The Farm News Report

It is hard to believe that it has been SEVEN weeks since I sat down and wrote on my poor neglected blog.  As I think about what to write, I smile to myself thinking that our daily goings on sound like the Farm & News Report at Noon that I used to watch with my Grandma.

Two days after my last post, we were surprised with a litter of baby bunnies.  The biggest part of the surprise was that we thought we had two female rabbits.  Clearly we were mistaken.  I have never had rabbits as pets until this past summer when we got them for the kids.  I panicked.  I Googled everything I could think of to get information about how to tell who was who and what to do with these bunnies.  I was trying to find homes for six of the seven babies, knowing we couldn't keep all these rabbits.  Sadly, finding them homes became a non-issue when they all died four days later.  We still don't know what happened.  We do know that the mother rabbit is young, there were in fact TWELVE babies (!!)  And that she probably became stressed when we removed the male from the hutch. (Did you know female rabbits can breed again the same day they give birth?!)

Baby bunnies, one day old.

In another case of mistaken gender  (Man, I'm bad at this stuff), our little Pippy the peeper grew up to be a rooster.  Over a few weeks, she got really tall.  She was far leggier than the other females of the same breed, though no other features of a rooster were evident.  Then she started growing sickle feathers and saddle hackles, you know, rooster feathers.  So much for adding another laying hen to the flock.  So now my Pippy is just Pip.  

l-r: Pip with T-Roy (the daddy rooster) and two hens

We also have been getting some projects off of our never-ending to do list.  We finally finished in the inside of our chicken coop.  It is now all insulated and the walls are covered with OSB.  Matt also fixed up the roof with some tar paper and shingles we had left over from when we did the roof on the house.  It is now all ship shape and ready for winter.

Freshly re-vamped chicken quarters

Last week, a deer got into our vegetable garden and from the looks of it, had a heck of a time getting out.  When I went out to feed the rabbits on Friday morning, the whole south end of the fence was laying on the ground and the center post was broken.  Matt and I talked about what to do with it and decided that we are going to move the garden to a new location next year, so he took the fence down on Saturday.  That side of the yard certainly does look different.

Chickens pecking in the old garden

Yesterday, Joey and I let the chickens out to feast on the remains of the garden.  We have had frost most nights and several light snowfalls, so nothing is growing anymore, but  the cool weather plants are in the ground to use as treats for the critters.  Joey and I were out digging around to see what was still there and we found a few nice radishes for the rabbits and a handful of carrots for us.  The chickens seemed most delighted with the remnants of the lettuces and rutabagas.  Oh and they all took the opportunity to get in one last nice dust bath before winter.

Joey with his "nice fat carrot"

We have also had a two birthdays, grouse hunting, trick or treating, deer season, a school conference, and a bit more canning in this time.  More on those in my next few posts.  If I wrote it all in one sitting, it would take an hour to read. :)