Today has been a reminder that the cycle of life is always working here on the farm... I've had a coup of chickens that I essentially rescued this past winter, that have been pecking open all the eggs that they lay. So, after months of trying to decide whether or not to keep these chickens who are literally eating away at the farm's profits, I finally decided to end their lives in the name of the farm's financial sustainability... my friend Carl came over to help me do the job. It's never an easy decision to end an animal's life, one I took very seriously. And when it came time for followthrough it was done with no lack of respect for the animals. As I tearfully placed each one of them in the compost pile I thanked them for their lives. Being year old hens we didn't feel they would be useful for anything other than broth, and quite frankly we thought they would yield more nutrition if they were returned the soil to help the garden grow next year... I walked away feeling sad at the loss of healthy birds with bad habits all the while knowing we had done the right thing for the farm.
Meanwhile, this morning at 6:45 I picked up the two newest members to our farm family, soon-to-be mouse assassins. This grey kitten is Leeroy, a 6 week old kitten with a gentle little way about him. He is certainly the friendlier of the two...
And this is Roscoe... I can already tell what a serious business man he is going to be, I've been referring to him as a kitten ninja as he seems to have his mousing skills already underway and seems to have less time for canoodling... This dynamic duo will be housed in the barn, keeping the mice population in check while they keep an eye on the overall whereabouts of the rest of the farm critters...
These baby robins included! They were born last Tuesday in the nest their mother has been lovingly laboring over for the past few weeks in the CSA pickup area in the barn... mama is around, feeding them and keeping them warm on these cool nights. I'm sure she's not pleased to have two aspiring snipers camping out in her personal space, but honestly they are so small they probably won't even understand that her children could be food. Today Roscoe had the opportunity to devour a beetle, and after pawing it forcefully for about 2 seconds he ran off having found a piece of hay that looked more promising... mama robin has nothing to worry about...
And finally, this morning I got out to take photos of the pigs!! They are HUGE now, and will continue to become giants for 2 more months with us. George is a sweet brute who loves more and more affection each day. Now when I enter the pen he comes over and leans against my legs immediately, waiting for a good rub down... Gladys is still rowdy and causing constant quarrels, but I'm just happy she's keeping things interesting as none of them seem to be plotting an escape...
and then there's Flossie, who just always seems confused. I think she is torn between being George's girlfriend and Gladys's right hand lady... and rightfully so, those two really do demand a lot from her... I try to give her tummy rubs and good scratches as often as possible.... Pigs are happy, birdies are safe, and kittens are deepening their skill set... everything is as it should be.
1 comment:
Leeroy and Roscoe are adorable! Hopefully they will prove to be very helpful around the farm. :)
Post a Comment