Geese, Ducks, and Rabbits oh-my!

Our nameless Americauna chick, suggestions?

I think the title of this post pretty much sums up what I am going to say :) Today Deirdre and I took a mommy-daughter day trip to West Point. The local tack and feed store there was hosting a poultry swap and we wanted to go check it out! After learning a little bit more about chicken's pecking order and seeing how unhappy Snow White was, we wanted to get her a little friend close to her age. 


Chickens, especially young ones, are social flock animals. When one is isolated, it causes undue stress and weight loss.  I tried 'look but don't touch' with Snow White and my other chickens, but it did not work and they continued to peck her badly. So we have to wait to introduce her once she is full grown and can peck back. In the meantime however she was not happy,and since we want her to be happy and lay eggs, we needed to get her a friend chick close to her age. After learning that the feed store where we got Snow White had no more chicks this season, we started looking elsewhere for a friend. Then this swap popped up, so off we went! 


It only took about an hour to get to West Point. It was just so beautiful there. Deirdre aptly commented "Mommy its so beautiful here. God did a really good job on this one". Sadly I forgot to take photos! I was just so enamored with all of the animals. 


The store was easy enough to find and it was packed! It was at the first stall, yeah that's right I did not make it past the first stall, where I saw the Americauna chicks. My mind was made up then and there. You see while I now have Dominique hens, we at first wanted Easter Eggers. Our Hatchery however did not have any left when it came time for me to order. Plus I was very happy with my Dominiques, they are so sweet! 


So instead of leaving with one Americauna chick, we got A pair of geese, a pair of ducks, a new doe meat rabbit, and our one Americauna chick. Craig had been commenting on how he wanted a turkey or goose to raise for Christmas, and he even tried to catch a baby duck at work. So when I brought these babies home, he wasn't shocked. He was actually pleasantly surprised, especially by the sweet geese and meat rabbit. Well, heck he liked them all. So now we are making plans for all of our new editions! Right now they are playing in our baby pool on the back porch and loving it! 

From left to right: Raspberry, Strawberry, Petunia, and Charles

Laying her head in my hand sweetly! 

Snow White: the white leghorn

Brownie: the New Zealand doe

Duffy: The Dutch Doe and my nemesis due to her being an escape artist! 

Cicero aka Fluffy: the Lionhead Buck

My big babies! Faline, Nala, and Simba.

And, I finished the Oliver and S bucket hat! 

Baby Bunnies?!

Update: No babies as of tonight! 6/62011

Todays post will be short and sweet! After church today I went outside to check on the chickens and the bunnies in the new coop. Much to my shock and surprise, Duffy (Our new black Dutch) made a nest lined with her fur. I proceeded to watch her for a few minutes and indeed she was busily ripping out her stomach fur and making a straw nest. 

Obviously I was shocked. She does not look any different, so we will see what happens and then if babies do come, we will keep them all and promptly have the all spayed and neutered. 

About two months ago my husband noticed that Cicero (Our almost 7 year old 'female' lionhead rabbit -or so we thought) was looking kinda old. I have had her since 2006 and when I got her she was already 2 years old. I took her to the vet and he sexed her as a female and then gave her all the necessary shots. I chose to not have 'her' spayed because I was only planning on having one rabbit. Well a marriage and two kids later, Cicero is still with us. Craig worried that she would die soon and wanted to get another bunny so that it would not be so hard to the kids. Also let me just put this out here but at first he hated Cicero and Cicero hated him. Have you ever heard a rabbit growl? Well my husband has. Obviously Cicero wanted me all to 'herself'. But I digress! 

Anyway so off to the SPCA we go to adopt a sweet black Dutch female bunny. They did not spay her and we saw no reason to since Cicero was a girl. NOT! After we caught Cicero repeatedly mounting Duffy- we realized the vet had made a huge mistake. But since no babies came we assumed that Cicero- now a boy- was too old. 

So... we will see! My husband and I are excited to have more bunnies and to keep them all, so this should be a fun learning experience. Good thing that we have two coops and one hutch now. 

Cicero aka 'Fluffy'. My first baby in college. I was learning Latin when i got her so I named her Cicero. 

Daily Verse: 

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

-Proverbs 17:17

The Coop

Finally at long last we have a secure coop for our brood. After last year's debacle with the local feral cat colony, we knew this year that we need a secure coop. 

Our new coop is very nice. It is cedar and has two levels, nesting boxes, an easy clean tray, and a small run underneath. Needless to say the brood is happy to be out of the old bunny cage at night. Now all we need to put in is a roosting pole. 

Simba (our Buff Brahma) is excited and HUGE! He is only 10weeks old. He might look mean but he is a sweetheart and purrs when you hold him. 

Our garden is also busting out right now. We have already had a large crop of lettuce, spinach, arugula, and strawberries  Now we're just getting in cherry tomatoes. The squash, cantaloupe, peppers, and watermelon are going crazy! 

So at any rate, we are busy over here and soaking up the summer these past two mild days.  We have had dinner on the porch two nights in a row and are loving it. Enjoy your weekend and the outdoors!

One garden bed- we have two additional ones. 

The First Crepe Myrtle Bloom of the summer! They smell divine!

Cicero (Our Lionhead buck) also likes the coop. We house our chickens and rabbits together. They all cuddle together at night. Its quite adorable.

Our family grew by 5!!

No this is NOT an April Fool's joke. The Kleemann Family has grown by five over the past month. That means we have 4 humans, 4 chicks, and 2 rabbits (plus the wild rabbit that keeps hopping into our hutch and stealing food!) to feed now. So in total that makes 10 and we love it! Well Craig says he will love it once the chicks stop "free-loading" and start producing eggs or meat! But , I will say that the new bunny he did totally on his own without my suggestion. Who would have thought that when he despised our first bunny for so long? It turns out that when Cicero got his hutch outside, he became a MUCH happier bunny. *note my sarcasm*


So this might explain why I have not blogged this week. I have been busy, sick, and taking care of baby chicks, whom I now love almost as dearly as my own children. They also think that I am their mother and when I hold them all close they think I am brooding them and fall asleep within seconds. As a little girl I had a pet chicken named Henrietta. She lived to be 9 years old and when she was 7 years old I got her a rooster named Henry. I did this because she was so lonely that she would cluck and coo to her shadow. Poor Henrietta! So I have raised poultry before and love them. Last year we attempted to raise them as well but we soon learned that there was a rabid feral cat colony in our neighborhood. Needless to say it did not end well for our chickens but it also did not end well for the cats in the long run either. So the problem was taken care of and we are a year wiser with a better housing plan!

Officially Deirdre is their mother and has named the chicks Simba, Nala, Faline, and Bambi. (3 Dominique Pullets http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_(chicken) and 1 Buff Brahma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma_(chicken). She is in charge of giving them their water and food. While Deirdre has LOTS of help and is a bit over zealous in their feeding, it has been a fun week watching her sense of responsibility grow. 


Jonas loves the chicks as well, maybe a bit too much. He just giggles insanely when he sees them. He now knows to touch them gently after a close call the first time he meet Faline. Today he softly poked the fur of one and he just had the biggest most proud smile on his face. Jonas is also super close to walking. He has taken his first few steps this week and now free stands for minutes at a time. The most interesting development with him is his "golem scoot". I have no other words to explain it. Its like his half walking-crawl which literally looks like how Golem walked around in the Lord of the Rings movies. I can barely contain my laughter right now as I try to describe this for you. I will video tape it tomorrow to show you just how funny it is. 


I also found my camera thanks to my guardian angel friend Danette so I can post new photos of our new babies. So thank you Danette, you are such a blessing in more ways than one! 


Daily Verse: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. -Romans 12:2