It's Christmas Time!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!! Since I still don't have a card reader, I'm not going to be able to put on any new pictures for now, but if I can find one, I'll put up an old one in another post. With a story of course!

On a more farm-y note, I'll talk about life on the farm . Basically, it's never fun to have animals (especially chickens) in the winter. The water freezes over, and we have to haul it all out by hand becuase the hoses don't work when water freezes. The chickens don't like the cold, and spend most of their time inside huddled together in an attemp to stay warm. The adventurous ones (in other words, the stupid ones) who do go outside often get frostbite on their combs and toes. Thats never fun to deal with. The turkeys -who always complain anyways- come up to you when you go out, and seem to say "why is it so cold out?" like they blame you for their discomfort. If the runner ducks don't get to wash their faces in water, they get bad eyes, which makes them look really bad, especially the white ones. Nothing exciting really happens in the winter becuase all the chickens stay cooped up inside, so I probably won't have much to say when it's cold out (not that I've been updating much anyway).

More Ducklings!

Last night we found some ducklings wandering the barn, so we took them inside so they wouldn't freeze to death. They probably hatched from a nest under the hay bales, as we weren't expecting them to show up at all! It's amazing how fast ducklings grow, as the other ones (that we hatched in our incubator) already dwarf the new ones!

Shipment of Birds

We recently shipped a bunch of birds, including all of our meat birds (the White Rocks), a couple spare ducks, and 3 of our turkeys. The meat birds are now in our freezer and mostly sold, as well as the ducks, and the turkeys are already eaten! We recently had Thanksgiving (a bit late) and we had our own turkey. It was quite good, but a little small for our family (these turkeys didn't get very big). We sold the other 2 to Buca, an amazing new restaurant in Toronto that also buy duck eggs and is opening soon!

New Duckies!

We put some duck eggs in the incubator a while back, and we had a really good turnout! Now we have ducks to our ears in 2 dog kennels in the basement! There are roughly 27 ducklings, and they are mostly runner ducks, although there is one calico one that most definitely isn't! They go through tonnes of food and water (ducklings are very messy drinkers) and will have to be moved to a bigger house soon. Sorry I don't have a picture! I still haven't found my card reader...

Fall Fur and Feathers Show

Today was the fur and feathers show! This year we got there fairly early (around 7 in the morning) and brought back 10 new pets! We got 4 new quail to replace 2 of the ones that were eaten, 3 khaki ducks, 2 Harlequin ducks, and 1 Pekin cross that is buff coloured. They got to come home with us in a n old dog kennel, and in this picture you can clearly see that they aren't used to being near to people... They were "yelling" at me and smushing to the back corner as much as they possible could.

Gourmet at Stone Meadow

Last night Stone Meadow Farms hosted a fundraiser for the Guelph Youth Singers. It was a big success, and 38 people attended! Some of the menu items included; A Muscovy duck mole (kind of like a stew) with a chocolate spice sauce, our own Tamworth pork, 3 kinds of hot sauces made from very local tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos to go with our 3 colours of tortilla chips, and corn and wheat (white and whole wheat) with the regular fixings! The night was a lot of fun, and the food was really good, so thank you to everyone who came! We raised a bunch of money for the Guelph Youth Singers thanks to you!

Goodbye Piggies!

Our Tamworth pigs (bacon and DaLoiney) have been shipped to the processor. Bacon walked right up into the trailer and ate the offering of watermelon, but DaLoiney wasn't going to go without a fight... she ran all around her (big) pen, dodging everyone who tried to get in her way. We tried to fence her in, but she got around the corners every time. Her crowning glory was like a trick out of dog school... We have a chicken catching net that we thought would at least slow her down, but she came up to it and jumped through it, clearing the sides and ripping straight through the netting! We were all impressed and decided that we were never going to get this pig into a trailer, so Bacon left that day, and DaLoiney only left today. I wish I had gotten a video...

Matt the Catt

Matt is not our cat. Or at least some of us say that. He "blew in" the lane and we found him covered in matts meowing at us. We kind of adopted him, took care of him and cut all the matts out. He looked really bad for a while and his fur was grey with spots of black in it. He is growing quickly and his fur is now all black, but he's still really "clingy" and he sneezes a lot. Ick. Now he's just as big as Mercury and just as much of a pinhead as Titania! He is really cute, and lots of people like how he stretches up to hug you when you pick him up!

Titania

Titania is Mercuries littermate. They look quite a bit alike, except Titania is smaller, has more brown in her fur, and has a brain the size of a pin. She always loves to be picked up and cuddled. She and Mercury are very different cats; she is also a great mouser, but she is a lot more outgoing and will "myahrah!" at anyone near her! Some people love her because she is very funny, but some prefer a more intelligent cat. I am one of those people. Other than that shes a great cat! She is a good mouser and a great cuddler!

Mercury

Mercury is a barn cat from a different barn in our neighborhood. Especially when he was younger, he was a purple-ish colour with mauve pads on his paws. He is a great mouser, and loves to eat them on white duvets! He is incredibly sweet, and loves to snuggle. In fact, he gets into such raptures that he starts drooling on you! He's also shy, and the most people usually see of him, is a blueish-purple streak as he runs by! I know you shouldn't pick favourites of your "children", but Mercury is my favourite!

Shaylee

Shaylee was a tortoiseshell barn cat from the barn of the same neighbor I got my fancy pigeons from. She was a great cat at first... but later we found out that she had some disorder so she went crazy. We ended up giving her to somebody who wanted to take care of her. We were all sad to see her go, but we knew that it was for her own good

Anemonie

Anemonie or "the Princess" is fluffy white with black blobs. We got her on the way to our cottage by accident; there was a "free kitten" sign so we went to check it out. There were lots of fluffy, cute kitties! Anemonie and another little boy were my favourites. My family also liked a little grey girl, but she wasn't playing, she was just laying in a box. We settled on Anemonie and went to our cottage. A couple days later when we were coming back to pick her up and all the others were gone!! They had kept Anemonie just for us. We took her home and she adjusted quickly to our house. She especially liked this scratching post we have that has a knot hole in the bottom. We first took her outside on a leash and she loved it! Her fur grows longer every year and she has the attitude of a princess. (hence the nickname) I love Anemonie, and if she's in the mood, she's quite cuddly! She is a great cat.

Rainy

Rainy was an orange stripey barn cat... Yes, I know that the name isn't very good, but my mother promised me that I could name the cat. I wanted to call him rainbow, but my mom couldn't picture yelling "Rainbow" out the door. So we settled for Rainy. Rainy was an energetic kitten like most are, and he broke his leg once. It was hard to keep him from running around. Sadly our house was in town by a road, and Rainy died when he wasn't very old because he got hit by a car.

Stevie and Splinter

Stevie was a rescue cat from the barn beside our house that got torn down. Her brother, Splinter was also rescued with her and went to live with "the cousins". Stevie was not an outdoorsy cat that liked to eat and sleep and sit on you. She was rather fat, but we all loved her. Stevie died when she was 12, probably because of all the extra fat in her body. She got put down at a vets office and we took her home and buried her in our new backyard. Splinter lived with our cousins for most of his life. He was really mean and would swipe at you if you went near him. Due to some complications, after Stevie died he ended up coming to live with us. By this time he was partly senile and had decided that he didn't hate everyone anymore... now he wanted to have all the attention on him. He was the cat that just kept going and long overstayed his welcome in our house. He died at the age 18 a ratty old mess, and got cremated in our own fire pit. Not many people missed him. This is a picture of Splinter.

Asha

Asha is our "baby" dog! She's a German/Shiloh Shepherd which means that she is bred to have good hips and a flat back. Asha is slightly neurotic; she is fixated on light and shaddows. She'll stand with her tail wagging and her toungue slightly out. I call it her "shaddow face" even though she likes lights more. At first we let her play with them, but it got worse so we try to discourage her from that now. Asha has tonnes of energy, and she's very skinny even though she eats over 4 cups of food a day! Asha likes to lick peoples faces and sit on their laps, especially mine! She's our 70lb lap dog. She's very smart and learns quickly. I LOVE German Shepherds and reccomend them to anyone who likes big energetic dogs who love to do whatever you're doing.

Kiri

Kiri is a Finnish Spitz, which is a small, orange hunting dog. She is really good at hunting small rodents, as well as the duck eggs laying around the yard...On a good note, she has very shiny fur! Kiri is a very "licky" dog. We think it's because she likes the saltiness of your skin. She has a funny voice; she goes "woowoo" and "wohhhwno" She also has a very "ruhf"-ish voice. Kiri isn't great with other dogs, but her bark is way worse than her bite! Some people think that Kiri is a cat in a dog's body... I think that she's a dog, but whatever... genes don't mean that much do they! I recommend Finnish Spitz's to people who like big, docile cats... and lots of kisses!

Roq

Roq is a malamute cross, so he looks somewhat like a husky, but in browns and yellows. Roq was a bouncy puppy who has been with us for 12 years. He's coming to his end though... he has difficulty breathing and is showing his age. Roq loves to run and be active. He also has a taste for chickens... not the best quality for a dog on a farm, but we had him from before we had chickens. He was a rescue dog as well. I like malamutes, but he's the only one I've met. I recommend them to anyone who likes adventures, ski-joring, and he's also good with children!

Emma Dog

Emma was a German Shepherd who came as a full-grown dog from the humane society after she had puppies. She was a great dog who fiercely guarded the family. She also guarded her food... when I was very young, I got into her food and she bit me right around the eyes. My mother took me to the hospital, where she was sure they would try to take away her dog and her child... they actually commented on how gentle Emma had been. She could have crushed my skull if she wanted to. Sadly Emma died of old age. We buried her on a colourful piece of cardboard in our backyard. We all miss her but at least she died of old age, not a medical reason. She was a great dog and I love Shepherd!

Fish

I've had WAY to many fish to put them all in seperate blogs! When I was younger, we used to have a whole bunch of guppies. They bred like crazy, and we gave some away to friends so our tank didn't get to overpopulated. I've owned some Chinese Fighting Fish. The first was blue but died when a house sitter took care of him for a while. A while later I got a multicoloured one that I called Aurora. I also got a girl in the hopes that they would breed. They didn't. Aurora got fin rot and died, and the girl died shortly after. I've also had angel fish and a variety of small fishes that didn't really make much of an impression on me. Of all fish, I think that plucostomusses are my favourite. You may know them as algea eaters or sucker fish. I've had 3 in total (Costa, Costa ii, and Creature) and they are great fish... plus you don't have to clean the tank very often. The other fish I've had were supposed to be something they weren't. They started out small and brown and grew like crazy into huge, orange aksdofghad that ate every other fish in the tank. I called one Smeagle. I didn't like them, but that was mostly because they ate my other fish. They were very pretty... The picture in this post is them. It was mostly just to get their colours, which didn't work well in a video. It turns out to be the only picture of them because they died while we were on vacation. I say good riddence...

Pigeons

The pigeons I mean when I say "pigeons" are the kind that you see everywhere... parks, the city, basically everywhere you usually see pigeons. So as I mentioned in the previous post about fancy pigeons, my only regular pet pigeon was found by my neighbor. I named him mottle because with his yellow baby fluff, and grey-green feathers he looked (hem) kind of bad. Mottle grew to be almost full sized before he vanished. As you may have noticed on your own, pigeons are really tame. They make great pets if you like birds.

Fancy Pigeons

A couple years ago, I got 2 fancy pigeons from my neighbor. One was brown and one was white. They are the most beautiful birds I've ever owned! They have big feathers on their feet a crest-like thing, and a swirl coming off their beak! I named the brown one Gregory and the white one never really got a name... sadly my Rouen duck (Bryce) pecked her in the neck so she died. Gregory lasted for a while but he was lonely, so my neighbor managed to find an orphaned pigeon on a road, so Gregory adopted him. Gregory couldn't really fly so well... we think that the pretty fluffy feet somewhat slowed him down. He loved to fly up and sit on our roof even though he had to really work to get up there! We aren't sure where he went... our best guess is that he got carried off by a hawk and the other pigeon (his "child") followed him. I really loved the pigeons and I think they make great pets!!

Guinea Pigs

I once had 2 Guinea pigs... this is their sad story. I got them at a pet cetera. At first they lived in my room, but that didn't go so well. Then they moved into the bathroom. That also didn't work so well. They then got moved into the basement and into an old huge fish tank. We don't really go into the basement that often, so we were starting to forget about them. We moved them outside in the summer. They got out once, but then they didn't run away so we started letting them out every day. Then one day, Angus didn't come back. A while later, Gylbert didn't come back either. We think that it was probably hawks, as we've seen them take chickens before. I didn't really like Guinea pigs, but that might just be because I didn't spend the time to tame them very well.

Button Quail

Button quails are miniature versions of quails. They come in a variety of colours such as light blue, dark blue, and brown like a regular quail. They are very skittish, and will drop some feathers if you pick them up. I got 2 of mine at the fur and feathers show 2 years ago, and then another this year. They lay brown eggs with brilliant green insides. The only way to tell the males from the females, is that males have a bigger white "bib" than the females. They are very small, and don't eat or drink much. I recommend them to anyone who is interested in very small birds, or very small eggs.

Quail

I purchased 4 quails this spring at the fur and feathers show. At first they lived in the basement, but when it got a bit warmer, they went outside. Sadly, our dogs got into the cage and all the quails scattered. We only found one immediately and later that week, we found another one! They lived in the basement again for a while, then went outside again. They lay eggs crazily, and now we sometimes add a complimentary quail egg or two in a dozen eggs! I would recommend them to anyone who has something to do with small eggs, or if you're just looking for a really cute small bird that gets tame!

Tamworth pigs

This year we decided that we wanted to try out pigs. We contemplated a couple kinds, but decided on Tamworth pigs when the only place to get the other ones we wanted was in the United States. Tamworth pigs range in colours from orangish, to slightly purpleish. They have big ears that look a bit like a dogs ear. We got 2 of them, both girls and called them Bacon and DaLoiney. We picked them up in the back of our pickup truck, which was fairly simple. Getting them out was the problem. We had a ramp, but it was short, so it was really steep and the pigs didn't want to get out of their comfy straw in the truck. We got DaLoiney out by pushing at her, but Bacon didn't want to get out. We eventually managed to get her out of the truck, and she ran down the ramp squealing. They live in a semi-forested area where they root around in the dirt and lie in the shade. They also have a little house that they go into when it rains. Since I haven't tried their meat yet, I can't recommend them based on that, but they are very nice pigs; we can go in and pat them if we want to!

White Rock Chickens

White Rock Chickens are the commercial chickens you can buy at most grocery stores. They have the "perfect" yellow chicks that look like they just walked away from the Easter Bunny. They are bread for quick growth and lots of white meat. They actually grow so fast that they are subject to heart attacks, and never get enough feathers to cover their entire pink body. They waddle around and have very thick legs to support their mass. We get them because lots of people prefer them to other chickens simply because that is what they're used to. I don't really like them because they are so boring, but they do grow quickly and have lots of meat on them.

Barred Plymouth Rock chickens

Barred Plymouth rock chickens are another one of those breeds where the person who named them had no creativity... they have "barred" or stripey black and white feathers so they look like the perfect jail-bird! They are dual purpose birds, although their meat is somewhat tough. They lay big brown eggs almost every day in their first couple years of life. After that they make really good dog food. The chicks are black with a little white cap. I recommend them to people who want good egg-laying chickens.

Aurucana Chickens

Aurucana chickens are very variable. They come in a variety of colours, and lay brown, blue, or green eggs. We've had pretty good luck with them; the chickens are pretty hardy and their eggs are pretty. We have some old brown hens that lay one huge, misshapen egg once a week, and some younger ones that lay blue-ish green eggs. The younger ones are pretty, with multi-coloured feathers with a combination of black, brown, and white streaks. I recommend them to anyone interested in them.

This picture is an Aurucana (or Americana?) rooster.

Black Jersey Giants

Black Jersey Giants are a heritage breed of chickens. We first saw them at a pioneer village. They are very big (as the name implies) and have black feathers (which the name also implies). An -wonder of all wonders- they originated in the Jersey area! What a surprise! They are a dual purpose bird with great tasting meat, and nice brown eggs. They look very pretty roaming around the barnyard, especially the roosters with their big red combs and shiny black feathers! We have had great luck with them, so I recommend them to anyone in search of a dual purpose bird that really is dual purpose!

Silkie Chickens

Silkies are very funny looking birds. First of all, their skin, bones and organs are black, but their "feathers" are white. Their "feathers" aren't really even feathers... they stay fluffy and soft. They have little pom-poms on their heads so they look like poodles. Silkies are a delicacy to some, but we've never eaten them because they are about the size of a Jungle Fowl. We bring them to the fur and feathers show, where we can get a decent price for them. When they are crossed with other types of chickens, they have interesting results... very soft feathers and half pom-poms! Silkies are great if you have a hobby farm, and they come in a variety of colours, although we've only had white. This isn't a great picture, and I'll put a better one on as soon as I find my picture uploader thing...

Jungle Fowl

Our Jungle Fowl were a present (well... not really) from a relative who was done observing their behaviour. More likely, he decided that he just didn't like them as we have. Jungle Fowl are a old type of chicken; one of the first so at first we tried to keep them separate but that didn't work to well because they are really good at getting out of fences. Now they are just sort of there, and not much use at all because their eggs are about the size of a golf ball. You also can't eat them because they are much to small. We haven't really found any good use for them except to look like pretty little lawn ornaments... when they stay still that is!

Rouen Ducks

Rouen ducks to Pekins are what domestic turkeys are to wild turkeys; fatter yet still pretty. Rouen ducks have the colouring of a mallard duck, but have the shape of a Pekin. We had 2 called Sue and Bryce. Sadly, Bryce died last year. We got them to see if we liked their meat but got to attached to them so we never tried. They are very likable ducks so I definitely recommend them.

Runner Ducks

Runner ducks are the most hilarious ducks I've ever seen! They walk standing straight up and resemble bowling pins. When they're standing still you have to look around to make sure that there's no bowling ball coming to knock them over. They come in a variety of colours including white, chocolate, black, pencilled, fawn, and 2 shades of blue. We've had all of those colours, and they look like a motley bunch running all over the farm! So far, everybody who's met them has fallen in love with their comical behavior and shape. It simply must be said that they are natures idea of a joke!

Muscovy Ducks

Muscovy ducks have white feathers and puffy red skin around their eyes, which makes them look rather ugly. They also have beady little red eyes which they use to stare at you until you freak out and run away. They are really cute ducklings; fuzzy and yellow with a little black cap, but as they grow older, the red around their eyes come out and they go from being cute and cuddly, to somewhat evil looking. They have good meat and we do a batch of them every year. We sell lots of them before they're (hem) done in, but we usually have a couple in the freezer that you can buy on whim.

African geese

African geese are expensive. We however managed to obtain one for free! Every spring and fall there is the fur and feathers show, which we go to at least once every year to buy and sell birds. African geese go for 100 dollars each at this show. By the time we got there, they were also all sold, so we thought that we were out of luck and would have to wait another year to get one. However, we found someone who had bought an African goose, which had laid an egg. We offered to buy the egg, but they gave it to us for free! We brought it home with us and put it into our incubator in the basement. Surprisingly, it hatched! I named the goose Titus and he now roams around with all the other fowl. African geese are very pretty, and if you spend time with them, they get pretty tame. As with other geese, I don't suggest getting one if you have children there often. Titus is the dark one, and all the others are Muscovy ducks.

Pekin Ducks

Pekin ducks are your typical white, fat ducks. We had a Pekin duck (called Sir Ducks-a-lot) who unfortunately got smushed by a door this year. They are a very pretty snowy white duck with bright orange feet. They have great meat and love to swim.

Emden Geese

Like Canadian geese, Emden geese are territorial and vicious. In 2007 we decided to try out some geese. We bought and raised the goslings to see if we liked having geese, and to see if we liked the meat. To say the least, we like the meat, but not the geese. We kept a breeding pair and called them Carter and Lucy. When they were younger, the geese were pretty tame to our family. This changed as they got older. At one point, if you got near Carter, he would hiss at you and if you didn't go away, he would grab onto your leg with his serrated bill and beat you with his wings. Lucy laid an egg... once. Last year we got Carter and Lucy to hatch and take care of some goslings. They grew to be even more fierce than their parents but we kept an additional one to keep our breeding program going. Or so we thought. We accidentally managed to keep 3 males! So now they run rampant in the barnyard terrifying anybody that comes their way... I don't suggest that anyone who has to get near them should get them. Especially if they have other animals or children.

Broad Breasted Bronze Turkeys

Broad Breasted bronze turkeys look like wild turkeys, but as the name implies, they are really more like domestic turkeys (broader breast) with pretty feathers. We've had good luck with them so far, and this year we bought 10 to sell. So far none of them have died from stupid reasons... except for the one that got eaten by a hawk!

Domestic turkeys

We've raised our share of domestic turkeys, and we've decided that they just aren't the thing for us. First of all, they are very stupid and they will stand outside in the rain if you don't herd them back into their house. They also get very big, and on one occasion we've had one get so big that it couldn't get through the door of the house. His name was Mr. Fluffy. Domestic turkeys just aren't as interesting as wild turkeys, or broad breasted bronze turkeys, so we have just about given up on them.

Wild Turkeys

George is our very first turkey. We've had him from the very beginning! Wild turkeys aren't as big as the commercial turkeys, but they have beautiful feathers, and are quite comical. We usually get them as polts (babies), but we've also hatched some of the eggs from our breeding pair (George and a hen). As they grow up, the turkeys have to learn to display and to gobble. It is actually really funny to watch these little turkeys (a bit less than a foot tall) following George and trying to copy what he does. Their gobble is high-pitched and fully puffed up they're only about the size of a soccer ball. You can only eat a wild turkey in the first year or two of their life; after that they get really tough and you get attached to them. Wild turkeys make very good pets, especially if you have them from a young age and spend time with them. We had one wild turkey called Mr.DodoHead, and he was so tame that you could walk up to him and pet him!