A Week on The Farm

We lost a goat last week.

 

Corky, our “special” wether, died sometime during the night and Ryan found him in the barn.

His mama had a heart defect and we knew this was a possibility when we got him so not a HUGE surprise, but still slightly sad to not see his awkward, happy face around the farm anymore.

We had planned on butchering him for meat this past fall, but after we got Kosher (our breeding buck), we decided to keep Corky around a little bit longer to be a companion to Kosher.

Corky and Lilly also had a cute relationship. Even when we separated the boys from the girls, Lilly and Corky would always “talk” to each other.

 

So now, we’ve had to figure out what to do with a dead animal on the farm. (Ryan mostly because my pregnant, queasy stomach can’t handle too much these days) We’ve lost chickens in the past few months at various stages of development, and we have 6 acres and LOTS of birds and small rodents in the area, so we’ve opted to use the disposal by natural compost method. So, we did the same with Corky. Ryan skinned him, as he had a very soft, beautiful pelt and we plan on hanging it in our living room.

If feels weird and at the same time, normal, to be having to deal with things like this. After all, we do live on a farm and this is definitely part of what we signed up for.

 

 

This week we also had an egg bound duck (although we had no idea what was going on at first).

The first day we found the hen unable to get up in the chicken coop, squirming uncomfortably. At first, we thought that she was just laying an egg, as we had yet to actually SEE a duck lay. The next morning, she was running around with all the other ducks, just fine. Then we found her again, at the same time of day, in the same position (unable to move). After calling our neighbor and doing some research we thought that she might either be (A) be egg bound, (B) broken back from the drakes mounting her outside of water.

We took her inside, let her sit in a warm bath, injected olive oil in her mouth and duct, and set her in a box in the living room.

In the morning, she had passed the egg and was good as new! At least, that’s what we’re hoping…We also plan to purchase a swimming pool of some kind so that the ducks have more room to be in water. They currently have a large watering bucket that 2-3 of them can fit in, but after learning that they mate in water, we’d like them to have more space to do this so that the hens backs don’t break from them attempting to mate on land.

 

My sister and her friend from TX came to visit this week also. It was great to see her and visit for a bit. She’s studying Early Childhood Ed. at UUTyler and also runs track there.

 

Ryan was also in a car accident this week that could have been horrible. Another truck hit his work truck going 75mph. Luckly, he only has a strained shoulder and sprained finger, as has doctor’s orders to take it easy for awhile. Guess that means I’ll be getting the chicken feed this week, huh? ;-) I’m just so thankful that he’s still around.

 

We also found out this week that we’re having a SON!

He’s since decided to up his motion in utero and has started kicking me constantly. I don’t mind :)

 

& that was our week. Here’s to the weekend and sunny, warm weather!