The still has begun its work of turning vegetable matter into essential oils. Yesterday was peppermint. As well as the gorgeous oils there is the by-product of scented water. I love the scented water just as much as the oil!
Timatanga Moana the little Kunekune piglet was very quiet all yesterday. She usually is a very staid little miss but yesterday she was even slower and quieter. I think she may have got into the plonkers get-fat grain, her tummy was very hard and full, so from now, until the plonkers go off to the abbatoir (Friday) she is going to have to stay in her own little field. On a diet.
It was hot yesterday but still, you know when an animal is not on form.
Speaking of which Mama is still the same. I will call the vets again this morning.
We had almost 4 inches of rain in 24 hours so the cows were locked up by the barn on the concrete pad. Queenie was the only one who was happy with the arrangement.
I left Boo on his chain just a little longer yesterday evening and let both the baby layer flock and the broiler chickens out for a while to free range. They were all very happy with their new freedom. 
Though Ton went into a flurry of panics -trying to watch everyone all at the same time. He was SURE that I had made an error and forgotton to shut the doors. And how could he keep an eye on everyone when they were running off in all directions.
Everyone went back into their arks nicely to be locked up for the night though. There are coyotes out the last few days, Boo makes such a howling when he hears them. But we should be able to do this every evening from now on.
Good morning. Last night the frogs were loud. There has been a lack of frogs so far this summer so I was very pleased to hear them at last. This means the land is recovering from that wicked winter.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
37 responses to “freedom”
Poor Tima’s Tum. It tastes so good going down, and then you pay the price. Bit like all indulgence… She needs to keep her ladylike figure if she’s going to become the matriarch of your kunekune breeding operation. She does look a bit subdued in that photo…
and they get fat so easily these little piggies, I will have to watch her!.. c
Perhaps Boo is Blue Heeler x Coyote 🙂 🙂 Hope both Tima and Mama feel better today. Laura
That’s very funny and completely believable – I bet Tima enjoyed it at the time 😉
I remembered to ask the farmer about protein in his chicken feed yesterday. He said that he only feeds the chicken on his home grown fruit and vegetables, with a little bit of corn to help them grind and digest. He said the only additional food they get is what they find, such as worms, bugs and small mice.
That is a very natural diet. He must have lovely shiny chickens.. thank you for asking.. c
Are there frogs in the frog garden yet? I hope so.
Also, there is a coyote killing neighborhood cats in the wee hours running around in my suburban town in Texas. A local resident caught it on video and It was on the news recently.
Coyotes…I can imagine it’s a bit spooky…we are starting to get them back in downstate New York and the farmers are not happy. On the farm we belong to the laying hens have moveable roosts, so they graze within moveable electric fence for periods at a time, then move when their bug killing, weed-pecking abilities are needed elsewhere. They go into the roosts at night (there are fox about) and also hide under in the day when the hawks fly overhead.
Feel like a real city girl again: if the chickens of both kinds were happily racing around the paddock to Ton’s discontent . . . how did you manage to get each back to their respective arc . . . . silly Q I know . . . . farming 101 🙂 ! They look perky, he does look worried!!
They are in different areas, but as well as their homing instincts, each flock has been trained to a different call, so i get their food, call them and they just follow me in.. c
[laughing] Oh my: you ARE a great teacher – flocks trained to different calls . . . can’t believe it 😀 !!
The frogs here (and toads) have been pretty loud all summer. One of my kittens is good at catching them and bringing them home for me to see! Luckily he doesn’t appear to hurt them and I am able to retrieve them and set them free. But catching the buggers as they hop around my kitchen is a challenge!
Sam is home and comfortable. Have to feed him every 4 hours, and the he hates the prescription food they sent home with him! I have tried to research what I can make for him, but there is a lot of conflicting advice from many vets and animal nutritionists out there! Some say meat and veg only, some say he also needs fat and others to include complex carbohydrates! I am still giving him tiny amounts of raw milk as he loves it, and I think he needs something he enjoys at this stage.
I would say the raw milk and meat would be a perfect diet for a sick carnivore, bet the little bits often are the trick.. poor old sam .. glad he is home though.. c
Cats are carnivores, dogs are omnivores, arent’ they?
dogs teeth and digestive tract are designed for meat, however they are also very adaptable, I have also read that when a wild dog kills a herbivore he will eat the stomach and its contents first, though I don’t know if that is true or not. But dogs and cats are considered carnivores, their primary source of food should be meat , am not sure who decided that food made from corn would be best for a dog. Having said that my dogs will eat every vegetable except for leafy greens and brassicas.. and coyotes are known to eat wild fruits.. c
I just looked this up and you beat me to the answer. I guess I am so used to seeing rice and corn in dog food and how our dogs used to eat whatever we ate that I just assumed they were omnivores. I feed our cats meat and dry cat food that has no grain. Grain is cheaper than meat……comes down to profit and greed again.
I know and the meat feeds are at least double the price.. sigh.. c
Glad to hear your frogs are making themselves known. I have noticed that our tree frogs are much louder this year than usual, which I am enjoying. They are almost deafening some mornings and evenings.
The frogs around here have taken a long time to come back here this year, especially with all this rain, so hopefully we do not have a bad bad winter again (though i fear we might) and they can hibernate as usual.. c
Our dragon flies were late this year. The early little red ones didn’t show up, but the big blues are here now in big clouds. We have a pack of coyotes in the areas but they don’t come close our place. During the year they make a big circle around the area and I can locate them when they howl. In the summer they are usually to the north of us and in the winter, south.
That is an excellent observation peter. Mine range quite a big area too and so they are only loudly close by once every few weeks as they pass along the creek, unless of course we have a mama in a den in the long grass but I have never found one. They are like all dogs, endlessly roaming their perimeters to keep the other guys out. c
Second photo from the bottom of the chickens is an outstanding perspective. And love the light.
They are a lovely fat flock. ! Morning Audrey.. c
We have those crazy loud frogs in the pond in the field next door. I can’t believe how little they are in relation to their volume of noise:)
I think I’d like to see a pig lying on my living room floor. Don’t you think that would work well in Milan??? It would become quite chic to have a
kune kune…
I will grow you one and bring it to you one day.. do you think they will let me bring a little piggie on a plane?
We have no frogs in the high desert. I miss hearing them. Coyotes have been very quiet this year, too. We actually had a thunderstorm and cloudburst….of course the hay is down. Love your chickens; they look so alert and healthy. Poor plonkers.
always with the hay.. sigh.. c
Our guy that bales the hay is coming tomorrow morning at 5:30 before his regular job. Our neighbor was baling all night. Ker plunk, ker plunk all night. They make 800 lb bales. Life revolves around the hay.
no damage from the rain then?
My hubby turned the hay 3 times so far with our antique hay rake. I doesn’t look too bad, but not like previous years, either. With our drought, the grass was totally bone dry when cut. Even with the rain, it dried out within a day…..and we had a 30mph wind which helped. We have had 97 degree temps….unheard of here. Luckily our humidity is 20%.
t
Upset tummies are no fun! I’m having to keep a close eye on baby goats these days, as they are now eating more greenery of all descriptions. Pepto-bismal and probios powder are always on hand, and resolve most upsets pretty quickly. I don’t want to risk dehydration, especially in this awful heat we are having.