Friday was my official last day working at Twin Oaks:( We managed to finish the last twelve foot coop and move all the girls to new pasture again but on Thursday Mistigris was hurt by something (maybe another cat?) and his paw got all swollen. He didn't make it. So Friday we buried him... RIP Mistigris.
Aside from that we had a good farewell - gorgeous, sunny skies and moving all the baby ducks outside! They are hilarious in the grass... so busy! Now I am spending the week exploring Gainesville, FL - hiking, meeting cool people, making music, reading.
WWOOF #1 Complete. Now on to new adventures...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
TINY OMELET ANYONE?
Yesterday when I went out for the usual egg collection mid-morning I discovered the TINIEST chicken egg ever. Literally, I thought it might be a poop in the laying box... but it was, in fact, an egg. It only weighs about .5oz and it is brown speckled (Keep in mind: typical egg = 1.5oz, Josephine's eggs = 3.75oz). Then this morning when I was collecting eggs I noticed one of the red chickens was in the process of laying (that is normal - most of the time you see a few laying eggs in the boxes) but instead of facing out, she was facing in the box - basically sticking her butt out of it. I figured it would be really interesting to see her phsyically laying the egg so I watched her for a minute. The egg started to emerge and then...... bloop! TINY EGG!!! Haha. I found the culprit of the tiny eggs! So now there are TWO teenie tiny eggs here. Tomorrow I am going to take some pictures when we get a third one (IF we get a third) and I will post them... then we are going to make some teenie tiny omelets. YAY!
Tomorrow the ducklings get moved to the great outdoors! They are starting to really look like ducks now... with oversized feet and bills:) And they have been getting out of the pool very frequently now so, its time for them to be grown up ducks!
Tomorrow the ducklings get moved to the great outdoors! They are starting to really look like ducks now... with oversized feet and bills:) And they have been getting out of the pool very frequently now so, its time for them to be grown up ducks!
Monday, April 13, 2009
SUR LE PLAGE
This weekend was a luxurious one. After the Seaside Farmer's Market on Saturday morning I went to stay with Renee's friend Michael in Panama City Beach. He has a condo right on the beach so I just layed around in the sand and waves for two days. Fantastic. As a result of this vacation I saw a few really beautiful things... I went for a walk this morning at the beach and brought my guitar. As I started playing and singing on the water's edge and entire pod(?) of dolphins swam along the shore right in front of me. Absolutely breathtaking. Further along my walk I came upon a purple and blue sea urchan. And anytime I was at the water's edge I got to watch the little mussels get washed onto the shore, only to upturn themselves and burrow deep into the wet sand again.
After some thorough relaxation, I returned to Bonifay - only to be greeted by: RAIN! I think I am attracting the rain here or something because it just poured all day long. But some good things: we finished all the hoop coops last Friday, so no more cleaning out nasty, wet coops! Hooray! In the two days I was away, the ducklings became enormous:) One of them even jumped out of the little pool they are in (only to panic when he couldn't see any of the others anymore.... pathetically adorable). And finally, we found a name for the third member of the lesbian hen triangle: Sue-Ellen (we tried to choose something as Deep-South sounding as we could...) As soon as we finish another 12' long coop (hopefully tomorrow) we are moving the ducklings OUTSIDE! That should be an adventure... photos to come soon;)
After some thorough relaxation, I returned to Bonifay - only to be greeted by: RAIN! I think I am attracting the rain here or something because it just poured all day long. But some good things: we finished all the hoop coops last Friday, so no more cleaning out nasty, wet coops! Hooray! In the two days I was away, the ducklings became enormous:) One of them even jumped out of the little pool they are in (only to panic when he couldn't see any of the others anymore.... pathetically adorable). And finally, we found a name for the third member of the lesbian hen triangle: Sue-Ellen (we tried to choose something as Deep-South sounding as we could...) As soon as we finish another 12' long coop (hopefully tomorrow) we are moving the ducklings OUTSIDE! That should be an adventure... photos to come soon;)
Friday, April 10, 2009
MENAGE A TROIS
Germaine and Josephine have adopted a third member into their little love nest... "to-be-named" has spent the last three nights in their coop. **OOWWWW, Mistigris just attempted to climb me like a tree. His claws are sharp** Anyways, the three of them roam around together all day now... you have to love this sexually friendly farm;)
Renee and I finished two coops this week (YAY!) and now all our darlings are living in hoop coops - protected from wind, rain, floor poop, and predators. And they look pretty darn cute. We also attended a Shiitake Mushroom cultivating workshop on Monday night, which was very interested... we left with two large inoculted logs (logs stuffed with Shiitake spores). In six months we will have tons of mushrooms! In the past few weeks, we have hung out alot with Jean-Claude and Linda (They are the two in the photos with the chickens, Renee, and I) who are really interesting, sweet people. So we have managed to get out of the house a little bit...
I have come to the conclusion that eggs are specific to each hen. Even though the egg count has increased a ton lately, I have noticed that there are always several eggs each day that look the same as the day before: one is long and skinny, one is fat and round, one is perfectly oval, one is VERY dark brown, two are super light brown, and there have been two eggs that are WRINKLED! Haha! The white egg I posted pictures of is the one that is wrinkly that I first found. I thought it was soft when I saw it in the laying box but oddly enough, it is as hard as any other egg! As if it was wrinkled inside the hen, while it was hardening. It absolutely cracks me up. And then we found a brown one today like that. SO COOL! Another funny egg thing: a few of the leghorns have been hanging out daily under the oak trees near the pasture. Just the other day, Renee and I realized that perhaps we should look there for eggs and BINGO! Eggs. I found six white eggs under the oaks. Chickens are so funny about where and how and what shape they lay their eggs.
I wish everyone could see and experience how much laughter happens on this farm. We (All members of Twin Oaks) are constantly being ridiculous, or finding something else hilarious... I love it:)
Duck update: they are getting SO BIG. And we have had 100% survival rate for one week, yay!
Market update: second Seaside Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. We are getting up at 5:00am. And we are bringing tons of eggs and preserves, as usual.
Weekend update: I am staying the weekend in Panama City Beach, at our friend Michael's apartment. Life is rough, I know... beach, books, sunshine... this weekend will be a tough one but hopefully I can make it through...
Renee and I finished two coops this week (YAY!) and now all our darlings are living in hoop coops - protected from wind, rain, floor poop, and predators. And they look pretty darn cute. We also attended a Shiitake Mushroom cultivating workshop on Monday night, which was very interested... we left with two large inoculted logs (logs stuffed with Shiitake spores). In six months we will have tons of mushrooms! In the past few weeks, we have hung out alot with Jean-Claude and Linda (They are the two in the photos with the chickens, Renee, and I) who are really interesting, sweet people. So we have managed to get out of the house a little bit...
I have come to the conclusion that eggs are specific to each hen. Even though the egg count has increased a ton lately, I have noticed that there are always several eggs each day that look the same as the day before: one is long and skinny, one is fat and round, one is perfectly oval, one is VERY dark brown, two are super light brown, and there have been two eggs that are WRINKLED! Haha! The white egg I posted pictures of is the one that is wrinkly that I first found. I thought it was soft when I saw it in the laying box but oddly enough, it is as hard as any other egg! As if it was wrinkled inside the hen, while it was hardening. It absolutely cracks me up. And then we found a brown one today like that. SO COOL! Another funny egg thing: a few of the leghorns have been hanging out daily under the oak trees near the pasture. Just the other day, Renee and I realized that perhaps we should look there for eggs and BINGO! Eggs. I found six white eggs under the oaks. Chickens are so funny about where and how and what shape they lay their eggs.
I wish everyone could see and experience how much laughter happens on this farm. We (All members of Twin Oaks) are constantly being ridiculous, or finding something else hilarious... I love it:)
Duck update: they are getting SO BIG. And we have had 100% survival rate for one week, yay!
Market update: second Seaside Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. We are getting up at 5:00am. And we are bringing tons of eggs and preserves, as usual.
Weekend update: I am staying the weekend in Panama City Beach, at our friend Michael's apartment. Life is rough, I know... beach, books, sunshine... this weekend will be a tough one but hopefully I can make it through...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
I SMELL, I SMELL... DUCKY! (you smell me!?)
(For those of you who need it: the reference is to Land Before Time, or as a child I used to babysit named it, the "Time Ago's.")
The days just keep getting crazier and busier and longer and as a result, the blog visiting and updating gets more limited. Sorrie! However, I am now here to recount the experience of getting a new edition to the family:) The ducklings were a day late, a result of which can mean disaster for their survival rate because they basically won't have eaten or drank anything for the first three days of their lives. Thursday morning at 6:00am the Post Office called to let us know that the ducklings just arrived. So we jumped in the car and when we walked into the P.O. we could already hear the "chirp, chirp!" from the back room. When ducklings are shipped (or chicks or other tiny birds) they come in batches of 25 to keep warm. Ours was a batch of fifty Khaki Campbells and they came in a box 2 feet long, 1 foot deep, and 6 inches high, with tiny holes all over it.
As soon as we got back to Twin Oaks we had to take them out one at a time, check them to make sure they were healthy, and then dunk their bills into water to make sure they drink something. Then, once they are all safely in the pool we grabbed a bunch of them to put their bills in food so they learn to eat. UNBELIEVABLY CUTE! They don't weigh a thing at all, they beep constantly, and they are super fluffy. It is hilarious to watch them drink and run around because they also happen to be super clumbsy and hyper. Basically they were all drenched with water within seconds, running and tripping over one another.
Now several days later we have had a 100% survival rate, so Renee is ecstatic. Although, the fear now is the number of girls and boys in the bunch. You cannot get ducks "sexed out" (seperated by sex) so its a mix of boys and girls and you just have to wait until they get older to tell. Ideally, we recieved 50/50... but their is one big black one in the bunch (the rest are light khaki colored) and Renee is scared that we either have 49 girls or 49 boys. Haha. I have posted some pictures of them so enjoy... and know that even though they are SO ADORABLE in the pictures - they are at least 50 times cuter in person;)
The days just keep getting crazier and busier and longer and as a result, the blog visiting and updating gets more limited. Sorrie! However, I am now here to recount the experience of getting a new edition to the family:) The ducklings were a day late, a result of which can mean disaster for their survival rate because they basically won't have eaten or drank anything for the first three days of their lives. Thursday morning at 6:00am the Post Office called to let us know that the ducklings just arrived. So we jumped in the car and when we walked into the P.O. we could already hear the "chirp, chirp!" from the back room. When ducklings are shipped (or chicks or other tiny birds) they come in batches of 25 to keep warm. Ours was a batch of fifty Khaki Campbells and they came in a box 2 feet long, 1 foot deep, and 6 inches high, with tiny holes all over it.
As soon as we got back to Twin Oaks we had to take them out one at a time, check them to make sure they were healthy, and then dunk their bills into water to make sure they drink something. Then, once they are all safely in the pool we grabbed a bunch of them to put their bills in food so they learn to eat. UNBELIEVABLY CUTE! They don't weigh a thing at all, they beep constantly, and they are super fluffy. It is hilarious to watch them drink and run around because they also happen to be super clumbsy and hyper. Basically they were all drenched with water within seconds, running and tripping over one another.
Now several days later we have had a 100% survival rate, so Renee is ecstatic. Although, the fear now is the number of girls and boys in the bunch. You cannot get ducks "sexed out" (seperated by sex) so its a mix of boys and girls and you just have to wait until they get older to tell. Ideally, we recieved 50/50... but their is one big black one in the bunch (the rest are light khaki colored) and Renee is scared that we either have 49 girls or 49 boys. Haha. I have posted some pictures of them so enjoy... and know that even though they are SO ADORABLE in the pictures - they are at least 50 times cuter in person;)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
FIRSTS
For some reason, with the rain came A) more rain and B) more work... everytime I feel like perhaps I could get a move on the big projects we have I have to stop everything to clean out the coops. And then, it rains, so I can't work on any other outdoor projects... and then the coops are swamped again so the circle continues. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about the work itself, I just want to get other - much needed - things accomplished. However, this post is about the firsts happening this week!
1. Baby Ducklings Arrive Tomorrow! They were supposed to arrive at the post office this morning but sadly (for us and them... the rate at which they die increases DRAMATICALLY every day they spend in the mail) they didn't get here today. So bright and early tomorrow morning we will go pick them up:) We rushed around and worked so late LAST night to prepare their habitat, so at least that is all set for their welcome to Twin Oaks.
2. Solitary Egg Delivery! Renee has a bunch of office-work to do tomorrow and will have to be around to monitor the ducklings first day here so I get the honors of the Seaside egg delivery. A little intimidating but according to Renee, she gives "GREAT" directions... we shall see... along with my mother's genes, I also recieved her sense of direction;)
3. First Seaside Farmer's Market! Saturday morning is the first of this season's farmer's market at Seaside. We are going to have preserves, eggs, and homemade ice cream to sell. And since Saturday's are technically days off for me, I will be gracing the ocean with my presence for the first time since arriving in Florida!
Those are the big "firsts" for now... keep your fingers crossed for the ducklings this week!
1. Baby Ducklings Arrive Tomorrow! They were supposed to arrive at the post office this morning but sadly (for us and them... the rate at which they die increases DRAMATICALLY every day they spend in the mail) they didn't get here today. So bright and early tomorrow morning we will go pick them up:) We rushed around and worked so late LAST night to prepare their habitat, so at least that is all set for their welcome to Twin Oaks.
2. Solitary Egg Delivery! Renee has a bunch of office-work to do tomorrow and will have to be around to monitor the ducklings first day here so I get the honors of the Seaside egg delivery. A little intimidating but according to Renee, she gives "GREAT" directions... we shall see... along with my mother's genes, I also recieved her sense of direction;)
3. First Seaside Farmer's Market! Saturday morning is the first of this season's farmer's market at Seaside. We are going to have preserves, eggs, and homemade ice cream to sell. And since Saturday's are technically days off for me, I will be gracing the ocean with my presence for the first time since arriving in Florida!
Those are the big "firsts" for now... keep your fingers crossed for the ducklings this week!
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