Project Twister Shield 1.0 and crippling heat

Well it has finally gotten to the point where Twister, the pygmy goat, gets his photo taken on a daily basis in order for us to post an ad on Kijiji for adoption... but we aren't at the point of actually putting up the ad. He has taken to pulling down any clothing that is on the clothesline and urinating and sleeping on it. And so I set to and built another fence to keep him corralled and to also "encourage" the birds to keep away from the road.

It took my a total of about 7 hours in two shots but I got it done. The post cutting and hauling and post hole digging was sweaty in work in this scorching heat. Pro tip - don't operate a chainsaw without a shirt when you are all sweaty... It tends to make a wood pulp paste all over your body.

Here are some photos that Annie took out of the window while I slaved away ;)

The animals have been content and growing quickly. They certainly spend a lot of time at the watering hole with the heat these days.

There is still time for a little strutting. Timmy Tom is just showing the little one how it's done.

The Bearded Lady has teamed up with the Black Lady since the latter's eggs weren't viable. They like heading down to the garden and hanging out in the cows field with the babies.

At the end of the day, everyone is doing well. There is a real pleasure in watching the birds have a wonderful time wandering about, eating bugs in the grass, hanging out on piles of branches, sunning themselves, having dust baths and generally enjoying themselves.

Hot and cold

There have been hot days, hot nights and hot days, cold nights and everything in between. But the constant has been the hot days thing until today.

Its made for some nice sunsets and sunrises but the animals have had a rough go of it trying to keep cool and guzzling water as fast as i can fill the waterers.

Twister the goat has been true to goat form and done everything that we don't want him to do. He has also figured out how to hook down with his horns to really stab you. I almost lost my cool and posted him on kijiji but after looking at the photo I could not.

The Black Lady as we call her had disappeared and we figured that she was sitting on eggs in the bush, tired of us stealing them every time she lays them in the barn. We couldn't find her until I spotted her the other day and was able to follow her back to her hiding spot.

She looked disheveled but in fact, compared to the beginning of the summer she looks great.

The game here is to find the turkeynin the photo ;)

I found her tail and could here her hissing like crazy. I suspect she will be a good mother. I am kind of hoping she is sitting on some guinea fowl eggs as well :)

The pigs made do in their wallow. They really love the mud in this heat.

Between hanging out in the maternity ward, sticking to the shade to catch bugs and resting on the fence the turkeys do what they can to keep cool. The chickens clearly know the best spots since they are hidden enough to keep away from the camera.

And finally at the end if the day I always catch Bearded Lady taking her little ones for a final lap around the yard to find a couple of tasty insects before bedtime.

Freeeeeeedom!

When the turkey poults are very little i keep them in the "nursery". Which is a stall that i have closed off from everyone else so the mothers are less stressed and the babies have a better chance at survival.

Today I let Bearded Lady and her poults out as well as the poults I hade been raising in the brooder in the house. The were all more happy for it and the "ki-ki-run" of the babies, which is an assembly / here-i-am call, can now be heard all over the yard as they peck about carefully under the watchful eyes of Mum.

Justin came down to the garden to help with some weeding while I watered the plants.

The poults stood by and watched as Bearded Lady showed them the finer points on bathing.

Bearded Lady also felt it necessary to show the poults the other side of the road on day one... I am not super pleased about that but not much I can do.

All in all she's a good mother it would seem.

Heat wave

With the extreme heat and the high humidity, everyone has been feeling it. The littlest poults did not do well, we lost five of nine. The four left are hardy and healthy though.

The pigs have been wallowing in the mud and the cows have been spending a lot of time in their shelter close to the water trough.

There were even a few moments where the birds were able to relax, soak up some rays and have a dirt bath. The first time we saw chickens sunning themselves we thought they were in distress but it turns out they like tanning as much as we do.

Even Maya was grilling her belly.

When the rain finally comes it is a relief. Everyone spends as much time out as possible. The turkey perch on the top of the old fence to rest and enjoy the cooler temps.

And the good news is that the eggs Palmer was sitting, which I suspected she had abandoned, started hatching today.

Moving day on the farm

It was finally time to move the piggies out of the barn and into the field to train them to recognize and respect an electric fence. My happiness regarding this event is due to the little guys and gals getting out on pasture and having a better day to day life. I am also happy because they will be out of the barn since it was starting to get hard to keep up with cleaning their stall.

It seems as though everyone is getting along :)

A happy, muddy Pork Chop. Now she has some friends to boss around.

I love these guys' red hair. It looks awesome in the sun and they are already enjoying the mud and rooting around in the dirt.

The guinea fowl posing as usual.

As you can see the flies would not let up even for a selfie :/

And the weigela is finally blooming after surviving dog urine and goat horns.

We also finally moved the turkey poults that were in the brooder in the house out into thw barn. I put them with the momma turkeys so they wouldn't hurt themselves trying to get to the crying poults.

Habits and some morning photos

One of the funniest notions that we had before we got our animals was that the animals would immediately make a break for the woods the second there wasn't a fence to hold them in.

Once the birds got old enough to fly over the fence (yes, chickens fly) the point was moot. If they wanted to run they would. But what we quickly realized is that the birds were animals of habit and liked the comfort of a barn to sleep in and regular feed at the same time every day.

Now the only reason I have birds "penned" in is to introduce them to the flock or to isolate baby birds to help the mothers avoid harassement.

I believe it would be the same for the pigs since the goats stick close to the barn as well. I just don't want to risk any of them getting onto the road and they are pretty destructive with their rooting so I don't want to make enemies out if ny neighbours :)

Here are some morning photos as the birds head to the pool for a morning drink and chat around the "water cooler".

The newest additions to the chicken flock are very inquisitive and friendly and have no problem coming right up to me to check out what I am doing.

As they say "birds of a feather". The turkey poults have adopted the two big males as their surrogate fathers and follow them around the yard.

And the pigs are growing fast. They have almost doubled in size and are becoming a little less skittish and little more inquisitive. It is pretty entertaining watching them interact with each other.

Here two of the pigs rolled a third and were poking him in the belly with their noses.

Twister is rearing up for a headbutt here. He is all full of energy in the morning like any normal kid :)