Farm Babies Update

Poor Tessa, our Bourbon Red was so upset when we removed her eggs. None of them were any good and were VERY stinky. Cleaned out her nesting area really well and she just walked around the pen looking sad. The next morning she was sitting in her nesting area. Later in the day she was still sitting. Last night she was still there. This morning she was still there so I gave in . I got some fresh straw so she could make a good nest and I gave her 4 hen eggs to sit on. She took them just fine and seems to be happily sitting on her nest. I know I should have just let her mourn and get on with life but I felt so sorry for her not hatching any babies and that she was still sitting hoping . As for the geese, Bonnie and Clyde there are no babies yet or at least I haven't seen any and I am not about to go check under her! Tessa is gentle but Bonnie would take my fingers off while Clyde took the rest of me! Sold more baby bunnies in the past few days and still have more that will soon be ready for new homes. The baby chicks are doing great and running around scratching everywhere.We got rain last night! Finally all the pollen is washed off everything and the gardens have taken off! The strawberries are blooming. We got radishes yesterday and they were so sweet! Soon the lettuce and spinach will be ready to pick. Got my rosemary set out this morning. All the other herbs are doing so well. I need to cut some of my parsley as its growing everywhere. The peppermint and spearmint has came back in full force and needs to be thinned out before it takes over everything. Thyme, and basil are getting so big. All the herbs are looking so good this year and can't wait to dehydrate some for winter. Speaking of cold weather we are having what I call a Dogwood winter. It turned cold after the rain last night and I actually wore a jacket today. Suppose to start warming back up tomorrow. After the several days in the 90's this cold spell was a shock but sure made for some good sleeping weather.
My daughter Melody is going to have to give up Baby E and her brother J. The mother is moving back to her husband's home in a different town. Please keep the babies in your prayers as their dad was a bad dad to them before the mom left. She went to a shelter for awhile and Melody helped her find a job and a place to live. She also had Baby E from the time she was 3 and a half weeks old. Its going to be hard to let them go but even harder knowing what they are going back to and that they will be too far away to make sure they are okay.
Hope everyone has a very blessed weekend. You will find me in the gardens or keeping the bird feeders filled. I have around 15 feeders and the birds don't seem to think its enough!

Here a Chick There a Chick

I am starting to feel like Old McDonald. The hens are starting to come off their nests so we are catching baby chicks while trying to avoid the very mad momma hen. Have one more hen that should hatch her little ones the 25th while the goose and turkey will be hatching the 7th and 9th of April. Still selling chickens almost everyday. All but 2 black bunnies have been sold from the 9 week old litter. We still have older ones and ones that will be ready a few days after Easter and the week after Easter. Spring is really here at the homestead with all the babies being born. Charlotte is doing great with her piggies. Piglet, Binky and Wilbur are getting fat and sassy. Haven't named the rest of them yet. Just waiting on a name that will fit them. We set out some leeks here and at my dear friend Gerda's. I have so enjoyed being back around her. She is a very busy, smart, wonderful cook, 76 year old German lady that is my best friend. We both think we should be related somehow as we can finish each others sentences, do things the same way, and think so much alike. She made the best German potato salad last night for dinner and sent the rest home with me. She told me to put a small spoonful in a pan this morning and let it warm and cook a over easy egg to put on top for breakfast. We did that and it was so good! Thank you Gerda!
I have so many boxes of items to put on Craigslist and ebay and still haven't made a dent in the stuff we have accumulated over the years. Have tons of stuff for yardsales that we hope to get started on this weekend. Melody is mailing my camera to me so I can take pictures of items for sale, that means I can take pictures of the piglets,baby bunnies, and baby chicks to share with you. Troubles is having a ball here at the homestead. He has so much more room to explore here and gets along great with Whiskers. Rusty is wherever I am. If I am feeding the chickens he is walking quietly beside me. The chickens don't pay him any attention. If I am working outside he is laying near me watching. If I am sorting stuff he is sleeping right at my feet and of course he and Troubles are right in bed with me each night. I am lucky here though because its a king size and they can't push me to the edge. Well my lunchbreak is over and I need to get back to my to do list. Hope each of you are enjoying your spring and having a blessed day!

Bunnies Everywhere

We are trying to downsize the farm, clean out storage buildings, toolsheds, and outbuildings. We are also downsizing the animals too. Pricing things for yardsales, listing on Craigs list, ebay, and private sales. Donating, giving away and throwing away has kept me pretty busy. While we are trying to downsize the rabbits had other thoughts. We have a abundance of baby bunnies that will be looking for a new home in a few weeks. There was alot of 8 week old bunnies but we have sold all but 4 of them. We still have a couple 4 month old bunnies for sale. There was over 100 chickens! Now its down to about 40 with more of them suppose to be sold in the next couple of days. Eggs sales are good but not so good we could sell 100 eggs a day. It has been a busy couple of weeks being back here at the homestead. Its been fun finding things I had forgotten about having and sad letting go of things I really like but don't need or have room for. Its the season for change, downsizing, simplifying, decluttering, and just getting life in order. Though my wonderful winter is over I am actually enjoying the first signs of spring and being able to work outside. Flowers are blooming here, trees are budding and my old herb garden has come to life. I picked some parsley and basil yesterday after cleaning out the beds and mulching. My camera is at the tiny cabin in the mountains so no pictures yet. In all the junk around here I am sure my old camera will surface and I can take photos around the homestead. Enjoy your day and don't forget to count your blessings!

A Busy Weekend

Friday the 2 boys that have been helping us around the farm came to spend the weekend with us. They moved away and we hadn't seen them in a few weeks. Saturday morning I got up early and fed the chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits. William and the boys did the other feeding, milking and chores. They dropped me off at the craft fair at 7am. The fair was a little slower than last fall but I think its because more people shopped the yardsale outside. A couple of my friends said they came by and only saw the yardsale and didn't know I was inside. William came for me early as we had a couple of goats that were sick and he wasn't sure what to do. Came home and gave them some medication and did the evening chores. We built a fire and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. Ended up with several kids from the neighborhood showing up for supper. Sunday morning I started early getting ready for my friends Gerda and Christine. They were coming for lunch. Gerda is the lady we tilled and planted the garden for and became fast friends. While getting lunch ready for her visit Brent and Erin dropped by with Erin's mom and aunt. Had a lovely visit with them and then had a nice lady with her son and daughter stop by to meet Diva and the other critters. After showing them around and introducing them to everyone at Hidden Haven I went back to finish lunch. Gerda and Christine showed up before I finished. William was in the shower so I showed them around until a customer came. Thank goodness William was able to finish the tour with them while I sold some soaps and other things. Finally got lunch finished and sat down (without my shower) to visit with Gerda. I just love this lady. She reminds me so much of Ms. Fran. After seeing them off we had the family that found Wild Thing come to visit and see how he was doing. They will be coming back in a month to take Wild Thing and release him near their home in the woods. Did evening chores, took the boys home, came home and ate leftovers, had a shower and got a surprise visit from Brent and Erin. They brought two cute little piglets. We are going to raise the pigs for them. After getting them settled in and making plans to see Brent and Erin in a couple of days I came in and crashed. The weekend wiped me out. Today I felt drained but am heading for bed and looking forward to a new day tomorrow. Things are still rough for us but each day is a blessing. Just got to accept God's timing and not be so impatient or untrusting.

Ms. Can't Get Enough Bunny

It must be something in the water the animals around here drink. Remember Run Around Sally? Of course she is still running around and hasn't hatched her own eggs yet. Well Seems Midnight has decided she likes going to visit the boys every chance she gets too. She was in her side of the condo with her babies and Wild Thing while Jack Sparrow was in the other side minding his manners. There is a wire door between them that is kept locked but at the top of the door was a small opening. We never thought about Midnight wanting to leave her babies and go pay a visit to Jack Sparrow. Well she did. Today I had to move Jack Sparrow and then move Midnights babies over to his condo so Midnight could have room for her new babies! She couldn't even wait for the other ones to leave home! She had done this before and I couldn't figure out how she got pregnant. This time she got caught crossing over. Well there will be no more crossing over to party with the boys as William put a screen over the opening. Midnight will have to be content staying home and taking care of the babies. She doesn't look very happy after seeing the screen go up.

"Wild Thing"

Little "Wild Thing" is growing and doing very very well. He is nursing, sleeping, jumping around just like the other baby bunnies. Momma has accepted he/she as one of her own and gives it the same care as her natural babies. Can you tell which is Wild Thing? Although he is growing he is much smaller than the others.
I am actually starting to think we might have a happy ending with Wild Thing

Wild Baby Bunny

A gentleman that had purchased a bunny for his daughter stopped by the other day. He had a newborn baby bunny with him. A wild newborn baby bunny. They had been mowing and found it. They left it all day to see if the mom came back for it but the next morning it was still there alone. He asked if I thought I could save it. He also knew that it was a 1 in 100 chance of it surviving. Just so happened I had a bunny with day old babies. I took the tiny thing and rubbed its body with each of her babies so it would have their scent and then put it in the nest with them. William thought she would kill it. I thought she might take it out of the nest and reject it. She came to the nest sniffed around and covered the babies with her fur. I checked that night and the wild baby was snuggled down with the others doing fine. Next morning it was still doing great. That afternoon it was hot and momma bunny had taken the wild baby and one of hers and put them in a nest together and the other 3 in a nest together so they wouldn't get too hot. Babies doing fine. Last night it started raining so momma bunny put all the babies in one nest, covered them with fur and they stayed warm and dry. Momma bunny is nursing the wild bunny with her babies. They all are fat and happy. The wild bunny is of course smaller than our babies but its doing great and momma bunny has accepted it as her own. I hope it survives. We shall see.

Happy Easter From Hidden Haven

The dogs got cookies and cream dog treats. The chickens, geese, and ducks got a salad. The rabbits and goats got carrots. The sheep got molasses cookies and I got phone calls from the kids and grands wishing us a Happy Easter. So I think its safe to say all of us here at Hidden Haven are having a blessed Easter. May your Easter be very blessed. May you find all your hidden eggs today and not later this summer. May your table be full and surrounded by loved ones. Happy Easter from Ms. Diva and all of us at Hidden Haven.

A Sunny Sunday Afternoon

Around The Homestead

Yesterday we finished up the rabbit cages and put a tin roof on them. We cleaned up around the cages getting ready for the today's rain. William and some of the neighborhood kids planted some seeds and made a cold box for them. I hauled and spread mulch in the garden. I wet and lay down newspaper around the plants then spread the mulch around the plants and between the rows. It helps keep the plant roots from burning during our HOT summers and it also makes for a weed free garden. No need to hoe or till the garden at all! I didn't mulch the radishes because when they are ready I will pull them and plant something else. I only have a fourth of the garden planted and none of the raised beds so need to get back on that. We both worked till dark on our projects and were so tired we crashed early last night. This morning we were slow getting up and moving around and we both have backaches. Old age didn't sneak up on us. It hit us square in the face! LOL Enjoy your day and count those blessings!

Visitors and Chores

8 pens are now all raked and cleaned. The dogs, chickens, geese and ducks are happy. Diva and the girls could care less. Still have the boys and the sheep to do today. We also got 12 blueberry bushes planted yesterday. William got a little work done on the rabbit cages so we can move the buck rabbits. One doe had 6 bunnies yesterday morning. 4 of them look like Oreo and 2 are gray like their mom. These are the biggest newborn bunnies I have ever seen and from a first time mom which is unusual. We also have a week or two old bunny inside we are trying to save. The neighbors cat found where one of the bunnies that is loose had her babies and wiped them out including the mom. We hope it will make it. There was a teachers work day yesterday so no school. No school means we had the neighborhood kids here most of the day. One boy came at 7am and didn't go home till 7pm. Off and on we had 9 neighborhood kids. Ro came back for a visit yesterday with a gift of homemade cheese bread! She brought her friend and her children to see the animals. Those kids had a blast playing with the neighborhood kids. Ro is going to bring her mom to visit when the kids are in school. We had a nice visit with the kids getting to drink goats milk and have a piece of goat milk fudge. I think everyone had a good time. William and I gave the kids (goat kids) their vaccinations yesterday and moved Mandy, CC, Baby and Tiny Tina over with the kids after giving them their vaccinations. Tiny Tina has a little fainting goat in her blood. Whenever you go to pick her up she gets all stiff and falls over. Its funny but can't understand because her dad and mom are full blooded Nigerian Dwarf. All in all yesterday was a very busy day. William is still waiting on the guy to get his broke transmission out of his big truck so he can go get the working one to put in. Every day is another day without pay. Wish God had given me patience when he made me. Have a blessed day!

Oreo It Is!

Well the poll is closed and the winning name is Oreo. So Oreo it is! He will be sad tomorrow as I will be taking him out of his girlfriends house. He will be living in a bachelor pad...alone. Tomorrow I will post a photo of Tom and Jerry. Anyone wanna guess what they are?

Vote

Go over to the sidebar poll and vote for your favorite name for our new bunny

Bunnies New Home

Beatrice Bunny and Flower had been living in condos with their babies. One day Flower saw Beatrice Bunny coming out of her condo and called over to her. Beatrice Bunny how would you like to move your babies to a home with a yard? A nice place where our babies could hop and play. Beatrice Bunny got very excited! Flower do you really think we could find a place where the babies would have room to grow and play? Flower thought she could get her human mom to find the perfect place. She promised to tell Beatrice Bunny what mom said. Flower used her big sad eyes on mom and told her how hard it was on the babies to be stuck in the condo all the time. How hot it was and there was no room to hop and play. Flower told mom that even Beatrice Bunny was running out of room for her babies. Mom promised to build a home with a big yard for Flower, Beatrice Bunny and their babies. She told Flower that Thumper was getting old and wouldn't be able to move to the new home. Thumper would be enjoying his retirement in his own condo. Flower was sad he wouldn't be moving with them but she was very happy her babies would have a yard to hop and play. The very next day mom helped Flower and Beatrice Bunny move with their babies to their new home with fenced in yard (that had wire under the dirt so the bunnies couldn't dig out).The babies were running, hopping and playing everywhere! Flower and Beatrice found a nice cool place to sit and watch. They were very happy in their new home.

Thank You

I got a call from Ms. Fran and she was sooo excited! She had 3 cards in her mailbox today and couldn't believe how sweet each note was. She told me "those people write like they have known me forever". It made her day and she has them sitting on her counter. I had to laugh when she ask what the mailman would say about having to deliver mail so much. I will take photos of her with her cards later. I am busy getting some special orders out. I also want to take a picture of Jane's baby bunnies. She got some bunnies from me for her grandchildren. They grew up and one had babies. 2 of those babies look just like Thumper ( the rabbit I use to breed the mother of Jane's rabbits) I have tried and tried to have baby bunnies look like Thumper. Guess I just need to wait till his children give him grandchildren to get red hair bunnies.

Nitro is trying his best to bring Sammi back in season while being a pain to the other goats and me. He thinks he is in charge around here. Guess he didn't get my memo. Here is Thumper wanting me to scratch his back.

Every morning and evening I know its feeding time because I see this waiting by the chicken pen door..

I have to be careful when I go in to feed not to step on anyone as they follow every step I make till I fill the feeders. When they see the feed I am not important anymore and can walk around the pen feeding the rabbits, geese and refilling the water buckets. At least they make me feel important for a few minutes.

William will be home late tonight or early in the morning. We are going to disbud the boys. For those that don't know its using a very very hot tool that burns the little nubs that would be horns if left alone. I don't want to do it but to be registered and to be able to be a show goat they need to be disbudded. I have pain medicine to give them though everyone tells me it doesn't hurt the kid and they will be running around playing in a few minutes. I just want to know who has the talking goat that told them it didn't hurt! William's daughter and her husband are coming tomorrow night to borrow our pickup to move some items. We also have Donna coming to visit for a few days. She is a sweet lady William met. Her car engine messed up and its taking a week to fix it and she was stranded in a area where she knew no one nor had anywhere to stay. I am looking forward to having her visit so I will have someone to talk to that can talk human instead of animal. :) Some of the grandchildren are coming down next week. Some will stay a week and some will stay a month. That will give me lots of blogging material! I will take a picture of the 2 new bunnies tomorrow. Dotty has them all buried in her nest so I have left them alone. Someone ask what I did with the bunnies. Some went to or are going to grandchildren and others are sold. I only keep Thumper, Flower and Dotty. Am looking for a spotted mate for Dotty though. We are having very hot and humid weather here. The heat index is over 100F and its not even summer yet. I didn't turn the air on last year till the end of July. Today I turned it on. Its bad enough to get hot and sweaty while working outside but to come inside and still be hot and sweaty is worse. I am so a cold snow climate person. Going to find some land where it snows alot and see if I can talk William into moving. Diva has enough sweaters and sweatshirts to share with the others. LOL Everyone have a wonderful weekend and lets count our blessings no matter how small or big.

Whats New Around the Homestead

Sammi always sleeps with her head resting on her side. Looks uncomfortable to me. Tiger the wild cat that didn't want anyone touching it but gets to live here forever (http://hiddenhavenhomestead.blogspot.com/2006/08/little-davie-has-passed-away.html) and that we thought was a boy surprised us. He is a she and she has been hiding her babies from us. Their eyes are open and they are running around everywhere. They are also adorable!

I will be finding homes for a couple of cute kittens! Moleen, Larry and Curly are growing! They are bigger than my grown chickens and they aren't even a month old yet.
Did you know that pea hens spread their tail feathers like a peacock? I didn't till I saw Juliet doing it.

Diva is in the home stretch of her pregnancy. I really thought she would have kidded by now. She is due next Wednesday but still hoping she doesn't wait till then as she is very miserable

Her bag is so full her hind legs are spread apart and she has a hard time walking. And we have a new bunny! Her name is Dotty and she is beautiful. Hopefully I will find a male that looks like her so we can have dotty babies.