Unity Farm Journal - Third Week of June 2016

The baby geese are now old enough to free range with their parents, so they are wandering through the forest and barnyard from 7am to 7pm, occassionally stopping for a pool party in the pond.    We believe we have two male and one female young geese, bringing our total to 3 males and 4 females.   Will be interesting to watch their dynamics and relationships as they age. Every week on the farm has some unique learning experience.   What should you do when you find a baby blue jay on the ground, either fallen from the nest or having failed its initial flight?   The general rule of thumb is to do nothing .  The parents are likely nearby and will feed it until it flies.   However, if it falls into a danger zone, you really need to move it to safety.   In this case, it fell into the mouth of Bundle, one of our Great Pyrenees.   I was there when it happened, so I was able to rescue the blue jay quickly and move it to a place of safety.    We used pine branches to create a makeshift nest in a tall rhododendron, keeping the bird off the ground.   We fed the bird fresh mealworms and it hungrily took them from our hands (looks like Angry Birds).  The parents roosted in a tree nearby and watched over the baby for two days until it was able to finally join the family on its own.      Recognizing that this is likely to happen again, we created a permanent baby bird safety area in the forest - away from th...
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