I am not/was not a nervous mother with my children. Some may say I was a bit too laid back and casual. However, the thought of leaving my little “kids” for a night and full day has me in a bit of a panic. My husband planned an overnight in Manhattan for us as a Mother’s Day gift back when we thought that Cissy would be in charge of her babies. My friend Cyrena will be farm sitting and taking over bottle-feeding duties. She came and did the afternoon feeding herself just to make sure she had the hang of it. She’s farm sat for me tons so I’m not worried about the other animals. I think my dog would probably rather live with her sometimes. I know she will do a fantastic job with the babies and all will be wonderful.

We can now feed both of them at the same time, which certainly saves time!

I’m still nervous.

Just look at them.

Meanwhile, it’s been a very busy week here. The chicken coop, which didn’t exist on Tuesday morning, now looks like this:

The large square hole in the front of the coop is where a large external nesting box will be. It will hold 12 nesting boxes and have external doors so eggs can be gathered without going into the coop.

This is the side view. The chicken coop is on the left and the goat house is on the right.

This is the rear view of the goat house on left and the chicken coop on right.

My "Corn Flakes" Rooster

He’s got something wrong with his legs. For a while he could barely walk at all. Now he walks a bit like a drunken sailor. I can’t quite figure out exactly what’s wrong – he may have deformed feet. Whatever it is he seems to be able to get around well enough. I’m just keeping an eye on him to see how he develops and if his legs get any worse or better. I really would like to have a rooster so that all my broody hens can have some chicks of their own.

No matter what drama is unfolding, life on a farm continues.

Construction of the chicken coop began today. While the goat house isn’t complete inside or out, it’s complete enough that they can start the coop and finish that later. I’ve got young chickens in my small coop bursting to get out and I needed that bigger coop yesterday.

The chicken coop now has a floor and two walls

The two buildings will be connected by a "silo" that will be a fully enclosed small chicken run

Bullet exhausts himself working so hard and sleeps very soundly

Grace & Kiki are liking their visits to the great outdoors and Melina and Princess Kate are getting used to them.

Mostly Melina and Kate hang by themselves, busying themselves with bush pruning and other important things.

Princess Kate & Melina chillin on some straw bales

Kate doing some pruning

Melina has been seen on the back porch guarding the babies though

The chickens are fascinated in general by the new goat house. Wait until they figure out they're getting a new coop!

There is still little change is Momma Cissy’s condition. She is still in critical condition at the vets. It is still touch-and-go. I will hear from the vet again in the morning and am hoping to visit her. Of course none of this is made easier because it Memorial Day Weekend and the vet is closed for a full two days. They only have someone in the office every few hours to check on the “patients”.

In the meantime, my duties as Mom to my own kids and the goat babies has kept me running. I cannot remember the last night I cooked a meal. But I have had some quality time with my family, and some times when I’m so distracted I cannot even answer a question. We’ve been blessed with beautiful weather, so lots of outdoor activities have been occurring. Tomorrow Evan and I are hoping to get some garden fencing built and finally get some plants in the ground.

I put together a short video of the goat babies dancing around today in the goat house and of them drinking their bottles. They are absolutely adorable and growing like weeds. Tomorrow will be there first venture outside and they will meet Melina and Princess Kate. Click the link just below to watch the video.

Kid Antics

Speaking of Melina, she seems to be horribly depressed without her best friend. Princess Kate seems unaffected by Cissy’s absence and is just glad that Melina has stopped beating the crap out of her on a daily basis. In fact the opposite has happened – she has suddenly become Kate’s protector, which is so interesting to me.