About two months ago, we finally realized what we really needed around here; a nice rooster that
wouldn't torture our sweet little hens. Our old rooster had been attacking the hens by pulling a good amount of feathers off their heads, necks, and backs in the process of mating. We had been putting off the fact that he needed to be butchered, hoping that the nice rooster fairy would come and lighten his mood up a bit. Finally, we all just couldn't take it anymore ("we all" meaning our family AND the hens.) and we stuck him in a crate and started to get him fattened up. That's when we started searching for a healthy, grown, well kept, nice rooster. My mom decided not to look on craigslist, because everyone goes on there to sell animals and she would have no idea whether they were kept in a clean enclosure, or a filthy one. So she decided to look on a website called
homesteadingtoday.com, because that is a site where a lot of farmers go. They are people who raise their animals well and know how to do almost everything on a farm, and you get to know the people on there better than you would on craigslist. Anyway, after a few weeks of searching my mom found a lady in Coffeyville, KS who had lots of sheep, horses, and chickens. We talked to her and planned a day to visit her farm. Of course, things didn't go quite as we planned... we ended up coming home with 2 roosters and a 2 week old lamb!
We had a great time at the farm, and we got there just 1 hour after her horse had foaled! She had just learned how to walk, and we got to see her drink for the first time. The lady had so many happy, healthy animals and beautiful children as well. Spring was about a week away so lots of animals were being born. The farm had about 5 or 6 lambs. One of them had a brother much bigger than her, and every time she tried to drink, she would get butted out of the way by either her mom or her brother, I don't remember which one. Anyway, she was put with a goat, to act as her mom. The farmer offered her to us for about 70 dollars, and we couldn't resist agreeing to take the lamb; she was soooo cute!
So, we drove home with a lamb in a puppy-padded diaper box, and two roosters in a cage. When we were
driving home, my sister and I started to think about names, and picked out the name Rosie. We asked my mom if we could name her that and she said yes, so there she was, our little pet... I mean.. our little ewe, Rosie.
Rosie is now about 4 months old and we had been trying to wean her for a while. My dad thought that her drinking a bottle was just too cute, and when Rosie would cry he would make us give her a bottle! Finally we got past my dad's tries for her to not be weaned yet, and now she's used to eating food and whatever she is grazing on with her babydoll friend, Wally. And now she's ONLY drinking water... and I'm very happy about it. It might be hard to live on a farm sometimes, but it's still really fun!
Dexter, one of the roosters, is happily doing his job with the hens. Doug, the other rooster, had developed lice and mites that we were treating him for and was seperated from the flock for that. He was free range during the day and locked in the shop at night. But one night he wasn't put away in time, and the next morning, we couldn't find him or any signs of what got him. ):
wouldn't torture our sweet little hens. Our old rooster had been attacking the hens by pulling a good amount of feathers off their heads, necks, and backs in the process of mating. We had been putting off the fact that he needed to be butchered, hoping that the nice rooster fairy would come and lighten his mood up a bit. Finally, we all just couldn't take it anymore ("we all" meaning our family AND the hens.) and we stuck him in a crate and started to get him fattened up. That's when we started searching for a healthy, grown, well kept, nice rooster. My mom decided not to look on craigslist, because everyone goes on there to sell animals and she would have no idea whether they were kept in a clean enclosure, or a filthy one. So she decided to look on a website called
homesteadingtoday.com, because that is a site where a lot of farmers go. They are people who raise their animals well and know how to do almost everything on a farm, and you get to know the people on there better than you would on craigslist. Anyway, after a few weeks of searching my mom found a lady in Coffeyville, KS who had lots of sheep, horses, and chickens. We talked to her and planned a day to visit her farm. Of course, things didn't go quite as we planned... we ended up coming home with 2 roosters and a 2 week old lamb!
We had a great time at the farm, and we got there just 1 hour after her horse had foaled! She had just learned how to walk, and we got to see her drink for the first time. The lady had so many happy, healthy animals and beautiful children as well. Spring was about a week away so lots of animals were being born. The farm had about 5 or 6 lambs. One of them had a brother much bigger than her, and every time she tried to drink, she would get butted out of the way by either her mom or her brother, I don't remember which one. Anyway, she was put with a goat, to act as her mom. The farmer offered her to us for about 70 dollars, and we couldn't resist agreeing to take the lamb; she was soooo cute!
So, we drove home with a lamb in a puppy-padded diaper box, and two roosters in a cage. When we were
driving home, my sister and I started to think about names, and picked out the name Rosie. We asked my mom if we could name her that and she said yes, so there she was, our little pet... I mean.. our little ewe, Rosie.
Rosie is now about 4 months old and we had been trying to wean her for a while. My dad thought that her drinking a bottle was just too cute, and when Rosie would cry he would make us give her a bottle! Finally we got past my dad's tries for her to not be weaned yet, and now she's used to eating food and whatever she is grazing on with her babydoll friend, Wally. And now she's ONLY drinking water... and I'm very happy about it. It might be hard to live on a farm sometimes, but it's still really fun!
Dexter, one of the roosters, is happily doing his job with the hens. Doug, the other rooster, had developed lice and mites that we were treating him for and was seperated from the flock for that. He was free range during the day and locked in the shop at night. But one night he wasn't put away in time, and the next morning, we couldn't find him or any signs of what got him. ):
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