The countdown has begun....
The ducks have been up for sale and quite a few have actually left the premises alive, going to farms where the owners are excited to introduce or even breed this heritage black duck with the beetle-green sheen. We had over 48 ducklings hatch this year, some in incubators and some under very possessive hens (ducks). Lots of beautiful Cayuga ducks were strolling around the barnyard, quacking loudly, preening baby feathers out and grooming shining feathers as they grew in, nibbling grass, mucking around in the cow yard. For whatever reason, this year my advertisements for them have brought customers. It was going to be way too many of them for our freezer, so I am thankful for all of the duck customers who wanted breeding quality!
A few roosters have been given to deserving homes. I certainly don't mind helping friends who need a rooster to take the place of one that has been lost, or one that became too aggressive. The Barnevelder roosters are beautiful, and it is always hard to load up the "extras" to take them to the butcher. That date is fast approaching, before cold weather really sets in.
The rabbit population seems to be paring itself down. We had another one die, and the liver was covered in yellow spots. This could mean the end of breeding rabbits and the end of keeping them at all....I suspect coccidiosis of a type that could be passed on through our rabbits to the colonies of any people who would buy from us. So we are taking a hard look at the problem and getting a vet's advice before selling any more or taking further action.
Mama Rose the Guinea Hog will take up residence (and have her late-October litter) in Wisconsin, probably leaving this coming week. I hate to see her go, but her new owner has other hogs from us and is an excellent care-taker. She is going to a good place. And one of her piglets will return to us after weaning, something to look forward to!
Two lambs were taken to the butcher, getting things started on the fill-the-freezer campaign before winter. It's sad to think of, but also a necessity and the very real rhythm of life here. Some need to be raised for meat or for sale, to pay for the ones who stay another year. The feed bills over the winter months can be pricey, so the numbers need to be as low as possible (breeding season starts in October for goats and sheep, no need for extra mouths to feed during that important time!)
Two more lambs will leave in early November, around the time that three grown-up guinea hogs from last year go to "freezer camp" in ours and customer's cold-storage....
The three turkeys that we hatched from eggs this spring will grace three Thanksgiving tables, the extra geese (probably 3 of them) will be Christmas dinners, the extra ducks and chickens will fill the freezer space for winter chicken-and-dumplings, or golden-yellow duck stock for soup...
And today, one little late-July-born fainting goat left for Ohio, with her two cousins leaving this coming week for new homes in Illinois and Wisconsin. The mama of those twins is also going to Wisconsin, and then we are down to breeding numbers (and the separate small group of 3 young doelings who will be kept separate so as not to get pregnant too soon....)
Coming up in terms of new life: Cameo the Guinea hog is in the maternity ward/stall, a week away from delivering her second litter of piglets. Bessie is due the first week in October with what will probably be her last calf. The barn cat mama is due any day now with her third (and most likely last) litter of kittens. We will have her spayed before any spring kitties can be sired by the Vagrant male with this over-worked and very thin mama.
Not to be intertwined with farm and livestock news.... Notice the EXTRA-LARGE spacing between paragraphs!!!
Exciting news that I haven't shared here before now. Our first grandbaby is due this week, Wednesday. She is to be named Lily, born to our daughter and Jake.
It all seems very unreal, even though her birth is finally so close!
Exciting times, for sure!!!
Laura
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