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it's mating season. becky came into heat a couple of weeks ago, and sarah was being chased by the boys a couple of days ago. jacob was showing interest in maggie this morning (but she was not interested!). looks like we'll have the first lambs in early february. i've been waiting for james to get back from nyc before calling dr. rousch to wether the lamb rams. we need to find homes for last year's lambs, so i will probably post some notices at the local feed stores. i'll try to sell maggie along with one of the lamb rams, as a breeding pair.
maggie had some kind of abscessed growth on the top of her foot a couple of weeks ago. it looked like a cherry, and was located right between her toes. dr. martin came and, after a couple of attempts (and some rolling around on the ground!), i managed to secure her so that he could remove the growth and stitch it up. once she was healed, jacob somehow injured his ear, which is still alittle swollen. i drained it with a needle last night, and soaked it in betadyne. i think he either pinched it or was bitten by an insect. it's always something. dr. doolittle has nothing on me.
almost half of the bantam hens have been broody for about a month. five of them constantly sit in the nest boxes and have to be carried out to eat in the morning. they make a fuss when i take them out of the nests, though they seem to be getting used to it. when i put them down, they usually sit on the ground in protest for a minute before scampering off towards the feeders. they aren't sitting on any eggs, but refuse to leave the nests unless they're forced. one of the standard hampshire reds is broody, too, but she will come out to eat in the morning and evening. if tango's anywhere near her when she's out she will chase and peck him. she probably thinks he's a predator, since he'll often snoop for eggs around the nests. maybe the heat this weekend will be some incentive for all of them to leave the coop. i've made more of an effort to put some fruit and veggies in the bantam pen as an incentive, which the hens love (and it's good for their eggs!). they especially enjoy fresh corn, lettuce and melons.
we've had a run on eggs since the egg recall (courtesy of jack decoster). lots of new customers buying our eggs for the first time. hopefully this means people are thinking more about what they eat, and are making the effort to buy from smaller growers. it amazes me that most people haven't put together the connection between cut-rate animal products and the fact that this almost always means an inferior quality. a $1 hamburger can only mean the beef was raised as cheaply as possible, with little concern for the quality of the product (not to mention the animals' quality of life). if you want to buy $1.99 eggs from wal-mart, you should realize that those hens were raised in cages that are likely too small for them to stand in, that they're de-beaked, pumped full of antibiotics and fed gmo corn. and this, my friends, results in an vastly inferior product, which anyone who has eaten farm fresh eggs will tell you. responsible consumption is more important than responsible farming. without awareness, and the demand for quality food from healthy animals, farming practices won't change.
