Ducks? Today??!!

   Talk about a shocker to the system. The post office called yesterday at noon and said we had some chicks come in and needed to pick them up. What??? Those weren't supposed to come until May 9th. We didn't feel we could just send the little buggers back, so we got their cage area ready. Looks like this...



There is a cage that a box sits on. The box has linoleum on the bottom for easy washing. Then we have cardboard on the corners to round them and another cardboard piece across the middle to keep them all on one half until they get bigger. The heat lamp hangs on a rope and can be lifted up and down to
adjust the heat. We keep it around 95 for the first few days and can tell if they are cold if they huddle and hot if they are in the corners trying to get away from the heat. Then the screen keeps the big girls and boys from climbing in and eating the food and terrorizing the babies. As the babies get larger and warmer we can open the back door with a screen door on it and let some fresh air in.

We've used this system for years and I like it alot. But, the reason I like it the best is because the little babies are in with the big kids. They listen to each other, begin to recognize voices, and start to get acquainted. The transition of putting the babies in with the larger chicks seems to go pretty easy later.

As you can see from this pic, the whole thing fits into one half of the chicken house. The large chicks still have their nice perches for at night and they put up with all the cheaping and the increased heat. There is a flip door on the side of the chicken house so we can keep the large door closed and the heat in. The big girls can come in and out during the day to put eggs in the boxes as part of our "egg program". (Most of them willingly participate in the program. Except Spike and she is a whole 'nother story!)
   The babies arrived in a cardboard box. And Tom, the postman, mentioned that there wasn't that many. Hm...I had ordered 30 chicks. I opened the box and saw little black billed heads...ducks! They were due May 16th!
   Our Cayuga ducks came early. OOOKAAY. I guess we could still use the same set up since the chicks wouldn't come until May. It would be too cold to set up the other area where we usually raise the ducklings and the turkey poults. We noticed two were already dead, but we took the rest home to get them warmed up.

This is the type of box we get our poultry in. We like to work with McMurry Hatchery in Iowa as they are so nice. When we got the babies home, we opened the box carefully and took them out one at a time. The ducks have little bands on their legs that are different colors according to their sex. We had ordered 10 female (ducks) and 2 male (drakes). The bands need to be removed before the ducklings get too large or the legs will be pinched by them.

We carefully removed the bands, and I dipped each bill into the water a couple of times, making sure that they got a good drink each time. This is pretty important for the poultry I think. It helps them find the water, hydrates them after a truly horrible experience, gives them some sustenance since they are just hatched, and calms them down some. We let them all be still for a while and soak up the heat and get their drinks. A small plate of food is available for them also.

I've noticed that the ducklings like to be shown the food. I dribble some onto the newspaper and they chase it like it is bugs. The newspaper keeps them from eating the pine wood shavings we use for bedding. I'll take the newspaper out after a couple of days a piece at a time, getting them used to the new stuff and making sure they aren't eating it.
  We did lose two more later and I got really worried. I called the hatchery and they said they thought the ducklings got too stressed during shipping and assured me we could work out a credit for them. Like I said...they are really nice. The rest of the babies did fine all through the night. I check them every four hours and adjust the light as needed for the first couple of nights. Unfortunately we don't have that automated. It gives me a chance to make sure they are doing okay.
   We usually order for delivery in May so the weather isn't too cold. I'm not sure if the mix up was mine or the hatchery, but the babies are here and doing fine. I did make sure the chicks were coming in May and that will give us plenty of time to get these raised up enough to move them out to another area by then.
   As for the breed, Cayuga ducks are a heritage breed. You can learn more about them at the American Livestock Breed Conservancy website - link at the bottom of the blog page. I love the black ones...they are soooo cute! What about the other two survivors? One is doing great, the other we are still concerned about.

Can you tell which is which? Wish them luck.

Wildflowers at the Farm

Here's some beauties that are blooming right now.


Trillium




Dutchman's Breeches
Cute little guys!



Bluebells



Bloodroot

And, here's some that will be blooming soon!


Wild tulips




Merrybells




Woodland Poppies

   Piglet news...all eight are still hanging in there, altho we are still worried for the littlest runt. He's still not very strong. Today we give them some soil to munch on. To answer a couple of questions...registering the pigs with the AGHA helps keep track of this breed in the U.S. And, since they are very rare (only around 1,000 now) it helps with knowing how the breed is growing, what problems it might be having with birth defects or such, and helps us know which lines of the breed are doing the best. It also helps keep cross breeding and dilution of the breed out of the picture. 
   We don't get any government subsidies for our crops or animals. We aren't sure that would be the best for our farm to be sustainable financially if we couldn't have a market that supported our products without (variable and unsure of) government assistance. We just keep trying to do a really good job with what we are doing, on the scale we can do, enjoying our land and family and friends while doing it.
   Thinking of farming in the terms of marketing, instead of just growing something that we will get paid for even if the price isn't enough, makes it more of a challenge. It makes it more exciting to try to come up with the latest greatest for the chefs. It is also how the world of small business works...we are really a small family owned business selling our cool and unique products to loving wonderful customers! Ra Ra for small entreprenurial businesses!

Piglets are here...finally!

   When I started chores Saturday morning and opened the barn door I found the babies.

   Swee had eight baby piglets that morn, I figure about 7am. Two still had yuck on them and were off to the side and she was nursing the others already. I left them for a little while in case she wasn’t done cleaning them up. Later Marty went back with me and he took out the one that wasn’t moving and was lying on its back. We thought it was dead. It was alive but very chilly so he warmed it up in the sun and rubbed on it. A little girl.

   I climbed in with Swee and put the other yuck one on a teat as it couldn’t seem to find it. Then I moved the runt closer also. The one Marty was warming still had the umbilical cord on it. We put it back next to her belly. Later we checked again and it wasn’t eating yet but was staying warm. The runt was starting to eat a little by that time.

   Later in the day, we were working on the back porch, jacking it up cuz it was sloping so badly, and I thought I’d better check on the babies again. We hadn't given Swee any food yet as we didn't want to disturb her.

   But, what a scare! Swee was still in the same position and still grunting. The babies were still feeding. But she hadn’t moved and still had the afterbirth behind her. With her previous three litters she cleaned up the afterbirth pretty quickly. But, this was about 6 hours later.

   I got worried and went in with her. I moved her tail aside to check and make sure she didn’t have anyone stuck. She just grunted and didn’t get upset with me. That got me even more worried.

   I have to say that unlike all the stories I've heard of sows being mean, she is a really super good pig. She never gets upset with me if I climb in with her and the babies, at least not the first few days. She lets me pick them up, check them out, etc. If she doesn't want me to handle them she makes a little more assertive grunt at me and I back off. But, this letting me fiddle with her back end...well that was a real surprise.

   So I ran back to the house and got the guys. I was pretty worried.

   Marty gave her the golden treat - two apples - and she got up and ate them. Apples do it every time! Then she ate the afterbirth which makes me gag and I can’t watch it. I can deal with a lot of blood and gore, but not that! She wanted more apples so we gave her another three and then some turnips and she drank some water. Whew!

   She must've been really wiped out. 

   We got a good look at the little kids. They are now considered the “babies”; the last two litters are the “boys” and the “girls”. This new litter had one runt and then the one that we thought was dead. The runt and the gimped up one that was cold can’t move their back ends well, but they were getting around some. That was a great sign. I wouldn’t have been surprised if we had lost them. But they must’ve got enough to eat and got warmed up. They all seem to be doing well. And this morning they are all starting to chase each other around. 



Swee with her first litter. Look like little puppies!
They are only about 5-6" when born.



   Our pigs are all American Guinea Hogs, a pretty rare heritage breed. Check out our website for more info on them. They are pretty small for a pig, Sam weighing just over 200 pounds maybe (we haven't ventured to get him on the scale). The babies are about the size of a large hamster when they are born. They pretty much fit in the palm of your hand. And, since they are a very hairy breed (ours have very thick, curly, wooly looking hair) they look a little like black puppies with their floppy ears.  



   Since Swee was a month past what we expected, that means she bred a month later, around December 22. We try to breed by the moon, which means we put her and Sam together four days before a full moon. I wrote it all down and have to go back and write down about the two that were smaller. When I send in the info to register them with AGHA (American Guinea Hog Association) they like to know how many runts and stillborn and gimped up ones. She has never had stillborn which is good.



   When the babies are about four days old we give them some dirt from the garden area. That keeps us from having to give them iron shots like the conventional pig farmers do. At about four weeks (or when they are big enough that they can't get thru the fence) we put her and the babies out on pasture again. The healthiest litter she has had was the one that she birthed outside on pasture (instead of in the barn stall).

   She had her last litter on my birthday, and this one on Rich’s. Happy Birthday Rich! Bet you never had piglets for your birthday before...we'll name one after you. 



Swee is a great mom. This is her talking to Marty

and her second litter out on pasture at four weeks old.







Good Friday came early

   Teamwork is terrific! We are getting soooo much done lately by all three of us working on projects together. Yesterday we were able to get a lot more planting done. We started out by broadcasting our spring wheat into the south field. We use an old seeder wagon (thanks to Ray Meenen for selling it to us!). Marty and Will stood in back and poured the seed into the hopper which then flings it out, driven by the wheels turning.

Seeder wagon for broadcasting seed
(note that it is green!)

   After that was done, Will took the disc on the larger 190 tractor and covered the seed by pulling the disc thru. Works great. It almost looks like we use a new fangled drill to put the wheat seed in. But, nope...just old timey equipment like they used in the...1940's and 50's maybe.
   Then Good Friday came early this year. Even tho yesterday was a "leaf" day according to our Stella Natura calendar, we planted our potatoes. That is with the hopes that the rains will come in the next two days and soak them a little. I drove the D-15 (I drive the straightest rows) and Will put the potatoes thru the little planter. Marty cut the potatoes that were too large into smaller pieces and then he worked on hilling them up a little with the G after we were done planting. (See my previous blog for the tractor pics.)
   The potato planter is an old piece that was lovingly and craftily restored by our friend Warren Ulfers. I have to say thank you to Warren for giving us the seeder to use. It seems that very few people in our area have ever seen a potato planter like this. It is pretty cool.


This pic taken last year pulling with the C tractor.




Here's Will dropping potatoes into the coveyor slots.

   We joke about Will feeling like Lucy on the show "I Love Lucy" where she is in the candy factory trying to keep up with the conveyor. I have to drive pretty slow pulling it. The planter is powered by a chain on the wheel and we had some problems with keeping the chain on...until it broke! Then we shortened it a notch and it worked great.
   Will piles the potatoes in the box (as you can see) and drops the pieces into the conveyor in the middle. They go down a chute which is behind a plow. The plow creates a furrow, potato drops into it, and then another piece covers them.
   If you would like to see some of the equipment we use, we are having a Small Equipment Day at the farm on May 21. This program is sponsored by the Central Illinois Sustainable Farming Network (CISFN). Sign up at www.cisfn.org/about/join-the-network. Joining the network as a supporter or farmer gives you an opportunity to keep up with Central Illinois small farm news and programs throughout central Illinois.

  

Allis is my Girl

   We are "orange" people. Saying that in farm country is like saying we are Lutheran (been there) or Texan (that too). It defines a certain something about you. We happen to live in "green" country tho. Let's do some math with that...if green is to John Deere, then orange must be to...yep...Allis Chalmers. Our tractors are orange Allis tractors. Altho we do have a couple of green pull behind pieces.
   Right now we have a small Simplicity lawn mower (Allis brand used for parts) and also a 916 Simplicity (FOR SALE $600, just needs a starter). Then we have the Allis G which is a spider looking tractor that is used for vegetable production. The G is a 1949. It is the one we use to plant (me sitting on the front with the little push planter). And mostly Marty uses it for cultivating the vegetable rows.


Allis G

The next size we have is an 1944 Allis C. FOR SALE!! $3,000. She's a beauty! Restored condition. Good tires and paint. Runs good. Side arm cutter works. Wide front. We've used her to cut and windrow hay and to pull Will around on various small pieces. (We need to sell this one to pay for the largest one.) I like this one because she is just darn pretty!


Allis C 1944

 The next size up...Allis D-15. This is my tractor for planting and harvesting the wheat and corn. I like it because she has a little more power than the C and has power stearing (unlike our neighbor Tom's Ford loader tractor).


1961 Allis D-15

But, the D-15 wasn't pulling the spider cultivator easily. It was really causing the engine to work too hard. We weren't able to get the alfalfa plowed up and were getting discouraged with having to ask neighbors for help. So, we just bought this 1964 Allis 190. It pulls the cultivator and disc and we were able to get our alfalfa areas ready for planting our spring wheat. Will likes this one and he is good at driving it. 


1964 Allis 190

Well, there you have it. Our Allis line up. We hope to never have to buy a bigger tractor than the 190. We actually never thought we'd ever have one that big. augh!
   Thanks to Lynn Miller (author, editor, speaker - Small Farm Journal - great magazine!) for causing me to think more about sustainability. My dream tractor...a team of oxen! Maybe someday Lynn!


Me with the boys at Garfield Farm in LaFox, IL
Cool!!