Spring's Arrival and a Pasture Pandemonium: Adventures in Farm Life
"What are all of you doing out here? This is not where you're supposed to be." The exasperated question hung in the crisp spring air, directed at a gaggle of wayward farm residents who had clearly decided to embark on an unscheduled field trip. "I swear nothing says spring like putting eggs in the incubator." Despite the minor chaos, the season of renewal was undeniably underway, marked by the hopeful act of preparing for new life. "And so, yes, as you just saw, I now officially have a bunch of goose eggs in the incubator up there." The promise of fluffy goslings added a touch of anticipation to the farm's rhythm. "Good morning, medium multicolored, not quite dogs, as well as large white farm dogs." A cheerful greeting extended to the diverse array of canine companions, from the agile goats who sometimes acted like dogs to the steadfast Great Pyrenees. "How's everybody doing this morning, Lauren?"
The idyllic springtime scene, however, was not without its challenges. "I think I've got to start doing some things to get the goats under control because they're starting to get a little bit out of whack. Like even poor Abby dog is getting headbutted these days. Lauren is bossy. Lauren is kind of like becoming the alpha animal of the farm. I think I'm going to have to take corrective measures on that before the dogs get too annoyed." The burgeoning assertiveness of the goat leader, Lauren, was disrupting the farm's social dynamics, even challenging the established canine hierarchy. "Hi buddy. How's it going? Hi sweetie. How's it going? How are my both of my dogs?" Affectionate greetings were reserved for Abby and Toby, the loyal farm dogs, whose patience was being tested by the increasingly unruly goats.
The anticipation surrounding the hatching season carried a weight of past experience. "So, yeah, last year's hatching season was kind of a disaster, and I'm hoping to uh learn from my mistakes and do better this year. Like, I don't know what it was exactly. I have some theories about what it was. I actually even bought a second incubator and replaced it. And then when I did testing against my old incubator and my new incubator, it turned out the old incubator was actually performing better in terms of maintaining consistent uh humidity as well as heat levels. And so I returned the new incubator and then I set back up the old incubator and I had already replaced the uh humidity pump on the old incubator. It actually worked pretty well with my chickens and so I've decided after a lot of hand ringing to actually stick with the original incubator. And now I'm very curious to see what sort of results I get over the next 30 daysish or so." The meticulous preparations and reliance on the tried-and-true incubator reflected a determination to ensure a successful hatching season this year. "Oh, looks like these sneakout ducks were just trying to steal some food. You got Ron Swanson on the far left here. Two actually other Khaki Campbell Kauga mixes hanging out while all the other birds are stuck inside. In we go. Come on, Abs. And we go." Even the ducks couldn't resist an opportunity for a forbidden snack. "We're really going to spread out the food today because it's a I don't know. I wouldn't say it's beautiful. It's a very nice day. It's like 33 degrees Fahrenheit, no wind, and so for an April day in Vermont, I'll take it. Dig in." The pleasant weather made for a more enjoyable feeding routine for the entire flock. "So, goose baiting season is still in full swing. And we're also still in the peak of mud season, but so far it has not been a bad spring at all. We'll definitely say that for sure. And hopefully I don't jinx myself by saying that. Good morning, Bean the Duck. How are you doing, sweetie? I think she's trying to find her way over to the pond." The transition into spring brought its usual mix of mud and avian courtship rituals.
The daily egg collection was a farm treasure hunt. "All right, Abs. Should we go look for some eggs? This tire has actually become a very popular goose nest. Looks like we got a couple duck eggs right here. Nothing in that one. Let's investigate my least favorite nest. Doesn't look like anybody put any eggs there. So, it looks like we got a couple of duck eggs over here. And what might you be sitting on, ma'am? Excuse me, miss. I'm going to need you to get up. Oh, you weren't sitting on any goose eggs, but you got a whole bunch of duck eggs here. Got a couple more duck eggs in here. There's another good one. There we go. And by the way, if you're looking for baked goods made with our duck eggs, you should definitely check out the Peach Cafe. Looks like Abby spot another egg. You're looking at this egg like you want to charge it a finder fee, Abby. What's up with that? Oh, looks like she's already working on the clutch of chicken eggs for this morning. Ah, yes. These are nice and fresh. All right, so it's looking like my total egg haul for this morning is 13 duck eggs, four chicken eggs, and one goose egg." The varying nesting habits of the different fowl led to discoveries in unexpected locations. "I should probably get I don't know, maybe about another, I don't know, 16 to 20 chicken eggs, and probably two or three more goose eggs. The goose eggs that I'm collecting right now, like this one for example, will go into the incubator next week. So, the way I'm going to do it for the next couple of weeks now is all the goose eggs I collect will be held for somewhere between seven and 24 hours. And then once that happens, those go in the incubator. And I'll just keep doing that once a week for the next probably about 3 weeks or so before I end goose hatching season. But then I'll probably switch over pretty quickly this year to chicken hatching season." The strategic approach to egg collection and incubation was carefully outlined. "And the ducks are very happy that I forgot to turn off the water. Oh dear." A minor oversight provided an unexpected aquatic playground for the delighted ducks. "One thing that does happen in goose hatching season is you have a lot more goose on goose violence, the geese just get more protective and aggressive in general. Most times of the year they're actually very chill. This is like the one time of the year where they don't get dangerous at all, but they just get aggressive. And like if you had small children and geese, it would probably terrify them. But such is the way of geese." The hormonal shifts of breeding season brought about a noticeable change in the geese's demeanor. "All right, let's go. Come on, Abs. Come on, Tops. Let's go. We're going to take care of the cattle now." The focus shifted to the larger residents of the farm. "I'm actually very curious to see how our two calves are doing. As well as Allison and I have finally decided on a name for the first calf that we had." The well-being of the young calves was a priority, and the naming of the firstborn held a special significance. "Dogs in with me. I know it's a little muddy over in this spot. The rest of it's actually dried out pretty nicely. Unfortunately, the part where the gate is actually the lowest part of their yard and so that's where all the water generally migrates down to and so it gets kind of messy." The persistent mud in certain areas remained a challenge. "A look, Abby's saying hello to Buffy the Vampire Slave. Even though Buffy's now trying to like play with her, which isn't good. Belinda Carlile, are you gonna have your calf soon? I'm hoping. You look like you're ready. Hello, Alice B. Tokeless, how are you? Hey, it's Betty Rubble and Betty White and Belle and Ariel, who should also cap very soon. But you're looking large and in charge there, gal. Good morning, baby bee. How are you, sweetie? I don't have any treats this morning. I'm just saying hi. And look what we got here. She's like the queen of the mountain. How's it going, sweetie?" Greetings were extended to the various members of the cattle herd, each with their own distinct personality and stage of pregnancy. "So, that's our first calf that just sprinted over there to go hang out with her mom by the hay. And she is the one who actually has a name now. And now, because Ann of Green Gables, who's her mom, I don't have any treats for you today, Ann. Sorry, don't smack me with those horns. Well, Ann, since she's a first generation, she gets an A name. And since her mom, that little one there, her mom is an A name, that means she's automatically a B name. And so her name is going to be Buttercup or as you can even see with her personality starting to emerge as she climbed up on the top of that hay bale, Princess Buttercup. So yeah, that is Princess Buttercup right there with her mom, Anna Green Gables." The naming convention for the calves was explained, and the firstborn was officially christened Princess Buttercup. "And I don't have any alpha alpha cubes. Like what she's doing there where she like wags her head, that's her language for telling me she wants a treat. Baby's already starting to try to eat hay just like its mom. Don't worry, little one. Pretty soon you're going to have your first taste of fresh grass, too. Would you look at Amanda hugging kiss right now? I don't know if you guys can see it, but like she almost looks lopsided. She's got so much more mass on this side versus that side. You're good girl, Amanda. Can I pet you? Oh, no. You don't want me to pet you. Okay. And then here's our other calf. She still doesn't have a name, but she's going to actually need a C name. So, because her mom is Bonnie McMurray, that means that her little one needs to get a C name because she's part of the third generation. I still haven't quite come up with it yet. I have a couple of favorites in mind. but we're still working on it. So, any suggestions, leave them down in the comments. You know, one of the things I'm noticing is number one, she's looking lighter than she did the day she was born. And then number two, I have never seen a calf this curly. I mean, Scottish Highland calves always come out shaggy, but she has these like tight curls almost. And so, I'm really curious to see how she develops. But yeah, she is really pretty. She's doing well, too. She's getting more energy. You can see she's drinking milk from her mom right now. This is exactly the type of stuff you want to see at this age. And then here's another cow who's probably looking pretty ready to go. So really over the next week or two, I am expecting a whole heck of a lot more little babies showing up here on the farm. This is kind of a fun time of year. I think the one unfun part of this time of year is the fact that it is so wet and muddy. Like we just had more rain last night and so just makes this pasture so hard to keep fresh." The second calf, born to Bonnie McMurray, remained nameless but was noted for her unique curly coat. The anticipation for more new arrivals filled the air, tempered only by the persistent mud.
The desire to provide the cattle with fresh grazing led to an attempt at pasture expansion. "But I am starting to think that I might open this up just a little bit today and let them go have more of the pasture. I guess before I open it up, the thing I'm going to need to do is actually set up a fence because I don't want them to go too far into that area because it's still so wet. I easily have a good I don't know 100 120 ft that I can run them down that way and it's probably like 30 feet by 100 ft. And so I think they will appreciate the fresh grass. So, it's kind of nice to bust one of these guys out right now. This is the first time I've used one all year, but come probably a month from now, definitely a month and a half from now, I'll be using one of these at least once, probably even twice a day to set the fencing for the cattle. What this is is actually a reel of what's known as polywire. So, it's like metal filaments woven in with a plastic strand. So, the plastic gives it some strength, but the metal makes it electric, and that lets me run a current through it to keep the cattle from going where I don't want them to go. So, what we're going to do here now is take this alligator clip, clip it to the fence like that. And then, do you see that top wire running right there? That is electrified. It's got about 10,000 volts. It's one jewel, so it's designed to kind of definitely wake an animal up if they transgress. We're going to just connect it like that. And now, this fence should be live. Since this is the first fencing of the season, I think it's worth just checking it. Make sure everything's working. All right, that's looking good. 9.8. That's just right about where it should be. So now this fence is live and I want to be very careful that I don't touch it. But what we're going to do next is we're going to open up the gate and we'll give the cattle the access to their additional space. Doing this expansion was always part of my spring plans where I would start to slowly but surely as the pasture dried out expand out their space. I'm doing it a little bit earlier than I'd like, but I want to just give them some extra grass and some extra space. And so that's what's going on here. Another thing you might notice is this strand down here is much lower than it typically would be. Usually I don't go any lower than the second strand on here for cattle, but because I want to keep little calves inside as well as break heers of their bad habits as well as prevent goats from sneaking in, I'm going to go really low with this one. Also, because we're still just in April, um I'm not too worried about grass growth trying to short out the fence. So, it should be fine. All right, so let's open this fence up and see who comes through. My best guess is that baby B is going to be the first one to come through because baby B just be like that. All right, let's let it rip. See, what did I tell you? What's up, baby B? Got more space now. I mean, look, girl. There's no grass to eat, but got just more space. Now, baby B is one of those sassy heers whose habits I want to break. So, let's see what she does here. She probably knows enough not to just put her nose up against that fence. You know, she's lived with this electric fencing her entire life, so she kind of knows it. She sometimes also likes to be a little bit of a brat. Whoa, I just heard hooves. I was like, what was that? And it's like, oh, it's Anna Green Gables checking out the new space. All right, I got to get out of here or else I'm going to get trampled if I'm not careful. I can see all the girls actually getting very interested in this. I think they're probably a little disappointed though that there's no fresh grass or hay or something. They're used to me opening something up and then that being immediate stuff to munch on. But not too much to munch on here today. That was kind of funny like Annie chased out baby be like she wants this turf to herself and she doesn't want to let these gals in. I don't know. We'll figure it all out, won't we, girls? You know, Belinda, if you want to have your calf on this fresh grass, I would not be opposed at all. I'm just saying. This is a better spot. Like, objectively speaking. And look, your mom's already there. I don't know where your little sister is, though. Yeah. See, Belinda is actually Ann's other daughter. And so, uh, she's due to cab any day now. So, who knows? Maybe she'll give this a shot. Keep waiting to see if one of the cattle tests the fence just to give me reassurance that it's on. Hen's chasing out her daughter, too. That's the one thing I got to actually be careful about with this setup is that they chase each other to the point that somebody gets spooked and knocked out of here. That's probably the more likely scenario versus somebody wandering out of here. We'll see how they handle it. Yeah. This is looking pretty good. You might be wondering why it's a little bit lower on here. And it just when it touches up against the plastic, it kills some of the voltage. So that's why it looks lower than when I was touching the top fence. All right, baby B, stay out of trouble. Oh, Abby, you got so muddy. So so muddy. Luckily, your grooming is very, very soon. Two hours later. What are you doing out here? What are all of you doing out here? This is not where you're supposed to be. Oh no, this just turned into a disaster. Toby dog, what are we going to do about this? Hey Abby Dog, what are you doing? I need your help here, girl. This is chaos. This is not what I wanted at all. It looks like they knocked over their fence. And uh yes, this whole plan backfired very, very quickly. All right, let's figure out how we get them back in. I think my best bet is to actually lure them with treats and see if I can't convince them all to come in. So you guys stay here and observe while I go get treats. So, I was inside up in my office and Allison called up to me asking if the cows