purplequeenvt - Ivy Knoll Farm

[purplequeenvt]

We have goslings!!!! ;D

There are 2 so far. I wasn't really expecting any to hatch because there are two geese on the same nest and they keep moving the eggs back and forth between them.

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

How cute!!!! Love them!!

 

[purplequeenvt]

"Wait for us, Mommy!"

All that playtime made them very tired.

Beautiful Xena

Introducing Bucey! He is a 2 day old Milking Shorthorn. I'm raising him for my sister and brother-in-law.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

LOL! I love that first pic! Cute babies!

 

[purplequeenvt]

Haven't updated this in a while.....too much going on I guess. I feel like this past week has been none stop chaos. Not everything has been bad, just busy.

I lost my only mature Pekin drake to a predator...more on that subject in a minute. I'm in the middle of a number of big urgent projects - I have to finish painting my bedroom so that my dad can put the floor in, I'm skirting wool to be sent off for blankets (need 300 lbs of raw, skirted wool), and I have to figure out how to manage grazing the sheep and other creatures this summer...again, more on that in a minute.

I picked up a little heifer calf on Friday. She is a Holstein/Jersey cross, very petite and sweet. I hope to milk her when she's old enough. Her name is Beulah.

Back to the sheep.....

We started grazing the sheep during the last week and a half and they were grazing the field directly behind their paddocks so it was easy to call the in every night. A few days ago we set up a fence at the edge of the property (not far from and fully visible from the house). The sheep refused to stay in the fence after dark. We all thought that they were just being stupid and were afraid of the dark. Last night was the first night that they did not escape right before dark and, despite my "gut feeling", we left them out without any llamas. About 6 am yesterday morning my mom called me (she's 2 flights up from me) to say that the sheep were out. By the time I got outside, Lyd had the sheep rounded up. She said that all the lambs were accounted for but one, but she hadn't really looked for her. Later that afternoon (I was gone with my mom), Lyd realized that the lamb really was missing. She searched for a long time for any sign of what happened. We finally found the lamb's remains right inside their fence. It was killed by a bobcat. Same thing that took my duck.

It has all been pretty upsetting. All the "If Onlys". As horrible as it is to say, we are all thankful that it killed the one that it did though. It was the lamb with the least potential profit. She was a Shetland (so not much meat), but she wasn't registerable because of her funky tail (not good as breeding stock). It was still a loss of $300 - $400 though.

I'm now actively searching for a couple LGDs. I have a lead on a Sarplaninac puppy (I really want this one!).

 

[Queen Mum]

Ouch! I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Hope you find the dogs you are looking for.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Yikes! I think I'm a little behind here!

Let's see......

Mother's Day saw the arrival of a 3rd calf. My sister and her husband bought him as a MD present for my mom. His name is Byron and he is a Milking Shorthorn bull (soon to be steer). He is really sweet, but not very bright. He was having trouble with the bottle so I tried switching him to a bucket, but after days of fighting him, he's back on the bottle.

The other 2 calves are doing well.

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We got the lambs separated from their moms last Saturday, but yesterday night I put them all back together again because it has been raining pretty much none stop since Wednesday and the poor babies were out in the field getting wet and cold. I didn't see any ewes letting babies nurse when they got back together (much to the lambs's chagrin!).

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My 2 baby geese are growing and are now living with 4 ducklings and 11 Silkies. Everyone is getting along splendidly which is good because the plan was to have geese that didn't try to kill chickens and ducks like the parent geese do (although they are slightly better since they started going out to free range).

My Frizzle hen has hatched out 6 chicks. 2 didn't make it. She has 2 Speckled Sussex/EE babies with her and I took the little d'Uccle from her when it got really cold and also the big yellow mutt chick when it was still hatching because it was starting to shrink-wrap. Not sure why it was doing that under her, but it could have been because she is a Frizzle and/or because the weather got really cold suddenly.

Little d'Uccle

I've got a SS sitting on a nest in a pile of leaves, behind a bicycle, next to the garage. Geez....that's a lot of prepositional phrases! Another SS is on a nest of duck eggs and a duck is on a nest of chicken eggs (not sure if the chicken eggs will hatch though, the duck had a couple scatter-brained days.

I have 75(!) chicks arriving next week. 25 are SS pullets. I'm hoping to keep 10 or so and the rest I'll raise to about a month and then sell. 15 are d'Uccles - SR and an assortment of colors. I'll probably pick out a few nice ones and sell everyone else. 10 are SR Silkies, again, keep some sell some. The remaining 25 are an assortment of heavy layer pullets that I'll raise to a month and sell. There are lots of people in this area looking for started pullets so hopefully I won't have any trouble selling them.

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And last, but definitely not least.....I have spent hours searching for a LGD with very little success. I went and looked at a Sarplaninac puppy, but I didn't think it was going to be the right fit. I emailed a bunch of breeders, but nothing came of that. I was talking to a guy a couple hours away with Pyr/Anatolian puppies, but I wasn't getting a good "feeling" about them and then the breeder stopped emailing me. And then a couple days ago a lady in NY that I had contacted a couple weeks ago, emailed me to say that she had one female puppy left. We exchanged lots of emails, I even dragged Southern in to get her opinion.

I am pleased to say that I have found my LGD! She is a 13 week old Great Pyr (mostly, there is probably something else in there too). We don't know when we are going to pick her up yet, it will take some planning due to it being a 6 hour trip ONE way, but we'll probably be going next weekend.

Emma

 

[Queen Mum]

What a cute puppy! What is a D'uckkle?

 

[purplequeenvt]

What a cute puppy! What is a D'uckkle?

The d'Uccle (dew-clay) is a true bantam breed (there is no standard size variety) with a beard and feathered legs. They come in a few different color variations, but the most common color is Mille Fleur. They are a fun, friendly little bird.

An adult Mille Fleur d'Uccle rooster

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We ended up going to get the pup on Memorial Day. She is great! Very sweet dog. We named her Mira.

Belly rubs!!!

 

[purplequeenvt]

We have a foal! Candy had a bay pinto filly early Sunday morning. Her coloring is just like mom, but her markings are almost identical to her dads.