Musings: Small Sunday Celebrations

A well-used hatcher…ugh

Yes, this is a massively dirty incubator – the aftermath of a gosling hatch. Looking at that mess – and the smell! – was a little depressing…for a brief, irrational moment I thought about simply tossing that filthy incubator into the trash. But that’s not how I roll. So I pushed up my sleeves, put on my rubber gloves and got to work.

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Farm Fowl: The Season’s First Lavender Ameraucana Eggs

It’s technically not spring yet, but the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the chickens are laying. The trickle of eggs from winter has grown into a steady stream and – always exciting – our second generation Lavender Ameraucana pullets have laid their first eggs!

The first second generation LA pullet egg (R)
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Farming In Winter: Deadly Cold (Long Read)

Unless you’ve been living underground, you’re probably aware of the disastrous consequences the holiday storm wreaked (yes, wreaked, not wrecked!) on many areas of the country. People have died because of the bitterly cold temperatures, though there are stories of everyday heroism worth celebrating (juxtaposed with stories of shocking callousness). While small farmers may not make the news, I’m sure that many animals – including wild animals – also lost their lives or suffered injury during the brutal cold because this was a cold that had to be experienced to be believed.

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