Old McDonald had a farm.....

And on that farm he had some chickens....which happen to be the highlight I think. The kids love the chickens. They are constantly picking them up and taking them treats like left over kitchen scraps. At one point I looked outside and saw Max running around the inside of the coop like an airplane. I headed outside, only to hear him yelling, "I am a farmer. I am a farmer!" Needless to say, due to all the "love" showered on the chickens we are only getting 1-2 eggs a day. I think the chickens might be a bit stressed out. I also think they are older than one year. Egg production decreases with age, and I think our hens are older than we thought. However, they are very entertaining. The kids let them out to roam everyday and it is fun to watch them search for worms and bugs and to dust themselves off in the flower beds. Tonight we go to pick up three more hens from a friend. She assures me they are great layers. That will be nice! The goats are cute, but it is taking a bit of time for them to warm up to all the human interaction. Before their house was built, we had to carry them from the backyard to the front to graze in the morning. (they were sleeping in a dog crate in the fenced in backyard). They hate to be separated from each other and would bleat until reunited. We tried walking them on leashes, but lets just say they aren't dogs. It didn't work too well, so to speed up the process we just picked them up. They seem to be a bit more comfortable with us everyday and farmer Max is happy that he can get near them without being knocked over every time. Poor guy was getting his feet knocked out from under by the picket chains they are on. He would get close and they would run the other direction and down would go Max. There were quite a bit of tears those first few days. Max was sure the goats didn't like him. In other farm news, I recently planted 11 blueberry bushes, and I have come to realize I really like shovels and wheelbarrows. Despite the growing "to-do" list, I feel better if I get outside everyday to do a bit of work. Perhaps being a farmer works like that. I thought I might be overwhelmed by the "never-ending-ness" of it all, but it is rather calming I think. Here are some photos of life on the farm.