Update from the farm....
March 21, 2014A little late on the weekly update this time around!
- As spring finally starts, and Nadia’s puppies are all in their new homes, it’s time to look ahead to warmer weather! I’m sure winter is not yet finished, but we finally get some warmer, tolerable days mixed in.
- The first thing to focus on as better weather arrives, is switching back over to standard water buckets. The electric buckets are nice, but the dogs simply can’t keep their curious snouts out of trouble. This winter we’ve battled chewed buckets and chewed wires which were luckily caught in time! Those buckets are NOT cheap, and the sooner we can remove them the better. They are necessary however during the bitter cold.
- Heat lamp are another thing to pull out. As mentioned in a post back in January, the extreme cold this winter provided has made it necessary to put heat lamps in the stalls of even Siberian Huskies! They probably could have handled it without, but I KNOW they liked them, and appreciated them. Again though, some just couldn’t leave them alone! (Kallen) We lost one lamp along the way….
- Daisie is ready to go any day now. Her official due date (I think) is March 24th. We do still have one remaining heat lamp in place in the birthing box. The babies can’t handle even chilly weather until they are a few weeks old. Mama normally does a great job keeping them warm on her own, but the lamp certainly helps.
- Tomorrow we celebrate yet another birthday! Aleu and Denali’s pups from last year turn one tomorrow. Happy first birthday Mila, Hemlock, Tyberius, and Riley!
- Speaking of birthdays, I will also mention that Heather’s birthday is Wednesday!
- Our turkeys and ducks are starting to grow. We are past the critical first week for the
turkeys. You must watch them closely,
because everything needs to be close to perfect (air temperature, drinking
water for them to survive. I am happy to
report that while we did lose two of them, fifteen (I think) survived and seem
to doing great! We have 6 ducks, and
they also seem to be doing well. (see photos below)
- As we move toward summer, our thoughts also turn to the hay field. After a great start to the year last year, it ended on a sour note. For the second year in a row, we had to purchase about 50 bales of hay to get us through the winter. I really hope we have a great year hay-wise, but I am learning not to count on it. The farmer that cuts and bales our hay is an elderly gentlemen with help from his sons, and he told us that hay could get a late start this year due to the harsh winter and his prediction of a late spring.
- Forget the weather people, forget the groundhog…it’s tough to doubt the feelings of an 80-year old farmer when it comes to weather!
Posted by Andrew Kronenberger. Posted In : Frosty Meadow Happenings
