J-Bar Ranch Center for Experiential Learning

Thank you to our families for your support of our decision to cancel Horse & Reader Summer Camp, which we’ve run for the past 10 years. We’re awfully sad not to be seeing our parents, grandparents, and students this summer, but we want to keep everyone safe. We will be in touch about future programs. The photo below is of Tonette’s chick Fancy, with wonderful foster mom Snowball. Tonette is happily back with Tony, currently in the reading stall. Fancy hatched on April 15, so she’s not quite a month old.

4/15/2020 By 6:15 PM, during evening feeding, Tonette had THREE babies! She hatched two today, an amazing feat. She had moved out of her corner, where she has sat with such dedication, when I peeked in. I don’t know if she has given up on egg #4 or not. She moved back to her spot when I started taking pictures. I’ll find out tomorrow! The first two babies are named Rona and Fancy. Any ideas for a name for #3?

4/14/2020 Tonette’s first baby has hatched! She’s quite excited, as are we, but she’s still sitting carefully on her other eggs. I hope we’ll have a second chick tomorrow. Buzz says he’s never seen an ugly chick, but this one is especially cute.

4/8/2020 Still no baby chicks, Friends. I obviously started counting days when Tonette had not started continuous sitting on her eggs. She protested, but I lifted her and counted three eggs. If a fourth remains, it’s buried under the others. Sorry for the premature warning about hatching. But surely, we’re close. Nobody was sitting on the big batch when I checked. I’ll be surprised if we get hatching. Those girls, unlike Tonette, are easily distracted.

4/7/2020 Good morning, Friends, No hatching from Tonette yet. I might have counted wrong. But I lifted her to count eggs this morning and upset her terribly. She got right back on her little nest and carefully tucked the eggs back under her skirts. I saw three eggs for suremaybe four. I moved the box that she wasn’t using and lifted the roof off the coop for a better photo. I also placed the food and water within easy reach. She seemed grateful for the convenience. She tut...-tut-tutted softly as I worked with her. One of the magical facts is that chicks close to hatching can hear their moms and learn their voices before they emerge from the shell. I’ll check back with Tonette later today. Hens were also sitting on the big batch of eggs, but they are less dedicated and came running when I tossed a bit of feed into their coop.

Tony has been relocated to bachelor quarters as we await chick hatching. I was able to pet Tonette, who is sitting with dedication in the dark upstairs of their coop. She didn’t give me a peek at her eggs. I’m guessing the first chick may hatch tomorrow. I might catch a Silkie hen to hang out with Tony while he awaits fatherhood. As small and cute as Tony is, I’m certain he would try to bully any male. But I’m also sure he’ll be lonely hanging out in the reading stall.