Spring Chicks

I know its not actually spring yet but this week we are having beautiful weather and while its too early to actually do much of anything in the yard, we have been enjoying some of the planning. Today I finally decided on my spring chicks order and placed my order. We ordered from McMurray's Hatchery and they (like most mail order chick places) have a minimum order of 25 chicks. This is because you have to have enough to fill a box so that they can keep each other nice and warm during shipping. We probably don't need 25 chickens, though, so a friend of the family has offered to take a few. And we'll probably designate half a dozen as meat birds (particularly the boys) and therefore only temporary residents of the farm. This is the list of birds that I ordered, unless noted they are all female. They will be delivered the last week of March/first of April.

1 Araucana (this is the same breed as Prudence)
1 Red Cap
2 Partidge Rock
1 Silver Laced Wyandotte (I really wanted a gold laced wyandotte but they were sold out)
5 Dark Cornish- mix of male/female for meat
4 Barred Rock- mix of male/female for meat
2 White Laced Red Cornish (not sure on sex)
1 Delaware
1 Blue Andalusian
1 White Frizzle Cochin (not sure on sex)
1 Golden Polish Top Hat
1 Buff Laced Polish Top Hat
1 Buff Brahma (not sure on sex)
1 Black Frizzle Cochin (not sure on sex)
1 Red Frizzle Cochin (not sure on sex)
1 Golden Penciled Hamburg
1 "free rare exotic chick" i.e. grab bag


We've also started to make inquiries about the other animals we want on the farm. We spoke with one of the farmers at Cane Creek and verified that we will be able to buy shoats (young pigs) from them. We absolutely love their pork and want to raise heritage breeds like them, probably the Ossabow breed. We are trying to raise heritage breeds whenever possible- both with our livestock and our gardens- in order to promote genetic diversity and raise things that are different from what you can get at the supermarket. Plus, the Ossabow and other heritage pigs are SO much more tasty than you average commercial pork.

I've also gotten in touch with Lynn at Rare Find Farm to inquire about her Shetland sheep. I love the Shetland breed for several reasons. They are much more friendly than most sheep, they are small and easy for one not-super-strong person to wrangle and they tend to be hardy and independent. They are also a heritage breed that hasn't been overly developed or commercialized. A lot of the Shetland fiber I've felt has been a bit scratchy. Not terrible but not really what you would call soft, either. Lynn's sheep are different. They are soft and fine. As soon as I sunk my hands into one of her Shetland fleeces I knew that I didn't just want Shetlands, I wanted Lynn's Shetlands.

We can't actually buy any animals until we a) know where Chris is going to Match (just a few more weeks!) and b) have bought a house and know how much land we'll be working with. Ideally I'd like to get two pigs and maybe 3 Ewes, and then this fall breed the ewes and have lambs in the spring. Of course, its also depends on how much money we have left after we buy a house and get fencing, etc set up. Thankfully chickens are cheap, $3-$4 each for the breeds we ordered. Pigs and sheep are a bit pricier!

Pre-Christmas Dinner 2010

Chris's Christmas gift to the family is a gourmet, multi-course meal that he spends weeks planning and then days preparing. Its always a delicious success and this year didn't disappoint. Here are a few pictures from last night!

Today in Photos

Today in Photos

Today in Photos

HAWKS

Today we survived our first hawk attack. I was doing some computer work at the kitchen table when I suddenly heard a lot of noise from the live-feed web cam that we have on the young chicks/ducklings. I switched over to the web cam webpage but the camera had been knocked so that I couldn't see anything, but I still heard squawking and lots of wing flapping so I rushed outside to see what was happening. They often get riled up over nothing-- the chicks have a tendency to climb up on top of a pile of ducklings and the ducks all get unsettled and start fussing. So I wasn't expecting to see anything out of the ordinary. I was shocked when I approached the run and there was a HAWK trapped inside. Thankfully, for our flock, the hawk was so surprised at being trapped inside the run that he was panicking rather than attacking his would-be prey. All our little ones were huddled in the corner of the run behind their nest box, freaking out but unhurt. I lifted the corner of the run to let the flock out and they immediately ran to hide under the porch, where the big hens were already safely hiding. Now that everyone was safe I stepped back and took a look at the trapped hawk. He was clearly very scared and I was worried that if I lifted the run for him to get out I would get attacked in the process so I left him in the run while I went to fetch Chris (and my camera) from inside. With Chris's help we were able to lift the run off the hawk and move it away. After laying on the ground stunned for a few moments he flew up into one of the trees in the yard and continued to survey the yard for some time. I'm afraid that this won't be the last we see of this fellow. By the time we got the run back in place, with the opening that the hawk had gotten into patched up, the flock was settled in deep under the deck where we couldn't reach them, so it took some time for us to chase them out and catch them. Our big hens are so much easier to catch-- they will come right up to us looking for treats and usually let us pick them up without struggling. The babies haven't learned about treats yet and run from us like we are going to eat them. I guess they aren't as stupid as they seem.

Goals

I am one of those people who do best when working towards goals. I don't do well when I feel like I'm just treading water. In the last couple of years I've been working hard to build The Unique Sheep. And I'm still loving my job with The Unique Sheep but I'm getting to a place with it that it doesn't need to take up every moment of my life and spark in my brain. I'm really happy with how The Unique Sheep has grown and everything I'm able to do because of it and I feel like for the next little bit maintaining what we have built is the right choice, rather than keep trying to grow it until its out of control. But that means I need something new to focus some of my energy on. In about a year Chris will be graduating and we'll be moving *somewhere* for residency. So at that point we'll be moving and looking for a house to buy and then I'll have all sorts of projects to work on -setting up a new studio, creating the garden we've been wishing we could have now and all the other things that go along with setting up a new home. But what do I do with myself until then? I need something new to learn about. But not just something to fill up my time. Something worthwhile. I'm not sure I really have a point to this blog post- its just whats on my mind.