We're Still Here

Well, it has unintentionally been a while since the last post from Hill Giant Farm. But don't worry we're still here! September was a really hectic month-back to school, additional chores wrapping up the summer, computer problems.....lots of things to distract us from blogging :) So, here's a bit of an update on what's happening at our place:

Lamb/Sheep Update: So far this year we have secured 12 lamb orders and they are due to go to the butcher on October 30 for butchering on October 31. Guess they'll be getting a trick more than a treat! This years lambs seem to be putting on more weight than last years, so that's good news for us and for our customers. We also decided to leave the mature rams in with the ewes all summer this year so we will have earlier lambing in 2013, likely late January to mid-February. This is a new experience for us but we're excited about it.

Chicken Update: The "little birds" (this years chicks) have been pretty stressful in September. You can shoot raccoons, you can  fill in holes to keep out weasels and skunks, but it sure is hard to prevent aerial predation. We lost a few chickens to the goss hawk that built her nest in the nearby county forest. Frustrating, and as a result we made the philosophical decision that for the overall health of the little birds we would stop letting them out on pasture to eat freely what they like and would start feeding them inside again. They're doing much better inside and are showing less signs of stress.

Frank: Our duck Frank seems to be doing pretty well. There has been much discussion among the Grey County relatives as to the sex of Frank. The matriarch of the Grey County family believes that Frank is a drake (male) based on the way its tail feathers display themselves (turned up instead of flat), while the oldest uncle in the family believes Frank is a duck (female) based on the same trait. Only time will tell as Frank will either lay eggs or not.

Kittens: Our mother cat and her remaining 3 kittens moved outside in September. Since then, the tom cat kitten has moved on and so has the mother cat. However, two of the kittens-Flopsy and Mopsy- have moved into the barn. We've noticed a great benefit from having the cats around this year; no rodents when we mucked out the sheep pen. That's a first!

As for us people at Hill Giant Farm, well, we just keep on plugging away. We enjoyed a 5 day vacation to the States with our Lambton County family. A fabulous couple farm sat for us and it was great to get away together. Well, that's all for now. Check back on Monday for a yummy recipe.