It’s a blustery afternoon here in eastern Ontario and at this time it helps to focus on Spring and all the good things to come. For me, Spring is all about new life: hatching chickens and ducks, sprouting seeds and my favourite: baby goats! The baby goats should start arriving at the end of March and soon after we’ll have hens and ducks sitting on eggs too.
We have a lot planned for 2012. Our big project is (knock wood) our production of cold-pressed Sunflower Oil. There are a lot of things to sort out but we have a field ready to go in May with oil to follow in the Fall. We are sourcing an oil press and looking into all the other aspects beginning with planting and ending with ‘tastes like sunshine’ oil in a bottle.
We’re also planning to set up a couple of beehives for honey and wax production. This will be a joint effort with some friends of ours from town. We’re thinking to expand our workshop program too to include goat and chicken keeping 101. And of course we’re always thinking of new varieties of goat milk soap and new flavours of goat milk fudge. So, check back often to see what we’re up to or sign up for our email newsletter to get regular updates from Kricklewood Farm. All the best for 2012 from us to you!
We woke up this morning to more than a light dusting of snow. They had predicted rainfall mixed with snow so I guess it was on the negative side of zero. It’s always fun to watch the reaction of the animals. For the chickens and ducks hatched out earlier this year it’s a whole new experience. Pitou prefers to stay inside and it takes a little while for the goats to step out and realize that they won’t melt. Buddy is not too pleased either. Only 5 months until Spring…
We started the barn renovation a few weeks ago and at the time found a duck sitting on eggs right in the way of the contractors. We moved the eggs and tried to get her to accept a new location without success. The eggs were incubated in the house and four tiny miracles began their new lives. The duckling with dark markings was the first to hatch and has become the leader of the pack. Above is their first venture into the great outdoors. Photos from day one.
The first snow day of the season is always an interesting one, especially for the animals born this past Spring and Summer. They get to experience snow for the first time, with mixed results. The Muscovy ducks don’t seem to mind…
The chickens on the other hand aren’t happy to have their feet touch snow. They spend the first while up on anything to get off the ground.
The Nubian goats, the breed with origins in Africa increase the volume on their bleating, begging me to make the bad weather go away.
After a while, when I put some grain outside, a few brave chickens venture out.
And then a few more, especially if I put down some hay over the snow.
The hay is incentive enough for the goats too. Silver the young Nubian Buck is slowly getting used to it.
There are always hold outs who prefer to spend the day in the barn hanging out..
…or chowing down.
Hope they get used to this, winter has yet to offficially
arrive and we have a long way to go until Spring!
It’s been one of those warm lazy days of summer and everything that mother nature has to offer is being enjoyed. If only these moments could last all year…
Spring is a time of celebrating new life and there has been no shortage of joy this year. We started off with Shirley, Lorraine and Helga in March, followed by a trip to the hatchery for some day old chicks in April and many new additions in May. Three Muscovy ducklings are now running around the yard learning how to be ducks on their own. Unfortunately they were hatched under a hen and the female Muscovies took no interest in raising them. The mother hen was too busy with her other three chicks to worry about the ducklings and I’m not sure she could teach them much anyway. Luckily, they are all healthy and eating and growing day by day so for now we’ll just savour each moment of their youth.
One of the nest boxes has had eggs in it for about a month and the hens have been taking turns sitting on the nest. We were giving up hope that anything would hatch but boy were we wrong! Yesterday the first duckling was spotted, followed by another later in the day and a chick this morning.
We won’t know how many chicks and ducklings are under there until the hen leaves the nest to take them around. Once she gets off of it, that’s her signal that nothing else will hatch or that she’s had enough of sitting.
There is a black chick in the clip too, barely visible behind her beak. She’s teaching them to eat by showing them some good grain.
That’s Pitou coming into the coop towards the end, the duckling isn’t quite sure what to make of the grunting so she hides under Mom.
We had the first significant snowfall of the season the other day.
it was going to be a whole new experience for the chickens and
ducks who were hatched earlier this year. It didn’t go well at first.
The usual rush out the chicken door was quickly followed by what could
be described as ‘chicken brakes’ once they hit the snow. They felt the cold
on their feet and turned around for the dry ground under the eave of the coop.
Pitou didn’t seem to mind and he proceeded to find the grains under the
snow. So we went to plan B which was to open the big door for them.
The reaction was about the same, the situation was analyzed,
tiny wheels were turning and decisions were made not
to venture outside beyond the bare ground.
Finally the Brahma’s decided to brave the snow
with a little encouragement with some leftover pasta.
All along, Pitou seemed unconcerned by the change in weather.
We learned quickly that the main motivation for a pig is food.
We are finally getting some eggs from the hens,
just as it is starting to get colder and turn dark earlier,
and production will slow down for the season but
it will quickly pick up in a few months.
Another reason to look forward to Spring!
It doesn’t look like much, but for the chickens and ducks, this is a full-fledged ‘Palais des poules’… We moved them from the original spot to this one after a few renovations: insulation, better windows, a new ‘chicken’ door, more room to roost and a huge outdoor run. We made sure to include all the necessities of life:
Places to eat…
…and sleep.
The ducks and chickens are getting along as bunkmates.
Of course they need areas for recreation…
…including a high spot to get a better view of their domain.
It’s not all fun and games though, they’re here to do a job: lay eggs.
On the plus side, the nesting boxes have a nice view of the barnyard.
The best part of the new coop has to be the chicken door.
When the sun is shining, be careful when you open it!
It’s a mad dash to get out and begin the day.
The morning waits for no one..
…well, almost no one. There are always one or two stragglers
who just prefer to stay in bed a little while longer… sounds familiar?
Ducks were not in the plan, neither was a pot-bellied pig but that will be for another time. Our neighbors have kept Muscovy Ducks as they are good for eating flies and don’t need much water. When they had 15 ducklings to find homes for, we volunteered to take a few. A few ended up to be 6.
We brought them into the coop at night so as to not disturb the social hierarchy that the chickens had already established. The next morning the chickens were definitely taken aback and appeared to be afraid of the little yellow fluff balls. The knew to peck chicken newcomers but what to do with these waddling, tail-wagging, flat-footed creatures? It was a period of discovery for both species but first things first – it was time for the ducks to head for the water!
It was a little crowded until they realized that one at a time might be better.
That seemed to work out and it was a chance for the others to hunt for bugs.
If only they could stay this small, this innocent and most of all this clean forever. The reality may be otherwise, we’ve seen the parents and they aren’t nearly this cute. I guess we’ll see what happens soon - at this age they grow pretty fast.
