The ducks have officially started molting, the period of time in which they replace their feathers. There are feathers EVERYWHERE. It looks like a down comforter was ripped to bits out there. The ducks themselves are looking pretty haggard. What feathers they do have are misshapen and sticking out at odd angles. I’m looking forward to this being over. This also means that they have temporarily ceased laying… the protein and the energy that it takes to grow new feathers…
Perhaps you’ve noticed we’ve been quiet for almost 2 weeks now. Well, that would be the fact that we spent 7 days as staff members for CAMPS, a retreat for high school students. I’ll post about it later, for now I’ll post about what happened while we were away. Pepper somehow lost her collar. This made it difficult for our goatsitter to milk, as to do so we clip the collar to a stanchion to keep her still. Fortunately, a…
I don’t think I’ve mentioned enough about how rainy the summer has been around here. Seriously, all we’ve had is rain. It’s been so overcast that our goats went into heat this week. This is quite early; most goats are seasonal breeders and don’t start cycling for another month yet. I’m no expect on caprine endocrinology, but if I had to wager a guess it’s because there’s been so little sun due to cloud cover that their bodies think it’s…
All it takes is a moment for an illusion to be shattered. Since our homesteading adventures take place in suburbia, predator control has never been a concern of ours. Wolves, bears, bobcats… none of them live around here. Sure, we know smaller predators like skunks and raccoons are everywhere, but we’ve got a fence, right? Well, it’s all been an illusion that we’ve allowed ourselves to fall into. Today there was a fox in the pen with the animals. He…
I have never enjoyed oatmeal. I can’t get it to my liking no matter what I do to it. It’s always one of two things: too bland or too sweet. For us, too sweet is out of the question as we’ve been avoiding processed sugars and the like with our whole foods journey. Oddly enough, I really enjoy muesli. Yes, muesli is more or less just cold oatmeal, but it’s so much more than that. It is a healthy, whole…