I get up shortly after 7 am. Make sure my daughter has risen from bed, school will be out soon, but for now she must get ready early for an almost 1 hour ride on the school bus. She is good about getting up on her own before I rise. I make her a lunch and let the two pesky kittens out of the basement. Our older cat has the run of the house all night, but those too make every effort to keep us awake at night so must be contained down stairs. They greet us with purrs and by rubbing themselves on our legs. My husband gets another hour of sleep.
I tell my daughter I love her as I go out side to check on the animals. We live on just over 10 acres out in the middle of nowhere. I hear birds singing softly and watch as the barn swallows swoop and dive for bugs to feed their young. As I make my way to the barn, the chickens, who have spotted me, call with their soft clucking, "please come over here and give us treats.". For now, I ignore them.
The barn is old, small, but sturdy, there are three stalls within. One stall is large enough for a horse, one for a pony, and the third stall is just right for sheep. In the winter we use all the stalls for mama sheep after they have had their lambs. They stay in for a couple of days to let their lambs bond with them and make sure the weather is okay, before going back out with the rest of the sheep. We only have a few, they are pets for lawn control. On this day the only sheep in the barn is "Stomper". He is a lamb we bought at an auction, neglected by his mom, he was bottle fed. This proved to be a lot of work.
Stomper greats me noisily, baaing for attention, and food. We have stopped bottle feeding him, but he gets put in the barn over night because he has yet to stick with the sheep all that much, so it is for his own safety. Soon we will have to take a risk and leave him out, but for now he is stabled, and gets a handful of oats in the morning before going out for the day. He gobbles down the oats and makes his way out of the barn. He is a smart little guy, a Barbado sheep, a ram we hope to keep to breed our ewes in the fall, assuming he ever realizes he is a sheep. Stomper usually plays a little game, heading for the tall grass rather than the pasture, where he knows he is supposed to go, so I must catch the little fella and put him in with the other sheep, who await their oats. The weather is good, so they are being cut back on oats, but it is nice when they are there, because I can make sure everybody is okay. Ten ewes, eight of whom have lambs.
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I leave them and head towards the chickens, they are quiet now as they cannot see me. Dang it, I see a gopher scurry across the pasture, cute but pesky, as they leave dangerous holes an animal could step in. I look towards the big shed, where the larger animals hang out. Quite lazy, only the donkey acknowledges my presence, she approaches looking for treats, she will settle for a handful of grass picked especially for her. I tell her she is a good girl.
I am soon spotted again by then hens. They cluck with excitement. Most people don't realize how personable chickens are, but they can be quite friendly if kept as pets. Our hens are free range in the day, but shut in a pen at night. They are looking forward to a bit of chicken scratch, which is like candy to chickens. These gals are early layers, there are usually eggs by the time I check them. I collect the eggs, make sure they have water, and give the hens some scratch before leaving the door to the pen open so they can wander around and eat up some yummy bugs and dandelions.
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Now it is time to head back towards the house, it has been a round trip, and I haven't even eaten yet. I call "I love you, have a good day" to my daughter as she stands waiting for the school buss, and then I walk past our two pheasant cages, They are fine, no need for any special care for them just yet. I know my daughter has already checked her partridges to make sure they are alright.
Inside, I make myself some hot oatmeal, even in the summer, heck if I know why. Comfort food maybe, I fill up the cats food while I await the microwave, and make myself some tea. If I am lucky I can get some quite time on the computer before my husband gets out of bed. I have about one hour before I have to get ready to go to work. I would much rather stay here all day, weed the yard, and work with the animals. I am so happy to have moved from the city to the country.
