Video - Night Life on the Farm

A lot of times we aren't able to do chores until night has already fallen. It seems like we have been so busy lately that by the time we get home, it is already dark out.

Last night was one of those times. Growing up I was always afraid of the dark.  I would never have dared stepped foot outside by myself at night time.  But as an adult it doesn't bother me.  And being on our farm and our property, I have always felt safe and secure...that is until last night.

We only have two of the ducks pictured above.  The first one pictured was killed.

Steve and I decided to check on the ducks and look for any duck eggs that the ducks may have laid at the pond.  The ducks have been staying at the pond lately, even though we would rather they be in the chicken coop with the chickens to keep them safe. In fact if we can catch them when they are in the backyard in the evening, we will herd them into the coop.

Last night we had just made it down to the pond when I heard a high-pitched noise. I stopped dead in my tracks and asked Steve what that was. I had no sooner asked him, when the howling started. I can't even begin to tell you how close that howling was. I stood there paralyzed, the hair on the back of my neck raised, not knowing what to do.

It seemed like an eternity as we stood there listening to those blood curdling howls.  At one point I thought they might be after us. Steve told me to get out my camera and start filming to catch their howls. I tried to turn my camera on as fast as I could so I could catch it, but Abby our faithful border collie ran the coyotes off almost immediately.

Abby, our sweet protector.

What was just a matter of seconds, seemed like an eternity.  I kept videoing and we kept searching for the eggs.  The ducks were swimming on the pond and seemed to not be disturbed at all by the sounds that had just happened. Abby stayed by our side until we got back to the house.

Here is the video as we go and search for the ducks and the eggs.

Want to see more videos about our family and life on the farm? Be sure and subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss a video.

Leave a Comment coyotes, ducks, eggs, farm, farm life, night time

Life and Death on the Farm

About a year ago, I wrote a post about farm life and if it really is worth all the trouble.  Fast forward a year and the troubles are happening again, but in a deadlier version.  But I will get to that a little later.

First I want to introduce you to our newest family members.  This is what I love about having a farm. The babies and the new family that we introduce on our farm. The new life that makes you feel so good and happy inside.

One of the things that I love about our public school is that in kindergarten and first grade, the classes get to hatch ducks and/or chickens.  They learn all about the process and the life cycle.  They get to see something that most do not get to witness, even in this rural area. I have never see children so excited.  Talk about a true hands-on learning experience.  That is something that they will always remember.

Aren't they cute?

The only thing is that once they chicks and ducks hatch, they need a place to go, We were lucky enough to be able to get 5 chicks from Carly's class to take home with us.  They are the cutest things and we get to experience raising chickens from the chick stage.  Before, we always bought pullets because we were afraid that we didn't have the time involved to take care of them.  But since we raised ducks up last year from babies, we thought we could do the same with the chicks.

We are hoping to get a couple of more ducks as well. There is a class that is currently trying to hatch some ducks and hopefully if they all hatch, we will get a couple of them.

But chicks aren't the only addition to our family. We have another one as well.

Carly has always wanted a bunny. From the time she was 4, she has been asking for one. We have always put her off saying that we didn't have a place for one and we didn't have the time to take care of it.

Well, this weekend we finally gave in. But there is a catch. She had to pay for the bunny, she has to take care of the bunny, and she has to do extra chores in order to help pay for feed.

Meet Rocky:

Our sweet, totally adorable, floppy-eared bunny. I'm in love!

Rocky is short for Rock Star.  That's right! We have a rock star living in our house. ;-)

We are not sure if it is a boy or girl, but it is the sweetest thing ever! This little bunny is so docile and loves to explore. I'm glad for this addition to our home. Steve and Carly will be building a rabbit hutch this summer so look for that post to be coming in the future.

Now for the bad.

We have lost a couple of our animals. First is was one of our guineas. It disappeared while we were away for the weekend. We even had Steve's daughter come and check on our animals. We came home to a pile of feathers.

With this many feathers you know the outcome can't be good.

The worst part was that four days later the guinea showed up in our yard dead. So now I'm wondering, did it get away from the original attack, only to come back home to be killed? I really thought that maybe one of our dogs had ended up killing it, but now I'm not so sure. They are rarely every aggressive to our birds, so it wouldn't be like them to kill one of them.

I posted a YouTube video of the sound of coyotes that run across our back field every night.  Well, the other morning, after Steve got up to go to work, he heard Abby (our border collie) going crazy. He got the spotlight out, and shined it into our backyard and just beyond the electric fence stood a coyote. As soon as the light hit it, Abby took off like a crazed and vicious animal (she is honestly so sweet) and tore into that coyote and drove it down past our creek.

This is one of the reasons why we have the dogs that we do. They are both stock dog breeds and very protective. While they may be part of our family, they do have a function on our farm, and that is to keep us and our animals safe.

We started talking about beefing up security. We need to redo the chicken run. The chickens can now get out and they roam free all day long. I love it, but it is no longer safe for them.

But the guinea is not the only one we lost. We also lost one of our ducks. Our one and only male duck. I didn't find a pile of feathers like I did with the guinea. It only took one...

This is the last thing I wanted to see.

I also found some paw prints.

One of the paw prints I found.

These are too large to belong to one of our dogs.

So now the hunt is on. Our first priority will be to drop everything and start working on our chicken pen. They are not going to be as happy, but they will still be alive. And this summer, we hope to get a chicken tractor built so they can still roam where there is fresh grass, but still be protected. And of course while we are home, they can roam free all over our yard.

So take a look at the paw print for me, and if you recognize it, let me know in the comments below what you think it is.  Is it a coyote? We also have bobcats around here as well.

Leave a Comment animals, babies, chickens, coyotes, death, ducks, farm, farm life, farming, guineas

7 Things I Have Learned About Having Ducks

Last year, about this time, I received a phone call from a friend wanting to know if we wanted some ducklings.  Without even thinking I blurted out, yes! Then realized it would probably be better if I asked my husband, Steve first before I commit us to this new endeavor.

Steve and I had already discussed adding ducks to our growing farm.  It was something that we wanted to do, but we needed to build a floating duck house (Be sure and watch our video on building a floating duck house), and find a good place for them to grow before going to our pond. 

Steve reminded me of all this, and I reminded him that we got chickens before we had a chicken coop.  We tend to do things like that.  We always put our cart before the horse.  If we waited until we were ready, nothing would happen!

So Steve agreed, with reservations of course, and I excitedly once again told my friend, yes!  She didn’t know how many there would be.  Anywhere from 2-7, but she would let us know when they were ready. So excitedly we went about the rest of the evening planning and dreaming, anxious to get started on our new adventure. 

Then time past, and we didn’t get any ducks.  And so we waited.  Still no ducks.  And we waited some more. And still no ducks.  We actually thought that we weren’t going to get them.  We kept asking and wondering.  The kids kept asking and wanting to know when the ducks were coming.  We even went to pick them up one night from my friend’s house, but they hadn’t been delivered.  Things were looking pretty grim about actually getting any ducks and Steve and I had pretty much decided that it was probably for the best.  Then at what I thought was the worst possible time (one week after I had major surgery), we got our ducklings. 

They were absolutely adorable!  We ended up getting 4 ducks and we immediately fell in love.  I realized that the timing was perfect.  With me unable to do anything but look at them (and even then it was only for a few seconds) the kids HAD to pitch in and do their share to take care of the ducks.  Of course Steve had a big hand in the ducks’ welfare and I am so grateful!  When Steve had to go back to work, but I still wasn’t able to take care of myself, let alone anything else, my parents would come over and my dad took care of those little ducklings.  I think he enjoyed it!  Or at least if he didn’t, he sure didn’t complain. 

After having them for almost a year, there have been a few things that we have learned.

1. Ducks are extremely messy and smelly!

I really had no idea how messy they are until we got them.  They love to splash in the water!  And not just puddles or ponds.  They like to splash in their drinking water.  They also mix the water and food together and then it gets everywhere.  If you have to keep them inside (we did until it warmed up and they were older), then I must warn you about the smell.  We had to clean out their little home twice a day.  It was almost impossible to keep it clean!  We don’t have a garage, so inside the house was where they stayed.  If you have a garage, that would be much better!

2. Ducks are surprisingly resilient.

We almost killed one of our ducks unknowingly.  We thought it would be a great idea to fill up a little tub and let them swim.  What we didn’t think about was that they water, straight from our well was icy cold.  One little duck, the runt of the bunch, got too cold and almost died.  It because lifeless and I grabbed a towel and wrapped it up and gently rubbed it.  It started to revive, but I knew it needed more warmth.  So I heated up one of our rice bags and put the bag under the towel that I had the duck wrapped in.  It survived, thank goodness!

Then another duck got trampled by the others while they were outside.  It was unintentional, but we thought this little duck was a goner for sure.  We separated it and took special care of it.  It took a couple of days, but was soon well again and able to function.

3. Ducks make great watch dogs.

I remember when we got our guineas my mom warned me that they would be loud.  Well, it wasn’t the guineas that were loud, but the ducks!  Not all the time mind you, just when something was going on that shouldn’t be.  Their quacks were definitely loud enough for us to hear inside the house, and we always knew that when we heard them, we needed to check on them.  They are great watch dogs!

4. Ducks love to eat dog food!

We do not intentionally feed our ducks dog food.  Our ducks, chickens and guineas roam free in our yard.  So if the dogs have not eaten all their food from the night before (we have to feed them at night when the animals are all put up so they actually get to eat!) then the ducks go straight to the food and finish it off for them!  Our poor dogs, they don’t quite know what to do.  They know better than to hurt the ducks, they have been trained.  So they just lay there and watch them eat.

Poor Lynn and Abby, the ducks eat all their food. 

5. Duck eggs are delicious!

Duck eggs are a bonus!  They are extremely delicious, very rich and creamy, are great in baking.  They have 9 grams of protein compared to 6 grams that a chicken egg has.  They are also higher in Omega-3 fatty acids, and people who are allergic to chicken eggs, generally are able to tolerate duck eggs.  Also depending on the breed of duck you have, they can lay year-round.  Our ducks laid this past winter while our chickens did not.  This allowed us to continue having eggs without having to buy any!

6. Ducks live well with chickens and guineas.

We decided to put our ducks in with our chickens and guineas.  We did have to ease into this.  We first put them into the run with the chickens, but not in the coop at night with them.  The ducks had their own little home at night which was fine for the summer months, but we knew during the winter that we had to get them into the coop.  Allowing them to ease into it, made all the difference.  It did take a couple of months, but they are now living happily together

7. Ducks will always come home at night.

When we first started taking the ducks to the pond, we thought we would have to go and get them to bring them back to the coop to keep them safe.  We were shocked when on the first night as we walked out the back door to heard them back to safety, they already beat us to it.  They had spent the day on the pond, enjoying the water and all the luscious berries, and grasses and bugs to eat.  But as the sun started to go down, they made their way back to their home for the night.  Every night since then, no matter where they might be in the yard, or even the field, when the sun starts to go down, they come home. 

Coming home.

We lost one of our ducks.  I’m not sure what happened to it, although we can all guess that it probably ended up as a scrumptious dinner for either a coyote or fox (we have both).  We had lost chickens and guineas before like that, but it never bothered me knowing that is part of farm life.  It bothered me losing a duck.  I think of them more as pets than as a farm animals. 

Playing in the pond.

This spring we have a chance to get more ducks and we have jumped at the chance!  We love our ducks and are looking forward to getting more to add to our family. 

Are you wondering about adding ducks to your farm?  I would definitely say it is worth it.  They are wonderful animals and even though they are a little work, they make our farm and our family a happier place.

Let me know in the comments below how you feel about ducks.

1 comment ducks, farm, farm life, farming, water fowl

Sometimes I Wonder If It's Worth It

While I didn't grow up on a farm, I spent many days in my childhood at my grandparent's dairy farm.  I have always wanted to have my own farm and raise my children with that kind of life, and in the process teach them some valuable and great life lessons. I know that farm life is hard. There are many set-backs and it is far from being a glamorous job, or one that you can get rich at.  Carrying hay to cows as you sink down in knee deep snow, having to carry buckets of water for the animals because the pipes froze, and having your crops eaten by deer, racoons or your own dog are just to name a few.  But with what has happened the past several days, I have begun to wonder if it really is worth it. 

We currently have 7 chickens,  4 ducks,  and one guinea.  We originally had 4 guineas but 3 of them were killed. Knowing that they like to be in groups we put the lone survivor in with our chickens.  It seemed to work but there are days where they just don't get along. In fact they are just  like children. Best friends one day, enemies the next. There is definitely a group dynamic being played out daily in our chicken coop.  Throw in 4 ducks to the mix and there are times where you have bedlam.

They seem calm now...

My story starts with last Thursday.  This was the day where we had one of our roosters (we have 2), and our guinea to get out of the chicken run.  And where did they end up?  My freshly planted garden!  Of course trying to chase them out just ran them further through the garden and all I could think about was that my garden was ruined!  To add to that, as Carly and I were trying desperately to get them back, the 4 ducks escaped and you guessed it!  They too went right to my garden!  It must have been a site to see, me chasing the rooster and guinea, Carly going after the ducks.  She had just got the ducks put up, and was back helping me when the ducks got out again.  I was ready to cry.  It was time to leave for Carly's tumbling class and we were both muddy and out of sorts.  Luckily with the help of my husband who had just gotten home from work, we were able to get everyone back in.

As if that wasn't enough drama, the very next day after my husband came home from work, he asked if I had seen our calves lately.  Come to think of it, I didn't believe that I had seen them in a couple of days!  So he started looking for them.  And they were no where to be found on our land.  That week we had experienced some bad storms, high winds and lots of rain.  Steve had found several places where the fence was down.  He called our neighbor and asked if he could look on their land, and thank goodness the calves were there and alright!  People may not realize it, but cattle thieves still exist and of course that is what I was thinking.  

Trouble makers!

So while the calves got home safe and sound, that meant that there was a lot of fence that needed to be mended.  A. Lot. Steve spent three days working on all the fence that goes around our entire property and fixing all the spots where the calves could get out.  And while he loves doing that kind of work, it was exhausting, hard work.  

One (out of many) of our new fence posts. Nice work honey!

Which brings us to last night.  Steve had just finished putting in the last  fence post and stretching the wire.  He came into the house and asked if our dog Abby had gotten into the pen with the ducks.  My heart froze in fear.  I asked if the ducks were alright and he said no.  Then I asked if they were dead and he said no.  I told him that Abby had not gotten into the pen with them.  Then he said that two of the ducks had their feathers torn off their backs.  

He brought the ducks in and thanks to a friend of mine that also has ducks, I knew that I needed to put some triple antibiotic ointment on their skin to help heal and protect.  One duck was worse than the other, and I was just sick to think about the trauma they went through.  We think that one of the roosters got to them and was trying to breed them.  So instead of a shower and resting, Steve had to reinforce the chicken and duck pens to make sure that they couldn't get to each other. And I had to reassure the kids that the ducks would recover.  In fact this morning, the ducks are doing much better.  Their little backs look horrible, but they are eating, drinking, and hanging with their buddies.  

The two in the middle were the ones with feathers gone.  Poor babies!

So with all this happening within less than a week's time, I have begun to wonder, is it really worth it?  It is so much work.  Like I said earlier, I knew it was going to be hard work, but it is harder than I ever thought it would be.  It has lots of heartache with it too.  But there are also the good times.  Like the first time we got eggs.  The produce that we got from our garden last year and everything we canned for the winter.  The freezer full of beef to help feed our family and cut down on grocery bills. The kids learning to bottle feed calves.  And more importantly the life lessons that my kids are being taught.  They see the good with the bad.  They are learning that in life, not everyone wins, and not everyone gets a medal.  They are learning that hard work is the key to success, and that being rich does not mean having a bank full of money.  

So in the end I guess maybe it is all worth it.  At least it is giving us adventures that we can have, share, and remember.  

What about you?  What are some of the struggles you have had?

2 comments calves, chickens, cows, ducks, farm, farming, fence