purplequeenvt - Ivy Knoll Farm

[purplequeenvt]

I love your border collie They are my favorite breed. So smart and tuned into thier people and animals.

Haha! You've never met my Meg then! She is smart (in certain areas) and she loves me dearly....but man, there is something loose up there.

 

[BarredRockMomma]

Sounds like my Brandy. Smart and attentive until there is a refelcetion or she thinks you have a laser light. Then it is all gone for the day.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Meg's thing is her "Doggie Friend". He lives in the ceiling. If you ask her where her doggie friend is, she'll run around staring at the ceiling and making all sorts of strange sounds.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Fun fact I learned today........

Silkies have black skin, black bones, and PURPLE meat.

 

[Goatherd]

Fun fact I learned today........

Silkies have black skin, black bones, and PURPLE meat.

Here's another fun fact for you...

The Asian population loves Silkie chickens to make soup. They believe that the black meat has medicinal qualities as well as cosmetic benefit. I am fortunate to have Asian customers that will purchase as many Silkies as I can produce for them. It's a great way to sell excess roosters. Depending upon the size, they will pay $9-$12 for live birds.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Fun fact I learned today........

Silkies have black skin, black bones, and PURPLE meat.

Here's another fun fact for you...

The Asian population loves Silkie chickens to make soup. They believe that the black meat has medicinal qualities as well as cosmetic benefit. I am fortunate to have Asian customers that will purchase as many Silkies as I can produce for them. It's a great way to sell excess roosters. Depending upon the size, they will pay $9-$12 for live birds.

That's good to know! I don't have Silkies myself, but I butchered one yesterday.

 

[purplequeenvt]

A friend brought over 12 bantam roosters for me to "take care of" yesterday. I butchered 11 and spared one. I am a sucker for oddities. I would like you to meet the Frizzle-Miester!

He is much smaller than normal and he is so odd looking that I couldn't help myself. My reasoning is this.....#1 he is really small so he won't eat very much, #2 he would be an interesting addition to my "petting zoo" (I bring a bunch of the animals to a couple local fall events every year). He is also very friendly so that is an added bonus.

Now I have a little story to share with you......

This is Meatball.

He was hatched in August 2011 at our county fair and his hatch (the eggs were not mine) was very strange. Several chicks had curled toes, one developed wry neck - corrected by vitamins, and Meatball had a crooked beak. This made him special. None of the chicks grew well so it was a long time before they were a good size and when it came down to it, I couldn't slaughter my entertaining friend. He could get around perfectly fine, he could even get up on the perches. I told myself that, if he ever looked like he was struggling and wasn't enjoying life, I would put him down.

Last Saturday he disappeared. There was absolutely no trace of him. He loved to run around and forage, but he never went very far. And it was in the middle of the day. What would come into the yard - right by the house and barn, take a huge chicken and leave no trace behind? I was sad, but resigned to the fact that he was gone.

Today I was outside filling water buckets and I decided to fill up four black rubber dishes that I had used as swimming buckets for the ducks during the winter. I filled the 1st three and I grabbed the 4th and flipped it over. There, blinking up at me, was Meatball!! He spent 5 days (some of them 80 + degrees) under a small black bucket. He was a little dirty and very thirsty, but other then that was fine. I still can't believe it!

 

[purplequeenvt]

Lyric and Hettie went to the vet's office today to get dehorned. It was a bigger deal because they are 8 weeks old instead of a few days, but it's too much of a risk to have horned goats here. Gus still has his horns and he is usually good with them, but I get nervous when we have small visitors. He could very easily poke someone in the face, even accidentally.

 

[purplequeenvt]

It is cold and wet today. The poor sheep are huddled in the sheds and there is mud everywhere! And I have new babies coming any day now. I was hoping for lambs the 1st possible day, but now I'm hoping they will wait until the rain stops....which doesn't look like it will until Saturday. We really needed the rain, but a full week of nothing but rain?? The only ones enjoying this weather are the ducks.

Sorry. Rant over. This type of grey weather makes me a little depressed. That and a lack of sleep.

We still haven't gotten our wee little piggies. We have to put up a pen for them first, but taking down the old pasture fence took priority.

There is a new calf out in the barn. My sister and brother-in-law got a calf that we are going to raise for them. He is also Holstein, but Winston is much cuter. I haven't taken any pictures because it is too wet and gross out there.

 

[BrownSheep]

Ah I want some piggies....sigh....Sorry about the rain. If it makes you feel better we're suppose to have record setting heat. I HATE HEAT. I burn up. That and I don't know how our pregnant ewes will do in the 90's today.