Updates/changes on the farm! New birds, fluffy goat and sheep...

A few changes over the last 6 months or so.

We have increased our muscovy flock.  Merle now has two more girls in addition to Maggie and Frieda.  They're young, and I expect they'll hit 1 year in late summer.  Man, can these ducks fly.  We had to clip wings, as they enjoyed flying all around the backyard and over in the chicken yard.

New girl

Of the scovys hatched last year, we butchered all but one drake.  We also butchered our goose Broccoli, Beefy's girl/boy friend.  Pretty sure Broccoli was a boy, and low boy on the totem pole to Beefy.  Beefy was entirely uninterested in Broccoli, and would mount the ducks instead.  We never saw Broccoli mount the ducks, but I'm guessing because Beefy was so dominant.  Anyhow, the crazy thing was that the two <1yr old scovy drakes that we butchered dressed out at nearly the exact same weight as that goose!  Nuts!

We ended up getting a pilgrim female for Beefy, and named her Abigail. Great thing about a pilgrim is that we KNOW it's a girl, due to the sex-linked color.  Yay!  Crusty is in LUUUURVE with Abigail (Crusty has a goose fetish, having grown up with geese) and likes to follow Abigail around while doing her sexy duck dance.  It's highly amusing, but Abby doesn't care much for it.  Added plus, the gal I got Abby from has pied guineas.  She's supposed to give me a call this summer when she has keets, and we'll be able to get Deputy Guinea some friends.  Ah, I can already hear the guinea chorus.  Sigh.

Abigail

We kept one chocolate drake from last year's hatches, Choco Taco, and got him two girls as well.  Only one of the 4 total new girls has a name.  Chad named her Hennifer Grey.  :)  She's a pretty gray/brown, and a really calm and petite little girl.

 Hennifer Grey

Choco, the muscovy drake we kept, is a big beautiful boy.  He was attacked by our trio of turkey toms a few months ago and they just about scalped and blinded him.  Time in a crate and treatment with bluekote, and he's growing his feathers back on his head, and still has both eyes, though his beak is a little gnarly on top.  He was really a mess for a while, but is back out there terrorizing the roosters and lovin his girlfriends.  We also only have ONE tom left... his brothers were very tasty (seasoned with "these damn turkeys attacked my Choco").

Choco

What else, what else... Traeger and Weber, boer goat and katahdin sheep, are fat and sassy and slated for slaughter on the 19th.  We'll kill/gut/skin here at the house, and then take the carcasses to the butcher for further processing.  Very ready for them to go, as it's almost time for pigs!  We're debating taking the hides down to a guy in Clackamas to be processed, as they're really nice and fluffy from the unusually cold weather we've experienced over the last few months.  We could try to do it at home, but their coats are so nice... I think we'll practice on the next deer we get, and just have these professionally done.

Fat, Sassy, and headed for the freezer.

So, that's about it for the moment.  Not too much else exciting.

More soon!

New 'scovy hens!

As the weather turns colder, I'll slowly get back into blogging. For now, we added four new young muscovy hens to the farm this afternoon. The two larger girls went out with Merle, Maggie, Frieda, Olga/Sven, Crusty, and the geese. The two younger are going in the chicken yard with the chickens, turkeys, Choco Taco (Chocolate 'scovy drake hatched here this spring), and 4 scovys from a later hatch. I sure do like these ducks!

Quick update... Birds, bees, and busy

Still crazy around here! Between my off-farm job, chores, post wedding stuff (almost done with thank you notes!), and general summer stuff, I just haven't had the time to blog. So, a quick update, and I'm determined to get some real posts (with pics no less) done this weekend. Maybe by actually posting an intended deadline, I'll actually do it? We'll see.

This year's chicks are getting huge, yet are still able to squeeze through the fence, and they have discovered the blueberries and huckleberries. $@%#!

Both Jeffrey and MiniMeatGoose developed angel wing, and I fixed them! Woot!

We caught a bee swarm. It was in a tree at a coworker's house. I have a friend that really wants one (her bees bailed this spring), but in my rush to run LJ his bee stuff, I left my phone at home. With time running short to go grab them and get them installed, the decision was made to get them home. Sorry Paula! :( I don't know if there's enough time left this season for them to build up for winter. From what I've read, "a swarm in July isn't worth a fly". We'll see. They've started drawing out two frames already, but I don't know enough yet about bees to hazard a guess at survival. More on the swarm in a future post.

Busy busy... Moved 3 project cars from old house to new (come-along, a tilt trailer, and a 49 4dr... Not fun), moving bird yards, the garden of weeds, prepping the old house to go on the market, my new piano, double whammy dead AC (in the house AND my car!), and more. I need a nap. :)

Sneaky jays

Have you ever heard a jay mimic a hawk's cry? The Steller's jays around our place cry like red tailed hawks. I guess it is pretty common for them to do this. The ones around our place will get up in a tree near where the juncos, towhees, sparrows, and other birds are eating from the feeders. They make that hawk sound several times, scattering the smaller birds. They then fly down and eat in relative peace, not being bothered by the little birds. Sneaky jays. I've even heard them whine like my dog and make a sound remarkably close to a pig squeal. Don't know what good those sounds do for them though. :)