Animals

Critters

December 22, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Somehow, I ended up with a lot of pictures of animals this month.

One of the boys borrowed my camera to take pictures of the cattle to share with his cousin. This is the two milk cows. Bluebell is on the left, and her mother Poppy on the right.

The young stock were on top of the hill that day. The two biggest ones are steers, and the two smaller ones are heifers. The Jersey heifer is Poppy’s calf from this year, Rosie. The other is a beefy that Simon brought us from the farm on which he worked. We assumed it was a bull, and gave it a masculine name…until Gayle and Elijah went across the road to castrate it two months later. That’s when we realized that no one had ever looked to see what gender it was! We changed her name.

The calves. Rosie and Ramona are best friends.

These cats are not best friends, but they do end up sleeping in close proximity sometimes, when conditions are right! This is my miniature greenhouse. It was getting too hot to start plants in it, so I left it propped up. Now, I have a frame covered in shade cloth, in the same place, to start the summer’s crops.

This cheeky weka lives in our garden. It scratches the mulch away from the plants and eats the tomatoes.

The flax in front of the house are in bloom, and we often see a tui drinking from them.

I was hanging laundry one morning, and one of the tuis serenaded me from a nearby tree. It went on long enough that I was able to get a video of it!

One day, the boys took Mom on an adventure. At one farm, they saw this family of pigs.

At another farm, they saw these deer.

Someone was moving an old wool underlay one day, and discovered a bumblebee nest inside. We had never seen such a thing! Thankfully, no one got stung.

Babies!

October 19, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

We have a lot of baby animals around here right now. As I mentioned last week, our heifer had her calf the beginning of September. About three weeks ago, near the end of September, we bought a beef calf to raise for the freezer, and were given two goat kids and several lambs. Sadly, all but one of the lambs died; the tiniest one survived! Now, two days ago, our cow had her calf. Lots of cute babies to enjoy!

It took about a week for this little lamb to really get on his feet, but he is thriving now. Sometimes we let him loose while we’re outside, and he follows us very closely—he even wants to get in the house!

He loves his bottle! We’re still feeding him small amounts every 4-5 hours, and about two hours before the next feed he starts crying for it, even though he’s very fat.The evening that the boys took the three big cows down to the other paddock, the babies excitedly ran to the fence to see them go past.

This is Poppy, our older cow, a week before having her calf, and Pepperoni, the yearling steer. Pansy, the heifer I’ve been milking, was not cooperating, so I didn‘t get her in the picture.

Twice a day all four babies get a bottle! Everyone prefers to feed the goats.

This stump in the middle of the paddock provides the perfect playground for two young goats!

The long-awaited baby! Both calves born to our cows this year were heifers, which is exciting. Isn’t she gorgeous?

On the Move, Part 1

December 30, 2017 by NZ Filbruns 5 Comments

We will be moving again soon. We tried to buy the house we’re in, but weren’t able to get financing for it, so our landlord told us we need to be out by mid-January. We finally found another one to buy, and plan to move there the beginning of February. I’ll share more details here in a few weeks, after the next set of papers have been signed and we are as sure as can be that the place will be ours. For now, I’ll share a few of the many pictures I’ve taken as we work on down-sizing our menagerie.

This is my garden. I started all these plants before we knew we would have to move, and they were in pots way too long. I sold and gave away some, and then we finally took a load of them to where Simon is living, a few weeks ago, and planted them in that family’s garden. Most of the rest went over there a few days ago, and are growing in half barrels and other planters.

This kitty needs a new home, because we won’t have the kind of space he needs. I put this photo online, and minutes later someone asked for him. Hopefully, he’ll have a new family this week.

We’re keeping one of the kittens, but Grizzly needed another home, so I posted this picture—and within minutes she, too, had been spoken for. We get to keep her for another couple of weeks.

These pictures didn’t get the same kind of response—not many people want turkeys, apparently. If you want some, we have 40-50 that need to go somewhere!

New Babies

October 29, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

It’s spring! That means there are lots of new babies around.

We were given a lamb the last week of September. See the cat eyeing it? The other cat took one look and hid for the rest of the day!

The cows and ducks were pretty curious, too. This lamb is named Daisy. By now, she’s free in the paddock, but she spends a lot of the day crying at the gate for more food, or attention.

We were given two more lambs when Daisy was a few weeks old. They are named Dusty and Debbie. We have the beginning of a flock of sheep—three little ewe lambs!

We came home from a trip to the West Coast to find eight new goslings! I didn’t want to get close to them to take a picture, so this is really zoomed in and not the best. These particular geese have never attacked anyone, but I don’t trust geese too far.

The little boys are loving taking care of the lambs!

It’s a Bull!

July 28, 2016 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

The calf has arrived! As I said in yesterday’s post, our cow was looking very close to calving last evening. Mr. Handyman checked on her at 6:00 this morning, and nothing was happening, but I went out a few minutes before 8:00, to find her laying down. As I feared, she couldn’t get up. She has a history of milk fever, which is a sudden crash in calcium levels in the blood, so I knew what the problem was. Normally, this happens a day or two after calving, but this cow has gone down while she was in labor before. So, I called the vet as soon as they opened at 8:00, and he came out within half an hour. He gave her calcium intravenously, as well as a drench, and a few minutes later she was on her feet. We kept a very close eye on her all morning (one of the boys had trouble focusing on school—he’s still not done!), and at 1:00 the exciting news was shouted around the house that “something” could be seen. By about 1:45, we were excited to have witnessed the birth of a beautiful little bull calf. Both mother and baby seem to be doing well, although we need to continue giving her extra calcium for a few days as her body adjusts to producing milk again. We’ve named the baby Speckles.

Proud mama!

I got this picture from the house of the children watching the birth while eating lunch!

The calf’s father was a White Galloway bull belonging to a neighbor of ours. He looked a lot like this one.

Now, for the winners of my giveaway! Dianne was the only one who guessed the right day; she will receive a code for a free Kindle copy of Sweet on You, the first Meddlin’ Madeleine book, by Chautona Havig. Only Dianne and Dannielle guessed that the calf would be a bull, so Dannielle will get Ante Up!, the fourth Aggie’s Inheritance book, also by Chautona Havig. I’ll send you both your codes as soon as I have them. Enjoy!

What Day Will it Happen? Contest!

July 17, 2016 by NZ Filbruns 9 Comments

We are eagerly anticipating fresh milk again soon. We’ve been drinking frozen milk since I dried off the cow about the first of June, but it isn’t the same. The cow has started to bag up now, though, so we’re getting excited about having a new calf on the place again–and did I mention, fresh milk? And cream? And butter? We ran out of the frozen butter today and have to use butter from the shop now.

Anyway, I’m having a contest! I have a free copy of each of Chautona Havig’s two most recent books, Sweet on You and Ante Up!, so they will be the prizes for this contest. To enter, please comment on this post or on my Facebook page (with the link for this post) with the day you think the calf will arrive and whether it will be a heifer calf or a bull calf. The cow is due on July 23, and these pictures show how she looks today. (No, it’s not twins; we saw the calf when we had the vet do a scan to confirm the pregnancy in November, and it was definitely just one calf–this cow simply gets huge!) I’ll give one of the books to the person who guesses closest to the right date (or draw from all the right guesses), and the other book to someone who guesses the right gender. The contest closes when the calf is born–sometime in the next two weeks! The book you get will be a Kindle book, but you do not have to have a Kindle to read it. If you have a tablet or a smart phone you can easily get a free app to read Kindle books, or you can read them on your computer. So, make a guess and you may get to read a book by my favorite author!

Cuteness—Kittens and Chicks

June 7, 2016 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We acquired two kittens toward the end of April, Leif and Linda. They were awfully cute, playing together. When we let them in the house in the morning, they would spend the next hour or so playing with each other, then settle down for a nap on their favorite chair. We thoroughly enjoyed playing with them and holding them for a nap. Unfortunately, Linda was accidentally killed only a month after we got them. We’re still enjoying Leif, though. He’s growing fast, and full of life. He searched for his sister for a day or two after she died, but seems to have forgotten her now. Mr. Inventor allowed Leif into his room so he wouldn’t be so lonesome at night, and now the kitten sleeps with him.

The fire-worshippers!

The only time we saw Leif up this tree was when he was searching for Linda—she used to climb it.

Guarding a schoolbook?

We also have some very cute chicks. This hen has hatched chicks for us quite a number of times; she’s getting pretty old—Esther found a picture of her from 2013, when she was young. We think someone gave her to us. This time, she hatched 16, out of 16 eggs—quite an impressive record.

It’s pretty funny to see all 16 chicks under their mother at the same time. She can’t relax! All you can see of the chicks is a few feet sticking out. I’m really impressed by how a mother hen takes care of her chicks. It’s really cold in the mornings here right now, with heavy frosts. The chicks run around and forage for awhile, then duck under their mother’s feathers to warm up. Then they run around for awhile again. When we put feed on the ground for them, she races over and starts virtually ordering the chicks to eat.

These white chickens were raised by the light brown hen you can see just in front of the red tub. She and another hen, between them, hatched 23 chicks within a few days of each other in April, and have successfully raised all 23. We locked them up just a few days ago, because there were too many chickens on the loose.

“Eat up! You don’t know when you’ll find more food!” says Mother Hen.

Goofy Turkey and Cute Geese

October 18, 2015 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I was hanging laundry last Saturday morning when someone knocked on the window to get my attention. I looked where they were pointing and saw the funniest sight I’ve seen in a long time. Can you see it?

Yes, that is a turkey carrying a bucket by its handle! Our best guess is that he was showing off for the ladies. There are two toms right now in the flock of turkeys, and frequently we see both of them strutting at the same time. They will actually run with their tails fanned out and their wings dragging, to keep up with the ladies!

We have two baby geese now, the first time we’ve ever had that species of baby in the house! They are so different from chicks or ducklings. They really interact with us. They hate being locked in their box, and beg to be taken outside every day. They are already eating grass (and when we were setting out baby lettuces the other day they pulled two up). Last evening, Little Miss was playing outside, and crawled over to the wire basket under which the goslings were. She let them out, and then chased them.

I thought it was pretty cute the way they slept with their necks together this time!

Exciting Birthday!

October 11, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Today is my birthday, and I had a wonderful birthday present–my cow calved this morning! She was nearly a week late, so we’ve been keeping a close eye on her. Last night she looked like she was very close, so we moved her into a paddock (we had her beside the road) so the calf wouldn’t end up on the road. When I went out at 6:30 this morning to check on her, it was apparent that she was in labor, but she also had milk fever and couldn’t get up. Of course, Gayle was at work, so I called our landlord, who knows a lot about cows, and asked him if he would be able to come over and give her some calcium. He very kindly came over soon, and instead of giving her the oral calcium that I had, he gave her two bags under her skin. He tried to hit a vein, but missed both times. It still works, just not quite as fast. We continued to watch her closely, and around 9:00 I felt inside to see if the calf was in the right position. It was, and half an hour later the feet started showing. Around 10:00 she finally stood up! The feet and nose disappeared back inside, and she took a break for awhile, eating some grass and hay. By 11:00, though, the calf was born–a healthy little bull. The children all got to watch. They had been hoping for that. They’ve had quite the education–they witnessed the breeding and now the birth.

And here’s a funny: This is Chestnut’s third calf, and all three have been born on a Thursday. We’ve had four different goats kid here, and three have kidded on a Thursday. What are the odds of that happening?

Just born!

Everyone wants to meet the new baby!

Worn out.

This afternoon, the two oldest boys went to help a local man “tail” lambs. Of course, lambs are born with long tails, but if you leave the tails on, poo builds up on them and then flies lay eggs…. I’ll spare you the details, but it’s kinder to cut off the tails. At the same time, they notch the ears for identification, and “ring” the males. This farm has around 2,000 ewes, so there are 3-4,000 lambs. The farm is in the hills directly east of Cheviot. We were able to drive the van to the back of the farm where they were working, since we have 4-wheel drive in it. We were going up and down some mighty steep hills! I have been looking at those particular hills, and the farm road we went up, since we moved here, wishing I could go up them! What a day for my wish to come true–my birthday! The views from the top were awesome. Snow-capped peaks in one direction; the sea in the other.

Ever since we moved to Cheviot I’ve wanted to go to the top of this hill. The tailing operation.

On the way back down, we stopped on the hill at the base of the cell tower (we were higher than the tower when we were back where they were tailing!). We live at the edge of the worked ground in the middle of the picture–just beyond Cheviot.

View to the north from the cell tower. You can vaguely see the Kaikoura mountains here; in reality they were quite clear.

Look how steep this hill is!

See the cows along the top of the ridge across the valley?

The road we drove on to get to the back of the farm, viewed from the other side of Cheviot. That’s the road I’ve been eyeing for nearly three years!

Random Photos

October 1, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

This one turned three! Here he is with the gifts his siblings gave him.

The annual Dead Boring Bike Hike–ready to take off!

I followed the bikers in the van; I never saw the oldest two boys till the end. I passed these two a number of times.

I also passed Esther and her friend a number of times.

The chicks in the house are growing–when they started doing this trick we had to put a screen over their home!

Elijah got the idea to build this house from skewers and modeling clay. James helped out.

And look who can climb up on top of things already!

This one (Mr. Sweetie) found his daddy’s gum boots one afternoon!

Someone gave the chicks a perch, and they like to sleep on it. It’s rather comical–they try to sleep with their head tucked under their wing, but when they fall asleep their head falls down!

Pretty daring!

Muddy boy! Somebody wants to go outside!

Now this is a cheesy grin (literally)!

Animals

Thank you!