Ducklings

On May 27 one of our ducks hatched out 16 ducklings. I would have loved to have shown you pictures before now. However I have not had the best luck with cameras in the last month. First, I broke my camera the day before Mother's Day. So for Mother's Day my husband took me shopping and bought me a new camera. Then I lost it at the Alma Highland Festival on Memorial Day weekend.
Do you have any idea what it's like to be a blogger with no camera? I suddenly was seeing so many things that I wanted to take pictures of so I could blog about them. Not that I have had any time to blog mind you. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to blog.

At any rate, I have a camera again. My wonderful Mother-In-Law, after hearing my plight, set my Brother-In-Law (who has a nose for electronics deals) on a hunt. The result was an early birthday present. YAY!
The other problem with getting a picture of the ducklings was that every time I would try to get close enough to take their pictures, the momma duck would either stand between me and them puffing herself up and hissing, or she would lead them away. After losing a duck and her babies last year because she went off in the woods to get away from the hub-bub of activity in the yard, I didn't want to take chances.

But she finally is starting to trust me. Or maybe not. Maybe she's just sick of me following me and is actually daring me to touch her babies so she has an excuse to attack. Whatever it is, I finally got close enough for a picture. Here you go:No, there aren't 16 ducklings in this picture. We have lost a total of 5 ducklings. The same morning that the first four disappeared, my neighbor called to say that her cat brought a dead duckling home. :o( Then yesterday morning one more disappeared. I suspect the same cat.

Pheasants And Chicks

I have really been behind on posting. So much has happened here this spring that I hardly know where to begin. So I will start with telling you about my daughter Jade's best gift of the year so far. She has six beautiful young golden pheasants.

This gentleman, John, has a pair of golden pheasants that started to lay eggs. When the female didn't seem to want to sit on her eggs, he decided to incubate them himself. He soon discovered how easy it is to keep putting more and more eggs into the incubator until it's completely full. Luckily for Jade, he couldn't keep all those pheasant chicks.

The other person in the picture is Rachel. She met up with John here to get some silkie chicks. Maybe someday we will have silkies and I can show you how adorable they are. They really aren't a chicken, they are kittens with feathers. You can read more about Rachel HERE. This is only one of her blogs, so be sure to check out her profile and read the others.

We have also been hatching quite a few chickens ourselves here on the farm this year. Our original layers are starting to slow down and now it's time to start raising up their replacements. So what do you think happens when two girls, chicks and pheasant chicks get together? Just take a look:At least they will be use to being handled.

Next up: Ducklings!

Only A Boy

Could have this much fun with a pile of pillows.