The newly established Vermont Farm and Garden Exchange has been a wonderful source of information and opportunities to barter farm items, but most of all it has introduced me to extremely generous folks with interests similar to my own. Every locality should have such a dependable resource and connection to their community such as this, in my opinion. Being graciously offered the opportunity to contribute to their blog forum, I have written two posts, which I will reference (and provide links) here instead of repeating the information. The first was an introductory approach to making a soft cheese from fresh goat's milk entitled "Easy Home Cheesy" and the second, a cursory guide to processing acorns for human consumption named "Robbing Squirrels". I hope you will enjoy them both.
I have many posts to contribute to my own blog. At the moment, however, the time dedicated to actually tending a farm is keeping me off the computer, temporarily.
Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Guineas' Farewell Extravaganza
Our first attempt at raising French Guineas was a mild success. It was not warm and fuzzy, but cool and easy for me to manipulate a sharp blade across their necks. On one hand these semi-wild birds were quite excellent in that they require very little feed input, but their management, for me, has had severe drawbacks. I've read that they obtain 90% of their diet from forage, which I believe considering how little commercial turkey food they consumed. We started them to control the tick population on our wooded property. They have a wide range, eating greenery and bugs along the way. Their antics are endearing as they are curious creatures of habit. I never minded having them in the yard. Even the noise was tolerable. They are hardy and have out-flown a neighbor fox on several occasions.
Putting them away for the night was where our story becomes ridiculous. I discovered that they wouldn't return to their coop in the evenings to roost. In the beginning, I tried chasing them in, which was fairly useless and frustrating. Then I would entice them with dinner, shaking a coffee can of pellets and rounding them up from the neighbor's yard. They liked to be together, follow the leader and do whatever the hell they pleased. If lead bird wasn't ready, then they would all walk up to the door, check out the situation and then turn away, one at a time. All I could do was wait, coerce and curse. If I left the door open with food in the coop, then they would go in to eat and be back outside before I could close the door. Leaving it up to them was not an option, because they would choose to roost in the trees and be taken in the night, by predators, one at a time. Every day has been a struggle for me. I let them out in the morning with full knowledge that it might take me 2 hours to get them back in at night. I've chased and caught the noncommittal stragglers in a fishing net for the past week. This exhaustion weighs on my energy to do other chores, like milk and feed our 12 goats, 2 pigs, 10 layer chickens, 26 meat chickens, cat, two children, and a hungry full-time working husband.
So on the hottest day of the year, I am more than happy to put an end to our Guinea adventure by killing, scalding, plucking, gutting, and freezing them all. All except for the one bird that flew over my head and scratched my back on her way to freedom. If she returns to live with the chickens, we will extend a rare pardon and try Guinea eggs. I think she's seen enough and will take her chances in the wild. Good luck and good riddance!
Putting them away for the night was where our story becomes ridiculous. I discovered that they wouldn't return to their coop in the evenings to roost. In the beginning, I tried chasing them in, which was fairly useless and frustrating. Then I would entice them with dinner, shaking a coffee can of pellets and rounding them up from the neighbor's yard. They liked to be together, follow the leader and do whatever the hell they pleased. If lead bird wasn't ready, then they would all walk up to the door, check out the situation and then turn away, one at a time. All I could do was wait, coerce and curse. If I left the door open with food in the coop, then they would go in to eat and be back outside before I could close the door. Leaving it up to them was not an option, because they would choose to roost in the trees and be taken in the night, by predators, one at a time. Every day has been a struggle for me. I let them out in the morning with full knowledge that it might take me 2 hours to get them back in at night. I've chased and caught the noncommittal stragglers in a fishing net for the past week. This exhaustion weighs on my energy to do other chores, like milk and feed our 12 goats, 2 pigs, 10 layer chickens, 26 meat chickens, cat, two children, and a hungry full-time working husband.
So on the hottest day of the year, I am more than happy to put an end to our Guinea adventure by killing, scalding, plucking, gutting, and freezing them all. All except for the one bird that flew over my head and scratched my back on her way to freedom. If she returns to live with the chickens, we will extend a rare pardon and try Guinea eggs. I think she's seen enough and will take her chances in the wild. Good luck and good riddance!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Bats and Beaks
As the evenings became crisp last fall, we removed the air conditioning unit from our bedroom window in preparation for a long winter. Looking back now, I remember finding what appeared to be extra large mouse poops on the underside of the exterior portion. It seemed odd, but I wasn't going to rule out giant mice on our rooftop. Two years ago, there was one mouse in particular who used to roll acorns across our bedroom ceiling and then down the gutter drain spout. I was very pregnant at the time and not sleeping well, so the sound was deafening to tired ears and completely inexplicable.
The air conditioner usually sees a few weeks of use every year. Last night we decided the uncomfortable warmth was enough reason to pop out the screen and hoist the heavy machine halfway through the window opening to find some relief in a cool sleep. We stuffed some old shirts into the spaces on either side of the unit to keep the bugs out of our bedroom. Everyone slept well and would have woken feeling rested, except....I heard some flapping at about 3am. Now, if this had been a rhythmic noise I would not have heard it. Random flapping, on the other hand, is reason for alarm. About an hour later my husband woke me up to say a bat had just brushed by his sleeping face. We both army-rolled out of bed and spent the next half-hour catching and later safely releasing a very large brown bat. What is it about bats that is so creepy? I've been face-to-face with bear and moose, but this little flapping bat had me ducking with closed eyes. I wish they would go live in the bat box we built instead of roosting on the air conditioner. There must be something attractive about its vibration, like hundreds of friends flapping their wings as if to say, "come join the party!"
After the bat episode, I was too awake to go back to bed. So, I began contemplating our bird issue. We have too many foul spread around in separate housing and I need to consolidate before winter. There are old layers (3) and a rooster living in the coop who are on yard duty, the younger layers (2) and pullets (4) are occupying a goat stall that I need available for breeding season, the Guineas (12) have a shed of their own, we have a batch of meat chickens (25) in a garage brooder, and finally there are two newly hatched chicks from our incubator project. We'll see who makes the cut.
These two are adorable already. I've never watched an egg hatch and shared my daughter's amazement in the process. There's nothing quite like reality to stave off kids' boredom.
The air conditioner usually sees a few weeks of use every year. Last night we decided the uncomfortable warmth was enough reason to pop out the screen and hoist the heavy machine halfway through the window opening to find some relief in a cool sleep. We stuffed some old shirts into the spaces on either side of the unit to keep the bugs out of our bedroom. Everyone slept well and would have woken feeling rested, except....I heard some flapping at about 3am. Now, if this had been a rhythmic noise I would not have heard it. Random flapping, on the other hand, is reason for alarm. About an hour later my husband woke me up to say a bat had just brushed by his sleeping face. We both army-rolled out of bed and spent the next half-hour catching and later safely releasing a very large brown bat. What is it about bats that is so creepy? I've been face-to-face with bear and moose, but this little flapping bat had me ducking with closed eyes. I wish they would go live in the bat box we built instead of roosting on the air conditioner. There must be something attractive about its vibration, like hundreds of friends flapping their wings as if to say, "come join the party!"
After the bat episode, I was too awake to go back to bed. So, I began contemplating our bird issue. We have too many foul spread around in separate housing and I need to consolidate before winter. There are old layers (3) and a rooster living in the coop who are on yard duty, the younger layers (2) and pullets (4) are occupying a goat stall that I need available for breeding season, the Guineas (12) have a shed of their own, we have a batch of meat chickens (25) in a garage brooder, and finally there are two newly hatched chicks from our incubator project. We'll see who makes the cut.
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| RI Red and Copper Maran cross |
These two are adorable already. I've never watched an egg hatch and shared my daughter's amazement in the process. There's nothing quite like reality to stave off kids' boredom.
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