Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Willy has been in our family 3 weeks already!  Time flies when you are having fun!  The swallows on the porch rafters have fledged four new babies and, I am happy to say, they all four are flying around!  No cats got any of them this year!  Yeah!

We have finally started getting eggs from our chickens that we got way back in April.  My one and only black hen started and she is laying an egg a day.  One of the Rhode Island Reds is also laying.  Not that I can tell you which one exactly but I did get a picture of her in the nesting box.

Buddy got groomed and cleaned up very nicely.  It is a pleasure to run my hands through his soft white fur again.  Not that it will last very long.  With all the heat, Buddy digs holes in any mud that happens to be around from watering gardens or whatever and lays in the holes to cool off.  I don't expect him to be pretty for very long.  He and Willy seem to be getting along ok.  Although Buddy has been very tolerant, he has growled a couple of times or knocked Willy on his butt when he gets too rough.  Willy thinks Buddy is a bull I guess.  He tends to like to latch on to the thick fur on the front of Buddy's neck and not let go.  I have corrected him by grabbing him at the scruff of his neck and giving a shake when I think Buddy has had enough.  But Buddy is more effective with his own corrective measures, usually a growl and a big paw flattening Willy to the ground! Willy doesn't like that much and gets the message to lay off.

Buddy redeemed himself from the last disaster that ended the life of my little black rooster.  Yesterday morning I could not find Buddy when I went out to feed the alpacas.  Then I came around the front of the house and there was one of the Buff Orpington hens out in the yard.  Buddy was right on her, then he picked her up in his mouth!  Well, I thought she was a goner.  "Leave it! Buddy" I yelled at him.  He dropped her immediately and she scrambled back into the corner between the pen and the yard fence.  I was able to catch her then.  She did not have any holes in her or any blood draining anywhere.  She was wet with Buddy slobber and seemed in shock.  I took her in the house and clipped both her wings.  Then I took her back out to the pen and placed her inside the coop in one of the nesting boxes and prayed for the best.  Sure enough, later in the day she was moving around with the other hens, a bit slow, but all right non-the-less!  I gave Buddy a treat for doing his job of guarding the chickens.

I got Steve to take a picture of me with the two dogs.  Maybe you can get an idea of the size of Willy and Buddy.  I hope to take pictures of Willy as he grows and keep track of his progress.  He has his first Vet visit tomorrow.  He'll get puppy shots but will still need one more Parvo immunization before I will take him out in public.  His breeder said Parvo has been especially bad this year so I don't want to take any chances.

Buddy redeemed himself from the last disa