Candy and Cane

So named, (according to Madison) because they are so sweet.  I have to agree.

A friend called, two weeks ago now, and asked if we could help with two baby ducks she found aimlessly wandering the busy road in front of a party she was attending.  Mama was no where to be seen, and she scooped them up in a craft storage bin, and whisked them away to us.  (Really, how many people do you know that have heat lamps, cages, starter food, waterers and such just lying around?...so we farmers always get those calls.)

My husband just shook his head and muttered...don't know how he missed the part about my being pre-vet in my undergrad....hmmm

The "ducks" as the city girl called them, turned out to be Canada Geese goslings.    Kind of a love/hate relationship with them in these parts.  Far too many of them have become squatters on local parks, ponds, riverways, and yards and have made poopy pests of themselves.  At the same time, they are wild animals, and we have screwed up their habitat and normal hibernation patterns, so what to do?

There was no wildlife rehabilitator available, and these guys were already pretty imprinted on humans, so when my boss volunteered to take them to her mother's farm in Massachusetts, we agreed to keep them for a few weeks.

Look how incredibly fast they grow!  In just two short weeks they have tripled in size.  They are very endearing - nothing like the happy slip slap of gosling feet behind you as they waddle in determined focus, never letting you out of their sight.

It is going to be very hard to let these guys go...

 

Out of the Shell

Finally, I am far enough out of my funk to think about posting again.  And how appropriate that it be about the new chicks; the harbingers of Spring, new life, and generally joyous little balls of energy.

They arrived at the end of April; not soon enough for Madison, and frankly, too soon for Lucky. She could have stayed under the heat bulb for days.

This photo certainly looks like a lot of chicks, but only 5 are ours.  

Most went to my boss (12 Black Australops) and three Ameracaunas and a Barred Rock are destined for another homestead.  Madison finally got her Silkie, and I am trying for a girlfriend for Gomer, the Old English Game Bantam Red Pyle we rescued from the Fair last year.  We won't know for some time if Speck is going to fit the bill...

And shortly after the chicks arrived, we got another "rescue" (more about that later, I have to go to work!)