Monthly Archives: September 2022

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End of September

Here’s where we’re at…

2 turkeys went to Freezer Camp…Dingus and an auburn Narragansett.
Still have the rest of the whites to do, and another tom.
2 muscovy drakes joined them.
They were dicks and needed to be culled from the flock…leaving us 3 drakes to over winter with the hens and younglings.
1 pekin drake has been done.
We ordered 10 pekin ducklings and in a very odd twist, it seems like we got 2 drakes and 8 hens. That’s wild, because normally you get more boys than girls.
So we have to narrow down the last of the pekin hens we’re keeping and butcher the rest.
3 geese are in the freezer too.
Leaving us our breeding pair.

Garden is starting to clear out.
All but 4 tomato plants are stripped and pulled.
Beans are done (except for my blue lake pole beans and my rattlesnake beans, which I’m leaving as long as possible for seeds).
I’m working on pulling carrots, beets and onions.
Then I’ll mow the entire thing and cover with straw.
I moved a few rhubarb plants to new spaces, and I’m working on an asparagus bed.

I have the chance to get some horseradish plants later on this fall, so I have to get my 1/2 whiskey barrel planters situated where I want that.
I love horseradish and love the idea of growing it, but it can take over fast, so it must be contained.
The barrels moved out here with us from the city house and have sat empty of plants since.
It’s time for them to be filled.

Our load of duck eggs in the incubator produced 4 ducklings.
2 strong ones (so far, knock on wood), 2 that needed help to emerge and ended up passing.
The incubator has a difficult time keeping humidity levels high enough for ducks (I really hate styrofoam incubators…like really, really hate them), so sadly, it ends up shrink wrapping the poor little dudes into the membrane within the shell and suffocating them.
So eff that crap.
I’m on the hunt for a better incubator for doing ducks.
Something that can hold humidity better.
I fear I may have to make a bigger investment than I want too…
But
As far as sustainability goes, it would be a good investment, because of course, there are other birds here to incubate as well as ducks, so it’s not like it won’t get used. Often.

We moved the little chickens (10 each lavender orpingtons and jersey giants) into the main chicken coop.
It’s only been 1 night, and they’re confused af about not being able to get back into their former house (that’s where the 2 ducklings are), but after a night or two of being carried back to the right coop, they’ll get it.
We have at least 7 roosters between the 2 breeds, so I have good pick for who gets to stay and who gets to be fajitas.
Then next spring we’ll be able to hatch chickens out again.
EmmaBird the turkey and her 8 kids got a yard added to their brooder…with a lid so she can’t screw off on them and the chickens can’t get in to steal the kids’ foods.
Littles get a high protein feed that the regular chickens just don’t need…but everyone loves like it’s candy. And I ain’t payin’ $30/55lbs to feed it to laying hens when they have their own feed to eat!

And of course, we’re still cleaning up the yard and getting ready for the next season.
I’ll tell ya, that spring flooding kicked the crap out of our back yard.
It’s so overgrown with horrible weeds that I can’t use the regular lawn mower on, Hubby has to use the tractor mower, but with all the stupid little chickens hiding in there, it hasn’t happened yet (and because we have other things that have taken precedence over mowing…). Hopefully soon.
I really would love to see *grass* growing next year, but I fear I’ll have to sow some seed for that to happen.
*sigh*
I guess I’ll worry about it next spring, after we see what this winter has planned for us.
:/

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Babies

Yes, it’s a terrible time of year, going into Fall.
If you follow the Farm on FB, you would already have heard this, but we have ducklings hatching in the incubator.

We figured this was the perfect time of year to attempt hatching ducklings.
Muscovies are notoriously finicky for hatching artificially.
That’s why most people (us included) like to let the Mamas do the job.
The Mamas are excellent at it.
But, in the early spring, when they start laying, is too early to let the hens go broody.
It is *not*, however, too early to toss a bunch of eggs in the incubator.
So we needed to know we could get them to hatch.

And well…
So far, so good.
🙂

Happy Fall y’all.

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Mid-September

And things are rolling right along.
The green/duck house walls are up, the metal floor is in.
Next week we pick up the OSB sheathing for the walls, then insulate, roof, door and move the little feathered arses in…
We’ll paint once they’re moved in.

Garden is still producing.
I’ve been growing out San Marzano tomatoes for the Northern Seed Library.
The tomatoes are finally starting to get a blush on them…so I’ll give them this next week of nice weather/heat and then pick them before the damn stink bugs get them.
Soon I’ll be pulling carrots and beets and canning those.
Beans are done. Ready to have the lawn mower run over them and be covered in a layer of straw.
Rhubarb has been transplanted.
Now I have 8 plants.
Harvested enough off the 2 main plants this year to have enough to share with my Uncle and make a small batch of wine.
Getting ready to start an asparagus patch.
A big one.
Not just a few plants in a raised bed, but more like a 5′ x 10′ space.
We like asparagus and perennial food plants are awesome.
Plus, since I have aaaaaallllllll these boxes and so many coops to clean, might as well put that cardboard and shit laden straw to good use as the foundation of a new gardening space.
Tomorrow (was gonna be today but that asshole named “migraine” has shown his shitty face) I’ll pick the apples off the 3 trees.
Still have the hawthorn berries to harvest (hopefully it’s not too late for them), stinging nettle seeds, and mullein too…then I think I might be done with herbals for this year…I think.

And then, we’re looking towards butchering…
There’s the turkeys, a few chickens, 3 geese, 5 pekins, and 2 muscovy to do this year.
Not too much, thankfully.
Though next month our pig should be ready.
That’ll be a slog.
I appreciate not having to raise it (a nearby farmer does it for us) and I hate paying to send them out to be butchered…so we do it. Which means a week of work for me, between the initial pick up day, put down, skin and breakdown into primals, then retail cuts, bone broth and canning…yup, takes me about a week.
And then I fall over from exhaustion for a day or two.
😂😂😂
Just in time for hunting season to start (for us)…

Oh, and there’s 29 muscovy eggs in the incubator.
All of which are showing excellent growth.
This is an experiment based on advice I was given to hatch muscovy in the incubator.
Typically, they’re more difficult to hatch than chickens or turkeys, so I haven’t had any luck previously.
So far, though, so good.
I expect they all oughta hatch because I’m not sure where to put 29 ducklings this close to winter…
That would be my luck.
😂😂😂
But this is also the best time of year to experiment, because we’re not letting hens sit, but they’re laying eggs. Spring eggs are for babies that we leave the hens to hatch.
But it sure wold be nice if I could grab a bunch and set ’em in the incubator *then* let the hens do as they please…
So we’ll see what happens.

And then there’s the other myriad of things that need doing before the dreaded snow falls…
1. get the snowblower looked at (already in talks with my brother on that)
2. put up the snow fencing…and extra of it.
3. move brooders so they aren’t buried under the snow drifts again
4. get hay home for The Merry Mares
5. get straw for coops and horses home
6. find winter boots for The Kid and I
7. find ski pants for The Kid…she wore hers right the fuck out last winter…

I’m sure I’m missing things…I’m always missing *something*.
And through this all, we’re still dealing with Hubby’s random vertigo attacks that fuck things up for days at a time. But we’ll muddle through, as always, because that’s what we do.
🙂

Have a helluva week folks!

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So This is Happening…

Remember I said we’re building a new coop for the ducks?
Lies.
All lies.
😂😂😂

What we’re doing is *better*.
Check this out:

That’s my greenhouse going up…and it’s gonna do double duty.
See, we needed something with a bigger floorplan for the ducks, and I need a greenhouse for 3 seasons of the year…do why let it sit empty in winter when…we can shove ducks in there!!

So that’s the plan.
Duck house in winter, by the time it’s time to put plants in there to prep them for the garden, out go the ducks to their normal spring/summer/fall coop.
And because our fat butted ducks don’t like to fly to perch, I might be able to get away with starting a few seeds in there…we’ll see.
It’ll be worth playing with and testing.
It night work, it might not.
I won’t know ’til I try it.
Either way, greenhouse is up, and finishing work continues…