Actually, I am going to be glad it is not cold tomorrow so that I don't have to carry jackets all day on the field trip with my daughter's third grade class. I am so lucky to be able to chaperone. :\ It is not that I don't like going on these things, it is just that I have a million other things to get done. I understand why they have their big trips at the end of the year, as it brings to a pinnacle the learning from the year. But spring is a time for much outside work for us rural folks with furry and feathered critters.
I think I have easily passed the 200 mark for poultry, and I have had a couple of litters kindled in the rabbit cages. Yes, kindled is the term used when a rabbit births its young. I have two more that I think are due tomorrow if they are pregnant. They are tricky little buggers, and not as easy to proliferate as most people believe. "They breed like rabbits." is an expression used by those who have never tried breeding rabbits. I have had one doe I could not get 'in the mood' until it was 85˚. Hey, maybe tomorrow is her day for nookie! Seriously, I think I have her re-bred after giving birth to a stillborn litter the other day. This is only her second litter ever and the first one was such an awful experience for her. She is a small rabbit, a Netherland Dwarf, and they only are supposed to be 2- 2 1/2 pounds. She had 4 kits the first time around and they were not so small as to pass easily and ended up losing all of them after it took 3 days to have them. The poor girl was in such a state, I could not breed her again for a while. But, rabbits can be re-bred almost right away. It depends on your prespective. Some people go right ahead and breed the same day they kindle if the litter is lost. I like to give them at least a couple of days. But I would only do that one time and then give them a while to rest up and get back into shape, even if the second litter were lost. I just can't see asking one to go 3 rounds of being pregnant right after the other, that would be just too much. And it does depend on the condition of the doe as to whether I would breed again the second time anyway. You have to use your senses.
So, I will have a few cages full again by next month at this rate.
Have I mentioned anywhere that I am now the proud 'Momma' of 23 ducks? Yes, I am so entirely, undoubtedly, certifiably insane. I know this and can admit it, so I must be on the path of recovery, which is to expand my poultry dwellings to accommodate all my poultry. Easy peasy.
I went to a friend's house who has all sorts of poultry: ducks, chickens, geese, turkeys and lots of them! I wanted to see about getting a few for my kids to show at the fair this summer. The boys said they would show meat ducks, and since Daughter is too small to handle carrying big old meat ducks, I got her some little, cute as a button Call Ducks. They are so stinking sweet!
Now a week and a half later, they are about 3 times this size. The Pekins are getting to be a handful already, though they still have their fluffy down and will have for a while yet.
But you know what happened? I took Middle to a farm and fleet store with me on Wednesday, and they had newly arrived, baby ducklings! Yaaaaayyyyy! So, he looks at me with his sweetest little boy look and says, "Oh, Mom, pleeeeease?" I couldn't say no. We came home with 3 Swedish Harlequins and 5 Khaki Campbells. God, I must be crazy. To top it off, I have duck eggs in the incubator! I still have 4 Call eggs and 3 or 4 Crested duck eggs too. Let's not forget a couple of turkey eggs too.
So, as my kids and their school year are winding down, I am just cranking it up. We will have plenty to keep them busy over the summer months. But how is it I know I will still hear them saying, "I'm bored."?
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