We've got a busy week in store for us! I am helping a friend process 25 of her ducks this week, as the weather holds. Today the first 8 are on the to-do list.
It is starting to look like spring around here; we've got many new babies! Our mama rabbits had a small cave-in on their tunnels, which revealed a number of baby rabbits....
The tiniest of the babies kept coming up to the surface....which was unnerving the white mama...
Meanwhile the dark eared mama took it in stride. I got the baby back into the den and covered the hole with a flake of hay to help keep the little guy in his den. He was clearly too young for such adventures!
We also have chicks hatching, 4 so far. These 2 are the newest of the brood, and let me tell you they are nothing short of a miracle. Our big blue hen made a nest in the buck's hay manger and decided to set. Now usually when eggs start to hatch, they don't all pop open at once. One will start pipping, then another and by the time the last chick hatches the first ones will be a day or so old. Mama hen usually keeps them on the nest until she's sure all have hatched.
But the first 2 that hatched in the blue hen's nest must have fallen out of the nest. When I went to do barn chores yesterday, the blue hen was setting on the 2 chicks in the corner of the buck barn...but had abandoned the other eggs. We got the eggs out of the nest to find that one had pipped a hole in the shell, but all of the eggs were cold. The chick that was hatching was cold and not moving. Well, there's an old saying about hypothermia...."you're not dead until you are warm and dead". Sometimes, even though a chick appears to be dead, once they are warmed they come back to life.
And life they have indeed! Not just the one....but a second one managed to come back from the cold and hatch! I am thankful that the Good Lord allows me to witness miracles in my life every day!
We are soon to be starting kidding season again. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Joy's kids. Joy was the very last daughter born to Legacy. Even though she's 2 1/2 years old, this is her first freshening....and she's bred to Ditto. I am very excited about these babies, and anxious to see her production. Her udder is developing beautifully, and her fore udder is so smooth it disappears.
Speaking of production, Faith is not only nursing her buckling....the massive Prince...
but is also still giving me 2 quarts of milk each day. All at 9 years of age! I love that goat, and I thank God every day for her!
In addition to the things going on outside, I am getting some beans canned. During the summer months we eat a lot of pinto, black beans, and black eyed peas to go with BBQ. It's so much easier if I have canned them in advance, rather than having to run a pot on the stove all day in the heat. This week I'm doing a few jars as I dream of warm weather!
4 comments:
Wow, you do look busy. It's great isn't it?
Good luck on the ducks.
The good fortune is riding with you, Lady! We're not starting out so well over here. We're going from 27* and only 3 days to dry out... to the 70* temps and all the rain coming from over your way. The mud. Ugh. Can hardly wait until we get the other fencing up.
Weldr, the mud never ends this time of year. It started raining yesterday morning, and is still raining now. Last year about this time we had a load of river rock dumped and spread it everywhere because of the mud. This year the mud is so bad that you can't even find the river rock!
Keep some good muck boots and a rain slicker at hand....those and my shepherd's crook are my favorited muddy chore-time tools!
MDR, busy is how I prefer to spend my days for sure!
Only got 2 of the ducks done before the rain hit. Would have kept working in the rain but the thunder and lightning brought that project to a stop for the time being.
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