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.
We checked on each of the litters today to ensure all were alive and in good shape. You can tell if a kit has been fed by seeing if it has a “frog belly” – you know how that looks.
After giving each doe a carrot and some milk, we carefully removed the kits from each nest box. Continue reading “Baby Rabbits And Frog Bellies”
As we’d hoped, both our New Zealand does kindled. The white one, Ava, had been “haystaching” early on, so we were pretty confident she would deliver. The agouti (brown) one, Loretta, didn’t obviously make haystaches like Ava did, but she did hollow out a spot in her nest box that looked promising. Continue reading “Two Sets Of Kits”
In anticipation of kindling, the NZ does have been brought inside to their kindling cages. They could, theoretically, kindle outside, but with the recent dramatic fluctuations in temperature, we prefer to err on the side of caution and keep them inside.
It’s snowing – lightly now, but it’s supposed to pick up this evening. There’s a very chilly breeze, which is the really unpleasant part; spend any time out there without a balaclava, and you’ll be sorry.
We had noticed that the duck coop was looking poopy, so we took advantage of the weather to clean out old straw bedding and replace it. Helpfully, the wet duck poop had frozen into solid chunks that were easy to identify and pull out. While raking around in the bedding, we found a frozen duck egg that had been buried. Bummer. We left a nice, thick, dry layer of bedding so the ducks would be comfortable tonight, even if the temperatures dip. Continue reading “Brr…Still Cold Out There”
After the unsuccessful attempt to breed the NZ does last month, it looks like we may have at least one kindling at the end of the month. Today, we spied Ava sporting a “haystache”, which is usually a sign that a doe is pregnant. It’s pretty early (she was bred a week ago), so there’s a possibility this could be a false pregnancy.
We’ll keep an eye on her and Loretta (bred at the same time) and bring them indoors to kindle when they’re closer to the big day. Better to assume pregnancy and be wrong than to dismiss the signs and let these first-time mothers kindle out in the cold.
It’s oddly warm today – sunny and 64 right now. Quite a change from this morning, when the ground was still frozen. The rabbits’ water crocks were rimmed with ice in the morning, but now it’s warm enough for the ducks to bathe in their tub without risk of frozen feathers. Continue reading “A Breath Of Fresh Air”