When One Door Closes...

When you live with a number of animals, you know that there will be many times of sadness over your life.

On August 18th, our little birdie passed away.

We knew when she came to us just under 3 years ago that she was an older bird and had not had the best care. We tried to make her healthy and happy as much as we could. She had some health issues as time went on but we hope she was happy with us. She wasn't a snuggly bird but she was always interested and chirpy.

We already miss her and the house will be too quiet without her.

But this past weekend, we learned about another bird girl in need of a home, so I drove to go bring her to us out of animal control.

It was a few hours drive round-trip but we were happy to be able to have Pepper come and live with us.

She's still adjusting but things are going well.  Jake has been protective of her, as he was with Maple last year.  We think she is pretty young because she's very quiet but makes sweet little peeps and chirps.

We hope she will be happy in her new home and enjoy spending time with the other girls and Jake and us.

Meet Briar the Goat

We're so excited to FINALLY get these pictures out of our new boy, Briar!

Briar comes to us, as so many of our family has, through Red Dog Farm.  Briar (formerly Oreo) was brought out of a really bad situation through the goodness of three kind ladies who felt for this poor little boy.

Briar was tied up on a dangerous lot filled with metal and cans, with only a picnic table for shelter and no hay at all to eat.  The women would untangle him and bring him food and, eventually, convinced the owner to sell him to them.  They then brought him to Red Dog and the minute we saw him, we knew he had to come home to us!  I mean, how can you resist this face???

We think that he is half pygmy (what Tulip and Petal are) and half fainting.  He's the same age as Petal (3 years) but a bit smaller... and a lot fuzzier! 

Not only was Briar starved nutritionally, but he was very lonely as well.  Goats are herd animals and they are very friendly and affectionate.  When he met the girls they got along right away and started running all around the paddock.

Briar has been neutered so we will not be having any baby goats to contend with, so that's good.  And we plan on expanding the paddock area in the spring, as well as adding a giant rock from them to climb up on.

It's amazing that Briar is as good-natured as he is.  He has a few food protectiveness issues, not surprisingly, and some bonking that we need to get in line, but other than that he's a sweet boy.  I was able to put a collar on him (for safety) with no problem the first day.  You can see tons more pics on Flickr too.

So welcome, welcome, welcome our sweet boy!!!

Meet our new girls - Butterscotch & Tellicherry

As mentioned in the previous post, our Meggie (Nutmeg) passed away on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Jake was very sad and we knew he needed some companions.  So we spoke with Red Dog Farm, the rescue group that many of our animals have come from, to see if they had any hens who could be placed with us.  Lucky for us they did and we were able to bring home Butterscotch and Tellicherry (Telli for short) on Friday.

They are such pretty girls.  I have already taken a ton of photos of them, but here are a few...

Jake and girls get along great and he is already acting as their protector.  Telli and Butterscotch were perfect in the car home and became accustomed to their coop after just one night.

We're so happy to have new members of the family!

Welcome to Butterscotch and Telli!!!

Turkey of the YEAR!!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!  Our Jakey was selected as Turkey of the Year!!!

We always knew that our Jake wss a wonderful turkey and a true ambassador but now others get to see that too.

We are so proud of our big boy!!!

Be sure to read the stories of the other turkey runner-ups and please consider taking turkeys and other animals off of your table.  This is the season for peace, love and compassion and having a cruelty-free dinner is the best way to live according to these values.

Jake - Turkey of the Year, 2011

Meet Clarence!

Say Hi! to Clarence.

Clarence just came to us via Red Dog Farm. He is a 8-9 year old parakeet that was surrendered due to his previous caretaker's health issues.  He's a senior but he's got quite a lot of energy and pep!

We were told that he was very shy and quiet but thus far he's been quite a chirper.  He came to us in, what I think, was a very small cage and you could tell he'd been a bit neglected.  His cage was a bit of a mess and his nails are very long to the point of curling. He didn't even have a way to wear down his beak!

Well, we've changed all that!

I'm working on trimming his nails so I don't scare or hurt him but the first thing we did was get him a much roomier home with new clean toys and perches perfect for exercising his feet and mind. I love his new home.  The front has a plexi door so he gets unobstructed views out.

He likes to get close to the door and peek out at us.

We're working on the best toys and treats for him but this environment has lots of "enrichment pods" we can add on to keep him engaged and happy. I'm also working on getting him used to being touched and petted.  He's not too sure about it right now but he's getting there!

Clarence is in the sunroom for now, up on top of our built-ins.  It gives him a sunny place, free from drafts.  The room is warm and he can see out.  The radio stays on and we check on him throughout the day too. The cats were curious at first but haven't tried to get at him (not that they could!).

So now we have an even dozen (OMG!)

Birthday Bean

Today is Badger Bean's 12th birthday.

(observed - we brought him home from the Humane Society 11 years ago)

 The sweetest happiest puppy I know!

We love you, little man!

Home on the Range

So, Jake is finally with us.

I came home from my trip to see our new boy here. We're still getting used to each other but hopefully he will settle in okay. He seems to get along fine with the hens. We just to get him used to us.

I know this is a quick post and I've been lax in writing here but I promise to tell you tons more about Jake very soon. In the meantime, here are some new photos from Saturday free ranging in the yard. You can open them up big to see how colorful and majestic he is.

Enjoy!

New Arrivals!

Well, the pen is finally done, in spite of the off and on weather, and the girls are now in their new home. The stable looks great and I hope they love their new yard area.

Sadly today is a crummy rainy day so I'm sure they'll get used to their covered area, eat some grain and hay and keep warm!

Here are the first shots I took from inside while they were just getting used to their space. I love them already... they're so good. And Petal is still so tiny. She's just like a kitten! But she loves to frisk and gambol around and nibble on everything.

The stable space is pleny big enough for them. I hope the yard area will be too.

Love them!!!