Spring on the farm is in full swing these days, as evidenced by ALL OF THE THINGS that are happening around here right now: planting, growing, building, major weed management, fat donkeys, and… babies!
Okay, there are no babies yet, but a couple of weeks ago my female guinea went missing. When I bought these guineas from a farm down the road, the lady told me that one day in early spring any female guineas would go missing, and I’d assume something got them, and a month later they’d turn up with a flock of babies…
Well, for a week there was no sign of her, and then I realized if I happened to be near the barn around mid-morning, there would be a guinea call coming from a wood pile in the pasture. It took two more weeks of running out there any time I heard her call to actually find her.
Now, from what I’ve seen the male guinea prefers to, ah, “work his magic” with the chickens (who, in turn, prefer to try to peck his eyeballs out whenever he gets near them… farm drama) so I’m not 100% sure the female guinea was laying fertilized eggs. But if they are– since guineas have a 26-28 day hatching time–those chicks should be arriving some time next week.
WHAAAT. I know, right? Who in the hell is ready for babies on the farm next week? Not this girl.
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this because the guineas are awesome at tick-management, and pretty hilarious to watch…
And they are also incredibly loud and annoying. I’m not sure I want a full flock of these little shits running around… still, having my first Feather-born babies on the farm is kind of awesome. We’ll see how this plays out over the next week or two.
So, that’s the big news around here, unless you talk to either of the donkeys who are both on a seriously restricted eating plan this spring…
The only thing they can talk about is how they are STARVING. TO. DEATH.
I feel for them, I do, but we have a much bigger problem than being hungry, which is that when the farrier came for our regularly-scheduled hoof-trimming a couple of weeks ago, he found some bruising in Docs hooves that can be an indication of founder. (Foundering causes pain and sometimes the separation of bones in the hooves, and can lead to an animal having to be put down… so, kind of a big fucking deal.)
When I got these guys from the Humane Society, they told me that they had foundered before and were more susceptible to it again. While we haven’t had a problem in the last couple of years, in spring the grass can have a lot of sugars in it (which can lead to weight issues and foundering) so instead of free access to gorge themselves on grass, they’re in a very restricted section of the pasture right now…
Not fun. I’ve got a couple of grazing muzzles on order… I hate the idea of these things, but if it allows them to stretch their legs more, without eating too much, that’s probably a win-win for us.
The good news is, Doc isn’t showing obvious signs of hoof-pain.
Also, he’s getting the royal treatment from my mom, who has added essential oil massages to his weekly routine…
They’re so hungry, they’re just hoping it’s treats…
I think we’re going to be okay, it’s just going to take a little more time and thoughtful management of their eating over the next few months. The part of me that loves my garden is hoping for rain, but I also really need the pasture grass to dry out quickly so it will be better for the donkeys.
ALL OF THE THINGS, you guys. I wasn’t kidding…
Still, hasn’t stopped the forward progress on the garden. The five new beds are actually in!
In what may a serious display of overkill, I used the 9″ auger on my tractor “dig” the twenty-four holes for the beds…
They are TWO-BY-FOURS, going like 12″ into the ground. There’s no reason to use a tractor to do that shit, but, I mean, if you have one…
Anyway. The those beds are in (just 5-ish more to go and then I’m done installing raised beds for the next 5 years. Word.)
Thanks to my mom and her valiant weeding efforts, the rest of the garden is looking pretty damned good.
And we’ve rigged up a temporary watering solution for the orchard. 65 gallon drum + tractor = problem solved.
I’ve got a few more long-term ideas for watering the orchard as well, but right now we’re just doing what we need to do to get it all done.
The fun (fun?) part is that this is a lot of stuff, but it’s not even close to the biggest project I’ve got going on right now. THAT one, required a 30 yd dumpster…
So much shit is about to get torn up, you guys. You have no idea….
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