Not your average day off

Today was my day off. A day of rest before the business at the bank that is friday and sat. My plan was to have a girlfriend up this morning. The afternoon found on the schedule- picking up ducks and selling a bunny. Sounds simple, right? Well, my girlfriend came up around 11, with her two kids and Nana. We walked around the farm playing with the animals and feeding the goats. When it came time for them, her 5 year old declared she wanted to stay here forever. Quite a compliment! We agreed that she would miss her mom too much, but she could stay for the afternoon. I didnt mind if she tagged along to get the ducks. Her mom, her nana and her baby sister all went shopping. Not exactly sure what I should do with a 5 year old for the whole afternoon, I called another girlfriend. Maybe she wanted to join us on our duck outing. She did, lured by the idea of a road trip and lunch out. The 5 year old and I drove to girlfriend M's house. We picked up her and her two boys (4 and 2). My truck found the backseat crammed with 3 carseats (they all fit!). Together we drove up to PA to get some ducklings. Kid conversation is hilarious! They entertained us the whole way up.

When we got to our destination, the kids were super anxious to see the baby ducks. We were taken back to a barn, where the girl explained why she was selling her flock. Apparently a fox broke into their barn 2 nights in a row, killing over half their flock. Roosterless, the flock has no protection. She decided to cut her losses and sell the remaining chickens and ducks. Our ducklings were born on 4/5. They are Welsh Harlequin and super adorable. As anyone who has read even one post of my blog knows, I am a sucker with a capital "S" when it comes to animals. Did I want any chickens she asked? Well.....ok. We picked out 3 banty (mini) chickens that will lay green eggs! We stuffed them all into the duck carrier and headed back home. The new additions rode in the cab in the back where the kids kept a vigilant eye on them. The 4 year old kept exclaiming he saw an egg. We told him he was wrong, they wouldnt lay an egg on the car ride...never tell a 4 year old he is wrong unless you are dead sure. When we were home and unloading everyone, there indeed was an egg. A green tinted egg that matched the 5 year olds sweater. Strike one for the smart adults. The kids were all passionate about holding the ducks.

Once everyone was settled in the barn, we all played outside before retiring in to make cookies. A guy stopped by to buy a bunny for Easter. I made back half of what I spent on the ducks/chickens (did I mention they came with a bag of feed? awesome!). We had a grand afternoon of baking cookies and talking. Dinner was made, Hubby came home to spend time with the kids before everyone left.

Hubby and I are now exhausted and its not even 9. Having kids around sure made the day go by fast. I still got my to-do list checked off and had fun doing it. It was priceless to see the kids in the goat pen feeding everyone hay and treats. I am sure the animals had a blast too. Tonight is supposed to be in the 30s, so I have the ducklings inside where they will stay warm. And I miss having cuteness in the office since the baby bunnies moved out...There are soft peeps coming from their cage as I type...

Hello and Goodbye

This week there are a lot of changes going on around the farm. The chicks said hello to their new coop. Mama Bunny said hello to her babies. And the farm will say goodbye to Meanie. Today Meanie has her date with the butcher. In just a few hours I will load her into the truck and she will say goodbye to her home. Sad? yes. Part of life? yes. It may be her last day with us, but that doesnt mean she is neglected. In fact, this morning she had got herself tied up and couldnt stand. I dropped everything I was doing to go untangle her. She may only have a few hours left, but by golly, they will be good hours. Hubby gave the goats extra hay last night, and they got extra rations this morning. I dont think Meanie knows what is going to happen later, and maybe its better that way.

On a happier note, Mama Bunny is doing well. All 7 babies are alive so far. I realized last time that I can't count them as alive until after a week or so. If Mama bunny feels that one or two are weaklings, she will take care of it. And by that, I mean she will eat them, dispose of the evidence. I always thought it was horrible that a rabbit could and will eat their young. I guess if I look at it from the rabbits perspective, she is doing it to save the others. If she were in the wild, a predator could sense the weak babies and would be drawn to the nest. So perhaps that one weak runt would be the death of the whole litter. The mama would just be trying to put the best interests of the rest of the babies ahead of one baby. So far, all our babies look fat and healthy. I am hoping they all live and will keep you updated.

Today is another cold dreary day. I dont think its supposed to heat up much. I am layered in my farm clothes, drinking my coffee, with the heater turned down. Tonight Hubby and I are hopefully doing our taxes. It will be our first year owning a home, and I am hoping to get a tax break. Last year we barely got a refund, and this year we could really use it. We are still not using credit cards, and while its hard!, its also sooo much better. There isnt the stress hanging over us while we wait for the bill to come. If we dont have the money, we dont buy it. This is teaching us restraint, but also to be content with what we have. I have been knitting from my stash and realizing how much yarn I do have. We are cooking "from the pantry". We go grocery shopping for fresh veggies and fruits as well as coffee and milk. Other than that we are trying to clean out the pantry. We have a ton of frozen meat in the chest freezer and are going to try to thin it out. We are learning to adapt and use what we have. We are loving it! Once Kisses has babies (if she is pregnant), we wont have to buy milk at the store. We havent bought eggs since I cant remember when. We will have even more meat, after Meanie's date. The baby bunnies will fill the freezer too. When the chicks are old enough to lay, we will thin out our flock. Our meat chicks will be ready in a month. I want to buy as little at the grocery store as possible.

This post is getting way off topic...and laundry is calling. We are looking forward to what other hellos and goodbyes will happen here on the farm. Stay tuned!

missing bunnies...

Today started off normal enough...well I will admit it was super hard to get out of bed at the normal hour since it was dark and rainy. I waited until the very last minute and got up to tend to the farm. Dont get me wrong, i am not getting up at 5 like hubby. I waited until about 730 before convincing myself I had to get up.

Farm chores go like this- check on the chickens (feed and water) in the big coop. Check the ducks, chickens in red coop, other ducks, and geese. Feed and water as necessary. Feed goats. Check on bunny in coop by the barn. Check on bunnies in stacked cages. Check on Mama bunny and babies... babies? This morning on my check, there was one baby in the cage with mama. Four were missing...the door was slightly ajar. Not open so Mama could get out, but just enough for four mischievious babies to escape. Hunting down 4 baby bunnies was not in my alloted time frame. Mama Bunny's cage just happens to be next to the huge woodpile. hmph! I spotted one bunn sitting on a log. She had nowhere to go and I caught her easily. A second bunn was under the stairs. I tried for 10 minutes to catch her, but she would run into the woodpile. I still had to feed the chicks, dogs, other chicks and cats. And get ready for work. I was headed in to the mudroom to get food and water to leave out for the babies, when I spotted the fourth baby sitting by the door. Scooped her up and she joined Mama and the first two. I set out food and water for the remaining babies. One I knew was under the wood pile, but the fifth I had not seen. I finished up with the farm chores, got ready for work and hit the road.

This afternoon, after work, my attention was focused on finding the baby bunnies. I knew there were 3 in the cage with Mama. How hard could it be to find the remaining 2? Ha...what a joke that was. In the cage with Mama was not the 3 I had expected, but just 1. The door again was ajar. What a day, what a day.... Long story short, all 5 babies are reunited with Mama. The wood pile is now in 2 piles. The super easy to open door is now tied shut. When Hubby gets home I will have him help me switch the bunnies to a non-escapable cage.

The rest of the afternoon was enjoyable. The rain has stopped. The chickens are enjoying the wet dirt and all the worms that come with it. The goats got an extra ration of cracked grain. I could spend all day surveying the backyard. The chickens alone are entertaining. Add in the bunnies, chicks, ducks, geese and goats? Its no wonder we dont have tv. Know what? I dont miss it...

Frontyardigans, some new ladies and a duck tractor

First off, the duck tractor pictures, as promised yesterday...The ducks love their new home. We lined the "house" part with cedar chips to help keep them warm.

Speaking of new, we are proud to introduce you to our 3 new ladies. Since Martha's change to a George, our hens equal our roosters. We added three more hens to up the egg count. 2 Rhode Island Reds and 1 Silver Laced Cochin. They are now occupying the new McMansion, until the others return home for the night.

The others are trying to figure out how to get in the front window...

Duck Eggs, Cinnamon Chips and mini butter

Mmmm... I was craving something sweet, but not candy. The perfect solution was to make cookies. I got out all the ingredients from the pantry, opened the fridge, and was disappointed to find we had no butter. Fresh eggs? yes. Butter? no. Considering how the closest grocery store is 30 mins away, we ran to 7-11. They sold the cutest butter 1/2 cubes. I decided to use 2 duck eggs in the cookies, along with cinnamon chips and oatmeal. yum!

The Prodigal Cat returns, some antique finds, and a duck tractor

Last night our cat Mittens returned after running away over a month ago. He showed up on the doorstep, and although skinny and scared, he seems well. Now he is back at home with Buttons and running the house. Welcome home Mittens!

Hubby and I drove down to Ellicott City to pick up a chicken tractor. A simple "A" frame coop with a built in run. Man, how we love craigslist! On our way through Ellicott's Main Street, we saw multiple antique stores. Never one to pass up an antique store (and one open on a Sunday to boot!), we parked the truck and went shopping. Hubby found an awesome milk crate, complete with 24 bottles. I am picturing fresh cut flowers in the spring. He also found an old garrison flag, to be hung on the living room wall downstairs. I was delighted to find different sized flower frogs. Check out just some of our finds...

Ill post pictures of the new tractor tomorrow when the sun is shining. We are hoping to get everone settled before it snows this week.

Eggs, Baby Birds and Snow

Wow, the new year has brought lots of changes. One of the chickens has started laying. She faithfully lays an egg a day. Hubby and I have enjoyed them greatly! One of the ducks has started laying too. However, until today, the shells were too soft. If we touched the shell it would cave in. We started feeding them oyster shells for calcium, and wa-laa today we had a hard shelled egg. Which is now sitting in the fridge along side the chicken eggs. Speaking of eggs, the finches are great egg layers. However usually the mama finch decides to kill the eggs (for reasons known only to her). She will either eat them herself, or push them over the nest. She must have known that 2011 is a new year, and made a resolution not to kill her eggs. For as I write, there is a living, breathing, baby finch hiden in the nest. Anytime we try to get a peak, the mama finch gets quite upset. So we will see soon enough.

The new year has also brought along snow! So far we have had 3 days of snow, with yesterdays being the most yet. It started snowing yesterday afternoon, and we woke up to around 3 inches. I let the chickens out of their coop. The walked around, tried to eat the snow, tried to shake the snow off their feet, and returned to their coop. So much for snow chickens... The goats could care less about what the weather does. They act as if they didnt even notice the snow. The dogs opinions are split. On one hand, Jack loves the snow. He would stay out in it all day if he could. On the other hand, Whiskey hates it. But she hates anything cold, wet or muddy. She will avoid puddles and rain as much as possible. But snow is impossible to avoid. So she waits out the day tucked inside her doghouse. Jack sits on top of the dog house roof so he can monitor the snow fall...

I love the snow. It makes everything have a clean start. I love walking through the snow. I love watching the snow blow off the rooftops. I love the way the snow rests on branches in the trees. I love snow. I am going to take the day, and enjoy it while its here. Happy snow day!

Winter on the Farm

Its winter here at the farm. We have been busy getting everything ready for the snow, and just in time too. For the winter we have grouped all the animals (except the dogs) close together by the barn. The goats (now we have 3 nannies and a billy) have free range of the barn and pen. Right on the outside of their pen is the duck pen. This is caged on all sides, top and bottom. Come spring they will have a proper run, but for the winter this will do. The chickens still have their coop, located next to the ducks. We tried letting the ducks sleep in the coop, but they didnt like it much. Yesterday hubby and I built a rabbit run at the back covered side of the barn. We hope to inherit 5 more rabbits this week and needed a place larger than just the hutch. Ill post pictures when we get them. We have huge plans for the spring but for now with the ground frozen they will stay just plans... Inside the house we have had our pipes freeze multiple times which forces us to keep the heaters on. I am not terribly happy about this, as we were trying to be frugal and only heat what we need. lesson learned. Maybe it is more frugal to turn the heaters on, then to have to pay for a plumber to come fix broken pipes... The tree is up, the rooms decorated and we are ready to settle down for winter. Hubby and I found a bunch of puzzles we liked and are looking forward to spending time in the (warm) house working on them. Happy Winter to all!