Monthly Archives: June 2016

Baby chicks venture outside

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At around 9 or 10 weeks of age, the baby bantam white Cochin chicks were old enough and the temperatures were staying warm enough overnight that they could now live outside full time.

To keep them safe and to make sure they didn’t run or fly away, we put them in our chicken tractor.

Here is a video of the chicks shortly after we put them in the chicken tractor. You can see some of their natural behavior to kick at the grass and leaf litter to look for insects.

Click through for more information about our chicken tractor.

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Sssnakes!

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With the long grass in the pastures, it is a perfect habitat for a variety of small snakes. The small snakes eat a variety of bugs, worms, toads and some of the larger ones even help keep the vole and other rodent populations in check.

I came across a pile of garter snakes hanging out near one of our animal sheds. I was quick enough to get a few pictures and a short video before they all slithered underneath the shed and out of sight.

Click through for more pictures of some snakes and another surprise visitor.

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Spring 2016 Shearing

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After a mild winter, our goats had full, heavy fleeces that needed to be sheared off before the summer heat. With the milder than normal temperatures, they were able to put less energy into staying warm and more energy into growing longer and thicker fleeces.

The local shearer stopped by earlier in the spring to shear our goats.

Here is a quick look at the start of Ruby’s shearing this spring. He likes to start with the stomach first and then move on to the legs and back. This video shows the first few passes across Ruby’s stomach area.

Click through to see more videos and photos of the spring 2016 shearing.

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