Archive for 'Critters'
Posted: July 16th, 2008 by
Lisa
We had a lamb die earlier this year. (Gracie and George’s ram lamb.) The first quick diagnosis was heat stroke, as it was on one of the hottest and most humid days of the year. But I had a necropsy done on him, and it showed bacterial pneumonia and extremely low levels
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Posted under Sheep.
Comments: 1
Posted: July 15th, 2008 by
Lisa
Water for all the critters is something that takes up small chunks of time all day long. I must fill water buckets for everyone at least four times a day. I wonder about bigger containers, but the pigs flip theirs so quickly and Albus sits or lays in his that bigger doesn’t help. Since
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Posted under Ducks, Geese, Pigs, Sheep, water.
Comments: none
Posted: July 4th, 2008 by
Frank
Instead of buying a $300 round bale feeder, I’m going to try using a cattle panel wrapped around it. We’ll see. We cut it down a little, and Aaron and Frank used a Dremel to smooth out the rough bits. We did the same thing for the sheep, except instead of eating out of the top, they will theoretically eat through the cattle panel openings. As they eat it, I’ll tighten it around them. We covered the top with a tarp. I hope these work. I need to find ways to save time during the day. It’s taking far longer for the loggers to clear the new pastures than I’d hope.
Posted under Hay, Horses, Sheep.
Comments: none
Posted: June 26th, 2008 by
Lisa
It often happens this way on the farm — someone dies and someone is born, both on the same day. Sadly, Misty died today from a ruptured spleen, delivered by a kick from our new male llama. We had let them get to know each other, and didn’t leave them alone until there was
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Posted under Death, Lambs, Llama.
Comments: 4
Posted: June 7th, 2008 by
Lisa
The Small and Beginning Farmers Association of New Hampshire (SBFNH) owns bird processing equipment that once you’ve been trained on it, you can reserve it when you need it and bring it to your own place to process your own birds. We’d been looking at building our own plucker in particular, because the stuff
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Posted under Chickens.
Comments: 1
Posted: June 3rd, 2008 by
Lisa
I had a surprise this morning. I thought I was done with lambing, and that none of Spike’s girls caught. I figured his troubles with parasites all last summer stunted his maturity, but I’d give him another year to see if he catches up. But I woke up this morning to a beautiful
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Posted under Icelandic, Lambs.
Comments: none
Posted: May 17th, 2008 by
Lisa
I am so enjoying having these little turkeys around. They have so much personality! This one here sits on my lap, likes to be cuddled, and even cuddles up and naps with the pup. Too cute. The whole flock of them follow me around on the farm any time I’m out there. They also
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Posted under Turkeys.
Comments: 1
Posted: May 10th, 2008 by
Frank
I’m working down in the flatlands now, so weekend days are precious. We need to get the farm set up so Lisa can do more than just take care of critters. And then soon, I need to be able to do more than that. A year ago we had extra firewood, but the sheep shed
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Posted under Design Ideas, Fencing, Honey Bees, Tractor, Uncategorized.
Comments: none
Posted: May 1st, 2008 by
Frank
There was a message on the Monadnock Beekeepers mailing list on Monday that Black Cat Honey had several extra packages of bees and would anyone want them. I called half an hour later and got the last two. It seems that B. Weaver down in Texas had sent out a truck full of bees and
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Posted under Honey Bees.
Comments: none
Posted: April 27th, 2008 by
Frank
Lisa and I both noticed that the eggshells have been getting a bit thin in the last week or so. I hypothesize that this is because the hens have switched from living on layer pellets to foraging which they find far yummier. However layer pellets are fortified with calcium while bugs are apparently not. I
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Posted under Chickens, Ducks, Eggs, Geese, Turkeys.
Comments: 1