Goat twins again!

This afternoon, I heard one of our goats making sounds like I had never heard her make before.  But I knew what it was!  I yelled to my kids "Quick!  Pippi is in labor!"  We all rushed to watch Tabby's goat, Pippi, give birth. 

It was really quite amazing!  She had twin boys.  Tabby named them "George" and "Fred."  I'll share more about them when I have time, but for now, here are some pictures:

baby being born

cleaning up kid

another baby starting to come out!

kid slips to the ground behind Pippi as she cleans the other kid

standing and trying to walk, shortly after birth

The Bloods vs. the Crips (the feathered version)

I have mentioned that our latest batch of chicks is rather feisty.  Well maybe that isn't a good description.  We seem to have some chicks that are just plain bullies.  And they discriminate by color!  Both kinds of black chicks we have are getting picked on.  Literally.  Feathers picked off their backs and then they are pecked until they bleed.  Unless I keep Rooster Booster Pick No More slathered on their backs. 

We really liked the pool set up.  It was fun having the chicks in our living room and being able to watch them.  It worked for a bit but then the pecking began again.  I thought maybe a dozen chicks in the kiddie pool were just too many?  Frank built them a new area this past Saturday.

We have a screened in porch (that has plastic over the screen).  He put up a wall and a door in a corner of the room. (The door was off a chicken coop that Frank's father had built and once used.  His mama said that the old door was off a barn in Washington County.)  A liner on the floor with wood shavings on top of that.  Food, water, their red heat lamps, and perches - it is a nice big roomy space.

Everyone got along for the rest of the weekend.  Then after mid-morning yesterday, I checked on the chicks and saw the black chicks were all missing back feathers again and one was bleeding!

OK it was obvious by now that the chicks had assembled themselves into gangs and their was a pecking war going on.  (Yes I kept trying to deny it.  "Why can't we all just get along?")  Hunter came into the chicken area to play cop and hold the hurt chick while I searched for a quick makeshift divider.  I ended up with a wooden post and two cardboard boxes.  Nailed in the boxes to the post and viola - the Berlin Wall was up.

Next we separated the chickens - blacks on one side, browns and yellows on the other.  I dubbed the black chicken group the "Bloods" and the others the "Crips."  (Named after the two famous gangs in Los Angeles.)

I doctored up the bleeding chick and put Rooster Booster on the others.  There finally seems to be peace in the land ....

I just hope these chicks outgrow their gang mentality and can get along when it's time for them to go to the yard.

UPDATE:  By mid-morning today, the wall had been breached!  Gang members had infiltrated both sides by flying over.  The only thing I could think of to do, that could be done quickly, was to hang an old sheet.  We'll see if this flimsy solution can hold back the war for a bit more.

If you've ever had problems with your chicks fighting, and found solutions, please share!

Redeeming Mother's Day

For the whole past week, leading up to today, my thoughts about Mother's Day were getting blacker and blacker.  Who made up this holiday?  And why? 

There are so many hurting women out there - doesn't "Mother's Day" just rub it in their face?  (I've heard many say "yes.")  Mothers who had many miscarriages and no babies to hold in their arms.  Women who tried for years, but were unable to ever even become pregnant.  Women who had babies but didn't even want them.  

What about orphans?  What about abused kids?  Neglected kids?  Adults that still hurt because of things their mothers did or did not do?

What about mothers that are hurting because of children they have that made terrible choices in life?  Children who became addicts, criminals, or completely rejected God?

I don't think whoever made up this day thought about all these things.  Maybe you're reading this wishing I hadn't either!  (Though I'm not the only one.  Here are two good blogposts I read this week:  Not Every Mother's Day is Happy (from Teaching Good Things) and Maddux Will Always Be My Son and I Will Always Be His Mother (from Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep).

As for me, I find myself reliving Mother's Day 2011 when I was in the hospital with Lilly.  And she code blued.  And almost died before my eyes.  Watching the doctors work to save her.  They did.  But she now lives in heaven and I can not hold her again until I die.  And Blueberry.  The baby I miscarried last fall.  Was it a boy or girl?  What do they look like?  Another child in heaven that I long to hug and talk to.  What about struggles with my living children and how I often feel so inadequate as a mother?  I certainly don't deserve to be "honored."

Blah blah blah.  Right?  The whining needed to stop.

Last night I asked God if, just maybe, He'd have one of our goats give birth on Mother's Day.  New life is happy.

Guess what?  God is so good and He answered me!

Frank woke me up this morning to tell me that the dogs were hanging out around the goat pen and barking.  I jumped up and pulled on my overalls.  Hunter had just gotten up and the two of us hurried outside. 

Right inside the goat pen door was a tiny brown goat that was "meeeehhhhhing" loudly!  It was the color of Nutmeg. (Tabby and I had been expecting Pippi to give birth first so I was surprised.)  Awwww!  I picked up the soft, furry little goat.  What a wee little thing!  Then we walked around the corner and I saw a little black goat standing in the manger area!  (Goats often give birth to twins.)  Another Awwwww! 

I got both babies into a stall and lead Nutmeg in.  Hunter went in with them to watch. 

Tabby had joined us by this point.

 I had to use scissors to clip off the umbilical cords on both kids, then sterilize the area with iodine.  (The mama goat bites the cord but if it's hanging down a bit too long, it's good to go ahead and trim it.)

By this point, the kids had names.  We wanted something in the "spice line" because of their mama, Nutmeg.  (Nutmeg's sister is named "Cloves.")  Tabby named the brown goat "Cinnamon" and Hunter named the black goat "Pepper."  Cinnamon is a boy and Pepper a girl.

Cinnamon

Pepper

Holding these precious little goats is such a blessing:

me and the twins

I sat in the goat stall for awhile, holding Cinnamon in my lap.  He fell asleep.  Pepper was curled up asleep in the corner.  And Nutmeg was eating like she would never get full!  It was a peaceful moment and helped me let go of my many black thoughts and refocus on little blessings:

I'll leave you with one more picture - this one really made Tabby laugh - she said that Cinnamon was already photobombing pictures:

Pepper nursing and Cinnamon photobombing

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." - James 4:8a

Our fine feathered friends

Yesterday the chicks had their first field trip.  Outside.  They didn't know what to do at first!  They just stood there for a few minutes until one gingerly took a little nibble of a blade of grass.

Then one by one, they began carefully pecking things.  After a few more minutes they were brave enough to begin moving around a little.

Solomon watched them carefully while I cleaned out the chicks pool that they're living in.

He thought those silly chicks were pretty funny!

This time, when I put the chicks home back together, I used large wood shavings instead of the layers of newspaper and straw.  (Never use wood shavings with really young chicks as they might eat it and choke.)  After exploring the wood shavings, the chicks all fell asleep.  I think their outing exhausted them!  (A good thing for this batch of feisty chicks.)

Earlier this year, Hunter bought a used thermostat off Ebay for $4.00 + shipping.  (Yes you really can get everything on Ebay.)  The thermostat is now called "Thermie" and has a happy face drawn on him.  Hunter takes care of Thermie and feeds him and takes him places.  I had to laugh at where I found Thermie the other day - Hunter had set him up a little home with "food and water" and a "heat lamp" - in imitation of the chicks.

Lately for nature study, we have been going outside to gather and identify wildflowers in our yard and along the road.  I have been surprised at just how much Solomon is enjoying this.  He loves to pick flowers, bring them in and put them in a vase, and then go through flower identification books with me to find out what they are.  (I guess I shouldn't be surprised - flower arranging is one activity in all the Montessori books I have read.)  Hunter too has liked learning the names of flowers, which I am thrilled with as he tends to have a one track mind.  (If something isn't a machine of some kind, he's not usually interested.)

bluets

Another thing that Solomon is really into right now are birds.  His interest grew when I gave him a set of bird cards to match to some bird figures.

(I downloaded and printed the bird cards from Natural Beach Living here.  The woodpecker picture was a different kind than the toy woodpecker we had and that really bothered Solomon.  So I found a picture of the correct woodpecker, printed it out, and taped it to the card.  We have these "backyard birds" from Toob.) 

The other day, Solomon connected that several of these same birds are on our bird bulletin board.  He got out his birds and cards and began matching them with the birds on the bulletin board.  It was so neat seeing that understand on his face!  His very favorite bird is the male Cardinal.  We have a bird feeder right outside our dining room window and he watches birds while he eats.  Whenever his sees that bright red bird he says "Look! There's MY bird!"

Since I haven't posted many Montessori activities lately, I'll close with two activity ideas.  One is to match shapes I drew on a piece of laminated cardstock with the same shapes I drew on clothespins:

The other activity is to sweep up pom-poms (or any little thing) with a little whisk and dust pan.  This activity actually caused a huge amount of frustration at first.  But he practiced every day for a bit until he mastered it.  I really like activities like this because they so easily translate into helping clean up around the house!  (He can clean up under his chair after eating.  Though honestly, he usually prefers the dustbuster for that.)

On a photography note, I read an article this morning called "You were there, too: Include Yourself in Family Photos."   That reminded me how rare it is for there to be a picture with me in it!  As with most moms - I tend to stay behind my camera.  The article had some good points though, as to why we should learn to include ourselves.  Even if you don't want to read the article, check out the pictures - they're wonderfully inspiring.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." - James 1:17

Bye Bye Billy the Buck

Yesterday a couple came to buy Billy.  Yes it was time for this sweet, affectionate billy goat to find a new home.  Two of our does are due any time now, thanks to Billy.  I was so happy that the couple that bought Billy wanted him to breed with their 4 does.  They were very imperssed just watching him, and seeing how easily Solomon interacted with him.  I was glad he was going to a good home, but still felt a bit sad seeing him driven away.  Why oh why do I always get attached to all of our animals?!

Billy is the goat closest to Solomon

I listed Billy on CraigsList twice. Our first deal fell through when the owner ended up taking her husband to the hospital instead of them coming to pick up Billy!  Both times that I listed Billy, I quickly received several request from Hispanics wanting to buy Billy for very cheap.  I have been told they like to eat goats. 

I'm sooooo glad that Billy went to a happy farm and not the grill!

Here are a few recent pictures of Billy with Tabby, Hunter, and Solomon:

I praying that the goat births go smoothly - with no complications.  Some friend's goat recently died shortly after giving birth.  I felt bad for them and a bit nervous for our goats. 

"There are three things which are majestic in pace,
Yes, four which are stately in walk:
³⁰ A lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn away from any;
³¹ A greyhound,
A male goat also,And a king whose troops are with him." - Proverbs 30:29-31

Some cute chicks at the pool

If I added "at the red light district" to this post's title, would that be too distasteful?  That title popped in my head as I was thinking of writing this post but I assure you - everything here is G-rated!

 Here is what I am talking about - baby chickens in a plastic kiddie pool under a red heat lamp!

This is the 3rd spring we bought baby chicks.  This has been the most problematic batch though.  First they were rejected by two broody hens, resulting in the death of one. Then last week fighting broke out amongst them.  Cluck Norris and especially Ray Pullet, our two Ameraucana martial artists, were pecking the Black Austrolorp and Gold Lace Wyandette chickens.  Not only were the black chickens being pecked at, but their back feathers were being pulled out and one had a bloody back. 

Since they were getting bigger anyway, we knew it was time to separate them into two crates so they would have more room.

This was a very temporary fix though.  The chicks were almost able to fly out of the crate.  So I got online and looked at ... Pinterest for ideas.  There were some really neat ones - ranging from wooden crates, a Shabby Chic cabinet, to pools, to a pack-n-play!  (I pinned some - see my "Chicken board" here.) 

The pool with the high wire looked like the best for us for right now.  So Frank and Hunter cleaned out our old plastic kiddie pool.  Then the next day I got to work setting up our chicks next rental home.   I even built a few perches (idea off Pinterest too).  I lined the bottom with newspaper then covered it with straw.  I put the waterer inside a big plastic tray to help keep the waterer cleaner.  (Chicks love to scratch and straw is often flying into it.)

Frank got home in time to help put wiring around it.  (Leftover goat fence wiring with chicken wire over the lower half.) 

Then the fun part - moving the chicks in.  They immediately set about exploring.

But later when I looked in, one of the Black Austrolorp was bleeding on its back again.  Then I saw Ray Pullet and a Buff Orphington tag teaming, pecking on another Austrolorp.  Oh no.

I remembered that we had a bottle of "Rooster Booster Pick-No-More Cover-Up Lotion" so I hurried to grab that.  I also got a container of healing green salve.  (More on the green salve below - I make and sell this.) 

Now the one drawback to the wiring around the pool is, is that it is rather tricky to get in and out of by myself.  So Frank opened and closed it while I was grabbing chicks to treat, and then putting them back in. 

I put green salve on the back of the bleeding chicken.  Then I sprayed him with the Rooster Booster.  This is a dark spray that made his exposed white skin darker colored and therefore less attractive to chicks wanting to peck him.  I did this on all the black chicks because they were all missing feathers and fur.  :(

Things calmed down in the pool after this, thank goodness.  I went and started looking online to see if there were other things I could do to help this problem.

I soon found that using red heat lamps, instead of white, was highly suggested to cut down on bullying.  I excited told Tabby and Frank what I had read.  They both informed me they already knew this.

Oh.  Well I didn't and they didn't suggest it.  Frank agreed to buy a red heat lamp the next morning.

I am happy to report that everyone seems to be getting along just fine.  Thank you Rooster Booster and red heat lamp!

Sigh.

Sometimes it seems really silly to sit here typing chicken stories.  It can be fun but it's not the same as blogging about Lilly.  So - quick flashback picture:

chunky sleeping beauty

Now the info. about my green salve.  First - you can easily make it yourself.  You can buy the kit here from Bulk Herb Store.  This stuff is great for people or animals.  Here is my advertising blurb:

Herbal GREEN SALVE - This “green stuff” is a great salve to have around for use on just about everything. Use it on: scrapes, bites, burns, cuts, blisters, stings, rashes, dry cracked skin, cold sores, psoriasis, eczema, poison ivy, etc.! You can even use it on your pets irritated skin. Use as often as needed.
Contains: Plantain Leaf, Calendula Flower, Comfrey Leaf, Yarrow Flower, Rosemary Leaf, Echinacea Root, Echinacea Leaf. In a base of coconut oil.
2 oz. tin = $3.00 and 4 oz. tin = $6.00.
One of my sons and I got stung by wasps. I put this salve on our stings immediately and repeated a few times. The hurt was gone within minutes and the bites never swelled. One of my nephews asks for this stuff whenever he gets a bug bite or scrape. It's good "green stuff!"

Have a blessed week!