So today we worked on the bucks. In anticipation of offering him for sale, I shaved Captain Jack. I wanted to get an updated pic for the add and for my website. I plan on trying to get pics next weekend, and I like about a weeks growth, so we will see if I have to shave him again later. We also did all 4 boys yearly vax, hooves trimmed and treated for lice.... YUCK!!! Tis the season for the poultry and goats to have issues with lice right now, so no surprises, just doing whats gotta get done so they can be bug free.
We used an old metal sheet (originally from an above ground pool) to corner off a section of the girls pasture for a mom and kid spot so I can move Spellbound and her personal herd of kids out of the kidding pen. Hopefully tomorrow evening we will be finished with the last of the netting and they can move outside.
Spells little moonspotted buckling is so in your face friendly, my DD asked me if he was a bottle baby? Nope, just loves attention. Flash Gordon, the black one is a little pig. He isn't all about the attention, because he tries to sneak back around mama for a quick drink while everyone else is getting snuggles...
Reese is about ready to pop. I saw white goo today and she could go as early as next weekend.....Day 150 would be the 16th, 145 would be the 11th, and if she chooses day 142 or so..... that would leave us around the 8th.... She should have at least 3 again.... and I hope they are all girls like last year!!!
I need a little brown buckskin for my Djali Denali replacement (psssst...if you are taking requests, I would love some blue eyes too!)
StinkerBelle was actually bred 2 days before Reese (Reeses daughter from 2 years ago) so hopefully they will be OK together in the kidding stall. She will be a FF. Both were bred to Spartagus.
Collected the 9 lavender sebastopol goose eggs and put them in the bator today....
hatching goose eggs is more difficult than chicken eggs, so I am hoping that once I can confirm fertility, I would be so grateful if a couple of my scovies decided to sit and hatch them for me.....
Once confirmed, I can offer eggs for sale. I know my new gander is getting some lovin cause the geese make such a ruckus about it all!!!
I am totally overrun with chicken and duck eggs right now...
something like 6 flats in the fridge, not counting todays collection!!! I would hazard a guess of 3-4 dozen a day right now! But I can't incubate any more yet either because of the goose eggs needing higher humidity which messes up chick development!
I totally need more bators!!!!!!
Oh hey!!! So I finally got to the bottom of why DH wants turkeys this year. I have been puzzling and trying to figure out the why...... Normally he might ask, 'so you planning on raising turkeys this year' and I may say yes or no, and what, when and why etc.... but this year he asked me about 4 times already and was even asking specifically about the heritage kind rather than the broad breasted.... Weird conversation for him to bring up, though I have talked it over with him plenty and we have had many turkeys of both kinds over the years. Usually the conversation would be like, 'how many birds do you have? and you are getting more what? WOW!That is alot of birds! Where are you going to put them?' I was wanting to get Lilacs and Sweetgrass specifically, but Porters was sold out of specific breeds ages ago so I thought I might just raise a few broads for this year and see about next years waiting list. So today DH mentions we need to get turkeys. I asked if he wanted to stop by the feed store to see if they came in yet, then remembered that he was wanting the heritage instead. He asked if they would all be dumb like Amelia and try to take the kids out of the yard, get them lost and stuck in tall weeds, etc.... "um yeah most likely..." she took good care of them, but wanted them to forage over many acres a day, but we only have a tad over 1, so she tried to take them to great beyond and never came back with the same number she left with. When we had taken and penned the babies, they survived well and were delicious! So he says well they should have their own pen where the babies can be safe and they can reproduce naturally... you know like the ducks do. Sure I say, that would be ideal.... Then the truth reveals itself, he says..."yeah so that way we can have something other than duck to eat!!!"
The kids and I love muscovy and we eat it often enough, but truth be told we eat chicken more....just Friday, we had 3 beautiful roosters magically turn into some fantastic tacos!
He is so funny! DD and I have started calling duck, "beef"
because if I season it like beef (say in tacos), he doesn't know the difference...happily eats it without asking what it is!!!!
Family vacation before the kids all take off for colleges in the deep dark wilds beyond our little town..... ooohhhh!!! Scary! 
She should have at least 3 in there but her poor tired lady bits surely can't hold out much longer. Those kids are just gonna fall out any minute! Kinda like when you forget to latch your purse and turn too fast, spilling 17 pens, 138 coins and "girl stuff" all over the floor in front of a whole line of impatient customers at the grocery store (I'm just sayin')... I mean, won't Reese be embarrassed when she turns too fast and her kids just fall out?!?!
