New Additions

3 day old Cayuga Ducklings

It's been a busy couple weeks on the farm. We've been planting more of the raised beds, managing all the poultry as best we can and getting ready for the new arrivals. On the gardening front, everything planted in the last month has sprouted (yay!) and we've put carrots, telephone peas and chard in as of last weekend. There will be about a month long break before any more needs to be put in.

In livestock, the baby chickens are growing faster and faster. They will be 8 weeks old Sunday, but I'm not sure they'll be big enough by 10 weeks to process. Since they're not commercial breeds, it make sense they're slower growing. I'm still having a hard time telling the hens from the roos but a couple more weeks should help that.

The older chickens have been making a mess out of the blueberry hills and some decorative plants. They seem to enjoy exposing the roots of the plants so they can take a dust bath in the mulch. Silly birds! So, last weekend we ran some temporary fencing and bird netting to keep them in safer territory. Today they found an area they could squeeze under so I'll need to address that tomorrow.

The Royal Palm turkeys we had staged an evacuation and have been living at my neighbors house for a few weeks. Then one of the males got his foot caught in her field fencing and had to move back home. He's fine, a little scraped up, but doing well. It's really good to have the turkey noises back- I didn't realize how much I missed it! Peck the Rooster, Rascal the Duck, a Tom Turkey, assorted hens and 3 goats make up a very nice farm soundtrack.

We've placed an order for the late summer processing of chickens, only 10 this time and they will be the Barred Rock variety. Still sifting through the different breeds to find a favorite. Along with the chickens, we've ordered 5 Blue Slate Turkeys, and 5 Ancona ducks. This group is scheduled to arrive in mid-May. The same day I placed the order for these I happened to be at the feed store the day their baby ducklings arrived. I couldn't resist bringing home two Cayuga ducklings. These little guys were in the running for the hatchery order but their dark feathers make them harder to dress out nicely. I'm hoping at least one is a girl so we can get some Cayuga eggs; they start off a charcoal color then fade to blues and greens as the season wears on. If we have one of each, there's a possibility we'll let them breed. They have been named Cheese and Quackers, even though we can't tell who's who.

And lastly in farm news, we're expecting baby goats soon. I noticed this evening when I fed the goats that Scarlet's udders have begun to fill and drop. Hopefully all goes well with that.

Busy times and about to get even busier!