Ginger

Last March for Abby's birthday she got a lionhead rabbit.  We now have three lionhead rabbits.  She named her rabbit Ginger.  Hannah adores the bunny.  However, the name Ginger has led to some very funny confusions as to which ginger.

Abby holding Ginger

Hannah and Ginger

Anytime I say ginger Hannah immediately thinks it is the rabbit.  One day when Abby was sick she asked to have a ginger-bath.  Ginger baths seem to help with fevers and general flu symptoms.  When Hannah heard this she wanted to go get Ginger the rabbit to put in the tub.
Another time Hannah was asking me for "bunny chews".  I was very confused about what she was asking for.  Finally I figured it out, she wanted the ginger candies that I had bought for a trip to help those who had motion sickness.

14 Plus Babies in My House

Yesterday I brought home 11 little chicks.  I love their little peeps from their corner in my kitchen.  They are buff Orpington.  My kids are begging to hold them and help take care of them.  They will be replacing my current hens this fall.
Just this morning the mama cat, that I have been trying to keep outside because she is very, very fat, came inside when the kids opened the door.  Her time has come and she had her first kitten on the floor in the doorway to my room.  She has since moved to an empty box in my closet and had two more.
Now the cat and kittens will not be staying in my house long.  When she is done, I will be moving her to a safe place outside probably in with my chickens (she did fine there last time).  A mama cat and baby chicks in the same house is NOT a good combination!  Especially since this mama cat has been know to bring in wild birds, baby rabbits, mice, and prairie dogs for her kittens.
Typically I try to keep animals outside.  My lovely children create enough messes in the house.  I do not need animals in my home creating more.  The chicks will be moved out in a few weeks when they have enough feathers to keep them warm at night.  Only cats are allowed in as a way to help keep mice out or catch one.

The baby chicks

Hannah watching chicks

Boys holding chicks

Mama cat in her hiding spot

Saturday at Albrquerque Aquarium

Last Friday my husband suggested that we go to the Albuquerque Aquarium Saturday and do some shopping. I am not one to make sudden plans, but I liked the idea and set to work getting things ready. We left home at 6am – a small miracle for a family with four young ones! We got to the Aquarium by 10am and spent a few hours looking at the fish and taking photos. It was fun to listen to the comment of the kids. It is amazing what they come up with. Abby told me that the mouth of the rays looks like a zipper.

After the Aquarium we went to the Botanical Garden which had an area for kids. It had normal garden items made extra large so you felt like an ant walking through the area. The kids were slightly scared at first. There was a dragon statue at the entrance and a large bee that buzzed when you passed it. But they soon got over their fear and were climbing on everything.

Beth had fun running around. The wheel on my stroller broke so we didn’t have a stroller to keep her strapped in. She loved the freedom.

After that we went to a surveyor’s store for my husband, then on to thrift stores to get clothes and books. We also stopped at a used bookstore, but I didn’t buy anything.

Chicken update

Having so many chicks has been a real experience to say the least. Last year I had five chicks at one time. But there has been several problems with having 33 chicks (I think it was 33. It is hard to count that many fluffy chicks). Everything went well during the first few weeks. Two of the 33 chicks died – not sure why, but by the time I discovered that they weren’t acting right, it was too late for them. Then I gave about a dozen to a friend, and had plans to give a few to a neighbor girl who has several animals. However, before I got to go see her, dogs attacked.

The first time was when we weren’t here on a Sunday, killed my rooster and two hens. The second time they came on a day I was home, they killed my last hen, then they chewed through the chicken wire and got into the chicks and killed 12 chicks before I intervened. I was mad and frustrated. All the work we had put into building a coop, feeding, and caring for them gone in a few short moments. The owner of the dogs says he will pay for the chicks and damages, but no money, yet. We covered the wire on the current coop with stronger wire. For a few days my remaining seven chicks didn’t want to leave the house part of the coop.

In between the dog attacks I put the chicks in with the remaining hen. She did not like that and killed my smallest chick in the batch. It was a extra chick that the company threw in when they sent the order. I was looking forward to what kind it would become. I then removed her and set up temporary housing for her beside the coop with the chicks, and inside the chicken's yard. I let her run in the chicken's yard even though I was worried about dogs returning. We had fixed where they broke through, but they found a different way in.

Then my friend who I gave the dozen chicks to has returned them. At first I didn't want to take them back. I had planned from the beginning to give her some, but her hens were picking on them and a bantam hen that she was given. She didn’t have a cage that the chicks would stay in so they were wondering loose in her yard. It is amazing that dogs didn’t get them!

Currently I have 18 chickens. Most of the chickens are red star, which will lay large brown eggs! I miss my fresh eggs. One is the bantam hen (given to me with the chicks) and is smaller than some of the chicks. Another one is a black chick that hatched in my friend’s incubator. She had one out of fifty eggs that hatched and lived. Only three hatched. I’m not sure I want to try incubating again. One is a buff Orpington that may set (sit on eggs and hatch them). I love the idea of having baby chicks, but I think the hen will make a much better mother than I do to the chicks.

We have plans to build a bigger coop. The current one is too small for 18 chickens. We also need to put a fence around our acre of land to keep out the dogs!! Rueben also wants to get a gun to shoot dogs that are on our property. It is not going to break my heart to see a dog die especially if it is killing my chickens.

These photos were taken this week a day after adding back the chicks from my friend.

New Visitor

In the two years that we have lived here we have had several animal visitors. One of the most unusual was a little over a year ago we had a llama visiting our yard just about every day. Once the garden got going we discouraged his coming to eat in our yard. We have had many dogs visit, and several have harmed the chickens. We have seen a hawk sitting on the chicken coop when they were small. Our new visitor is a beautiful peacock. I’m happy to let him stay since he is not harming the chickens or eating the garden. The kids enjoy watching him. Josiah calls him a “do-doc”.