Friday, February 22, 2008
Long Overdue Update
Posted in Critter Happenings
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It's been quite a while since I've updated the blog. Lots of happenings since the last post. We hatched some Narragansetts last year, but lost most of our hens to foxes or coyotes when they hid nests across the road. This year they will reside in a fully covered pen so they can safely brood their eggs. We attended shows in the Spring and Fall, and took Champion Turkey at the NH Poultry Fanciers show. I'm thrilled to also announce that one of our Dominique hens is famous! Her photo is featured in Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds by Carol Ekarius. The book has lots of interesting and useful information on many poultry breeds, as well as beautiful photos. Her picture is also in A Pocketful of Poultry, by Carol Ekarius. It is a condensed version of the first book, and features beautiful photos of all types of poultry, with short facts and info on each breed. Either book is definitely worth getting! The winter has been especially hard this year, and we had many losses, both from the cold and old age (many of our first chickens that are still around are old timers now). But we had some hatches earlier in the year that gave us promising new birds in our Dominique, Silkie and Narragansett flocks. There weren't many, but the ones that we did hatch are looking very nice. We also added a pig to our farm. Wilbur the Lucky was about 65 lbs when we brought him home in June, and now he's tipping the scales at about 375 lbs! He's still a baby, so he has some growing to do! Hopefully not too much tho, since we are keeping him as a breeding boar. He is part Hampshire and part Poland China (he definitely looks Hampshire tho). Our main interest is the Tamworth, which is listed as "Threatened" in the ALBC Watch List, and we're looking into raising them on a small scale. Our latest addition is a pair of mixed breed meat rabbits that we purchased at a poultry swap this past Fall. Jack & Jill (named by Edward, our 4 year old) will hopefully give us a nice variety of colors in their offspring that also yield good meat. |
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