Looking out over some seriously dry pastures; on the menu today- Hay!
Last year at this time and the celebration of Canada Day- saw much greener pastures! Think rain!!!
New girls checking out the digs and nest boxes on their first night at the main farm in Watkins Glen
Bruce dreaming of grass and some cool weather. Come on SUN- give us a break!
Maurice overseeing the introduction of the new hens.
Milo yelling for new gal pal Almata
Looking for some green! Maggie, Aretha and the babies all hoping to find something good to eat in the drought!
Week in Review: As the Sun Burns
This week brought way too much sun, too little rain and some serious bird drama with some of our newest Watkins Glen residents as they joined their permanent flocks and attempt to establish themselves with their new families.
The newest flock of ducks and geese is finally healthy enough to join our other resident waterfowl folks. While they are not fighting, they are definitely keeping their distance and pretending not to know each other. Further complicating matters: That strange giant bird who seems to be stalking their every move.
And then there are the chickens. Those birds rescued from the recent case in Franklinville, NY, where they lived in a barn so toxic that we required a respirator to enter. Today, they are now free to explore the fresh air and sunshine, but really causing quite the stir!
First night in the new barn; some of the Franklinville girls settling in for the night.
Head honcho and resident popular guy Milo seems a bit too enamored with his new ladies, leaving his old ladies out in the cold (well, out in the hot to be more precise). Thankfully, the ever loyal boy Palmer has been there to pick up the pieces and the brokenhearted hens thankfully seem to be over it. Oh Milo, how could you?
Could it be that they are just so beautiful, younger, or is it more that these girls just the right size for our little Lothario? Whatever the case, Milo seems smitten with his new lady friends.
The super loyal Palmer staying with his ladies! Such a good roo!
As for some of the other flocks, different roosters have very different tactics to ensure the new brood is happy and loving life. The handsome Mo Justice knows these girls are not ready to become a big happy family just yet, and so he spends the day going between the two separate flocks, ensuring everyone gets equal time with him.
Mo Justice trying his best to preserve the peace; running between his new flock and past flock of girls.
In the upper chicken area, the largest group arrived along with five roosters, who thankfully get along well. Although there is some separation, you would think this huge group has been together forever.
New hens and roosters enjoying the sun from the comfort of shade; so happy to be outside and in a family flock!
We also celebrated the re-birth day/ rescue anniversary of Julia pig and the birthdays of her beautiful children. They were among those mucking it up on International Mud Day… which leads us to a far drier topic…
Western New York has finally been declared a true drought area. It was so dry that we had to celebrate International Mud Day with man-made wallows using the hose. The pigs were soaking it up surrounded by a desert-like landscape (well, desert for us folks who are used to seeing gorgeous fields of green this time of year!).
Julia and son Linus in the mud hole not made of rain. Arghhhhhh. Happy International Mud Day.
We have our amazing Pignic this weekend so more on that next week on “As the Sun Burns”…. or hopefully we can change the title of next week’s post to “Let It Rain.” For now we will just roast in the sun dreaming of a week of summer showers and beautiful thick grasses.
Eating the remaining green found in the alleyways between pastures and dreaming of rainstorms.
July has arrived and western New York, where our Watkins Glen Sanctuary is located, is now officially under drought status. Not good when over 200 of our animals rely on grass for their main food supply and hay in the winter, which locally is not growing.
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