New Addition to the Farm!! Introducing...Pancha!

Meet......Pancha! She is the newest addition to the 'Acre'. Sweet Pancha was the only hen in her flock spared by a nasty predator and her guardians were sad that she was left all alone and asked if she could come to live with my other girls. Pancha is a sweet Brahma hen. Big and beautiful with cute feathered feet, this little girl is a fighter - for whatever reason, she only has one eye, but seems to have adapted well to that handicap - especially since she was the lone survivor of whatever got her hen friends....

The babies seem to really be curious about this new girl....They watch very closely from afar and seem very intrigued by her. 

The older goats and the sheep don't seem to really notice her. She is a fierce forager - already I can tell she LOVES her bugs! 

The other hens are adamant on making her know her place in the pecking order, but she seems to hold her own pretty good. At night she goes into the coop, but has her very own private roosting cage within the large coop so that she can be with the other girls and they can get used to her but without the pecking at night...Aeon had to go through the same thing, so hopefully soon, they will all get along and realize Pancha is there to stay! She even laid an egg about 3 minutes after she was in her own little roosting cage! She must be fairly young, because the egg was small compared to the other girls.

 ...and off she goes!

The garden is doing....eh....my tomatoes did so awesome up until the last month...my peppers are still going strong and my watermelon and cantaloupe are doing great. Cucumbers are still doing good, and green beans are still coming in as well. I am trying to figure out what I want to put in my fall garden....last year I never really decided and just threw some stuff in the ground...not the best way to plan a garden! ;)

Milly is still having a hard time with the nerve damage she has from that dang meningeal worm... she has a really great positive attitude and doesn't seem to be unhappy or in any pain, just itchy and scratchy and still chews herself up. I am still keeping her in t-shirts and bandaged in hopes that eventually she will be all healed up one of these days....

Ellen is getting more feisty and independent every day and really wants me to know that she doesn't need me to give her ANY attention....unless of course the other babies are getting attention - THEN she gets jealous....go figure...

Misty is under the impression that all of the time I am giving to Milly dressing her wounds is really just me ignoring her...I have had to start getting out there early enough to give Misty plenty of hugs before I start on Milly's bandage routine.

Eli is just as stoic as always - sweet big ol' baby boy. So needy of attention and love, yet such a little bully to the sheep and Ellie if I show them any attention...

Ellie gave me quite an awful scare a few weeks ago... I got out to the farm and she AND Eli were both stuck in the fence. Her head was between HIS horns and his horns were stuck in the fence! My adrenaline kicked in and I was able to free them both pretty quickly, but Ellie's neck was swollen for a few days. I called their awesome veterinarian and he set my mind at ease. She was eating and that was a good sign in his book, and he offered to come out in a few days if she started showing signs of failing health. She was fine after a few days and confirmed that she is indeed a badass little fighting strong girl and that scare made me realize how attached I am to my critters. I knew I loved them all, but for a minute, I thought my Ellie was a goner and my heart felt so heavy and unsettled until I saw her getting better.

The sheep are doing well, still a bit on the anti-social side, but nonetheless sweet.

This weekend I plan on doing a good bit of maintenance work out here, so hopefully I will have some great new pics of a clean coop, clean barn, and newly weeded garden that looks ready for its fall plantings! (That does sound like a lot of work, but I am optimistic that I can make most of it happen if not all!) Happy Monday and have a great week!!