Bees, Ducks and Chickens, Oh My! (The Reality of Having Animals)

I would like to begin this post by saying that being able to live in a place where we can raise and enjoy animals is such a gift.  They are fascinating (and entertaining), useful (think eggs and meat), beneficial (they eat bugs and turn soil), and are often just plain fun (think pretending they're babies).

my girls (younger) with their girls (also, younger)

But sometimes, they drive me bananas and all I want is to drive them to the other side of the county and drop them off.

There, I said it.

I take part of that back.  I really don't want to drive our bees anywhere.  Actually, right now the bees aren't causing any trouble.  We were very disappointed that after all our work with them last year, all five colonies died over the winter.  As much as I am in awe of bees (ask my kids' friends- if any of them ask a single question about bees, I launch into a 4-part lecture series on the topic), part of me wondered if we should give up.  But we didn't.  We ordered two more packages, watched them build up over the summer, left their honey alone, and we now have six colonies as we head into this winter. Jamey made moisture quilts to hopefully insulate them from condensation which can be fatal.  We'll say a little prayer, tuck them in and hope that we see at least a colony or two alive this spring.

The ducks.  We bought four Khaki Campbell running ducks from a farmer we know.  We wanted them for their eggs and expressed that we wanted hens. Well.  Either they weren't hens or they just didn't like us because we got one and only one egg (and it could've been a chicken egg- it was hard to tell) and that was it.

The very first night we had them, one of the four went missing.  We're thinking predator.  The other three fell into a cute routine of quacking around the chicken yard each day, splashing in their water and then hunkering down in the chicken tractor out in the yard.  They never followed the chickens into their coop as they need their own water source (so they can scoop-drink).

Well, after a few weeks of this pleasant (albeit non-laying) life, they discovered they could get out through the holes in the fence (they were small enough).  Over a few days, two walked their way out onto our road and got hit by cars.  Bless our dear neighbor who scraped them off with his shovel.

So there was one duck left.  Without his friends, he no longer stayed in our yard and instead wandered the neighborhood becoming a bit of a nuisance.  He's no longer with us (and that's all I'm going to say about that).  So the duck project was a fail.  I feel yucky about the whole thing but we couldn't spend hundreds and hundred of dollars installing new fencing and other attempts to solve the problem weren't working.  Frankly, non-laying ducks were just not worth it to us.

Moving on to my most recent nemeses: the chickens.  We haven't bought chicks the last couple years so our chicken population has slowly been aging and dying out.  We're down to around ten.  At one point, we had 40 (that included some meat birds we later butchered).  Of these ten, about 3-4 consistently get out of their yard and into our neighbors' yards.  Turkey has learned to ignore them, thank heavens, but they wander around, digging up everyone's flower beds and newly planted grass.

Here again, if we spent a lot of money, we could fix the fences (they've been patched COUNTLESS times).  We could buy a lot of organic, free range eggs with that money.  But we don't have the heart to get rid of the chickens.  So, for now, they're locked up in their coop.  It's not a terrible place to be. I'll be adding leaves and straw to give them something to scratch and maybe on really nice days we'll let them out for awhile to enjoy their yard.  You know, on good behavior.  In the meantime, I want to price out fencing and see if we can't re-fence part of the yard or make something work.

So, there.  I know this wasn't a very uplifting animal post but I just needed to say all this.  It's not all wine and roses.  Instead, it can be a lot of whine and thorn-ses.  Such is life- a life I still wouldn't trade with anyone (just look at that first picture in this post again). Pin It

Closing Summer

Where did the summer go?  It went into our hearts, our memories, our muscles, and bones.  It became another layer of who we are and what we hold dear.  Thank you, God, for summers.

Cousin camp...

(with these water balloons)

A week of rest on the lake...

Our school room in summer...

Volunteer by the back door...

Summer evening quiet...

Garden bounty...

Applesauce making...

Growing pigs...

Non-laying duck boarders...

Honey bees that might have a chance this winter...

Fresh paint in kitchen and bath...

Young apple trees that are finally producing (but only one...apple)...

Four ropes in a tree are always better than one...

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A Long, Summerly Post

I know I've been a bit quiet lately.  It's not because there hasn't been much going on...it's the opposite actually.  Below is a glimpse into our summer thus far. 

Our gardens are doing great thanks to plenty of rain and time to keep after the weeds.  I know I've said this before but if you want to maintain projects like a big garden, you have be home to care for it. This is our new side-garden.  We moved it up beside the house when the pigs needed space. Since it's up by the road and right next to our house, we keep up with it better and get to enjoy looking at it out our windows.

(back garden)

During a weekend of company, there was a cherry pie that was overlooked in the fridge.  Having been inspired by this friend, I chopped the whole pie up, gently stirred it into slightly softened vanilla ice cream and refroze it.  I might just bake pies to chop them up from now on.  Swoon.

Our zucchini plants are producing like crazy. One day, I set out to quadruple my zucchini bread recipe to make 8 loaves (the number that fit in my oven) only to discover I had calculated wrong and was in the process of mixing up enough for 16 loaves.  Suffice to say, I'm done making zucchini bread for the summer.

Speaking of zucchini, we've discovered baked zucchini fries.  Cut them into spears (slicing away the seeds), coat them in beaten egg and dredge them in seasoned bread crumbs.  Bake them on greased cookie sheets for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees (or until they start to brown) then dip them in ketchup or tomato sauce (as you're eating them). My six year old even likes them and that's saying something.

While our blueberry bushes are producing a small handful of berries every few days, it feels like a tease so we went blueberry picking.  I am so thankful for pick your own places that don't spray.  And we lucked out- the morning we went was cool and cloudy and the patch was empty.  We were able to pick along side the owner- a sweet, sweet lady- who gave me some blueberry growing tips amid lovely conversation.

Is there anything better than getting to hang your laundry outside?  Even if your mama has the clothes pin basket at the other end of the line?  I think not.

Peaches.  Will we ever get to eat them?!  The odds seem to be against us as either we lose the blossoms to late frosts or critters climb up the trees and eat every blessed one the day before we intend to pick.  This year, the frosts didn't get them and we wanted to make sure the critters don't either because they are LOADED under all those leaves.  So.  We saved the tacking strips from our carpet runner on the stairs and lashed them to the trunks.  Try and climb up them this year, you greedy buggers!

Not only were we able to split some of our bee colonies this spring but Jamey caught his first swarm this month. If I can remember how, I'll post the video soon. I wasn't home so he kindly set up his phone to document the event so I could see.  The swarm was probably one of our own, but it gave us another split, so all our hives are now full- three top-bars and three Langstroths.  And bees are busy everywhere.

 

Do our pigs look bigger to you?  While fully pastured pigs do grow slower than pigs raised on grain, it's rewarding to see them fill out and know that they are eating excellent cuisine.  In addition to being rotated through four paddocks in their yard, our friends bring us leftover garden produce from their CSA business and farmer's market stand.  Below you can see them feasting on summer squash. When they're not eating like people, they enjoy all the weeds we can send their way.  Weeding has taken on a whole new purpose around here thanks to them.

Speaking of pigs, I only wish I had done some videoing the other night.  Spock (the largest pig) took advantage of the electric fence being off (the line had become grounded in an inconspicuous place) and lifted a large gate with his snout.  He pushed it open and waltzed his way over to the chicken yard where he lifted that gate off it's hinges.  When we saw him, he was happily slurping up the chicken scraps we had thrown in their yard. Jealous much? Jamey chased that pig all over the back yard, somehow managing to keep him out of the gardens where he surely would've discovered the corn and hunkered down.  After watching the chase for a minute, I came to my senses and grabbed the metal bowl we use to carry scraps outside.  As I approached Spock, cowering in the weeds and trying to hide from his pursuer, I said, "Spock, get in that gate!" He, along with another pig who sneaked out as well, promptly walked back in the gate.  I'd like to think he was obeying me but likely he wanted scraps and was tired of the chase.  A working electric fence is our new best friend.

When we're stuck inside, our new favorite pastime is coloring beautiful pages from this book. We make photocopies of the pages so we can enjoy the book longer.  It's calming and aids well to conversation and read-alouds.

And last, but not least, let me introduce you to our new ducks.  They are Khaki Campbell running ducks.  They flutter and fly as much as chickens or maybe even a little less so.  We started with the four you see below but we lost one the very first night, likely to a predator.  After an intense game of chase-the-untame-ducks-around-the-yard, we corralled them into the chicken duck tractor where they'll live full time for awhile until they learn to call it home.  Then we can hopefully let them out each morning after they lay and shut them in at night.

We've only collected one egg so far (they've had quite the transition) but we hear they're excellent layers.  Their conversation is as, if not more, entertaining than that of chickens.  If they prove themselves worthy, we may increase their numbers instead of the chickens next spring.

I have two recipes to share that will hopefully come soon...this post is already long enough.  I hope you are having a wonderful summer!  Here's to hoping the second half will crawl along instead of fly by like the first half has :-).

Blessings,

Jane

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