Ducks in the Attic

Katie supposes I can type something up now that I have reconquered the blog publication maze, so I thought I'd share our most recent duckling story....
Last Thursday Katie was working on the sheep book on the computer, sitting in front of an open window for a cool breeze. She heard "cheep, cheep, cheep" -- too high pitched for all the poultry wandering around -- and thought, "the ducks are hatching!" We have two Muscovy ducks sitting on nests out in the barn, so it was a reasonable expectation. Sure enough, a little black and yellow duckling was wandering around on the driveway outside the window. So, Katie went out to see where its mamma was, and get them reacquainted. As she picked the duckling up, she heard more cheeping sounds from over by the 4x4. Three more ducklings wandering! She took them back to the barnyard and found one very hostile sitting duck in one corner of the barn, and a less hostile duck in the other corner. She put them with the less hostile one, thinking, ok, the eggs are just starting to hatch -- except the duck didn't seem convinced they were hers.
So, Katie comes back to the house, and hears more cheeping sounds. Have you ever noticed that birds are wonderful ventriloquists? They can make you think there is more sound coming from more directions than is earthly possible. So, she is looking around the side of the house where she found the first one in an attempt to find out where the duckling(s) is/are -- and a duckling lands next to her. From the roof.
(At this point everyone has said, too bad it wasn't a chicken, and you could have called it "little" -- bad joke, I know.)
So, ok, it looks like maybe those four ducklings don't belong to second mamma, but to a third, unidentified mamma who has a nest somewhat vertically located from where we have been looking. Katie can't find a ladder, so climbs the trellis to the porch. The nest is NOT on the porch roof, but there is a broken window going into the attic....mamma duck wouldn't have, would she?
Meanwhile, yet another duckling has landed on the ground, so Katie puts all of them into the tub we raised the last ducklings in, and calls it a night.
Friday comes, and we can't track down a neighbor to borrow a ladder, so resourceful Katie decides to attempt the attic from the inside access hole. She crawls into the attic with a rechargeable lantern (courtesy of Woot, but that's another story), and discovers that there are more than a couple ducklings wandering around -- in fact, there is a large bunch in the corner. She comes back down, gets the bucket she put the other rescued ducklings in initially, and hauls it up to the attic. She grabs ducklings by the handfuls -- and 15 ducklings later, has rescued them all. Then she finds the nest with 5 dud eggs, brings all of that down with the ducklings, and puts all 21 ducklings in the tub with water and food. No sign of mamma duck in all of this -- she obviously figured she had done her duty, and was through. We haven't quite figured out which of our *other* female Muscovy ducks did the deed.
Pictures to follow when we figure out where a battery for the camera is....

Lambs, Kids, and Ducks, Oh My

Since our last entry here, we have had many lambs born, four buckling kids born (first year we have had 0, (that's zero, zilch) doe kids born), and we brought home some oh so cute ducklings from the sale barn because they were Khaki Campbell -- or so they were advertised. We've since decided they may be part Khaki Campbell, but probably are not purebred. We decided this because one had a plume on its head, and another has a yellow spot on its neck. Decidedly un-khaki-like. At least the price was right.
So, the count of lambs finished at 46 with some yearlings who may lamb later in the year, but we aren't planning for it.
The buckling kids (all out of Sherwood, the Alpine/Guernsey cross buck) came out two gold, two chamoisee like Sherwood's dam. Interestingly, one gold and one chamoisee out of each set of twins, and their dams, Fiasco, the Togg, and Tea, the Alpine, look nothing like their buck kids, so we know it is all Sherwood's fault.That makes one of the sets of twins last year a little less suspect when we had one gold and one chamoisee there as well. It was probably all Sherwood there, too, instead of perhaps Sherwood and another buck. Having a single buck to blame does simplify life.
Our other interesting tale of note is due to the wonderful production from the Togg does we brought home from Judy Smith's Krystal Kreek herd, we decided to make cheese. Ricotta cheese is now a major part of our dietary intake. We LOVE homemade Ricotta now that we have done it, and it is SO easy! We use the recipe we found on Fias Co farms. You can't miss using it.

It's Going to Be Spring

I saw the first robin this week on Ball State campus Thursday evening. Friday I saw a half dozen more at work. That means spring is on its way. But, winter is determined to make a final statement. We had freezing rain last night, and today everything is icy with a thin layer of water over the top. The worst possible conditions for traction.
So, this morning, while checking on things, we saw the ducks, standing still, being blown about on the ice like ice skaters. (The wind wasn't even particularly strong!) When they wanted to stop moving, they just squatted down. The minute they lifted back up, off they would go again. We are wishing we had a movie camera right now. (That will have to be on the list of priorities along with the musical instrument wishes.)
We are winding down on lamb births -- we had one born this week, so our count is 42. We have 11 ewes that have no lambed, but Katie thinks half of those probably will not lamb this year (too young).
On another subject entirely~
Jessica is sitting at the kitchen table teaching herself Japanese. As she learns a new word, she quizzes us. I think we are all learning Japanese, whether we want to or not. Good thing everyone is agreeable. :)

All Snowed In

The snowstorm of not-quite-the-century turned the 1/4 mile long driveway into a heap of snow last week, closing down the Greenfield site where I work, closing the schools for the week, and making it well-nigh impossible for anyone to get anywhere. But the friendly neighborhood farmer down the street brought in the heavy equipment and dug us out so I did manage to get to work on Thursday and Friday, and Rachel managed to make her STATE solo-ensemble contests on Saturday. (She placed silver in alto sax and gold in bassoon!)
However, the water heater quit Thursday. Or maybe it was Wednesday night. With the freezing temperatures outside, that means the well water coming in is about 34 degrees. Great for drinking, but horrid for washing. So, while we were out Saturday we bought another water heater -- definitely not in the budget. And, of course, it snowed (with winds) Saturday, so the driveway filled back up. We are awaiting the promise of warmer weather next week anxiously. (The poet was wrong -- February is the cruelest month.)
Meanwhile, out in the barns, the lambs are doing well -- 41 at last head count. Thankfully, no new ones during this wild weather. At least, when I see lambs I know spring is coming. New life always gives me hope. :)
What about you? What gives you hope this time of year?

Lamb pictures!	(before the big snow arrived)

Down at the Farm

Wow, we are getting into this blog thing today. I just created one for my educational pursuits (see Kithaven Connections), and now here's one for our farm. Katie's been after me for some time to do this, so I made it an assignment for my EdTech class. Nothing like a grade to get motivated, right?
So, we'll both be posting on here about what's happening on the farm.
Today Katie tells me we are at 36 lambs, not counting the one that insisted on finding a cold place to sleep (twice), and in this weather, it did him in. :( (We warmed him up the first time, but didn't catch him soon enough the second.)
All the others are doing great, though -- big healthy lambs. We love them! Of the 36, we have 16 ewe lambs of various % Katahdin, 11 wethers to be, and 9 potential rams (87.5 and 100% Katahdin). So, if you are in the market for a new ram lamb, we have lots of choices, in a wide range of color (white, red, chocolate, and spotted). Pictures will come shortly.
The goats are due later this spring, and we'll talk about them in another post.