at the maple buds. This was taken yesterday. Usually by now we have leaves on the trees.

Getting things done, doubtful

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. We did. We spent it with some of the family down at Camp Brandenburg near Madison, an awesome girlscout camp. And now its back home again and hopefully back to work. I don't mean work as in 'go to work and get paid'. I mean work as in 'get some things done around the yard that haven't been touched since last fall'.
We finally had a decent day to work outside and since I had it off, I spent all of it outside. Sometimes though, I feel like little Billy from Family Circus. I begin out in the front flower bed, the weeds are already past my ankles. Where is the garden fork...? Aha! Up by the porch. After retrieving it I head back down to the front bed again, only to realize I forgot the wheelbarrow. So where's the wheelbarrow? Oh, yeah...lying broken behind the garage...! But it can be fixed. An hour later I wheel it outside the garage again, but not before I swept the entire garage floor.
On the way back to find my misplaced fork again, I notice that the nettles and burrs are beginning to take over the banks of the creek. Well that won't do, give them an inch.... where's that hoe?!  And so the rest of the day goes.
Everywhere I look, every direction high or low... I see something that needs attention. Needless to say, I didn't get much done today. But I did have time to take a few pictures of the animals. There is always time for that.

The cowbirds are back. They're funny to watch. Here they are following Timmy around.

That's Duncan, our bull grazin behind the birdhouse.

My husband made the birdhouse for me last year. The colors match our house.

I see that Erin is losing her winter black color. Her coat always turns red in summer.

Here, the hens are enjoying the warm day but I see they've already dug a hole. Knowing how chickens like to eat (A.K.A. kill) grass, I put a divider in their pen so I can rotate them. Its not quite finished yet (it still needs the dividing gate put on) but it looks like I'll be needing it soon.

Bad girls!

Yay, spring!

Beautiful blue sky day, perfect for working outside

I've been so busy this past week (ever since the last of the snow melted and I finally got to dig my garden fork into the soil) that I haven't had time to sit down and write. All I want is be outside because there is always something to do everywhere I look. It was a busy fall. Winter came on quick and with me being gone in PA for a few weeks to see the grandbabies, not much of the fall yard clean-up got done. I'm paying for it now with this spring clean-up.

At least the chicken house got cleaned out last week and now we have happy (and much better smelling) chickens. We ordered 15 new silky chicks and also 15 guineas this week too, so I've been working on getting the old chicken house and pen straightened up.
I started on the pen yesterday. Can you believe the dead weeds in there were taller than me! And the new ones, nettles included, already had a pretty good start at six inches high. After removing the weeds, the washout holes still needed fixing from a downpour last fall, which ran underneath the shed's concrete floor.

It took forever to get the pen clean and I'm still not done... there are a few more washout places beneath the fence where predators could get in. But in spite of all the things that need to be done, I'm getting very excited about this new spring growth. I just love the surprise of seeing a new crocus or daffodil that wasn't there yesterday.



                                                                                                            

The cattle seemed to be enjoying the warm spring day as much as I was

Angel with the calves (the light one on the left is hers)

Erin and Rocky (our baby bull)



No good luck; but at least spring is finally on the way

It has been a rough and very sad two weeks. We lost the white calf before she was a week old and sadder yet, we lost Leah on the Wednesday before she was two weeks old. We tried hard to keep her going (many, many hours worth) but I guess it was not meant to be. Out of the 42 calves we've had so far, this makes only 4 losses, and I'm still wondering what went wrong with these two.
On the day before Leah died, a thought came to me. Perhaps they had a selenium deficiency. This deficiency is very common in our area, and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. We try to keep a selenium block out for the cattle at all times but we haven't checked it lately, and the vet hadn't mentioned it either. Unfortunately my husband was on his way home from the vet with 3 shots for Leah when she died.

This has been a long, sad winter for us but at least spring is starting to show itself. Our valley only has mere traces of snow left in the woods and ditches. The fields are starting to turn green--well, at least they're trying to. My tulips and daffodils are already 3 and 4 inches high, and of course the Johnny-jump-ups are blooming. I think they bloom underneath the snow! How encouraging it is to see all of this green going on.
Of course the chicken yard is still half-full of snow. Yesterday I took a walk in it and some spots are at least 6 inches deep. I've been opening up the coop door so they can go outside if they want to.

These next pictures were taken on March 6th. The snow is over a foot deep here.



It was the first time I let the chickens out this winter and of course no one wanted to venture out into the... eww, ick... deep snow! I was on my way back inside the coop to chase the others out when I noticed that my brave little silky, Snowflake was out in the snow all by herself (She's my favorite by the way).

When I put the other chickens out in it, they were afraid to walk on it. They stood in place. No one can dispute that my chickens hate snow!

                                                                                                              

Another sure sign of spring: the goldfinches are starting to turn gold





Oh no, not again....

Sometimes I ask myself why I want to have animals.

I also want to ask Mother Nature why she can be so nasty at times too. The temperature dropped into the low teens two nights ago so yesterday we thought we better go check up on Buttercup's new white calf. We hadn't seen her since the day before and Buttercup was standing way up near the edge of the woods.

Buttercup's calf was one day old here. It was raining but the snow came later that night.

After we fed the cows a round bale, my husband headed out into the woods on the ATV and found the calf lying in the snow, alive but not looking good. Usually after they're a few days old, the calves will stand up when we come near and shy away. This one wouldn't stand at all, even after her mother came down to the feeder, leaving her behind.
After getting the completely limp calf down to the cowyard later, we decided she was too weak and chilled to stay out with the herd. She could not even lift her head by then. Oh no, I thought. Not another one. Except that this one was much weaker than her older sister in the basement. Off to the basement we went with another one.
Since this calf was much bigger (and we only have one crate) we decided to dig out the chicken tractor that was stuffed in one of the sheds and use it for the calves. After warming and drying her with the heat gun we piled her high with warm blankets.

More penicillin and electrolytes later, the little white girl finally stopped shaking and started to lift her head. Later that afternoon when we gave her some milk-replacer she actually began to suck. Wow, that was encouraging. By evening she was standing on her own and we hoped everything was going to be okay.
But then morning came and surprisingly the older calf had taken a turn for the worse. I actually didn't think she was going to make it through the day. Since it had been somewhat warm in the sun yesterday, we had put her out with Erin and she stayed out there most of the day following mama around and looking like she was doing well. We tried to keep an eye on her while we were taking care of the white calf but I still couldn't tell if she was nursing. By the time the sun was starting to go down, she was lying down in the snow and mud, and we brought her back inside for the night. Apparently she had not nursed.
As bad as she looked this morning, I almost gave up on her. But no, we had to try something. More electrolytes, another shot and more milk-replacer was poured in. Luckily it didn't take long for her to start looking better. Right now she's up and standing and eating fairly well, although neither of the calves seem to like the taste of the milk-replacer. The white calf was listless all day and that wasn't too encouraging, but tomorrow is another day. We will see what happens then.

Any improvement yet...not sure.

Our little baby girl (calf) is not out in the pasture with mom yet. Wouldn't you know, Mother Nature decided to be nasty like usual and we've been getting rain, snow, sleet and thunderstorms on and off for the past two days. Many of the fields around the area are partially flooded and all of the rivers and creeks, including ours, are way over their banks. It started as pouring rain yesterday and never let up. By evening the thunderstorms started and shortly after that, the rain/sleet turned to snow/ice.
Well, okay, the rain let up long enough yesterday morning for me to take the little calf out to the pasture gate to see her Mother. I put her head through the fence and mama licked her and kept saying, 'Come on, lets get outta here, follow me.'
But Leah (the calf) couldn't... even if she wanted to. She was shaking from chills and still so weak; standing was a trial. And worse, she refused to suck the bottle when I tried to feed her. I tried on and off all day and the only way I could get anything into her was by pouring it in. I think she inhaled and wore more on her than she got inside of her.
With the vet's blessing, my son and I gave her a shot of penicillin last night, and today she seems a tiny bit better. At least she's not chilled anymore. While I was at work today my husband and son took care of her. When I got home my son and I took her out to the 'catch pen' to see if maybe mama would let her nurse. Or even funnier, if I could milk her a little to keep her milk coming. Ha ha, I thought no way! Not only were neither of us in the mood to get kicked, but Leah was still so weak (at least she was sucking a little better today). After getting Erin in the pen and lots of time later to let her calm down, I finally got near her with the calf.
Of course kicking had been involved. My son got kicked only once (surprisingly) and the calf got kicked twice. But the amazing thing was that she allowed me to get her milk started (with the calf between us of course-she thought I was her calf) and the even more awesome thing: when I put her teat in the calf's mouth, Leah actually started to suck. I was astonished. I was only able to get her to nurse on two teats and unfortunately it didn't last long since Erin probably didn't have too much milk, but it was WAY more than I had expected.
The snow was coming down pretty steady by then and Leah was starting to get wet and shake so we decided to let Erin out of the pen and take Leah back inside. If it was warmer and drier out I would have let her stay with mama. But as weak as she is, I don't think she would have made it out in the snow and mud and flooded creek. Sadly the forecast says it won't be getting any better for the rest of the week.
But tomorrow we'll try it again if all goes well tonight.

Angel on the hillside autumn

About two calves

We had another calf born this morning (the last one of the season) It's white and I think this one is a girl too. That makes 2 red ones, one gray one, and one white one for the year. We were hoping for at least one bull but it looks like no beef for next year....or rather, the year after that. Highlands are slow to mature and need an extra year longer than most cattle to grow.
The little white girl seems to be doing fine but the little gray girl that was born 3 days ago isn't. Her mother was not letting her nurse so we tried giving her a bottle this morning without much luck. She wouldn't swallow; she had simply given up. It was so depressing and I was kicking myself for not trying this yesterday when she still was up and walking around. We couldn't leave her out in the mud to die. My husband carried her into the basement and we forced milk and electrolytes down her throat. Again it seemed we were making no progress. But by the third attempt at bottle-feeding she finally started to suck. Hooray!
I'm not sure how often I should be feeding her since this is probably her first actual day of eating, but I've tried a few and each time she seemed to do a little better. Right now we have her in a large dog crate in the basement but that won't last long.

Don't laugh at the poor little thing but yes, she is wearing socks. Her legs were so wet and filthy I had to put them on. Tomorrow morning I'm hoping to return her to Mom.

I'm also hoping it isn't too late for her to nurse but I'm not holding my breath since Erin apparently has not fed her at all. We did try to get the calf near her udder a few times but she kept walking away. (I don't like to get too close because Erin definitely DOES kick). Last time we tried this, we... and also her calf... were kicked several times.
At least most of the snow in our valley is gone but the mud in the cow pen is ankle deep with lots of standing water. Since Buttercup's calf was finally born today and she seems to be doing fine, we opened the gate this afternoon and let the cows out into the pasture at long last.

Meanwhile out in the pasture, Erin IS calling for her calf, but I still think she's a terrible mommy! I see a craigslist ad coming in the future: "8 yr old Scottish Highland cow for sale - Has had 7 nice calves, TERRIBLE mother, cheap to a good home."

A new baby

We had a new baby calf born today-a little gray girl. This makes 3 so far this year with one to go. Her mother, Erin is black and this is her 7th calf. I just hate this March mud. The cows look so terrible.

So far I haven't seen the baby nurse. Like her brother two years ago, this one is having a problem finding mom's teats. I'm really hoping we don't have to round up Erin and help the baby nurse again. (Erin ended up with mastitis last time and wouldn't let the other calf near her udder.) With the exception of three of our cattle, none of them want to be touched by us so this is usually a problem helping them nurse.

In general we've had very few problems with our Highland cattle. They need little care and the most we do for them is provide them with hay in the winter. They have a year round spring to drink from, and with their thick wooly coats, they don't need a shelter. If the babies are born in extreme temperatures (teens or below) we bring them into the basement and dry them off.

This is Timmy, Erin's calf from 2 years ago.

He was a bottle-baby for the first few days so nowadays he's unafraid of us and doesn't mind getting petted. Sometimes he gets almost obnoxious, especially during feeding time. I would rather the cattle be a 'little' afraid of us. That way they keep out of the way and we don't have to be on the constant lookout for swinging horns when we're in the pen with them.

Learning and changes

Okay, I'm still learning, or maybe I should say I've been too lazy to try to learn how to use this. It's been over a year since I've written and there have been a few changes going on here. My youngest daughter moved to a college dorm last August so we are now empty-nesters and I'm still not sure if I like it.

And then on Valentine's Day we lost our beloved old Belgian horse, Colonel. We figured that he was about 29 years old-give or take a few.