FRANCIS'S BLOG 10/06/2025
The ducks got bored. . .
. . .so they hopped out of the pool and were found this morning touring the garage.
”Hey, nice kayak!”
”We like it! Fill it with water quick so we can swim!"
"Hey! The door’s open, shall we make a break for it?”
”Nah, let’s just poop in the kayak."
Well, it looks like we’ve gone a little too long without the electric fence (I of course don’t care because I’m too short to touch it 🐴).
Normally the horses won’t trespass when an area is quartered off with a rope. I guess that was then and this is now. Here they are munching heaven-knows-what in the old runway to the far pasture. It was closed because there’s a big, leg-hurting trench down the center. This has “Iris" written all over it. 🐎 
Oh, deer.
Here’s a deer we saw along the road to AHF. This Bambi-wannabe better keep its cutesy nose out of my feed!
We all have our duties. 🐴
Schroeder is in charge of harassing the ducks:
And Luigi is in charge of menacing the chickens:
Good thing there’s a fence. 🐴
Sly, Kanna, Luigi and Schrödinger help the ducks appreciate the expression “Swim at your own risk.” 😸
Here’s Schroeder developing a taste for duck soup:
Rub-a-duck-duck 🐴
Here they are getting coerced out of the tub, then preening their soggy feathers, while Schoeder keeps an eye on them. 😺
Schrödinger goes into business 😸
He’ll inspect your engine compartment for mice/rabbits/sparrows (that’s a 3-point inspection in mechanic’s parlance) and he only charges a can of paté.
The ducks take to water.
The ducks went on a field trip today that was filled with lots of new! For the first time, they saw the sky (and the cats), felt the breeze and the ground, and splashed in water where they couldn’t touch bottom. Finally those webbed feet did what they where made for! You can see below that they couldn’t get enough of their first real bath.
The buzzards spent their first night in the coop—sort of. 🐔
We thought when night fell they would have sense enough to go into the hen house, but we forgot they were chickens. They huddled on top of each other in the far corner of the pen, and from Department of Horseland Security Cam 2 (DHS never sleeps) we watched them move less, and less. So Ann had to trek out at 10 o’clock and attempt a rescue. They were alive, but as responsive as bean bags.
Today we’ve had a lot of in-and-out-of-the-coop drills, and hopefully the dumb cluckers have it figured out for tonight. 🐓
Chickens aside, we had a treat today. We got our first taste of the delectable grass in the front pasture!
Ducks Machine-Gun Down Worms.
At least that what it sounded like.
The howling at the end is courtesy of the legendary Hound of the BasketCase (Uki).
Chick Chalet 🐔
While we’ve been living in the same shed for a decade, here is the chateau that was built over the weekend for the chickens:
Here they are trying it out:
They only stayed a few hours, to gradually adjust to life outside—apparently they are very tender, according to the cats. 😺 They did great (like I care), but the ground under the house has a couple spaces that must be chicken-wired first. 
Sic ‘em, Schrödinger! 🐴
The ducks have grown! 😸
The cat cops had a big weekend putting together the chicken coop. We’ll get to that later in the week—but the ducks have been growing so fast we need to show them. Their feathers are beginning to come in, and one’s voice has changed from peep-peep to quack-quack!
Chicks play King of the Hill 🐥
The next hop is the edge of the tank and freedom. We better get the coop delivered and assembled before that happens. Here they are in action: 🐓
News from Mary! 💛
Here’s what flew into Mary’s hair when she was doing chores for her internship in Oklahoma:
We miss Mary very much and can’t wait until when she comes home around June 14, but the bug can stay in Oklahoma. 🐴
Poultry in motion 🐔
Notice that, after the adorable ducks, one or two chicks will stare at the camera. 🐓
First catch of the season! 🐦
Since “birds,” in the broad sense, are now part of the AHF family—Luigi, at first, thought these pictures might be offensive to some viewers:
But what the heck, here’s the first sparrow of the season, and the points go to Kanna:
Somehow Sly ended up with it (Kanna must not have been hungry):
What the poultry don’t know, won’t hurt them. 🐥
Oh, this is just manure-kicking FINE! 🐴
They closed off HWY 6—probably for the whole summer if things go the way they normally go around here.
This means the cat cops have to detour across three railroad tracks, which means three chances to delay feeding!
On the plus side, the roadblock will lessen Shrödinger’s chance of becoming roadkill when he illegally visits the school. 🙀