Wow. Long time no see!

Didn't realize quite how long it's been since I've been on here. Blogger got pretty non-smartphone friendly, and it just wasn't convenient to post anymore. Add to that a new boss, busy at work, busy at home etc, and blogging fell by the wayside. Gonna try to get online on an actual computer at least once a week this year. Looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs, and posting some updates on our critters and happenings. Hope everyone is enjoying a great start to the new year!

Deputy Guinea says hello and hopes to have some pied guinea companions in a few months!

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!

Raspberry vinegar?

Maybe, if I'm lucky. Had extra raspberries from a flat we purchased down the road at one of the local berry farms. 4c of berries and 5c of white wine vinegar per my Ball preserving book. Recipe says to stir every couple days, and taste once a week til desired strength is achieved. We'll see how it goes. Only cost me about $8 in vinegar, so no great loss if it doesn't work, right? Right.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th!!

Poultry run, summer busy, and critter update

This is why I haven't been posting.  The new poultry run has eaten up all my time between rain and then too-hot-to-work weather.  Been crazy busy.  It's almost done, and I'll post pics once it's totally finished and I've moved on to another project.

I've got some family and friends pretty ticked off at me lately because I've disappeared.  Thing is, it's summer.  I work full-time already.  Then, because it's summer and mostly not raining and light rather late, I spend all my not-at-work time doing all the stuff I can't do when it's "not-summer".  I really really don't have the time to go spend a day at the farmer's market, or antiquing, or just generally farting around.  There's mowing, and weedeating, and the garden, and the animals, and all the baby animals, and house projects, and the chicken run, and the new steps we need to install, and fruit that needs picking and preserving, and a coop that needs repainting...etc etc etc.  I get home from work, change my clothes, and go work outside.  We might take one day a month to go do something not home related, like going to yard sales or mushroom hunting.  That's it.

So, really quick update. 

Birds
Goldy-hen and 4 duck babies are still in the chicken tractor and doing really well. Goldy is turning out to be a super mom.

Turkey eggs: 4 weren't fertile, 2 stopped developing halfway, 2 got broken by the hens, 3 pipped and didn't get any further, 3 hatched.  The three poults are doing great, and are in a different chicken tractor with Bellina, who I know is a kickbutt mom.  My kickass S&BiL hatched out some turkeys earlier this season... maybe they'll trade with me so I can mix up the bloodlines.... haven't asked yet what they're planning on doing with their turkeys.  Add that to my list. If not, I can always just sub some purchased poults next year.  Heck, I don't even know yet what the sexes are of my 3 piddly poults.  Should be able to make a guess in just a couple weeks.  I really want to have a tom and a couple hens.  Want my own farm-hatched babies, and not have to purchase our turkeys every year.

The two chicken eggs I stuck under Smaug so she'd stop stealing nests didn't hatch.  Weren't fertile.  The two black copper maran "pullets" I bought turned out to be cockerels.  I think I need to keep one.  Hubby doesn't agree.  I'm thinking along the lines of, "tough, I'm keeping one".  :)

More 'scovy eggs are destined for the incubator.  I have 15, and should have 17-19 total come Thurs when I start the incubation.  If Freida goes broody, I'll let her sit, but if the ducks hatch any more babies themselves, they'll go into the chicken tractor until the babies are big enough to not be easy raven pickins.

Brush-mowers
Traeger and Weber are doing great.  Weber is growing like crazy, but Traeger (the goat) isn't growing nearly as fast.  Shocking, considering how much he eats.  We're really impressed with Weber, a katahdin sheep.  He mows down blackberries and other brush just as fast and happily as the goat.  I'm thinking we may do this breed again.  Very very happy with him.

Annnnnnd... that's about it for now.  Work to do.  Have a fun and safe 4th!!

Why ducks line the fence when they see "the cup"

If I walk outside, carrying "the cup", they watch... And wait. This was the 2nd cup of slugs collected this evening. Oregon sure is great for slugs (of manageable size... WA is ridiculous. Damn banana slugs).

The slugs especially like the places where the chicken tractor and its assorted poultry have rested. Easy pickins and happy waterfowl. :)

Must use the cup, as slugs have different sorts of slime. Some thin, and some like glue which literally has to be SCRAPED off... Absolutely will NOT wash off. Yuck.

Lost 5 ducklings... New lesson learned :(

All 6 of Maggie's ducklings were out there this morning. As of this afternoon, there was one. I'm about 95% sure that the culprit was the local raven. It's huge, and "quorks" instead of cawing. Totally not a crow. I saw it go after a duckling last week, but the other birds chased it off. Figured that was the end of it. But, down to one duckling with no trace of the others, and no grass was flattened around the edges of the pen, so nothing climbed the fence and stole them. I don't see a hawk stealing off with 5 freakin ducklings. But I've observed a raven return several times within an hour to the same campsite to steal, each time, a piece of bread from a torn breadbag. So. I'm putting my money on that damn raven. It steals eggs too. $&@!  I took the last duckling from Maggie and slipped it in with Goldie. Hopefully Maggie decides to set another clutch.

Hard lesson learned: next batch of ducklings will go into a chicken tractor with momma for 3 weeks or however long til they reach a size that will deter the raven... If said raven is still around come the next hatch. Funny, it is the only raven I've seen in our area. Always alone.

One of these things is not like the other...

One of these things just doesn't belong...



Well, at least Goldie doesn't know any different. :)  She hatched out two, btw. The two that I hope will be black and white like Freida. The brown one in the back is Maggie's, but injured its leg, so I snuck it in with Goldie. She seemed happy to have it!