"Cheep" Entertainment!

Here's the latest at the ranch:

30 baby chicks arrived by United States Postal Service on May 22nd, 2012.

 It's always funny to see how they come just packed in a cardboard box with holes in it.

The cute little peepers got to sun themselves under a red hot light in our laundry room for a few days until we dared brave the elements and move them to their cozy shack out by the hen house.  Of course we moved their red lamp with them because they like 90 degree weather... and the weather was still unpredictable last week.  It dipped to 40 degrees the first night we had them out.  Thankfully, Rad-Dad is handy and with his trusty tools and scraps he found in his scrap pile, he made their cozy little home out there almost air-tight so the blustery weather wouldn't ruffle their feathers.  They all survived the night.  In fact, we haven't lost one yet!  Our friends came yesterday to collect their eight chicks they had ordered with us.  (There is a minimum order for direct shipments, so we split the order.)  So now we have 22 little peepers strutting around the little coop while our 8 "layers" cluck around in their part of the chicken run.  We have learned that more baby chicks survive toddler-hood if they are separated from the older hens.  It's actually quite fun to watch them scuttle around and peck at things.

Another development here is the abandoned gosling that Isaac found yesterday.  Some say it's a duck, but I say it's a goose.  We have integrated it into the flock of baby chicks.  It stands out like an ugly duckling, but the chicks are taking to it.  I think I even witnessed one or two of them giving him a kiss!  I'm not sure the goose is taking to its new surroundings yet, though.  He must miss his mom. (And who wouldn't?) We created a shallow pool for him to wade in (shallow so as not to drown any chicklets--we have had experience with that too.)  We're trying to make him feel comfortable and we're all hoping he survives and becomes our friendly neighborhood pond-living goose.  All these birdies make for some interesting entertainment!  Who needs chick flicks?  We got the real chicks right here!   Talk about "cheep" entertainment!

One more incident that needs mentioning.  Our friend, the echo.  We have discovered that when the air is still, there is a perfect echo that reverberates off the barn which sits about 200 yards to the south of us.  Tonight, the kids were playing with it.  (Talk about cheap entertainment!)  Brigham would yell down things like, "No, you shut up"... and "No, I said it first"... and we all laughed because the echo would sound just like someone was arguing with him.  Then one of the kids called our dog, Marble, who was between us and the barn.  And the echo sounded, "Marble!"  And the dog became confused about which master to answer.  The more they called her, the more she became confused.  Finally, she started heading for the barn, probably because that was the last command she received.  We laughed and laughed!  And called her some more. And watched her turn to us, then run to the barn when she heard the echo.  Poor dog!

Speaking of the dog, she's been swimming a lot lately.  What a swimmer!  There are several ponds near us and when we go for walks with Marble, she jumps in and swims laps for a while.  When Lisa bought herself a remote control toy boat recently and we took it to the nearby pond, Marble jumped in and began chasing the boat through the water.  The funny thing about that was that Marble dog paddles at about half the speed the boat drives.  So, the boat would turn around and go the other way before Marble got half way to it, then when it passed her, she would turn and follow it again.  It was just funny watching the doggy paddle after a little motorized zig-zagging toy.  She never caught it, but she sure tried.  Sometimes I wonder if we tease that dog too much.  She really is a smart dog.  And sweet.  You have to admit, she does provide us with some pretty great (and cheap) entertainment!

Since it turned hot, the kids have taken to swimming in the pond.  They decided to brave these murky waters this year because it was cleaned out last fall of all the weeds and moss.  So until those grow back, we have a backyard swimming hole.  It reminds me of the public swimming hole I grew up frequenting in Connecticut.  "Merwin Meadows" was the happening spot there in Wilton, CT.  Everyone came on hot summer days to cool off.  I'm really glad my kids can have a taste of that "natural water park" experience in their childhood.  There's something about the mud squishing between your toes that is so character building.

There is a family of Canadian Geese that shares that pond with us.  Until the goslings are big enough to fly, they'll remain at the pond.  They stay at the far corner of the pond while we swim.  However, our curious dog often swims across the pond to invite them to play with her.  The parents honk and squawk and sometimes attack poor Marble. I wonder how many times before she learns they don't want to play.  Rachel thinks we should bring the lonely gosling we found over to the pond and see if this family will "adopt" him.  What do you think?

Until next time...
Rad-Mom