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2007
January 2007 - Another
year has begun here at Dalby Farm. So far the winter
has been unusually warm and has, therefore, allowed
for all the rain that we have had to make the outside
animal pens rather muddy. With this in mind, I realize
how spoiled Nate, Sophie and Riley have become. It appears
that no one will go outside into the muddy yard (and
get their hooves dirty) unless absolutely necessary!
(Unless, for example, someone happened to be standing
outside of their yard with something for them to eat!)
Instead, they will all stand crowded together at various
levels (due to their different heights) peering out
the barn door at everything going on within their view.
One would think that farm animals would not be phased
by getting a little mud on their feet but evidently
it is true when they say that goats and sheep do not
like to get their hooves wet!
January 2007- When
I was up feeding this morning, I noticed that the young
male peacock, who is just beginning to get his first
tail feathers, was walking around 'strutting his stuff'.
Even though his tail feathers are only approximately
six inches long, (when the normal length of an adult
male's tail is around 48-52 inches long) it did not
matter! He was truly 'proud as a peacock'. It takes
two years for a male peacock to get a full, adult tail.
The first year they really do not have much of one,
with respect to both the length and the color. When
the feathers come in during their second year, however,
they are full length with beautiful colors and eye markings
on them. It is a good thing that we put a leg band on
Sammy, his father, because pretty soon it will be difficult
to tell them apart!
February 2007- We
added extra bedding to the pens today because the weather
man is saying that we are in for a cold spell for the
next few days. Pumpkin and Patience spent most of the
day relaxing in the warm sun but will look forward to
retiring to their nice new bedding, I'm sure. Whenever
we clean the pig house, Patience goes right over to
the new bedding and begins to arrange it! She pushes
the straw around with her snout and will even pick up
parts of it with her mouth until it is just the way
she wants it! Who would ever imagine that she would
be so particular? It really is amazing. I love to watch
her; she is absolutely adorable!
February 2007
- Today I finally spoke with the breeder of the American
Chinchilla Rabbits that we have been hoping to get for
so long! It appears that she has two litters of bunnies
and expects that they will be ready to leave their mother
at the end of May sometime. We plan to get two of them
but at this point, I am not sure whether it will be
a breeding pair or just two boys. I know that she mentioned
that the bunnies were too young to sex right now so
she does not even know what she will have available.
Anyway, we are very excited to hear of our soon-to-be
new arrivals!
February 2007 - Nate
is as mischievous as ever these days!! This morning
when grampy fed everyone, he found that Nate had somehow
removed the padlock and opened the hay barn door so
that he, Sophie and Riley were able to feast on the
many bales of hay that had been stored there for the
winter! In fact, when he called them to come into the
barn for breakfast, they were enjoying themselves so
much, that they just looked at him and kept eating!
They are little devils those three!
March 2007 - Joel
and I visited a Nigerian Dwarf Goat breeder today. We
met so many different goats and kids. We had never seen
Nigerian Dwarfs before; they really are so sweet and
so colorful too! We have wanted to get a kid for a while
now. In fact, we were hoping to get one this spring
and have it grow up with Mariah, our 13 year old Pygmy
Goat. She was such a nice goat so we thought that she
would be a great influence on a young kid. Since losing
her last fall, however, we had reconsidered our plan
because we would never want to try to replace her. We
have decided though, that we will still get a kid because
it was our original plan to do so before she passed
away. So, today we put a deposit down on one. It will
be born sometime next month and we will most likely
be able to bring it back to the farm in late May or
early June. We will be bottle feeding him so that we
can bond and so that he will like socializing with people;
our plan is to have him out a lot during tours and birthday
parties.
March 2007 - Rain,
rain go away. Please come back another day!!! Everything
is so wet and muddy; all of us, except the ducks and
geese, sure do want the warm, sunny days of spring to
come!
April 2007
- Well it looks as though we will be getting the bunnies
in early May! The breeder has 2 females and will be
getting a male from a completely different bloodline
from Canada. We are very lucky because they are going
to be bringing them to us! Our problem now is whether
to get both females or just one?? No matter which way
we decide, though, they will be a great addition to
our family here at the farm!
April 2007 - Monday
we are expecting our baby chicks to be arriving. We
must begin to get the brooder room cleaned and set up.
We also need to begin to get the temperature in the
brooder regulated so that when they go in, the temperature
will be just right. It is very important to have the
right environment for chicks because they are so vunerable
when they are small.
May 2007 - We
are open for another season here at the farm! Already,
we have so many groups booked to visit this spring;
it is always a very exciting time of year for us! Beginning
the second week of the month, the Eggstravaganza
will start. I always enjoy seeing the childrens' faces
the moment they first see all the baby chicks.
May 2007 - I had
the best Mother's Day....we went to pick up my gift
today. He is absolutely adorable! He is a baby Nigerian
Dwarf Goat just 4 weeks old. I will keep him in the
back mud room in a dog carrier for a month or two because
I am going to have to bottle feed him. Initially, he
will get 3 bottles a day, but eventually we will wean
him off completely. Once he is big enough to go in with
Nate, Sophie and Riley, we will put him up in the barn
with them. Right now, though, he is soooo small, that
he needs to stay 'with his new mother'
!May
2007 - Nate is
charming everyone, as usual! When he sees us approaching
the end of the tour, he begins to scream (sounding as
though he has not eaten in years) and runs over to the
hay barn where he waits for everyone to give him hay.
He is great with the children; when he himself was a
kid, we bottle raised him so he interacts very well
with people; he loves visitors and he especially loves
all the attention!
May 2007 - The
Spring Eggs-travaganza is going well. The chicks have
adapted well and are settled in their brooder. The children
really enjoy learning about chicken embryology and post
hatch care. It is so cute because when I am teaching
them about it, their eyes are completely focused on
me and there is not a sound among them. They are fascinated
by the poster and are totally enamored by the chicks
when I take them into the brooder area. I love teaching
them about animals and their importance in this world.
By providing an environment here for them to have positive
experiences with animals, hopefully will cultivate a
long term interest and respect for them .
June 2007 - Finally,
after many days of indecision, we named our baby goat.
I think that we have never had such a hard time naming
a new animal. It just seemed that nothing fit; he has
such a loving personality but has such spunk that finding
the appropriate name has been difficult. Normally, I
am drawn to old fashioned people names but somehow he
just did not look like a 'Benjamin' or a 'Luke'. Each
time someone threw out a name, someone would always
disagree. We prefer to have everyone agree on the name
(which, evidently, can complicate things!). Anyway,
after feeding him his supper one night, while putting
him to bed in the carrier, suddenly the name "Pepper"
popped into my head. I yelled to everyone "how
about Pepper?" and everyone simultaneously shouted
"YES, that is perfect"!! And so it is...our
new baby will be called "Pepper"!
June 2007 - Things
are going really well! We have had several birthday
parties already this month and many general animal tours
as well. Everyone enjoyed the Eggs-travaganza;
I thought it was amazing how taken the kids were when
I explained the whole chicken embryology to them. They
really seemed to learn a lot; when they got to see the
chicks afterwards they really went crazy! Some of the
schools chose to do the Egg Hunt after their tour and
it was really fun watching the kids enjoying themselves
so much!
July 2007 - School
is out now and we have started doing General Animal
Tours for camps and recreation departments. We had a
birthday party the other day and the party child chose
Pepper for their 'Party Animal'. So, he had his first
party and although he was a little nervous, he did great!
He is convinced that I am his mother so to minimize
his stress, I had him sit on my lap while the kids pet
him. He was a very good boy and as you can imagine,
everyone loved him! I will continue to offer him as
a 'Party Animal' choice now that he is a little older
and has done so well. I want him to get used to interacting
with people other than us and this is the perfect way
to do it!
August 2007 -
Today was the last day of the second session of 'The
Dalby Farm Experience' summer learning program. I am
very pleased with how things went! Our leaders were
wonderful and did such a great job with the children
and all of the kids participating in the program could
not have been more awesome!!! In fact, Joel has not
stopped talking about all of them and how much fun he
had during each of the sessions. It is almost as if
his inner child emerged!?
August 2007 - Reluctantly,
we moved Pepper into the big barn to live with Nate,
Sophie and Riley today. I was very nervous because he
has been living in the mudroom in his dog carrier up
til now; I know that he is ready but I hate to see him
go. I have totally weaned him off of the bottle and
we have taken him up to spend time 'visiting' and 'getting
to know' everyone in that pen. To do that, we would
take him out on his leash and go into Nate's outside
pen. Then, we would release him and just sit there and
watch everyone interact. For such a little guy, he certainly
is bold! Nate has to be at least 6 times his size and
yet Pepper will get up on his rear feet and 'butt' him.
Nate just looks at him as if he were thinking "Ya
sure buddy, I am really threatened by you" and
just walks away. It really is comical! Sophie sniffs
him and walks away while Riley is not sure what to make
of him. I think that he is happy to have another 'miniature'
in the pen with him. It would not surprise me if those
two became good buddies. I think that Pepper will enjoy
his new friends!
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