Amy the hen

This little sweetheart is the Houdini of the barnyard. I believe she wakes up each morning asking herself what she can do differently than the rest of the hens. She definitely squawks to the beat of a different drum. She is ALWAYS out of the chicken run. She will follow me inside the run but tricks me each time and slips in the barn when I enter. Yes, she is faster than I.  Maybe she is just a busybody and has to check on the cats, rabbits and goats. She loves visiting the goat pasture. Sometimes I wonder if she thinks the goats are better company than her fellow feathered fowl friends. When  not bedding down with the nanny goats, she is patrolling the yard for bugs. Who knows where she lays her eggs! It is like a daily Easter egg hunt! The day I shot this pictures, I caught her in the baby goats box right as she was laying her egg! I love her little crooked toes and the spunky attitude in life....just doing her own thing.

April Showers

The kids are off to 4H and Travus is helping with a ward service project. I am home alone, except for the animals. It is raining softly tonight, which doesn't happen too often here in Idaho (the "softly" part). It is still warm from the beautiful day. I just checked on the animals. The new teen ducks could not figure out how to get back in the chicken house and were huddled together in the run. I had to catch them and help them inside. There were still three or four hens out scratching and enjoying the rain. Both sets of pigs were snug in their bed and didn't even bother to move as I checked on them. The bunnies just stared at me when I looked in their stall but when I came up to my goats, who were paired off in their little groups sleeping I realized just how peaceful the barn is to be. The cats were laying on a straw bale, purring as they looked at me with curious eyes. I stood there, listening to the hens cackle and  fuss, the quacks from the duck and the soft rain falling outside and decided, life is good. I can't wait for May's flowers!

Goat Gone Wild!

I came home this morning from taking the kids to school and picking up my daily boxes of veggie from Albertson, to find the goat "hallway" fence had blown over and all of the goats were out! So here was the scene when I pulled in the driveway; All 8 goats were atop the four wheeler that was parked next to the garden. They were playing King of the Mountain...head butting each other and shoving to see who could stay on top the longest. As soon as I opened the door to the van, they ran over to me, much like a group of dogs would. They were so happy to see me. Their little tails were flagging and they were hopping all around me. What a wonderful welcome home. I began walking to the house to get help with the fence from Travus. This beautiful gaggle of girls followed me to the house, leaping and bounding over the front porch. I love their energy and happiness. I do have some goat poop to clean off the front porch but that is a small price to pay for such fun.