Returns

We are thinking of returning the ducks as they are clearly defective. They have no idea how to be ducks. They haven't even found the water yet and it is 12 feet from their pen. What do you ship 7 nearly grown ducks in? Why are they so stupid?

Slogging

Seems like I have been moving through molasses lately. Not getting much done on any front. Spring fever? Laziness? Your call.

The new ducks are out in the duck yard. They are bums. They have to be rousted out of their house on a regular basis. I force them out into the yard (the big ducks are always dying to go out) and as soon as I turn my back they have snuck back in and settled in the house. It is a rough go for them, our big male Sampson will periodically chase them and then abuse them. It is pathetic. I don't know whether to just let them at it. I feel like he is going to get tired of it at some point. I think keeping them separate at some point just prolongs the integration. At the same time, locking them in a cage all day where they can't get away from him seems somewhat cruel. I guess it is gonna be rough whichever way it goes. And these little ones really do need to toughen up. They are total pansies. It is hard to find good info on duck flock integration.

The goats are enjoying all the greenery. They are eating up a storm and loving it. The goat vet came today for their yearly check up/vaccinations. She said that they are both "proper" goats, meaning they have good confirmation. Also that Zinnia has beautiful feet and Ella has witches toes. Just sayin'. She also allowed that they were at the perfect weight and I shouldn't feed them more than necessary. Which is good because they seemed on the thin side to me.

The garden is crappy so far this year. No rain and lots of heat has made the germination totally spotty. I am moving on. Looking forward to putting out the summer plants and planning for fall. I think we will have some mustard greens, arugula and lettuce, but nothing else seems to be coming up.

Slacker

I know, it seems to have been ages since I have posted. There has been lots going on...

11 baby ducks arrived February 23rd. Three went to another family (we had arranged that in advance to get better shipping rates) Of the remaining 8, one didn't make it. Just never really caught on to the eating thing. That kinda thing makes you wonder if you were cut out for this farming thing (clearly I am not since my "farm" animals are all pets). Then one of the ducklings developed a limp. Probably from being stepped on by one of its flock mates. We moved them from the rubbermaid tub they were in to the larger dog crate in the basement. Which made our living quarters smell a lot better. The limp resolved. They are growing like weeds. The SB refers to them as the demon babies as they are growing at an otherworldly rate. They are going outside soon as we can't keep up with their water and food needs much longer in the crate that they are in. Well, I guess we could. We did it with 11 ducks for a lot longer 3 years ago, but.....

The integration of flocks will be the next major step. Our alpha duck Sampson is very interested. It is impossible to say if it is benevolent, aggressive or some combination. There is one male duck in our current 7, and I do fear for that little one most. Despite their crazy growth, the babies are tiny and fragile compared with the older ducks. I think we are going to divide the duck pen and house. Have a sort of separate but equal situation where they can get tired of looking at each other through the fence before we actually let them co mingle. I imagine we will wear Sampson out. He is very serious about his job.

In other news, I went to Dragon Hill Farm to see the new goatlings and pick the brain of my goat's farm mama about goat birthing. It will be our turn next year so I wanted some real info from a real human rather than just a book or YouTube video. One of Heidi's goats had given birth earlier in the day. Three tiny goatlings were snug in the stall with their mama. Did I mention that they were TINY? O.M.G. On our way back to the house, the other goat that was close had apparently gone on with having her babies right in the paddock with the other goats. We saw a tiny wet thing commando crawling in the pasture and Heidi grabbed the birthing kit and went to it. Two more were born within the hour. All healthy and strong. Wow. A LOT of slime in birthing. I got some good if brief experience. And I smelled very much of goat when I got home.

Today I am hosting a seed swap at the chapel next door. I have no idea how many people are going to show up. Over the years, I have learned that many gardeners, myself included, are absolutely INSANE. So it wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of people here at 10AM on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Millions of things to do in house, garden, farm and school work. Blogging probably the least important, but the most fun and I can do it while I drink my (much needed) coffee. Yay.

Season of Song

I have noticed the song birds are back. Or at least our paths are crossing more frequently now. My wake up and feeding time doesn't change much, but the light is creeping back into the mornings and I have caught a sunrise or two on the weekends when I round just a few minutes later. I love the peachy purple sky. Tonight it will be COLD. One of maybe two nights in the teens this winter. I look forward to the morning. There will be ice on the animals' water. They will be extra happy to see me. Hopefully I get done with the rounds before the cold seeps into my clothes and I can get back into the house before the teeth start chattering. I will have the luxury of going back to bed once everyone has what they need. I almost never do that, but it has been a long week and some extra sleep would be most welcome.

Ducklings arrive the week of the 20th. We have much to do to prepare for the onslaught of tiny peepers. A water management system is critical. The last time the basement practically flooded with the splashing. And the stink. Oi. I have been hearing horror stories of combining flocks, but we are just going to have to go slowly and carefully. We can divide the duck house and the pen in half so each flock has their own space until they get used to one another. I can only imagine the drama.

Follow up

The trauma of Tuesday was followed (WAY TOO) closely with the trauma of Thursday, which was less traumatic but still darned upsetting. My neighbor, a different one this time, called and said there was a dog near the goat pen. She called a few minutes later to say that the dog had gone over the (4 ft) fence and had attacked Ella. Luckily, the neighbor yelled and ran into the pen and the dog lept out the other side and was off. Ella wasn't harmed but again, everyone was freaked out. We are very thankful to our wee neighbors H and C for alerting their Mama to the fact that there was a dog in the yard. They were ON IT after the duck incident. Thanks guys and thanks to our fabulous neighbor S who make the rescue.

Another morning spent with the Animal Control Guy. We are not yet on a first name basis and I hope we don't get there. The description of the dog is markedly close to the dog who broke into the duck pen. The time of day was exactly the same. The guy whose dog killed the ducks swears his dog was at home. I don't believe him. He also tells me he is sending his dog to the country to live with his parents. I really hope I can believe that.

The goats have recovered well. The ducks are coming more slowly. Josephine was the last duck standing in the pen, the two other survivors managed to flee though I have no idea how. Josephine is the one who is only now coming back. Since Tuesday she has been sliding into the thousand yard stare for very long periods. None of them have been eating much. Today though, things seemed a little better. They ate some food. The squawked at me when I went outside and they made more in the way of general duck noises. The sounds are what we really miss. The SB most of all, as he is here more to listen. He is pushing for ducklings sooner rather than later so we can rebuild the flock. Three is just too few ducks. I can't say I am thrilled about stinky ducklings in my basement again, but it will be nice to be on the road to normal. Ducks are what pass for normal now.

It has been a very hard week. I was having significant anxiety at work this morning. I was waiting for the phone to ring with more bad news. I made the SB go check on the animals as soon as he got up. They were, and are fine. It is me that is the wreck.

And then there were three

Yesterday an off leash dog broke into the duck pen and killed seven of our flock. We were lucky that a neighbor found the dog in the act and pulled him out of the pen. Otherwise we would be completely flockless.

It was a grim day. We were interviewing at work so I had to maintain the happy face all day with the candidates, despite having run home for 90 minutes to collect the bodies, find the the missing ducks and talk with the animal control guy. Everyone was traumatized. Our neighbor, the SB, the remainder ducks.

I am still uncertain if one of them will make it. She is moving slowly today, whether from injury or shock I don't know.

Thanks to our neighbor, we have identified the dog and hopefully will work something out with the owner.

I try to comfort myself with the good life they led up until Tuesday morning.

The neighbors, friends and family have been amazing. It has been nice to hear from folks how much they like having these critters here in the hood.

Where does the time go?

Between the milking cottage project, the closet project, my recent OMG WILL IT NEVER END cold that I have had since effing Xmas eve, the regular recirculating list of cooking, cleaning, laundry, groceries and of course, the day job and the side work one begins to wonder if I will ever get back to the blog. Winter is usually a good time for this, but the addition of the closet project, (wherein we add two fabulously gorgeous cedar lined closets with vintage doors to a room and thereby double the number of closets in our house) has really taken up a lot of my free time. And I am starting a couple of on line graduate level courses through UVA. The busy just don't stop around here.

But, the animals are all well if tired of the damp. The goats are miserable and the ducks even seem tired of the mud and rain. A few days of warm and dry will turn things around for us all I think.

Onward.