week 16: since we last met
this week on the little dream farm
Here’s how things happen here on the farm: we’re smooth sailing right along and then a handful of things all happen at once. But then again that’s life sometimes, isn’t it?!
Let’s debrief since we last gathered here last weekend:
Saturday: We’re getting ready and getting all the animals situated for us to head out the door for a daylong adventure and BK pukes up her breakfast all over the floor…which we have to be right on top of or else Micro will gobble it all up…gross.
We kept BK inside for the day thinking she likely wasn’t feeling very good but didn’t seem urgent enough to have to stay home.
Saturday evening she left one of the smelliest poops in the litter box that had a big ol’ worm in it. Time for another round of dewormer.
My position on the flea, tick, and dewormer treatments on the market is that they’re mostly all highly toxic (aside from brands like Wondercide), so we use them sparingly and treat only if/when necessary.
Here’s our flow for the cats, donkeys, and hens:
BK gets tick treatment from March to November when they’re most prevalent
BK gets dewormer quarterly
We don’t use any of those products on the indoor cats, except for a dewormer if/when necessary (example: Micro and Little Lady both had worms when they were kittens)
Dominic and Molly-Max get dewormer quarterly
For ticks this year for the donkeys we’ve moved their pasture fencing away from the hedgerows and we’ll be mowing their grazing pasture more consistently
Hens get dewormer bi-annually (we have to throw away their eggs for 10 days following this, and so we just feed them back to them every day during that time) and we supplement their diet with natural dewormers like crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, and apple cider vinegar
Sunday: The Farm Note goes out, we finish our coffee and head to the gym and come home to let the chickens out to discover two dead hens: Ruby and Big Red.
Ruby was having issues for a few weeks that we were unable to resolve and Big Red started acting funny midweek and didn’t make it long enough for us to get a good handle on the primary cause of what was wrong with her.
We took them both up to their resting place on the hill and gave ourselves space to shake off the ongoing frustration of keeping chickens. We know we’ve learned so much and we’re doing the best we can but we’re feeling really beat down on how the losses keep stacking up.
We decided at the start of the year we won’t be adding any new hens this year, and we’re steadied in that decision.
A few days later we noticed a massive bald eagle up on the hill having a meal—the first eagle I’ve seen on our farm. And the circle of life continues.
Monday: The farm next door to us is the stuff of absolute dreams. A giant white 1800s farm house with deep green shutters, enormous pristine red barns, several well established gardens, huge pastures, and lots of woods—200 acres to be exact.
Since the day we moved here I’ve been telling Chris if it ever went up for sale, I’d want to buy it. Sadly, our neighbor passed away a few months ago and their family did in fact put the farm up for sale. It was scooped off the market for cash before it was even listed, likely purchased by a nearby farmer who is also a big landowner in this area.
I spoke briefly with the realtor and asked about the new owners plans for the house—did they want just the land or are they planning to use the house, too? If not, what are their plans for it?
Y’all…I often daydream of hosting groups of you in that house so we can spend quality time together, cook meals and eat together, hang out on the LDF, go for walks on our tree-lined roads.
I’ll keep the dream alive until I know what they’re planning to do with the house.
Tuesday: You know that new Air Force job I mentioned? Turns out it’s time to pack up my uniform and head to D.C. I was tagged on Tuesday for a weeklong trip to the Pentagon all this coming week.
Monday and Tuesday I’ll be in a conference. Wednesday I have to be at Joint Base Andrews for a media engagement and flight and Thursday and Friday I’ll be onboarding to my new unit. It’ll be a packed week but I’m looking forward to being in the city!
Wednesday: Another hen was acting funny Tuesday evening so I placed her in a cage to monitor her. Went to therapy on Wednesday morning and came home to find her dead in the cage.
Unfortunately, once they start showing signs something is wrong you’re already fighting against the clock because they’ve likely been sick for a few days by that point. We think she had a broken internal egg and passed from infection.
We’re now down to 8 hens.
Thursday: Woke up in the middle of the night to Little Lady acting funny. It occurred to me she’d slept most of the day the day prior, which is unusual for her.
Once Chris and I were both up for the day it was clear something was off with her. We made a vet appointment and then cancelled it, thinking we’d monitor her for the next day or two and then take her if still needed.
Friday: Packed for my upcoming trip and Chris and I knocked out a host of quick spring chores around the farm in between work: things like going around the yard picking up all the downed branches and sticks, re-installing fences that got beat down from winter winds and snow, cleaning up the big garden, prepping the hen grazing area for them to be back in it once the gardens are up and running again, and a whole host of other small chores and errands to keep the farm humming along.
This year we’re focusing on getting these things done during the week in between meetings and before and after work so that we can keep our weekends free.
Saturday: Adventure Saturday! Or at least it was supposed to be. We had plans to head to Connecticut for a little exploring and to view a house with a horse stable and pastures for sale.
Instead, I shuttled Little Lady up to Vermont for that vet visit and she was given an IV and a host of meds for an “undiagnosed fever” but we’re pretty sure she’s got a respiratory infection or laryngitis as she’s having some trouble eating—the poor little girl has had quite the stressful couple weeks!
Also, wait. Did I say ‘view a house for sale?’ It might break your heart to know that Chris and I regularly look at farms/houses for sale in the greater New England area and have gone to view a few in the past year. We keep an eye out for somewhat bigger houses, lesser acreage (~10-20 acres or at least enough for the donkeys) and within closer distances to Boston, the coast, and larger airports.
Somehow I feel guilty telling you that…like however could we leave the Little Dream Farm, but we view it as keeping our options open. It’d have to be just the right circumstances for us to make such a big next move but the more we explore this part of the country, the longer we live here on this farm, and the more we see of what else is out there, it helps us frame our thinking for what might come next…someday.
That brings us to Sunday morning, friends, and in just a few hours I’m off to D.C., trading my farm boots for my combat boots for my big girl Pentagon job.
I certainly hope your week had less animal-related hiccups in it and that this finds you well just before you head off to do what you most need to recharge your batteries before the week ahead.
Take care of yourself and be well and we’ll catch you right back here next Sunday!
Not my words this week. I read something recently that I can’t stop thinking about. A poem from Sean Thomas Dougherty. Here it is, from me, for you, my friend:
I’m thinking about all things gardening at the moment so this week I wanted to share with you a few things that we’ve added to the house and patio that I love for the growing season that you might like to add to your outdoor spaces, too:
We have four of these hanging baskets—two on the front of the house and two on the back, and I just love the shape of them. Last year I did begonias in them, this year I think I’ll transplant some ferns we have in the back yard. Recommend you spray paint the chain black so it’s less visible! We use hooks very similar to these to hang them.
I’m obsessed with the look of these solar torch lights - they add such a gorgeous ambiance to your outside space. We have dozens of them and they go on just around dusk and stay on basically throughout the night in the summertime. At the end of the growing season we box them right back up into the box they came in and store them for winter. Right now you can get a $10 coupon for them right on the listing page before you add to cart.
We also have the 8-pack of these solar flame wall lights and I have them fastened to the posts of our patio. Again, they give off the best ambiance at night and they’re the perfect amount of light—I also love seeing them flickering from inside the house—it makes it feel so cozy! These I kept on the patio all winter long and they did great.
*Note: Not all, but some of these links are affiliate links. That’s no matter to you, as it costs you nothing. However, if you make a purchase, we -may- receive a teeny weeny commission.
Ugh so sorry about your week with the hens. I hear they are very hard to have and like you said, usually when something bubbles up it is a race of the clock. Hope the kitties feel better soon. Have a nice time with your new unit! Keeping options open is always good!
I so look forward to you note every Sunday. I'm so sorry for your losses this week. Life has such twists and turns and we grow better for it.