Triton's Farm

This week on the farm: I thought I had the water all figured out and then the pump went out. I would like to say when it rains it pours, but I would like a drenching of rain right now. I think the average rainfall in May is .65 inches. I guess there's not much chance of a good rainfall. This next weekend we will be installing a new 20 hp pump. I'm getting good at installing and uninstalling irrigation pumps. Not that I find it fun. These pumps are about 200 pounds and not easy to move. I have also learned a whole lot more about irrigation pumps than I ever thought I needed to know. In addition to learning how to do minor repairs to tractors, change spark plugs, build chicken coops, and build fences, I can now add irrigation pumps to my growing list of farm knowledge. Farming is about so much more than growing.

This week on the farm: We finally have our irrigation water. The latest challenge on the farm, ticks. Those nasty little blood suckers. The only place on the property we have problem is in the willow trees near the irrigation ditch. They are nasty little buggers. The don't scare me so much anymore. I have gotten really good at de-ticking the dogs. This year I gave them the tick medication, but it doesn't seem to help. I've heard rubbing them with oranges helps. I have to get Axle to hold still long enough to rub oranges all over him. I don't think he will like it much. In the past our guinea fowls helped keep the population down, but last year in our effort to down size we got ride of the last of the guinea fowl. All we had left was males because the females would nest in the tall grass and were easy prey for coyotes, so until we can find a better solution to keep them safe we won't get more guinea fowl. Till then we have to deal with ticks. Luckily no humans have had a tick take hold. I've had them only my clothes and freak out over every possible creepy crawly I imagine I feel. They are hard to kill. I found pliers are the best weapon and keep a pair in my back pocket at all times. Hector an Tripper are used to the evening de-ticking, but Axle still thinks he has to bite everything and will not hold still. I know ticks sound terrible and I know Lime disease is a danger, but what do you do? I'll try a different medication on the dogs to keep them safe, but the medication has it's own side effects. It's just another thing you deal with and move on.

This week on the farm: LAMBS!!! they have finally started arriving. We have four already and I expect another two to arrive in the next week or so. The moms did great. I didn't have to help or do anything. The babies all look very healthy, and were on their feet in seconds. It's pretty incredible how quickly they can move around. So far we have 3 more girls to add to our herd and one boy. Joy our guard llama has already checked out all the new babies and immediately accepted them to the herd. Everyone looks great. So far it's been a very easy lambing. Only one more to go.

This week on the farm: it's the goofy ducks. I really like the ducks. Of all the animals on the farm they are one of the nicest. They don't tend to do many bad things and as long as they have water and we leave them alone they are fine. They have even learned to come in from the pond at night to get safely tucked in bed.

Just so you know not all the ducks we have had have been this well behaved. We seem to have a nice group. I really like the two breeds, Anconas and Silver Appleyards. Both have nice personalities and stay close to the barn. They don't try to stay out late so we can keep the safe from Willey Coyote. Hector playing the part of Ralph the sheep dog has an easy time with the ducks. He likes to lay by the pond watching the ducks. At least that's what he tells us he's doing. He might just be sleeping.

For the last couple of weeks I have been watching one particular duck, an Ancona Drake. A pretty black and white duck. We separated the Anconas from the Silver Apple Yards so we can save eggs and hatch out some more ducks. We didn't realize this would cause one particular drake so much anxiety. Ducks don't pair up quite like geese. They are a little more promiscuous and forgetful about their mates. They tend to like a little more of a harem than sticking to one hen. They do have favorites however. This little drake apparently had a favorite Silver Appleyard hen. I didn't realize and thought he would be over it by now, but he just seems to be more determined. We have the ducks separated so that one group can go to the pond while the other stays in the pen with a pool. The Silver Appleyards are lazier and seem quite happy with a pool while the Anconas like the pond. Every day this little black and white drake walks around the pen of Silver Appleyards calling to his hen. I think if I could figure out which hen he was pinning for I would let her out, but I'm not sure if the hens feel the same way about him. I haven't noticed any particular hen following him around or making head bobs at him. I think it may be one sided. So my little Romeo will just have to continue pinning for his hen till they have been separated long enough that I can be sure the eggs are pure for each breed. Then we will save some eggs for hatching and let the two breeds back together. Little Romeo just has to hold out for another couple of weeks before he can find his Juliette.