Garry the Chicken

    We've acquired quite a few more birds here at the farm. A rather mixed batch actually; rhode island reds, marans, cochins, more barred rocks, orpingtons. Although new to our farm, nothing out of the ordinary as far as chickens go. Except Garry.

    We have no idea what kind of chicken he is. We actually thought he was a hen for a few months until we witnessed him crow in person. Not only is he tiny compared to our other birds, but he is the epitome of the "little man complex." He antagonizes our biggest, baddest rooster and actually wins! I honestly think it's because our top rooster is so surprised/bewildered it doesn't have time to come up with any other reaction than running away in shock. Please, if anyone has an idea of his breed, let us know!

 
And now for Garry's name-sake. He is only the second chicken that we have named. The first was "Big Dude," who is in fact a big...dude. Really the only reason why we named Garry at all is because of his incredible likeness to our good friend Mara's dog Garry. The similarities in Garry the chicken's behavior to Garry the dog's were so uncanny that Mia and I came to the same conclusion while watching him one day. We literally looked at each other at the same time and said, "IT'S EXACTLY LIKE GARRY!!!!"

 

Here is a shot of Garry (the dog)in all his glory. We hope one day they will meet

and become best friends.

Goat For Sale, Trade, or Barter

CPE needs a new home for Samuel! Samuel is a very happy and healthy purebred Nubian buck born July 6th, 2011. He has been de-horned and will soon be ready for breeding.

What we are looking for:
      -outright sale of Samuel for a price TBD
      -trade for other livestock (i.e.-goats, sheep, turkeys, et cetera)
      -a mutually beneficial trade of breeding services
      -establish a network between ourselves and another goat farm


We would love to talk and work out some sort of deal that can benefit us and the buyer. We're more interested in starting a relationship with other goateries than a plain cut and dry exchange of money.

    If you would like more information, please contact us through e-mail at cparavel@gmail.com.

Eva Update!

 I'm pleased to inform little Eva's leg has healed beautifully! For those that may not remember, she broke her leg a few weeks after she was born and had to hobble around with a cast. Now the cast is off and her leg isn't giving her any issues at all!

 

Tomætoes, Tomátoes

    Martha has picked the last of the tomatoes before the gardens are switched to fall/winter mode. With the nights getting colder, and ultimately the day's temperatures catching up, that means it's time to break out the green house structures for the raised beds and move as much as we can into the affixed greenhouse off of the lower apartment. I've been working on tilling all of this years plants into the soil to decompose and nourish the ground. As a good way to end the time of year that the bulk of our veggie production slows down by sharing some pictures of the different tomato varieties we grew this year.

    Our tomatoes were good to us this year!

Egglentine and Damon, Sittin' In A Tree...

The Damon has become sexually mature! This is great for us because it means we are now able to increase our herd. Kikki is too fresh from her previous pregnancy to be bred, but Egglentine and Rosie aren't.

The bad part about male goats is 100% related to their sexual maturity. As a means of attracting females, bucks urinate on their own face and hump everything in their path. Apparently the stinkier the goat, the more appealing he is to the ladies. The stink aspect is also true with female goats. It's rather unmistakable when a doe is in heat.

All gross-ness aside, Egglentine has been showing signs of being ready to mate, so we've put her and The Damon together. Boy...it is hilarious.

Here is what we humans see of the interaction:

However, I feel if we were to see this through the eyes of a goat,
the struggle for Eggie's heart would look much more like this.

So, hopefully if everything goes according to plan, we will be welcoming a few more goats to our herd come springtime! I will keep you posted!!

Sauerkraut Has Finished!

    Yesterday was an exciting day.  The sauerkraut we had started back in July has finally been jarred, and we were able to taste the incredible-ness that is fresh sauerkraut. 

    Now, to put my amazement into perspective, I thought sauerkraut from a can you buy at the store was incredible.  I would have to refrain from buying it because I'd end up putting it on everything -- i.e. hot dogs, bratwursts, sandwiches, corn flakes, et cetera.  However, now I don't think I'll ever want to buy canned sauerkraut from the store again.  It would only make me cry that it wasn't home-made with every bite.  I can't exactly put my finger on why the fresh kraut is so much better, it just is.

 The canning process.

 Mmmmmmmm...

Martha at work!

    For all you sauerkraut lovers out there, try and make it up for some reubens, or brats, or some corn flakes smothered in kraut with us!