Open Farm Day Images

Y'all are just the very best! I asked you to come to my rescue with images captured from your day at the homestead and you did! Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity in sharing them with us. It was hard to choose my favorites, but Sean and I finally narrowed it down to these... We hope you enjoy this peek at our homestead through the eyes of some of our guests.

Feeding the chickens and checking for eggs was
a big hit with our new friends. 

One of the necessary jobs in keeping goats,
is the routine trimming of their hooves. The goats don't
mind a bit- so long as there is grain available to munch.

Goat horns are actually attached to their skull and perform
an important role in maintaining their temperature and as a
protection from predators. 

"By My Beard!" Jedi has the nicest beard of all the bucks. 

Delilah is a "people" goat. She loves them and considers them a good addition to her herd.

There is never an end to the repairs that are needed. All the goats have taken to using the chicken fencing as very convenient back scratching equipment. Sean is forever reattaching wire. 

Even our smallest guests enjoyed watching (and chasing) the
goats and their kids browsing in the back yard. 

Our newly erected goat playing apparatus was a huge success with the goat does
whether they enjoyed the shade afforded under it or romped about on top.

There is no such thing as "no room" to playing goats!

Zoey and the other farm cats enjoy their taste of goat's milk each day.
Nothing goes to waste on the farm. 

Jasmine enjoyed the day on the front lawn helping us to curb the grasses that
had grown too tall to tackle with my push mower. She did a fine job of making
it much more manageable!

Curious Amos was interested in exploring everything in the back yard- including the compost pile and extra fencing elements. I suspect he is working on a plan to assist with his escapes in days to come.

While we are working on getting a proper pond dug this year, our geese and ducks enjoy a
splash around in the wading pool. 

We hope you enjoyed your peek into our Open Homestead Day. We are hoping our Emu chicks will be hatched this fall in September. Once they have settled, we'll be hosting another day for you to come and visit with us.

Thanks for stopping in tonight, friends. We're sure glad you did.
Sean and Sonja ♥

PS: Remember, if I used one or more of your images, we'd like to say thank you with a little something from us. Be sure to comment on this post how I can contact you if you are interested in receiving your something special. :)

Emu Plans

I have a confession. I have a soft spot in my heart for large birds. I love peacocks, I love ostriches, and I love Emus. I do.

Photo: Sports-o-nista.blogspot.com 

Sonja at Benson's Wild
Animal Farm, NH

I remember seeing Disney's Swiss Family Robinson movie as a child, captivated by the scene where they participate in Ostrich riding races. The closest I have ever been to an Ostrich or Emu was playing "tag" with one while visiting a zoo as a young girl. In my memory, I have the scene of me tip-toeing up behind an Emu at the Kismet Preserve and touching it. It jumped, turned tail and chased me across the lawn. When my legs couldn't carry me anymore, I stopped, scared and not knowing what to expect. The Emu stopped, too. Then, it turned and ran the other way. So, I chased it. We did this dance back and forth for quite while as my family watched on in amusement. My mother remembers it being an ostrich at Benson's Wild Animal Farm. Whichever version is true, I have always secretly wanted to have one someday.

Photo Courtesy of Abundance Farms

Photo Courtesy of Abundance Farms

But, I live in Maine. And, people in Maine do not routinely keep emus or ostriches or even peacocks. So I locked these thoughts into the corner of my mind filed under "Someday I hope to..." and that is where it lived quietly until last weekend. Somehow the topic of emus came up between Sean and I. I shared my memory with him and confided my desire to "someday" keep a small flock of emus here. Sean asked some good questions, like; Where would we keep them? How would they earn their rent? Do you know anyone who keeps Emus? I did not realize how much I had thought about really keeping Emus here until I heard myself address each question. "I would like to keep them in the pasture with the goat does or kids." * "I can make them profitable by selling their eggs to people who want to carve them, eat them, or hatch them. I can use the eggs for making jewelry or home decor pieces. Also, we could hatch and sell young emus." * "Marissa Carabin of Abundance Farms keeps emus. I will contact her to ask her about them." Sean looked at me a long minute and then said, "If you really want an Emu, I think we should get some."

Photo Courtesy of Abundance Farms

I do really want emus, but first things first. There were some pretty important things I did not have answers to: How would they do in the cold weather? What do they eat? How long do they live? Today was research day. I could not find web pages of anyone local who keeps emus, but that is okay. I started my search for information at the American Emu Association website. I read a half dozen of Marissa's blog posts about her experiences keeping emus. And, I found a well-written guide about emu care at Sybil's Den.

Photo Courtesy of Abundance Farms

My research has turned up these basic facts: Emus are a member of the ratite family. They are omnivores and eat foods similar to that of our local wild turkeys. A commercial ratite food is available at some feed stores. (I made a note to call ours to see if they could order me some if I needed it.) They grow to 5-6 feet at the head and can weigh 110-140 pounds on average. I found conflicting reports of how long emus can live. One report suggested they can live to be around 30 years of age! They do fine in cold weather, but like any animal, they require adequate shelter and appropriate fencing to keep them safe and plenty of room to run. I read accounts of emus living with pasture animals and saw pictures of them playing in ponds like ducks or geese. I saw pictures of people hand feeding them. I also read about the struggle to return them into their pen and the various bruises that resulted. There is a lot to consider.

Photo Courtesy of Abundance Farms

I have more research ahead of me. I am a planner by nature. It took us two years to find and purchase our heritage turkeys. I would like to be ready to obtain a couple emu chicks or six fertile hatching eggs this summer, but I am prepared to wait longer. I want to find the perfect ones for us. In the meantime, I can plan and I can dream. ♥

If you haven't had the opportunity to do so, I highly recommend a visit John & Marissa at Abundance Farms . Marissa takes fantastic images of her flocks and herds. I appreciate her allowing me to use some of them in writing this article.

Thanks for visiting with me this evening, friends. I am sure glad for your company.
Sonja ♥