Self-taught farmers confidently raising chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Our focus is on practices that are environmentally harmonious and respectful to our livestock. We appreciate the beauty around us, clean eating, fermenting, and responsibly utilizing the bounty of the land. If you like thinking for yourself, continuous learning, and connecting with the homesteader lifestyle, check us out.
A cold snap is upon us. The temperature was 10 degrees but “felt like” -2 degrees when we got up this morning. It made us glad we’d refreshed the duck coop bedding yesterday so they would stay warm and dry.
The rabbits were bouncing around as if they hadn’t noticed that temperatures had plunged. They were happy when we hung their bottles filled with warm water up for them. They do better in very cold weather than very hot. Continue reading “It’s Thursday And It’s COLD Out There”
With this cold weather, we like to take extra treats out for the chickens and ducks. When we went out this afternoon with scratch, we noticed that the adult chickens were nowhere to be seen…very odd. The juvenile chickens were huddled in the back corner of the barn, and when we got closer, a hawk flew up and into the rafters. To our dismay, we discovered that the hawk had killed and had been eating one of the juveniles – a nice New Hampshire Red pullet, of course, one of the friendliest of the bunch. It had eaten much of the pullet’s head, which was detached, and had plucked most of the breast. *&#@ hawk!
We had a problem at the end of last year with hawks preying on our laying hens, and we lost a significant number in a short period of time. This seems to be the time of year when, perhaps due to scarcity of wild food sources, the hawks come looking for meals at our farm. Yes, our birds are delicious, but we’d vastly prefer the raptors stick to catching mice and wild rabbits. Hmm…maybe they should look inside the plastic owls we put out to try to deter the hawks – we found a nest of mice in one of them recently. Needless to say, the plastic owls aren’t very effective. Continue reading “Hawk Season Again (Warning: Graphic Description)”
We like easy recipes for tasty meals, and one-pot meals are a bonus. One such meal is congee, a savory rice porridge (but not like oatmeal) that’s true comfort food.
Congee (Jook) is an Asian dish, and may be eaten as breakfast. While we could totally see having this hot porridge for breakfast, we usually have it for lunch or dinner. It’s satisfying but not too heavy. You can tweak it however you choose, and it’s pretty forgiving. The basics*: rice and water. You cook the rice in water until it reaches a smooth consistency, add a protein (like duck, chicken, rabbit, beef, etc.), minced ginger, garlic, soy (we use Bragg’s liquid aminos) and fish sauce (Nước Mắm Chấm). Continue reading “Comfort Food: Congee”
Here’s an example of one of the ways you can use super lean and tasty rabbit meat. We slow cooked one and then removed the bones. The meat that was left was used to make tortilla soup (perfect for these chilly days) and today’s lunch: soft tacos. Look good? They were!
We had a banner year for ducklings…between the two sets we incubated (with varying success) and two clutches incubated by broodies (much more successfully), we went from 5 total to 30+. Seriously.
The second set of eggs we incubated resulted in 5 total hatching – 4 drakes and a single duck. With each hatch, we know there’s a likelihood of at least half being male; unfortunately, not that many drakes are necessary for a self-sustaining flock. Consequently, the “extra” drakes must either be rehomed or culled.
The crux of it is that we have too many drakes now. As they reach about 5-6 months of age, their hormones kick into high gear and they begin chasing and grabbing the ducks.
This morning’s breakfast: our chickens’ eggs, potatoes cooked in lard from a local farm, and homemade sourdough toast. So good, we could eat it everyday!