WOW, it’s been a very crazy last couple of months around here, even more so, the last 3 weeks or so. Rose Shadow Ranch is looking to move to a bigger piece of property and it has us spiraling out of control with busyness! I actually don’t have time to go to work, but since the bills still need to be paid……
Ok, so we’re moving and selling our current home and finding a new one has been on the top of our list of priorities but we still have our little farm here that needs tending to, so here is an update on the animals.
The dogs, all 4 of them, are doing good with all things considered. Poor Momma Cherokee ended up with a uterine infection that thankfully, we think we caught in time. The vet doesn’t think we will need to spay her (Thank you God) but does have her on some hefty antibiotics for a month before she will re-evaluate her to determine if a longer period of antibiotics are necessary. The bad news is, this will more than likely happen to her again.
Stormie is quickly approaching her second birthday which means we will have her eyes and hips checked and certified for breeding. We’ve already had preliminaries done so we know she’ll be good to go once she reaches 2 years old. We hope she’ll hold off her next heat cycle until after her birthday so we can get her bred. Stay tuned for news on her and her expected litter.
Lakota and Geronimo our super sweet 10 week old puppies are getting so big already! Lakota is a little jumper and climbs out of her puppy pen every night! Although it can get very frustrating, she’s actually doing it because she’s telling me she needs to go outside! She’s very smart, very reserved, yet very capable of standing her ground and taking care of herself. We just love her to pieces! Geronimo is a very active, very sweet, likes to bite everything, bundle of energy! He’s also very smart and will do anything for food! Both puppies are a perfect match for our “pack” and our family!
The chickens: The chickens are, well, chickens! We’ve lost a few this summer for reasons unknown. Both our lavender Ameraucanas were the first 2 that left us. They were sisters from the same clutch of eggs hatched together and they died with the same symptoms 3 days apart. No one else got sick. I’ve also lost a few young chicks which is always to be expected I’ve come to realize. We finally took our meat birds to the butcher and have enjoyed having the fresh organic meat. I also set a bunch of meat bird eggs in hopes of raising up another 10 and got 19! Yikes! Unfortunately we lost 1 so we are down to 18.
The ducks: are doing alright. Our Pekin male had a cough a few weeks back which I treated and is now gone and no one else got sick. Honestly, if it wasn’t for my kids wanting to keep them, I would get rid of them. They make the chicken run a muddy nightmare which of course leads to sickness, so of course I can’t wait to get to our new place so they free range more.
The quail: pretty boring. Thinking about giving up the flock. Their eggs are delicious but I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with them and they are too much work to slaughter and eat. We’ll see what happens once we move.
The Alpacas: Cinnamon is still for sale and we’ll be showing her off this weekend at Zodiac Ranch for “farm days.” Visit www.zodiacranch.com for details and come on out and say Hi.
The gardens: are dying off and unfortunately I don’t have time to process it all, so I’ve froze most of it and hope to get to it this winter.
That about wraps it up! We hope to make our big move before the holidays so stay tuned for the exciting announcement and introduction!