HandledWithCare :: An Interesting Few Days

[HandledWithCare]

I have had an interesting week. I started weeding my garden plot and Toula and Nicky (goats) have been helping! My bee hive was hit with Colony Collapse, and is completely abandoned. It's kind of haunting to think about that 100% abandoned empty beehive. Our incubator with guinea and turkey eggs jumped to 106 and killed everything. Our broody hatched all but four eggs before leaving the nest so our broody silkie Buttercream took over.

So far she hatched one guinea. It has no wings! No injury but just a millimeter of fluff where each wing should be. It's healthy otherwise so we're going to keep it for ourselves. Our birds are in covered runs so even without wings I think it'll live a fine life if it makes it to adulthood. That's the first time I've ever seen this, so I'm puzzled but the broody was on the eggs when temperatures were at like 106 a few times so that could explain it. We had an Australorp chick in a bator try to zip longways instead of around the short way. We helped him out and had to band-aid his spraddle leg but it's straight as an arrow now. It feels good to fix up something like that!

I just got a bottle doeling Nigerian. She's got like two more weeks on the bottle. She is blue-eyed and registered. I paid $100 on her and she's beautiful. My little herd is growing! I can't wait to pick her up this week. Gotta think of a name!

Also, planting my Fall garden some time this week, beets, collard, mustard, turnips, garlic and MAYBE carrots.

 

[Denim Deb]

If she wasn't a doeling, I'd suggest Sinatra. Wasn't he known as Blue Eyes?

 

[HandledWithCare]

If she wasn't a doeling, I'd suggest Sinatra. Wasn't he known as Blue Eyes?

Haha yes he was, Old Blue Eyes. I'm going Greek so I was thinking Persephone or the lady Zeus carried across the sea. Europa, I think. Also maybe Artemis if she's a rascal!

 

[pinkfox]

congrats on the doeling, thats a bargain!!!

 

[HandledWithCare]

congrats on the doeling, thats a bargain!!!

That's what I thought! She's a beauty! Of course I'm just in love with my teeny goats now. It will be good to take on a bottle baby that's almost done rather than start out when Toula kids the first time! I'm happy to get some slightly safer learning opportunities. I already have two kids "spoken for" when I get them. One friend of mine wants to milk and the other wants a wether as a tiny pet. I figure I'll do ok selling the kids when I freshen the does. I plan to keep prices reasonably low to ensure they sell and make sure I get enough to keep from going in the hole much more than the other animals are already putting me haha. The chickens eat me out of house and home and the rabbits just always seem to need something a new cage, a vet visit, more space, less space! They can't make up their minds haha.

Anyway I got some quail babies hatching and have an order for 12-14 of them butcher size for $5 each so I can't complain about that! Hopefully I'll be getting two to three more hatches before Fall! I'd like to butcher some for myself. Fried quail breast is a big deal around these parts!

Pic of the baby!