The first hatch is underway. The cost of keeping birds is much less than buying hay for sheep and goats, and the eggs, chicks and adult bird sales far outweigh their upkeep. That is not so with the other animals on the farm, but at least something breaks even!
The incubators are not mine, but belong to two different friends. I am splitting the hatch with one friend and the other gets his pick of the birds, so it is a win win situation for me and for them. About 40 mixed duck eggs, Rouen, Saxony, Ancona and Khaki Campbell, plus Muscovy, and 15 Standard Bronze turkey eggs, 18 mixed geese, Tufted Toulouse/Embden/Pomeranian, and chicken, Ameraucana/Partridge and white Chantecler and a few others plus bantams are all in the incubator with the chicks due on April 26 and the waterfowl on May 3 and 5. Muscovy ducks take the longest to hatch, followed by the geese then ducks and chicks the shortest, at 21 days. Some of the hatch has been presold already. About the same time, or a bit later, the farm will be receiving an order from Performance Poultry with specialty birds so there will be waterfowl and chick brooders set up and ready to go. Three separate hatches will be made, with approximately 80 eggs per hatch. After that, if there is still interest, the hatch will be set by order only. Unclaimed birds will be raised and either sent to the processors or kept for layers or for sale as adult birds. In the summer the feed bill is very low because the birds free range and basically feed themselves. This year, the numbers of adult birds are too high for the small farm yard, so they will out to pasture with the sheep so the dogs can also watch over them. With the new fencing, it will be easier to pasture the birds. The fliers go where they wish anyhow, so basically it is the ducks and geese and a few of the chickens that will need supplemental grazing. The benefits of raising the birds are many from fresh pastured eggs to bug control to delicious dinners. And to think that when I began this venture three years ago, I had a terrible bird phobia and could not touch a bird, not even a newly hatched chick, let alone go in a coop. Now I can, though the odd time, I still get prickles on the back of my neck when the birds fly by my head. I actually like them now, especially the comical ducks. They are my favourites, hands down. The egg pictured is from a Standard Bronze turkey, and I even like them. 

Before coming to this farm, I had never really been around any geese. My father loved roast goose best of all, or at least up there with roast moose. Goose - moose - maybe there was something to that.

My first geese were 5 Embden goslings a few weeks old. When I picked them up, I asked why they looked different and the seller told me that she did have a Tufted Toulouse gander too. Hence, the babies were half Toulouse and half Embden. Embden geese are noted for their unfriendly temperaments and watchdog like behaviour. They would just as soon hiss and bite and flap than be friendly, and even though they were lovingly raised by hand, they simply never did become tame. At least, though, they never attempted to bite me, well, until mating that was and then it was only the one big gander.

There were two males and three females of that group and the females made lovely nests and fought over them. Eventually they moved their nests and then fought over whose those were too. I had also acquired two female American Buff geese. One never did nest, but the other nested, stayed on her nest, did not mess with the Embden girls and hatched five lovely babies. The Embden nests grew stale and the eggs rotted due to constant moving of the eggs, and they were abandoned when the other goose hatched her brood. Then the entire flock cared for and protected those little ones. They quickly grew and by the summer's end were indistinguishable from their parents, more or less. The two American Buff geese mated with a lanky, skinny gander and he stayed with them, but the offspring were most likely the big gander's. All the geese but the Buffs and that gander went to the processor and came home wrapped and frozen.

Then last fall, a gander and two geese joined the three remaining ones on the farm. These are Pomeranian Saddlebacks, noted for their quieter natures. The skinny, lanky gander filled out nicely by winter and became a very handsome dude with lovely grey and white mottled feathers and a tuft on his noggin. He and his two ladies have stayed bonded and the Pomeranians have also bonded. This spring then, it should be relatively easy to separate them for breeding, the Buffs with the pretty cross gander and the Pomeranians together.

Although I have read over and again that geese are strictly vegetarian, their behaviour evidences something different. They love raw meat. When the chickens are given bones to pick, the geese are the first to strip the tender bits off. Winter feeding is harder. They do get oats, wheat and barley, alfalfa and grass hay and grit and shells, plus the occasional vegetable scraps. But in the summer, they hardly eat any grain, instead feeding on grass and bugs, worms, mice, and whatever else is in the grass, plus dirt. I imagine they get their minerals from the dirt, plus the grit, because they eat quite a bit, especially in certain pockets in the yard. A waterfowl pool is on the agenda for this summer. All that has to happen is to locate some clay, and there  is building going on locally, so that might be easy. It will line the natural pond.

I really enjoy the geese, especially watching them bathe. They will stick their heads in a bucket of water to clean their eyes and come out frozen and if given a chance for a bath, they will enter the water, which freezes to their feathers and then preen for an hour following. They are graceful and flap their wings to move the water down their feathers.

And, I must say, the geese from the summer are most delicious. Thank you to the Creator for making geese and to the geese for the honour of their lives.

Ducks and geese are hardier than chickens by far. Some chicken breeds, those without large combs and wattles (the hangy down things from their noses) fare better in the cold. Large combs are subject to frost bite and freezing, then turn black and fall off. How painful that is for the chickens. One breed of duck, the Muscovy, has large caruncles, or red hangy down or puffed up warts around its face and eyes, and that area is most delicate and subject to freezing as well. Generally the other duck breeds and geese are very winter hardy and prefer to be out on the snow than cooped up in a building.
At the Fat Ewe Farm, the ducks and geese are housed together in a long hoop shelter, 16 by 8 by 6 feet high. It is covered with two tarps and the ground edge is shored with spoiled hay from the lambs next door, insulating the ground level area where the birds stay. In very cold weather, they tuck their legs up by their sides and rest their down covered bellies on the ground, nearly impervious to the cold. The females are better at tucking their heads under their wings than the males, but both will do it. Even when it is forty below, they want to get their whole bodies into the water for a bath. The droplets freeze on their feathers and they look like little ice men when they emerge. Then they spend the next hour preening, that is spreading the oil from their glands through their wet feathers. It is the preening that waterproofs them and weather proofs them and is very important in keeping them warm. If they do not have the opportunity to bathe, then they must at least have a bucket in which they can stick their heads or their eyes and nostrils can become pasty and dry. They will flick water on their bodies with their heads, similar to bathing, but not quite.

Aside from the water, they need to eat something. At this farm, they are fed whole oats, barley and wheat and dirt, plus oyster shells for calcium. The dirt is collected from the forest and is full of microbes and roots. They will spend hours rooting through it and gobble up whatever tasty morsels they find, along with the dirt. They do get minerals from the dirt. It is good to have the soil tested to see what they could ingest and what might be lacking. From time to time, they get lettuce and kitchen scraps and they do eat the meat that the dogs leave on their bones. People told me geese were strictly vegetarian, however; they are not. They will eat bugs, slugs, and worms, plus they do not mind nibbling at meat as well. Winter is hard for the waterfowl, because a good portion of their natural diet is grass, so I also feed them hay. They will eat the leaves and grass in the hay, especially any dried dandelions, which they seek out and gobble up rapidly. The roughage helps to keep their digestive tract healthy too, but they are getting roughage from the whole grains and the dirt/leaves/roots too.

I find the ducks very comical with their antics. They have become quite tame for the most part and do not move much when I walk amongst them. They also herd well and after one attempt to move them, they know where to go on their own. The geese have separate quarters, but they sleep with the ducks in the big house, along with two or three chickens and sometimes, if it is warmer, the guinea hens.Just a few duck or two geese could easily live in a dog house for the winter. Duck eggs are three times more nutritious than chicken eggs, but they do not generally lay in the winter in a normal situation. For that, they would need a heated coop and supplemental daylight. I believe in allowing their natural rhythms dictate their laying schedule because it gives their bodies a chance to rest and rejuvenate for spring. Ah, spring...just another six months away. Winter is a time of survival for the waterfowl, and for me.

The new farm truck, my smart car and the wagon, left for the Hutterite colony just before 7 am this morning. I loaded the wagon with two great dane size dog kennels, and put 5 geese in each kennel, but it was too dark to back up and hook the trailer to the smart hitch, which my late friend Bil designed and installed. So, I rose early this morning to hitch up and it was a cinch. Bil spent a week with me last summer and he brought the trailer, one of his treasures which he decided to part with because he needed money. I was the most fortunate recipient of his trailer in exchange for some cash, and his visit when he took the time to install the hitch he designed. Connecting and disconnecting the trailer is simple because of his design.
So, off we toodle down the highway, with the geese relatively safely stowed in the kennels and protected from the wind and mud by the sides and top of the wagon. The top is secured by two bungee cords, in case, and the kennels are intermingled in the cords to keep them from bouncing out. After delivering the live geese, I immediately drove home the hour and a bit, checked the farm and left to pick up the pork and alpaca that was slaughtered by a different Hutterite colony in a different direction. Thank goodness the neighbour and his son set up the new freezer yesterday! Today I loaded the pork and alpaca in and there was enough room for the geese. I drove another hour and some without the wagon to pick up the geese, now in packages and plastic bags, ready to roast for the table. Then another hour and a bit home and put the geese in the remaining space of the new large freezer.
The first bed and breakfast guest arrived, then I finally went out to do the chores and separated the remaining lambs from their mothers. The crying will last a week or more. They can hear each other and sort of see each other, which is not ideal, though they are not adjacent in pens. After three weeks to a month apart the female lambs can be reintroduced to their mothers, who will recognize and accept the lambs again, even though they will have dried up and the lambs will no longer be nursing. This gives the ewes time to gain a little strength before breeding in December. The second bed and breakfast guests arrived and talked a great deal. Finally I went home and ate the remainder of yesterday's most delicious coconut curry soup with left over chicken. I am a little worried about the last bed and breakfast guest and hope she is safe and well. She has not yet arrived or called and it is already 11:30 pm. I do not have a contact number for her because her room was booked by the employer. Drat! I must remember to get contact numbers for all guests. I did call the employer, though she did not answer as it is very late and reasonable people are likely fast asleep. What a busy day it was. Hmm, sleep does sound good. ZZZzzzz.

It so happened that the goslings were on the wrong side of the fence and the 8 adult geese who watch over them could do nothing at all to help them. It is a good thing I was not the raven of the fox. Instead I went to catch them and return them to the gaggle waiting impatiently on the other side of the fence. Leo, the Angora buck and Little Johnny, the four horned Jacob ram, were watching with curiosity and I am sure, wondering what all the noise was about.

There in the corner were the five little goslings frantically trying to find a way to get back to their guardians. So, I climbed the fence and they ran to the other side of the wooden fence, where I was able to corner them and catch two. The others I ushered to a spot where I was sure they could get through and they happily waddled over to safety as the two I was holding captive for the photo were peeping loudly, that danger help peep.

I am not sure what kind of goslings these are. The goose that hatched them likely laid the eggs and she is American Buff. The Toulouse gander always hung around with her and she preferred him over the dominant gander, the Embden/Tufted Toulouse cross. The goslings do not seem to have any tufts and all of them have a grey patch on their backs. They do not have blue eyes , which is a telltale sign of Embden geese. The Buff geese have hazel brown eyes and that is the colour of the goslings' eyes too. I was glad I was able to hold the babies for the first time since they were hatched, even though they did not like it one bit. They are adorable, right?

The female geese fought over their nest and moved it five times in the course of the month and a half they sat on it. The eggs rotted, of course, after being chilled too long with each move, and they abandoned the nest, but one goose laid 5 of her own eggs in another location and successfully hatched all of them. One little guy tumbled out of the nest into the hot sun, still half in the shell, but I picked him up and ran warm water over him to rehydrate him, which also released the shell and then I blew him somewhat dry and gave him back to mamma goose. The American Buff geese and the Toulouse gander mated most often, however; the Toulouse/Embden gander also mated with the Buff geese, so the goslings will be a mystery for a while longer. For now, they are adorable, but totally untouchable. The entire gaggle of geese, 4 ganders and 4 geese, stay together and protect the young ones. It is quite marvelous to watch them waddle around the yard talking to the babies and teaching them where to find food and what is good and bad, but when they go swimming in the toboggan pool, it is the cutest. These will be the only 5 babies hatched this year. The geese have quit laying eggs and are seasonal layers with a peak in late spring which tapers entirely off by summer. The American Buff geese are very calm and do not bite the way the Embden geese do, but the Embden geese are larger and make better yard guards, especially against arial predators. Geese eat very little other than grass and bugs in the summer and are economical to raise, especially when the gaggle takes care of business. The Fat Ewe Farm would not be complete without them!

The Muscovy ducks are sunning themselves on the warm and humid afternoon. The weather brought the small mosquitoes out and they are vicious, biting right through jeans. 

Andy, the farm carpenter, has built a rain and sun shelter for the sheep. This will have a half plywood back for a wind break and a tarp over the entire structure except the front. The livestock panels have to be wired together to stabilize them, but the shape makes the structure wind resistant. Even when we had a near tornado last summer, none of these structures budged.

Andy also worked on the Tajmacoop, a three season chicken coop. The upper compartment has three perches for the birds and they are housed by plywood on all sides except the bottom.
For winter, bubble foil wrap insulation will cover the structure, straw bales will line the bottom and sides and two heat lamps will be installed. There is also an insulated chicken coop, but the floor is not insulated and the feet froze on some of the birds that did not perch.

The goats were allowed out in the main yard today. Yesterday several small poplars were felled with the skid steer and the ground was torn up for terraced gardens. The goats were out and the llamas thought they would visit too.

Zeb thought he would help me set the electric fence up, but got his hoof caught and broke three wires, of course.

You would think, that with the new found freedom, the goats would head for some of their favourites, like the caragana, lilac or poplar leaves that are just emerging, but nope. They head straight for the grain. Grain is like heroin to them. One taste and they are hooked and must have their fix. Fortunately, the bags were all tied with the anticipation of this episode.

I had to separate the male Llama from the male alpaca immediately. Stanley was hurting the alpaca quite badly, biting him and knocking him down. They are terrible in fights. The alpaca wanted nothing to do with the Stanley though. Stanley stood and spit at him for a while, just in case. Willa is in the foreground supervising. And that was today at the Fat Ewe Farm!

This is day 28 in the incubator, the day that some of the eggs should hatch. Something went wrong with about a dozen eggs. There were a few that were not fertile. These eggs were the first collected in the season and some were almost frozen. The ducks were mating, but not much. Obviously these eggs were fertile and developing, but for some reason, the development was arrested and the embryo quit growing and died. Through the shell, these eggs appeared blotchy and blackened in places. None of the other eggs looked that way. If the eggs are rotten, there is a smell that comes right through the shell and it is not a nice smell. One would not want one of those rotten eggs to explode in the incubator, so it is prudent to watch carefully what is happening. These eggs were not rotten. One had a very runny interior with a tiny embryo, and the other two had well developed embryos, but not so that one could actually see the duckling yet. The blackened interior was first visible a few days ago.

This is my first attempt at hatching. There was a problem with my diligence. At three points, the tray that holds water in the incubator was dry. Ducks and geese need at least 50% humidity and a dry tray means dry eggs. Perhaps at one of those points, the development ceased for these eggs. There were a few eggs that have been removed because there is no sign of development, even though they appeared fertile. Still, there were over 50 eggs set, and the removal of a dozen leaves a large hatch possible. The goose eggs are so thick shelled it is nearly impossible to see inside, but duck eggs have transparent shells and it is interesting to watch the progress. Now, at hatch time, the only thing visible in the egg is an air space and the rest appears full. Of course it is. It is full of baby ducklings and goslings! So sorry the other eggs did not make it, but I will set another 50 eggs and try again, this time with utmost care to inspect the water tray every day. Fertility and frozen eggs will not be an issue at this point. The three duck breeds are separated too, so the ducklings will be true Khaki Campbells or White Campbells (one drake is white), Rouens or Saxonys. The only reason for incubating goose eggs is to sell the goslings or raise them until they are ready for the table. That part, this farmer has a hard time with, so maybe no more goslings? We shall see. By morning, I am hoping for some babies. The Sebastopol gosling might just get some company.

Last year my friend Allan found this very ancient Bower incubator. The folks pretty much forced him to take it away, so he brought it home and spent time fiddling with it and cleaning it up. Then he offered it to me for sale and I bought it. Never having hatched any birds before, this will be a first time experience.

My first responsibility was to familiarize myself with the Bower, so I read as much as I could find online regarding its operation and success. In its day, it was considered state of the art and hatches were as good as any in the fancy self turning, self humidifying incubators of today. The eggs lay on a screen, under which is a pan of water. Because these are duck and goose eggs, I mist them a minimum of three times daily and turn the eggs at that time as well. My little system is to mist them, then turn them, the misted side unturned and the dry side then indicating that the egg has already been turned. I have a thermometer in with the eggs. A twist of the screw on the top of the incubator regulates the temperature, so currently it is set just below 100 degrees F. The heating element is without a fan, so the eggs directly below the element stay at 100, while the eggs furthest from it, are somewhat cooler. The thermometer is placed on the outside of the egg circle so the coolest then registers no less than 98. This is not unlike the eggs under the mother duck or goose, with those directly in full contact with her breast will be the hottest, while those on the perimeter of the nest, will be cooler, but mamma duck and goose are experts with intuitive knowledge and not only turn the eggs frequently, but rotate and move their positions in the nest. It does not bother me then that at times some eggs are a bit cooler, as long as I, the mamma duck, turns and exchanges positions so the cooler ones also get a chance to be very warm.

Today, the eggs were candled, that is, a strong LED flashlight was shone through the shell in a dark room to illuminate the contents. It is very early to tell and some of the eggs, marked with an x in pencil, were added a full day after the others. Still, all the goose eggs showed vein development and most of the duck eggs as well. There were about 4, not all the late additions, that were neither duds, nor developing as quickly and one that was cracked. The contents in the cracked egg were watery in comparison and the yolk was not vivid. The eggs were collected in below zero temperatures and it is my bet that the crack was the result of a frozen egg. It was removed and will be fed to the piggies, who will be grateful for the treat. In a few more days, the eggs will be candled again, and by then, the heart should be beating and quite visible in most. The shells on the goose eggs do not afford a good look inside, but duck egg shells are almost translucent and the contents are quite visible. So far, so good. I have learned a lot and am excited to see the babies in 2 weeks. The hatch time is more or less 28 days for both ducks and geese. I have already started collecting eggs for the next hatch!

The vet tech said to make sure the cones stayed on the dogs for 10 days at least, 14 preferably. I said that was not likely to happen and she told me to keep the dogs quiet and warm. Hmm, these are farm dogs, vigorous, outside, chase 'em dogs, not pansy house dogs. This is what Robbie's cone looked like at the end of the first day. 

The little Angora kid is doing remarkably well now. When I go to check on him and his mamma, he gets up and runs to her and calls. This is a far cry from the first day when I questioned his survival at all. Thank you Creator for the miracle of birth and the joy of life for the little boy!

The geese are nesting, oh no. It is far too cold for them to be nesting here. Today and yesterday were both minus 20 with fierce winds and over 6 inches of new snow. I went in and messed up the nest twice now, but today the goose hens were busy fixing it and testing it out and making sure I did not come near them or the new nest. The waterfowl winter area will soon be dismantled, so this is not where the geese will nest anyhow. Should I tell them?