poultry fancy

So our first borns, the two roman tufted geese are doing well. They are highly imprinted on my voice and will use it to discern between the many dog and other people's legs to keep on track following - Gene around. Here in the photo the hens have come to say hello. None have pecked the goslings, they treat all babies near me with respect now, the chicks are another thing though..... like kids in school, you have to watch them, you can get bullies in the crowd. Introducing the goslings to the chicks hasn't been as easy, the chicks want to peck their feet.

The ducks are really lonely now that the adult geese are gone. The two of them follow me around as much as they can trying to keep up and at the same time stay out of the way of all the bigger animals- don't forget ducks aren't as nimble on hard ground. They go down to the creek now to dabble and bathe which is good, so they won't need a duck pond.

I've decided to get somemore snowy mallards, I believe I have two females on my hands. And along with them, some east indies black ducks and magpie ducks all from Ideal poultry. These breeds are all lighter and better capable of flight to help out in the event they need to scat! Ideal Poultry is the hatchery I'm turning people onto, because they ship birds out on wednesdays instead of saturdays like mcmurray, giving the chicks a better chance of survival. Mypetchicken.com is also good with caring for delivered chicks but their stock sometimes is questionable, like they sent wrong stock with one of my orders and other stock they did send were not as true to breed standards as one might hope......, now i have one hen with a crooked beak from them who has to be special fed to keep weight on, just not the best of stock... so I'm using them again this season only because they are selling barnevelders and penedesencas which I want to use for my dark brown egg layerx. Off the point- point being I'm ordering from Ideal in April- ducks and geese. With geese, I'm ordering some females just to help keep order and add protection for the smaller animals. So a small flock of females- white and brown chinese, pomeranian, buff and our two roman tufted geese, they'll be our flock/gaggle. They shouldn't be as loud, but they will still defend the other animals from predators and not harass the hens like my gander used to- that being the reason I sold them. So I think an all female team might be ok. We'll just have to try to find out. Worst comes to worst, they just have their own section on the farm.

The hens will continue to free range, though I might create separate housing at night for the bantams soon. They really get thrown to the bottom of the pecking order and a special bantam house is in order for them. I also don't want the large roosters on the small bantam hens. Anyway its time to go play outside. All this talk of poultry is just making me nauseous.....

pics from this morning

lessons in spirit

Everyday is a different day and a wonder to itself. Who wakes up knowing what the day will be like? We only gear ourselves toward something we know we might stumble upon, and often times, it is like we're stumbling around our entire lives. It is quite a helpless feeling and one I figure I better get used to. Every moment I'm not talking to someone else, I find myself more and more drawn to my own body and the way it moves and responds to outside stimuli. Self absorbed, the feeling of mental retardation seems to take place and yet my body is doing better than it ever did going about my daily chores in union with my body which connects me to spirit. When I'm alone and centered, then I can sing and all the animals come to listen and the power of sound is again met and I have their loving and full attention. In a quiet moment I found the silver the animals were after and ever since have kept it in my mouth and used it in every word....

farm babies update

the goslings got in the creek today- just a crossing twice to keep up with me!

they are good at following me around and eating grasses as they go. They hung out while i raked yesterday following me like two little luminous fluff balls.

The oldest chicks were placed in the forest patch today. They spent the entire day out and got all of them back in at night.

In the forest, something a little queer- queerer than me, caught my attention. The little pseudo cave I found a month earlier on the property had two rusty metal junk pieces way back in there and today they were gone... and there's a hole, which i didn't see before, but it looks like it goes somewhere, other funny thing is couple weeks ago a workman did some repairs on a fence and left a pick axe.... I thought I would need it for something.

when all is done with work that really NEEDS TO BE DONE..... i'm going to pick away at this hole........ wonder what will be found.

planting season coming up

for anyone interested

for 5 acres I invested $700 in pasture seed to help stock the pastures. Timothy, alfalfa, orchard grass, clover and rye grass, in 50lb bags, so this should last 2-3 years or more.

I've just completely a disgusting gruelling search for the cheapest deals on plants for the garden.

I have a $500 plant budget, thus far, with $350 I've gotten

2 tree peonies- animal resistant
regular peonies- beautiful heirloom varieties, the most luxurious cut flowers- animal resistant
24 hedge roses for rose hips- a variety high in vitamin c dense hedge forming
2 tulip trees- shade trees for the animals
10 asian empress trees- magnificent trees, also one of the fastest growing-legend has it the pheonix only lands on this tree....
2 weeping willows- shade trees for the animals in the creek pasture
1 hickory
4 apple trees
3 strawberry TREES- yes trees
3 tomato TREES= yes trees!
6 spinach VINES- on a vine so it will give lots and lots of spinach
peach VINES- fruit like peaches on vines- big harvest in one season
grapes- catawba grapes, for eating, red wine and champagne- north tolerant
north tolerant passion fruit vines that bear edible fruit
12 taro plants to plant along the creek- bring in and feast on in winter, put the tops out to grow in spring again.
1 red oak- shade and firewood
kiwi fruit vines
12 canadian hemlock
magnolia trees
silk trees- cold hardy but the same as the rain trees used to shade cars at RSGC
aronia berries- super food
josta berries- super food
mahonia- super food
malaysian bananas for indoor production
asparagus
holly
german sage- animal resistant

so spring will be busy planting! I found all the best deals on plants- got them dirt cheap..... I HATE being a cheap bastard but I have to be. Feels so good to have found everything i want with money to spend to treat myself to another acupuncture and yummy dinner out in asheville.

goosey gander

the Roman Tufted Geese were so eager to nest and I am not set up for them yet. So they were laying eggs and attacking anyone who came near them- in the poultry barn. The gander was really ripping some of the hens up so they had to find a new home- found them a new home really fast and they earned me $75, ironically I had an amazing acupuncture session earlier that afternoon for $75. The next day two goslings hatched in the incubator. The other eggs didn't make it, and I TOTALLY understand- if I was an egg and spent 3 weeks thru the worst winter ever, getting frozen, then almost set on by the goose only to be abandoned because I couldn't have them nest next to all the nestboxes where the hens lay- wrecking havoc in the coop, to me finding this little incubator on ebay- of the 9 eggs, 2 hatched, 3 still born- meaning they died in shell just before hatching and 4 infertile. So the two goslings are healthy and settled, in a little box in the garage with heat lamp and dried pine needles as bedding. The pine needles on the property are going to prove very useful as a bedding for the animals. Now I have to decide- do I sell these two- do we want Roman Tufted Geese around......... urgh tough one, of course right now they are adorable.

think I might sell them and switch to Chinese geese, or should I allow them to xbreed Roman tufted and chinese goose- what I really want is a mini swan- black beak, without the chinese goose knob, but its long neck, so maybe using brown and white chinese geese to a roman gander, over 10 years might do the trick. Better get to it! I'll instill the ability to fly while I'm at it too.

Animals Raised Here

Where
Eden
Nurtures
Old
Souls

Animal Refinery is a pretty special place, most people that visit this place are thrilled with the way my animals behave.

Here at the farm I have high hopes of acquiring the additional two floodzone acres between our property and the French Broad River which would be a really nice little playground for everyone, giving us our own access to the river. What a blessing this will be when/if it happens.

Animals holding space are
the dogs- English springer spaniel, Standard poodle, and two mutts. Dogs think they run the show and they are always in your face.
cats- I paid a fortune for a Siberian cat, imported from Russia, named Malin. She's turned into a lovely girl running over to you when called, but only loyal to her owners. They are an ancient breed dating back as far as 2000 years in the taiga, so she's wild, athletic and highly intelligent. Right now we have a problem- she kills toilet rolls, and always manages to get them and shred them. I have not outsmarted her yet on that one! Good thing is when she's playing outside she does not attack the hens or garden birds, waiting to see if she becomes a good mouser. Our other cat is a flame point Ragdoll named, Mereille. She is less athletic and more timid but a real sweetheart with me - loves to sleep by my feet, or cuddle when no one else is around- grooming my hand the entire time.
These guys live in the house with the humans, sharing beds and couches......

In the barn we have lots and lots of hens- I can't count, but I'll tell you the breeds

*yokohama
*hamburg
*wyandotte
*leghorn
*barnevelder
*campine
*fayoumi
*minorca
*spanish whiteface
*paduan
*brabanter
*spitzhauben
*russian orloff
*ameraucana
*d'uccle bantam
*sebright bantam
*wyandotte bantam
*french guinea

by may we'll be joined by penedesenca and d'anver bantams
along with waterfowl- to join our two snowy mallards
more snowy mallards, east indies black ducks, magpie ducks, muscovy ducks and chinese geese.

In the lower barn, we have miniature dual purpose fiber and milk goats. Cute and friendly as they come, you will fall in love with these guys. This is a new breeding program and I hope to soon link with other people wishing to attain the same goals as me- a mini dual purpose breed ideal for the urban conversion of land to farm going on right now.
No need to change a good thing with sheep- Icelandic Sheep. A robust breed, thrifty and intelligent, behaving more like goats, these sheep are boasted as triple purpose sheep for milk, fine wool and good meat. Our girls are due to drop lambs next month, so we're excited- as all first timers are. They are easy to handle, easy to round up and the best part is they fit right in, following us around the garden with the goats, chickens, dogs and horses and everyone is respectful under my watchful eye

end of this month we're expecting 4 new goat doelings and 2 dexter heifers from Pam Malcuit of Texas, she's driving them up personally with her daughter. They'll spend a night in Asheville to enjoy the town and head back the next day, leaving us with our first cows. Now the dogs won't know which poop to eat- chicken, goat, sheep, horse, cow or cat? Poop buffet, if you hear me screaming, its to stop a dog from eating too much poo....... notice I say, from eating too much..... you can't honestly stop them from eating it, but you can atleast try. Atleast now while I'm the only one running the farm here- often times even if I know they are up to no good, if they can't hear me call them and come, its too tiring walking all over looking for a dog dining on poop buffet, because the buffet hall is HUGE.


There are two horses here too. They fill the niches of guard donkey or dog or llama. The two heavenly beauties, Paikea and Flossy are forever patrolling the property. Thus far, all predators have stayed out, even when the barn was not completely enclosed- see we moved into this place with lots of animals from california so they had to make do with the place while it was being done up for them- they all did very well and best of all was we lost none to predators, not even at night- nothing came to break into the coop- they would have come and found several entry ways- thank goodness, luck was on our side and our livestock now have safe accommodation for us to sleep assured they are safe! It does worry me.

So there you have it. The animals of Wenos Animal Refinery.

We've been here three months and while adjusting the property and animals and us to each other, we've connected and are selling our eggs to 6 families in the area, including a bed and breakfast that takes 3doz or so a week! The hens are laying about 20 eggs a day. In California we were lucky if we got 5 eggs a day- we supported ourselves and one other family and that was it! So the egg layers are doing well and foraging using the entire 5 acres now- today they just dared to enter and forage the creek pasture following the sheep for protection. The bantams are very smart and always run with bigger hens as we do have lots of hawks in the area. Thankfully none have been taken by the hawks around here. Crows are also plenty and help shoo the birds of prey away from my farm. My bluebird totem which started as blue mutation gouldians in LA, to blue jays and a rare pair of western bluebirds in Topanga - here in Arden, a great blue heron is my resident bluebird totem along with eastern blue jays. I also have a lot of American Robins and red cardinals on the property, they are really fun to have.