Gone So Long

For all of you that have been holding your breath waiting for my return, I am back! I have been so busy with life here in the Cuckle Burr Patch, that by the time I'm done with all I have to do, I am just done for and sit around like a zombie.

Now I am going to show you part one of what has been going on around here. This is in addition to all the critters I already had to take care of!

First I decided that I needed some more babies. So I got the incubator out and loaded it with lots of eggs.

After three weeks of checking temperature and humidity and rolling eggs like the mama hens.....The pipping began.




Struggling to break free.




The hatching happens fast, and after they dry, you can play and pet them. They can go two days without food and water, which is what happens when you order chicks thru the mail. After they are dry I like to get them started immediately with water spiked with electrolytes and a pinch of sugar. It's kind of like Gatorade for peeps and gives them a boost.

This is the result of playing mama chicken!

A few weeks later, they have developed their feathers and colors!

Also during this same time period, I got 15 pheasant chicks. I dont have pics of them when they were no bigger than a jacks ball, but if you look real close in the pic below, you will see some of them. They are very illusive. We have them in our high tunnel and before we could move them, we had to make the tunnel secure.

They seem to be quite content and have made little hidey holes all thru the grass and weeds.

Well that's it for part one. The next installment will be tomorrow, so stay tuned for part deux!

Burnt to a Crisp!

Have you ever blown up a microwave? I know my oldest blew hers up with a baby bottle, but I never thought it would happen to me. I think my microwave will survive but I don't trust it anymore. I put 2 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in my microwave to thaw to make a yummy meatloaf. Set it on 5 minutes and at 40% power. I have done this many times before with excellent results. Its just enough to thaw it all out and have just the tiniest bit left frozen in the center.

I was doing laundry/cleaning/fixing a new home for peeps that are coming next week, when a couple we know came to buy eggs. I went outside to talk to them with the 'wave still having 2 minutes to go. I had no reason to distrust it since it had always preformed beautifully. I think I was outside about 10 minutes. When I came back in there was smoke boiling out around the microwave door. It was at FULL power and had over 4 minutes showing on the timer! How in the world did that happen??

Needless to say, the alarm system screamed out to everyone that there was a fire in the Cuckle Burr Patch! Alarms were going off, the phone was ringing, the cats were running, and the dog was squeeking and barking! Can you say CHAOUS!!!

I had to confess to the alarm system lady that their was no fire, only a burning pile of bovine flesh mixed with melted white plastic bag. I wish that I had taken a picture to show all of you. I am certain that you would have thought it quite impressive. There were 2 little piles of something laying on the turntable and stinking to high heaven. I picked up the phone and ordered pizza. One way to get out of cooking. :-)

New Babies!

Here are the newest members of the Cuckle Burr Patch family. Aren't they just the purrtiest little dawlings you have ever seen? They are just beautiful, though I might be a little on the slanted side. What, you might ask and I know you will, is that blue stuff on four of the little ole heads? Well since you asked, that is Blue Paint, non toxic in case any PETA heads are out there, and that is how the company where these little beauties came from, mark the little boys so you know which ones are the roos. Get it? Blue for roos, pink for chicks. Ok I stretched it a bit, but the blue paint is real and if they will hold still for you, you will see that there are 4 blue roos and 4 non blue roos.

In this group of 4 blue roos there are 3 different varieties of roos. The non blue non roos are all the same and will belong to one of the blue roos of the same family. The other blue roos already have non roos waiting for them. Think "prearranged marriage"! AND guess what? When they all grow up to be roos and non roos, they will look nothing like they do now! They will morph into the most beautiful roos and chickies, and I promise to show you the morphing the entire way. And No, they won't live their entire lives in my laundry basket. They might stay in it a week, unless they learn they can jump out of it any time they feel like it. Besides, I will need to do laundry again this weekend!

Pics of My Life

Some of my grown girls, with some of the buckwheats.
My youngest granddaughter cant say guinea so she
calls them bikinis. Now we do to.


One of my babies. You can tell how mistreated they are!
He was so bored with the tv show he was watching he
decided a nap was called for.

Guineas....Buckwheats! They are on bug patrol. The
tick population has diminished considerably. They will
also take on snakes, which is bad for my good snakes.
But the copperheads stay away!



A few of the peeps. These are the ones that started it all.
I began with 25 Araucaunas and now I have over 70 of
several varieties. The bug is so bad that I now have 15
pheasant chicks. Will post pic of them soon. And over the
next two weeks will have more peeps arriving. I think I have
lost it, but actually they keep me sane.

There is nothing like watching chickies grow, scratch and talk to each other and to you! When you have peeps and they get upset, you can talk like a mama chicken and they will calm down. Threw that in there in case you want to go talk to some. They listen better than men too!