Blueberry Hill

We were invited to go blueberry picking this week. We got on the road at 6:30am to get to Dora, Mo.

The fog was in the valleys

Everything is lush and green from all the showers.

After  many miles and a hour of driving, back unmarked roads we see a tiny sign to the blueberry farm. It was full of acres of berries. We got 6 gallons and are still trying to find room for it all. But they are the best we have ever had. We came home and mulched our small patch of blueberries. We hope one day ours will be as prolific the ones from this farm.

What I see everyday

These tiny little faces of orphaned kittens. I am feeding five of them 4-5 times a day. They get  powdered kitten formula. Never give them milk, it causes diarrhea and they can die of dehydration.These guys had the squirts last week. I added a pinch of tapioca flour in their formula. Their stools firmed up and life got better for them.

This is the runt of the litter. She is filling out now and catching up. She is on a heated towel. Newborn kittens cannot keep warm and need heat. After feeding they need to be induced into eliminating their waste. That gets put in a litter pan in their carrier. They learn how to find the litter pan and use it.

The rest of the gang look similar to this tabby.They all fight the bottle. Eventually I get the bottle in their mouths. When they are eating solid food and using a litter pan they will be put up for adoption at the local animal shelter.

Fostering Kittens in June

I got a call from the animals shelter asking if I could bottle feed and foster 5 kittens.  The mother cat was killed from a snake bite.There are not many volunteers are available to bottle feed kittens in our rural area. So we drove out and picked them up from the shelter. They were hungry and cold but feisty. We got the bottles and the KMR Kitten formula mix and got busy. Our shelter pays for all expenses raising these kittens to adoptable age and they find new homes for them.

This one is a tiny runt that was rough shape. But it is eating and keeping up with its litter mates. Fostering means lots feedings, cleaning up messes, towels to wash, heating pads and kitten wrangling. But the rewards are raising them to become healthy adoptable companions, playmates and rodent control.

End of the Week

My German Shepherds had this gift waiting for me last week. This one was a huge armadillo they mauled outside my garden. It later became a light snack for Zilla by the weekend. Sometimes I feel like this after a busy day on the farm.

Tiny One

Here is a baby tortoise I saw on my driveway. I had to stop and take a photo.

Yup, very few rings very young.

It is about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide. I moved it off the driveway and back into the woods it went. A very healthy young one.

Spot Me

My neighbor's nanny had an unusual spotted Boer billy. While his brother is normal Boer this one is all spots.

Chocolate and caramel spots.

Flower Show

This year has been great for my peony flowers.

Finally the naturalized iris are blooming for the first time.

Humidity and dew on a sweet smelling iris in the chicken yard.

The air on my farm is perfumed with mock orange, honey suckle, peony and roses. I wish it could stay all year long.

Biting Melon

Melon the kitten is now a month old. He is eating dry cat chow and using the big cats litter pan. My life is easier.

He has gray eyes, nose and paw pads.

He also has tiny teeth to chew with. He uses them on us and the other cats. 

Chew time.

Now with more chewing. He should be growing out of this phase as he gets as much as he gives from the other cats.

Puffy Adder

This is what was lying across my driveway last week. It was a spreading adder or spread head as is locally called. It is a non venomous snake that eats toads and frogs.

I liked its markings

I got the whole hiss song and dance from this snake. It did not want to move off the driveway.

Such a cute tail all curled up.

Junior's Hens

This is our three year old rooster Junior. He is a leghorn/game rooster mix we raised ourselves. He takes great care of his hens and tolerates other roosters. His offspring have his long legs and smarts. We cull some of his sons that are too aggressive from the game bird side. Since he is getting older we are now raising some Welsummer roosters in his place.

Junior will never be culled but kept on until he dies of old age.

Some of Juniors hens after mowing the yard.

Zilla keeps watch over the poultry.

Headed back to the barn.

Blind Melon

Our orphan kitten has been named Melon. Since he has a ball shaped belly and tiny legs and head. He is about 4 weeks old now.

Melon is finally off of bottle feeding and is into tuna and kitten chow.

He still forgets about the no more bottle feeding and has to be shown the food bowl and litter pan. 

He also matches my toe socks.

We noticed he can hear and smell well, but his vision is slow coming along. It might be from his early starvation behind the walls where we found him. He also has a weak right back leg. This is not stopping him in the least.

Meeting with the dogs.

He has no fear of our other cats in the least.They hiss and growl and he keeps coming back for more. He is becoming a very hardy Missouri cat.

The Melon shape.

Sunlight and wind breezes

Meeting the dogs outside-no fear.

Trotting to the house following the scents.

Ready to go home.