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. 
Midnight Calico Farm 
Glad you’re doing okay. Not in the mix with the hurricane I take it. I’m happy about that. I thought of you as soon as I saw that Canada was being affected by the hurricane.
Have a fabulous day and week, Christine. ♥
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Thanks Sandee. ❤
Thankfully I'm in the interior of the country, so far away from the hurricane.
East coast gets hurricanes, we i the interior get crazy winters/blizzards. lol
Have a wonderful week!
❤
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Great ya got the ducks and turks put away. You expect as much snow this year as last? Can you keep your birds in the coops while you mow your weeds?
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I don’t know what the hell to expect this year for snow. Farmer’s Almanac is all over the place with predictions.
From here on out, we plan as though it was last year, and breathe a sigh of relief when it isn’t.
As for the birds, we’ll coop everyone we can catch (free rangin’ assholes that they are) and anyone who doesn’t get caught, had better figure out quick to get out of the way when the tractor goes through. lol
Sounds awful, but birds have to be tough to survive here, or else they just don’t make it.
That includes being smart enough to get out of the way of the 6 foot mower.
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I’m curious about your duck eggs. Are your ducks producing them or are you getting them from someplace else? Our Muscovys are extremely broody and prolific. No brooder necessary.
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Yes, they’re from our ducks.
We had 10 of our 11 hens go broody this spring, but, we didn’t get our cull drakes cleared out soon enough, and that effected our hatch rates.
100% human error.
That we’re working on fixing.
They also started laying later this year due to the weather, and we just kept taking them and feeding them back for extra protein/energy.
The plan has always been though, to start a batch in the incubator in the spring when they first start laying (because we get cold/snow up until the beginning of May sometimes), then once the end of April hits, let the hens do what they want to hatch as many as they want.
At least until the end of August, when we’re looking at downsizing/culls for the winter.
And as I say that I have to laugh, because 10 of 11 are broody and trying to sit *right now* and I don’t dare let them or we’ll have a bunch of ducklings hatch right ’round Hallowe’en!
😂😂😂
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