So much has happened on the farm since last week!
The first thing that happened was that we sold two more of this year’s baby goats. Lydia and Pippa have moved to a farm north of Albuquerque. Their new family has two little children. It was fascinating watching the goats - who have never seen children this small - interacting with humans who were exactly their size. The children were three years old and eighteen months old. (I’m guessing. I don’t really know enough about human babies to be sure. Perhaps they were two and four. The smaller one was walking.). Their parents set them down inside the pen with the baby goats, and all of them stared at each other in wonder. I gave the children peanuts to feed to the goats, and the goats were really gentle with the children - didn’t jump up on them or anything.
(This is Pippa. What a beauty!)
When the family carried Lydia to the van to go home with them, she acted as if she was off on a delightful adventure. Pippa was a little more frightened, but she’s with Lydia. So, I’m sure she’ll be fine.
(This is Lydia - what a character!)
The next big event of the week was moving our new chickens to their chicken coop.
In some ways it worked just like the move from Kat’s room to the front porch. But in other ways it was radically different.
This time we got smart, and put all the Ameraucanas in the pink bucket. The Ameraucanas are the bold ones, more prone to jump out of a bucket. The pink bucket is the one that no one thinks they can escape from. Then we put all the Brahmas in the blue bucket. Sheesh.
We used clothes pins to clip tea towels to the top of the bucket, so that we could set the buckets in the chicken coop and then come back to the house to get their enclosure.
We set up their old enclosure inside the chicken coop, and then put all the chickens in. That was phase one.
We left them inside their enclosure, inside the coop, with the enclosure door shut for a day. The next morning was the exciting part.
We set up lawn chairs in front of the chicken coop. After we had finished all our other chores, we opened the gate to the enclosure. For the first time in their lives, our babies were free! They could wander outside if they chose! We sat down with our coffee. We made bets on who would be the first chicken to walk outside of their coop.
We didn’t have to wait long. Soon, chickens were stepping outside the coop, and then flying back inside. Out and in, each time venturing slightly farther from safety. Once they got outside their coop, they discovered the sky. They’d never seen sky above them before.
They’d also never had living plants to peck at. Their excitement was palpable. We really could’ve spent the entire day sitting out there watching them.
We were delighted to see that Lucky, our flock-guarding cat, did not view these teenagers as snacks. We were marginally worried that she would. But she saw them as more miraculous birds to care for. So, that was a relief.
On the first day, no chicken went more than a few feet from the coop. And they all obediently returned to their coop at nightfall so that we could shut them in and keep them safe from Fluffy, the skunk who lives under the other chicken coop.
On the second day, the chickens went farther from their coop, and came within just a few feet of the old flock. Both flocks are now steadfastly ignoring the other flock. They pretend that the other flock doesn’t exist. I wonder how long that will go on?
Yesterday it rained. The new flock had never been outside when it rained before. They all ran into the coop and huddled together in a corner so tightly that we were afraid someone would suffocate. Jan actually shut the coop door to try to allay their fears a little bit - maybe make them feel a little safer.
But then the rain was over, Jan opened their door, and they all came back outside.
OH! And some of them have discovered the perches that we worked so hard to install:
Yesterday we saw one hen attempt to reach one of the higher perches and fail. But soon, they'll all be up there.
It is amazing to watch their delight as they explore a brand new world. Every day they discover something new, and we are able to share in their wonder.
