Sad news on the farm . . . .

On Tuesday, Monty and I learned a great deal about raising baby ducks. They've been in a little pen inside the garden fence with a wooden top on it for shade and protection - the 15 of them. Monty gave them their water early Tuesday morning when the temps were in the mid-60s (unheard of in July in Alabama BTW!!). They drank it so fast, Monty gave them another jar of water and filled a little extra bowl of water for them! I went into the garden a few minutes later to pick and looked over and a duck was keeled over and kicking in the cage. I started over to look, and another duck keeled over and the rest were staggering around the cage and tripping and acting drunk!! I said, "Monty! Get over here! The ducks are dropping like flies!!"A third duck fell over and began kicking, and the first was already dead. Monty took the second one and I took the third one and began holding it at our necks to warm them. We took the rest and sat them in a very sunny spot in the garden to heat them up quickly. Well, we lost 2. Number 3 warmed up and started acting OK, and the rest began to calm down with the morning sun heating them up. They had drunk so much water, they were in shock. Comforted that they'd be OK, we finished our animal and garden chores and left for a brief trip to the feed and seed store. 3 HOURS later (my husband has a way of allowing time to just slip away) we came back having forgotten to put the cover back on the ducks' cage or to put them in the shade again. It was noon and the sun was BROILING hot. 4 ducks were lying their dead as doornails, and 2 more were panting and weak. We quickly got them more water and put them in the shade, but we lost those 2. SO, we lost 8 ducks on Tuesday. The remaining 7 were brought back into the garage, and we know EXACTLY how much water to give them, and how fragile they really are. YIKES, that was just awful.

ALSO, Delilah the Great Pyrenees dog has to go.

Remember the new pygmy triplet goats? Nellie, Josie, and Billy? They are all about the same size as baby Spencer - the size of a goodly adult cat. Well, Delilah had been chewing on little Josie. She had done some mouthing on Spencer when they were first together and they were about the same size, we'd come out to the goat fence, and Spencer would have messy, slobbery spots on him where Delilah would be "playing rough" with him. No injuries, though. Josie, however, has hairless scrapes on her ears and legs where Delilah has been CHEWING on her!! We caught her in the act several times and administered a swift spanking each time. However, her habit seems too ingrained and she keeps doing it.

We moved her from the main goat pen where little Nellie and Josie are to the boy pen with Spencer, Billy, and Freddie the larger goat are. She got Spencer's ear! He has chew marks on it!

Fortunately, a man came to buy Sam and Freddie yesterday, and his wife LOVED Delilah. Freddie and Sam aren't pygmy goats, and they aren't small enough for Delilah to have her way with them. They just give her a good head butt when she tries. Those folks are coming back for Delilah today, and we are SO glad. Delilah has been with them since they all arrived, so this should ease the transition for everyone. The children are SO glad we've found good people to take care of Delilah, but we will be SO sad to see her go.