Oh, ya’ll. I’m sorry we haven’t been keeping this blog going. It’s funny, we’ve actually been so much more calm and peaceful, so it’s not the same chaos we were in a year ago. We just literally forgot about the blog! Whoops.
We are all doing well, other than the two ducks that we lost after almost two years of free ranging. The first loss happened when we were at a tortoise rescue meeting a potential tortoise match for our farm. We were talking to the lady about how we’ve never lost a duck, they just go all around our property eating the bad bugs, and then we got home to find 4 ducks instead of 5. We searched with flashlights and eventually found tons of feathers and literally just a breastbone was left of her (Heidi Hybrid, our Golden Hybrid Duck). We were very sad, blamed ourselves, but also were thankful that she was not wasted and that something actually made a meal of her. We think fox? Unsure.
Well, not a week later I was washing a mug and looked outside the window above the sink to see 3 ducks huddled together on our deck. Not usually a spot they hang out and where was the fourth? But sometimes they get broody and stay on a nest somewhere (they always have new nesting spots, so there really wasn’t anywhere in particular I could have looked). About an hour later I was walking a dog in the front yard and peered over to see Kissy, the very pregnant dominant goat, near the back of their pasture area. The goats are very lazy. They never roam that far away; they stay by their hay holder and their lawn furniture and just “hang.” So I immediately knew something was wrong. I went around back and saw that all the goats were huddled near the back of their pasture…and still only the 3 ducks were in sight. I half jogged to the barn and was about to open the barn door when I saw a giant hawk on top of the remains of Quackers. 🙁 Giant. Hawk. And that was right up next to the front of the goat area where they normally hang out, so it was no wonder they were all in the back looking terrified. I couldn’t deal, honestly. I ran back and got my phone and texted C that she needed to come home immediately and that we had an animal situation. She told me later she thought that meant that there was a half-dead animal that I needed her to put out of its misery so I guess I should really be more specific next time.
However, I now effing hate hawks because they literally wasted 97% of the bird and abandoned the carcass. Such waste. Why? Feathers and blood everywhere. C helped me and together we put her remains in the wagon and wheeled her down to the back of the second pasture and left her there in hopes that some other animal would actually eat her. There’s no use in waste. Her death should not have been for nothing.
We didn’t cry any tears. I don’t know if that means we’re getting “better” at this life or hardened or that sometimes you’re just too sad to cry. Our ducks aren’t really tame, even though we raised them in our upstairs bedroom, but they are still our family. We had always let them out of their coop every morning and locked them safely away every evening.
After losing 2 in a span of ten days and seeing all the hawks continuing to circle here (they must have passed on that there was good eatin here at Serenity Farm) we have had to keep them locked away in their dog kennel fencing with netting over the top. Oh, that is another thing: in between the two deaths I heard lots of noise and ran outside to see a hawk IN the dog kennel trying to grab a duck. I scared the hawk off but the duck (Quackers) was bleeding a bit on her neck and when she blinked both eyes dripped blood. The wounds were not deep though and we thought taking her away from her friends would make her more stressed, so we sprayed her with some medicine and let her be. She recovered immediately, like no wounds/blood/eyes fine the next day, so we thought she was okay but we added that netting over the top of their kennel for more protection. We hadn’t thought that hawks could fly straight down like that but now we know better. But anyway, what did it matter because she was killed only a few days later.
I asked my friend with livestock guardian dogs and many, many ducks if she would please take our three. We can’t leave them locked away for the rest of their lives, yet we also can’t continue to let them out here with the new hawk problem. So they will be heading over to her place as soon as she is back from vacation. No more ducks is going to mean more snakes again. They really did help so much with snakes; we have not seen a snake since last summer. That’s pretty unbelievable after all the snake problems we had prior to letting them free range. But even still, I can’t deal with all the murders going on.
What else is new? Our babies from last spring are grown up, though they will still grow for another year or so since minis grow slower than full-size goats do. They are all healthy and happy with unique personalities. This year we only bred two of the adults; we retired Dollop, the goat that had quads last year, for fear that she would end up with sextuplets. She never even had twins, she had 3, 3, and then the 4. One of our dear friends lost her goat last year after a C-section for sextuplets. We just couldn’t deal with that possibility and also we don’t want that many babies again, anyway. So we bred her half sister again, Bridget, our goat who had the beautiful twin bucklings last year and who has apparently had boys every single time. Beautiful boys, the kind you don’t need to keep but really want to; polled with blue eyes and lovely markings. We’ll see what she has this year. We think twins, though sometimes I think maybe 2 decent sized and 1 runty baby might be in there. She’s due in just over two weeks and she seems pretty done. We also bred Kissy, our meanest alpha goat (only mean to the other goats; sweet to people). Both of these ladies are my favorites. Last year they were the only two that didn’t keep any of their babies and so we told them that this year we would try to keep at least one each. We really need a new buck this year, but we don’t need a polled buck so we’re hoping that Kissy ends up with a nice one. She is the Mini LaMancha but has always been bred to a Nigerian Dwarf and has always had long eared babies! This year she was bred to another Mini LaMancha, Amelia’s dad Trinket, and so I am super excited about finally getting tiny eared babies from her! They are my favorite. She’s due on Leap Day, but she seems to go late, so probably March.
We did end up with a tortoise; not the first one we visited the night we lost a duck, but another one that came in more recently. His name is Tucker and he’s an 8 year old 40 pound Sulcata. You should see C carrying him from his shed where he sleeps due to cold weather to his daytime pen. We chose him over the other tortoise because he is super friendly and outgoing. I have two friends with Sulcatas and they both go on and on about how intelligent they are. My friend who had one for many years, when she talks about them, makes me think she is talking about trees. So wise. So understanding. She told me to go out there the first day we had him and sit with him. Tell him about us, about the farm, about the other animals. I don’t know, anyone else ever talk to trees or is it just me? But that’s the same way I talk to trees. So I did this. And he listened very intently. He has the sweetest smile, though he’s been angry with us because as soon as we got him the weather dropped and he wasn’t able to go outside for several days. We have a heating pad for him but it’s not the same as real warmth and sunshine. So I think he may not think we are entirely trustworthy right at the moment.
We made the decision to put both horses up for sale. We haven’t had the time we would like to spend with them and I’m still feeling pretty scared of the younger one. I know he wants attention and will be so much happier being with someone who can ride him regularly and really bond well with him. He does like to be ridden; I used to ask him and hold up the saddle and get a very clear “yes” but since moving here and not having a “safe” area like an enclosed arena, I just don’t feel good about riding him. He spooks easily and is pretty energetic. I think the older horse is happy doing his own thing, but he is never happy alone and so selling him makes sense too, even though I do really like him. In the end it just doesn’t make sense for horses to be here.
We have some new, big visions for our farm. We plan to build a new totally enclosed barn with several more stalls. We plan to build another house that has more privacy as this one is so close to neighbors. We plan to build our yoga studio, FINALLY. I’m actually almost finished with Vinyasa Training which is a nice addition to Kundalini and Aerials. Having a yoga studio here on the farm will be lovely. And some tiny homes/AirBNBs too. Once we move to the new house we will rent this one out to a family who wants to live this lifestyle and share in the work and also the rewards.
Goals for this year, subject to change at any time:
*Sell horses
*Give ducks to my friend
*Acquire a Kune Kune piglet to raise for meat (our first meat animal; will we actually do it or will we fall in love? Time will tell. I know it will be hard for us.)
*Grow at least 2 vegetables this year. We’re thinking grape tomatoes and squash, cuz…Texas.
*Build some of the new buildings
*Acquire a full-size goat to teach to pull a cart (WTF? I’m so weird.)
*Acquire 2 Llamas to teach to pull carts (come on, that’s not as weird as the goat now, is it?)
Okay what? Llamas are mean. Llamas spit. No, actually llamas are one of the world’s very misunderstood creatures. I visited a llama farm 3 years ago with a couple friends because I wanted to have cart driving llamas. And the llama farm was AMAZING. 60 llamas surrounded us. They sniffed us. They had amazing yummy llama breath (I’m serious!). They felt so special. But the woman sold the llama I wanted before I was able to convince C that we needed a llama and so I kind of put the idea on a shelf for the last few years. And now–it’s come back and I can’t stop thinking about it! I contacted the same llama lady; she’s very well-known here and I trust her as her llamas are well-bred and well-socialized. (Note: llamas only spit after they have given many, many other warnings first. They don’t usually spit at people; they usually spit at each other and people are in the way. Yes, if you search “llama” on google you’ll see all the spitting videos…because that’s what people want to show you. But it’s not common with well-socialized llamas.)
Now, when I started talking to Christine about llamas she said that she did not want to be seen as weird so she would not be driving a llama around. Hence, I’m getting her the goat to drive around instead 😉 Excellent solution right there. I can already see the parades, the costumes, ah! It’s just too much cute already.
Also, llamas aren’t just “cute” and “fun” to drive around. Llamas are good protectors of goats. And while we have good fences and haven’t lost any goats to predators, you really can’t be too careful, can you? I won’t get another LGD and I won’t get donkeys (our neighbor just got two and let me just tell you about their terrible ear piercing noises…they are terrible. And ear piercing. No thank you!) so llamas make sense. The perfect multi-tasking animals. Two is a good number; three might be better. Unfortunately, the llama breeder does not have any available at the moment but when she does she will let us know and we can board them with her and she’ll teach us how to train them to the carts. Alternately were I to find good llamas elsewhere I could bring them to her and still board them there while we all train them together. So, patience it is.
The only other thing I can think of that’s new is that I started making and selling chocolate truffles. They are raw and vegan which is a bit funny since we’re here on the farm, but I used to make them and hand them out at workshops, and since I’ve only been teaching minimally these days I thought I’d start making them and see if they sell well. I sold them at my friend’s brick and mortar store the first week in February for Valentine’s and they sold very well. I got excellent feedback which I was surprised about since they are pretty dark and sweetened with coconut sugar, so again, just more on the bitter side than sweet. I like them but I also eat weird food so I just wasn’t sure how they’d go in this small town. But they were a hit! So that’s a fun new thing to do for a while, at least until I’m busy milking goats again.
I hope ya’ll are all doing well. I’ll try to blog more often again since things truly have calmed down. We are like different people!