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2008
January - I
cannot believe that another year is upon us! I recently
received our copy of the newsletter sent by the American
Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC). Many times there
is a list of farm animals that this watchdog organization
monitors. They have different breakdowns for the population
status of the specific animals listed. Over 90% of the
animals living here, appear on these lists; their population
status ranges from 'critical' to 'recovering'. I found
it very interesting today because when I went to look
at the goat section of the list, I noticed that the
'Nigerian Dwarf Goat' is considered to be a 'recovering'
breed! I never realized that this breed was considered
to be 'rare'. Our newest addition, Pepper, is a Nigerian
Dwarf Goat...I knew that he was special but I never
realized that he was 'rare' as well! I guess you learn
something new every day!
January - It
was really cold last night! We made sure that the animals
were closed in and that they had plenty of bedding so
that they could stay nice and warm. When the temperatures
drop significantly, it is very important that the animals
do not have drafts on them because this leads to them
getting sick. The cold does not necessarily matter so
much as the drafts on them do.
February -
It snowed out last night and whenever I open up the
animals after a snow, I always chuckle. Each animal
reacts to the snow so differently. When I open the door
going out into the chicken yard, instead of them hurrying
to be the first hen into the yard as they normally do,
they all gather at the door and just look out at it!
None of them will go out! I do not understand what the
problem is......if I were to sweep away the snow directly
in front of their door, however, they will jump down
into that area and just stand there! The pigs, on the
other hand, come running out of their house and immediately
lower their snouts to the ground and push the snow as
if they were bulldozers! They seem to really enjoy the
snow. The goats and sheep prefer to stay in the barn
and look out at it; I think that they don't want to
get their hooves wet! It seems that each breed of animal
has it's likes and dislikes and I am always amused by
their reaction to the different things around the farm!
March - I
ordered the chicks today...they will be arriving in
early May, just in time for the Eggs-travaganza! The
majority of the hens will be leghorns but I also ordered
two wives for Belle, our polish rooster, as well as
a few more cochins.
April -
I spoke with Linda, the American Chinchilla Rabbit breeder
today and we have set a date for us to pick up 'Gracie'
our new bunny. Linda will breed her there so when she
arrives here at the farm she will already be bred. This
way, we will have another blood line so when we breed
her with Truman, our male bunny, later on, there will
be more bloodlines to choose from. Grace will be having
her babies Mother's Day weekend. It should be very exciting.
The tours will have started by then, so when the babies
are old enough to come out of the hutch, everyone will
be able to see them! We hope to sell some of them. They
make a great pet because they are a calm, sweet breed;
some bunnies can be high strung but American Chinchillas
are not. Their fur is beautiful and soft as well. Their
population status if critical so by beginning this breeding
program, we hope to create interest in the breed so
that their population numbers will increase. It should
be a win:win situation!
April - We
have been very busy getting things ready for the Country
Store to open on May 1st. There will be a lot of unique
things as well as wholesome quality products. We already
have had a great response to our goat milk soaps and
lotions from when we had our Country Christmas Fair
last December. The candles, organic jams and country
baskets are also very popular. I think that people will
enjoy visiting our store. Eventually we will have the
store 'on line' as well for anyone who cannot visit.
A big part of visiting the shop is 'experiencing' the
items that we have. The soaps and candles are very fragrant....some
have said that they smell 'yummy'! Come check it out
if you are in the neighborhood. We will be open Sundays
from 11 a.m. - 3p.m. or whenever you see the 'Open'
sign posted by the road!
April - Our
chicks are here and doing great! We have 46 this year
so Joel is happy because he will eventually have more
eggs to sell. We prefer to have Leghorns because they
are very good layers; by late September they all should
be laying so his daily inventory of eggs will increase.
With the increasing cost of grain and hay it is important
to generate income from as many sources as possible!
The 'ladies' do their part to contribute by laying delicious
eggs that everyone loves!
May - May
has arrived and we are anticipating the birth of Gracie's
babies! We have never had baby bunnies here before so
it will be a new experience for all of us. Our friend
Linda, the rabbit breeder, cannot say enough about baby
American Chinchilla Rabbits...she insists that you will
never see anything cuter!
May - We
are starting off the season very nicely as so many great
groups of school children have come to visit us! The
animals also appear to welcome their presence, especially
Pepper and Nate! They know, all too well, that whenever
a group of children visits the farm that they will be
getting some hay! I always laugh though, because no
matter how much hay they get, they always act as though
they have not eaten in six years! As soon as they see
us over near the chicken coop they immediately begin
screaming; it is as though they are saying "Hurry
up, come over here we are hungry!" Everyone always
loves the show they put on. They both were bottle raised
as babies so they are very interactive and they truly
are drama kings as well!
May - Mother's
Day weekend, Gracie had her babies! She has 5 beautiful
bunnies. They are soooo small and totally adorable (despite
the fact that their eyes are closed and they have no
hair!). She is a great mother as she does not mind me
going into her hutch to check on them. Every day I do
'inventory' to make sure everyone is fine. I pick each
one up to make sure that everyone has a full belly and
is doing alright. Evidently, according to Linda, some
breeds become very aggressive when they have babies
but American Chinchilla Rabbits are not normally like
that. Gracie certainly is anything but aggressive. I
like the breed because they are great with children.
They are not aggressive nor are they high strung like
some bunnies. It is great having so many babies around
the farm! It is not spring without them.
June -
Summer is upon us and we are all getting ready for "The
Experience", our summer learning program which
is being held next month. I have been adding to the
curriculum and changing the activities and crafts. We
have a lot of repeat children coming so I like to have
new things to keep it exciting for them.
June
- Gracie and the babies are doing great! They are growing
so quickly. They are the cutest things ever; the children
celebrating their birthday here have been picking the
bunnies for their 'party animal' more than any other
animal so far this year. Once you see them they are
irrestible so I completely understand why they are so
popular.
Pepper is still small enough
so that he can go back and forth between his pen and
Shane, Chrissy and Maggie's pen. He literally gets the
best of both worlds especially when there is hay involved!
July - We
have had some great summer groups visit. Nate and the
other animals love the attention (and of course they
love the hay they get too!). We are wrapping up on the
preparation for 'The Experience'....except for picking
up a few things for the 'Discoverer' groups, we are
all set to go! We always have such a great time with
the kids,
August
- The chicks are really growing now....in fact, probably
within the next couple of weeks we will be integrating
them with the other layers. There is a lot more space
in that building so they will be better off. When they
are young, the brooder wing of the rare chicken house
is sufficient but once they begin getting any size to
them, it tends to get crowded.
The 'Experience' was a great
success! The group leaders were awesome and I cannot
believe what a wonderful bunch of kids we had both weeks.
The amount of the material that they retain amazes me;
they are like little sponges, eager to soak up anything
and everything. Maybe it is because, for the most part,
they don't even know that they are being taught something.
They just think that they are playing a game or doing
an activity.....little do they realize that everything
that we do here has some educational value to it! We
hope to see them again next year.
October
- We had the Halloween 'Lore Tours'. Everyone seemed
to enjoy themselves. I like them because not only are
they fun, but they are something different to do in
the fall. There is not a lot to do around here this
time of year. Next year, maybe we can add some other
activities and make it more like a fall festival. I
guess I will have to see what the new year brings but
I think that it might be a nice thing to offer.
October
- There have been some great Halloween Birthday/Costume
Parties here this month. The kids are so cute in their
costumes and I love to see their expressions during
the 'Lore Tour' (the Dalby Farm tradition is that whenever
we have a Halloween Party we give a 'lore tour' instead
of a 'farm tour').
The animals are starting
to get their winter coats now that the nights are becoming
chilly; Pepper and Nate look so fluffy this time of
year. The goats and sheep are racing after every falling
maple leaf as it flies through the air. Fresh pine needles
and maple leaves are yummy treats for them. Pumpkin
and Patience also are enjoying the fall. They are constantly
feasting on the multitude of acorns and pig nuts that
have fallen from the trees in their yard. Fall is a
fun time for everyone!
October -
A great big thank you to everyone who supported us this
year by either booking an animal tour, celebrating a
birthday or attending our summer program, we really
appreciate your being there. Even though there were
a couple of close calls, we lucked out with the weather
this year. Another season comes to an end. The Country
Store will remain open Sundays through Christmas. Now
the focus will be on preparing for the Christmas Country
Fair which will be held on December 6th! I can't wait.
December
- Wow, what a great time we had at the fair. The weather
could not have been better and there were sooo many
people. It is really nice to have the support of the
people in the community. The fair is an important way
for us to get exposure and income that will help to
carry us through the winter months when we are closed.
You would be surprised at how costly it is caring for
and feeding all of these awesome animals. Nate, Pepper,
Sophie and Riley had a fun day with Shawn. He gave endless
animal tours during the fair and every group that he
took up to visit, got to feed them hay. Needless to
say, their bellies were very full and after all the
attention they received, they were ready for an early
bedtime (including Shawn!).
December - So
much snow already and it is only December! It was very
sweet to see Gracie's babies and their reaction to their
first snow. I remember Pumpkin's and Patience's first
snow, they used their snouts like shovels and kept eating
it. Ultimately,their entire faces were covered in snow;
all you could see was a pig nose, some eyes looking
at you and two big ears sticking up!! Gray the bunny,
was licking it off of the wire in his outside pen and
seemed very excited as he ran around his outside cage!.
I need to get some pictures of them and put them in
the photo section of the site!
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