Spring Update on the Farm

I have no idea where March went, and April is almost over, so I’m going to give you a “Spring” Farm update. It’s been a wild start to the season, and we have lots of exciting news to share!

First, our three mini nubian does kidded and we have seven (SEVEN!) adorable baby goats. We are madly in love with every single one of them so we aren’t selling any this season. They will be weaned in a few weeks so we will move the bucklilngs along with our handsome buck Lancelot over to Buckinghamshire. Buckinghamshire is the Heritage Springs Man Cave of the goat realm, and they will have beautiful pastures to romp through that are far enough away from the does to keep the milk from tasting…well, like we have bucks living too close to the does. (This is a real thing, don’t let anyone tell you different!)

Sweet Pea passed her beautiful markings and perfect long ears down to her babies, Basil and Daffodil. They could not be any cuter!

The first day our sweet little kids were out in the pasture with their proud mamas, I saw a fox walking around the pond in the middle of the day. I had a talk with Neil, and the next morning I put a deposit down on an Anatolian Shepherd. That weekend I drove about 3 hours south of here and picked up the absolute sweetest puppy on this earth to be our new livestock guardian dog. Kanga is in training with the goats, chickens, and guineas and is growing like a weed. She considers the cows to be nothing more than a menace to the peace, and barks at them whenever she gets the chance. We’re still working on that.

Kanga is a beautiful (and very soft!) Anatolian Shepherd puppy in training on our farm to guard livestock.

Yesterday was the first day in eight weeks our house has been free of peeping, feathered cuties. Baby chicks are one thing- they’re easy to manage. We have dedicated brooders for them, and it’s a simple process. Ducklings are something else! First of all, nothing is cuter than a duckling. Nothing. Their floppy little feet, stubby fuzzy wings, and little baby duckling bills had me in love with them instantly. Second of all, nothing is messier than a duckling! I clean their brooder when I get up in the morning, again at lunch time, before I make dinner, and before I go to bed. This cleaning includes a full hot-soapy-water scrub-down of the tray I keep their food and water in, their food bowl, and the inside and outside of their waterer. Third of all, they grow like weeds, and in a week had outgrown their brooder. I bought them a child’s plastic swimming pool to use as a brooder now, and figured they could practice swimming in it in a few weeks. I put pine shavings in the bottom and added fresh food and water and they all looked like very happy ducklings. A couple hours later, Toby started crying at the door to the sunroom. I looked out and not a single duckling was in their swimming pool. They had escaped and gone on a safari adventure among my plants. Neil and I scooped them up and put them back in the pool. We watched for about 30 seconds until each one jump, jump, jump, jump, until they jumped high enough to reach the edge of the swimming pool and then heave their body weight over the side far enough to plop down to the floor. It was not elegant, but man was it cute. They are now in a galvanized stock tank. It is the Alcatraz of duckling brooders. There is probably a 50% chance that it works.       

Cayuga ducklings on safari exploring the world outside their brooder.

Another amazing addition to the farm that I wish I had started raising a long time ago- coturnix quail! They are adorable, sweet little birds that are incredibly easy to keep. They sound absolutely lovely when they sing. I bought three week old birds and they will be laying eggs soon! Coturnix quail mature in eight weeks. I want to hatch some before I start selling them, but we will start selling quail eggs soon!

Coturnix quail prefer to live in a hutch rather than free range.

If you know me at all, you may know that I am not often accused of being patient. That said, for my newest project, I am carefully and patiently selecting hens for our breeding program. I am obsessed with green eggs, and I am on a mission to breed hens that lay the prettiest green eggs on the block. Right now I am choosing the Welsummers. Every couple days, we move a new Welsummer down to the Love Shack and see what kind of eggs she lays. Once we know, we give her a little bracelet with a number and I make a note that Yellow 17 lays dark brown eggs with tiny speckles and I switch her out for one of her unadorned sisters. I am looking for hens that lay dark eggs with the large speckles. I am going to cover them with a Cream Legbar rooster so if you’re in the market for olive egger chicks, keep an eye on our social media- I will post them there when they are ready. If you want to get on our waiting list, just send me a note and I’ll get you added.

Some of the egg colors our hens are laying. They’re pretty, but I think we can do better!

Last weekend, we had the privilege of participating in the First Annual National Urban Farm Festival! We printed up some brochures on the benefits of Urban Beekeeping, Chicken Keeping, and Quail Keeping and spent the day talking with some amazing people! It is so refreshing to talk to like-minded people and a huge blessing to share what we have learned with people. Be on the lookout for a sizable influx of quail in the Maryland suburbs this summer lol.

Here is Olivia with the display honey bee hive and some silkie chicks who love to show off!

The honeybees are doing great this season! We have already made two splits. We have a brand new queen who is laying beautiful brood patterns, and we are waiting for our second new queen to make her way into the world. We also spun some honey that came through the winter, and people are buying it as quickly as we can get it into jars to help with their spring allergies!

Can you spot the queen?

Finally, I’ll share one more project I’m working on right now. I have talked to quite a few people lately who have taken an online beekeeping course, but don’t really know what the next step is before they start keeping their own bees. So many people have shared this struggle with me that I decided to write curriculum to fill that gap. I will provide students with a list of things to have on hand before you start keeping bees along with where to buy everything- a lot of people have told me that this is one of their biggest concerns. There will be some classroom time, but the bulk of the class will take place in the bee yard. Students will get to perform a hive inspection, treat for varroa mites, and winterize a hive. I will also be available to answer any other questions you bring. If you want to be notified when the class is ready, shoot me a note and I will get you added to the list!

That’s about all the news for now!