Wow, it is the middle of June! You will see most of the dairy farms making hay—or maybe even finished their first cut if the weather held long enough for them.
The beef producers traditionally cut a bit later (they tend to cut for quantity rather than quality).
Cattle all are likely on pasture now so there might be less work around the yard. But you now spend a bit more time checking on cattle since they are not right in the yard.
I’ve noticed every day that there are more and more flies bothering the cattle. As soon as the grass really is growing, the bugs really come out, as well.
We ended up adding another species to our farm last week. We now have ducks! This wasn’t planned but it looks like they are staying.
They’re still living in the house but they are growing so fast that I think they will be outside in another week.
Other than canaries and finches, I’ve never owned birds so I’ve been scrambling along trying to learn about them as we go. For example, I didn’t know you had to limit how much water your ducks had since they actually will drown at early ages like this.
We have been exposing them to shallow water a couple of times of day and I think they are getting the hang of things now. They certainly enjoy that time of splashing and bathing.
We got them last Tuesday and I think they’ve already doubled in size!
“Roxee” probably feels like she’s getting invaded with all the animals hanging around the house (first the lamb and now the ducklings). They were startled of her for the first little bit but now they are completely comfortable with her, as well.
My boyfriend/partner built them a fancy new house so once they are ready to be moved outside, they will have a safe place to live. I think he was thinking this is one step closer to getting chickens!
So it seems I have as many chores now as I did all winter!
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Marlee spent the weekend farming since her family was spread out all over with other activities and she enjoyed having the new ducklings to play with.
Since my mom and dad were away, their dog was at Signature Kennels and we were to pick her up Saturday morning.
After picking “Daisee” up, Marlee said, “Auntie Kimmie, now I have three jobs that I want to do–first I want to be a farmer, then a veterinarian, and now I really want to work at a kennel!”
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We will be harvesting the forage trials at the Emo Agricultural Research Station this week, though we have less to do.
We also are organizing a hops yard so if you start to see a number of poles installed, you’ll know what we are up to!
It certainly will be a neat project–we won’t be planting until next year but we will have the yard designed.
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Time is quickly approaching for the annual “Canada Day Cash Lottery” draw.
So be sure you have your ticket for a chance to win $10,000 while supporting our three district hospitals and Rainycrest at the same time!
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Local News from Across the Rainy River District
