It doesn't rain but it pours... I have years of no chicks when I wish for them and then, there are years like this. I want to down size but nay... Mother Nature and the Great Hen have other ideas. However, they are so cute, who am I to complain?
I know it's bad manners to just have these long, quiet periods but it is what it is, I guess. There is a crispness in the air I would not have expected for another month but there it is. As someone with who's mostly North Atlantic, in her recent ancestry, I certainly don't mind, though it's doing a number on the warm weather crops. I see green tomato something in my future. The squirrels are crazy busy too, dropping pinecones from the heights and running around chattering. But it's still the time of year when I can eat a bowl of fresh peaches for breakfast (so does not make me sad). Which reminds me, I need to grab more peaches after work. Canning, canning, canning. This weekend I need to deal with freezers and the cold room situation. In other news, my hens are thinking this is a good time to hatch out. I know what you're probably thinking - it was too hot before and now they're comfortable but you know, it didn't get as hot as that. No, I can't figure them out but right now I have teen aged chicks, brand new, hatched on the weekend chicks, and two mamas on a nest. In goat news, Athena kidded out at the end of May. As usual she had three (doe, buck, buck), got them out like a trooper, cleaned off and cared for, and well mothered. Ironically, I decided that we were taking a break from breeding. There are tonnes of wonderful things about breeding, the obvious: babies. But also there's a deeper excitement of new life, the potential for milk (I say potential because ever year I start off well intentioned but fade), and just the fun of watching the sillies grow up. The bad isn't all that bad either. Ok, it's bad in the moment but it's part of life and most definitely part of farming. You can't get away from it in farming, no matter how hard you try. So, why go on hiatus? I just can't part with the babies! I love them way too much. We neutered all of the boys so I'd have to pressure to move any of them on. I love this year's doeling, Hekkla, and have decided that if someone needs a doeling, I will sell her but I hate that part. So, for right now, we're taking a break. I also have a tonne of personal life stuff going on so, we'll take the next season off and see what comes. So, there's your update. See you sooner, than a couple of months, I hope!
First of all - thanks for notes you've sent and my apologies about my long silence (again). I don't know about life for you but around here, things have been kinda kooky. Some has been good but some not so much. This has been good: Yep, three babies born at the end of May. Two bucklings and a doe. They're all adorable and friendly, and everything I could want in babies. And this: That was the second crop of babies. There was a third but after a day we managed to reunite them with their mama.
This came because I said "never again" to brooding chicks in the house. I said "never again" and then was faced with the option of either letting babies die or brooding them in the house. So of course... And then I started school. I decided, in spite of everything else going on, to apply for a doctoral programme. I thought it was one out of my reach and somehow got in. Funnily enough, now that I'm in the programme, I'm wondering if it isn't out of my reach. I have never been in such a tough programme but it's compelling. And I'm not much good at quitting. So, there's the update. I hope things are moving along well in your world. So, it's a bit of a "you win some, you lose some" time for us. In addition to the saga of the phone (I finally have a replacement), our beloved Freyja-cat has disappeared. We're still hopeful but as she's a wily sort, realistically, something's probably gotten her. We don't often lose cats up here but, the orange ones seem to have the most trouble. Funnily enough, the morning we realized she really was gone, we found a surprise waiting for us. As you already know, I'm not a fan of interfering with nature but in this case, the babies were scooped from mum. She's a muscovy and they're chicks and we've already seen the results of mama ducks thinking their chicks should participate in swimming lessons... So, we've stepped in.
So, sad but as always, we're reminded that there truly is a cycle of life.
Well that was a surprise. Mama had been on her nest diligently but it's been three weeks already? I'm glad I'm home today to see who else shows up.
In addition to The Cuteness, these chicks represent a new phase in my smaller living scheme. My hope is to go another step back and have on farm hatched/raised chicks so I can stop buying from hatcheries. Our last hatchery order had a bunch of chicks from good brooding/mothering breeds in the hope that this will happen.
Ultimately, I hope to
It's not that I don't appreciate hatcheries, of course I do. But, it's one more thing I can do for myself, which is awesome. It's also another step back from commoditizing living beings - something that doesn't feel ok to me.
Of course, in my usual way, I may have overdone it as I now have two muscovies (ducks) and four hens on nests. Sigh. If you ask the people who know me, that sums me up in a nutshell - feast or famine! The first crop of chicks were a surprise. Momma just arrived with eight chicks in tow. Cornish hens, gotta love them!
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AuthorI'm a 40-something writer and smallholder living in the wilds of BC with my family, our small herd of Nigerian Dwarf Goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats. Archives
August 2017
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