Peep! 2014

I mentioned recently that we had a dozen fertilized chicken eggs and put them under our broody hen, a Buff named My Precious.  She is a good mama and immediately adopted them. 

We waited.  And waited.  And waited. 

The eggs should have hatched at day 21.  Or, occasionally if the weather is very cold, they could hatch at day 25.  This past Monday marked day 27.  We figured there was no hope so we headed up to our local feed store where I proceeded to pick out 11 chicks.  (A mix of Chantecler's, Brown Leghorns, Barred Rock, and Brahmas.)

 

Tabby is hoping to go into the Silkie Bantum breeding business and she bought herself 8 Silkies:

 

When we got home, Tabby set up her Silkie's in a big bin in her bedroom.  They're so cute!

Then we took my box out to the coop and Tabby carefully slipped the chicks under the hen.  She quietly watched to see if the hen would accept them.

The chicks popped in and out for awhile, then all snuggled under her to sleep.

During this process, Tabby found the strangest thing.  An egg was hatching!

Soon a little dark colored chick finally cracked it's way out of the egg.  What?!  At day 27?  The next day we "candled" the rest of the eggs to see if we might expect more super late hatching chicks.  (We took the eggs into a dark room and shined a flashlight into them.)  We found a couple bad eggs, and several that had furry looking creatures in them.  Not sure if they are alive or not so we stuck them back under the hen.  We'll leave them there several more days to see what happens.

 

We all keep going out to peek in on the hen and chicks.  It is remarkable how big the hen can spread her wings out to snuggle 12 chicks and a bunch of eggs under her.  She looks so proud and protective.  Seeing things like this really help make more Bible verses come alive for me.  Like this one:

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." - Matthew 23:37

I mean before seeing our hen and chicks, I certainly could imagine this verse.  But seeing it in person is different.  Much more meaningful.  I feel so blessed for our little farm and the chance to be surrounded by all these animals and nature.  I am able to feel God more, if that makes sense.

This evening I found one little chick is doing terribly.  I immediately called Tabby, our resident chicken whisperer.  She flew into action, telling me about all the things she read and what might be wrong and what we should try.

First she gave the chick some water.  Then she noticed it had "pasty butt."  (OK - I know several of you are laughing at that - they really call it that.  Their messy bottoms get hardened up and clogs them up and they have to be cleaned off.)  Tabby cleaned up the chick.  Then we fed it some more water and some scrambled egg.  Then put it under the mama hen to rest. 

Oh that pitiful little chicken just pulled at my heart.  It's so sweet and floppy. Tabby said a foot seemed crippled.  We're afraid it will be dead by tomorrow.  I think we are much too tenderhearted for all this animal business.  Yet at the same time - it sure makes life a lot more interesting!

By the way, Tabby's favorite chicken book is Fresh Eggs Daily by Lisa Steele.  She pours over it and takes notes from it and tells me all about the information.  (She's even giving her Silkie chicks apple cider vinegar in their water and has plans for all sorts of healthy additives like garlic.)  I need to read the book myself.  We both read the author's blog, Fresh Eggs Daily at:  http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com  The author cracks us up - she loves her chickens so much she even makes curtains for their nesting boxes!  She has tons of great information though - both for chickens, ducks, and herbal stuff for humans.  :)

I guess we'll see what tomorrow holds for us, in the furry, peeping world of chicks!

A beautiful Lilly collage

Lilly collage by C.T.

I had a special treat in my inbox today - the above beautiful collage by one of Tabby's online friends, C.T.   I think she did such a wonderful job!  Thank you C.!

I mentioned in my last post that my dear friend, my camera!, had broken.  A camera shop in Raleigh was highly recommended to us by a number of people so Frank took my camera there for me.  Well apparently I own a pretty ancient camera!  They wanted to know how old it was and then said they couldn't fix it.  (It is a Kodak EasyShare Z980.  I bought it - refurbished - in June 2011.)  So I found an out-of-state camera shop that said they could fix it.  But they wanted $120 to do so!  I could buy the same camera - refurbished - for less than that.  So I'm not sure what to do.  In the meantime, Tabby kindly loaned me her old camera, which I'm thankful for.

Today Bongle found a new home.  Tabby and I were delighted with his new owner.  She is a young woman who said she and her mother have been looking for a puppy.  When she saw my ad and pictures about Bongle on CraigsList, she felt a connection with him.  She even had a present for him waiting for him the car - a big fuzzy pink pillow, which he promptly snuggled up on.  Seeing how happy she was with him made it easier to let him go.

Bongle

Today I heard from the family that took Watsonia.  They asked for an extension of a few days of the trial period they wanted to give her.  I said yes.  But at this point, since they are still questioning her fit with their family, I feel like maybe they should just bring her back.  (I guess I want to  know her owners instantly loved her.)  If they do bring her back, Tabby and I decided we will keep her, and find a home for Sherlotta instead.  That would be too traumatic for Watsonia to be hopping homes.  (OK - maybe that's too traumatic for us!)

Watsonia and Sherlotta

I had to spend a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday and Solomon was there to "help."  I finally decided it was easiest to give him his own bowl and spoon to play with.  So I gave him a few scoops of baking soda and some water to pour in.  He had fun and I got to accomplish my tasks quicker.

Solomon was also thrilled to be able to join his big brother and sister last week for one of our character study stories.  He wants to do everything the "big kids" are doing:

Hunter likes using our couch to create all kinds of things.  Last week he made part into a washing machine.  He used a whiteboard for the washer's control board.  (Our current dryer plays a song - Shubert's The Trout Quintett - which is why there is a song reference on Hunter's "control panel.")  Hunter asked me to put the pictures on this blog - LOL he thought the readers would be very interested (especially C. W-H. - our soap nuts lady):

control panel

inside the washing machine - the blankets and pillows are around the "agitator"

Have a blessed week!

The Goat Chick's Udderly Natural Goat Milk Soap

In case you missed Tabby's blogpost earlier this week, we have about 9 bars of goat milk soap left to sell.

From Tabby:

Soap is $4.50. (Plus shipping.)  This is VERY high quality soap.  The ingredients are:  Goat's Milk, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Shea Butter, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Eucalyptus and Spearmint Essential Oils.  

This is a very moisturizing soap. 


This soap smells really good too.  We've been using it this winter.  Thankfully Christa's milk supply is slowly increasing again, so hopefully we'll be able to start making soap regularly.  

If you're interested in purchasing some, just let one of us know.  FYI - the cost of shipping on one bar is $2.50.  Several bars could be packed into a priority mail small flat rate box for $5.80 shipping.  (I haven't yet figured out how many bars would fit.)

I need to get a more up-to-date picture of Tabby milking Christa (the goat that supplied the milk for the soap we made.  But here is one from last summer:

In the chicken world, we are still waiting for the chicks to hatch.  Chicks normally hatch at 21 days, which would have been yesterday.  I did read that it can take 25 days during cold weather.  I hope that that is the problem.  It will be so very disappointing if no chicks hatch.  A friend told us that we should be able to hear the chicks peeping inside the eggs.  We can't hear a thing and one egg was sloshy sounding.  :)

Earlier today a family came and got Watsonia to take home.  They have a dog and are going to keep Watsonia if she gets along with their dog.  As Tabby and I tearfully watched the family leave, we agreed we could never be dog breeders.  We'd be too sad every time a puppy left.

Watsonia (left) and Exhaust Pipe (Hunter's dog)

 Bongle is the last puppy needing a home.  I've had a few inquiries so we'll see if any pan out.
 

Bongle - feeling sleepy in the sun

 Finally, here's a quick science experiment that Hunter enjoyed recently.  Very easy to do if you have kids that like fizzy foamy type experiments.  It has sort of a lava lamp effect.

Pour some water into a plastic bottle.  Add a few drops of food coloring - your choice of color.  Then add corn oil.  (I think this is the only time I've ever bought corn oil!  I imagine it's awful GMO stuff.)  The water and oil separate.  Then the fun part - drop in 2 alka seltzer tablets.  Fun to watch!

Hunter added alka seltzer tablets several times and really enjoyed watching it as we talked about what was going on in the bottle to cause the reaction.

March Farm Update + Tabby's Federation results

I haven't given a farm update in awhile and yesterday I determined I would do one today.  So when I took Solomon outside yesterday afternoon, I took along my trusty camera.  We walked into the chicken coop and I snapped a picture of our broody hen's adopted eggs, and then thus said trusty camera proceeded to break.  Horrors!  The off/on switch completely stopped working.

Honestly I feel almost like my arm has been cut off.  I bought that camera during Lilly's life and took pictures of her almost daily.  And after she died, I have continued to take pictures almost every day.

Hmmmm ... I'm wondering what the first picture I took of Lilly with that camera was?  Let me check!  Flashback:

Awwww ... how sweet!  It's of Tabby & Lilly on a Sunday.  (June 2011)

OK - back to the farm update.  Earlier this month, we got a dozen fertilized chicken eggs from Bentwillow Bunnies farm and put them under our broody Buff hen, My Precious.  Frank first labeled egg with a "P" for Precious, then Tabby put them under her.  They are labeled so that when Tabby goes to collect eggs each day, she gets the right egg from My Precious.  (All the below photos are from earlier this month, due to the sad state of my camera.)

 

Tabby has a funny story about My Precious's assistant here on her blog, The Goat Chick.  Once you put fertilized eggs under a hen it usually takes 21 days until they hatch.  The woman we got them from said the eggs on her farm tend to take 20 days.  Tomorrow is day 20 so we will be running out to the chicken coop a lot to check and see if any biddies have hatched yet.  A very exciting homeschool lesson in action!

Our "goaty girls" Nutmeg and Pip are doing well with their pregnancies.  Their babies are due in May.  Goats typically have twins, so it will be interesting to see how many babies these girls each have.

Nutmeg, Pippi, Tabby

Lucia had been doing really well, for at least a month, out in the yard loose every day.  She hadn't hurt any chickens.  Until recently, when Frank found Knucklehead dead.  Sigh.  (You can see a picture of Knucklehead and read more here in Tabby's blog post.)   So we're down to 11 chickens.

At first we decided to try Lucia in the goat pen, as she likes going in there with us.  Big Christa  - I don't remember how the "Big" got added to her name - didn't take anything from Lucia, and kept her in her place.

But then a few days later, there apparently was a big fight and Big Christa ended up with a hole in her ear.  So Lucia is back in her normal place, on a long cable during the day, and loose once the chickens are in for the night.

The previous owners of this house told us that well over 250 bluebirds were born here, in the blue bird houses.  Wow!  Babies were born here last year but didn't survive, thanks to Mr. Rat Snake.  The bluebirds are busy building their nests again this year.  We know for sure that at least one of the same ones is back.  A male bluebird I named "Peepers."  Why Peepers?  Because, just like he was last year, he is proving to be a regular peeping Tom!

 

I don't know how he does it but he seems to be at the window of just about every room I walk into!

On completely unrelated to the farm update (unless you relate by saying it's about the farm girl), Tabby got the results for the piano competition she was in.  (She competed in the National Federation Junior Festival under the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs.)  She got an "excellent" on her theory test.  She got an "excellent" for the two classical pieces she played by memory ("Winter's Serenade" and "Ballade."  And finally she got a a "superior" rating for the two hymns she played ("Come Though Almighty King" and "What Wondrous Love is This?")  We're so proud of her.  :)

Finally, I had to laugh when I found Solomon's cars the other day.  Just like Hunter used to, he likes to line them up neatly:

"Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion." - Psalm 103:22

Two puppies still needing a good home

This is just a quick post with cute puppies needing homes information.

We have two puppies left.  These puppies are FREE.  And we need them to leave soon or our hearts will break when they go as we keep getting more attached to them!

This is Watsonia.  She is a sweet girl:

This handsome boy is Bongle:

 

We do not know what kind of dog the father of the puppies is.  The puppies mother, Dixie, is a German Shepherd - Collie mix.  She is very sweet and great with animals and children.  We are not giving her away, but I wanted to share a picture of her:

 

Please let us know asap if you are interested in one - or both - of the puppies!

Lilly's (graveside) spring tree and book giveaway winner

We have our winner for my book giveaway in honor of Trisomy 18 Awareness day!  Our winner is Jeannette, a very sweet woman that is a huge help to so many of us within the Trisomy 18 community.

Tabby & LillyBear helped randomly select our winner!

 Jeannette's son Caleb lived for over two years with Trisomy 18.  You can read his blog here. And wow - his birthday is tomorrow!  He lived from March 20, 2009 - August 29, 2011.

Caleb

This past Christmas I bought a little pink Christmas tree for Lilly.  I had in mind that it would be a spring time tree for her.  I decorated it with bird, butterfly, and flower ornaments.  She now has the girly and cheerful little tree at her graveside.  I staked it into the ground so hopefully it will stay upright and be a bright spot in the cemetery:

Solomon's lead level, book giveaway reminder, and puppies

REMINDER ABOUT MY BOOK GIVEAWAY! In honor of Trisomy 18 day (Tuesday, March 18) and for Trisomy Awareness month, I am giving away a copy of the book "Audrey Bunny" by Angie Smith. (Angie has also written "I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy" about her daughter Audrey, who had an "incompatible with life" diagnoses and lived 2.5 hours on this earth.) This is a very sweet children's book about a stuffed bunny, named Audrey, who fears that a mark on her body - an imperfection - has made her unworthy of love. She soon learns though, that that is untrue. And that everyone is special and wonderfully made by God.
You can enter by:
1) leave a comment to this post (with your contact info) OR
2) e-mail me at: LittleFirecrackerLilly @ gmail. com (remove spaces) OR
3) message me on Facebook
I will randomly select a winner on Wed., March 19.

Good luck!  :)

Today Solomon had a re-test to check his lead levels.  Praise God they have dropped!  His blood test came back under 3 which means great improvement.  He is no longer in a range where there is really much concern.  He will be tested once more at his 2 year check-up, in September. 

The government worker with the lead detection gun never did show up.  (Bureaucracy!)  So we don't know if something environmental was causing it.   But perhaps the combination of the detox I've been doing with Solomon, the fact that he no longer puts EVERYTHING in his mouth anymore, and God's mercy, is what dropped his lead level back into the more normal range.

What else would a boy push in a stroller but a dump truck!

Here is what I have been giving Solomon to work as a lead detox:  Vitamin C, multivitamin (I use Beeyoutiful's Superkids), cod liver oil (Green Pasture fermented), calcium (from Meadow Mountain Herbs) and iron (also from Meadow Mountain Herbs).  I was also prepared to bath him in bentonite clay (see article here from Bulk Herb Store).  Also, I washed his hands frequently throughout the day, gave him several snacks, and damp mopped our wood floors a bit more than usual.  (Those were suggestions I received in my educational packet from the government workers that visited us in January.)


"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

Today my favorite puppy Houdini was the first of the litter to leave home.  I was happy for Houdini but I sure miss the furry little guy and was surprised I wanted to cry after he left with his new family.  Bye Houdini!

Houdini

We just have two puppies needing good homes.  The first is Watsonia, a girl:

Watsonia

 The other is Bongle, a boy:

Bongle

Let us know if you are interested in either of these two cuties!