Baby Chicks Update

Wanted to share this picture of the chicks they are getting big fast and more are on the way.

Baby Kittens

These are two of the four kittens that are being fostered at the farm. Leave a comment if interested in adoption information.

Sitting on Bing Eggs

I have been helping out at the Dancing Goat Farm for about five month's now. I was originally lead to the farm by my polish rooster Bing who I rescued from my neighborhood. When Pam the owner of the farm meet Bing and I she welcomed us both into her Dancing Goat Farm family. Bing is about a year old now and he lives in a nice large enclosure on the farm with three wives. I felt that it was time to have some Bing babies so on April 19th I gathered four fertilized eggs from Bing's wives and placed them in a special nesting cage. I then went into one of the big chicken enclosures in the front of the farm to try and find a hen that was broody. When a hen is broody it means the hen is ready to sit on her eggs and hatch them. A broody hen not only sits on and hatches her own eggs but will happily sit on and hatch other hens eggs as well. After looking for awhile I found a hen that I thought would be perfect for the job. I carried the broody hen to the special nesting cage and as soon as I put her in the cage she got very excited and started to rearrange the eggs putting them in a neat pile. When the hen felt the eggs were where she wanted them see settled down on top of them and made herself right at home. It has been about a week now and the hen is still sitting on the eggs doing a great job. I really look forward to seeing Bing's babies it takes about twenty one days for chicks to hatch so I will make sure to keep everyone posted on their progress. Well it's time for another weekend on the Dancing Goat Farm so check back soon with the City Boy on the Farm for more stories, pictures and information.

Naked Neck Turkey

This is a Naked Neck Turkey nesting in one of the egg boxes this morning.

Moving the Coronation Sussex

There are many types of chickens at the Dancing Goat Farm but Pam's prized chickens are her Coronation Sussex. The Coronation Sussex is a popular backyard chicken in many countries and they originated in England around 43AD. There are many colors of Coronation Sussex some being buff, red, speckled and white which is the most rare. At the farm there are two roosters and eight hens and they are all white. These Coronation Sussex have won many awards for Pam at shows and fairs so when three new babies which were also all white were born it was a big thing. Watching the babies grow up was a lot of fun the Coronation Sussex are very cute. But after a few months the babies grew into chicks and it was time to introduce them to their flock. The enclosure that the Coronation Sussex live in is large and is about one hundred square feet. When I am in the enclosure I can stand straight up which makes it easier when cleaning and gather their eggs. Now that it was time to introduce the three new chicks to their new home I decided to take all of them in at once and stay in the enclosure with them for awhile to make sure everything was going to work out. I went and put the three chicks in a small crate and brought them into the enclosure and let them come out when they were ready. After a few moments all three chicks came dashing out of the crate and ran into the corner were they were meet with curious stares as well as a few loud crows from the roosters. But after about twenty minutes the chicks were eating next to the chickens so I left them alone in the enclosure. When I left for the day I noticed the three chicks were quietly nesting together they were now part of the Coronation Sussex flock. Some interesting information it takes about six months to tell the gender of a chick so please cross your fingers that the three chicks are hens. Well I will be at the farm again Thursday so check back soon for more pictures and stories from the City Boy on the Farm.

Muffa relaxing in the Sun

Here is a picture of Muffa relaxing in the sun thinking he is the king.

Emmaline visits the Farm

Today started off like any other day at the farm I was feeding and cleaning the chickens and quails when my friend Bob came to visit with his granddaughter Emmaline. Bob has been to the farm many times and helps out with things that need to be fixed but this was Emmaline's first visit. Emmaline had taken the time to read every post in my blog and was eager to meet the animals she had read about. I started her visit by taking them into the barn where Emmaline was able to meet all the goats she especially enjoyed meeting the babies and she even got to hold Isabella. She was very kind and gentle with the goats and even took the time to pet a few of the farm cats that hang around the barn. We then went outside and meet Bing the polish rooster and his three ladies as well as Motley and his flock of renegade chickens. We then went around the farm and collected the eggs from the egg boxes but Emmaline could not wait she wanted to meet the baby chickens and turkey. It was good timing on their part because today I was moving the babies into a larger cage and Emmaline was able to help me prepare their new cage as well as move the babies. Before Emmaline left she got to meet Missy the farms eighteen year old horse she even got to feed Missy some peanut butter and jelly sandwich they both were very happy. As we said good bye Emmaline told Bob and I that she wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up and possibly a live stock vet it brought a big smile to my face I hope her dream comes true. Well I will be back at the farm again tomorrow so check back soon to see how the City Boy on the Farm is doing. The picture is Emmaline and I with the baby naked neck turkey.