Achievement Day

Horse 4H is done for another year.  We didn't get enough riding in this year because of the wet ground but it was still a fun year.  Our sincere thanks to Tara who took on the job of Project Leader this year.  Hannah rode Chick this year, her 3 yr old buckskin filly, and they both did very well.  Hannah is looking so grown up. 

  

Showmanship class

Trail Class

Tim Taylor in the Garden

Why rototill the garden with the small tractor and 4 ft rototiller when you can do this.... with a 14 ft cultivator  < grrr! >

I guess I didn't want that strawberry patch   < sobbing >



Domination

Who do you think rules the hen house at the farm?

Is it this leghorn rooster?

Or this chantecler rooster?

  Or this large dual purpose?

Or this big bad boy?

Or this Jersey giant?

Or this banty?

That's right.  This little banty has the hens herded and the boys on the run!  In his mind he doesn't weigh less than 2 pounds.  With that attitude I'm glad he isn't any bigger.  He spends his day strutting and crowing.


On reflection, me thinks that I have too many roosters.

Tag - You're it!

Reggie and one of the barn cats spent the morning playing tag in the garden.  The cat was at a great disadvantage because Reggie can run 5 times faster than her.  Spent most of the morning working in the garden.  Rescued some of the early planted peas.  They're blooming now so it won't be long before we have peas! 

Yesterday afternoon was spent with Hannah at 4H. She's riding Chick this year.  She's 3 now and Hannah has done all the training and riding on her so far.  Tara jumped on her for a little extra schooling.

Camp

Rebecca left for camp today.  She will be staff at cadet camp at Penhold.  It will be quiet around here until August 20th.

Sign of the Times

Love this sign!  It's been popping up all over this spring and summer.

Reggie's Story

Reggie found his way to us on June 4.  He is a male whitetail deer and was about a week old when he arrived.  Friends of ours have a guardian dog with puppies and they live in the bush totally surrounded by trees.  Their  dog brought this fawn home into their yard and gave it to her puppies to eat.  Fortunately they were in the yard when this happened and were able to rescue the fawn.  He had several puncture marks on his back end and the skin was peeled back on both back legs.  Because the fawn was injured and there was no way to know where he had come from, I got the phone call to take the fawn because I am milking goats and this would be perfect food for him.

Reggie came in a box; he was incredibly small.  I used crazy glue and stuck the skin on his legs back together and treated him with antibiotics.

Here he is with the cat so you can see how small he actually is.  The next thing to do was get some food in him although he still had milk in his tummy from his mother.  He refused to nurse a bottle.

With persistence Zac was able to get him eating.  In the beginning Reggie ate every 2-3 hours and now he nurses about 5 times a day, on demand.  I haven't noticed him eating green stuff yet but he does eat dirt.

Reggie is now over a month old and thriving.  He spends most of the day outside but we bring him in at night.  That is no easy task because he hides on us in the trees and sometimes takes quite a while to locate him hiding in some hole. 

We plan to move him out with the sheep this fall where he will have access to good feed for his first winter but will be able to have some independence from us. We know he's a wild animal and are conscious about  not making a pet out of him.  I do feel honored though to be able to have a relationship with him.  Very few people have the opportunity we have had.

I will post more on Reggie during the summer, hopefully some video.