Bee~ Journal of then...

[2dream]

I started to order some of those Rouge D'Etamps seeds but it said they were good for pies and I don't bake pies. Wonder if they are good in breads also. Need to do some more checking. I guess maybe I could try and sell them. They are so pretty. Now I am kicking myself for not ordering them when I started to.

 

[Beekissed]

Punkin, I'm sure she is....I wouldn't know, as she hasn't talked to me for years!!!

Yep, already have the seed catalogs scattered around my bed!

 

[Beekissed]

Forgot to add another spring project to my list for new SS steps this year:

Geese for down harvesting, grass mowing and garden debugging.

I was going to get some Embden? geese, as I had heard they are the usual suspects for down harvest but all the hatcheries have the Toulouse? listed as the best breed for this. Want to get two girls and a gander at first and see how it goes. Won't my yard look just colorful?

Sheep, geese, multi-colored flock of fat, fluffy hens/roos, a brown and a white dog, yellow cat. Oh! And an orchard full of apples, garden full of produce, and herb and flower beds! Yippee!

 

[PamsPride]

Forgot to add another spring project to my list for new SS steps this year:

Geese for down harvesting, grass mowing and garden debugging.

I was going to get some Embden? geese, as I had heard they are the usual suspects for down harvest but all the hatcheries have the Toulouse? listed as the best breed for this. Want to get two girls and a gander at first and see how it goes. Won't my yard look just colorful?

Sheep, geese, multi-colored flock of fat, fluffy hens/roos, a brown and a white dog, yellow cat. Oh! And an orchard full of apples, garden full of produce, and herb and flower beds! Yippee!

Can you give some more details on the geese and down?? How do you collect the down and what are you going to do with it? Can you only get it from geese or does it come from ducks too?

 

[Beekissed]

We had a whole thread on this on BYC, you should look it up! One of the ladies did an experiment on her geese because folks were convinced that harvesting the down was cruel and painful. She found out that it was easy and the geese made no outcry when it was done.

I know you can get down from ducks as well, but not as much and not as good a quality, I think.

I read an article years ago in Country Woman mag about an Amish family that raised geese and harvested the down. They would just hold them upside down on their laps and run their hands up under the feathers on the belly and gently pull out the down. Seems you can do this every so many weeks for several months until full winter, I believe. Geese will pluck down in two rows on their abdomen when they are preparing to sit and will line their nests with it. So, what these folks do is just harvest it and let it regrow and repeat.

I'm going to get goslings and handle them a good bit and hold them in the backlying position often, just to get them used to it. I figure, if I follow it with treats, they might grow used to the procedure and maybe even line up for it!

 

[2dream]

Bee you are just a wealth of info. You keep planning and I will keep reading and watching and then copy you since you seem to have it all together.

Do you have to treat the down with anything? I am assuming you are either going to harvest it for your own personal use or either sell it and since ducks like chickens normally have some type of bugs I guess what I am trying to ask is: Is there any processing of the down that has to be done? Lordy, I need to be in bed since I can't even make sense of my own questions. LOL

 

[Beekissed]

Well, the Amish gals just placed it right in the comforters they were making, washed the comforters and put 'em out on the line to dry!

I want to make some down throws and some pillows for myself and family. Will take awhile to get enough for big projects. I plan to harvest all I can, when I can~ then breed my geese for a larger flock and then harvest some more! Sell or eat the extra ganders and harvest the down from the processing. I figure a person could use a killing cone and a jugular stab to protect the down from getting mussed while processing.

 

[PamsPride]

Keep us updated on this!! If I ever get a larger piece of property so that I have plenty of room to have a few geese I would be totally into this!! My mom is a quilter so she could probably use a ton of down!

 

[Beekissed]

Making some very, very skin-pampering sugar scrubs tonight, gals....<dangles the grapefruit-scented treat just out of reach>

Sublime Key Lime

Pink Ice~ Grapefruit

Orange Crush

 

[2dream]

Ahhhaaa.... The instigating DANGLE. Just trying to create sugar scrubs envy. I see how ya are.

The least you can do is tell me how.