Beanie Baby put to work

Here is a new use for an 11 year old Beanie Baby pig, surrogate mother to ducklings. Ducks need a flock and a mother more than chickens do. Our ducks are one big flock and they stay together. So our incubator ducklings need a surrogate, hence pig. Pig is washable soft and warm and the ducklings love it. They peep to pig and snuggle under the pig legs when scared. We will keep the duckings in the house until they get too big for the cage. Once they feather out we will put them outside to join our flock.

Monty

Yesterday was day 32 for our duck eggs. Normally they hatch in 28-30 days. So pulled them out of the incubator and set aside in a bowl. A friend had 3 dozen eggs she wanted hatched this month so I had to ready the incubator. Sometime around 3pm I heard peeping coming from the kitchen. I looked in the bowl and sure enough an egg was trying to open. I assisted the duckling only to get air. The membrane was drying out and the duckling was a fighter. By late last night the duckling emerged from the shell chirping loudly. I put the rest of the eggs back in the incubator. Today a second one is hatching. I am learning how to candle eggs and be more patient waiting. Sometimes it takes longer than we can predict on the calendar. I was thinking about naming this duckling Monty from the Monty Python, The Holy Grail. There is a scene where the towns people are collecting the dead from a plague and one character is not dead. He yells out,"I'm still here, I'm happy, I'm not dead yet". I figure that is what this duckling has gone through as well.

Lilacs and Butterflies

The unusual heat we have had here has everything in bloom on the farm.

Redbud

Spring is here and it is in the 80's here in the Ozarks. The trees and flowers are blooming like mad. The Missouri Redbuds are in full swing and the bees are happy.

Donkey Feet

Opal, the donkey,was at our farm for a while until her owner could keep her with his goats. While here Opal got a farrier visit. Our farrier trimmed her feet and checked the angle of her hooves. Making sure they we not too steep. Donkey hooves are very tough but they still grow and need trimming. Opal was bought at auction and was said to be pregnant. However, after a vet check, she was not pregnant. Still, Opal is a sweety and is great with the goats. One day her owner may decide to breed her. But for now she is happy being an aunt to the goats.

The Three Farm Stooges

My neighbor now owns 3 Boer goat does. They are fast, friendly and fun to have around the farm. They keep his pasture trimmed and keep watch. These goats have very soft and plush coat. This is the first time I have been around goats and they are neat. The only down side is all the electric fencing required to keep them safe. Goats are escape artist and require a lot of fencing.

Cedar Dresser Final Saga

It is finally done the cedar dresser we had made. We logged the cedar ourselves, delivered the logs to the local mill, then transported the cut wood to a local Amish craftsman. After almost 6 months we have our huge cedar dresser. It is a feeling that I do not think a modern human has felt in a very long time. Completion - from sweaty start in logging to the final installation. The finished end result that we can enjoy and pass down to the next generation. We saved some trees that needed to be harvested and made quality furniture that will last. I think we honored these trees using them well. It was worth it, the time, energy, sweat and labor to make this dresser. And on the back I wrote down all the names and dates of those who made this dresser possible. And the best part is we kept it all local to our small town. Nothing oversea nor made in China, made in the USA in Missouri, as it should be. And with all the people involved in the making of this dresser, we made friends and learned how other people live and skills they have to share.

Death and New Life on the Farm

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Last week was enough for me to want to run screaming down the road. Dolly our 19 year old mare went down in her stall and was clearly in distress from a high fever. The vet came and we agreed she was past the point of no return. So together with the help of friends we got the hole dug and put Dolly at peace. Then, I had some hatched chicks not make it and one needed to be euthanized due to deformity. Then a neighbor decides he wants to have his coffin ready this year. He wants to have his wooden coffin upholstered at his wife's request. All of this happened in less than 24 hours last Sunday- Monday. Ugh it was rough.

But then life begins again. My surviving chicks are now outside in the big brooder in the chicken coop. The trees and plants are all flowering and the air smells wonderful. Baby birds, snakes and butterflies are everywhere. I have so much new life springing up around me, makes me happy again to be on my farm.

Teaching The Babies

Last week my husband took our 2 year old Maple along side Luna to meet the outside world. We have since learned to tie the lead rope around the halter to keep focus. Young horses will try anything and test you often.

Last Weeks Hail Storm

Last week in the Ozarks we had a storm turn ugly with popcorn skies sending ice everywhere. Put a hole in our horse trailer and filled the evening with fog in the pasture. I have been too busy to post the photos until now. Our ducks and horses took the worst of the hail, but all survived.

Chick Hatch

I am having a busy day watching our incubator chicks hatch out. This is the first time we have ever hatched ourselves with an incubator instead of a broody hen. We are hoping to fill in the ranks of chickens lost to predators on the farm. I read the farmers almanac on when to collect the eggs before putting into the incubator. One chick blasted out of its shell and has been running all over the incubator. It is full of energy.

All my chicks are off by a week since I stored them for 7 days prior to incubation. This is quite the learning curve raising our own chickens. After they are dry they will go into an indoor brooder then into the outside hatchery in the coop. They will be around their own kind until they are old enough to be with the flock. They will see and hear the others in the flock and learn the coop is home. And baby chicks are very noisy to have in the house and I will be happy to have them outside.

Dolly Down, Dolly Up

This morning at feeding time I was missing our older 19 year old mare, Dolly. She always comes in for breakfast even on 3 legs. I could not find her in the pasture until my husband arrived. She was standing but not walking. She has fluid coming out of her nose and mouth. We called the vet and decided to force her to walk up to the trailer. It took a while. We hooked up the trailer and got her to the vet. He said it was choke, a blockage of pellet feed in her throat. He sedated her and tubed her to flush out the blockage. She sneezed and got me and the vet coated in goo. After the blockage was removed he flushed out her tummy with H2O. She felt better instantly.

Lesson learned: Pellet feed must be ingested slowly in an older dominate mare. She ate fast with a new horse bugging her and it got stuck. Older horses also tend to not chew the pellets with older teeth. She needs to have the pellets watered into mush first. And I keep the new horse out of the stalls at dinner time. She lost a lot of weight over the winter since this photo last summer. She needs all her calories now.

Meet Tip

Here is our newest horse, Tip at his old home. He is on loan to us from his owner to ride as she does not have time to ride all of her herd. Tip is a gelding Arabian and Appaloosa double registered horse. He is a very sweet tall and broadly built horse. Tip has the shortest Appaloosa tail I have ever seen, but he was born that way. We needed another horse for me to ride along with my husband. We will be taking our Foxtrotter mare, Luna and Tip on trail rides and to pony our young horses. Tip gets shoes on Friday and we hope to ride him in the afternoon.

Today Tip got the freedom to join our herd in our pasture. He is the low man on the totem pole along with the donkey. But he can hold his own getting away from the lead mare.