The Fat Ewe Farm is working towards being a small fibre farm. Today's new additions are 4 Angora goats, from which mohair is produced. These shaggy cuties are most often mistaken for sheep, but they are true goats. Their fibre is sheared, as the wool of a sheep is, but the fibre is long and soft and is used for specialty items. It dyes extremely well, holding vivid colours for a long time without fading. Kid mohair is sought after by the haut couture houses for their finest fashions. Three girls and a boy came home to the farm from Innisfail. 
Innisfail is a 5.5 hour drive from The Fat Ewe Farm, so after the chores yesterday, when the animals were given extra rations, I departed in the truck with Robbie (the border collie). We arrived just before dark and a bit later, after getting acquainted with my most adorable hosts, Laura Lee and John, we went out to the goat barn. One little fellow was being tube fed because he was too weak to suck a bottle and his mother had no milk. Something went wrong. Perhaps he was born a bit premature. He was not doing well, but was he ever adorable. Two other new borns were under heat lamps in creep areas with their mothers standing watch over them in the barn. The babies could get up and go to the mother, but the mother could not get under the heat lamp, which was sectioned off by some boards.
We departed for home today, after a memorable evening with new friends, carting 4 new goaties! All three of the girls that came home to The Fat Ewe Farm are pregnant and due at various times over the next month. The little buckling will breed these does the following year and then again the year after, along with the new doelings born this year, since they are not related to the male, now at the Fat Ewe Farm. 
I also bought some mohair socks, wondrously soft and long lasting. They better be at $40 per pair! Mohair is a very strong fibre. One of the does has exceptional fibre and was much more expensive than the others, who have good fibre, but not exceptional. They will be sheared tomorrow, along with the sheep, llamas and alpacas. I sure hope it is warmer in March than it has been in February or the critters will freeze without their coats on!

Everyone expects to see chickens on a farm, but likely has one given little, if any consideration, as to their uses and the benefits of keeping them. Many cities now allow chickens in the backyard. Belgium has offered to give homeowners 3 chickens. Hmm, why?

1. Chickens eat their weight in weeds and bugs when they are allowed to free range and forage. The benefits of pest control is quite considerable, reducing the need for chemical sprays and pesticides. 
2. Chickens love left overs, so if a back yard urban dweller keeps 3 chickens, all of the left over food can be given to them, provided it is not mouldy or rotting. This would considerably reduce landfill waste and the costs associated with it. 
3. Chickens are omnivores, that is, they eat everything, including meat. When we think of the farmer scattering a handful of grain for the birds, most of us think that is all they eat. Certain breeds of chickens will keep the mice population at bay as well as the flies and mosquitos. 
4. Chickens do eat grain and wheat is their favourite, but it is not a balanced diet to only feed them grain. That would be like us eating nothing but bread. We could survive, however, in time, we would become malnourished and deficient in key nutrients, as will chickens. 
5. They need a source of calcium and of grit. Dirt, sand and light gravel will all work for grit, but it can be bought as well, which is especially good in areas where they cannot peck through the snow to get the dirt/sand. The grit is used in the gizzard to grind the whole grains before entering the digestive tract. Egg shells can be fed back to them, dried and ground, though the amount of calcium would still be inadequate. The most common source is oyster shells, a byproduct of the fishing industry. 
6. Roosters are not necessary for a hen to lay eggs. The only reason a rooster would be kept is if chicks are desired, though, when a hen sits on a nest for approximately 21 days, she is not laying eggs or foraging for bugs. 
7. Some breeds are flighty and not well suited to backyard chicken keeping. The most active foragers also tend to be the breeds that do not like to be picked up and caressed or even have any human contact. Some breeds do not tolerate rain and others do not survive extreme cold winters without a heat source in their coop. Choose wisely for your area and expectations.
8. Certain breeds are better layers than others. If you keep chickens for the eggs, choose the best laying hens for your climate conditions. Research. Remember, what goes into the chickens also goes into the eggs. Commercial feed is mainly comprised of genetically modified grains, plus minerals and a protein source, these days canola meal being the most common. The eggs the hen produces will only be as good as what she is fed. Opt for organic feed or create a diet similar to your own for your birds. 
9. What happens when the chickens are not laying anymore? Do you eat them? How will you dispose of them? 
10. There is a great deal of conflicting information in books and online regarding raising chickens and even controversy regarding the breed standards. Many people raise chickens as a hobby and some do not have good standards. Chickens kept in poorly designed coops and who do not have room to run are prone to mites, lice, worms and other horrible inconveniences. Always buy chickens from a reputable breeder and visit the coops to see if they are clean and sanitary and the chickens are well and happy. 

The birds at The Fat Ewe Farm are partners in our agriculture. They do provide pest control in the summer and are worth their weight in gold for the amount of ants they consume, something that was a problem in previous years. The eggs are a by product. We do not sell them, but have given them away quite often. Otherwise the dogs get scrambled eggs, shell and all, and sometimes the pigs and even the chickens also eat the cooked eggs. Excess chickens have been sent to the processor for stew, though raising them for meat is not the reason they are on the farm. What does one do when the mamma hen broods a dozen chicks and most of them are roosters? So, the dilemma continues regarding not raising animals to eat them, but what to do when there are too many? It is the proverbial question of the chicken and the egg in another form. At any rate, chickens, whether you have just three on a city lot or a whole lot  on a farm, are a valuable part of a farm and play an important role in mixed farming. 

The dog houses that the miniature goats prefer are a sunken city now. With the wasted hay and 4 feet of snow, the small igloo dome is barely visible. The hay and snow have frozen the houses to the ground. In the summer, they can easily be taken apart, separating the bottom from the top, and cleaned out, then disinfected and rinsed with the hose. In winter, at least this winter, they are inaccessible. The one facing the opposite of the other two clogs over with hay that is tramped downhill and the door way gets plugged. One day, there were 3 little goaties in  there and they didn't know how to get out. The hay and snow gets dislodged with the claw end of the hammer daily to keep the doorways usable. 

Celia goat was hoping for a treat and hopped up on one of the bigger houses, that do not look so big now, but would easily house a large German Shepherd size dog, when in full view. Two, and sometimes three, Pygmy or Nigerian goats crowd together to keep each other warm. They do not prefer the bigger shelter unless it is full. The sheep helped generate some heat and block the wind as well, but they are going back to their pen at the end of the month. They were visiting the goats, along with their ram, for breeding. Celia has what appears to be cashmere. Any goat can have a soft downy undercoat that can be combed out. Her neck, in particular, is showing that very thick down, so under the guard hairs on the rest of her body, it is likely the same. I will have to put her on the milk stand with a bucket of field peas and comb her when she starts to shed. 

In the meantime, we are thankful spring is around the corner. If winter lasted much longer, goat city would be another Atlantis, lost and gone forever. 

The dogs are not the only ones who get to have the meaty bones. Chickens love a fatty bone and will spend a long time picking it clean. They are omnivores, that enjoy meat, in fact need it to have a balanced diet. In the summer they forage for worms, slugs, bugs, insects of all sorts, plus will tackle mice and sometimes snakes, if they are small enough. Along with grasses and seeds, the proteins they get from eating critters, offers a balanced chicken diet. They also eat dirt or sand, which allows the gizzard to work at grinding the food, particularly whole grains and seeds, plus a source of calcium. Long ago, the shells of the eggs were dried and smashed, then fed back to the chickens. This is done on The Fat Ewe Farm and the chickens and ducks also get free choice oyster shell to satisfy their need for calcium. 

This gander is the one who has been ousted by his clan. Since hatching, he has spent his entire life with the 4 other Embden geese. However; it is breeding season now and there are 5 geese, 2 females and 3 males. Yesterday, the 4 others, females included, made it evident that this gander was not going to be breeding and was no longer welcome in that flock. I rescued him from where he had hidden between the wire and the fence. He was stuck there anyhow and could not have gotten out on his own. I always count the geese before turning them in for the night and when he was missing, I began to hunt for him. I heard the scuffle only minutes before and sure enough, there he was, the skin torn right off his back under those feathers. But, not all is lost. The Toulouse gander has 2 girls, so I will attempt to pair one of them with this lone gander away from the flock. I can imagine how he must feel being ostracized from the only family he has ever known, without any explanation, and violently expelled at that. It seems the ganders and geese have a bone to pick with him too. 

Harley has some trouble with digesting grain and corn. I am convinced that the problem is that the products used for dog food are genetically modified. Research has shown that one major side effect is the gut explodes in tiny little holes that leak not yet properly digested food into the bloodstream, which causes an immune reaction. 
Harley seems to be in pain after eating comercial dog food, but he sure likes to chow down on rack of ribs of beef.

A wonderful little treasure...
This morning a tiny chickadee settled near some then unclaimed bones and availed himself of the fat, flitting to the bone and to the caragana tree again and again. What a delight to watch the littlest of the creatures enjoy the bones as well. Thank you Creator for the splendour of the magnificent animals and birds and their ways, not matter how peculiar to us humans. 

Please, could you put something in my bowl? 
Jade found this bowl in the chicken run and carried around to the house, then sat with it. When I came outside, she picked it up and looked at me. So darn cute!

The rams rammed through the fence between them and the goats. On the goat's side, for 2 months, there are three sheep, two Jacob females and one Jacob ram. The rams on one side of the fence would ram the ram on the other side of the fence. Finally, they broke the fence, but did not bother going through the hole; they jumped over like it was not there. The rams are Shetland, Barbados and Shetland, Icelandic crosses. All of those breeds are small and very athletic. Once they jumped over, I gave up on the fence and now they are together until the remainder of the month when the ewes will go back to the ewe flock and the rams will once again be housed together. With no ewes around, they ram each other from time to time, but usually not very seriously. Silly teenage boys!

The puppies fell asleep in the sunshine as I was trying to think of a remedy for the ram and goat situation. I decided to see how they cohabit for a day, and if there is no problem, they can stay until the month's end, when the ewes are separated anyhow. Jade fell asleep on the top of the snow mound. The Maremmas have such thick fur with a downy undercoat that they do not suffer from the cold. Even though the temperature was -15 and the wind was blowing, she preferred to be in the snow for her nap. 

The frost free water faucet was frozen. I tried to thaw it with a hair dryer, a nice black hair dryer from TONI&GUY with bling on it, and still it remained frozen after 5 minutes, so I gave up and got water from the house. That is a chore in outside clothes. 

The Saxony duck family, three hens and one drake, had a bath in the toboggan and then settled down on some fresh grass hay I gave them. They ate all the dandelions out of the hay first and then quite a bit of the grass and some clover. All animals on the farm are fed hay and they eat it, even the pigs and cats!

Sarah, is a beautiful pure bred Alpine doeling that I acquired last year in a trade for some wool. I named her after the lady who gave her to me, Sarah, who is a beautiful young mother and farmer. Sarah the goat, was bottle fed and grain fed, two methods that create a very tame and friendly animal, but also create problems. There is nowhere that Sarah will not go to get at grain. I was feeding the pigs, next to the the llamas and Sarah climbed out of the fence into the llama's side, but could not quite get into the pig fence. I worry about her though, since the llamas have full run of the quarter. Since it is winter, they stay put, but in the summer, they go everywhere. I sure hope they would protect little Sarah if she jumps into their side. 

And that was today on the farm. Whew!


Hello Moab, 
Animals are amazing and I am privileged to live and work with them. I have a laundry sink in the farmhouse porch from which I must get water when the outside faucet is not functioning, as in the past 2 days. The humidity was 92%. When it is cold and humid the frost creeps. That is when it is most difficult and must be watched for frozen lines and pipes, as in when the septic froze last week, ten feet deep. The porch is not heated, but the door to the farmhouse is open, so it is not freezing in there, since that is where the red worm composters live in winter (in their box). I must bring the buckets inside and fill them at the sink, then lift them out and carry them to the  toboggan. The sink has a reduced water flow faucet for water saving,and filling takes a while. When wearing all in one insulated coveralls, hat and gloves, it takes only a moment to overheat, so I go stand outside or play ball with Robbie. The time extends the water part of the chores by double. Good luck with the session today and I counted 12. 

Shampoo is full of things that are not good for humans or the environment. It is also unnecessary if we do not ply our hair with conditioners made from petroleum. Most soap is made from petroleum derivatives and chemicals as well. In the old days, soap was made from saved rendered meat fats, lye and water. Depending on the type of fat, the soap could be very mild and have emollient properties. Duck and goose fat soap should produce such a bar, and the soap was used to wash the hair once a week during bath time. 

Well, it is not the old days anymore, but there is no reason why we have to be using harmful products. Most of the products have silicone in them to provide a silky sheen to the hair, but silicone is not good for humans either. In other countries, oils are combed through the hair to provide that silkiness. The Moroccan women use Argan oil for their skin and hair and, along with their diets that provide the foundation for beauty, they comb Argan oil through their hair and massage it into their skin. 

The production of Argan oil is quite a story. The Argan tree is a tree that only grows in the specific climate of Morocco and the surrounding area. The nuts from the tree are impossible to crack, that is unless they have some enzymes plied to the hulls first.  The women of the villages had no enzymes, however; they observed that the nuts eaten by the goats came out whole and were much more easily cracked, so to make Argan oil, first the goats must eat, digest and pass the nuts. These are then collected by the women and processed, that is cracked open and pressed, to provide their precious oil. Women of Morocco have formed a collective to sell some of their oil providing them with independence and much needed income. 

There are no recipes for Argan oil shampoo so the first trial was a bit of a "let's see what happens" effort. I used the amount of lye and water for making castile soap. This produced a very soft bar, easily crumbled, which I cooked in the oven to cure it. That way the soap is ready to use immediately. Then, after crumbling the bar, boiled hot water was added and the soap began to melt. It was white and was becoming clear and to my surprise, gelling. I continued to add water and the soap continued to gel. OK, so then I have gelled Argan shampoo. Clary Sage, Rosemary and a good amount of peppermint essential oils were added and instead of boiled water, organic Rooibos tea to dilute the shampoo.Also, a tiny bit of Rhine Gold earth pigment was added to leave a sheen on the hair.  

Getting it in the bottle was impossible. Imagine a gelled mass that clings to itself trying to be squished into a bottle. Nope, so I will have to find a different way to package it and make it readily useable. I shampooed my hair with it last night. It tingled from the high peppermint content and left my hair with tons of body, though not as soft as the hemp shampoo made last week. I may have to adjust the recipe some what. There was a good amount of oil in the bath tub, which tells me that the oil is also being left on the hair and that is positive. I will see how the hair feels tomorrow. In the meantime, learning to create sustainable products is fun. I favour hemp because it is grown in Canada, but the Argan oil is exotic and has a cute story, doesn't it?

Canola was once called rapeseed, however; the name was changed because of the connotations associated with the word rape. About that same time, genetically modified canola seed was developed and now has become the only canola planted, except in remote areas. Canola is related to the mustard family and the seeds are very tiny and often spread by the wind. Farmers who do not want genetically engineered canola on their land will have it regardless if they are within a few miles of a GMO canola field. Numerous law suits have been slapped against farmers who were not intending to grow Monsanto's genetically engineered canola, yet it was found in fair prevalence on their land because of the migratory invasive seed. 

Canola is not all bad though. For many years, farmers grew rapeseed for the oil and used it in its cold pressed state for fuel. Hmmm, is there a connection between the genetic modification of canola, the oil industry, Monsanto and fuel? Hmmm. When it was grown for fuel, rapeseed was bitter and not fit for human consumption due to a high content of erucic acid, which is somewhat poisonous. In the 1970's, Canadians developed a strain that had much less of the erucic acid and the crop was then given the name Canola and trademarked. It is now the number one oilseed cash crop grown in Canada and the USA. The new milder canola oil was then refined with high heat and solvents to produce a bland, tasteless oil at relatively inexpensive costs and currently, it is found in almost all foods packed or produced with oil. Canola does have many other beneficial uses in its raw state, from cosmetics to biodiesel, however; these are not well explored and somewhat squashed by large corporations. 

In Britain, canola oil has achieved a star status under its original name of rapeseed. Chefs there seek the oil for creating savoury dishes because rapeseed oil imparts a cabbagy, musky flavour to foods when the oil is only cold pressed and lightly filtered. Who knew? Apparently it is an acquired taste, though.

Using canola oil in soap creates an excellent bar with highly emollient properties and skin conditioning benefits. When formulated with oils that produce a harder soap, such as coconut or animals fat (lard or tallow), the canola oil soap can be formed into bars and used as household soap. The smell of canola cannot be masked, though, and is not really offensive if one enjoys a woodsy, natural scent. Washing with canola oil soap is a joy with a mild creamy lather being produced easily and the skin left with canola's gentle conditioning properties. It really should be used more and its uses explored. Oh, and canola oil is green, similar to hemp oil, not clear as we see when it is highly refined. This soap is made from organic canola oil grown in China, where GMO's have not take hold yet. A better source would be Romania or somewhere in the European Union, since the heavy metal pollutants in China are present even in organic products. 

The humble rapeseed has transformed the soap to a spa delight. Who wouldathunkit?

Robbie was a little tired after playing ball for 2 hours. I asked him to jump to retrieve the ball held above my head. If he does this, say, 5 times in a row, he is panting, because it is hard work. So, when I was forking the hay over to the sheep, Robbie snuggled down in the soft top and his eyes closed. He wasn't sleeping, nope, no way. He refused to put his head down and give in. It was so cute. 

The huge mounds of snow on the roof tops of the sheep and goat shelters and on the old straw bale, look like enormous marshmallows, or dollops of white frosting so thickly spread. And, it was snowing again today, and drifting. Most of the animals did not spend a great deal of time outside, including me and the dogs. When I was feeding the goats, Barbie cat hid in the feeder and Robbie investigated. A bit later, Jade came to check out the goats eating through the fence. I have demised that hay on the ground inside the pen is wasted hay. As soon as the goats step on the hay, they refuse to eat it. One day I dropped some outside the page wire fence and they quite easily stuck their heads through and ate it. It preserved most of the hay as well, so there is now a livestock panel feeder and hay outside the fence. The three sheep temporarily in with the goats for breeding purposes (no, not to the goats, but the Jacob ram to his ewes), can pick enough through the feeder to make it all work. Goat minerals are outside the fence and sheep minerals are inside. That works as well since goats need copper and it is toxic to sheep. At the end of the month the sheep will be back together in their own area and the rams will cohabit in the ram pen, leaving the goats to themselves. 

Chickens are weird. Some people find them beautiful and fascinating. I have even first hand knowledge of some one who lives with chickens inside her house. Not me! They are handy to have around for their ability to forage, eating their weight in flies and ants around the farm every day in summer. The eggs are a plus, but right now, it appears that some chicken or chickens have taken to eating their eggs. They are a lot of trouble, chickens are. They get worms and have to be wormed fairly often. They get mites and lice, which is gross to me. They require extra heat in an insulated coop for the winter, unlike waterfowl, who do well with shelter from the elements, nothing fancy. 

Anyhow, because I am humane, I try to treat the chickens as chickens would like to be treated. I am never mean to them (or anything, human or animals) and try to provide for their needs so they are content. Today, they got a fresh box of wood ashes, the new dust bath at the coop. The first to view the feature were not impressed, tasted the charcoal in the ash, and went on their way. Then the Columbian Wyandotte got the idea and plunged into the box and began to fluff herself in the ashes. The sheer joy she was experiencing drew a crowd and soon, there were others not so patiently waiting their turn for the ash box. They pecked at her to hurry her up and finally, with reluctance, she left. Immediately two more chickens jumped in and began the dusting of themselves. It was pleasurable to watch them experiencing bliss in their chickenness. What a cackle!

It has been a big winter so far, with about 4 feet of snow here. The snow on the top of an upright large hale bale looks like a giant dollop of icing 3 feet high, which is considerable, as it is already 5 feet in height. The snow plow truck came today, though here, with the ice that resulted from melting the snow pack, the truck could do very little, so the grader came. The nice man who operates the grader lives across the road from the farm, so he does a little more and for that I am grateful. It is wonderful to have a good neighbour. 

The grader was able to lift some of the snow pack so a hay truck can come in the yard and bring the much needed hay. Before, because the snow pack was soft, vehicles were becoming stuck in the long driveway. Yesterday, I was out pushing the guest's car from the snowbank along the driveway on the way to the highway. It is a good thing he had a little car! The grader operator told me today that if I have trouble like that again, to call him and if he is in the area he will come and bail me out. Like I said, it is great to have good neighbours. Thank you.