Dateline: Barn in the Boonies

Crooked Little Hen is my oldest chicken.

She has a crossed beak. A crossed beak is where the upper and lower halves go opposite directions and it is a genetic defect. She was born that way. (If you missed them, I have some really cute posts about her, including The Crooked Little Hen Saves the Day and A Crooked Little Hen Love Story.) Used to, every time I posted a picture of her someone would tell me she was gonna die! Die, I tell you! She’d never make it! She’s six.

Crooked: “The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Coco:

It’s been two years now since there was A Crushing Event followed by A Miracle. (To get the whole story, click through to those posts. In short, Coco was hit by a car, ran away injured, and returned home a week later.) The injury to Coco’s leg was severe, but she has recovered wonderfully. She has a limp, will always have a limp, but it doesn’t stop her from running around! She’s still the sweetest Giant Puppy on earth and somehow tolerates that crazy Chloe.

I still have a mean goose.

Mostly because it would take a really big pressure cooker to cook him up tender. Or at least that’s what I tell him! Which keeps him running from me.

Nutmeggy:

It’s winter, snowing and raining most days lately, and the goats are in their usual “We don’t like this weather!” mode. They have moved into the barn and set up housekeeping.

Maia comes running for me as soon as she sees me.

Which is why most photos of Maia look like this:

Occasionally she gives my camera a break when she stops to admire me. (Ha.)

She is my precious.

She follows me everywhere she can. Here, she’s sticking her head through a hole as I’m going up to the loft to get hay. She likes to keep her eye on me. She still comes up to the yard and the porch on days it’s not snowing or raining. And always will! And if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right!

Still plenty of hay in the loft, by the way:

Meanwhile, due to an issue with the latch on the back alleyway door, the sheep moved in with the cows. They didn’t ask permission, and I don’t think anyone is happy about it (including the cows). I keep putting them back in the front barn yard and they keep putting themselves back in the back barn yard. Nobody ever said sheep were smart.

And then they complain that they never get to eat any hay until Glory Bee and Dumplin are finished. I’m expecting to have the alleyway door latch fixed within a few days and then peace will be restored to the land.

My Glory Bee Bee:

We’re expecting a baby in a few months!

She spends a lot of time contemplating how she will handle two children when she has so much trouble with one.

And a fine-looking 13-month-old heifer, she is, that Dumplin! She is owned by my neighbor now, but still living at Sassafras Farm for the time being. I will be separating her from her mama soon, and oh what a bellowing that will be! (My neighbor is planning to keep her to breed, so her story will not have an ending involving ketchup.)

The equine contingency was unavailable for comment this morning, but Zip, Shortcake, and Poky are doing just fine. In other words, I went out to do chores earlier than usual this morning so I could get pictures and the horses weren’t down to their shelter and feeder yet. They know my usual routine. (Will get some pics of them later.) I haven’t made a decision about Poky yet. Morgan is lobbying for keeping her and getting her bred, but I haven’t decided. Nor do I have a jack to replace Jack. I’ll let you know.

And that’s the latest around the barn! It is winter, and all is well and munching on hay.