Spring Purples

The Family

Here is our mixed rooster and his herd of two hens. He is crowing to a neighbors rooster a mile away; while the hens scratch up some bugs.

The Bachelors

The bachelors are two red roosters we bought to protect our incoming pullets this April. All pullets means all hens. We need roosters to make baby chicks. So until the chicks come of age these two roosters keep together on the farm, eating bugs.

Snake Season

This evening we put our free range chickens back in their coop for the night. We had an extra visitor, a garter snake waiting for us. It was on the chickens perch still as stone. Until we netted it and took it outside. It became a fast moving black ribbon of go. It was put in the meadow where I am sure it will be happier than spending the night with two angry roosters. We also had a wounded ring neck snake with an orange belly show up thanks to my cat, Poppy. He was very proud to have caught a snake. Who knew a cat would love to hunt snakes? With all this warm weather it is snake season out here in the Ozarks.

Flowery

Peaches, apples, pears and Red Buds in bloom, Oh My!

Pretty Horses

We are looking to buy two horses for our farm and to ride. The fun part is going to see what is for sale in our area. There are so many various breeds of horses in the Ozarks. I thought I'd share some of the neat photos of what we have seen thus far.

Tuesday Chickens

Here is my first rooster and his two hens. The rooster watches the hens all day long and makes sure they come into the coop at night. The hens have provided us a dozen eggs this week. They enjoy being free all day long on our farm eating bugs and small frogs.

Spring Snapper

Today we heard our shepherd, Osa, barking up a storm when we came home. She was barking at a large snapping turtle she had cornered. That turtle was hissing and snapping at both our dogs. It bit Hickory on the nose. The snapper was about 18 inches long and wide. It had long claws and moved fast in the grass. We did not want it in our big "soon to be stocked" pond where it was headed. So my husband picked it up and walked it to our smaller uphill pond. There he set it free; a whole pond to itself.

First Chickens for us

We have had the wonderful gift of being given adult chickens. A rooster and two hens for our coop on our farm. They are half Ameraucana . And this morning they gave us two small light tan eggs.

We have them "cooped up" until they learn that is their new home. Then we will let them into the yard to test our dogs. Only after we are 100% certain the dogs will not harm the chickens, they will be come free range. These adult chickens are to get our dogs trained so the incoming chicks will be safe.