The goats are playful and the ewes are relaxed as their bellies are growing with their little ones. But the ones that are the happiest are the birds. Cooped up all winter in two tiny buildings, only out to eat and drink and then back in to stay warm, they now have the run of the barnyard. The Ameraucanas love to hang out with the adult ewes and are in their pen, eating the Great Pyrenees dog meat and scratching through the sheep manure for worms or eggs or whatever they find there. One little hen found a composting pile with dirt on top, which was fully thawed and she was in Heaven, bathing herself in it. A duck fell asleep, soundly, on a pile of straw, abandoning all cares. Normally the Khaki Campbell ducks are a little flighty and getting close enough for a good picture is not so easy. The geese are searching for nesting areas, so I made three for them today. There are four females and I will have to come up with a fourth nest in the area for her. As a reward for their freedom, the hens laid a dozen eggs today. Thank you my little chickens! The problem with free range chickens, though, is they lay the eggs in strange places, like the straw pile or the hay bales. There were two duck eggs too and soon, it looks like the geese will start to lay as well. The bunnies will visit the buck and there will be little bunnies...oh the fun of spring is wonderful on a warm day.
OK, I know it isn't officially spring, but the days have been so warm, that the snow is rapidly melting. The animals have come alive and are robust and full of joy. The little ewe Jacob, one of Stephen's daughters, jumps with pleasure when she is about to be fed, straight up into the air off all fours and so does her father, though she has never met him. The goats are playful and the ewes are relaxed as their bellies are growing with their little ones. But the ones that are the happiest are the birds. Cooped up all winter in two tiny buildings, only out to eat and drink and then back in to stay warm, they now have the run of the barnyard. The Ameraucanas love to hang out with the adult ewes and are in their pen, eating the Great Pyrenees dog meat and scratching through the sheep manure for worms or eggs or whatever they find there. One little hen found a composting pile with dirt on top, which was fully thawed and she was in Heaven, bathing herself in it. A duck fell asleep, soundly, on a pile of straw, abandoning all cares. Normally the Khaki Campbell ducks are a little flighty and getting close enough for a good picture is not so easy. The geese are searching for nesting areas, so I made three for them today. There are four females and I will have to come up with a fourth nest in the area for her. As a reward for their freedom, the hens laid a dozen eggs today. Thank you my little chickens! The problem with free range chickens, though, is they lay the eggs in strange places, like the straw pile or the hay bales. There were two duck eggs too and soon, it looks like the geese will start to lay as well. The bunnies will visit the buck and there will be little bunnies...oh the fun of spring is wonderful on a warm day.
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Experiences shape us and provide fodder for the thoughts that surround our lives. I love farming because I love nature and animals and being on this farm affords me to be with both. But what is the purpose of the farm? Did I mean to be a meat farmer or to raise animals for fiber? How will the chickens pay for themselves - though eggs or meat? Of what use are the llamas or the rabbits? And so the questions go on. When I started the venture, I had in mind to farm wool and exotic fiber. To do so does not mean, then, that I need to breed the sheep or llamas, for even castrated males or wethers will provide fiber. Then there is the question of registration. Is it best to register purebred animals or simply keep them on the farm. If there is no breeding going on, then registration is not important, however, for keeping pure lines of rare breeds, registrations may be of a much greater value. Do I need 3 sheep or 30 sheep? One llama or 4? Do I need a cow, or pigs or even a horse? Lately, I have been pondering the farm and what it set out to be, a rare breeds permaculture farm, and how it has evolved in three short years to not be a rare breeds farm at all and the permaculture is only starting this year. Maybe I only need one breed of sheep, just a few goats for fiber or milk and one milk cow and possibly one meat cow. Occasionally I could raise a pig or two for meat as well, and the chickens that reproduce themselves by hatching their own eggs, could be kept for meat or eggs, depending on if they laid or not. I believe I have finally come up with a feeding system that will keep the wool of the sheep free from contamination with hay, so the wool will be easy to clean. Up until now, the many systems I have tried have resulted in very much hay lodged in the wool rendering it poor quality. What really got me thinking was the bunnies. Who does not love the bunnies, cute as they are, but do I need to breed them to raise them for food? Do I want to send the babies off to slaughter to put rabbit meat on the table? Do I want to help my lambs enter this world, care for those who inadvertently become ill or injured and then once healthy, kill them for food? Oh goodness, there is so much to think about now. How much work can one person comfortably manage in all seasons? I think I am more or less at my capacity for animals now and like it or not, some must be slaughtered or sold. It makes the most sense to slaughter them saving the hides for tanning, which provides the most return for the animals. Or maybe, it could simply be a petting zoo of my own and I would never have to send any of the precious lives to the butcher shop? At least I know that the meat is raised humanely with love and fed the best diet for the species so the meat is the best it can be as well. I need to make some decisions in the next year. Where is the Fat Ewe going? And what is the goal of the farm? These experiences over the last three years provide excellent education to help me on the right path for the farm. I think. Three rabbits live at the Fat Ewe Farm, a Flemish Giant buck imported from Holland and a locally bred Flemish Giant female, called a doe, plus a French Lop , also local. These are true gentle giants, especially the French Lop. It is hard to imagine eating them, but that is what they are bred for. The rabbits are the best converters of food to meat of all the animals. Pound for pound, two rabbits will produce more meat than a cow in a year if they are bred several times. Each of these rabbits will dress out at ten pounds or so and there are maybe ten babies in a litter, three litters a year. From the three rabbits, then , three hundred pounds of meat can be produced, but they require less space than cows and eat about a tenth of what cows do or less. The manure from rabbits can be utilized without composting, aka fresh, and is full of nutrients and nitrogen. The hardest part of all this is the fact that they are friendly, sweet and cute. How am I going to eat the bunnies? I have a hard time raising anything to eat it, but I am getting better. At first, I could not eat the pork raised here and now I can. The lamb is better than the store bought because it is strictly grass fed. The rabbits are primarily grass fed too, except for right now. They are getting a little grain, not much, to supplement them in winter. In the wild, rabbits would not eat grain in any quantity, just the odd seeds here and there. I feed them hay and it has leaves, weeds, some twigs and grass in it and should supply all they need to remain healthy. I have put off breeding the rabbits because I am not sure I can go through with butchering their babies, yet, from a point of sustainability, it is a wiser thing to do than to buy a cow. I do enjoy the rabbits and do not plan to eat these three, but what happens when they are old? Geeeeeeee. Raven is Weezie's baby, a twin born to her in late June. Weezie has not been 100% for a couple of years now and she was not meant to be bred, but things happen. Raven needed quite a bit of help getting a good start on life, as did his sister, but she has gone to a new home as a pet. The nursing of the kid has taken even more of a toll on Weezie, so he must be weaned. He is also an whole male, not castrated, and as such, even though tiny in stature, he can breed already. He would have trouble reaching any of the ladies, but he might just nab one of the doelings, of which there are three. So, Raven is isolated. To keep him company, or rather because it seemed like the best place to put Raven, he is in the winter home with Petey. Petey will get a bunch of straw bales in his winter hoop house and then he will sculpt them into a den for himself. Captain Morgan will go live with Petey over the winter, since he has no feet and would not survive the cold without the ability to perch. Petey will keep Captain Morgan, the Japanese bantam rooster whose feet froze off, warm in winter. They will share some of their meals together too, though Petey is not much into sharing. In the meantime, Raven has been crying pitifully, non stop for two days. He busted out today by pushing that hard little head of his through the chicken wire so now there is a straw bale to hinder his escape. Raven is used to wandering the yard, though he did not go any place other than to eat at the hay bale. Robbie, the border collie, liked to chase Raven, but he has never hurt him. Raven is used to Robbie and for the most part ignores him. Now Raven cannot wander and is confined to a huge cage. He gets out of every fenced area that there is on the farm because of diminutive size. This is the only alternative other than castration after weaning. In the meantime, there is a rabbit the size of the tiny goat living in the same house. Cute!
Sandy, the new Flemish Giant doe. She is a young rabbit, but can be bred near the end of summer.
The Fat Ewe Farm rabbits are meat breeds, but any rabbits can be pets if they are socialized and handled as youngsters. The two new girls are for breeding and for pets. Peter Rabbit, the Flemish giant buck, is not so much a pet. He does not like to be picked up and defends his cage from prying hands. On the other hand, the new does are used to being handled, picked up and cuddled because they were raised with children as well as adults. Sandy is not quite as comfortable with all the attention as her new room mate, Cindy Lop Ear. Cindy is a French lop eared big rabbit, but is not full grown yet either. The girls will continue as pet rabbits and Petey will visit when it is time to raise a family, though after he breeds the girls, he will be returned to his domain and have nothing more to do with the family. Mother rabbits only feed their young once daily and they are very helpless when they are first born. Within a few weeks, they are fully furred and squirming around, ready almost, to jump from the nest and explore their world. The does had never lived on the earth before, and though they likely tasted grass, their diet was water and pellets with a little hay. They are quite enjoying themselves in the large dog kennel where they can hop and play and kick up their heels. Welcome to the Fat Ewe Farm bunnies! |
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AuthorFluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. Archives
October 2020
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