raley family's farm: A Better Idea!

Sometimes, you have a good idea, but after thinking about it a bit, you get a better idea~
So, while it was a good idea to buy 132 chickens and put them in a bunch of cages that were already built, I got a better idea, and decided to put them in a cage not built yet...
And the best thing about it is...since I'm not strong enough to build it myself, my husband and son had to do the actual work - at least the building part. But I don't "think" it was too hard, because they just had to move chain link panels from here to there to build it. Those panels were a bit expensive, but they sure are nice when you are someone who has...ummmm...good ideas all the time and is always wanting to move cages from here to there.

So Bill and Beau move panels while I raked and cleaned and got stuff out of their way. Right in the middle of this, Luke, Tommy, Angel-Leah and grandson Beetle began to scream and yell "The goat's having a baby!! The goat's having a baby!!" I ran around the corner and sure enough, there she is with two little hooves sticking out of her end quarters. I didn't have the camera right then, and I wish I would have, because the look of utter disgust on Tommy's face as he watched the birth process was priceless!!

Baby goat wasn't coming easy for this poor first time mama, and she almost looked like she was having seizures trying to get it born. Once I saw the little nose and mama goat went rigid trying to get it out, I decided to have mercy and help. I grabbed the little feet and gently pulled while she pushed. The kiddos were REALLY grossed out by that (YUK!! She's touching it!!) but we got a little female goat finally born.

The bad thing was mama goat picked the nastiest place around to kid - in the back of the barn where the horse uses the potty. Plus, the dogs were very, very interested in this whole thing, so I had to move the two of them to cleaner, safer quarters.

Not easy, though. This was the untamed goat, and she LIKED the spot she had had her baby. She didn't want to move, and made me drag her the whole way...

The kids tagged along, grossing out at mama goats hind end. But hey, that's nature...

So, mama goat and baby girl goat moved into a safer spot, and the new chicken pen all finished, I got the four younger kids employed catching 132 chickens for me so we could move them. They actually had fun doing this, and the amazing thing was that Tommy was the best chicken catcher! Guess it has something to do with being so close to the ground?

Yes, Tommy has on two seperate boots. He can never find both boots at the same time...

Angel-Leah seemed to think the chickens had to be cuddled before they were put in the new cage. And hey, wait a minute!! Isn't that MY sweater????

Eggs were everywhere. The kids would tend to drop the chickens when they found an egg...They were having a real treasure hunt!

So the day got done, and at the end, I had a new, hopefully (maybe?) permanent home for the chickens...