redpinemountain.com

While Mountain Man Is Away

Thanks everyone for visiting me and I hope everyone has a most wonderful holiday weekend. I haven’t been online much because not much has been happening. Mountain Man left last weekend for the Ozarks to install the kitchen and I was waiting for him to return with photos for you. But, seems as though every time he leaves, I find myself in a predicament. Whether it’s a fire in the toaster oven, bears, or blizzards, I’m a magnet for chaos when he’s away. This time is proving no different. Here’s the scoop:

Last winter, I had planned to get turkeys, guineas and chickens. I had placed an order and then started having second thoughts about it. Two mini donkeys, two mini horses and a very opinionated mare not to mention a greenhouse full of seedlings seemed like more than enough to keep me busy and I called the hatchery to find out if it was possible to cancel and they assured me it was so early in the order process, it wasn’t a problem and my order was canceled.

6:00 a.m. this morning, I’m barely awake and enjoying my first cup of coffee watching the dogs run around outside. The phone rings and I jump. Mountain Man never calls this early. Something must be wrong. Something was wrong all right but not with Mountain Man.

“This is the Post Office. We have your chicks here.”

“Chicks, what chicks?”

“Chicks you ordered. There’s a box here with your name on it and you can come pick them up now if you’d like.”

Panic set in and I jumped in the car and headed to pick up my babies. Oh, no, what was I going to do? I wasn’t ready for chicks. Mountain Man had stopped work on their part of the barn and now here they were.

I could hear them long before I walked in the Post Office. Angry chirps greeted me. “Get me out of here!” they seemed to be saying. I picked up the box and headed to the car. “Ouch, which one of you pecked me?” Seems I wasn’t going fast enough and some little devil had stuck it’s beak out of the hole and expressed its displeasure.

Brr, it was freezing outside. Of course, the Northeast Kingdom had to pick today to have unseasonably cold weather and newly hatched chicks require heat. I cranked up the thermostat and headed home as fast as I could sweating profusely and listening to very loud birds. Who knew babies could make so much noise?

Home, now where to put them? The tack room! Mountain Man had installed a heating system in there last year thank goodness. I cranked up the thermostat to 90 and dragged out a space heater. “Hold on little ones. I have to go get your supplies.”

I was in luck. The local feed store opens early in the summer. “Help, I need supplies for baby chicks” and help me they did. Who knew such small birds required so many items? I left with organic chick starter, heat lamps, a feeder, a water pan and electrolytes and a giant horse water trough for the babies to live in until Mountain Man returns.

The hatchery had enclosed instructions to put down paper towels covered with food for the first day of the chicks’ life. That was easy enough. Now I had to hang the heat lamps. That proved more challenging as I remembered my promise to Mountain Man not to burn down the farm. Took me a while but I think Mountain Man would be proud or at least not worried.

Now it was time to release my tiny brood; guineas, Narragansett turkeys, buff Brahmas, Golden Laced Cochins and Easter Egg chickens (that’s really what they are called). I opened the box and held my breath. Oh, if any one of them were dead, I’d be sad. But they were fine. So please welcome the newest 35 residents of Red Pine Mountain.

In their box, anxious to get out.

My first look at the new babies. I think those green things in with them are gumdrops?


Here are the lilac guineas.

Checking out their new residence.

And, my new blog star, one of the turkeys who is already learning to play to the camera.

Any words of advice would be appreciated and if you happen to be in the Ozarks and see Mountain Man, let’s just keep this latest adventure a secret for the moment.