New Arrivals and Losses

These fuzzy little lumps are little goslings, taking a nap like all new babies.  

The goslings arrived today! I wasn't expecting them till May, so it was a bit of a surprise to get a call from the farm store that they were here.  They are adorable. One male, one female.  The male is considerably larger than the little girl.    These are Toulouse geese, and will look like this when they are grown.

photo from http://www.thepetinfo.com/pets/goose/list-of-goose-breeds-for-farms.html

Toulouse are a mild mannered, less aggressive breed and  excellent at getting bugs and ticks from your garden without eating the plants like chickens will do.  This breed is usually used for meat, and they will lay about 40 eggs a year.  

Our geese will just be pets. And watch-geese.. Geese get territorial and noisy when intruders are spotted. 

And we are taking suggestions for names... so far, we have Bonnie and Clyde or Fiona and Shrek.  Any ideas out there?

On the loss side, we are missing one little hen.  She wasn't acting quite right, as if she was egg bound. This is probably the same hen that has laid all the weird eggs, and had some troubles before.  Oddly, she was sitting near the coop just awhile ago. I let them all wander up to the coop as dusk approaches, then I open the door and they put themselves to bed. So, if a predator got her, it came right up next to the coop... The other hens did not sound an alarm, or act as if anything was amiss. the dogs also did not sound an alarm. Had it been a predator, I think the hens would all have been hiding.  It's possible she is hiding somewhere... though we looked quite awhile, even after dark with flashlights. If she is huddled somewhere at ground level, then she will be quite vulnerable to predators over night. There is nothing I can do now... we will either see her in the morning, or we won't.  It is a fact of life on the farm.  Sad, but it is the way things are sometimes.