Last Wednesday morning, our Sebastapol geese's nest hatched and we were pleased to meet their two goslings. In the nest remained four unhatched eggs. Sometimes the unhatched eggs will hatch slightly later. If they don't, we candle the eggs to see if they are developing. If so, we move any viable eggs into another nest to have a shot at hatching. Most often, the unhatched eggs were either never fertilized or the embryo died at some earlier point of development. In either of those cases, the eggs have to be disposed of before they begin to rot.
Thursday evening, Sean checked the eggs to remove those that needed it and discovered an egg stalled in the hatching process. It was growing cold and the geese had already abandoned the remaining eggs in the nest, so we made the call to try to help this little one to hatch. We have had both success and failure at this, but weighed against doing nothing resulting in most likely it's death, we had to at least try.
It takes hours to help a bird to hatch. It must be done slowly, mimicking nature. Gentle tapping on the outside of the egg, stimulates the processes of closing off umbilicus and readying the chick for hatching. Care must be taken to not breech veins that might cause too much bleeding.
Helping this gosling was not without trouble. The first day, it was so weak that it could barely lift its head. Then, it developed splay-leg (or sprattle leg) and needed us to make braces from band-aids to align its legs properly for another 24 hours. It imprinted on Sonja. While that is sweet, it makes it hard to integrate the gosling back to its family.
Sean and I were so looking forward to a few days off together- four of them- all in a row. We had a list of things to do and (finally!!!) the time to tackle some of them. Mother Nature had vastly different ideas.
It rained hard on Friday and our girls were off with friends, so we took the opportunity to spend some time with each other. We spent almost the entire day doing nothing special. We watched a movie on Netflix, even!
We woke Saturday morning to morerain. Despite this, we drove to our local Tractor Supply Company for our 2 week load of grains. Miss Meaghan was home and went with us. With so many vendors braving the rain that was beginning to be a recurring theme to these "Farm Swaps", we had it in mind to search for a pair of unrelated, baby angora bunnies with which to begin our breeding stock. Meaghan is in charge of this venture. She'll be breeding her pair twice a year and selling the kits, in addition to learning how to spin fiber into usable angora yarns.
Ironically, we purchased a handsome, 12 week old, English
Angora buck, at the swap, from a neighbor who used to occasionally supply us with round bales of hay last year and lives about 5 minutes from us. And, in a handy turn of events, she is going to be able to breed us a tawny English Angora doe for him. We'll purchase her in about 3 months. We spent the ride home deciding on names. I was hoping for Abraham and Sarah, but Meaghan vetoed them immediately. She spent several hours debating the merits of the names Boaz and Zechariah, finally choosing to use them both. Boaz Zechariah Sanders does not exactly flow off the tongue, but since we all call him Bo, I suppose it will do. Meg's doe is going to be named Ruth.
Kristen has been asking for a mini lop-eared bunny for months. When we saw a friendly, young buck for only $15.00, we bought him for her. She named him Leo. Though he is not earning his keep monetarily, he is making Kristen very happy with his company. And, thankfully, bunnies are fairly inexpensive to keep.
On Sunday, unsatisfied with the previous nine consecutive days of hard rain, Mother Nature continued her deluge. Frustration compounded and frayed all our nerves. So much to do and the hours passing void of anything resembling accomplishment. A week's worth of clothing sat dirty and waiting. We washed one load during the week, but it was still damp days later. There is no point in washing laundry when it cannot be dried efficiently. The stalls were a sodden mess and both chickens and goats waited miserably in them, casting accusatory eyes at us when we ventured in to replace hay or collect eggs. In the face of unrelenting rain, there was really nothing that can be done other than to try to make everyone as comfortable as possible and pray it for it to pass.
On Monday morning, we woke to a welcomed sight. The SUN! We snapped into action and attempted to fit four days worth of work into one. We set to milking and then moved the goats to the back yard, where they cheerfully spent the day grazing in the brush or napping in the sun. While I processed and recorded the milk and then fed the piggies, Jasmine, and the chickens in the main coop yard and tractors, Sean filled all the water buckets and then, fiddled with the riding mower in an effort to coax it back to life after its winter rest. Within minutes, the rider roared to a start and I was able to mow for the first time. Mowing is one of my favorite chores. There is almost nothing I like better (work wise) than to stick in my ear buds and spend a couple hours riding in circles, creating neat piles of grass clippings to rake up. I set to work immediately.
We have been wanting and NEEDING to move the big geese from the duck yard. Ever since Caitlin ruined a perfectly good nest, her days were numbered. Sean took a couple hours to sink 9-10 metal posts around the edge of where the lower part of the front lawn was holding over a foot of water. He engineered it so that the geese have a place to settle in the grass and also a place to paddle about. We still plan to have a proper pond dug for them at some point in the future, but in light of all the rain, it was a good time to move them.
That project complete, it was time to move on to adding more soil to our garden beds and to begin to transplant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and watermelon into them. It feels so good to see the garden we planned on paper come to life with the plants we grew from seeds. I can only imagine how it will feel when they are all producing. To prepare the area where the raised beds will live, we staked a 30 foot square blue utility tarp on the ground. Then, we screwed the 2x6's in place. Sean cut out the tarp from the inside area of the beds. I laid a good layer of newspaper to cover the ground and we covered it with good garden soil. In some of the beds, we used cardboard instead of newspaper. Both will decay nicely in time and serve the purpose of being a great weed barrier now.
We took the baby geese and our lone duckling to the front "pond" to splash about, too. They took to it like, well, ducks to water. At this age, they have to be watched carefully since the oils that will allow them to be buoyant and float as adults have not been distributed properly, yet. We watched them play, catch and eat little water bugs and instinctively preen themselves.
It took me all week to find the time to sit and catch you all up with what is happening around here. I am hoping to write more frequently, but I fear that finding the time to do so, will be hard. I am taking lots of pictures so that when I can sit for a bit, I'll have them ready. Please, bear with us as summer gears up and we get used to our schedule change.
We appreciate your taking the time to visit with us tonight. We're sure glad you're here.
Sean & Sonja ♥
The skies opened Sunday night and it has been raining off and on since. The ducks and geese are in heaven with the soggy situation, everyone else: not so much. Myself included. I have things to do outside and this rain is helping neither my mood nor motivation. In addition, the wet ground creates a very nasty scent and makes the chicken coop really unpleasant to be near. Sean and I spread some hay to cover the muddy mess. This made it more pleasant for the chickens walking about and also had the added benefit of eliminating the foul odor. At least, temporarily.
While caring for chicken chores on Sunday morning, I had quite a surprise. Amidst the cacophony of 2 geese honking, 13 ducks quacking (including Gillie, who takes her breed of Call Duck quite seriously), and nearly 60 chickens clucking, I heard a tiny, single, little "peep, peep, peep" emanating from somewhere. At first, I thought that the last chicken egg hatched from our first clutch of 10 eggs, but then, I remembered that I had Sean dispose of the last un-hatched egg the previous evening. There were no goose eggs being set upon any longer, either. This meant only one thing, either one of the chicken eggs (being set upon my some confused ducks) hatched out or the duck eggs were finally hatching. I called Sean over to help me investigate. Sure enough, one of the Black Swedish ducklings hatched. We decided to leave it with the broody duck caring for it until after we returned home from Sunday worship and could properly situate the new one into our brooding box.
The ducks are still stubbornly sitting on multiple nests. We have five nests full of eggs being set upon right now by broody ducks. Besides the nest of the only duck to hatch any ducklings so far this year, two ducks have laid claim to a HUGE nest of 20 or more eggs and they are sharing incubation duty. One duck began a nest outside, in the corner between the duck house and the fencing. And, Caitlin (the goose) scared off the last broody Momma duck and claimed her nest for herself to sit upon. As long as the eggs are being incubated, this would not necessarily be a problem, but she is systematically expelling developing eggs from the nest each day! Sean and I candled the eggs Caitlin pushed out of her stolen nest and put any that were developing and still warm under a broody hen. This cannot be allowed to continue and makes removing Caitlin and Justin from the chicken yard a priority! To summarize: We have a broody goose sitting (and expelling) duck eggs, we have a broody duck sitting on both chicken and duck eggs, there are 2 ducks sharing nesting duties, and a broody chicken sitting on rescued duck eggs! I guess it is really true that it takes a village! With all this craziness to track, I just hope some ducklings actually hatch since I have orders pending and only 1 duckling so far to fill them!
We settled the sole duckling into the brooder with the 2 goslings and they were immediate buddies. When the goslings drank water or ate their grain, the duckling followed along and learned to eat and drink from the containers, too. They are very sweet to watch and snuggle with, for sure!
Also, on Sunday night, we were able to find a home for Reddy Roo and the last Partridge Cochin Rooster with a family from a neighboring town. They lost their rooster of 4 years over the winter and had been looking for a replacement for their hens. That leaves 8 roosters for us to find homes with hens to protect and romance. We'll take 3 Americauna roosters and Barred Rooster to the Farm Swap in Bangor on Saturday and maybe they will also find suitable homes.
Monday was quiet around here. Sean and I both had to work and it rained steadily, so not much happened on the farm. Today was a different story. After the girls got on the school bus and Sean left for work, I spent my morning making 3 gallons of milk into a big batch of cheddar cheese. Then, I used the left over whey to make a container of ricotta cheese. While the cheddar was being pressed and the ricotta hung, I made up 3 trays of fresh Lally Broch Farm Goat's Milk Soap in the scents of Jasmine, Maine Woods, and Citrus-Mint. These need to cure for a bit, but they should be ready to use by July 1st.
We have thankfully been selling out of our soaps regularly. Which means, I need to make more to keep up! That will be easier to do in the months to come since I will finally be making Lally Broch Farm products my main source of income beginning in August. Sean will be keeping his regular job while continuing to work the farm as we've been doing. It is so exciting to see our hard work paying off and completely TERRIFYING, too. So much can go wrong, it is easy to dwell in the land of "what if." But then, what if cuts both ways. What if we are able to live modestly from the farm products we make and Sean is someday able to focus on it full time, too? What if we succeed and are able to spend crucial time home with our teenagers before they set out on their life's path? What if....
Back to today, Sonja!
Today, we have a few of our 5 oz (approximately) bath bars of goat's milk soap still available for purchase at $7.25/bar at ourEtsy Shop. We have the following bars of soaps available:
From our Regular Line
Lavender: 3 bars (ready to use now)
Cinnamon Spice: 3 2 bars (ready to use now)
Peppermint Stick: 6 bars (ready June 1, 2013)
Maine Woods: 8 6 bars (ready July 1, 2013)
Citrus-Mint: 8 6 bars (ready July 1, 2013)
Jasmine: 6 bars (ready July 1, 2013)
Limited Supply Special Scents*
Baby Powder: 3 bars (ready June 1, 2013)
Dragon's Blood: 7 bars (ready July 1, 2013)
*We do not plan to carry these scents regularly at this time. These limited supply soaps were made from free essential oil samples sent from our soap oil supplier with our order for organic coconut and palm oils. Each time a sample scent is sent to us, we make a limited run of those soaps. When they run out, they are gone. They may be available again, maybe not. So if you see one you want, get it while you can! ♥
Have you entered the Farm Chit Chat Give-Away Contest, yet? Here is your chance to win a bar of soap or your very own Lally Broch Farm Mosiac Eggshell Pendant valued at $25.00. To make it super easy, you can clickity, click, click on the link above or enter below for your chance to win one of the fantastic prizes FCC is offering. There are 2 separate give-aways being hosted with a total of 10 prizes to be won on June 1, 2013, so be sure to enter both!
I can't wait until Spring (Spring means inches of mud instead of snow, so make that-) Summer.
So much to do. Planting, building, growing, but we can't because it snowed a foot (again!).
The frustrated expectation of the months ahead is enough to drive one mad slowly waiting for it. And then, I hear these from the living room, chirping sweetly. I take a breath in and out. And watch them. They are not waiting for anything. They play. They scratch. They eat. They drink. They snooze in a warm and comfy pile. I can't help but smile.
And, these:
They are slowly growing into the promise of ducklings and goslings. I candled them last night to check for progress. As far as I can tell, 4 of the Black Swedish eggs have nothing forming. I will give them another week and if there are no signs of life, those eggs will be discarded. The other 8 Black Swedish eggs have the beginnings of life, tiny veins spidering out from the center. The Mallard eggs are faring slightly better. 10 of them are showing signs of development. It is difficult to see inside the strong, thick goose eggshell, but I was able to definitively see a developing "spider" in at least on egg. Such hopeful news! These should begin hatching sometime around April 11th.
And, if those two things were not enough to remind me to live what life is today, the joy of these little ones surely is.
I cannot truthfully say that I am not still awaiting the warm days of summer and eagerly anticipating the bounty of this year's harvest with hope. Nor, that I have given up worrying over the coming delivery of Leah and Rachel's kids. But, I think if my mind starts to run ahead too much, I will just nip down to the kid stall and watch some goat kids at play.
I had so much fun interacting with friends who guessed what breed of chicks we had in the brooder, I had another thought. Rachel is due between now and the end of April 2013. If you would care to guess the date she delivers, I will send the person who guesses the closest a semi-fabulous prize from our Etsy shop. No need to sign up for anything, just leave a comment with your guess. I can tell you that her udder is filling, but is not football sized yet, if that helps, at all with your guessing.
Thanks for visiting with us today.
Sean and Sonja ♥
I have been neglecting my writing. Not because I don't want to write or because I don't have thoughts, plans and ideas to share. I have been legitimately WORKING HARD and by the time I get settled for the evening and have a spare moment, my eyes drift close and morning arrives. Sneaky, sneaky morning! I appreciate that you have been so patient; it has helped me be more productive. Before I share all of that with you, though, first an update on our goats.
On Friday, Dr. Larson came out to the homestead to check the goats for us. We know what happened to Sapphira, but after losing Pepper so abruptly and without warning, we needed a vet call to reassure ourselves and certainly to address any problems within the herd. Dr. Larson was quite thorough in listening to hearts and lungs, feeling over shoulders, spines, and haunches, checking gums and eyelids, and collecting fecal samples. I never find "bathroom" humor funny, but I have to share this gem. Just as we were discussing the need to collect a sample, Ellie decided to oblige us with some fresh pellets. Dr. Larson looked around for her gloves and a sample container and finding none readily to hand, cupped her bare hands and caught the sample she needed. THAT is a dedicated vet! After a hand wash, the exams continued. Overall, the herd looked good and healthy. Ellie, in particular was still underweight and Dr. Larson suggested a Blue Seal dairy goat grain with at least .03 selenium and a higher protein content for all the does. Ellie's fecal exam showed some Barber Pole Worm (Haemonchus contortus) eggs, but neither larvae nor worms themselves. We just wormed Ellie with Ivomec 2 weeks ago, so we decided to administer another dose before Spring to catch any eggs that are laying dormant before they hatch and multiply. (All goats carry parasites. The goal is to control their levels, not eradicate them.) Otherwise, everyone looks good and healthy.
I did learn some new things with this visit.
(1) I learned that a "fat" goat may still be under-weight. All of our goats have great, fat bellies and a good heft to them. I did not know that, like dogs, you judge weight by running your fingers down a goat's spine. It should not feel "bony". Additionally, it is necessary to feel around your goat's ribs. You should just be able to feel them with a nice layer of fat and muscle covering them. Based on these tests, Abigail and Ruby need to put on a few pounds. We increased their grain rations slightly to accomplish this.
(2) I also started to feel a little better about my ability to tell for certain if a doe was pregnant or not. Dr. Larson's first question to us regarding this was, "Has she been exposed to a buck?" All the does had been exposed when Jedi escaped months ago- except Ellie. Dr. Larson checked over Ellie first and stated that she could not be certain whether or not Ellie was pregnant without a blood test. We explained that Ellie has had no opportunity to become pregnant, so that possibility was ruled out. Dr. Larson moved on to examine Abigail. Without a blood test or sonogram results immediately available, Dr. Larson resorted to an old farmers method of bracing her hands on either side of Abigail's belly and giving her a slight shake. According to our good doctor, sometimes you can feel the kids move in this way. Abigail did not appear pregnant based on a manual examination and that her udder has not formed at all. We did not think she was, but this confirmation was fantastic news. Ruby, Leah, and Rachel are all pregnant and are growing the udders to prove it.
With the getting ready for new goat kids, it feels like spring must be just around the corner. We are not alone in this feeling. Our geese, Justin and Caitlin are planning for babies of their own. Caitlin has laid 3 eggs so far. Justin is pulling out his chest feathers to help create a nest for his would-be offspring. And, he has decided to evict the chickens from using the duck/goose house without notice. Actually, he has become quite territorial about the yard in general. He feined at Sean a couple times this week while he attempted to collect goose eggs and outright bit him once! When the weather gets warmer, we will allow them to sit on their eggs, but for now, it is still getting into the low 20's some nights- too cold for hatching eggs outside! The ducks apparently want "in" on this, too. I collected 3 Mallard eggs and 1 Black Swedish egg this morning when I fed them. The first duck eggs of the year!
Along with all these things, we have finally launched our new "Farm Pals" program. I am so excited and proud of this program. It comes as an off-shoot of the idea I wanted to implement of "Farmer for a Day" program for 4-9 year old kids. Basically, once each week through the summer, we would host a group of up to 10 children for a few hours once each week. The "farmers" would participate in farm related activities like: collecting eggs, help feeding animals, learning about gardening, story time, making cheese, and enjoying a farm fresh snack. Our "Farmer for a Day" program won't be ready to roll out until our barn is complete- hopefully by Summer 2014. This lead me to think, "How can I get children involved now?" and "How can I open this program so that children who don't live nearby can also take part?" And, that is how "Farm Pals" was born. It is an interactive, educational program designed with activities packages full of information about farm life. (Click the link for more information about it.) If that wasn't enough, we also added to our farm products line available on our Etsy store. We have had available our homemade goat's milk Lally Broch Soap and our Lally Broch Scent Shots (to use in your tart warmer.) We have now started our line of original, custom costume jewelry for the farm chic farm-girl. Our one-of-a-kind, unique, hand-painted Eggshell Pendants are made from the eggshells of our very own beloved flock of chickens, ducks, and geese. Each one is a wearable piece of art. I am so in love with these and I think you'll like them, too!
A final bit of happiness, our selection of organic, non-GMO seeds from Fedco arrived last weekend. In a few days, Sean and I will start our 6-packs for this year's garden. How exciting and what a complete change from the sad events from weeks past.
So, that is the update of what has been happening around here. As Spring blooms, you may look forward to lots of pictures, some videos, and updates from Lally Broch.
Thanks for visiting tonight, friends. We're sure glad you did.
Sean & Sonja ♥
I don’t know
about you, but I am done with winter. I am done with snow. I am soooo done with days on end of
temperatures hovering around zero and the wind-chill dipping well below it. I
am done with chipping out water buckets and frozen manure from stall floors in
the hopes of keeping them anywhere near usable. And, I am not alone. Our
animals are done with it, too. Though we open the doors to their stalls each
morning to allow them free access to their fields to stretch their legs, none
do. The poor goats spend their days chewing hay from their mangers looking
wistfully at fields covered over. Their eyes cast suspicion at me that I, supplier of food, bringer of petting
and comfort, have somehow bestowed these horrible conditions they suffer
through. The Vietnamese pot-bellies reluctantly unearth themselves out of their
mound of hay just long enough to gobble down their food and then, dig
themselves back under. The chickens cluck-cluck-cluck in a tizzy when I check
the nest boxes as if to say, “You still have not fixed this! We are lodging a
complaint!” The geese follow me around like the coop-yard-police they are,
honking for warm water to swim in. Only the ducks and Fenn-dog (our husky) seem
not to notice; whether they are truly impervious to the cold or are merely too
good natured to complain is debatable.
I was
recently reminded that the days are growing longer (we have gained over an hour
at last count!) and promised that spring will return to the frozen north in its
due time. This should offer me some solace as I, once more, thaw my fingers by
the wood stove, but it doesn’t. What did
help was an accident. In the course of cleaning out the bazillion images clogging
my computer, I found myself mentally transported to last spring and all the new
babies born to us at Lally Broch. Their sweet, baby cuteness conjured memories
of little peeps, chirps and meeeehs, soft, downy bodies and my lap full of
sleepy, warm goat-kid goodness.
It didn’t
seem right to keep them all to myself. So, here are a few of my favorites. If
this does nothing to thaw your hearts, you might need to get yourself checked!
Abigail newly born April 2012
Ellie and Abigail
Asher and Abigail April 2012
Mallard and Black Swedish Duckings
Basket of Chicks 2012
Caitlin Gosling is always friendly.
I love this picture because it looks like Broody hen and chick are talking to each other.
Thanks for visiting with us tonight. We really appreciate your company!
It takes hours to help a bird to hatch. It must be done slowly, mimicking nature. Gentle tapping on the outside of the egg, stimulates the processes of closing off umbilicus and readying the chick for hatching. Care must be taken to not breech veins that might cause too much bleeding.
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