Mele Nahiku

We recently acquired a lovebird which has prompted me to write about all the animals at our farm. We are so blessed to have such lovely animals, and we all have loads of fun with them every day.

We have four goats, two of which are milking and the other 2 are pregnant. We get approximately 3 quarts a day from them, when we milk them at 6 am and 6pm. We love when the new babies arrive…These ones are due around Nov. …. Micah enjoys picking them up and playing with them, for as long as they allow him! We are very thankful for our goats, for they provide us with a very important portion of our diet. We make cheese and yogurt from the milk which provides us with excellent nutrition!

Our chickens provide us with another great source of food…We have about 34 of them now, half of which have just started laying. Throughout the day you can hear them clucking away, announcing the proud arrival of an egg. I love going out to feed them, since they greet me with such enthusiasm! As they see me walking over to the gate, they all run, and half fly over to meet me…Of course they are just excited that I am going to feed them, but I like feeling like they truly missed me and are just giving me a warm welcome. Whenever I’m feeling a little tired or have a headache, I try to get out to sit with the chickens. It’s a great way to keep Micah occupied since he runs around trying to catch them, and it’s just so peaceful for me to sit and watch them go about their business. They scratch and play and give themselves dust baths. They are the perfect cure for a long day!

Sometimes a guest comes and visits the chickens. He’s orange with a tail and whiskers…And his name is Maui. Occasionally he decides to follow Micah and I around for the afternoon, and he’ll make his way into the chicken yard. I never let him in, I just watch as he ingeniously finds his own way to enter. Last time he was trying to squeeze under the door, but finally decided to climb half way up and then squeeze through an opening. It was great entertainment watching him! He never bothers the chickens, but they seem quite interested in him! Some of them even try to fight him…He just ignores them though. He’s a great, mellow, loving cat. Just never try to pet him when he’s lying on his back, because he likes to attack! His sister is a beauty. Pualani, which means “heavenly flower” is a sweetheart, and so loving. She’s a great mouser too!

Kahana is our lovely dog. She is about 3 years old and is a black lab mix. We sometimes wonder how we ever lived without her! Her sweet spirit and mellowness are two wonderful aspects of her personality. I think her favorite pastime is going for walks on the dirt road with us, and bounding off into the woods looking for mongoose! Speaking of mongoose, I would swear they are another addition to our animal family…Or they would like to be! They continue to make their homes around our chicken yard, so they can sneak in and snatch the eggs before we get out there to collect them. Recently we have been catching one or two a day in our have-a-heart traps and then we release them a few miles up the road. There really is an endless amount of mongoose, so it’s an ongoing project trying to “mongoose proof” our chicken yard!

To me, life on the farm would not be the same without all our wonderful animals. I really find such joy in watching and caring for them every day. And to have Micah raised in such a way, learning to care for and respect animals, is a priceless treasure. Our lives are abundant in many ways, and our animal family is one very important part of keeping us grateful.