Individuality

Recently, this chicken decided she did not want to roost with the others.  We haven't figured out where she sleeps yet.  By the time we go down in the morning, she is out and about.  Last night I checked in and around the barn.  Maybe up in the trees behind the barn.  I have been thinking we need a couple more chickens- I wonder where they would sleep.

I wonder what makes a hen decide one night that she is not going to sleep with the others.  The sheep are often out grazing at night so she might be all alone at night.  Actually, I have not been down to the barn late since Beau died.  Maybe they do hang out near the barn and trees when it gets late.

The sheep are much more spread out without Beau to direct them.  When they get to go in the new wild area behind the garage/barn, Norma Jean heads right for her favorite area to graze and browse.  She never seems to look to see if anyone is following her.  They still don't seem to have a real leader.  Maybe it is time to find another Llama.

Individuality is a good quality most of the time but when it comes to protection, it is not always the best idea.

Tomorrow is mother's day.  I have 4 ewes that have a daughter living with them.  They still act like mothers and daughters.  They can always count on each other except after they were sheared,  Rosa kept baaing and seemed to not recognize her mom and Annie did not answer her call.  I wonder what that was about.  Rosa has always been the one who likes to have mom around.  Gretta, Norma Jean, and Zorra are much more independent.

Someone I was talking to the other day, told me her strategy for keeping her sheep straight and knowing which she had treated and which she hadn't.  I told her mine were all different looking and I always knew who I had treated.  The sheep all have different personalities too but if you had a hundred ewes or even forty or seventeen and they were all white, I imagine it could get difficult.  Even when there are a hundred, like at Naomi's farm, there are always a few, she says, that are individuals.