You would think it was spring on the Fat Ewe Farm! The crazy guineas have a huge nest with too many eggs and likely nothing will hatch, because three of them are sitting on that nest and they do not cover all the eggs so some are getting cold and will have arrested development. They are in the little brush between the Inn and the south fence. Boy, do they squawk when I come near. I cannot tell which guineas are female and which are male, but at least one is male because the chickens hatched some guinea keets.
The nasturtium flowers are in full bloom. This one is a beautiful salmon orange colour. They are planted to attract bugs in the garden with the idea that they will leave the tomatoes alone. I eat them in salads too.
The Muscovy sisters finally hatched 9 ducklings. There were 6 more eggs not hatched and three pipped, which means the babies had poked their beaks out. One died, but the other two were alive. Since they were abandoned, I took them in the house, used very warm water to wash them out of their shells because they were dehydrated and cold, and I put them in a towel under a heat lamp. I dampened the towel and the remaining eggs too. The mother duck provides a lot of natural heat and moisture and while the heat lamp provides heat, it dries rather than adds humidity. The two are alive and well and there is another egg that has pipped, but it may have gotten too cold and the baby may be too weak to make it out. I will try to return these two to their mothers tomorrow.
And here is Freddy, the bull calf that was bought as a replacement for the beautiful little heifer that was lost in the mud where she died. He is a large boy and wants to suckle Elsie, but she still does not want to have anything to do with him. I have to tie her leg so she does not kick him and tie her up so she stands. He is not great at nursing. I thought it came naturally, and likely does, but he was already bottle fed a few days when I got him, so apparently he forgot how to nurse. I also have to milk Elsie. She is not producing a great deal of milk for some reason.
And that is some of the day on the farm. More fencing was completed and the last pen was cleaned. On Tuesday when the dump is opened again, the debris from the yard will be taken away in preparation for winter. I drag a pallet around the bird yard to even it out, break up the poops and clean it, but the birds are going to the processors on Thursday (chickens) and Tuesday (ducks and geese), so will wait a few days. Then the goats and sheep left to sell will go to the auction on the third Monday of September. After that the animals will need to be relocated to their winter pens and the babies separated from the adults for weaning. Whew! So much left to do before the snow flies…..
And that is some of the day on the farm. More fencing was completed and the last pen was cleaned. On Tuesday when the dump is opened again, the debris from the yard will be taken away in preparation for winter. I drag a pallet around the bird yard to even it out, break up the poops and clean it, but the birds are going to the processors on Thursday (chickens) and Tuesday (ducks and geese), so will wait a few days. Then the goats and sheep left to sell will go to the auction on the third Monday of September. After that the animals will need to be relocated to their winter pens and the babies separated from the adults for weaning. Whew! So much left to do before the snow flies…..
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