While we were working in the garden this morning, I noticed Lily/Willy (Willie?) standing very close to the fence and holding her head very still while Aileas licked her ear. Aaaw, how sweet.
Six of our does came in heat in May but only one of those breedings actually "took". Dana is due to kid October 18, and she is definitely feeling rather full! The rest of the does were bred again late in August so wont be kidding until January.
We ordered 50 Cornish X chickens and they arrived Friday. We are hoping to sell enough of them to cover the cost of their feed for the next 8 to 10 weeks. Mum sent me a great link on feeding chickens ( http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-4/Harvey_Ussery.html ) and I am hoping to feed these little feathered freaks as naturally as possible. The Cornish are bred to grow out to butchering size in 8 weeks, which is definitely not natural. They are prone to heart attacks and crippling leg problems from their rapid growth, which is why we limit their feed after the first two weeks. We also feed kefir almost daily, depending on our milk supply. We have experimented with various feed mixes and have not been totally happy with any of them. We'd like to avoid soy and antibiotics as well as any of the strange additives that go into commercial chicken feed. You can place your orders now! :o)
Mooky did do a little tilling, but was having trouble with the tall grass wrapping around the blades (tines?), so Kris took over and Mooky sat down to rest his weary body. The tall grass was a result of me getting behind in the weeding all year long! I ripped a bunch of it up and threw it over the fence for the animals, but couldn't keep up with it due to the fact that one of my helpers didn't feel good all year long.
We are planning to plant oats in most of the garden for the winter, and let the meat chickens spend a lot of time in there eating greens and bugs in addition to whatever feed mix I can come up with. Then later on we'll let the goats in to graze occasionally.
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1 comment:
Awwwww... what a great picture of Aileas and Lily !!!!
Poor Dana - she looks like she's gonna explode. Then again, Velvet (in the picture above with Kris) does not look like she's far behind.
Cute chicks. :)
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