How does this even happen??

Sooooooo... I go to let out the chickens  & feed the piglet... & as I look around the field, in the pouring rain, I spot Stan the man on his back on top of the septic mound. My initial thought wasn’t good ~ but then I see his little stumpy legs flailing. I squelch over & examine him for any obvious signs of injury & then proceed to roll him back over ~ his back was completely flat... he struggled to get on his legs & appeared stiff for his first few steps but then managed to trot off to the others. I swear he was trying to look cool as if that didn’t just happen. 

Piglet taking a stroll

here she is!!

we have a weasel!

wea·sel

ˈwēzəl/

noun

1. 1.

   a small, slender, carnivorous mammal related to, but generally smaller than, the stoat.

2. 2.

   informal

   a deceitful or treacherous person.

   synonyms:scoundrel, wretch, rogue;

well it's number 1, the furry animal, although i do know a few of the second kind... it's terrorizing the ducks! i haven't met it yet ~ but mike & stella the dog have a few times & it's fearless. It ran all over the place & then realized that no one was going after it whilst standing in the middle of the frozen pond ~ it became relaxed & cocky... i swear it would have started whistling & if it had enough digits the middle one would be raised with a huge grin...

just watch it you weasel... we getting traps!

oh george lucas

sooooooo... i took the georgie to the vets to get his leg checked out. he's been limping slightly since we got him, the previous owners said it was an old injury. when we took him for a walk he went under a bridge & didn't want to come out... i was worried his leg was hurting.

come out of there!!!!

the vet said that it indeed probably was an old injury. he couldn't get over what an amazing personality this dog has... usually working dogs don't like to be touched... but georgie calmly stood while he was poked & prodded.

to my dismay they have found that his spleen is really big & this needs to get checked out. i'll be taking him to vsec on tuesday so it can be ultrasounded. please please please don't be something horrible ~ this is the sweetest gentlest giant of a dog & we love him soooooooo much.

an adjustment for prudence

sooooooo... this time we went to Dr Fisher's office for an adjustment. first we met the firemen that were in the parking lot :)

she's a hit whenever she goes!!

we think there is some improvement ~ all VERY exciting :)

what!?? wheels no way!!!

ROAD TRIP!!!! to get wheels!!!

So the amazing Lindsay Condefer from Street Tails Animal Rescue came through with wheels!! Prudence & I went to pick them up from V-Crest in Moorestown.

Prudence looooves the car!

When we got there these beauties were waiting for us!! As soon as we got home I tried to figure out a harness to connect them to Prudence. We have several easy walkers but she would slide right out.

YES!!!

I eventually got her situated after a lot of squealing!!! (Prudence not me!!!)

Then this happened!!!!! I laughed & cried at the same time!!

These wheels are so so awesome ~ I have contacted the manufacturer to see if I can just purchase a harness to make things a little easier for Prudence.

A HUGE thank you to Lindsay :)

visitors & visting rocks!

sooooooo... another awesome day for prudence :)

Lindsay Condefer & Charlie from Street Tails Animal Rescue came to visit!!

Lindsay, Charlie & Prudence

Prudence & I really enjoyed their company, see there are a lot of awesome people in the world!! & they had lots of ideas for us to help piglet :)

Lindsay & I texted through out the day & she found a pair of wheels for Prudence!!!! YIPPEE!!

Then Prudence & I went to visit Valerie & Matthew Young :) We always get a great welcome there. Valerie fed Prudence a whole apple & they became best buddies.

being this cute is exhausting!!

An exciting day for prudence!!

sooooooo... we went back to Mount Laurel Animal Hospital & saw lovely Dr Sweigard again. She was very pleased with piglets progress, spent lots of time with her & even tried to get the surgeon to take a peek, but unfortunately she was scrubbed up & ready for surgery. The vet techs were awesome too... Prudence was getting lots of fuss & attention & quite rightly so :)

look at the horns on that!

crikey! i hope prudence doesn't get that big...

Dr Sweigard was concerned that this lump was prudence's herniated bladder... which would be bad & would need repair :(

so i posted on facebook looking for wheels for prudence & got lots of encouraging comments but alas she is still wheel-less at the moment.

i know she will need more than one set as she is a growing girl!

a few places have been contacted & i'll let you know of any successes. but Dr Fisher, a chiropractor, contacted me... asking to take a look. so piglet & i went for a road trip this morning :)

buckle up :)

Prudence & Dr Fisher

Dr Fisher looked over prudence, did some stretching & adjusting ~ fingers crossed her legs will improve :) we are very excited at this prospect ~ thank you Dr Fisher :)

Piglet is my friend!

this little Piglet follows me around the farm & waits for me ~ it's heart melting.... 

she seems very content 😊 

& is fast! 

This morning...

sooooooo... I went for stroll around the farm with maleficent..

What beautiful morning... even George Lucas thought so. 

I love living here & I feel so grateful everyday. 

the duck whisperer returns!

sooooooo... mike (my husband) has been away for work for the last week. he usually puts the ducks & geese away at night. in his absence this fell to flynn (my 10 year old) & me.

well... let me tell you we tried every which way to get those feathered fiends in their home without success... i mean how many scoops of food can we throw at them in the dark!

finally mike was back & they even started quacking at him!! he got those web footed birds away in 2 minutes!!

& as if that wasn't exciting enough ~ we have our first fresh duck egg!!!!

WHO KNEW A PIGLET WOULD BE SO HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH!

little piglet is settling in very nicely :) i've been using grapes like pill pockets for the medication the vet gave me.

her cut on her leg is healing nicely.

she is incredibly fast ~ so my photos aren't the best!!

WELCOME LITTLE PIGLET!!!

sooooooo... the lovely groomer at rosedale mills contacts me & asks if i would be interested in a piglet that her friend needs to rehome. this is no ordinary piglet ~ her back legs don't work but she pulls herself along just fine...

i asked mike (my husband) & he was kind of neutral. so i decided to just visit this little piglet. she is 5months old born 4-11-17, weighs 16.53lbs & is called piglet :)

quite a few people have been on the cautious side of me giving her a home but there was something about her, i can't explain it ~ sort of like a calling.

i drove her straight to mount laurel animal hospital because that was the only place that had someone on staff that could see a pig. that place is AMAZING!!!!! i wanted to get her checked out to make sure she didn't have anything that could be passed on to my other animals.

on my way home i called mike, he was away on business, he hadn't given his ok yet... & i really wanted him to be on board. mike asked me what i'd named her... i said well i'm not sure you want another animal, but he was excited! god i love my husband!!!!!

this piglet has brought so much joy to so many people already.

there's a long road ahead, wheels hopefully ~ exercises to help build up the muscle...

we'll take one day at a time ~ that's why i've given piglet her own special blog :)

project: duck relocate ~ complete!

sooooooo our gorgeous livestock guardian dog, george lucas, is doing an amazing job of taking care of all our animals in the front pasture. 

georgie boy looking proud & rightly so!! 

we have a total of 13 ducks ~ 3 i bought, 5 i was given & 5 we hatched at school. we also have this amazing pond which is a bit over grown with  bulrushes.

here i am ~ at it again trying to clear some out. 

armed with mike's massive waders i took the plunge. everything was going swimmingly until i went over to the island in the middle & there sunning itself was the biggest black snake i've see in the wild. then it suddenly clicked that it can swim... got out of the pond as fast as i possibly could & also have no plans on going back in!

new home for our ducks & geese so they can use the pond :) 

great excitement at glenmoore farm!!!

sooooooo... we have lots of chickens & they all go back in the coops at dusk, we do a head count & close the door.

one of our chickens a silver spangled hamburg started not being present in the coop at night but would turn up in the morning ~ this has been going on for some time...

then yesterday morning she turns up with these! :

...15 chicks!!! she'd laid her eggs elsewhere & been sitting on them.

i can't wait to see what they look like! the dad (Liberace) looks like this:

 & is a force to be reckoned with. We may have developed a new breed!!

It's so cool though not having to put a heat lamp on them ~ Mum has it all under control & is doing a marvelous job!

NOOOOOOOO....

sooooooo... we came to the end of spring break & i was EXHAUSTED!!! mike said i could have lie in on sunday ~ hallelujah!!!

when i got up mike walked through the door & said he had bad news. my stomach plummeted below my knees... i had put mr diggins (our rabbit) in his outdoor home last night, he stayed the winter in the basement, so my first thought was that something had eaten him :(

mike said that something had got into the chicken coop & eaten 5 chickens ~ including my beloved & oldest chicken mary poppins. farm life... the number of chickens we've lost you'd think i'd be immune... but these were my old girls, my originals, my pets, my friends... mary poppins was magnificent ~ a blue orpington.

i don't name them anymore unless they have or do something that makes me ~ like crow, she's looks like one & used to fly up to your shoulder.

i put off going to the coop... in the end mike said i should just go & it made me very very sad seeing all those feathers.

we have tried all sorts of things to keep the predators away, decoys, strings, balloons with eyes, shimmery tape, wind spinners... we must have lost over 40 chickens in the last 1 & a half & i say enough is enough!!!

i started looking for a livestock guardian dog (LGD ~ a dog that adopts the animals it lives with & protects them from predators. they sleep outside & are proper working dogs.

one of my facebook friends with LGD experience found me one on craig's list & i have been going back & forth over email for quite some time with the current owner.

this is an older dog probably between 6 & 7, experienced with goats, sheep & poultry. PERFECT! i would love to adopt but i need to know what i'm getting involved with & need a dog that knows the ropes already. plus to be quite honest i feel like i am adopting this poor dog... i will be the third owner at least...

this dog is called lucas... which i wasn't too keen on for a dog... so after some thought i decided we will call him george lucas... i nearly fell off my chair when the owner sent me an updated photo ~ the jpg was called george lucas!!! he is already named that!!

so tomorrow is a VERY exciting day in the ellery household ~ the boys & i are going on an approximate 5 hour road trip to vermont to pick up george lucas & bring him on home!

so exciting!!!!

very very sad day :(

sooooooo... very sadly today we lost one of our favorite chickens ~ sofía vergara 😢

she was in the batch of the original chicks we got ~ completely batty, very beautiful, friendly & always had a lot to say.  we will miss you dearly

Sofía Vergara with Dr McPeek

more chicks!!!

because you can NEVER have too many!

sooooooo... very sadly we lost 11 chickens about a month ago :( they were just at the size to start to lay very soon... we aren't 100% sure what happened, but we are guessing a fox. all part of 'farming' i s'pose... i really do think we need a guardian animal (because we don't have enough!) in with the flock, to watch over & chase away preditors or at the very least alert us ~ so i'm looking to adopt a donkey ~ yes you heard right a donkey :) :) :) WOOOO HOOOOO!

today i picked up another chirping box from the post office of 31 chicks!!! not sure why 31 ~ i ordered 29 but thank you & i'm very happy. one looks a bit poorly ~ i'm force feeding her water. i really hope she makes it. they came all the way from ohio.

the chirping box

hazel 'helping' me clean the coop

extra toe (it's meant to be like that 🙄) 

first visitors 😊 

pond life....

look what Mike found in our pond!!! I'll be thinking twice about wading in again...  apparently it's a sign of a healthy pond.

night time...

everything seems a lot different at night, that  crew takes over while the daytime ones get some rest.  bright eyes show up in my flashlight & scurry away.

I wonder whose those peepers belong to

there's lots of action going down in the pond... I'm hoping Meryl the turtle makes an appearance soon :) 

we found some duck eggs!! not eating them though because we don't know how long they were there for.

chicks are all doing well & we have bees coming on Saturday!!