A Rose for Mother's Day

The first equine denizen of our farm arrived on Mother's Day, May 2010. She is a 10 year old grade Belgian mare, 16.2hh and approximately 1600lbs. She was known as Rosie but we shortened it to Rose a la Dr. Who's companion. She has a freeze brand on her off shoulder that several people have said is the mark of a Premarin pregnant mare urine farm. We've since learned she was green-broke at one time, and we've ridden her around the barn paddock with very few issues. We plan to buy a work harness and see what she knows about that as well, soon.

Our first chickens

Soon after bringing home the NZW rabbits, we were in TSC aka Tractor Supply in Huntsville (as we often are). They were having "Chick Days," so they had baby chickens all the time, and sometimes they had ducklings as well. We had already bought heat lamps, feeders, waterers, etc., in anticipation of ordering chicks from a hatchery. We (as in, I, after DS11 Sean begged) decided to take home a dozen of little red fluffballs from TSC. So around April 18, these came home with us:

See the white splotches on the sides of the brooder? Those are the remains of coralline algae. This is one of the 100 gallon stock tanks that housed coral and anemones back in the garage in the house in Durham. We almost didn't bring the three stock tanks with us, but now are glad we did. They've been wonderful poultry brooders!