by Pa Rock
Chicken Rancher
Rock's Roost has grown considerably during the past week - not in area, for it remains a compact ten acres, but in density of souls.
On Thursday I drove thirty-five miles or so to a very remote area near Alton, Missouri, where I acquired baby guinea chicks. I ordered twenty-five, but the sweet little old lady who ran the eighty-acre farm by herself threw in three extra because she liked me. Her farm was at the end of a very narrow dirt lane, and it was teeming with various forms of feathered fowl: several varieties of guineas, turkeys, geese, and chickens of all breeds and sizes - the place was a peeping, gobbling, honking, clucking enclave of cacophonous pandemonium! She also had cats, dairy goats, and several big, brown cows.
I brought the little guineas home and they are all doing well under a heat lamp in the garage - which is a fortunate set-up because the weather is miserable and rainy.
But the big farm news of the week happened yesterday when my son and I drove out past the nearly abandoned community of Moody, Missouri, to look at some Great Pyrenees pups. The lady who had them also lived on a very remote farm. She keeps Great Pyrenees to protect her extensive flock of chickens, so the five young pups that she had were already socialized to be around poultry. The pups, four females and one male, were born March 6th and had just turned ten-weeks-old. They weighed roughly twenty-five pounds each. Nick and I chose the male and brought him home to live at the Roost.
There was some sunshine yesterday (intermittent), giving the young dog time to explore his new yard and pen. The pen is about twelve feet by thirty feet with a covered area and an old coop for protection from the elements. The pup, as yet unnamed, curled up in the shade of the maple tree that is also in the pen and slept a good part of the afternoon. Last night he cried a little when everything else was put up and Pa Rock headed to the house, and today with all of this dreary rain, he has been whimpering some more.
Rosie was not amused to find that another dog had moved into her territory - even if he is an outdoor dog. The poor pup tried to make friends with Rosie, but she ran from him - at first in mortal fear, and later just to show her displeasure with the new boarder at the Roost.
So the little farm is growing. Soon the guineas will be out clearing the yard of chiggers and ticks, and they will be relatively safe because an enormous white dog will be woofing at every varmint that tries to destroy the tranquility of life at Rock's Roost.
Life is good - and getting better!
Chicken Rancher
Rock's Roost has grown considerably during the past week - not in area, for it remains a compact ten acres, but in density of souls.
On Thursday I drove thirty-five miles or so to a very remote area near Alton, Missouri, where I acquired baby guinea chicks. I ordered twenty-five, but the sweet little old lady who ran the eighty-acre farm by herself threw in three extra because she liked me. Her farm was at the end of a very narrow dirt lane, and it was teeming with various forms of feathered fowl: several varieties of guineas, turkeys, geese, and chickens of all breeds and sizes - the place was a peeping, gobbling, honking, clucking enclave of cacophonous pandemonium! She also had cats, dairy goats, and several big, brown cows.
I brought the little guineas home and they are all doing well under a heat lamp in the garage - which is a fortunate set-up because the weather is miserable and rainy.
But the big farm news of the week happened yesterday when my son and I drove out past the nearly abandoned community of Moody, Missouri, to look at some Great Pyrenees pups. The lady who had them also lived on a very remote farm. She keeps Great Pyrenees to protect her extensive flock of chickens, so the five young pups that she had were already socialized to be around poultry. The pups, four females and one male, were born March 6th and had just turned ten-weeks-old. They weighed roughly twenty-five pounds each. Nick and I chose the male and brought him home to live at the Roost.
There was some sunshine yesterday (intermittent), giving the young dog time to explore his new yard and pen. The pen is about twelve feet by thirty feet with a covered area and an old coop for protection from the elements. The pup, as yet unnamed, curled up in the shade of the maple tree that is also in the pen and slept a good part of the afternoon. Last night he cried a little when everything else was put up and Pa Rock headed to the house, and today with all of this dreary rain, he has been whimpering some more.
Rosie was not amused to find that another dog had moved into her territory - even if he is an outdoor dog. The poor pup tried to make friends with Rosie, but she ran from him - at first in mortal fear, and later just to show her displeasure with the new boarder at the Roost.
So the little farm is growing. Soon the guineas will be out clearing the yard of chiggers and ticks, and they will be relatively safe because an enormous white dog will be woofing at every varmint that tries to destroy the tranquility of life at Rock's Roost.
Life is good - and getting better!
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