The Farm in Winter

I haven't been on the blog in quite some time ... In fact, we've had a Christmas and now it's next year! Finally, the weather has turned to January. We're struggling with keeping the buckets of water from being frozen over, but other than that, Decker's Acres is going pretty well. We are concerned for our turkeys, however. Sometimes they just seem so stupid! Georgie is laying eggs now, and we have about a dozen going in the incubator. Of course, when they hatch, we'll have one a day hatch, as that is how we are getting the eggs. Georgie is a Blue Slate, the daddy, as far as we can tell, is Quagmire, a Narrangansett. Either way, they'll be pretty birds. We do have a Blue Slate tom, Donatello, but he's not dominate. He's the self-blue color and is just lovely! Anyway, the other day, when the weather turned, Georgie thought it would be great fun to stay out in the rain. She got herself all wet, and then the temperatures dropped down into the teens. She's fine, now. Then Foreman, our Red Bourbon tom, thought staying outside, perched high up on a beam would be a great way to spend the night as the snow blew around him. Duh! Lucy, our Red Bourbon hen, also likes to get out and roam the farm, but she hasn't acted dumb yet.

The goats are doing well. Betsy kidded today, but had problems and the little buck died. He was a cutie. I couldn't tell you if Lillie or Ginger were preggers, however. They should be. I witnessed the act, and later that week, Freddie showed no interest in them. Jade is going to have to get out of the bachelor pen. She's had multiple opportunities, but putting her back in with the girls isn't a good idea either because she keeps the other girls from eating. She's a bit crazy. She's always bleating. You'd think there was something wrong with her because generally a goat that loud and obnoxious has some sort of health issue. Not Jade. She's just loud. We've had her for almost a year now, and she's always made her voice heard.

The chickens are laying pretty good. We have about 25 pullets, and they are really stepping it up! The barred rocks lay well, and one or two of the ISA Browns do as well, but it's the young Americaunas that are really bringing it on! So with the 35 or so hens we have, we're getting about ten eggs a day, at least half of them are green or blue. The Marans and the Wellsummers are starting to lay as well, and usually once a day there's a dark brown one in the mix.

Well, enjoy the pictures! It's back to work I go!