I feel the same way about moving, frankly.
Then we got really crazy and ordered fifty meat chickens--they sent fifty-two. These little things have doubled their weight in roughly four days. I think they are doing their job.
We also got eight turkeys. The instruction sheet said that they are "known for being somewhat dumb." So far we've only lost one. But I can see why one might think a turkey is dumb. You stick something in their pen, like your hand, and they all run TOWARDS it like, "HEY! SOMETHING SHINY!" I did put a marble in their food and they peck at it constantly. Eight turkeys would be SO great to have in the freezer. We shall see.
And ducks. These really are the cutest things ever. It's fun to watch them and they are so different from the chickens and turkeys.
The chickens and turkeys seem to be in it just for themselves, pecking at each other, running over each other, and just generally in competition with one another. Not the ducks. They are a team. Where one goes, they all go because it's the right thing to do. They support one another instead of compete with one another. They don't pick at one another and they seem to genuinely enjoy each others company and are very concerned about the well-being of the other members of their little flock.
Today I took a bowl of warm water out to them. For about five minutes they just stood away from it and looked at it. Then apparently a decision was made because something had to be done and one duckling slowly approached the bowl and peeked in. There was a beak in the water doing duck things. And suddenly it was a duck pile in the bowl. HEY! LET'S SEE IF ALL OF US CAN GET IN HERE!! THIS IS GREAT! A party in a bowl!
They pretty much took to it like, well, a duck takes to water. At least that's what ran through my mind as I was standing there watching it all go down.
We also have a cat here at this place. I will short stop of calling it our cat because it came with the place and we pretty much only feed it because we aren't that cold hearted. For the first several weeks she would randomly attack our dog. But then they became buddies. Right now they have a bit of a tough relationship because of this:
She had kittens. These kittens are getting into that really cute kitten stage and I'm letting the kids play with them more and more. But the momma cat, who is really a pretty cat with her fluffy gray-ness, gets agitated sometimes. And the dog seems to just rub her the wrong way more recently.
Violet loves these kittens. She spent the better part of the afternoon sitting on the table in the barn next to their box petting them and talking to them. She was out there so long that we just left her there and then decided eventually that we should go check on her to make sure she wasn't stuck on the table and crying for the last 20 minutes. But no, she was happy as can be.
Why am I telling you about a cat in a post about birds? Because the mama cat is apparently named Bird. I find that funny. And I think we should name the kittens Chickadee and Wren.
Counting the cat, kittens, the two chickens that came with the place, the rooster and all the other birds, we have NINETY-THREE birds on this place. I will not be a crazy cat lady. But I could be the crazy bird lady. Except my birds will be in the barn. And on my dinner table.
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