Went raspberry picking today! In my own driveway. That's right, I found a whole new patch of sweet raspberry plants growing down along the driveway and in a flowerbed next to the pasture wall. They are not the biggest raspberries but I'm just so thrilled to have them. They seem to be a dual plant with both raspberry and blackberries. I had no idea they could come that way. Sweet young chickens on my front porch. The duck run at sunset. Finding my boy in the duck run at sunset is way too sweet. He thought it was pretty sweet that Ben's head was beginning to turn green and wanted me to post a photo on my blog. Here's a better angle. We finally finished the first of six hutches to be built for my girl's rabbitry. Just five more to go. Here's a little rabbit sweetness to motivate me to get those five hutches done. Lacey and her kits at two weeks old.
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Hubby brought these t-shirts home for us to wear last night around the fireworks. But the kids bundled up instead. Not from the cold, it was a warm lovely night, but from the mosquiitoes instead. They were hell bent on drinking us dry. But it was this little guy that creeped me out and nearly had me calling it quits. Farm girl heard something crying in the grass next to us and discovered this little rodent (rat?) along with it's sibling who's head had been cut off. Presumably by yours truly when I mowed the tall grass earlier in the day to prepare for the fireworks. I only wished I'd gotten this thing and it's mother as well. But look who celebrated Canada Day by opening their eyes for the first time? Two of the kits have opened their eyes and began hopping, albeit clumsy-like, around Lacey's cage. The little white kit has revealed we have another REW (ruby eyed white), though we think he may be a chocolate tip like his father. The little black rabbit which looks like he may be an agouti is developing slower than his siblings. We're keeping our fingers crossed for him.
Last week I reported that Lacey had given birth to her litter of kits. Well, sadly, they have been dying off one by one ever since. Since we are newbies at this, we were unsure what could be the problem. It took the death of 4 in one day, that my daughters finally stepped in and interfered. They weren't sure how Lacey would react. For one thing, she barely knew us and secondly you are suppose to leave mom and babies alone for the first two weeks. But with only three babies left, the girls took action. The first thing they did was to check that Lacey had no infections in her nipples. When everthing looked good down there, they determined that she simply did not know what to do as a first time mother. We'd see her nursing and then hop off while the kit was still clinging to her. It was like she didn't know what they were and why they were in her cage. So the girls decided to force feed them. This required placing Lacey on her back. This is a very uncomfortable position for a rabbit and could have them kicking out in fear or anger. However, Lacey simply laid placid in my daughter's arms. It amazes me to see those large feet suspended above her and she didn't attempt to kick out once. Next they placed a kit against her nipple and waited for it to latch on. When it did, they added the second baby. They look like the cutiest little rats at this age. The little black one was fed alone since he is smaller than his siblings and the girls wanted to make sure he got all the milk he needed. This is all that's left from Lacey's litter. I love the diverse colours. What's our chances they are all females?! After she was done, Lacey cuddled into my daughter for reassurance before hoping happily back into her cage. With so little kits left from Lacey's litter, the girls decided to breed Odette. Odette is 9 months old and you should really breed them before they turn one if you plan on breeding because of something to do with their bones and causing difficulty in pregnacy. So we put Odette in the run with Snickers. Snickers is her dad but it is acceptable to breed father to daughter or mother to son, just not sister to brother. I taped the incident to share but nearly missed it their first round because it happened so fast. However, Snickers kept coming back to Odette to make sure the job got done. Please keep children's innocent eyes aware from this video as it contains explicit scenes!! Haha! Thought I'd share some updates from around the farm. First, as I mentioned briefly in the previous post, our dark snowy call duck who was to be named Daphe if a boy or Daphne if a girl, has been renamed Ben. My son wanted to name him since everyone else was naming animals and when he said Ben, I liked it and agreed. We are 99% sure Ben is indeed a boy. He has grown some beautiful and colourful feathers. I haven't got a photo, but will try and post one when I do. Another name change around the farm was June's, one of our stray barn cats. Initially, we had thought June and May were mother and son, then May got pregnant so that corrected that. However, June is a late bloomer and her testicles have finally dropped. Yes, testicles. June is a boy. Very disappointing, since she/he was so much friendlier and prettier than May, which really should have been the first sign. Anyway, not to confuse us too much we changed his name to Juno. Me and my hardworking crew have been working steadily on the henhouse. Haha, they are such jokers! Actually, I'm pretty proud of my crew...3 females and a 7 year old boy and we've nearly completed a henhouse entirely on our own. Second wall goes up. All the walls are now up, I haven't taken a photo yet. I just need to add the door for humans and a door to the run and the girls are moving over. Which I can't hardly wait since they've been free ranging in the barn at night because they have become just too big for the brooder. There is poop everywhere in the barn. As soon as I can lock them up at night, they are moving in. My daughter finished her rabbit house and began work on the rabbit run. The completed house and run. She is raising the house about a foot off the ground, however, to create a shaded spot for the rabbits. The rabbits cannot all go in at once so they rotate in the house/run on a daily basis. They love it and it gives them lots of exercise. The tarp is there because we discovered after a rainfall that there was too much space between boards, so she will need to insultate the inside eventually as well. She also wants to add shutters over the windows to lock the rabbits in even more securely at night and place a flower box under the window to pimp up the place.
The ducks have been holed up in the run during the day with the rabbit ever since last night's incident. I didn't want another accident and chance of loosing another bird. Don't think the boy could handle it. Anyway, as soon as I'm done the henhouse, the duck's run and house are on the agenda next. We had our first casuality today. Well, technically, Duke's mother was our first and one of May's babies died making this actually our third death. But this was the first real serious death in several months at the new farm. I had to drive into town to take my daughters to work and left all the ducks out to free range. I saw them before leaving and thought briefly about putting them away, but since I was leaving Dakota, our GS on duty, I thought everything would be fine. Dakota has gotten along with our call ducks and I would often find them sunbathing on the deck together after leaving them alone for several hours. But when we came home we discovered a dead muscovy (so grateful it wasn't one of our beautiful snowy call ducks) and an excited Emma. Emma is our golden retriever who is the sweetest dog and wouldn't harm a fly. However, we concluded from the evidence in the pond, that she thought she had gained a playmate in the water and initiated a chase. Dakota may be a good guard dog but she is also a very competitive dog when it comes to the golden retrievers. So she would have wanted to up Emma and take whatever she had. And using her mouth is no issue with Dakota, so would have taken over the chase and taken the duck down. My boy was pretty upset, though very relieved that his duck Ben hadn't been the dead bird. (Ben is the re-christened name of Daphe the duck.) Then while there was death occuring outside, at the exact moment inside the barn, life was happening. Our new rabbit, Lacey, was giving birth to her litter. We came home to find a dead duck and 9 newborn bunnies. We had even checked on Lacey before leaving and she hadn't even begun building her nest. So we were quite pleased with this sight. They did ease the blow some for my boy, but he took the death of the duck harder than I thought he would have since we've only had them for a couple days. I made the mistake of putting the dead duck in a bag and tossing it into the swamp for vultures, however, it triggered an emotional reaction from my boy. It might have been the wrong thing to do, but I didn't want to make a big deal of the death. I figured there would be more death to face in the future, some at my own hands, so tried to take the emotion out of the event. Perhaps I should have discussed it more with him, given the bird a proper burial, but I don't want to have to hold a ceremony every time a critter dies on our property. I did however promise to replace the duck with four new ducklings so that he could have a total of 9 ducks (not sure why that number, but that was what he wanted). Perhaps a ceremony would have been easier. Probably not, I was ready to promise him anything just as long as he stopped hurting.
It's all Odette's fault. If only she hadn't been so dang pretty with a personality to boot. My oldest couldn't resist when Odette batted her big doey eyes up at her. She was completely smitten. She'd had rabbits before, but none compared to Odette. Her love for the large furry rabbit, caused her to want another. And another. Really, I thought it would stop there. I mean, seriously, three large rabbits was more than enough. But then middle child wanted one. Then discussions of breeding were heard whispered around the farm. Whispers got louder, bloodlines got researched, emails were exchanged with breeder, and then this happened. And this. And this. Yes, that's four new rabbits came home today. And that last one, above, is pregrant and due any day now. My girls went out to the breeder's and brought home two breeding pairs. But these aren't just any breeding pairs. They're family! Well, Odette's family. The girl above is her sister from the same litter, and the rabbit in the photo above her is their Mommy! Daddy and brother are in the buck cages in the first photo. The breeder had been breeding for personality and so we leaped at the chance of buying Odette's parents when the breeder decided to downsize. Her siblings were just a bonus. A pregnant sibling, an added bonus. And I think as bribery, the girls bought these from the breeder for me. Three muscovy ducklings. They certainly know how to kiss up.
We put up the chicken run today. It took all afternoon. It was hot. I'm beat. Therefore, photo post only today. Oldest building rabbit house for her bunnies. Children end the day with a sleepover in the barn loft.
Yesterday was a day for babies on the farm. First up, May was not done having hers. She ended up having 4 more babies. And since there was no more room left at the Ritz, she had to find another secluded spot not too far from her other kittens. She chose this spot at the bottom of a wood pile. It didn't take long however for her to realize her mistake, when one too many visitors came to see her and babies. She took off, abandoning her babies. Since it wasn't the safest place and was easily accessible to other critters, we set up a bed in a corner of the shed surrounded by plywood sheets with food and water for May, and moved the kittens there while May watched from the beam above. And it was a good thing we did. For some unexplained reason, the pile of wood directly above where she had been, collapsed later that day. We popped in periodically after that to check on them and though there was no sign of May, the kittens appear healthy and content. I just hope she comes for them during the night and doesn't leave them to freeze. Yesterday, as it turns out, was a day of baby arrivals on the farm. Though the kittens were the only ones actually born here, we went over to our favourite breeder to pick up our remaining chanteclers and while we were there we visited with all her other animals and new mothers. And ended up going home with 2 turkeys, 2 rabbits, 3 ducks, and the 3 chanteclers. The chanteclers checking out their new home and new family below. The turkey's....which daughter discovered their reputation of not being the smartest chicks on the block rang true, says we should name dumb and dumber, haha! But which my son has wanted since our last visit to the breeder's where he met their pet turkey, Walmart (named for his love of greeting visitors to the farm). I had wanted ducks in the hopes of helping to eliminate the fly population on our farm. When I did my research, I chose Call Ducks because they are the friendliest and with my boy always wanting to play with the farm animals, I thought they would suit us best. However, on talking with my breeder in further discussion about ducks, she recommended we get Muscovy as a) they are the best fly catchers and b) have the best edible meat. So we've ordered some babies from her who should be born any day now. The call ducks above will only be for pet value as she said they won't catch a whole lot of flies. I couldn't resist taking them home though when she showed me their mother. A beautiful black and white duck. I've never seen one that colour. Two of the ducklings above should turn out with the same colouring. We took the third one because he was the last of the litter and came with his sisters. Of course, when we brought them home we had no idea what to do with them. We aren't set up for baby ducks so have put them in the upstairs shower stall until I can figure something out. Then finally, before we went over to the breeders she told us that her rabbits had another litter of bunnies and that one of the litters were safe to breed with Odette. You know, just in case we were interested, haha! We had wanted a male rabbit ever since Odette came home in February with the hopes of breeding her. He was even named at that time. Meet Phoenix. Now the problem is, he shares the same parents as Odette, so no breeding. (Apparently it is not safe to breed siblings, but you can breed parent to child.) So after much debate and finally unable to make a decision, we picked up another male from a different set of parents for breeding purposes. He remains nameless at the moment but he quickly found his way into our hearts. So much so that we are thinking of buying a female from the same litter so that we can cross breed the two litters. I foresee a lot of building of shelters and runs this summer!
Talking of babies, and as an update, the tadpoles in our pond have completely disappeared. We haven't seen our Koi as well in the past week or so. We stopped feeding them in the hopes they would help themselves to the tadpoles. I think the plan worked. There won't be any toad invasion on the farm afterall! It was this kind of day. The sunny and warm throw open the door and slide up the screen type of day. Love these wonderful spring days when you can air out musty old winter and welcome fresh new spring. Though we actually weren't indoors most of the day as we were outside doing yardwork. It finally stopped raining and we (er, hubby) was able to mow the grass, while I continued my never-ending task of removing stones in the yard along the driveway. Everything looks so green and beautiful after the rain. It was amazing to see how much had grown within the last several rain-filled days. The buds on the trees are beginning to emerge and soon their branches too will be nice and full. Even inside my greenhouse the first sprout of life made an appearance. My boy was pretty darn excited to see life in his sunflower pots. It was just too beautiful a day not to share it with everyone, so we brought Odette outside for a little outdoor fun. It was her first outing and she loved exploring the backyard and feeling the touch of grass beneath her feet. I wanted to bring the chicks out but thought they were still too young. But they were able to enjoy a bit of sunshine. I had moved the brooder to the front room tucked within the bay window and by midday sun shone warmly inside the brooder. They all vied for a spot under the warm sunshine even though I kept the brooder lamp going. A little vitamin D will do us all some good.
The pond finally completely thawed yesterday needless of the fact is was a rather chilly day. The forecast had called for warm temperatures but the sun was a no-show. Still it was warm enough to melt the rest of the ice in the pond. We have yet to find out where the filter and pump are but think the filter is under ground and another cord was found lying next to the pond but when we followed it it disappeared under ground as well, but we wren't sure where it went to after that. We'll probably have to dig it up because everytime we plugged it in to the outlet, it caused it to short circuit. But we did get the lights in the greenhouse working and the fountain in the pond as well. Can't wait for the flowers to grow in and I think we're going to add some lighting to the pond and some water lilies as well. I had wanted to do more yardwork but it was too cold and wet so headed for the barn to start on the rabbit's hutch. She is temporarily housed in a dog crate at the moment so really needs something bigger. We found an old wooden cart that was used as shelter for the stray cats but we dragged it to the barn for the rabbit so that she had a place to hide if she felt she needed it. When the hutch is complete, I'll post photos.
Last Thursday, we had the farrier over and he did all the horses feet and today we adminstered deworming to all three as well dusted them for lice. We fear Duke has been suffering badly from them. He had scratched himself so bad on his chest he created a bald spot. We checked for lice but it looked more like extremely dry skin, but for safety took the precaution and dusted him and the rest of the horses. Hopefully, that will do the trick and the horses should be set for a couple more months. |