As you know, yesterday morning, I was away from the property visiting with the Old Codger. John’s teenage son, visiting for the summer, a lanky young fella, went over to the big pig’s outdoor pen and found to his horror that the little piggies were both standing beside the Plonkers pen chattering to themselves about the size of the big guys. The teenager told me later that he slammed to a halt and just stared. He had no idea what to do. Then the Shush Sisters saw him, froze, ducked, stared at him for a moment, then in perfect unison turned and scuttled, cackling and squawking with excitement straight back to the barn, scattering the peacocks, 
through the big doors, round the corner past Bobby Blanc, 
..and raced back into their pen through a NEVER USED indoor gate. They were laughing at me he said. The teenager from down the road, who looks after the little pigs, was evidently having a wee nap in the hammock. We have again discussed making sure all the exits are secure!
Daisy is still not 100 percent. She still has not cleaned completely. This means that some of the after-birth has not released at the proper time. I was instructed to wait and not interfere but the vet decided that was enough waiting so I gave her an injection of Estrimate on Sunday. This should sort her out. Yesterday I noticed that she was eating less and standing around more. She was still drinking a huge amount of water though. So I made her tasty meals. Then literally stood in front of her and hand fed her brocolli stalks, and alfalfa cubes, and barley with yoghurt. I am told that this is not an uncommon occurrence with dairy cows. I will not go into the details. It is unsettling though. She does not smell like my lovely dairy cow. Anyway by yesterday evening she was out in the field munching and doing much better. This is an unsavoury side of dairying, I hate to interfere but these animals were never meant to survive in the wild. They are bred to dependence, and will always need our help. I use organic methods as much as possible but when it comes to emergency care I will take the vet’s advice. 
My Poor Daisy. She is very quiet this morning. She must be feeling more comfortable. 
Good morning. Today I am going to shift animals about the fields. The Bobby is five full days old now so he will soon be able to come out into the little field. Mama the Sheep always takes over the young animals while their mothers work, so we will have to begin introductions. Yesterday, even feeling unwell, Daisy gave four and a half gallons of milk. She must be bursting at the seams this morning. Have a lovely day. I suspect we will! It is one of those days that you would love to have if you were on vacation. But our newly planted alfalfa field is yellowing and under real stress now through lack of water. Still no sign of rain in the forecast. I have put a call in to another farmer who makes hay. We will have to buy alfalfa this year. But that is farming. We are exposed to the elements and must deal with that. And anyway who else gets to wander about the fields all day in a short skirt and a floppy hat talking to the animals and it is not even a vacation! celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
70 responses to “Teenager discovers escaped Shush Sisters”
Healing for Daisy and water for the fields, that’s what I’m sending you today Miss C.
I AM sorry to hear about Daisy. And you have enlightened me – I always wondered why farmers interfered so much with nature. But you are RIGHT – bred to dependence and no wonder we occasionally see stillborn calves hanging out of mothers on the free ranges of larger ranches here. Of COURSE. Not meant to survive on their own out in the wild.
In the wild they would not survive.. period, nasty but fair, but in my clover field i am responsible..all farmers are.. lots to learn for me!! c
Love the sunrise photo.
That was a busy day–for everyone! My best to Daisy. I’ve had 5 babies, so I understand!
You had me with the sunrise. Then tickled my fancy with the Shush sisters tickled my fancy. And then there’s poor Daisy. You are hand feeding her back to health. Our next door neighbors are dairy farmers. The fragrance of cows is definitely part of our life. V
“Who’s THAT strange creature?” the teens shouted as they took off at a dead run! Animals sure do get used to their very own human, don’t they?
Tent Caterpillars less obnoxious today. Not sure if that means their cycle is finally ending or another danged cold front is coming.
I see there’s a CBC radio program called “The Intelligence of Bees.” Do you think you’d like the link? It’s a program called “Ideas” and is top drawer quality with strong scientific leanings. I haven’t heard it yet, but plan to listen when they “post” the program.
I would love the link, if i can get it on johns ipad, I don’t have a radio! Though I am thinking of getting one for the barn.. so the barn babies can have something to listen to other than chickens! c
Here’s the link, Celi – I just started listening – I’m programmed to WRITE this morning – and have to save it for later. I love this intelligent & fascinating program and here they are highlighting one of the most important insects on our planet.
Dancing In The Dark: The Intelligence of Bees –
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/
A wise person knows when to seek advice! Hope Daisy is better soon xox
Love that chook picture C
I wish we could send you some of our rain ! We are finding it very difficult to grow our veg as the ground is so boggy at the moment ! Can’t win really can we?
Either a feast or a famine! That is life in the great outdoors though! c
I am sure Daisy is much better by now?!
all better! c
I had to laugh at the piggie’s escapade. 🙂 Just got back from SC, our granddaughter graduated, so I’m catching up on blogs. Hope to find Daisy feeling better as I get caught up.