"Wabbit" Season

A long interval between posts, I know. My apologies.  There is a little, and should be a little more, to post on later this week.  On March 7th the white New Zealand rabbit gave birth.  She was bread to a Flemish Giant, who is grey/blue. I am unsure how many little ones there are buried deep in her nest, because she is a very good and protective momma.  Meaning, I cannot get near the little guys without being viciously attacked by a growling mother rabbit.  Good for her.  She's doing her job. 

Baby chicks are due to hatch this Sunday (March 23).   There are 41 eggs in the incubator, and one turkey egg, but that was due to an intoxicated, "Oh why the hell not?" moment when I felt the need to put the very first egg the turkey hen laid into the incubator.  And because I had one spot open in there, staring at me blankly.  (It holds 42 eggs).

This week and next, I will set aside the turkey's eggs, in the hope of collecting at least 6 to incubate.  I can only assume that between her and the two males, they have figured out what they should be "doing" and that these eggs will be fertile and hatch out.  The plan is to put them into the incubator on March 30th, incubate for 28 days and with any luck end up with come baby turkeys on April 26th.  If it ends up being that I have any males from that clutch, they would be ready to butcher and freeze the first week of November.  It (they?) would be the first Mon Abri Farm born, and raised, Thanksgiving Turkey(s). How freakin' awesome would that be! But we'll see...

Nothing new to tell about Chiba.  She still looks pregnant (or fat?), and yet shows no signs of any babies on the horizon.  As I've said before, I've given up on her for this spring. Maybe next year.

Things are thawing now.  I hope you all have a warm(er) day. ~A

King Roo

The "Fishin' Hole"

The chickens are finally making their way out into the pastures

I wonder what they see?  Spring, hopefully...

Something's got to give...

The weather is getting to me.  All I want to do is eat. Worse, all I want to eat is "comfort" food.  Carbs, Carbs, Carbs... 

Yesterday I canned some mushroom barley soup to put away for my work lunches, and for those evenings when I just don't have it in me to cook anything. Which happens to be often, lately. Really,  I have absolutely no interest in doing much of anything in this cold weather, other than eating and taking care of the animals.  I think part of my nasty outlook has been due to this respiratory, cough thing I've been battling for three weeks now.  Between the cough and the weather I am sure I can't take much more!



Barley Soup "to go"

In an sad effort to pretend I can even remember what summer feels and tastes like, I sliced up a baguette, toasted it, rubbed the pieces with garlic, put a frozen basil leaf on top, followed by a slice of tasteless, (but roasted) winter tomato, and topped it off with shaved parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  I tried.  I really, really tried. But it just couldn't compare to using the same ingredients in, say, August.  It was really a sad moment.

Then I tried pasta.  I was a little more cheery after that...


Pasta = Happiness ?

Then there are some who the snow has no effect on what-so-ever....No horse-flies! Let's play!



Limbo

Life on the farm feels madly stuck in a sort of "limbo" stage at the moment.  Everything is frozen. And still. And nearly lifeless.  I rode one of the horses all over the property last weekend to inspect everything and see what was new.  Not much.

In the garden, the garlic had poked their little heads through the soil at some point during this winter and the little green tips were frozen solid.  But I'm not concerned, the same thing happened last year and everything was fine come July. The only thing that appeared to show tiny signs of life were the blackberry bushes. They seem to be growing a little, like the buds on the trees.  But it could be my imagination.  Or just my lust to see something green and growing!

The goat is still waddling around looking like a small pregnant cow. The woodpile continues to shrink.  I'm worried about the goat because if she is actually pregnant and does go into labor please, please, please, don't let it be in the next ten days when the temperatures are in the low "teens" and dipping below zero during the nights.  Otherwise, I will have to bring her and any babies into the house.  No question there!



January 13, 2014

The sun sets today at 5:29 p.m. here in Northeast Ohio.  How I long for the month of May when things really start to green up and the sun sets at a more respectable time!

On another dismal note, I've discovered lately that one of my racehorses has come to despise chickens. He's bashed a few around now, but this latest outburst was downright savage! Not only did he crush this hen, but then proceeded to tear into her, toss her around a bit, and then finish her off by stomping her to death. Maybe the horse is suffering from cabin fever as well...

Farm Happenings

Not a lot has been happening lately around the farm, now that old man winter has set in (other than snow).  The turkeys have grown nicely over the past couple of months, and would be ready to butcher in a couple more weeks, except now that we have lost all but two (a tom and a hen) to predators. We will not be eating these remaining lucky birds.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some fertile eggs in the spring to toss into the incubator.  A Blue Slate / Bourbon Red Cross should make for some interesting poults, no?

The mother rabbit and her three babies that we acquired back in October appear to be all grown up. As mentioned before, I know absolutely nothing about rabbits.  My husband built them a four foot long box to live and hide in, and he refused to separate the boys from the girls, so I would assume that someone will be having babies soon.  When he goes away for work in January for a few months I will sneak in and separate them, if I can manage to learn how to sex them.  I'm all for a scheduled breeding program! 

Speaking of scheduled breeding programs, I really have to learn more about goat husbandry.  I let the female goat run with the buck all summer and didn't separate them until sometime in October.  I have not idea if she is pregnant or just fat. They had a "date" this past Friday because she was wagging her tail and seemed to be very interested in hanging out with him, but once we let them together he didn't seem so interested in her, or perhaps he just didn't want an audience?  Regardless, she will either give birth in the next couple of months, or she won't.  Time will tell.  And next time, we will schedule her dates with the buck!

The chickens are rather boring right now.  The last time I counted, I had around 42-45, with about 5-6 being roosters. I would think that egg production would be a little better, but as of the last few weeks I am only getting 1-6 eggs per day.  Not much. 

Speaking of eggs, the sole remaining Pekin duck that we were given back in October started laying an egg a day just over a week ago.  I thought she was a boy.  I was most definitely wrong.

And what can I say about the horses?  They are just here, hanging out in the snow, burning through six bags of grain every week (along with hay) and giving nothing back in return.  Yet.  Two are racehorses, and I hope they will pay back their way, and that of the other two, next season at the racetrack.  Otherwise, it will be time to decrease the herd for sure.  Horses are the biggest expense on the farm, and usually do not give back much, other than a fun ride and something to play around with when time allows. Oh but they do look pretty standing out in the pasture, right?  

Racing Season

I'm behind on my posting.  This is due to a big change in my schedule in order to accommodate the Thoroughbred Horse racing season.  Mon Abri Farm currently has a handful of racehorses under its ownership.  Two are in Indiana racing, and then there is my horse here in Ohio.  Being a jockey and owner, I now must rise every morning at 4:00 a.m., in order to feed all of the animals on the farm, and then drive forty minutes to the racetrack to care for, train and exercise my racehorse. After that, I head off to my office job and work until 5:30 p.m.  I'm still adjusting to my lack of sleep, and the super-organized person I have to be right now in order to juggle a farm, an office job, a rental property, and a jockey/trainer/owner gig on the side.  But for the love of it all, carry on I will damn it!  The racing season ends in November; we'll see how long I hold up...

This is Nigel.  Let's hope he stays sound and makes a little money for the farm this year.