Growing Babies

The bunny drama seems to be over. Sapphire has been a very good mom to the 3 in her nest and they're growing big fast. It seems she knew best since all the ones that got abandoned didn't make it. Even with Sweetie trying to take care of the one and me giving supplemental feedings it was still a lost cause. Sweetie Pie's eight are doing great. I've taken out their nest box and they're eating hay and drinking out of the water bottle. We're trying to come up with a naming theme for them. Madison wants Sapphire's to all have gemstone names, but we're not sure what to do with Sweetie's. Also in bunny news- Chuck has added 3 New Zealand white as breeders for meat rabbit stock, and Madison managed to talk him into a a chocolate Dutch as a pet. The girls named her Chocolate Fudge.

The guinea are 2 weeks old today. They are still so flighty. We're getting plans together to make an addition to the coop so they can have their own wing. We're also adding 4 young turkeys on Wednesday. The turkeys are a heritage breed so they will forage, mate and walk like turkeys are supposed to - unlike the commercial breeds you find at the supermarket. We are definitely planning to eat these come Thanksgiving-- as Chuck does all the processing. The chickens are 13 weeks old today- eggs are expected in about 3 more weeks. Hooray!

All the other critters are doing well also. Madison and Willow have been helping out with the chores since school is out and they get to stay up later. They've been a big help picking blueberries, blackberries and planting sweet potatoes this week. BeepBeep is teaching them the correct hoeing technique and we haven't lost a plant to them yet!