So good to hear she has taken to them!!!
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I’m not sure how much they should be gaining per day, but they should be gaining weight every day. Three of my friends foster kittens (sometimes with mom, sometimes bottle feeding only) and they all keep charts with each kitten’s weight recorded every day (sometimes twice a day). I’ve had to fill out the chart when I’ve house sat for them.
If you see the weight start to go down or stall, you should be on alert and think about starting to supplement feeding.
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I am guessing that the grey momma stole the kittens from the new momma while she was having them, and what you saw your actual momma trying to take her kittens back from the baby thief.
Glad they are all settled with their actual momma.
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I have never raised kittens but I googled “Kitten weight gain chart” and there were some very nice charts (that I assume are reasonable accurate).
I think your set up is amazing. These ladies (the cats and kittens) are so lucky that you bought this place.
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Aww, thanks! We didn’t know when we moved to this state that we would immediately need to take in two unwed mothers! Lol
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Apparently “stolen kittens” seems to be a thing with you 
Once again, thank you for stepping up and taking care of the critters under your watch.
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Well, like you, I C3!
Thank you for the pictures, they are precious!
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If you run out of ideas for names I would suggest James and/or Barbara? Barbara Stanwyck and James Cagney starred in a 1956 movie about unwed mothers which was a huge bold statement for the era. “These Wilder Years” available on YouTube. I thought about it when I read your post.
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Lol!
Both mama cats are protecting their nests now. Polly, well, who can blame her? She purrs and kneads but has big eyes. Stupid hoomins got it wrong once. Not to be trusted again. Do mama cats calm down as the kittens get older?
We freshened the bedding for Louisa, since that’s where Polly’s kittens arrived. It took a little trickery. She is purring but has big eyes, so we had to lure her out and change it quick. I don’t want to get bitten or scratched. I wonder how long until her kittens are born?
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Your reputation preceded you.
is that an 
or a 
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Lol!
I’m a failure as a cat wrangler. I need to just give up my dream of running a large herd of barn kitties across the northern Midwest. I’ve been downgraded to corporal in the crazy cat lady brigade. Oh, the shame!
And, I’m a confirmed kitten-napper. They know about Minerva.
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Ralph told them.
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I once had a chat about barn cats with a friend my age, who said during her childhood in the 1960s it was standard that people would leave farm cats behind if they moved. Idea being cats are bonded to place more than to people, can’t be relocated. So your seller here is likely just old school rather than an animal abuser!!!
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I’ll just leave this here.
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I could understand that except that none of them are fixed (there’s a program locally). I’d be happy take on established, fixed, barn cats. When they told us they were here, I first pictured other tame fixed barn cats schooling Ralph in the new environment. Now, we’ll have to wait until everyone is fixed before I can hope to avoid too much conflict with Ralph. So, I’m a little grumpy about it. It’ll cost me at least $300, plus trapping, plus vetting, to get these cats to where they won’t make more kitties and they’re safe from rabies. And that’s with getting on a waitlist for low cost spay/neuter. That means keeping Ralph locked up most of the summer. It would have been nice if they at least neutered the males. The sellers are our age. They know better.
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I’m glad the people that bought our place were happy to take care of Minerva. It seems to be working out. She’s fixed and vaccinated. We told them to feed only in the morning to keep wild creatures from stealing her food at night. Is that what most people do? We started doing that here with the two feral males. Raccoons and other critters were eating their food at night. We can hear the coyotes howl some nights as well. The sellers fed them in an open shed, so other creatures have access. Once I catch them for neutering, I might be able to move their feeding spot to a safer place.
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I also feed my ferals in the morning so I don’t get a lot of visitors at night.
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I feed twice a day, but the second time is in the afternoon, with several hours of daylight left, and I don’t put out as much in the afternoon. I also feed absolutely at the same times every day. They learn the schedule very quickly.
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One cheeky orange male comes to the back porch in the afternoon begging for treats. Our son can almost pet him. He looks a lot like the females. He also looks young. Maybe he can be tamed down.
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