Free to Good Home...

I tell myself I won't do another animal that is "free to good home"...and then I get another animal that I got for free. Well, yesterday I got two for free.

We welcome to the farm two rams: a Merino and a Karakul. Rams?! Yes, dude sheep that are still hangin'. A rough mix I've been told and they are likely to battle.  I also have absolutely  no objection to snipping or, if need be, butchering either one of them. There are plenty of rams to go around and just about everything on a farm is expendable if they become a PITA.

These boys are currently pastured with a few of our younger cows and while they are together, we haven't seen too much aggressive behavior. While we don't want anyone to get hurt or injured, they seem to be staying away from each other for the majority of the time. Fortunately, the Merino (Jack) hasn't been responding to the Karakul (Rufus) when he plays the "I have bigger parts" card. He's definitely a "dude" and he is doing what dude animals do when they smell the lovely ladies that live next door. 

On the other side of the fence is all our sheep gals and our Shetland ram Stormy. He and Rufus have been "chatting" through the fence. No damage done to anything, including sheep parts, say Amen! everybody.

Our plan is to have our two larger girls (St. Croix) breed with Jack and Rufus next year. Breeding Petunia and Penelope with Stormy was a success, but we want to get larger lambs for the freezer. I'd rather keep the Shetlands to the Sheltands, with the exception of daughters, naturally.

So we'll see how well everyone does over the next few weeks, getting used to each other and the farm. Keep your fingers crossed!

Egg-zzz-actly!

We have been without eggs for most of the past summer. I've had to either purchase from the store--the most hated option--or beg my very good friend to sell me some of hers. Which she was gracious enough to do..and I'll love her forever for it (Thank You Phyllis!!) My hens, for whatever reason, decided to lay their eggs among the 1,000 lb. hay bales in the barn. I could not get to them, but the raccoons have been having an egg-eating spree. If I were into eating raccoon, I'd probably find a few very fat ones from all the eggs they've eaten in my barn. *grrrrrrrr*

My girls have FINALLY started to lay a bit more consistently over the past week AND in a place I can actually collect them (yes!). I still have a few store-bought "farm" eggs though. Today I had a young U.S. Army SGT, stationed in Afghanistan, complain a bit about the eggs he has received there, telling me that the yolks are "orangey". For starters, this young man has never lived on a farm and has only seen eggs from a store...no harm, no foul, but he need "edumacatin'". haha!

I told him to thank his Afghan egg providers with as much enthusiasm and joy as possible, because he is getting very good eggs...real ones and that is important!

You will note the photo at right. I took this picture this morning after cracking two eggs into a bowl. I wanted to show this young man the HUGE difference between my eggs and a store bought egg. It is hard to see a difference in the "plumpness" factor, but it is there. The color difference is clear and these eggs were also the same size ("large"), yet my egg has a larger yolk.

So what? So this...my farm egg comes from a chicken that gets sunshine all day (unless it is raining...duh), eats a bunch of bugs and grass, drinks good water, breathes good air, and gets to run around doing what chickens do (gossiping about the new rooster...really). My chickens do not: sit all day long in cramped boxes; eat worthless grain and chopped up chicken parts; and crap out eggs that have zero nutrition value. That beautiful rich orangey color means more protein, more Omega 3s, more good fats, and much much much much more taste and texture.

Okay, now the plug for your local farmer's market (please patron!). The next plug...check your city ordinances. Many cities allow you to have chickens in your backyard...hens though, not roosters. Without roosters, you don't get fertilized eggs (some folks like the taste of fertilized eggs) or the potential for hatching out baby chicks (you can buy hatching eggs if you really want that experience).  However, you get eggs and really nice ones if your chickens can "free range" in your yard, scratching through grass and dirt and being able to move around. Chickens are not expensive to buy, house or maintain. Their eggs are delicious and if you have a hen that is a PITA, you can then have chicken and dumplings. Ha ha...okay, I'm not kidding! But that is another story :)

Enjoy your real farm eggs...you are getting one of the best food sources on the planet. Just ask your dog...or your local raccoon.