Arrowti's journal - backyard farm!

There wasn't much to say yesterday so I said nothing.

Today, we've been checking all the meat checks for pasty butt. Three so far, and one of them got pecked so much after getting cleaned that she bled, but she's doing fine now. Cannibals, honestly!

Pebbles is being more friendly with Bell's piglets since they are getting their 'order' established. All the pigs are doing good. We've got a lot of Bell's litter sold already (when they're 8 weeks old). The loose pigs have been found and their owner has too - they escaped weeks ago and have travelled over 50 miles from home! The good news is they're safe and no longer pose a risk to cars in roadways or 'hiking' people (we have lots of stray pigs attacking people stories in Maine!).

It's rained all day today and will be raining for the rest of the week, minus Tuesday. The ducks are loving it. We found them outside the fence today and couldn't figure out how they actually got out! The fence was not fallen, and there were no gaps... well, I followed them around and found their escape route. They walked all the way out through the back of their 'enclosure' (which isn't fully enclosed, because we need to access one of the pig pens without electric wires in the way), walked all the way along the fence line of a 60 foot+ pig pen, around the side, through the woods, and finally came out in our yard! When they were hungry they walked all the way back.

Those little brats are smarter than I thought...

The other animals seem to be doing good today.

I've been feeling 'under the weather' lately. Tired all the time, thirsty a lot, poor sleep. I finally ended up with a full blown migraine today (it's been over a year since my last one, so I didn't recognize the build up). My vision went crazy and then just as that got better, the migraine hit. Had to miss class because I was so nauseas. Fortunately it only lasted a couple hours. Unfortunately my head still feels like my skull has shattered into pieces on the back that hurts whenever I cough, sneeze, or move... that'll pass soon.

Hopefully things tomorrow will look better.

As far as that inured gilt... she's almost walking perfectly now, with a barely noticeable limp. Her leg, though, is slightly malformed. She can move fine on it, and I'll try to get a picture of it so you can see what I mean when I say 'malformed' - looks like the leg bone is far too large for that side - but so long as she continues using it and grows strength I don't see her having any further issues.

Keep forgetting to take pictures of Ginger...

The guinea is doing great. Still shy and won't let us pick her up but she loves having her chin and face scratched.

Hope you feel better soon!

It's been a couple days since I've updated due to being busy lazy, but I do have some stuff to share.

We had a wild mallard female who visited us for a few days and tried to hang out with our ducks, but she wasn't cool enough for them so they always ran away from her. She is absolutely gorgeous, tiny, and so cute. I want some mallards now...

No one has offered on the mixed boar so he'll likely go to the market with his brothers soon. We've got several offers on the piglets though, and one gilt picked out! A big, strong, healthy female.

It turns out Gimpy's leg is not malformed, but as it has continued to heal, I see there are now two abscesses on her leg. Now, we've never dealt with abscesses before, and aren't quite sure how to deal with it. The "let it be" option has been working great so far but we want to be sure what to do about these. Should we slice them and let them drain or let them burst on their own? I'd get pictures but they just won't stand still! She is no longer limping or suffering from any apparent ill effects other than the two abscesses.

We've lowered the fence today between Wilma and Bell and aside from some growling and pushing they haven't fought. Wilma tosses Bell's piglets around, and Bell tosses her own piglets around too, and doesn't seem to care. Wilma refuses to suckle any of Bell's piglets OTHER than Gimpy, for some reason, who she is very nice to. Pebbles is a brat and is biting at all of them and fighting a lot, but no one has been getting hurt and when they're not fighting, they're sleeping. We'll be getting a tag soon so we can tag Pebbles, because other than the marked for sale gilt (marked with a livestock marker), and Gimpy, we can't tell the other gilt apart from Pebbles without looking very closely... the other gilt is long, and Pebbles is compact, like her parents.

One of our roosters might be joining our meat chicks on the market wagon soon. He's been attacking his own hens, not trying to mate, but aggressively going after them. Usually Sirma (the bantam rooster) stops him, and now Opie is going after him too and attacking him when the rooster is attacking, for some reason, even though the rooster isn't going after the ducks, but he could seriously injure a female and is just a disruption...

Not to mention his 4 favourite females are completely bald on their sides under their wings (just noticed that today, actually).

Vanilla is being somewhat aggressive this Spring, just like last time. I chased him around the yard one day and he hasn't gone near me since. He's never full out attacked anyone, but was walking up and eying me while eating which is a sign of imminent hostility, so I put him back in his place. The rest of the year, he is fine. In Spring, he gets a little snippy. He fought off some large bird once though so he earned his place, because the other two roosters did nothing at all.

We will be moving Ginger in with Fred sometime in the near future. There will be more piglets in the fall! Hopefully healthy piglets with no troubles...



All migraine after-effects are gone now. The meat chicks are growing good, and stink to high heavens already! Something about fat, sweaty, poopy chickens smells worse than anything else on the farm, other than duck poop on a hot summer day... anyone else noticed that?

We've handled the guinea pig a few times. We heard from the previous owner she doesn't like being grabbed but likes to cuddle once she's captured. She's a pooping machine, I swear...

My cat Patch is getting old... that doesn't stop him from walking around at 3 in the morning with catnip, howling his head off.

What a group of wandering pigs! I'm not surprised they got so far. Pigs travel a LOT more than people think in the wild.

Glad you're feeling better!

Today, we brought the 3 boars of Gingers to the market... they will be done on Tuesday. If there is boar taint they will all be sausage - if there isn't, they will be treated like any other pig. Ginger seemed oddly depressed today. She laid down at the gate between her and where her sons were and refused to eat. Normal temperature, no sign of worms of sickness. She just seemed sad. Hopefully she'll be okay in a few days. Fred got very depressed when we brought his friend, Bacon, into the market. He wouldn't go near us for days, and barely ate. Our pigs are very emotional, it seems.

We have yet to cut the abscesses on the piglet's leg... her limp is completely gone. We will do that soon. Pebbles is shaped like a short, round sausage lately, I should get a picture... the others are longer, so we can tell them apart if we look close enough. Pebbles is also the only one Wilma won't toss around. We should tag her soon, before we lose her in the midst of all the piglets! Fortunately Bell only has 3 females, 1 with the scarred leg, and the other two are 'long', so we can tell them apart for now.

The meat chicks are getting huge already. Poor things.

There are many reports of foxes around in the area, but so far, we haven't seen anything. Today, the ducks were making alarm calls and all the chickens were hiding (the ducks were outside the enclosure, because it was raining and they always escape when it's raining), but when I went outside they stopped. Maybe I scared whatever it was off, or if nothing at all, made them feel safer. Ducks are strange creatures... if I pick up a stuck, they make alarm quacks and run away from me as though I'm going to hit them. If I pick up a pitch fork, they come running...

On Friday I found a red sex link (3 years old) dead on the floor of the coop. She had swollen bumblefoot on her foot, and a swollen vent. It looked like a prolapse. Sadly we didn't catch it in time...

Today, I found another hen (also a 3 year old red sex link) with a prolapse. Hers looks terrible, and it is bright red, puffy, and covered in poop. We will cull her tomorrow, as the prognosis for her isn't good and would likely recur later, considering her breed and age. Strange how we get two hens with prolapse within 3 days of each other, both the same breed, same age, and from the same stock... poor birds. Will be keeping an eye on the others, hoping there won't be any more. We will likely cull the entire hybrid flock (all 3 year old sex links of various colours) this fall, as they have too many health problems. We have 4 year old heritages going strong with no problems other than 2 with ascites and a genetic anamoly in an easter egger than resulted in brain tumors.

I want to add some buckeyes and barred rocks to the flock this year... I love the buckeyes, and the barred rocks have such a nice personality.

Still trying to convince everyone to get some bunny rabbits for meat... (I love rabbit meat). I want to raise a goose this year too. We've never had goose before and it's extremely expensive at the store, considering how small it is and how full of chemicals it is. Anyone got any advice on a good meat breed for people who have never raised geese... let alone seen a goose?

Spring classes are over. Summer classes begin next week. No breaks from school until next summer!

We had some strange insect or bird here for a few days. It's gone now. It made a sound like a long, loud human whistle, lasting for 10-15 seconds, then repeating it after 20 seconds pause. The whistle was one note and didn't range in pitch. I wasn't the only one who heard it so I wasn't hearing things! It's gone now. It creeped me out though. Never heard anything like it. Almost sounded like a cricket, if the cricket made the noise nonstop for 15 seconds without changing volume. Couldn't find any match for the sound in nature sounds. Maybe someone here has heard something similar.

It was only creepy because while I was listening to it, a bright light fell from the sky behind the trees... weirdness comes in pairs.

Cupcake is doing wonderful. She's very skiddish when we pick her up but once we have her, she likes to cuddle up in our neck and nibble. She sheds like a wild beast and has sharp claws too.


Not much new about me... a cold went through the family but other than a slightly itchy throat when I went to bed last night - gone when I woke up - I've avoided it. Allergies are another story. I'm allergic to something in the air between May-September and get an awful dermatitis rash on my face. The past two years I controlled it by large amounts of zyrtek and a nasal inhaler. This year, I'm trying a new allergy medication with gold bond's exzyma cream. So far, so good. Some itching, a little redness in the corners of my lips, but it hasn't broken out. I can always switch back, since I have both the nasal spray and the zyrtek handy. I just wish I would grow out of it, I've had it every summer for the past 8 years now.

Also found out that I'm allergic to some fiber being used in clothes now... "rayon", and with rayon, "modan'. I suspected I was allergic when I put on some new shirts and developed an itchy red rash on my back... the only differing ingredient from any other shirt was rayon or modan (which is a type of rayon). I was shopping for new shirts today, and while checking what was in some shirts I found lots of shirts with rayon - A LOT of them. I hope they don't use it in every shirt... because once I was done handling one of them with 100% rayon, my hands got red, irritated, and stung badly for a few hours. Sensitive skin is not a virtue!

I desperately want to add more ducks to the flock. I love the ducks. We have 6, but there's always room for more, right?

Sorry bout the red sex links... I don't think they were "designed" to last as long as a heritage breed. Don't you just hate sentimental animals? Hope your remaining pigs get over it soon. The pork should help you and family get over it... school straight through with no break? It's sacrilege I tell ya! But then, maybe you'll get done with it quicker... but THEN you have to like REALLY work... get a job and that sort of thing... That's really tough having sensitive skin. Must be really difficult trying to buy clothes... If no rayon or derivatives, you're pretty much left with silk or cotton... At least they're natural (aside from dyes and such). I guess if it gets too bad you can move to a tropical location and wear grass skirts and coconut husks (going all native here). Then you'd need to worry about sun burn though... Always trade offs. Hope you have a great week!

Oh yeah I need to get a job as it is now that I only have a few classes instead of full weeks of classes... need money to pay for the 'online homework' website! Isn't it bad enough I have to pay for a 140 dollar text book (which I probably won't buy at this point), but also have to pay an additional 100 dollars just so I can do my homework? I spent nearly all I had left from my last Summer/Fall job on tuition for the summer courses (over 2000!) I had 5 classes each semester and couldn't work on the farm, have 5 classes each week with loads of homework AND spend most of my time at my job so that's why I don't have one now... so far, no luck. Many applications have been sent, but no replies. :/

Anyway! There have been numerous reports of foxes in our area. We haven't seen or heard any yet... and not birds have been taken. The ducks take their daily walk through the woods each morning to escape the enclosure and have been fine. I hope crazy screaming sound the pigs make when they're hungry made the fox stay away. Ginger is all fine now. She's back to wanting belly rubs. Still forgot to get a picture...

Wilma has trouble with mud, for some reason. She always gets stiff when it's muddy, but better when it's not. We'll try to get her on an uphill pasture, to avoid lameness, so that she stays fine. And getting Bell to stop harassing her constantly would be a great thing for her. Bell is such a bully... no matter what Wilma does, Bell comes up and shoves her away. Bell could have a full bowl of food and water, but if she sees Wilma eating all the way across the enclosure, she comes over and pushes her away... then goes back when Wilma goes to eat out of THAT bowl. That sow's on my last nerve, I tell you...

We haven't culled that hen yet. I don't know why. Her 'prolapse' seems to have gotten less severe, although she does waddle a bit, she seems perfectly happy to be eating, drinking, and hanging out with her friends. No one has pecked at it. We'll have to do it eventually, as it could cause an infection and we don't want her to suffer.

Unfortunately, one of our meat chicks grew ill. I found her lying in the brooder, getting stopped on and not moving, one wing splayed. She chirped but seemed very tired, eyes closing. She was breathing hard. I brought her inside and got her to drink a bit. She then fell asleep. By that night she got twitching in her head and had difficulty swallowing. She somehow made it through the night. But when she got spasms in her wings (similar to the flapping a chicken does pre-death), and constantly twitching of her head, we put her down. Her feather growth was very poor compared to the other chicks, she was smaller, and her neck seemed strange... I couldn't even feel a crop. She was much less fat. We usually use chicks within the first week to failure to thrive, and not so often at 3 weeks.

The others are doing great. All healthy and plump, drinking, eating, and the roosters are mean.

I really hate putting down a bird. Especially chicks. She had just turned 3 weeks, hadn't even gotten to experience the 'great outdoors'. It'll be warming up this next week so they can FINALLY move out onto the grass.


On a side note... does anyone here watch Grimm? Can't wait for the finale tomorrow!

Good news and bad news...

The good news is we got a call from the butcher about our 3 boars and not a single one has taint! Yay! I'm not a big fan of sausage, since I prefer having nice juicy roasts, so that's good news for me.

The bad news... Wilma's been limping again and stiff. We were thinking she might be unhealthy as this is the second time, and not a single one of our other pigs have ever had issues. We were considering removing her from the herd, as we didn't want her to live unhealthy and in pain with frequent bouts of lameness. That is, until I heard screaming and fighting yesterday, and went out to check. Bell had Wilma slammed against the inside of the hut, lying half on her legs, and they were snapping at each other. After 15 minutes of trying to get Bell up she finally got up. Wilma was limping badly. Her limping and stiffness started soon after we took the wire separating them down. It could be a coincidence and she could just be an unhealthy sow with problems in her joints...

But... we put a new wire up, so the piglets can pass but Bell and Wilma are separate. If she improves, we will know that Bell was the cause of Wilma's lameness, due to slamming and pushing her around so much. Regardless, her aggression and bullying is far too out of hand to keep her with other pigs. Wilma already seemed much happier today. Probably because she could eat, drink, and lay down without Bell harassing her and shoving her all the time.

Honestly, some pigs are just brats!

Fortunately I have no dead birds to report... of any type. Wilma's first litter, the 3 barrows and 3 gilts, will be ready for market soon. The second batch of meat chicks and the turkeys will be here next month!

I would like to raise a goose or two for meat. We've never had a goose before.. We've never eaten a goose before either. Anyone know of a nice, fast growing goose breed that's easy for those who've never raised geese?

Just curious... If Bell is as mean as you describe, why are you keeping her? I would think you'd keep a gilt and process her. Just asking...