Well, hmmm, Smokey the boy cat is a girl cat, that was very evident last week when she was in heat. But, Leon, the boy cat, is also a girl cat in heat this week. That leaves Luke, the other orange cat as the male and that is bad news. Either Luke has to go or both girls have to go. We are not a kitten farm and spaying cats here is like throwing money away because the cats never seem to last longer than a year at the most. I am not sure if the coyotes get them or what happens, but one day they are here and the next, they are not. I really like these three cats, who have all turned out to be excellent mousers now that winter is almost done. They did not like the frigid weather and hung out in their house just trying to stay warm. Now they bring mice and leave them on the front mat, of course, because cats can only eat so many mice and it is so much fun to catch and play with them. I throw the mice for the geese and chickens who will devour them if they are fresh enough. Now, what to do with the two hes who were supposed to be shes?
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Kittens needs to be fed. I guess puppies do too, but not three or four times a day. I fed the puppies twice daily when they were little and now, at 7 months, they are fed once a day. Basically, now, they feed themselves. The food is put out for the dogs and they eat it in the order of superiority in the pack. The kittens have a bit of order to the three of them too. Smokey, though he is the oldest, is not the dominant one. It is little Leon, the barn cat. Maybe the first few weeks of his life, he learned something that the other two never had to - to fight a bit for his food. Now, he grabs his share, runs and hides and growls loudly at anyone or anything that wants to come near him. They also need water. The dogs find water or eat snow, but the kittens seem to need water. I wonder how barn cats or wild cats survive if no one gives them water in winter. They must eat snow too. Maybe these kittens are a little spoiled. They like their meat warm in winter, and meow loudly if they have to eat frozen meat. The dogs never complain, as long as they have food. I heat their meat in winter though, much of the time, so they have something warm in their bellies too. The thing is, kittens are a pain in the butt. They are needy. They are supposed to catch mice. When does that start? So far, they hang out at the porch door and cry for their sustenance. I have to shoo them out of the house constantly. Dogs never try to sneak in. They are far more respectful than that! i guess I am not much of a cat person. I do cuddle the kittens from time to time, just so they remain tame, but I do not find them endearing enough to spend a great deal of time with them. I hope in summer, they are far more self sufficient. Silly kitties. Winter is a hard time for the dogs and cats. Though they grow thick winter coats, especially the livestock guardian dogs, I am sure they feel the cold. Harley, my oldest dog, was a rescue dog. He was skin and bones at 68 pounds when I got him and he should have weighed double. The vet could find nothing wrong, but it was my close observation of him when he ate dry dog food that convinced me, it hurt his stomach. And no wonder, GMO grains are the prime ingredients in even the expensive food these dogs were getting at forty dollars a bag. So, I drove and hour each way to get Harley meat and bones. I watched him blossom too and with that, he showed me the love in his heart and his gratitude for saving his life. I feel it. And the rest of the dogs thereafter have only gotten raw meat and bones for the most part, except in winter. The 50 pound boxes of dog food freeze solid and must be taken in the porch for two days to thaw. Cold dogs and cats eating ice cold food cannot warm their bodies. Sometimes I boil the meat and bones with a little oatmeal and treat them to a warm meal. It has been minus 12 the past two days and the kittens are cold and crying. Today they had a hot meal of beef heart and oatmeal, boiled until tender. To ensure the cats got the food and not the dogs, I brought them in the porch to eat, another treat, only the little ones want to come all the time where it is warm. I am allergic to cats and rabbits, though I have both. As long as they are outside I tend to tolerate them just fine. It is inside that causes trouble, so the cats are outside cats. Often they snuggle up to Jade or Ofcharka and stay toasty warm. These dogs work at night, though, so they must snuggle with each other in their sideways barrel cat house. They are quite comfortable really and a little spoiled with their hot winter meals. It is good to be on the Fat Ewe Farm. The kittens are getting old enough to climb out of Ofcharka's dog house. Their curiosity led them outside today, though they were not at all comfortable once they got there. Mamma cat was calling to them. She has turned out to be a good mother so far. Now the hard part comes. The dogs, especially the puppies, may try to play with the kittens and hurt them inadvertently. Ofcharka has been known to carry kittens simply out of curiosity, but once they make too much noise, he lets them go. So far, I have kept them protected, but once they start going out on their own, it is difficult to keep them out of harm's way. There are 3 boys and 2 girls, once being a mostly white calico cat...very pretty. We may keep the girls if they fit in with the rest of the critters and can hold their own, but the males will have to be rehomed for sure to prevent inbred cats. In two more weeks they will be able to find new homes. Today they were offered solid food, but there were no takers, so the food was put in the dog house, which is very large. Over the next few days, the kittens will likely learn to eat and drink water, an important step to independence. Welcome to the Fat Ewe Farm little ones! Barbie cat has six kitties! This is her first litter, at least the first I have seen. I believed she was pregnant 3 times before, though I had never seen her kittens. Either she had them and abandoned them or they were eaten by something, or she really was not pregnant. This time she had the babies in Ofcharka's dog house, which seems to be the hang out on the farm. Two chicken prefer it for their nesting box, and Jane had her kittens in it as well. Poor Ofcharka has not slept in his house all spring! Jane's babies disappeared in one day, either to the chickens or to the dogs I am thinking, so I blocked off the entrance so chickens and dogs cannot get in. Maybe this littler will survive. I have not looked to see how many boys or girls she had, but there is one kitten that is calico and is so cute. Two are orange and white and a couple of grey tabby cats. Babie is grey, white and orange, and I have no idea what the male looked like, since no male has ever been seen around here. With the livestock guardian dogs, it seems no one wanted to come courting the ladies, so perhaps they took a long walk themselves. The kittens will be for adoption except for one little girl, if they all survive. Welcome to the Fat Ewe Farm little kitties!
Her first litter, and what a good mother, hugging her kittens and purring contentedly.
Jane is a year old and this is her first litter of kittens. As far as I know, none of the neighbours have cats, so the male came from a long distance to be the daddy. He also bred Barbie, but every time she has been pregnant before, she abandoned her litter somewhere and does not care for the kittens. Jane, on the other hand, is an excellent mother. She chose Ofcharka's dog house to have her babies. Jenna was doing clean up and took one of the kittens. She did not hurt it, just licked it clean and left it under the truck. I heard the surprisingly loud crying and returned it to Jane, who was purring away hugging her other two babies. Jane is a small cat and three kittens was about right. They are large and healthy too. The hens lay their eggs in Ofcharka's house. I suppose Jane won't mind sharing, but the hens might try to get the cat out. I hope they do not hurt the kittens. Poor Ofcharka will have to sleep outside or cuddle up with the cats. Jane usually snuggles to Jade, but outside, not in a dog house. There will be some free kitties available in 8 weeks. You want one or two? Currently there are only two cats at The Fat Ewe Farm. Of all the animals, cats, chickens and turkeys seem to be the least likeable by the farmer. It seems the dogs love the cats, but they treat them like rag doll toys, tossing them about in mid air, not to be mean, but to play. The dogs are all huge and the cats, well, they are tiny in comparison. Several cats have been rehomed in the past few months to provide them a harassment free environment. Barbie and Janie stayed. They bat the dogs, hiss at them and run like crazy, so they seem to be holding their own, not that they are not chased on occasion, especially by the puppies. The Maremma sisters are severely reprimanded for this behaviour, but when the pack leader is away, the pups will play.
They chased Janie and she was having none of it, so climbed the big elm tree, and climbed and climbed, until she was almost a speck in the great tree. The puppies looked up at her wagging their tails, waiting, for all of 2 minutes, then gave up and went to play elsewhere. Janie stayed in the tree until she was relaxed and came down for a bit of a pet and some loving. One thing for sure, she is not a good mouser so far, but she can climb a tree really well! It Was Snowing Again!Robbie was a little tired after playing ball for 2 hours. I asked him to jump to retrieve the ball held above my head. If he does this, say, 5 times in a row, he is panting, because it is hard work. So, when I was forking the hay over to the sheep, Robbie snuggled down in the soft top and his eyes closed. He wasn't sleeping, nope, no way. He refused to put his head down and give in. It was so cute. The huge mounds of snow on the roof tops of the sheep and goat shelters and on the old straw bale, look like enormous marshmallows, or dollops of white frosting so thickly spread. And, it was snowing again today, and drifting. Most of the animals did not spend a great deal of time outside, including me and the dogs. When I was feeding the goats, Barbie cat hid in the feeder and Robbie investigated. A bit later, Jade came to check out the goats eating through the fence. I have demised that hay on the ground inside the pen is wasted hay. As soon as the goats step on the hay, they refuse to eat it. One day I dropped some outside the page wire fence and they quite easily stuck their heads through and ate it. It preserved most of the hay as well, so there is now a livestock panel feeder and hay outside the fence. The three sheep temporarily in with the goats for breeding purposes (no, not to the goats, but the Jacob ram to his ewes), can pick enough through the feeder to make it all work. Goat minerals are outside the fence and sheep minerals are inside. That works as well since goats need copper and it is toxic to sheep. At the end of the month the sheep will be back together in their own area and the rams will cohabit in the ram pen, leaving the goats to themselves.
It was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 6 above. Whoohooo! The high temperature was short lived, but it did cause the snow to begin to melt. Remember the days long ago when houses were not so well insulated and it was common to find icicles hanging from the roof? We would break off the biggest one we could find and suck on it like a popsicle. Goodness, when I think of the pollution in the water and air, and the gunk that comes off the roof, there is no way I would want to do that today! Still, looking at the icicles on the old farmhouse brought back childhood memories of good times.
The Maremma sisters were quite lazy today, trying to rest in the sunshine on the remaining hay bales. It is one of their favourite spots. They are big enough to climb and jump up, and they love to be at eye level with me. Jenna always smiles. I have tried to catch that smile on the camera, but she is elusive and just when I am ready, she is gone. The girls are quite big now, the size of Robbie, or perhaps a little larger. They will have lots more growing to do. Jenna is always in trouble, while Jade listens and learns fast and wants to please. Just like any two sisters, they have different personalities and quirks. I love them both just the same! The cats don'g hang out with the dogs much, especially because the puppies play with them, but they play as though they are dogs, not cats, and that is too rough. Barbie found herself a nice spot and gave herself a good bath while enjoying the warm day. She was well away from any of the dogs, though I wonder what the prospective birds might have thought! It was a beautiful day for which I am thankful. Our Creator is amazing when considering how magnificent all of nature really is, from icicles to puppies! |
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AuthorFluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. Archives
October 2020
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