Then, we had Ezra's 3rd birthday party on the same day (Sunday) and had a petting zoo come out and bring some more animals - they brought some lambs, a babydoll sheep, an adorable baby nigerian dwarf goat and a young female nubian goat, a mini-pig (for real mini, not like Peetie turned out...), a cool young llama, a mini donkey, a big sulcata tortoise that the kids could ride, and not one but 2 kangaroos - one of them a 6-month-old wearing a diaper! The kids (and kids at heart) all had an awesome time, and when it came time for the petting zoo folks to pack up, we sent them home with our buck goat Stevie B. He was our very first goat (we got him when he was 2 months old, along with his twin brother MooMan who we sold last year) and he was awesome, but he was still intact and had too much testosterone to stick with our 4 girl goats. The petting zoo folks needed a male to impregnate some of their females, so it worked out perfectly.
Then, on Monday, Lou had her kittens. She started out with 4, but one was stillborn and another had a severe birth defect and died 2 days later. But the 2 remaining kittens are adorable and growing like weeds. Lou was not the most caring mom at first, but she has turned into a loving and attentive mom over the course of the week.
And after resisting for as long as I could, I bought some Easter Egger hatching eggs on Ebay yesterday and have fired up the incubator for a round of egg hatching :) To be continued....
Here's some pics from the last month:
 |
| Stevie B and Lacey Lou made a temporary move to the front of the farm |
 |
| Our hay stash in the building at the front of the farm |
 |
| Dolly, Brutus, and Mama |
 |
| Those llamas... |
 |
| The whole farm gang |
 |
| Ezra helped Jason gather wood for our backyard bonfire pit |
 |
| Zelda came to hang out too |
 |
| Lou hung out by the backyard bonfire pit |
 |
| Gotta love that Opal! |
 |
| Jason hanging the porch swing |
 |
| The chains were a little short... |
 |
| We got some rocking chairs for the front porch |
 |
| Got Lou a cat bed for her to have her kittens in, but Zelda immediately took a liking to it and showed off her Type A personality. |
 |
| Jason's co-worker brought his wife and daughter out to the farm - she loved the tractor! |
 |
| Lou also wanted to drive it. |
 |
| Our new bunny, Earl! He's a lionhead. |
 |
| Aunt Penny got Earl for Ezra as an early Easter present |
 |
| He wasn't quite sure what to think |
 |
| Carly checked out Earl when we let him into Norman's outdoor enclosure |
 |
| Earl with Opal and Carly |
 |
| The goats got Ezra's chicken scratch, and he was mortified! |
 |
| All lined up for feeding time - we decided to introduce some organization into that routine. |
 |
| Awesome Opal |
 |
| Baby Carly |
 |
| Sweet Ruby |
 |
| He's always up for a wagon ride! |
 |
| Dolly decided to go rolling in the leaves... |
 |
| Norman out and about in his enclosure |
 |
| Lacey Lou got to move back to the big field with the other girls |
 |
| Ezra "helped" Jason do some tractor maintenance |
 |
| Ezra got all of his vehicles lined up against Earl's cage |
 |
| Feeding time again |
 |
| Carly |
 |
| Brutus and the goats devouring some hay |
 |
| Oh goodness, it's egg cleaning time! |
 |
| Got the husband to help me this time - check out that stack of egg cartons on the left that I found on Ebay |
 |
| Lining the eggs up on the kitchen island to dry after washing them. |
 |
| Egg washer in training |
 |
| 3 hours later, we have 20 dozen eggs ready to sell! |
 |
| Got the swing hung right this time... |
 |
| The porch is done! We even got a bird feeder for the front yard - see it on the right. |
 |
| All in a day's work |
 |
| Got a new grill!! It's half propane, half charcoal. |
 |
| Everyone's gathered at the gate for feeding time. Lacey Lou feels the need to jump up on the fence. |
 |
| Hare and tortoise |
 |
| Restocking the hay - Dolly is psyched! |
 |
| Lou enjoying some time in Brutus's stall |
 |
| Lou hanging around for the hay restocking |
 |
| Stevie B ended up on our front porch... |
 |
| Now that's some fancy organization of goats! |
 |
| Where's Ezra? |
 |
| Went to pick up the Gator from getting the oil changed, and Ezra was in hog heaven |
 |
| Beautiful sunset while enjoying the backyard bonfire |
 |
| Introducing - Lucy Llama!!! Ezra and his cousin Eli were more concerned with playing with their toy cars in the field. |
 |
| Super adorable |
 |
| Had to get my pic with her :) |
 |
| Ezra's petting zoo party - how can it get better than a tiny goat on a big ole tortoise?? |
 |
| Cowboy the kangaroo and his friend the babydoll sheep |
 |
| Jason took the kids on a hay ride |
 |
| Ezra's friend Grayson rides the tortoise cowboy style! |
 |
| Kailyn takes the tortoise for a spin, too |
 |
| Then it was Ezra's turn |
 |
| Sweet Lucy Llama still wobbly |
 |
| Lucy Llama with her Mama Llama |
 |
| Lou crawled into this back up cat bed I got her (it's a shark...) and ended up having her babies in there. |
 |
| The day they were born |
 |
| Ezra called them "mouses" LOL |
 |
| The 2 surviving kittens - a tabby and a mainly white one with tabby spots |
 |
| Lacey Lou getting vertical on the gate |
 |
| Lucy Llama hanging out with her sister Dolly during feeding time |
 |
| Big Blue and his fancy flock |
 |
| Lou took a break from her babies and helped me feed the animals |
 |
| She managed to get a tiny bit dirty. |
 |
| This chicken really wanted into this coop, but we have it blocked off now because another chicken is laying on some eggs in there. When we let the other chickens into the coop, they lay their eggs in the same nesting box that the other chicken is sitting in. Then we end up getting wasted eggs because the first ones will hatch 21 days from Day 1 of sitting. |
 |
| Lucy Llama hanging out next to the barn during feeding time - if you look behind Lucy, you can see a very concerned Mama Llama checking in on her baby's well-being |
 |
| Dolly Llama wasn't really excited to see Lou |
 |
| Sweet baby Lucy Llama sunbathing on this beautiful Good Friday :) |
