All the tiny birds arrived. And all the tiny birds are gorgeous. After two full days of travel they arrived us great condition.
The ducks are, of course, perfect! There are five. Very shy. Two downy yellow and three brown and black. I have no idea what their feathers will be like which is kind of fun!
(If you have upgraded to The Tenners pop over HERE and spend ten minutes with the ducklings). (You can unsubscribe with just one click if you just want to upgrade for a month or so – I don’t mind!).
I tried a few times to get photos of the chickens and turkeys but they are incredibly badly behaved. So nosy! They literally mob the camera!
Look!
What are they like?!😂 Impossible!
They are under the red light for now. Though not for long as the days are very warm.
I managed to get a shot of this turkey early this morning. Chickens in the background.
Before they shuffled forward like feathery zombies to peck at the screen.
They are all vigorous and quite calm. We have five black and white turkeys and three dove grey ones. So it will be interesting to see how they grow.
The chicks are a wild mix. So many different colours. I am excited to see their feathers.
The pig house is cleaned out and ready. R has a man who is going to the stock auction today and hopefully he finds a healthy group of piglets. If not I have a Plan B.
This happens to me every year! Waiting on other people for pigs. Hopefully this offer comes through.
My compost heap. This shot does not to it justice but I was too lazy to get off the tractor. It is probably 10 foot high and twice as round.
Hay Making
After a few days of drying we will start hay making so I have begun reorganizing the hay loft. I will restack 30 a day until it is done. If I count them I find this heavy job more do-able.
If I try to do everything at once it becomes overwhelming. John is still unable to do this work. so I am not sure how the haymaking will go.
I am clearing space for the new hay so we use up last years hay first. I have discovered two and three year old hay in there so badly stacked that it is tumbling all over the place. It all needs to be brought forward and balanced so the fresh hay can go in its place at the back.
The hay needs careful stacking with an eye to the age of the barn and its construction. All areas of the loft need intentional weight so the whole structure floats down evenly and firmly onto its foundations – then to add to our equation some areas of the barn are too old to take much weight. (Think stilettos as opposed to platform shoes in these unsafe areas). I am careful to spread the weight evenly to keep the structure itself sound and steady in a storm.
It is a similar equation to adding ballast to one side of a boat to even out a load. Making sure the hold is packed with an even distribution of weight. If a cargo or its ballast (on the other side) gets loose from its straps it can sink a ship in a storm. I think about our barn in a similar way. Stowing the hay carefully and also pulling from the stacks evenly.
At this point we are dangerously unbalanced ask reorganize.
Growing up beside the sea with a boatbuilder for a Dad taught me some useful lessons.
Plus I am getting fit fast.
The Calves
There are a few runny bottoms after introducing some green feed.
So they are back on hard hay for a few days and green grass in the afternoon. It will go like this for a few days until their bellies get used to grass.
The big cows are standing by to take over as The Aunties and shepherd the calves out into the grass full time.
Not quite yet though.
I took a bunch of kids for a walk yesterday evening.
I was too worn out to do much else with them. It is was so still and quiet yesterday evening we could hear our visitors laughter from half a mile away as we walked home.
There is nothing quite like a walk at the end of the day.
You have a lovely day too and thank you so much for popping in. I really appreciate your visit to the Farmy.
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
31 responses to “Baby Birds in the Mail!”
so glad to read about the babies safe arrival!
yes! They are a delight!
It is so enjoyable to watch and listen to the whirlwind that is Cecelia doing what she does best on the farm. If you didn’t have this farm to manage you could hire yourself out for an incredible amt. of $$$ because you are excellent in this role. Isn’t life knowledge amazing! Your childhood prepared you so well for understanding what is needed and when. I would be a useless lump but it would be a joy to sit in that rocker and watch you lead and organize everyone and everything on the farm. You are a woman I truly admire C 🙂
I would like to second all that Deb said. As I couldn’t do any better l salute you Deb and as always C you leave me speechless with your speed and skills. Such a lovely post to share with us.
🙂 thank you
Thank you both!! It is all about the siesta. I give myself full permission to take a break from 12 – 2. To be fair I often take my break while videos are downloading or something is on the boil but the siesta is the trick I think!!
See, another perfectly organized plan! I might be the one to sit and then have trouble getting back up to do more, although if I had animals depending on me then I would make the effort 🙂
I, too take a bit of a siesta but I make sure to time it before I have to feed the critters late afternoon. That way I simply have to get up and get moving, otherwise I might just stay put until bedtime!
Oh those naughty little chicks! You have to love them though. What is it they say, never try to take pictures of children and pets. That could include chicks I think. The ducklings are adorable. It will be fun to watch them grow. Looks like a very good day. xo
The chickens and the turkeys are nuts! It is so warm I am going to turn their red light off shortly and see if I can get some better shots.
Very interesting read. I do see the connection between your childhood experience with your boat-builder father and the practical skills you use today for managing the Farmy and other pursuits. I’m glad people like you exist, and hello to all your human (and other) helpers.
I love things to be balanced. Both my life and in my barn. It is interesting how these lessons stick with a person.
Maintaining balance is a challenge in itself.
Keep up the wonderful work….you are really making a difference:)
oh thank you! It is a busy season.
Love the looks of the calves and can’t wait to see how Quacker reacts to the ducklings. I know it won’t be for a while.
I can’t wait either. I need to make a big outside enclosure so she can watch them before joining their flock. I hope it works!
The birdies are so cute and sweet! I first read this as “Baby Birds in the Mall” and couldn’t quite figure that out. 🙂
I always think that what a person reads is often more fun that what I wrote!!
I LOVE your photographs especially the long shots. That last one is so evocative.
By the way your pics yesterday came through with some there and some not. Todays were all there. Weird, but good.
yes – that last shot is so calm. It almost a murmur.
I love baby ducks – they are quite weird when younger than yours, very Pterodactyl. I hope you get to hatch some. They can become quite brave if you hand feed them. What breed are they?
no idea of the breed. I told them they could choose from the extra hatching. It is an heirloom hatchery so I hope they are something nice. The yellow ones will be white I think- do you think?
Yes, I think from past experience the yellow ones will be white. I think it’s a good thing to have mixed ones. So many pure bred animals are overbred.
Your energy astounds me. If only you could bottle it, I’d be first in line to buy! And I love the close-up pix!
I just love seeing all this new life on your farm and the aroma of new hay is like nothing else. Thank you every day for sharing your life.
In the craziness of daily life you provide some calm.
For me your description of this organised whirlwind of activity transmutes into -“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”- white noise ♡
Julian of Norwich knew what she was talking about…
All that hay stacking almost makes me glad my hay comes in 400# bales. The farmer loads it in my barn with a skid steer. Of course it takes some maneuvering when it comes time to push a new bale off the top of the stack!
I love that all your chicks arrived safe and well and lively. I have confidence that you’ll manage the hay somehow, like eating the elephant, but do take care; two of you with bad backs would be a disaster.
Yes. That Would be a disaster!