Sugar Creek Farm

So much going on this week. I’m leaving in the a.m., driving to Minneapolis to fly to Chicago. Roundabout, I know. All for my day job. Never been to Chicago, a little nervous about taking the train from the airport into downtown. I’ve got “farm girl” just stamped into my forehead.

And while I’m gone the first steer, Beetlejuice, will be going to the butcher as well as 2 of the hogs. So my dad’s been recruited to help sort and load in my place. And mom’s been recruited to be the kids’ chauffeur in my place. (Now I just need someone to come in and be the housecleaner in my place.) And on top of everything else, Matt’s on call for work this week.

I’ve lost my pretty rooster plus another hen today. Not sure what’s going on. I’d noticed in the last couple weeks that he wasn’t crowing anymore. And he was a non-stop crower, that one. He looked healthy, just depressed. No crowing, and his tail feathers were droopy. And then the last couple of days he’s become very weak and is just slowly wasting away. Same with the hen, except that I hadn’t noticed any hens acting depressed. Just found this one last night, also very weak and lying in the corn crib alley, and she is already dead. Anyone out there have an idea what might be going on? Marek’s? New Castle? Cocci? I’ve lost about a half dozen hens over the course of the summer this way. The rooster is the first I’ve lost out of this spring’s starts.

See ya when I get back!

The new litter of piglets is at that fun age where they’re old enough to adventure away from mom and still big enough to squeeze under gates and through small openings in the fence. So we’ll often find them wandering around the farm, in the garden, etc.

They especially like to hang out with their big brothers and sisters. After the rain today they all had a big mud hole to play in. Hog heaven, as they say:

Here they are saying hello to their dad, Winston:

Our first blue eggs

I didn’t think any of our new pullets would lay in the nest boxes, seeing as how they haven’t stepped foot in the coop since we released them in May. Instead they roost in the aisle of the corncrib. But this afternoon these two little blue pullet eggs lay in the wood shavings underneath the nest boxes.

The girls have each carefully packed an egg, cradled in paper towels inside a Tupperware container, to take for show-and-tell at school tomorrow.

Submit your entry at Photo Friday.

Dipstick, one of our 12(!) kittens.

As the girls have been telling people, “We’re selling free kittens!”

more puppy pictures!

Here’s Abbie herding the 5-week-old broiler chickens

It’s cute how she gets so tired by new adventures that she just passes out wherever she is.

Too tired to chew the shoes

Housetraining is going pretty well. She has more accidents than I remember Ike having, but she is progressing faster than he did. She hadn’t had an accident all day until 10:00 tonight. Then she went to the door and whined, but I wasn’t fast enough so she went right on the threshhold. She’s got the right idea.

That’s me, and my horn 🙂

I’m so excited to have my first article published at the Farm & Garden website.

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^Olivia’s still hurting from her ear surgery yesterday

^Rafe tells me, My ear hurts. I need a balloon, too.

^My giant dog is trying to play with the new puppy,
and wreaking havoc in the process

^I’m loving this quote from the introduction to The Newman’s Own Organics Guide to a Good Life by Nell Newman

“Perfection isn’t the goal. A good life is. And a good life has a lot to do with who you are in the world, with your intent as much as with the end result.”

A new puppy brings so many new photo opps. Only one of her ears has straightened up so far, but it can take 4 to 6 months.

Today I took her out to the pasture with me to feed the 3 1/2 week old broiler chicks. When I set the first feeders out and birds started flocking to them, Abbie realized where they were supposed to be and started herding the stragglers over to the feeders. I only had to tell her once to stop herding them once they were at the feeders. Then she sat and watched them eat, and if one would wander away she would herd it back. So cute, and only 9 weeks old!

Abbie is definitely a girl puppy. When we took her for her shots, our vet offered her a corn chip. She ate it in 3 dainty bites out of his fingers. She’s also a bit of a drama queen. If Ike attempts to play with her and even comes close to touching her, she rolls on her back and yelps as if he’s just beat the tar out of her. He just rolls his eyes and looks at me as if to say, “Why did you bring this snotty little puppy home?”

She likes to play with dolls.