Sad Days at the Farm

October was a sad month at the farm.  We were traveling in Maine.  I usually teach at a photo seminar either on Cape Cod or in Maine.  This year it was cancelled at the last minute but we already had plane tickets so we went ahead to Maine to photograph fall leaves and eat lobster.  Laura was coming out to the farm every day to feed the birds.  One day when she came out she found the bodies of two roosters, one hen, and one duck.  We decided they had probably been killed by a stray dog and that Laura should keep the chickens penned up until we got back.  The next week the dog was back.  Laura discovered a Pit Bull who had gotten into the chicken house but could not get back out.  He had killed 14 hens, Rooster Cogburn, and one guinea inside the house.  Two hens survived by roosting near the roof.  The sheriff and Animal Control came out and got the dog who will not kill any more chickens.

Rest in Peace my brave and beautiful Rooster Cogburn

And Grandma, Petunia, Agnes, Claudette, Lucille, Olivia, Bart, Rockie, and all of my other sweet hens.

We did have some good days at the farm in October.  Our son and family from Portland, Oregon, came to visit and we quickly turned our granddaughter Taran into a farm girl.

All of our children and all of their children got together for a meal in Columbia.

Jenn, Taran, Kip, Ryan, Sophie, Sadie, Cathy, Bennett, Jess, Tim, Laura, Gypsy

We finally got gutters installed on the house.  The next step will be landscaping the yard to get the water away from the house!

We harvested the last of the peppers from the garden and canned, froze and dried them.

We probably won't get more chickens until spring but we couldn't resist a breeding pair of peafowl a few miles from us that were advertised on Craigs List.

Hira and Hansi are very tame and eat out of our hands.  We hope to turn them loose to free-range when they get used to their new home.

Fall at the farm is so beautiful.  Next time I'll think twice before leaving to take fall photos somewhere else!!