chicken doctor

Last weekend, Aaron and I finished the chicken coop, and put the two dozen pooping machines outside. (and, as a side note, Aaron and I worked quite well together on chick-u-topia, as we so appropriately named it) It's a good thing, they are much easier to care for. . .in other words, no poop in my basement. . .when they are outside. Plus, they LOVE their new space, they fly all over the coop, in their awkward new-wing flight patterns.

We soon noticed that one of the Ameraucanas is quite smaller then the others, and having a hard time passing stool (what we call a "blocked vent" in the chicken community) this is usually a sign that the chick isn't going to make it. Well, I'm certainly not going to let a blocked vent ruin my streak of "perfect mama hen" care. So, for the last few days, I've been giving Nova (yes, we've named quite a few of the chickens- and yes, after all the girl names that we like, and have no other opportunity to use) warm baths twice a day, and hand dropping a mixture of yogurt, molasses, and olive oil into her beak- three times a day.

Each morning, I go to check on the chickens, fully aware that I might find Nova dead. Every morning, she's still kicking around. This morning, her little vent actually looks pretty good (well, as good as a chicken ass can look, right?) so it seems as though the chicken doc is actually doing a pretty good job.

If this chicken doesn't make it, I'll tell you, it won't be for lack of trying!

alpacas? bring it on!

We've decided. . .we're going to be alpaca people :) After a whirlwind week of visiting alpaca farms, we've decided to go local, and get our new family members from Clark Summit Alpacas here in Deering. The owners are great people, and seem truely happy that their (well loved) boys are coming to live with us. We've got a lot to learn (and do!) before we can have them here, and James from Clark Summit Alpaca has been awesome giving us tons of information and tips about raising alpaca. Here's a link to the farms website, with pictures of our beautiful boys, Julian, Santana, Sabre and Mikey.

http://www.clarksummitalpacas.com/males.html

if anyone is looking to get a good workout. . .well be installing lots of fencing once the ground thaws :)

farm life?

So, I get a call from Agway that there are still chicks that need homes . . .so of COURSE I go pick up another six, giving us a nice round two dozen little fuzz balls. That should do it, eh?

Aaron knows how I long to turn our little family into a small farm. For a while I'd been thinking goat, but after the realization that I'm really not a big fan of goats milk (good reason not to have a goat) we've turned out sights towards other creatures.

I want Alpaca.

So now, chickens, Alpacas, soon enough I'm going to feel like we've got an official farm. We just need a farm name. A unique quality of our property is that it's lined with oak trees. I'm thinking something like Acorn Acres, or Oak Wood farm. . . . .any ideas?