Friday the 13th.

We closed on the purchase of Loving Farm on April Fool’s Day, 2020.  Interestingly enough, we sold the city house on Friday the 13th, 2020.   As soon as I heard that Friday, November 13th would be the date to close, something inside of me knew it was going to happen.  It is 2020, after all! 

Having completed the duck run and coop, Perriee left her job at the end of September, as we were putting the house on the market.  We rented a few U-hauls to move our stuff, 15 feet at a time.    With the pandemic in full swing, and being able to work from home all of the time, it just made sense to scale it back and take the plunge to move to the country.  We are literally Making Time for Tipi now!  The intentions that have been set are coming to fruition and we could not be more pleased! 

Fort Flocka

#lotsaflocka

We think the ducks have something called, “gapeworm” and are going to be heading to vet via Howard on Tuesday. I made the appointment on a Tuesday, but they had a week long wait, or we would have had him seen sooner. He is going as the family representative, since ultimately, how we treat him for whatever he has, will be done to all four of them. It has been stressful, per usual to find a vet in the vicinity. I called some places close by, but no one sees duckies, so he will have an hour ride ahead of him to get to a doc that saw June before for a stuck egg. A dream would be for someone to come here to see them. Fingers crossed that it is a manageable treatment. They are all eating and drinking and spry, so not the emergency in “vet speak”.

@HowardDayzNicknJune

Our current projects are focused on keeping the pipes warm, with some insulation and getting the house’s legs stabilized by having some pier and beam reinforcement done in the basement.  There is a large stone missing from one of the piers and maybe someone removed a supportive wall at some point.  We are on the list for February unless there is a cancellation.  The people we hired seem super organized and professional – a husband and wife couple.  

It has been getting cooler, so we had to get the pilot lit on the propane furnace.  Both of our propane heaters are amazing.  They are by-far my favorite features of this house.  I have always wanted a gas fireplace, and now we have two of them!  The electric is on in the trailer and the barn now too.  We feel the progress and somehow, amidst it all, I am finding more moments of relaxation and self care.  I think it is good.  

Homework

Tip your Uhaul movers.  During one of our truck moves, we hired movers through Uhaul so we could save our backs on the large items (picnic table, matress/boxspring, dressers, etc.).  Compared to having a mover drive the truck, it was several hundred dollars difference to drive the truck ourselves and have someone else do the lifting.  Something felt like it was a gig type job and they were getting little more than base pay and hopefully some insurance if they got hurt on the job.  

Happy Hatch Day, #lotsaflocka!

Happy Hatch Day to #lotsaflocka!  I cannot believe they are one year old already.  It has been quite a journey and I love them more now than I could have ever even imagined loving a duck when we first considered getting them.  

hatch day 2018

One little duckie, Dayz, has given us quite a few worried days, and she likely will continue to do so, but I will not give up on her until she tells me it is time.  Even with their nutritious diet, she has trouble forming normal eggs.  This causes her a lot of discomfort and could be fatal, so we asked our local vet to do an implant that will prevent her from forming eggs for a while.  So far, it seems to be working well.  She has not had to lay in over a week now, and seems to be feeling pretty good. 

I would have never guessed that that would be something we would be dealing with when we got ducks.  Needless to say, we have learned a lot about them in the last year, so we want to pass on our knowledge to you.  Most of what we know has come from both internet research as well as from an amazing group of Instagram duck lovers who share their stories to help educate as well as entertain.   

hatch day 2019

Here is a quick list of things I have learned since we got them:

Appreciate every egg you eat.  The amount of energy that goes into creating a good egg is underreported.  It is physically taxing and not all fowl are physically able to produce a good egg all of the time, even if their bodies insist on trying. After seeing all of the trouble Dayz goes through to make eggs, it hurts my heart to think of all of the hens out there in industrial farming settings who suffer alone.  As consumers, we don’t get to see all of the ugly eggs and the hens who struggle to lay them.

“His” and “Hers” quarters are a must! The next time we build an enclosure for these turkeys we will at least make it possible to separate them easily, even if they seem to be getting along.  There are those times (aka spring) when the guys just can’t control themselves, and “toxic masculinity ruins the party again”. In the meantime we will supplement with dried chamomile flower in their morning water to help keep everyone as calm as possible.  I slacked off for a bit, and it may have been coincidence, but things got pretty crazy for a bit and just might be leveling out a bit since I re-started.

Plan for the water.  We go through so much water so this year we are planning on growing a lot of stuff that needs water!  I think we need a watering can too. We have made three raised beds in the back yard and are going to plant all zinnias in the front yard.  We also have talked about a way to recycle the water, similar to aquaponics.  

Ducks are so smart.  As ornery as they can be, they are so quick to pick up new tricks and will do almost anything for a pea.  I feel it is important to make them work for their treats sometimes to keep their mind busy. The boys, especially, get really bossy when they are bored.  

People dump domestic ducks all of the time and think it is ok.  It is not ok. It is so sad and heartbreaking. I am afraid to go to a park right now because I am fairly certain that now that I know what I am looking at,  I will find ducks who should not be there.  Domestic ducks (Pekins, Khaki Campbell’s, Magpies, Runners, Muscovy, etc.) cannot fly to get away from predators, they do not migrate, and they depend on us to provide shelter and nutritious food to keep them safe and healthy.  Yes, they can fly up and then fly back down, but they are not going any significant distances. With proper care and good health, a duck can live to be at least ten years old. They are not a short-term commitment.

People love ducks!  I can tell you we were nervous to welcome them to our urban backyard.  I was worried that the neighbors would be upset about them and complain.  The actuality is that our neighbors love them. So many of them sneak peeks when we don’t even know about it.  They come to watch them when they are feeling stressed and just need to unwind a bit. Ducks are so fun to watch and very therapeutic when they are just going about their business.  

Ducks are tough.  I have already thought we were going to say goodbye to Dayz several times in the last few months.  She has looked so tired and has bounced back beyond belief. Someone said the other day, “there is a reason that this descendent of the dinosaur is still here today”.  Boy were they right about that!

Happy hatch day duckies!  Thank you for all of the joy you bring into our lives and thank you for allowing us novices to do our very best to make your lives as perfect as possible.  

I keep telling myself it is just a big bedroom…

The ridge board has landed and it is spectacular.  The 2x14x16 is a freshly cut piece of Indiana Poplar that was purchased from Wilhelm Sawmill in Brookville, Indiana.  They were a pleasure to work with. While discussing the purchase, they also informed us that the Indiana Poplar is the state tree!  Who knew? We all do now.

Our big lumber delivery happened and we had some time to cut down all of the 16 ft boards for the floor joist construction.  We hope to get the joists screwed together this upcoming weekend. It was so awesome to see our order in real life as opposed to the virtual shopping cart I have been staring at for the past month.  

We have discovered a couple of things we need to consider which we will review with someone before moving forward.  

Things we have consulted on:

Screwing in carriage bolts: use old holes or make new ones? We had a five-minute meeting with our neighbor, Home Improvement style, over the fence line.  It was a meeting that would’ve put Corporate America to shame with the amount of information that we covered in such a short period of time.  We are going to make one new hole for each post  and put the carriage bolt through. We are going to leave the lag bolts where they are currently.  

Our ridge board might be ½  inch too thick (it is) than what the plans called for!!  Do we need to make adjustments in how we cut our rafters?  Will the supports be strong enough with the 2×6? Should we use a 2×8 instead?  Should we order another one? The directions on the plans called for a 2×14”x16 ft but the supports for the beam calls for an inch and a half-inch opening.  I am now assuming that the board, although special ordered, would be the standard size for a two-inch width which is one and a half inches.  Per our sensei, we can still use the big beauty that we have and he will adjust the support piece to accommodate the extra half-inch.  He does not think this will at all affect how our rafters fit.

We laid out the square of the floor to see how it looked.

If we could only do this again it would be damn near perfect.  Maybe we can start our own 14×14 construction consulting business after we get this sucker up.  If we can do it, you can too!

In the city we are working on re-homing the sweetest kitty ever in addition to our dealing with our ongoing saga of egg delivery.  Poor Dayz is still having trouble laying her eggs. We are really working to get her an implant to suppress her egg production. Fingers crossed we can get that on board this week or next.  She is one tough duck.

Winter in the City with Ducks

Winter has finally arrived and it is wonderful.  I made it back from week out-of-town for work  just in time to enjoy a snowy weekend in the city. It started snowing Friday night and it kept falling into Sunday.  Our totals were probably only about 6 inches after it was all said and done.

Here again a week later, we are waking up to a fresh blanket of snow.  Since we have been close to the city home for the past couple of weekends I thought it would be a nice opportunity to share what we have learned about keeping domestic ducks in the winter.

Most of what I have learned is courtesy of Lisa Steele from Fresh Eggs Daily (@fresheggsdaily). Thanks, Lisa! If you are interested, I encourage you to read up on the topic to make sure you are getting the facts.  It is fascinating to learn about their special physiology that allows them to jump into a cold pond in the middle of winter: Why don’t duck feet freeze?.  

It is just now the coldest it has been since we have had them, and as a result of what I have learned about how cold tolerant they are, I am taking the recommended measures to protect them against the “below 20 degree Fahrenheit” threshold. The heated water dog bowl is getting its inaugural use today (which they seem to love) and I beefed up their house last night with a couple of full flakes of straw to take up some empty space and add to insulation.  Although the outside temp is about 10 in the sun, it is at least several degrees warmer in their house. We will toss in a couple of more flakes of straw in their house, as it is only going to get colder tonight.  While their coop door is open, I draped a towel to cover the opening and keep some cold air out.  

I should clarify that the water bowl is in their run.  One thing I can say with confidence, is that you should never put water inside their house when it is super cold out (or ever, in general)  since it can cause a situation where things will get wet and they will possibly get frostbite.

I fed them some warm oatmeal with peanuts and raisins (which honestly, they haven’t eaten yet) to help raise their body temperature.  I think i will offer some warm pea soup later. That, I can be certain they will love.

Finally, in their outdoor run, I spread out some straw on top of the snow to give them something to step on that is not directly on the cold ground.  I even tossed in a nice piece of wood for them to sit on if they wish. I want them to have options. Above it all, I am so happy to be home so I can keep a close eye on them.  These are the first super cold days that I have had them for, so I feel like this is a great time to establish a baseline with them. It is time to learn what this group in particular needs to get them through this special time of year.

Homework

Do your homework.  I have been using Google, consulting my print resources (Duck Eggs Daily)  and asking questions to the Instagram duck community to get this right.  You don’t know what you don’t know, so reach out to get the information you need.

Leveling Out

Cabin Corner

The progress we made in the last week was a tad bit of two steps forward and one step back, but the next step forward will not take as long as the last ones.  Does that make sense? My brother came out and helped us level out our concrete form tubes, and the satisfaction of completing that task was beyond exciting.   It took a bit of time getting going, but once we found a rhythm, the three of us knocked it out.  It was amazing to see the 2 x 8 x 16s laying level across the tops of them all. If looked like the site of a home. It looked like we knew what we were doing. 

 

Another victory that arose was having the first round of materials delivered to the farm. The order was perfectly complete and I only ordered one item that needed to be exchanged. It was pretty exciting.  

The step back?  We made the decision to cover or concrete tubes with 2 x 8s across the tops with the tarp over it all. The tarp did not quite cover the tubes to the ground and it has rained since then…a lot.   I think we need some new tubes. The ones there are looking a little soggy. The plan is to fill those tubes up this weekend. We. Can. Do. It. The. Concrete. Bags. Are. Heavy.

Perriee cutting threaded rod with the angle grinder.

Homework

Keep practicing the art of maintaining a level head.  I often get my mind-set on reaching a benchmark goal and then get frustrated when I don’t get that far.  Then, I lose sight of the progress that was accomplished through it all. Then, I feel silly when I see all that has really gotten done and realize I did not appreciate it.  It’s practice. I will keep practicing. I did pretty good this week.