Skip-poppin goats and more farm notes

Today was a ridiculous day in the barnyard....

First, I tried to take a video of the baby goats out there skip-poppin all about.. but every time I had the camera out... they just stood there. As soon as I put it away... they leapt and hopped and twirled and spun with glee. I swear they did it on purpose. But I did get a few cute shots... just click on the pix to enlarge them.

       Ginger, the female                       Little Nibbles peaking around                Debbie givin' the loves

As before, everyone is very happy but Little Nibbles who is still sulking because she isn't the cutest little goat anymore... I love her peaking around the corner at the happy little family.

Next in barnyard silliness.... we heard a terrible ruckus so the dog and I went running out there.. and the guinea hens had gotten out and were chasing the turkeys!  All of the turkeys... like they were running in abject terror... from small, small little hen like creatures. It was hilarious. These are guineas:

They are kinda Doctor Seuss-like birds... sort of like peacocks but without the tails...and they have those weird wattles on their faces... they are the strangest birds I've ever seen. Alledgedly they are supposed to get rid of all the fleas, ticks, and squash bugs. They have exactly one month to clear this property of all bugs or they are going in the pot. They are SO LOUD. And not in a cute way - like in a screaming all night way. It ceased to be cute a while ago....

So, completely self indulgent farm notes today:

1. Still no sign of asparagus, garlic has popped up
2. Peas popped...and were promptly eaten by a hen. Probably Slim (named as such because with the ridiculous way she acts her chances of lasting the summer are "Slim"). Dogs and I fixed the gates so the hens can't pop thru.
3. Runner, our ridiculous turkey hen, is now officially setting a nest. She put her fluffy bottom down yesterday (or late the day before). We put about a dozen chicken eggs under her so... say April 4th or 5th we should have chicks. She is not setting turkey eggs because its way too early for poults to have a good chance of surviving. Chicken chicks, tho, should be OK.
4. Turkey Momma and a bunch of the other turkey hens are acting weird and are hiding out in the bramble.... I'm guessing they are laying.
5. No sign of eggs from geese or ducks.  The drakes are having their last hurrah... we'll be dressing them later this week (hopefully). Puddles, Iris, and Daisy all continue to charm with their beautiful coloring. Miss Dash is acting weird - hopefully she will lay soon.
6. We got a few eggs from the meat chickens...and from good ol' Barnee our blue egg layer. Barnee is about 100 years old and only lays when I threaten her with "retiring to stew".. it always works... hee hee hee. My Klingon management style continues to get results.
7.  We saw our first "cow pies" - what we call calves at the cow farm down the road.. our thoughts turn toward raising one for beef....one of my pals got 3 male calves at auction for $2 each!
8.The time change has everyone in a whirl - including me. The dogs remain unfazed....

Happy Farm Dogs