Fecundity Central

Spring is all about new life and lots of it. This makes for an overdose of cute ....and a lot of extra care down on the farm.

For one thing, there are the 10 ducklings. These were to be the kids' project, but evidently, they are mine as well. I end up doing quite a lot of feeding and watering and de-duckifying their forever damp and splashy lair. And the cute little guys are not living up to their reputation for tameness. They are MORE afraid of us than the two batches of mail-order chicks we've known. They huddle at the far side of the brooder when we look at them funny (or just look at them period) We are working in this. Slowly...

Then there's the "sink chicken". This smart broody decided to make her home in the nonfunctional utility sink in the barn, in Puff's old spot, as a matter of fact. She showed the necessary patience, grit and determination, and this weekend-- Viola!-- she's got four little fuzzies under her, the largest hatch our hens have ever managed. The new family is living in the sink for now. I think this mama hen (Okay, I'll admit it. Her name is "Soapy Two". Long story.) is waiting on a few more eggs.

And the lambs. We have nine this year: 6 rams (!) and 3 ewes. They are roaming the lush pasture next door and hard to see in all that spring growth. We'll be posting a bit more about these little guys and gals very soon. But for now, I'll just say: Cute. Very cute. (And for sale too.)

Then there are the wild babies: A small toad (Named "Toady" of course) befriended by Joe.

And this ginormous green moth on the porch. (Not a baby, technically, but a male bent on making a few babies...)

And nests everywhere, stuffed with cheeping baby sparrows and robins and thrushes. This one is in our "down barn" with the pigs.

And the pigs? You ask. Well... "The Daves" are not quite as cute now. They're growing like spring weeds-- about doubled their size already. Yesterday they were tossing stalks of broccoli around like batons!

Not to be outdone by all this burgeoning animal life, the apple trees blossomed and have begun to form the small green apples that will, by autumn, make for many pies and crumbles and sauces. Serious "spring" around here.