The chooks, roosters and the guineas swap feet when they are standing in the cold, one foot up, then that foot down and then another foot up, like a wee boy in his thin pajamas showing too much ankle on the cold bathroom floor desperately waiting for the toilet. Hurry UUUUP! His feet taking turns being tucked into his feathers.
Or they just sit on their poor cold feet. The birds, not the boys. The peahens don’t though, which I find interesting.
Mama looks so small as she stands amongst her daughters.
Meadow in the middle and then Our Noisy Tilly. Noisy, Noisy Tilly.
Naughty Pregnant Daisy! Running. Running! When things are so icy. She terrifies me when she gallops around. Daisy has been known to run around a field and then jump a fence, especially electric fences. She takes great pride in jumping those. Daisy’s calf is due in the middle of March.
Queenie Wineti waits quietly for the hay to be doled out, Queenie’s calf is due at the beginning of May. Queenie has never been known to jump anything.
TonTon on the other hand jumps gates, do you think he is putting on weight?
The Matriarch’s dog Joey has come to stay while she is travelling. He is a feisty little thing. Don’t feel sorry for him – he can hold his own with the other big bruisers. So we had a proper Boxing Day walk, the dogs and I, to try and wear some of the Feist out. Boxing Day is not right unless you have a proper walk.
Our Sheila tore her blanket to pieces the night before last. This in itself is not unusual for a pig (though she has slept under that blanket for quite some time now) but the most unusual thing about this is that she took all the little pieces and carefully built them into the walls of her birds-nest bed. During the night. She must have been very busy all night. It was hard to get a proper photo for you, but she has barn walls on two sides of her room (and a door to the outside that I only shut at night but she can still come and go) and every afternoon she pulls all the straw in her sunroom up into a high bed, in preparation for the cold night and rebuilds the outer two walls with straw, then she lies right in the middle, in a big dip. And now the walls of straw have little shredded pieces of old sleeping bag imbedded in them. When she is building her walls she picks up the straw in her mouth and carries it to its designation. So I have to conclude that the pieces of blanket have been thoughtfully placed.
Clever piggie.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
60 responses to “A one legged rooster is not really one legged”
They’ll need some knitted boots 😉
Sooo …. have you posted Sheila’s electric blankie yet? 🙂 Poor Piggie is going to need it now. Laura
She has a heat lamp, can you imagine what she would do with an electric blanket!.. c
What a handsome Mr Rooster and I love Sheila’s clever bed making. We have a kelpie puppy which I’ll post some photos of soon – I’m sure you would love her. She makes up her little bed of things each night as well – the dustpan and brush were her first conquests.
I would love to see your wee kelpie, drop in the link when you get the shots up, I don’t mind.. c
What handsome roosters. I love Sheila’s dedication to her bed.
How are your bees doing Emily, I must pop over.. c
Leg warmers for chooks…not a bad idea..could become fashionable
I feel sure that Sheila has her bedding plans all worked out in that beautiful head of hers.. not so wise of Daisy to go galloping around the field like that. I thought pregnant ladies were supposed to be demure , sweet, and ladies in waiting…not great lumps rampaging around a fieldand as for jumping gates and fences…well, I think you should have a quiet word in her lug hole miss c…
Are you feeding Daisy hops?
Sheepdogs can be wilfully naughty. Tess has taken to jumping out of her confined area and then hiding in the garden at bedtime. She only comes when called when she knows she has been spotted. She is currently hiding under a table here,in the study, hoping not to be seen.
I trained Ton to jump the gates so he can get in and out easily, but like Tess that means he can never be confined.. at least Tess comes when she is spotted though! c
Boxing day is the PERFECT day for a walk. I took Squish out yesterday to get some fresh air and sunshine for both of us!
Sheila is the cleverest lady.
ALL your animals are clever, though I think Sheila is a bit daft ruining her blanky at this stage of the winter. Doesn’t she understand that worse is to come?
Love from a wobbly ViV
How interesting about the feet. Maybe the pea hens don’t have nerves in their feet so they can’t feel the cold as much. I’m surprised you call it Boxing Day, I didn’t think the Americans had it. We have it in Canada.
I am not American though Eva.. Laugh!!
I know, I just figured when in Rome!
Absolutely.. c.
OH Sheila is a hoot! I just love Chickens! Carole over at Red Dirt has a wonderful photo today too. http://reddirtinmysoul.com/2013/12/26/self-portrait-in-a-chickens-eye/
I saw on the weather report that it will be a warmer day today. Minneapolis, where some of my family lives, will be up to 39! Almost a HEATWAVE for them.
we have sun and calm, it is quite divine… c
I had a dog who used to tear-up all her bedding just before she went into heat. Not that I’m suggesting that your pig is a dog — no, not at all. Morning, c! Morning, farmy!
Though i would not mind if she comes into heat, no sign of that lately.. c
Hummm, which reminds me. When she is in heat are YOU going to do the artificial inspiration (insemination)? A blog post way back said you were thinking about it.
We’ve had lovely weather here for three days. Great for being outside!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
¸.•*¨*•♪♫♫♪HAPPY NEW YEAR ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥
yes I am thinking of it plus I have a very nice lady who has done this many many times to show me, that is if i can get the timing right.. c
You’re absolutely right about a Boxing Day walk! Thankfully, our Boxing day was one of clear blue sky, a perfect walking opportunity after our seemingly constant gales and hail!
Christine
I love all the animal pictures today, but certainly the sheep were my favorites. So calm and regal and self-contained somehow. Happy holidays, Miss C….
Peahens will not sit on their feet because they are quite snobbish. (One can tell by their expression, which looks as though they’ve just smelled bad cheese.) Sitting on one’s feet is an improper, undignified gesture, good only for the common fowl.
Your cow is not a cow, but a chubby horse. She is dismayed you cannot tell the difference.
Having had a border collie, I must say it appears he is slightly above his playing weight. Perhaps this is the off-season? Loves.
She sounded just like a horse on cobblestones when she came trotting back into the yards.. Morning Bill!! c
Crazy Daizy!! She looks like one of our ole time family cows! It’s fun livin’ here on this farm! She’s a whippin’ that tail around and havin’ a ball! And TonTon ~ what a great picture!! Is he going to the Olympics in Sochi!!!! Looks like he’s qualified and ready to go! I can see him standin’ up there on the awards stand holding the red white and blue!!
Carol
Ahhh, you have a Papillion visiting the farm. We have a Papillion named Jagger. He is our oldest daughter’s little dog. Big dogs in little dog bodies 🙂 I just love the breed.
Early this past summer, we visited a farm that had a momma cow and her calf. We were taught how to milk the cow and I took a turn first as the girls just weren’t sure about it. Then Lili decided she wanted to give it a try. She was better at milking than I was and reminds me of that from time-to-time. Naomi wanted nothing to do with milking though. Those cows probably look really big from her vantage point.
You’re little farm is certainly going to be busy this spring.
I will need all the help i can get (hint! hint!)..tell LiLi I have a machine to do the milking! Thank goodness.. c
I look forward to helping 🙂