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.
Last fall, we found a very strange-looking object stuck to the trunk of a maple tree. It seriously looked like something man-made, it was so perfectly geometric. We later discovered that they were Wheel Bug egg cases!
Continue reading “Spring Hatch: A Different Kind Of Hatchling”
This is not what you want to see: a pig proned out, seemingly dead. Castor gave me a start the other day when I happened upon him like this. After the initial shock, I realized that he was really just taking a long siesta in the sun.
This reminds me of the first time I saw a chick sunbathing – she was all awkwardly sprawled out, and I thought she was dead (!). Was I ever relieved to see her finally wiggle around a bit into a more comfortable position!
The pigs are happy in their mud wallows, but when the sun’s out, sunbathing is apparently in order. The next time I see one of them stretched out, limp, on a sunny day, I won’t feel my heart clutch in my chest because I’ll know they’re just relaxing.
Thanks for the coronary! 🙄
This morning, we found a small nest hidden in the tall grass near the fenceline. It was meticulously woven into a cup shape, and four speckled eggs lay in it. At first, we puzzled over why the nest would have been built so close to the ground, where predators could easily have found it; then, we realized that the parent birds may have thought it well-concealed because we had allowed the pasture to grow long in that area.
Unfortunately, recent mowing may have frightened the parents away. As much as we try to work in harmony with Nature, cutting the grass was necessary – one reason is tick control: keeping grass short can help manage ticks. We left the nest, undisturbed, in the hope that the parents might return.
Update: mama bird has been seen back on the nest, which now has 5 eggs! We put a barrier of wire fencing around the nest (a few feet out) to try to provide protection from predators like cats.
Do you know what kind of bird this nest belongs to? I think it may be a sparrow’s nest.
The peonies are blooming – such color! Such fragrance! As with much of Nature’s beauty, it must be enjoyed now, as they won’t last long. Stop and smell the…peonies. 😊
There once was a very small yellow chick that hatched with a leg that turned slightly out to the side. It didn’t know it was smaller or slower than the other chicks, or that it couldn’t run like everyone else. The chick just tried its best to live like all the other chicks, doing the same things, even if it couldn’t quite keep up. This is the story of that little chick…and an unexpected friendship.
This one probably needs very little explanation, except the clarification that the puppy was out of our lines of sight for moments, then there was the terrible realization that it was too quiet, followed by the discovery. What is the deal with animals and toilet paper?? Cats tear it off the roll, dogs chew it up. It must put out a vibe that people just can’t appreciate.
The worst part: she knew she wasn’t supposed to have touched the toilet paper – it was clear from her body language. But it was already too late, of course. Guess we’ll keep working on it…and try to salvage what we can of that roll.