I only had one ewe single this year, but I took full advantage of that and milked colostrum out of her three times in the first twelve hours, to freeze for future use. The rest of the ewes had twins or triplets, so I didn’t want to rob any of them. Continue reading “Frozen Colostrum For The Future”
Author: fourfarmdogs
Sewn-Up Duck Adopts Babies
A funny thing has happened with the recently sewn-up duck and the babies with which she’s sharing her A-frame. They’ve decided they’re family. 🙂 Continue reading “Sewn-Up Duck Adopts Babies”
Where Owls Barf, Fortune You Will Find
Know what this little blob of material is on the roof of the sheep shelter? It’s an “owl pellet,” Gentle Reader. I bet I’ve unconsciously seen these a million times in my life, but never knew what they were, until last year. Continue reading “Where Owls Barf, Fortune You Will Find”
Sewn-Up Duck
Last Sunday I was awoken by the Border Collies barking madly at 2am. I took a look out the window to see the ducks all clustered, standing at attention in their pen. My flashlight caught Ms. Coyote behind their pen as she dashed away. I tromped out in my robe and boots, all looked ok, until I got to the back of the pen. Darn, she got one. Or did she? Continue reading “Sewn-Up Duck”
The Odd Couple: Ears, Eyes, Bark and Bite
Here is our livestock guardian pair, displaying their somewhat adversarial relationship. Neither one is really afraid of the other, and they haven’t thus far hurt each other and don’t seem to have intent to. But, the dog enjoys getting some sport out of hassling the llama by barking at her, and leaping up to air-snap at her head. This annoys the llama to no end, and she swings her long neck around with flattened ears, trying to communicate her irritation. Sometimes she even spits at the dog, but the dog doesn’t mind and keeps at her lively sport. 🙂 Continue reading “The Odd Couple: Ears, Eyes, Bark and Bite”
Living With Coyotes: Part 2
How to live in balance with your local coyote population? Here’s some of my thinking and learning thus far.
Of course the first temptation is to shoot at them, there is a very alluring promise of an immediate sense of “justice” and relief of seeing that thief dead! Removing certain animals from the population is a valid part of predator management. But, only a part. Continue reading “Living With Coyotes: Part 2”
Living With Coyotes: Part 1
We are sure having trouble with the coyotes this year. Last year, we experienced almost zero predation, I think we had one duck go missing all year, and no sheep losses. We rarely saw coyotes during the day, and when we did, they were off in the distance, hunting mice in the fields. At a human encounter, they quickly made themselves scarce. We heard them howling at night, so knew they were present, but we were all coexisting OK.
But, starting in January, that has drastically changed! Continue reading “Living With Coyotes: Part 1”
Tiny Chicken
Check out this tiny chicken. These are all Rhode Island Reds, and they looked identical when I got them. But this one isn’t growing like the rest of them. Continue reading “Tiny Chicken”
Historic Craftsman Porch Restoration
Our house has a peculiar combination of architectural styles. It was mostly a basic cottage, originally, built around 1929 (1937 tax photo above). But when it was moved to this site, I added a taller second story, which made it look more like a Farmhouse-style house. Yet tacked onto the front of it is a decidedly Craftsman porch overhang, even though there isn’t much else Craftsman about the house. Continue reading “Historic Craftsman Porch Restoration”
Attention Deficit Mouse Hunter
This is Mrs. Pete, our cat. She does ok at contributing to the farm by killing mice, but I think only by pure luck and the fact that there are SO many mice! As you can see in this picture, her attention span is very short. She has already forgotten that she has a yet-to-be-killed mouse before her, and she’s gazing off into the distance. Mice can outwit her by running in between her hind legs and escaping, and she cannot figure out where they went. Continue reading “Attention Deficit Mouse Hunter”