Blazing Kitty

   I just wanted to share these pictures I got of our barn cat, Blaze. He seems to be doing a very good job of rodent control because we haven't seen hide nor hair (nor chewed feed bags nor turds) of any living little critters in a very long time. Though he was nice enough to leave the top half of a giant rat in the middle of the pasture for me to happen upon last week. Yick!

  Just like our last barncat, Blaze spends a lot of time hanging out on top of the poultry pens. We've even started feeding him up there since the goats won't let him in the milk room for dinner without taking a chomp at his passing tail. He likes to follow us around as we feed birds and gather eggs, and he will occasionally reach down and give us a pat, pat, pat on the head as we go by. Nice to know the barn cat thinks we are doing good work, I suppose.

  He and Rialey have the funniest relationship. If he is out in the pasture, she will rush at him at top speed and give chase until the kitty climbs up on top of something. You'd think the poor thing young be terrified of the crazy cat chasing puppy, but the next thing you know he's down and rubbing all over Rialey. He rubs his face on her legs and walks under her belly while she sniffs him head to toe and licks his face. Animals are weird.

Blaze

Our barncat is a goofball, but I have to say that we have not found any evidence of rodents at all since he came here! Thanks Blaze!

The loneliest poult

  About a month ago we decided to toss a bunch of chicken and turkey eggs into the incubator. Unfortunately, we had a couple of problems with the power to the 'bator during incubation, and we only ended up with one little bourbon red turkey poult from the whole batch of eggs.

  We set up the brooder and kept the little guy warm and well fed and watered, but the poor little thing just didn't seem happy. I tried putting in our trusty stuffed woot monkey in for company, but every time we checked on the little guy, he was just standing in the corner looking lonely.

  I decided to steal one of the hen raised banty chicks that we have running around out back as a companion for the lonely little poult, but kept forgetting to grab one out from under Cynthia during evening chores. Well, Blaze, our barn cat, decided to help me remember one morning by trying to make a meal out of one of Cythia's young brood.

  I had just finished milking when I heard the unmistakable sounds of a chick in distress moving at high speeds behind me. Thinking, there's no way a young chick could move that fast I followed the furious chirping to find Blaze under the milk stand with the little bird clutched in his mouth. Somehow I was able to grab up both animals in one swoop, bird in one hand, cat in other. I tucked the sodden, rumpled little bird into my pocket then had a talk with Blaze about how birds are friends not food and had't I JUST fed him breakfast and just how disappointed I was in his rude and ungrateful behavior! I'd like to say he skulked off with his tail between his legs, but let's be honest with ourselves, we are talking about a cat here.

 Anyway, the little chick was none the worse for his wild adventure in the feline jaws of death.

And now our little turkey poult has a friend to grow up with. At first, he was a little terrified of his brooder mate, but the two quickly warmed up to each other and now are fast friends. It's hard to predict what growing up with a chicken who probably will top out at about 3lbs max as a companion will do to this little turkey, but it should be interesting to watch!

Blaze and Ember

  I'm not sure if I ever really introduced our new pair of barn cats. They have been around the farms for a couple months now and seem to be doing a great job of controlling the rodent population.

  This is Blaze. He's an orange tabby with an extra long and stripey tail. His favorite thing is to meow and mule and rub all over things like all he wants from the world is for you to come over an pet him. Of course, when you reach for him, this guy will hiss, swat at you, and run away. Weird cat. 

  This is Blaze's sister, Ember. She's a smokey tortoise shell who is even more spooky than her brother. The only time we can get our hands on these two is right before feeding time when they will grudgingly tolerate pets in exchange for raw chicken.

  After what happened with Hunter, we are kind of glad to have more standoffish cats around. Losing him was heart breaking, and the life of an outdoor cat can sometimes be sorter than anyone would like. Luckily, so far these two have stuck very close to the poultry buildings and storage shed. They were born to a feral mother and love to hunt rats, mice, insects, and toads both day and night. I also think having the sibling pair together helps keep the wanderlust at bay.

Where is ma dinner!?