Good night Pebbles

Pebbles is one of our 14 rescued cats.  She came into this world fighting for life.  She was the only kitten born of a litter of 4 to a domestic gone feral cat.  The cat brought this tiny fighter to the feet of my husband's aunt, then walked off.

My husband's aunt was 86 years old at the time. She was known in her small Oregon town as the "cat lady." If you had a cat you did not want to be responsible for drop it off at her place.  She fed over 27 cats and kittens daily. They all lived outside except her pet cat and this tiny little kitten, she named Pebbles.  She fed these strays morning and evening seven days a week, while living on a small fixed income.

Pebbles was dear to her.  When my husband's aunt went to the hospital, never to return home again, she asked us to rescue as many kittens as we could and find them good homes giving them an opportunity at having a good life.  We managed to catch 3 feral kittens, along with Pebbles and brought them all home.  The remaining cats and kittens at his aunt's house were all captured and killed.  We were heart broken to hear this was done.

Our goal was to get these four sick kittens healthy and find them homes.  That goal in part happened but the home they got was ours.  Pebbles was very ill with parasites.  We gave her medicine along with all the kittens, as these parasites were transferable. She was in quarantine.  I put a stuffed toy in the room with her. It was Mike from the movie Monsters Inc. Mike was almost as big as she was. Every day I moved it and every night she dragged that stuffed toy into bed with her and slept up against it. After a month of many Vet visits, shots, medication and a couple of good baths, Pebbles was freed from her quarantine.  I remember the day we let her out of her quarantine she marched down the hallway like she owned the place.  She was a small cat, that never weighed over 8lbs. She was always bony, but the Vet assured me she was just right, weight wise. Pebbles was the smallest cat in our herd of eight cats,(at that time).  Our biggest cat is Oreo. He weighs in at 22lbs, but not considered over weight.

Pebbles was a determined cat. She knew her mind and her wants.  She hated dry food and only ate wet food, but not any old wet food.  We went through many brands finding the wet food she liked.  She demanded her food in the morning, would like it at noon and again at night.  She did not get her wish. As I always pointed out, there was plenty of dry food.  I would catch her eating dry food now and again.

Pebbles started out in Oregon,  then moved in with us in Seattle and moved again with us to Texas.  She was a loving cat in her own way.  She had a routine for the first six months of living with us. She would jump up on my lap in the afternoon and curl up and go to sleep.  She would do this each day. She would sleep for a couple of hours or until my legs went numb from not moving.  After the six months, she no longer needed that companionship, except when she was in the mood.

Pebbles was furiously independent and would take on any cat, if she needed to. Thankfully that was not necessary.  She loved to sit in the windows and soak up the sunshine.  She would greet me in the morning demanding her breakfast and remind me in the evening that it was her dinner time.  She taught the others to do the same.

Pebble fell ill Friday evening. I took her to the vet on Saturday and after extensive tests the only thing they knew was she could not regenerate her red cells.  The "cause" was unknown. Without being invasive with surgery, we tried some medications that would help her. Sadly, she only got weaker and stopped eating last night.  This morning she and I sat curled up together in front of the fireplace warming ourselves and reminiscing about her life and saying our goodbyes.  I let her go around noon today.   She was 9 or 10 years old. We are not sure of her exact birth date, but figured her closer to10 years old.

She is laid to rest along side Molly our rescued Lab, Tommie our first rescued cat in Texas,  Scamp the brother of Oreo and Winkin chicken.

Here are two pictures I have of Pebbles. She is the black cat in the photo. The other cat is Vinnie. He is our oldest rescue.

Good night Pebbles.   I will miss you every day.

COYOTES AND SNAKES AND SKUNKS, OH MY!

Winter is fast approaching.  Shorter days, cooler nights.  There has been some light rain. We are most grateful when it falls.  Our fields are planted.  But best of all: The snakes are finally taking their dirt nap, literally!   I still cautiously move wood or any object a snake may hide under or near. Best to keep your guard up. But at long last, the snakes are napping!!!  I kind of sing like they did in the Wizard of Oz, "ding, dong the witch is dead. " Only I sing, ding, dong the snakes are gone, not nearly gone, but really gone, ding dong the snakes are really gone!.... Yes, a bit over the top, but such relief, for a few months anyway. The chiggers are gone too, but that is another story for another time.

Coyotes pass through our fields and what little woods we have. We maintain a healthy respect for each other.   When our ducks and chicken are out playing, I am out with them.  I got too comfortable and yes lulled into a non-existent security that the birds would be safe alone outside all day.  That false security was ripped off like a bandaid off a hairy arm!  Our drake Rouen, Opa, Oma's mate was killed and taken.  I came outside to find the others screaming, yes birds do scream, at the top of their lungs. They were huddled together, pressed up against the coop.  I looked all over for Opa. He was gone. Not a trace of him anywhere.  It was done quickly and stealthy.  Oma cried for days.  She called and called for her mate to no avail.  She would not leave the coop for days. She was a mess.  Since then, I do what I can to protect our animals.  What does this have to do with coyotes,  you ask?

A great deal.  I have some stories and pictures to share with you.  Coyotes are stealthy and determined to get their prey.  They usually get what they go after. Coyotes are common place here in Texas. The coyotes howl at night from one end of the property, while the answering coyotes from the other end of the property.  Some times you feel surrounded, which most likely is true. Now to be standing outside in the dark when this happens, will raise any and all hair you have on your body.  Our dogs will stand in the back yard/front yard and howl too.  There is quite a bit of chatting going on between them. Our dogs have a five foot high fence surrounding their enclosed area. They have the backyard and part of the front yard. This way they can see everywhere.   If I am outside when the coyotes start howling, I hustle, (not the dance step) indoors.  I cannot see them, but I know they see me!

One February morning around 10:00AM, I saw these dogs in one of our fields.........no, coyotes!!!  One was either mom or dad with a young pup. How can I tell? The pup is jumping and playing around. The adult is tending to business.  As I watched, the adult was teaching the young one how to hunt for field mice or whatever moves.  The pup would mimic the adult, then get distracted and bounce around.  My thought is what are they doing out there this late in the morning???  Second thought: Where is my camera???

They started in our north field, crossed another field then our driveway into our southeast field out of my line of sight from the kitchen......Armed with my camera, I head outside, (no, not crazy).  I have a zoom lens on my camera hoping to get some pictures from a safe distance, or however close I can get.  I move as close, (really, not crazy), as I can without frightening them, (remember they are looking for food).  Now our dogs were in their enclosure out front watching them too, not barking, just watching.  I am feeling pretty safe.....kind of safe.......sorta safe......maybe safe.........don't think about it safe.

I got some pictures! They are not the best, since I was keeping my distance.  But I think they are pretty good.

You are looking at the mother/father with the pup. The pup is looking around, the parent is searching for food.

 Parent has pup's attention on the matter at hand.  Kind of like the parent saying, "look at me when I am talking to you!"

Parent is on the move to find food. Pub sitting and watching.

This is the pup looking my way.  So cute.........yet, a little unnerving. (the object in the lens appears closer than it really is)

Mother/father got something, I don't want to know what it is. ( I think a poor rabbit)  The adult is taking off. The hunt is over.

The pup, as with all children, does not want to miss the meal. "Hey wait for me!" They went off into the woods. 

I am always so thankful for these up close opportunities with wildlife!  


We have a dog we rescued named Sarah.  Everyone that meets her asks us the same question, even the vet when he first saw her: Is she a coyote?  I thought so too when I first found her, but it is somewhat now believed that she is part shepherd/husky mix.  But even the coyotes are confused by her.  In the winter, she would go out before dawn each morning. The other six dogs, yes six,  would not go out until after 8:00AM, (too cold).  Imagine a coyote seeing this beauty out there by herself. Of course, she was behind a fence.   Here are two pictures of Sarah. That is Dora, another rescue, in front left of the picture.

 

There was a coyote that showed up on the front lawn out by the kitchen door looking for Sarah. This was usually around 9:00A in the morning, when Sarah came indoors.  I was so surprised to look out the kitchen door to find this coyote looking and pacing around, like he was suppose to be there to meet someone. This happened for 3 days.  I think he finally got the hint. She is not available.

As you know, we put cat food out at night for the critters.  Last winter during the coldest nights, a young coyote showed up and ate what was left of the cat food.  I use to watch it from the kitchen door. They are very, rightly so, skiddish. It would grab a bite, then run off a little way, come back, grab another bite run off a bit. It kept repeating these steps until the food was gone.  This past week we had a couple of 30ish degree nights.  I looked out one evening and there was  the coyote from last winter!  The other critters were no where to be seen! Once the coyote left, the critters came out from hiding.  As winter brings the cold, frozen dampness, or for us dryness, with less food supply, I will see more of the coyote looking for cat food to keep it going.

Here is another oddity that I got to witness this past year.  I opened the back door one afternoon to let the dogs come in. There on the security light pole out back was a buzzard!  How cool!!!  I grab the camera heading out the back door.  This is no ordinary buzzard. This one has only one leg!  Unbelievable!  I snapped a few pictures of it resting on the pole.  Once in flight, you would not know it only had one leg.

From coyotes to buzzards now skunks.  I want to update you on the skunk family.  They still come by from time to time.  Fearless, one of the babies, is the first one out to eat. He/She is there when the darkness is just falling.  They are growing and becoming more adult each time I see them.  But one night, I managed to video the mother and children eating together! It is rare to see them together these days.
It was so cute to see them all together eating.  Enjoy!

As you can see, a lot happens outside my kitchen door.  There is always an adventure unfolding just outside!

THE SKUNK FAMILY

One evening, a couple of weeks ago, I was looking out the kitchen french door. There was a family of skunks!  I was so excited!  Yes, excited as in happy.  We put dry cat food out every night for the critters that come by.  This evening it was a skunk mom and her three little babies enjoying the food.

The mom reminded me of many moms I've seen. Her tail dragging on the ground, while the kids were jumping, playing, nipping and bumping each other.  The mom skunk settled down and ate while the kids followed suit, temporarily. They began hip bumping each other to get to the food. The food was spaced out so each could partake, but kids will be kids and each tried to push the other out of the way.  The kids eat and walk with their tails straight up in alert/warning stance.

Each night since, I have watched for the skunk family.  Finally I got the bright idea of trying my phone camera to video the kids.  I have three videos to share with you.  There is one baby skunk I call Fearless.  The little tyke does not realize how small and vulnerable it is. Many nights I see Fearless out on his own. 

Fearless does not give up too easily when it comes to food.  I watched it one night standing next to a full grown raccoon eating cat food. These two were actually touching each other, not giving an inch, eating cat food. I thought for sure the raccoon would either push Fearless out of the way or get sprayed. Neither happened. Little Fearless decided to come to the porch and eat from the bowl alone.

This has been so entertaining for me and frustrating for my dogs and cats. They sit lined up in front of the kitchen door watching the skunks, raccoons and possums enjoy the cat food.

Why in the world would we feed these animals??? I know that is what you are thinking. Easy answer: We enjoy watching them.  We enjoy that they bring their little ones to eat too.  They don't live long out here, so we try to help out with food.   Skunks kill snakes, scorpions (which we have here), they kill mice/rats and eat bugs. Cheap pest control.  Will they spray you?  You betcha!   Skunks will warn you, they will give you ample opportunity to get away, but if you do not leave and they feel too threatened by your presence, they will spray you!  How do they warn you? They slap both front paws on the ground and growl/hiss at you. You will get that maybe three times, if you haven't gotten the clue by then....you get sprayed. I was coming in just after sunset one evening and there was a skunk eating. He warned me with a hiss growl.  I told him not to worry, I am gone.  He ate, I went in the house, no spraying.

Two of our dogs got sprayed one evening.  My husband decided to take a couple of them with him to lock the gate ( it was dark). Our gate is 1/4 mile from the house.  One of the dogs was on a long leash the other dog was not. They both came upon this poor little skunk and surprised/startled him and he sprayed them both.  Mercy, it will make your eyes water right now.  Those poor dogs were howling, eyes watering, rolling and rubbing themselves in the grass trying to get the stink off of them.  We bathed them twice that evening, even used vinegar...still smelled. Bathed them again the next day.  It took over a week for the smell to finally leave.  Moral of the story: respect skunks.

Here are the videos. The first one is of the skunks learning to share the cat food between the tea cup bird feeders.  You can kind of see the other skunk between the railing. The next video is of a bigger skunk taking over the eating place of the little skunks. The last video shows the little skunks coming up to the deck and eating together.
The quality of the film is not great, but you can see what they are doing.

THE SEASON OF THE DUCK

The fighting, squabbling and name calling ( not positive, but sounds like it) has been going on far too long.  I keep thinking today is the day that the fighting stops.  But each day starts the same. I arrive to open up the coop and the fusing, fuming and yelling grows louder as I approach, they know the door will open and the fighting will commence.

This is the same routine each day with polite grazing, ugly looks, snide comments spewed, then the clash of two to three ducks running at each other yelling at the top of their lungs,  jumping on and beating each other.  I step in as quickly as I can, usually my hands are full with cleaning duties.  They break up and basically go to their separate corners, huffing and puffing. I think I am really just the referee that calls time and sends them to their appointed corners to get ready for the next round.

This is our daily experience, morning and night.  When they are in their coop they stand and yell at each other, breaking only for food, water and a nap.  Here is a video of their conversation.

Notice the boys, the Apple Dumpling gang, on the left are not interested in this discussion (smart boys). They have the good sense to walk away.  Now Little Dude is still conflicted. He walks away, but comes back, he paces back and forth.  He feels he is the protector of all the girls, though Phoebe and Buffy keep trying to kill him. 

Here is another video of Phoebe, Buffy and Oma going at it through the fence. I think the girls were name calling, as Oma and Dude were heading in, causing Oma to attack. Because of this, I  bought more chicken wire to stop this at the chain link fence. Now, I am protecting them from each other!?

The girls, Phoebe and Buffy, are beating on Little Dude as often as they can. Thankfully Oma comes to his aid.  He is smaller than all the ducks.  Phoebe especially has a real desire to kill him (I'll be glad when she is done molting).  She has taken every opportunity to get him a lone and beat on the boy.  She usually waits until my back is turned and Oma is not close at hand.  She hits Dude running full speed knocking him down, but the boy keeps fighting back hoping to get the upper hand. Oma breaks it up or Blinkin or myself or all of us at one time.

Today, Phoebe waited until I turned my back. Dude was in the pool, Phoebe took a run at him thinking she could drown the boy.  WRONG-O!  Dude managed to pull Phoebe into the pool. Phoebe and Buffy do not like the kiddie pool, they cannot touch the bottom with their feet.  Phoebe is in the water with Dude, the fight is on!  However, Dude gains the upper hand, with Phoebe trying desperately now to get out of the pool while still beating on Dude. She wants out more than beat on Dude while trying to hop out of the pool, Dude manages to get a tight grip on her feathers at the base of her neck holding on while she pulls them both out of the water. He keeps his hold on her while she is trying to get away from him. Finally he lets her go. Little Dude is at last triumphant in winning the battle with Phoebe.  He has finally won the respect of Phoebe.

Phoebe, so mad about her defeat marches over to the fence where the boys are, proceeds to attack them. Now the boys are inside, but they got a hold of her too. She had enough and fled. Little Dude marches over to the same fence confronting the boys for their treatment of Phoebe. He nearly gets himself beat into the ground, before I can intervene.

Little Dude, the protector of the girls.

Here it is the Fall of the year.  The birds are calming down a bit......almost.  Their new feathers are growing in and tempers are mellowing, slowly.

It has been a very hot, dry, drought of a spring and summer here in Texas, again.  Due to this drought, I had more encounters with snakes than I care to see in a life time.  My most memorable encounter to date is the copper head snake determined to make one of the humming bird feeders its home.  I will share two pictures of two different days of this snake visit.

The first day, I was going out on the deck to fetch the feeders to clean and refill......I stopped suddenly when I saw this snake coiled around the base of the feeder.  A humming bird was approaching the feeder at the same time.  The bird slowed down, I shewed it away.  I took my phone out and took this picture.  Look closely you will see the snake coiled along the base, with its head facing out in the direction of the birds.  You can also see another predator of the humming bird toward the top of the feeder, a praying mantis.  Normally I would shoot the snake to bits, but our visiting Canadian geese were in the line of sight....I took the broom handle to the snake and it jumped off into the boxwood hedge below......

Needless to say, I check the feeders carefully before taking them down to refill.  The next morning, sure enough, there was that dog gone snake again!!!  This time I caught it before it had a chance to settle in.  It is still slithering down to the feeder.  I took the picture, then grabbed a putter I had next to the door and gave it a good putt and again into the boxwood hedge it went......

Next morning, no snake....good.  However, the following day, that dog gone snake was back on the feeder!  No picture this time, I took the putter and beat on the snake and feeder.......to this day the snake has not returned to any of the three humming bird feeders.

Of course, we also have to contend with snakes in the bird's coop. I have been startled more than once by the poaching Chicken/Rat snakes in the birds nest....I keep a sharp hoe in the coop for just these occasions.

One evening I was very late getting the veggie garden and flower planters watered....the sun was down, it was that time of day when the light is almost gone and stars are just beginning to show. I was just finishing up by putting out cat food and wild bird seed for our night visiting critters, skunks, possums and rabbits.  I was walking back the same path I went out, keeping a close watch with every step.  I was stopped mid stride with my foot in the air when the thought occurred to me,  that wasn't there before.........it moved, IT WAS A SNAKE, I was about to step on!!! It took off and I ran into the house. Since water is scarce this summer the snakes have been around the house more, especially after I water plants.....

I always wondered what the statement "snake in the grass" meant. I found out. The grass area around the ducks and chicken coop is lush, thick, green grass. Only because we pump the pools of duck poo water onto the lawn. It is a wonderful natural fertilizer for the grass.  One evening before letting the birds run around before bed time, I brought out some chopped up tomatoes for them to find in the grass. Tomatoes are a real treat for them.  I was throwing these chopped tomatoes here and there, la, la, la, la.....Suddenly, there was this big black chicken snake that came up out of the grass!!!!  I had hit it with some chopped tomato and brought it out of the thick, lush grass!!  There I stood only armed with tomatoes in my hand watching this snake slithering an exit away from me. It stopped by the kiddie pool gave me one last look then vanished.  Now I understand the meaning of "snake in the grass."  After that we mowed the grass down to the nub...

We look forward to the cold nights of fall and winter, only because we know the snakes will be in their Winter slumber underground. I hope this will be the last of the snake stories for me to share with you.......

The molting, fussing and fighting continue. Buffy has joined Oma and Phoebe in the molt festival.  The boys watch in their clueless state as the girls continue to battle it out.


Weclome to Camp Molting, where the fighting never ends.

Oma waited, loudly and impatiently wings folded on her hips, foot tapping and yelling, for me to open the door to Phoebe and Buffy's enclosure. The girls came running out. Oma grabbed Phoebe by the tail only to get a beak full of feathers.  Buffy yells at Oma, with Oma responding in kind. Oma takes a running lunge at Phoebe, who lunges at Oma, Sumo wrestling style, the fight is on.  No one interfered with this fight, except Little Dude grabbing Oma's wing feathers trying to pull her off  Phoebe.  Dude is conflicted.  He is faithful to Oma, but believes he is the protector of ALL the girls.  He was thrown out of the way by Oma in the midst of the fight. Oma finally bested Phoebe.

Phoebe still in a molting fighting mood, marched up to the boys enclosure and lunged at Macintosh getting a good beak hold on his chest feathers, he is not molting.  She tries to pull him through the small chain link diamond fencing. Mac not aware she is wanting to kill him, is excitedly thinking she wants him....NOT in the least!  Meanwhile, Buffy is beating up Little Dude.  He is the smallest duck we own.  The others out weigh him and have more height than he does.  Dude does not back down.  I intervene for Dude. So today the yard is filled with flying duck feathers, loud Q U A K I N G and fighting every where you turn.  I will be so happy when molting season is over!!!    Blinkin?  She was happily digging for bugs!

The following video is 'why' Phoebe wants to hurt Mac.

September 16, 2011

The back story.  I grew up a suburbanite.  The closest thing to a farm experience was a field trip in 1st or 2nd grade to Carnation Farms.  I remember the cows, lots of cows, some horses, chickens and other animals.  I stepped in cow manure more than once. The smell and squishiness was a bit much.  It was a fun adventure as a kid, different from my daily life in the city.

My grandparents had a cow or two when I was around 2 or 3 years old. My uncles would take me with them to milk the cows. I loved it when they would squirt milk into my mouth. It was a distance game for them. I stood away from the cow while they took turns squirting milk at my open mouth.  The cat and I loved this game.

I had cousins that had horses. I tried to ride one bare back, landed on my butt more than once in that experience.  I was stepped on, nipped, thrown and generally just decided that horses were not for me.  The last horse ride I took as a young adult was more like Mr. Toad's wild ride, with the owner of the horse chasing us on foot screaming at the top of her lungs for the horse to stop, which he had not intention of doing, but finally we got the horse to stop.  That was my last  horse back ride.

So my experiences with farming and animals has been minor at best. I enjoyed city life. Always things to do, places to go, people to see a beehive of activity.  But about 6 years ago, the city life was taking on a more manic intensity and crowding.  The nice city life with some breathing room became over crowded with noise, hostility and a sense of suffocation.  It was time to move out to the country for a bit of space and calm.

Since my husband's work was in Texas, we decided to move closer to his work, less commuting for a bit more quality of life.   We found this nice little 20 acre farm out in the rural area of North Texas. How quiet and traquil.  SOLD! 

We were novices/ rookies to farm and farm life.  We were as green as you come to rural living.  I drove back and forth to the larger city (20 plus miles away) for supplies two or three times a day for some time until we got the hang of things.  The quiet at night kept me a wake at first....I was more accustom to noise, but that was short lived. 

The abandoned dogs and cats in the area found their way to our front door. We have rescued to date 8 dogs, 12 cats, 6 ducks,  2 chickens and 1 skunk.  Never planned on any animals. The animals have taught me a great deal in how to care for them. My husband calls me the duck psychologist.  I find I try to use my training to figure out what is what with them. Yes, I do have conversations with all of them. 

Winter before last,  I gave Winkin  (now deceased) sister to Blinkin, a rectal exam.  I thought she might be egg bound. I had on Latex gloves, put some KY gel on one finger and held Winkin with one hand and probed her for a bound egg. No egg. Since that exam she clucked running in the opposite direction when I approached. She died last summer.  She would follow me while I mowed eating bugs, snakes and anything that moved.

That is our back story to how we got here.  Here is a picture of Winkin and Blinkin.

Sept. 13, 2011

This morning I was preforming my usual chores of cleaning the duck pools, cleaning drinking water dishes, refreshing straw and providing food for our ducks and chicken.  

However, today as Buffy and Phoebe came running out the door of their enclosure, I noticed Phoebe was dropping feathers right and left, literally.  Ah, Phoebe is now molting.  I did not give it another thought, as I went about my cleaning duties. 

Oma, was still hot to beat on Phoebe, but they kept a rather polite, but not quiet, distance.  Then it happened.....A hawk came gliding over very low and slow. Oma sounded the alarm and everyone ran into Buffy and Phoebe's enclosure, where I was filling their pools with fresh water. I stepped out to see the hawk take its leave.  While my back was turned Oma and Phoebe could not take the strain of politeness any further, the fight was on again.  I broke it up. Blinkin was out in the yard bugging. She was oblivious to the fighting, (she must be deaf).  Oma stormed out of the girl's enclosure in a huff, QUAKE, QUAKE, Q U A K E!!!! She went to her enclosure complaining loudly the whole way.  Then Phoebe turned on Little Dude, who was still in their enclosure. The fight got ugly and I broke it up.  Blinkin, singing La la la la and eating bugs.  I chase everyone out of the girl's enclosure to finish up, thinking they are done. OH NO!  Phoebe takes a run at Dude and BAM the fight is on. I again break this up....Blinkin prancing through the yard catching bugs.  Dude heads to his enclosure and Phoebe is hot on his tail. I came around from the opposite side to find Phoebe in Blinkin's enclosure pounding or trying to pound on Oma through the fence!  I break it up by picking Phoebe up and moving her. She comes right back and they go at it again.  Where or where is Blinkin!? (Blinkin singing: la, la, la, la, I love fresh bugs).  Finally I pick up Phoebe and carry her to her enclosure.  The noise of the girls yelling and fighting was deafening!  Phoebe marches over to the fence between herself and the boys and begins yelling, at the top of her voice, at the boys and if she could have reached them through the fence, (as they were trying) she would have torn their beaks off!!  She tried it a couple of times.  We have chain link fencing but put up 1" chicken wire on the chain link between the enclosures to keep them from thrusting their heads through the fence to grab each other. If the boys only knew that that fencing saved their beaks today.  No, I could not catch any of this on video.

If you are familiar with West Side Story, the fighting gangs from the east side and west side.  I have something similar going on here. Oma is on the east side and Phoebe is on the west side of the coop.  It is Rouen fowl against common fowl.  Still reminds me of girls fighting, now very physical, over boys, but I think it has escalated to who will be queen and rule the coop.  So two molting volatile female ducks saying to each other, "you want a piece of me, come and get it."  When they are not in the yard they stand in the corner of their enclosure facing each other, yelling at the top of their lungs at each other.   Until this fighting and molting is done, we can say good bye to the quiet, peace of the farm...

Here is a picture of Oma and Little Dude. She is a Rouen breed.  He is a Mallard.

The picture below is Phoebe.  I call her Miss Phoebe Snow.  She is the girl the boys are hot for.   She is probably of Mallard breeding.   The picture below Phoebe is Buffy. She is a crested (the white up do on her head is a crest) barn yard runner breed.  I call her Miss Buffy Buffay (boo-fay).  She is considered by our boys to be a high maintenance, high dollar female.  They do not spend a great deal of energy chasing her.

Now the two boys that seem to be the underlying cause of this molting duo, Macintosh and Jonathan.  They are an Appleyard breed.  I call them the apple dumpling gang. 

 Now you know all the players in this not so musical drama of west verses east.  

Farming life

I've been asked by friends and family to blog my experiences on our small farm.  There were two incidences that happened one day that convinced me to begin this blog.  I will not bore you, I hope with trivial information, but hope to share what it is like to run a small farm.

I will be posting two short video clips to begin this blog journey. The first video clip is of an armadillo that I run into from time to time in our back yard.  I took this video with my Android X phone. I also got as close as possible without him running away.

Our 20 acre farm is in North Texas.  As you may or may not know, we are experiencing a severe drought.  The animals and all plant life are in a state of distress, along with death in this drought.  We have a small kiddie pool in our back yard for our ducks to swim and bathe in.  The armadillo comes out before sunset to drink from this pool.  The first time I was able to get a photo of him and then this video:  

Now on this evening,  2 of our 6 ducks went crazy, in a sense.  Our oldest duck Oma is molting. Molting is very painful process of the new quills push the old quills out.  The female ducks get rather cranky. In human terms, they are like women during PMS or women heading through menopause, without medication.  Needless to say Oma is in a mood. My husband says, "she is in a really 'fowl' mood."  She attacks one of our younger female ducks named Phoebe.  I could not understand this aggression. When Oma molts, (usually twice a year) she is quiet and broody, but not this time.  In observing them, I figured it out. Oma is the queen of our 3 drakes (male ducks). She has a faithful drake named Little Dude that does his best to protect her. Well, our other 2 drakes ( male ducks) are now giving all their attention to Phoebe, to the point they beat each other up trying  and get to her. They are no longer showing this kind of interest in Oma, (the queen).  Now neither of these females want to mate with these males. But the attention taken from one female and given to another has caused this aggression on Oma's part.  Basically, the girls are fighting about boys! Reminds me of junior high and high school girls.  I caught this fighting on video but with an interesting twist. Our chicken Blinkin decided to mediate the fight.  Here is a video of Oma and Phoebe fighting and Blinkin mediating the fight.   

I hope you enjoyed this introduction of sorts. I hope to bring you more stories from and about farming.