my life as a farmer
Our plans to begin moving at the end of the month have been unexpectedly sidelined due to the bank cutting back on appraisers because of the low demand in the housing market, which means that anyone who is buying a house now has to wait weeks longer than expected while an appraiser becomes available. My main concern is getting the old fence pulled up and the new fence put in while the ground is soft – but, it will go how it goes, and I know there’s nothing I can do that will hurry things along. Trying to find my zen, LOL.
Spring may not yet be here in regard to the weather (we had a snowstorm last week!), but the animals certainly feel spring has arrived. Our rabbits shocked us with three unexpected litters – the bucks somehow managed access to the does despite being separated by cages and a dozen baby bunnies were the result. The Silver Foxes in the barn were exposed to goat hooves, too, and after losing several in one over-active evening, we gave the remaining babies to Mary Margaret to raise with her litter. She is a very protective foster mama and is taking excellent care of her new charges. I tried to get a picture, but she was having none of it!
No eggs have resulted, but yesterday I placed two of our “baby” Muscovy hens with a new drake and all three appear extremely happy with the new arrangement. You can see the Icelandics in their breeding coop behind the ducks.
The Barred Hollands are in a reinforced coop, looking extremely secure. 
The Marans and Ameraucanas are getting used to a chain link dog kennel I purchased that Max wrapped in tarp for a weather-break. The Ameraucanas don’t like anyone – including other chickens – but this arrangement enables me to make best use of the two Blue Copper Maran roosters I have to increase fertility rates. Mr M, the senior roo, just wasn’t performing well enough with the five hens he had to cover. :0
Our baby goats are growing at a fabulous rate. All of them had been sold, but a buyer backed out at the last moment, leaving me with two kids from Pinto and Spartacus. The wether will go into the freezer next fall, but the doeling is just so utterly fab that I plan to breed her. Isn’t she an eyeful?
And who remembers itty-bitty Silverjacket, who lived in the mudroom for awhile this winter? She’s getting so big and beautiful now, and is still an absolute love. She really enjoyed having some little girls come on a farm visit this morning – here, she looks like she’s saying, “Come back and play some more!”
Here’s a line-up of this year’s mama goats:
Eve, Pinto and Maybellene
And a group picture with all of the girls. Next year sure will see a lot of baby goats!!
Eve’s gorgeous bucklings have gone to their new home and I’ve been getting four or five cups of milk a day from her – I don’t weigh in pounds, but that’s over two pounds a day, according to my hasty Google search, LOL. I find it amazing that such a small animal can produce such a quantity of milk, even with someone as clueless as I am is doing the milking. Today we feasted on French toast that was made from homemade bread (sweetened with maple syrup from friends Chloe and Tom), our own milk and eggs, and homemade butter that the kids made from cream skimmed off the top of our Tide Mill Farm raw milk. I love self-sufficiency!!
heavenly feast
We are still waiting on the Guinea fowl to contribute to our bounty – they will probably begin laying next month, but in the meantime they are adding to our environment by detracting from it. Specifically, by wandering around and devouring any and all ticks they encounter. 
Mr Buckwheat and Pinky
Little Lulu
I’ll close with a stylish monochrome image from the barnyard. Wishing you all the best of the season!
Ursa, Silverjacket, Java Joe and Maybellene – all dressed up in classic black & white
A few additions to our barn family to be on the lookout for: a mini llama and Guinea hogs! But before they can join us, there will be a little more of that “hurry up and wait” happening.
Arthur says he’ll wear a pocketwatch and keep me on schedule if I get him a nice little waistcoat to wear. I need someone to keep me on track, that’s for sure!
Time is relative. Let’s eat some hay.
Everyone here at the farm is growing and doing great. The baby goats are such a delight. I have recently begun letting them out for a few hours on dry days and we all love watching them race up and down the enclosure, playing goofy goat games. I snapped a few pictures on Saturday, which was their 2nd day outside.
naughty Annie sets a bad example of climbing the fence
“Hey, what’s over there? Ha ha, made you look!”
It’s a goat party!
brave babies explore the remains of the Christmas tree
Pinto’s sweet doeling is the last one available for sale this year!
On the poultry front, Pip and Priscilla are sitting on the hugest clutch of eggs and I have all my fingers and toes crossed that we will be overrun by adorable Pilgrim goslings later this month. I’d be over the moon! The chickens are laying well – with the exception of the Marans, who seem to know they’re in the limelight and are milking it for attention. I have oodles of orders for Marans and am lucky to get an egg a day from them. 
I’ve placed a wooden egg in their nestbox to deter any egg-eating that might be going on. For those who have placed an order, I appreciate your patience – Mother Nature is the boss when it comes to livestock!
Silverjacket is one month old today! She celebrated a day early by having her first faint – pretty remarkable when you realize most Myotonics don’t have their first faint till they’re a few months old. She’s an absolute rapscallion and is everybody’s favorite baby. Here she is modeling her birthday gift – her first collar, in hopes she’ll acclimate well to going on walks.
And here she is again with her beautiful mama, Maybellene (also supporting a collar, very loosely as she is not yet used to it):
Attempts to secure a purebred Myotonic buck, and perhaps an unrelated doe, are ongoing. I appreciate the interest of everyone who has contacted me. Unfortunately, they are extremely rare and most of the breeders are in the southern US which makes transportation an issue. I recently contacted two farms closer by, but one is requiring me to become registered and I have learned in the past (with the Nigerian dwarf goats) that there is not a market here for the cost associated with purebred, registered goats. I continue to tout the importance of homesteading and of offering rare and heritage breed animals at a cost we can all afford, rather than an elite few. Why Myotonics? Because they are quiet, low-maintenance, robust, friendly and small. A dual purpose goat, they also offer an excellent meat-to-bone ratio for those who are exploring the benefits of raising their own meat. In all ways, they’re ideal for the small homestead – as are the Nigerian dwarf goats.
Other baby news here on the farm involves our twin kits from Mary Margaret, who are now beautifully furry and have opened their little eyes. They are too cute! These two little babies are a Satin Rex/New Zealand mix and are ideal for pets. Interested in purchasing one or both of them? They’ll be available in about 2 months, when they’ve fully weaned from Mary Margaret.
Silver Fox kits should also be available for pet, show, or meat later this summer. Jupiter, our new buck, is growing at a good rate and is an absolute darling in personality. Queenie and Deedee are waiting patiently for him to mature a bit more.
Stay warm out there while the winter winds continue to blow for a bit longer!
Mary Margaret had a very small litter of kits – just two – but they are big and healthy and she dotes on them. The babies are three days old today (or more accurately, they will be three days old around 10 pm tonight) and are full of wiggles and squeals when I touch them. Mary Margaret allowed me to take them out for quick pictures today while she enjoyed a quick visit from Arthur, who has missed her terribly. It was a bunny family sort of Sunday morning.
family photo time!
These babies will be for sale once they wean from their mama. Both Mary Margaret (a satin Rex) and Arthur (a New Zealand) are smart, healthy, friendly pet bunnies. Large breeds, such as these, are not particularly suitable for young children because of the possibility of getting scratched trying to carry around such a big rabbit but they do make excellent house pets and can readily be paper-trained or taught to use a litter box for cage-free periods. Arthur likes to play with balls and has even begun “fetching” small items that he can carry in his mouth. A happy rabbit is as much fun as any dog or cat, in my opinion. The baby bunnies will be sold to appropriate homes on a first-come, first-serve basis.(It won’t be possible to sex them before 10 weeks old, by the way.)
With the thermostat barely touching the zero, it’s the coldest morning we’ve had this year. I went out at midnight to check the animals before going to bed, and made the decision to keep the barns closed up today. I always give the the animals the option of going out, no matter how inclement the weather, but it seemed wiser today to keep the doors closed and maintain what heat their bodies are able to generate. The birds all got extra rations, including cracked corn, to help their little bodies burn a little warmer.
The goats and rabbits all got extra grain and lots of fluffy fresh hay to munch on and burrow into. The buck barn has been transformed into a sort of Noah’s Ark, as the outlying animals (such as Frigg and Freyr, the Icelandic chickens) were brought in a couple of days ago when the temps started dropping. The fellas don’t seem to mind the extra company and most certainly enjoy sampling everyone else’s food.
Inside, Silverjacket and her mama Maybellene are doing great. As soon as the weather warms back up, I’ll start introducing them back to the herd – probably just in time for Pinto to finally surprise us with her kids. On the bunny front, we welcomed Jupiter, a 12 week old Silver Fox buck, to our family. Jupiter will breed with DeeDee and Queenie once he figures out what’s what and we hope for better success with the Silver Fox breeding program here on the farm. Dennis Hopper, our previous buck, will be neutered and allowed to live with the does full-time, which will please him to no end.
We’re unsure whether to paint the maternity ward pink or blue for Mary Margaret’s kits, which are due any day. Surely Mary Margaret is the bunny version of a Marilyn Monroe-esque voluptuousness. But I’m sure she’s looking forward to regaining her sturdy, trim figure once her beautiful kits are born. If you’re interested, please contact me – several people have already asked to have a baby bunny reserved from her litter. I’m sure they’re going to be stunning, and as Mary Margaret is a pet and not intended for breeding, it’s unlikely I will breed her again for a year.
Arthur, the big daddy-to-be, decided to explore further than usual during his free-play time yesterday and wound up in the dining room. Rowen’s stuffed animal on the chair above didn’t prove a very satisfying playmate and the cats keep running away from him. Poor boy! But he amuses himself by playing with balls and running after me for extra pats. He’s a most amazing rabbit, and such a wonderful addition to the family. I was saddened to read of the unscrupulous (and uncaring!!) practices revealed in CCRR’s expose (https://bangordailynews.com/community/severe-neglect-at-maine-livestock-auction-maines-first-only-licenced-rabbit-shelter-reveals/). While I do support the raising of livestock for food – I am a homesteader, after all – I can’t bear the abuse of animals for any reason, but especially not for financial gain. Our true selves are revealed by how we treat those who have no power over us.
I spent much of yesterday making 4 lbs of organic, homemade granola – just in time for keeping warm through this bitter weather. Stay safe & warm, and don’t forget that animals need more water than ever during in these brutal temps!
Still no multiplying of bunnies in the traditional sense, but we are all eagerly awaiting Mary Margaret and Arthur’s litter of kits. By my limited math skills, she should be due early next week, but she has already built her nest and is quite protective of it … which makes cage-cleaning interesting. She looks radiant with her shiny, velvety fur and is ever-eager for petting and compliments.
Mary Margaret checks her nest for readiness
Mary Margaret doesn’t want me trying to peek into her nest
While almost-mama Mary Margaret lugs around a big tummy and frets about her nest-making skills, it’s all fun and games for almost-papa Arthur. He’s taken on a part time job to help make ends meet and is officially Silverjacket’s socialization partner. LOL. Maybellene is not completely at ease with the fact that her daughter’s only playmate is a rabbit.
but where are your references?
The outside bunnies are enjoying themselves tremendously. Queenie and DeeDee continue to bicker like old spinster sisters about who’s the boss of their cool bunny condo. In another area, Dennis Hopper (our Silver Fox buck) pines for springtime romance.
Queenie, who very much lives up to her name
DeeDee, with her lovely black mask and gloriously silver-tipped fur
Next door, Agatha and Cass are much quieter – and a little camera shy! Cass has the loveliest sky-blue-pink eyes and Agatha’s touch of silver fox in her family tree shows up in her random silver-tipped hairs.
Cass and Agatha
Other babies are due to make an appearance. Pinto is ready to kid at any minute. She has me out in the barn giving her bedtime backrubs and double checking that she’s still nearly too wide to fit through the doorways.
Pinto is regal in her late days of pregnancy
Meanwhile, Silverjacket is growing at a rapid rate and is an absolute rascal. Eve’s belly continues to swell and I suspect she will be ready to kid the end of next month. Annie seems to have once again evaded the bucks’ advances and remains girlishly slim – but as I learned with Maybellene, not all goats fill out the way the Nigerian Dwarfs do, so my hopes aren’t entirely extinguished.
Wishing everyone well as the days lengthen and thoughts turn toward spring!
I haven’t had much opportunity to spend time with our newest addition to the barn family due to outside-the-farm job demands, but I have seen enough of Maybellene’s interactions with her daughter to be touched by how solicitous she is to the wee one. This is the first singleton birth we’ve had here on the farm, and maybe it makes a difference when the dam has only one kid to look after. And of course, the accommodations on the sun porch are pretty optimal. Whatever has contributed, the skinny, shivery little doeling that surprised me on January 3rd is a curious, robust, playful creature on January 6th. She loves coming over for delightful scritchy-scratchies along her back and flanks and gladly snuggles up for some laptime cuddles. Maybellene is still quite leery of us, but as I’ve learned with my other does, it can take many months before some goats will accept new humans into their trust. I’m patient. Anyway, on to the utterly adorable baby photos – enjoy!
I think Pip and Priscilla are having baby-envy – I found a goose egg in yesterday morning’s egg contribution! As much as I want more Pilgrim geese, I can’t bear the thought of incubating eggs already. I don’t think a gaggle of baby geese wandering through the house until spring arrives would do much to improve my dismal housekeeping skills.
Outside, we’re having another “dusting” snowstorm that has left a couple of inches and shows no sign of stopping. It’s a winter wonderland out there! Wishing everyone well as the days lengthen and the livestock remind us that spring really isn’t far around the corner.
Three months ago, I brought Maybellene home to The Crowing Hen farm from her previous home downstate. The owner thought she might be bred due to her silky fainter buck jumping several fences to get in with the does, but she wasn’t sure. Maybellene didn’t fill out and didn’t become moody, the way my Nigerian dwarf does do when they are expecting, so I thought she was probably not bred and even let her spend some time with Spartacus, our Spanish-cross buck. Two days ago, Niek called me at work to say Maybellene wasn’t eating. The other does are terribly pushy with her, since she’s still the newbie, and after giving her a look-over, I figured she was just getting bullied and I set aside special meals for her that the other girls couldn’t access. Yesterday, I noticed some discharge and of course I wondered if maybe she really had been bred when I bought her, but her ligaments were rock hard. We checked her through the evening and again at bedtime, but nothing seemed to be happening; some of my other does have shown discharge when they’re ready to be bred and I thought that might be the explanation. And then when I brought the girls breakfast this morning, I was confronted yet again by how much I have to learn about goats:
You have to keep in mind that it’s only about 2 degrees here, so I was pretty concerned. Maybellene had cleaned the baby up very well, and it was able to stumble around.
A dab of selenium to prevent white muscle disease, followed by a quick swab of iodine at the umbilical cord seemed to verify that it was a little doeling. I sat quietly out of the way (after clearing off the other goats to another area) and watched. Maybellene came from a farm where they don’t even name their goats, let alone handle them, so she was very leery of me. Over the 15 minutes or so that I watched from a corner, Maybellene didn’t do much with the doeling after the initial nosing and I began to worry. I have frozen goat milk but no colostrum. And the baby was getting colder and much less active.
I decided to go inside and get help from Niek, my husband. Together, we carried mama and baby into a quickly arranged make-shift barn on the sunporch. While I went outside to secure all the barn doors – the last thing we needed was Annie letting all the other goats out! – Niek did his impersonation of the Goat Whisperer. By the time I came back in, he had the doeling nursing and Maybellene, who barely tolerates having me nearby, was standing still and letting him handle her. I’ll freely admit to being a little jealous, but I was too relieved to let it get to me. Maybellene and her stunning daughter are now resting peacefully in their indoor barn.
Maybellene’s daughter is a pure-bred Myotonic (fainting goat). Her flappy ears are common at birth, and will soon come to stand up in the usual fashion like her mom’s. The sire is a stunning silver-colored silky fainter that I have kicked myself repeatedly for not getting a photo of. My search for a Myotonic buck continues … now in earnest! I had one lined up from southern Maine, but the owners decided they could not part with him. After having Maybellene for a few months, despite her standoffishness, I can understand why they chose to keep him. This is a remarkably quiet breed of goat that shows none of the occasional assertiveness of the other goats as they jockey for position in the herd. Sweet-natured, quiet, easy-going. I’ll be keeping Maybellene’s daughter, but if I can find a mate for the mother & daughter in the future, I’ll be happy to offer this breed in addition to the others I currently have.
Winter was a little late making an appearance this year, but we’ve had one snowstorm and are awaiting the next one. I have the dubious pleasure of hauling anywhere from a dozen to a score of heavy water-filled plastic jugs out to the barn family every day. (I remind myself how fortunate I am that I can haul these loads through the snow when it begins to feel more like a chore than a joy.)
The ducks and geese absolutely adore this wet, wild, windy weather. The Muscovies have formed their own band of waterfowl and can be seen gleefully trekking about on their big, clumsy feet or laying in the snow as if it were the most comfortable feather mattress imaginable.
The goats are much less fond of it, though. Here’s a shot of Annie, our Nubian doe, bleating her unhappiness from inside the barn during our most recent snowfall.
Once the wind dies down and the ducks have trampled the snow down a bit, the goats will reluctantly head out in it, but they do demand frequent treats of fresh greens, a handful of oats tossed in, and steaming hot water to refill their water troughs.
The chickens and guinea fowl don’t mind the snow at all, so long as it stays put on the ground and isn’t blowing around, LOL. Here’s my big Delaware rooster strutting his stuff. I’ve chosen for winter-hardy breeds and am glad to say that despite halving my flock, we are still able to provide six dozen eggs each week for the local marketplace. I love my girls.
We have rabbits inside and outside. The outside rabbits are snug and happy in their pens. When keeping any animal outside, please remember that it is imperative they have protection from the wind and the elements. I keep my rabbits in the breeding coops I used for the chickens, re-fitted for rabbits with re-enforced wire, covered with heavy-duty tarps, filled with loads of dry straw & hay, and of course the rabbits get top-quality feed. Our inside rabbits, Mary Margaret and Arthur, are doing very well too. We’re expecting a litter of kits from these two gorgeous rabbits to be ready for re-homing by early April.
Returning outside, the first tree in our future apple orchard is braving the elements. This was the best gift ever from my husband, who is enjoying the benefits of homestead and self-sufficiency more all the time.
Curious about where this little sapling will wind up? Well … The Crowing Hen will be relocating this spring! There are thirty-five gorgeous acres with our name on them, just awaiting the formalities to transfer ownership. I’m so excited that I can hardly stand it! 
Shameful to be so long absent. Autumn is a frantically busy period of year in farming and I am only now beginning to find time to catch my breath. The barn family are well and healthy, with all but Sweet Annie apparently bred for the does. We will start anew with rabbit breeding in 2013. A new Silver Fox buck will join us in the early spring, and until then, Arthur will be glad to share his genetic input. Arthur is a New Zealand who thinks he is a dog. He’s an absolute dear and I find it impossible to move him to the barn!
No doubt you remember the voluptuous, the gorgeous, the regal Mary Margaret, our Satin Rex doe. She and Arthur will begin courting next month with the intent that their beautiful babies will be ready to go in early spring.
Those baby Muscovy ducklings that Mrs M surprised us with have done exceptionally well and are big ‘babies’ now that rival their mama in size. We did lose one, who was critically knock-kneed from the beginning. We brought it in to be comfortable and loved during its last days. Here it is enjoying the company of our solicitous dogs (under human supervision, obviously) and the warmth of the woodstove in the kitchen. We were sorry to lose this one, who had become extremely tame due to its disability.
There is, as always, a great deal more going on … but time is always a bit of a pinch for me, so I’ll have to catch up with you again in the near future! From our farm to your home, we wish you the best of this season of rebirth and renewal.
