Lady Lamanchas, Zinnia and doeling

 Zinnia and doeling Clary, story coming...

Spring Fever

I've got it bad; restlessness, the need to feel productive, to be making something, growing something, creating, but crafty projects just seem meaningless right now. Spring Fever. I have the urge to be outdoors in the sun, but when I get out there it isn't as warm as it looks, even with the bright sun. 

The winters are long here. Our homestead was poorly planned. We didn't plan. We were going to build a small house and then sell it. Then we built a hovel for my horse so she could live here - before our house was liveable by most people's standards. Then our son came along. Then the goats and chickens. The house needed to be bigger so we added on. This is the "Alaskan Way" and we are Alaskans. We are located on a steep hillside with tiny flat spots here and there. In the summer it is no big deal. This time of year our tiny slippery steep trail system is treacherous. We look back on the winter and realize how little we've accomplished. We survived. We stayed alive, warm and fed. We kept our animals fed. They kept us fed. We didn't get ahead.

We look at each other this time of year and think, "whew, we've got six months to be better prepared for next winter." And we wonder is this how we want to live? Will we be able to do this in ten years? Twenty, Thirty? It is spring fever speaking, or at least that is what I tell myself today. It will pass with the snow. Once I can see dirt, grass, brown and green I'll be cured. The summer will sooth and heal and rejuvenate me. I am strong. I was made for this lifestyle. I love my life. But it could be easier. It doesn't have to be this much work does it? 

I have pasture envy. Farm land envy. What is farm land? Land with good soil, good water, good sun exposure, possible clear pasture already, a stream, slough or pond. We can work with that. I know we won't be finding my old farmhouse and traditional old barn up here. My husband and I have been on the land hunt this past year. If it were up to him, he would be looking somewhere warmer. I insist that we just need level land. Land with water. Land that faces south or has better sun exposure. If we had good soil, water, and level or gradual sloping land, sun streaming in the window even on the darkest days... So at first we were looking for land that could be farmland. Level land with water. Then we started looking at small farms for sale. There isn't a lot of either available close to town. So our search has been taking us farther from town. 

Dreamer that he is, D started searching for farms for sale on the east coast this week. (Let it be noted that the east coast is like a foreign country to me) Farms with old farmhouses and barns, pastures and established orchards (he knows my weaknesses). I know the farms we are finding are crazy cheap for a reason, mainly depressed economy. While property and housing prices are still high here. While we are not really looking to buy a farm elsewhere, it did get us thinking that before we do invest everything we have in a farm here, maybe we should get away while we still can. We feel very committed and bound to our homestead and animals. We leave, at most for two weeks a year and it takes so much planning and multiple amazing house-sitters/farm helpers to accomplish that. This week I've realized that anything is possible. Traveling and exploring with our children is still possible. There are ways to take a break from this lifestyle. We could sell our animals and come back in a year and buy some of them back. Or we could lease them. There are options. I love our homestead, our animals, this unique life that we are giving our children. Yet, I feel that they would benefit from road trips, more vacations, seeing other states, countries, lifestyles. I know this is spring fever expressing itself. 

Acknowledging that I could make these dreams a reality, is exhilarating. Here is to spring fever dreaming and whatever craziness comes of it! Cheers!

Spring Has Sprung - at last

Spring has finally sprung here in Interior Alaska and about time too. We were all pretty sick of the sub zero temperatures lasting until just a few days ago. The last few days have been sunny and drippy. On top of that we are watching two very pregnant does closely, waiting for them to kid any time now. We have a security camera mounted in the kidding stall. So I have the luxury to be sitting here at the table writing and I can glance at the t.v. screen and see the does laying down, fidgeting, munching, shifting, trying to get comfortable and so forth. Last night I thought Zinnia was going to kid for sure. She didn't touch her grain yesterday nor any Alfalfa. I hardly saw her eat a bite all day. Laying down more than usual. I couldn't feel her ligaments on either side of her tail, but then I'm always a bit rusty with the first does of the season. I ended up going down to the barn at three a.m. then five a.m., and finally sleeping on the couch where I could glance up and see her on the t.v. I had constant nightmares that I was waking up to three kids already on the ground.

That being said, this is the most confident I've been heading into kidding season. My first couple years I was just excited and determined to be there when it happened. After a couple emergencies and losing a couple kids one year, I got trigger happy, or interfere happy and began "going in" and helping get kids out whenever I was worried they were taking too long, or not in the ideal position. The last couple years I've been pretty worried about having kids tangled up or with their heads turned back. Maybe I'll change my tune if we have any trouble, but right now, headed into our fifth kidding season, I'm feeling optimistic. This is the first year that I can get away with attending a birth at home without needing another adult here. In the past I was always panicked when D was at work and I was frantically calling around to find someone to watch my kids while I played midwife. Now they can come along or watch a movie. 

Last year I lost two doelings. The first one, was already out when I got to the barn and was weak and never recovered - well her dam gave up on her and stomped her before I was ready to bring her into the house. Then our second doeling escaped through a six inch slit in the gate and got stomped by another doe. Totally lame. This year, all slats are covered and I am determined not to let sleepiness get in the way of my duty, which is to be there for the does and their kids. We have two does due this week followed by another in May. Then for some crazy reason, I had two does come into heat this week, that I was planning on milking through (Xoe) and keeping dry (Rose) - and of course I ended up walking them up to the bucks cause I just can't resist - possibly a fault in my husbandry practices. Anyhoo, Rose and Xoe may be kidding in August- not my favorite time as going into winter with new kids is just going to be crowded. However, I had a lady put a deposit on Xoe today, so one plus less goat for next winter. I also sold two yearlings this week, Bramble and Bella (my favorite doelings from last spring). I am proud to point out that this moment we are down to eleven total goats- and getting rid of a buck soon. 
 Kidding advice for any of you newbies:

1. Be there!! Start watching them before they are due so you can notice odd behavior. Seriously, when you start staring at goats all day they do all kinds of things you may not have observed before.
2. Have your supplies ready whatever you are using; large towels,  J lube and latex gloves pretty much make up my kidding kit. Ok, I also keep a clean lidded tub ready for warm water for the lubricant and or for molasses water for dam after. I also keep scissors and dental floss for the umbilicle cord. I have used Iodine but I'm switching to just goldenseal powder - some sort of antibacterial. I also know where my drenching syringe and back up nipples are just in case, along with garbage bags. 
3. Study normal and abnormal kidding presentations ahead of time and know what to do for each.  
4. Look up other kidding related illnesses for dam and kids and know what course of action you are going to take. For exampe, weak kid have cayenne tincture or dried cayenne. Ketosis, have corn syrup or other thick sweetener or hand, etc. 
5. Have a vet's number on hand and a second set of willing hands in case you've got to go in. Although it is possible to tie the doe so that she'll stand while you go in, but depends on the doe and can be pretty tricky if she is difficult.

I'm not going to name the obvious such as knowing when your goats are due, separating them from the herd, and properly feeding them through their pregnancy. Although I am planning on writing a post on feeding supplements to your pregnant or lactating does here soon. I may have a long night ahead of me, so that is all for now. Best wishes.

Make Thick Yogurt

It has taken me far too long to get yogurt making down. I've been making homemade yogurt for about four years now. My main complaint up until this past year is that my yogurt was never as thick as I liked it. Every once in a while I'd make a fairly thick batch, but it was sporadic. I tried different yogurt cultures, different incubation methods and heated the milk different lengths of time. I make a half gallon of yogurt every week or two. We use it in smoothies and in exchange for buttermilk in recipes. I use it to make our weekly bread. My kids eat the majority of the yogurt with homemade jam. Until recently, they usually drank it, once I'd stirred in the jam it was usually the consistency of kefir or a little thicker. I can proudly say that these days I can stir jam into the yogurt and the kids can eat it with a spoon without dripping it all over the table and their shirts. 

So what am I doing differently? Adding nonfat dried milk powder. Now I'm not necessarily recommending that everyone add milk powder to their yogurt. However, if your yogurt is always runny, and you find yourself buying store bought yogurt because you like how thick it is... well, how do you think they get the store bought yogurt so thick? Nonfat dried milk powder among other thickeners.

My yogurt process now is to stir one cup of nonfat dried milk powder in one half gallon of milk then heat it to around 160F, then I put a lid on the pot and let it sit for a while, 20-30 minutes. Not enough to kill off all the bacteria but enough that the yogurt thickens well. Then I take the lid off and let the milk cool to 120F. I use yogurt cultures from the Dairy Connection. Sometimes I use a spoonful of yogurt from the last batch. You can use store bought yogurt as well if that is what you've got. Then I place my half gallon jar into a small lunch cooler and pour in water that is about 120F. I place the lid on and set it in a warm place, near the wood stove or in the sun. I add water once or twice to the cooler to bring it back up to temperature. In six to eight hours I've got thick yogurt. Then I place it in the refrigerator where it thickens more.

In the past I tried incubating the yogurt in the oven with the pilot light on and my oven kept it too warm, as did using the crock pot. I've used my food dehydrator but that seems a waste of electricity. Initially I wanted the yogurt to be raw milk and I wanted to heat the milk as little as possible. The less the milk is heated the runnier it is. I had read that nonfat dry milk powder would help the yogurt to be thicker, but I felt like it was such a forbidden ingredient, something I not only felt ridiculous for buying when we have so much quality milk, but also  a potentially harmful ingredient. But I felt even sillier buying yogurt at the store, especially when I realized all the various thickeners in it. 


A few other tricks I tried to thicken up my yogurt were draining the whey off it after incubating it. Some folks make a yogurt cheese this way. It does work, but if you do it at room temperature over a long period of time your yogurt gets tangier. If you do it in the fridge, it takes up a lot of room. Either way it never has the same texture as store bought yogurt. I also tried using rennet to thicken the yogurt - didn't work. I've also heard of people using gelatin - not really my thing.


Molly's fiasco farm dairy site is a good source for yogurt recipes, both for raw milk or heated yogurt with or without nonfat dried milk powder. On a side note, I recall complaining to my dad about how my yogurt was never thick enough and he was saying as how he'd never had such problems. His yogurt always got nice and thick just fine. Recently I told my dad I'd started putting nonfat dried milk powder in the yogurt and it has finally been turning out consistently thick, and he was like, "Oh yeah, we always used dry milk powder to make yogurt." Go figure.

Not spring here yet

It has been a while since I've shared some pictures. Computer woes. Here are a few from the last couple months.

Sitting in the sun in front of the woodstove.

We took a family road trip to the nearest city, Anchorage, about four hundred miles south. Enjoyed being closer to the mountains.

We are all planning our gardens. Noah is excited about growing Watermelon, potatoes, carrots, thyme and flowers. Avery is planning on growing Watermelon, beets, broccoli, carrots and also lots of flowers. So far I have herbs and celery germinating. It is almost time to sow tomato and pepper seed along with some flowers. If you start your tomatoes too early they get leggy and root bound and don't take off as quickly when planted out. I think one of the biggest mistakes Alaskan gardeners make is not knowing when to start what. I was over at someones house the other day and they had cucumbers and squash already sown in six pack holders. That won't do folks! If you are a new gardener or don't have experience gardening here, pick up the Alaskan Growers Guide, or a seed starting schedule from your local Nursery. Also, visit your local Cooperative Extension and pick up a wealth of information for your area.

Doesn't feel like Spring here, but none the less, Happy Spring Everyone!

March Sun, March pantry and cream separator

One morning the kids were upstairs playing. Avery started to fret. I hear her yell, "Mom!, Noah says there's an Alien spaceship landing!" Oddly enough I immediately suspected the sun and so I called up asking the kids if it was the sun shining in the south windows. I paused as I heard their surprised exclamations as they realized that it was indeed the sun coming through their windows for the first time in a very long while. Daylight is waking us up around seven a.m., which is early for us after a long winter of sleepy dark mornings. Each day when the sun first starts shining in the house, Avery exclaims again and again, "The sun is here! The sun is here! Mom, I'm sitting in the sun!"

Our February and March weather got reversed somehow. February was much warmer than usual and now we've gone backwards with a couple weeks of colder than they should be temperatures. So, while the sun beckons us out, the cold air sends us back in before long, content to enjoy the sun while sitting at the table doing lessons or reading at the couch. We got a bunch of snow this week, around six inches one night and then another four or five the next, which makes for so much work on top of all the snow we already had. D snow blowed the driveway two days in a row, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make it out. The snow is high enough on the sides of our trails that I can no longer haul five gallon jugs of water without having to lift the jugs above the snowbanks - in other words I can no longer be lazy and let my shoulders and back do the work.

I combined two chest freezers into one this week - another sign it must be spring. We still have lots of frozen chickens, a huge turkey and a significant amount of goat and moose left, along with some salmon that needs to be smoked. We still have five gallons of frozen blueberries and several bags of rhubarb, cranberries. raspberries, broccoli, zucchini and kale. I pulled in the last two gallon bag of garden carrots this week. They aren't looking to pretty this time of year. I shredded several pounds last week and have been feeding them to the goats - mostly our purple carrots as they don't taste too good. We are also on our last bag of potatoes and I'm going to have to buy garlic by the end of the month. We still have lots of crunchy refrigerator dill pickles, sauerkraut and pickled veggies.

As far as the pantry goes, canned applesauce, berry syrups, salmon, blueberry jams and preserves are still in abundance. Much to the kids dismay we ran out of raspberry jam last week - but thanks to the freezer stash, we were able to make some more -catastrophe diverted. I had a productive week in the kitchen, in an attempt to start using up some of the frozen goods. I made zucchini bread, something I need to do weekly from here on out if I want to put a dent in the frozen shredded zucchini stash before summer. I dehydrated a batch of moose jerky following a new recipe and it turned out ok. I need to make another batch while I can remember what to do differently.

The most exciting kitchen event this week was Dustin getting my cream separator back up and working. We separated a few cups of cream yesterday and a couple more today. I am hoping to play around with making butter this spring. I have had a Novo cream separator for three/four years now and mostly it has given me nothing but grief. I have spent so much time and made so many messes trying to get the right setting and the right consistency of cream. There have been some successes, and then just when I think we've got it figured out it doesn't work as well. The main problem I've had is the cream is always too thick. Thick as in turns solid once refrigerated. And no matter what I do I can never seem to get it thin enough. I've called customer service several times and they've had me playing around with milk temperature and the cream regulation screw and the speed to not much avail. Needless to say I've been thinking of sending it back, buying a better one, or just buying a cow! :)  However, D spent a few hours pouring over the manual and running the separator. Turns out, we were sent more cones than we needed and I've always been so focused on making sure that they were in the right order that I've never counted them and was using too many. So hopefully, this was the problem and it continues to work for me. I have high hopes of not having to buy any cream products and very little butter.

In other farm news, we are only getting a couple eggs a day. Somehow we are down to a dozen layers, among those we have one four year old, a three year old and a couple two year olds - not holding their own. The Ameraucanas just aren't laying well either. We could have twice as many chickens in the coop as we have now. I'm not sure what happened, well we had a few extra roosters and then lost a hen here and there... I am looking forward to our first goose eggs! We have two very pregnant does and one doe due later one.

Our doe Rose miscarried but seems to be doing better. I knew something was wrong but couldn't figure out what. So the vet came out and ultra-sounded her and at some point her kids had stopped living. So Rose is getting all kinds of extra goodies right now, dried comfrey, dried raspberry leaves and shredded carrots. We have six adult does and four yearlings, and I really did not want to breed everyone and have that many kids this spring. So the plan was to keep two milkers in milk and not breed them, and breed the remaining four does along with two or three doelings. As it turns out the doelings didn't take in January when I bred them the first time. When they came back into heat it was thirty below and we were sick. So, we may not have any more milk than we had last year, which wouldn't be an emergency. I should have enough milk for our current goat shareholders, but I probably won't have enough milk for more than that.

It is almost time for the goat kid count down. Time to divide up the goat barn into four pens. Time to re-mount the security camera in the barn. Time to sort through kidding supplies. Past time to order any. Not quite time to separate goats at night. Time to read the section in my new herbal on goat kid care. Take care and best wishes wherever you are in your spring planning.

Starting seeds and poultry decisions

I set up the seedling rack yesterday. Wiped and scrubbed the racks and shop lights. Moved shelves to the appropriate level. Hung lights. Moved into south facing windows. I was planning on digging through the snow for old plastic trays, domes and six pack holders - you'd think by now I'd store them in a more accessible location...I know they're around somewhere and I'll end up recycling most of them yet this spring. D surprised me with some shiny new trays, packs, domes and a large bag of seed starting mix last night. Perfect timing. So, if the day goes smoothly, I'm hoping to sow the first seedlings of the season today. I will be starting celery (Utah red heirloom if I remember correctly), summer and winter thyme, lavender, oregano and maybe some basil. It is early for the basil, but I love to start a few and transplant them into roomy pots and snip basil throughout the spring. I'll succession start it at least two more times before planting out. Next I'll start any other slow growing (ten week) flowers/herbs. Then peppers, tomatoes and eggplant the last week of March/first week of April - about eight weeks before I plan on planting in the ground.

I started tackling our hallway yesterday, making room for a small incubator and a chick brooder. I've been making some poultry decisions with the idea to keep things simple. As much as I love having turkeys around and in the freezer, I'm planning on abstaining from turkey poults this year. The plan is to trade a friend some of our laying ducks for a heritage turkey come fall. We will be eliminating the ducks as we need room. We are going to hatch some goslings for the summer but we are either just going to have our current goose pair, or maybe just two females next winter... Furthermore, we are going to raise less Cornish Cross, 15-20. We are going to get more strict about not keeping older layers around. So we will be butchering or selling the two year old hens to make room for the more productive ladies. 


Living on a steep hillside and having a small amount of flat land, makes it difficult to have large animal pens. Thus we have ended up with a few movable chicken tractors of various sizes. We have two (three in the summer) protected chicken coop/pens. When chicks and turkeys are overcrowded there are more losses. In addition, Cornish cross grow faster than layers. Ducks and turkeys all grow at different paces. So, while I have read about people raising all various species in the same pen with success - I find that the layers do better on their own as do the ducks and turkeys. There is less crowding, less stress, less bullying and fighting. As a result we have ended up raising four turkeys in one moveable coop, pullets or ducklings in another tractor, adult layers in the top coop, and ducks or growing pullets in the other two. This makes for lots of juggling of birds, multiple feed/water stops to make each day =more labor and time. 


This year I am hoping to swing into the feed store and pick up thirty to forty sexed laying chicks at one time. I'll pick up meat birds a few weeks later. The laying pullets should all fit into the bottom chicken coop/pen for the summer. The Cornish will go into our largest moveable tractor. I've yet to figure out what to do with the geese. I think they'll go into another moveable tractor, but be let out to roam if they can behave themselves. So, we still end up having birds in four locations. However the Cornish are short lived. The geese possibly temporary. Leaving us with two pens and lots of productive layers going into winter.

I am interested in dual purpose breeds. Breeds that handle confinement well. Gentle, docile, friendly breeds. They also need to lay fairly well. And I want the hens to be big enough to be worth butchering, five to six pounds. Cold hardy and laying well in winter are other obvious considerations. I do like pretty birds, colorful feathers, kind faces. I am also drawn to heritage breeds. I am in love with the idea of raising hens that were common one or two hundred years ago. 

In the past I've ordered birds through various hatcheries. It tends to be more expensive and risky. This year I decided to go through our feed store exclusively and let them take the risk for me. They have a special order list that peaked my interest but when I looked up the specific breeds at the hatchery, all the birds I was interested in are already sold out. I'll remember to order in December next year! So, working with what our feed store will be bringing in, This is what I plan on getting and what I've read about them;

1. Silver Wyandottes,  four eggs/wk, 200 eggs a year. Handle confinement well. Hardy. Dual purpose, easy going temperament, good winter layers. Pretty.
2. Delawares, four eggs/wk, large brown eggs. Heavy breed, matures quickly, good broiler. Quiet, friendly, adapts well to confinement. 
3. Welsummers, decent layers of lovely dark brown eggs. Gentle, sweet, handles confinement well. Lovely plumage. 6lb. females.  (although shorter laying season).
4. Ameraucanas, lay beautiful blue and green eggs. I find these birds to be a bit flighty, small in carcass size and to have a shorter laying season and to mature slowly. However, their lovely eggs make up for their shortcomings. 
5. Black Sex Links, these are not heritage. However, these have been our best layers over the last four years. They are gentle, mellow, friendly birds who mature quickly and lay large brown eggs through the winter.

If I were to special order some birds, I would be getting some Sussex hens which are a heritage dual purpose breed, decent table fowl and very productive, nice disposition. I would also get at least a few Leghorns. Our feed store is carrying Chanteclers which I am not planning on getting because although they are good hardy winter layers that may not even need supplemental light, I've read they do not handle winter confinement well. These birds have a hawkish aggressive look to them. I would be interested in hearing from people who have experience with Chanteclers. We have raised Brahmas who are a large hardy bird. They are also very gentle and handle confinement well. They just didn't lay real well. I felt like we got a couple eggs from each hen their first year. They were by far the hardiest birds who would be outside in the cold when everyone else was huddled inside. A quick word on foraging. With the exception of the Cornish Cross, I have yet to see a chicken who was not an active forager. So, I think good foragers is a given regardless of the breed you choose.


On side notes, our friends who raised a pig for us two years ago in exchange for buck service for their does, have decided to do so again for us. So, yeah pig and not having to keep one ourselves - yet. I think I've finally figured out a better location for my bees, our unused greenhouse in the trees. We have a greenhouse that was built above our buck stall (once upon a time prospective Sauna). My plan is to take out a south facing window and set the hive up against the opening. That way the bees flight path will be above our heads, but they will be in a prime sunny warm location. We have two very pregnant does due the first week of April. I am getting excited. Thinking of C names, Clary, Calla Lilly, Calypso, Camelot, Cleopatra... I've been reading an awesome book - must have for all goat owners; The Accessible Pet, Equine and Livestock Herbal, by Katherine Drovdahl )Fir Meadow. I'm planning on sharing some of what I've been reading soon. Happy Spring everyone!

Waking from Winter Slumber

What is spring? If spring is mud, green buds and daffodils - well our spring would be limited to the last week of April and first week of May (roughly)- and that is minus the daffodils - as the only daffodils you'll find up here are indoors. We have been enjoying a couple weeks of above zero temperatures, teens and twenties. The goats have been outside most the day and even sleeping outside under feeders and in hay piles at night. The chickens are seeing their first direct sunshine since October. D cleaned out the chicken coop this week, and it smells like it outside. Our place smells like a farm again- lovely. Smells like spring. Feels like spring. We know that it will get cold again. It could be thirty below zero next week. So we have to keep perspective and not get too carried away....

I think of spring in Fairbanks as the time when it is warm enough to get out and enjoy the outdoors and the snow. Spring is sunny snowy days, icy roads and dog races. After making it through the darkest and coldest part of winter, everyone is a bit stir crazy and ready to get out and play, enjoy the snow while it is still here. So the sledding and skiing hills are bustling. Town is filled with walkers, joggers and bikers - dressed in their high dollar skin tight gear.

Spring is waking up and realizing somehow you slept and dreamed your way through the darkest days, which in retrospect are all a blur. What happened to all those projects I was going to tackle? Where was my inspiration and motivation? Did I really just sleep walk through two months of meals, cleaning, lessons, and fire stoking? February is a month for transitioning into action. Early action at that, baby steps; decisions, placing seed, chick and bee orders. Time to get out some white paper and plan the garden.

I have been feeling a little down lately. Restless but uninspired, bored, unproductive. This week has been a turning point. Time for more than dreaming. Time to lay down the novels. This week I did some research on chicken breeds. I've been reading about medicinal herbs and making a plan of what to grow and what to do with it once I've grown it. I borrowed a book on coloring and drawing with block crayons. I picked up another book on form drawing - a Waldorf drawing style or rather action, that I we are going to start practicing. The kids are always asking me to draw animals or people and I when I do so, I hate the result. I'd like to be a better story teller. These are both skills that will enrich our education, both the kids and mine.

The days are looking brighter, cheerier.  What does spring mean to you? Are you ready to wake up?

Raising ducks for eggs and meat; pros and cons

This is our fourth year raising ducks for eggs and meat. I love ducks. I love their bills and their webbed feet. I love their waddle and their quack. We enjoy their eggs, mostly in baked goods (not fried). The meat is good eating, if you put the time and attention into preparing it right. Nothing better ever happened to a potato than to be cubed and fried in duck fat. And I'm not sure if any other farm animal is cuter than a day old duckling. That being said, I am planning on fazing out the ducks on this small homestead until a day when we have property with a pond or a creek. It comes down to economics and amount of labor. As much as I love having a diversity of meat and animal products, it just seems like we get more from the chickens for less work. Keeping costs and labor down is a priority. I've been thinking a lot lately about ducks and the reasons for and against keeping them and thought I'd share.

We started off with four Khaki Campbell ducklings and have had as many as twenty-seven ducklings; Welsh Harlequins (beautiful), Saxony's (big, lovely, heritage), Pekings (meat), Runners (small eggs/little meat -fun), and this past spring we hatched our own random crosses which was interesting. They are all beautiful. The Pekings and Saxony are our dual purpose breeds, the rest are good for laying but are hardly worth eating. The Pekings are known for being a meat breed but they also are good layers.

General Duck facts/needs/care requirements:

1. While ducks might not need a pond or a pool, they will be much happier for it. And they do need water that they can dunk and clean their heads in. So a chicken waterer will not suffice. We keep a small insulated cooler with a hole cut out in the top and in the winter we put a heater in it and change out the water daily. The ducks can duck their heads in but cannot climb in it, or spill it all onto the ground. I haul four times as much water for our ten ducks than for twenty chickens - and that is in the winter. In months where the water does not freeze solid, the ducks have a baby pool to play in.
2. You only want one male duck for up to ten to twelve maybe fifteen females - I haven't looked it up but I think that is about right. We have a problem every year of waiting to long to butcher the extra males. Male ducks are very aggressive and dominating with the females and males. The lower ranking males will be humiliated, disgraced and picked on. The females will be bothered too much and will not lay.
3. Ducks do not roost. They lay their eggs on the ground. If you want clean eggs you must put down fresh bedding daily and even then, the eggs get soiled. You can build boxes or put kennels on the ground, but the ducks will sleep and live in there as well, so it will not stay as clean as a chicken box off the ground would.  ( I really hate poopy eggs! big con for me)
4. Ducks are messy. Partly because they do not roost, partly because they are waterfowl; they need more water to stay clean. If you do not put down fresh bedding and provide water for bathing, they will have a harder time staying clean. This is not their fault. It is a care consideration. Ideally ducks have year round access to fresh water. This makes them less ideal for places with long cold winters, and homestead's without excess water.
5. Ducks mature later than chickens. So they start laying eggs later, the males take longer to raise for meat - more feeding, later reward.
6. Pro, once ducks do start laying eggs, they lay well. We've had females lay almost an egg a day for a few months or more. However their seasons do seem to be shorter, so they take a longer break from laying.
7. Ducks need more indoor space than chickens. They take up more space because of their size, they don't roost. If they are overcrowded they won't lay well.
8. Pro, ducks are hardy. They are outside almost all year during the daylight hours. They tolerate the cold, the snow and the rain much better than the chickens. 
9. Pro, ducks are just hardy in general, they don't die from mysterious internal ailments as often as chickens do.
10. Con, ducks don't eat scraps as well as chickens. We do fed them a small amount of scraps, but they waste a lot more than the chickens. 
11. Pro, duck fat is awesome, save the fat!
12. Ducks are good eating, but a duck carcass is very different than a chickens. Ducks generally have less meat on their frame, but the meat that is there is dark and very good.
13. Don't roast a duck like you would a chicken. Look up a duck recipe!
14. Ducks are harder to kill. My husband does all the poultry killing - but we both agree that the ducks are cuter and more personable than the chickens but that is just our opinion.

 Which brings us to why we raise ducks; meat and eggs. We have found that we prefer chicken eggs fried for breakfast. We like the taste and texture better. I use duck eggs in egg salad and for baking. We can sell chicken eggs to the local meat market for $4.50 and duck eggs for $5.50 (I think - it has been a while since I've taken eggs in). 

The first several times we ate duck, I roasted the duck whole. There are two different recommended ways of doing this. One way is to steam the duck first, which allows a lot of the fat to come out of the duck into the water. Then you salt and season the duck and roast it for a shorter amount of time in the oven. When I cooked the duck this way, I actually got the skin crispy - (which I pick off and enjoy right away before it softens.) Another way to roast a duck is to set it above the roasting pan, and slice shallow slits all over the duck to allow the fat to drain out. You don't want to cut too deeply or the fat can soak back into the meat. And you want the duck above the pan so that it is not cooking in its own fat which leads to soggy, oily or greasy duck. To go above and beyond, either a salt water brine overnight before roasting the duck, and then letting it sit and dry out before seasoning. Or, rubbing the duck with salt and seasonings then allowing it to sit uncovered overnight in the fridge which will help make for crispy duck skin. Roast duck is more challenging to cut up then a chicken, so don't do it at the table. Also, remember that there will be less meat than you think there will be, don't try and feed a crowd with one duck! Finally use a thermometer and don't overcook your duck!  

Duck legs are often a bit tough or chewy. Which is why I think even a better idea than roasting a whole duck is to cook the breast and legs separately. I recommend making a meal with duck breasts. Then season the the legs and carcass and slow cooking it in the oven. Then pull all the meat off and pack it in the fat and store it for a while. Then you have something like duck confit which is awesome for salads or bean dishes. Or you could make soup with the legs and carcass. If you are trying to impress your friends with their first taste of duck, just serve breasts as they are the most tender and simplest to cook.

Summing it all up, I will raise ducks again. I love having them around, especially in the summer. When we fill their pool with fresh water they get so excited. We all stand around and enjoy watching them splash and play. I enjoy the diversity of meat, fat and eggs they provide. For now it comes down to how much more work it is hauling extra water and bedding in and effort to keep somewhat clean and healthy birds and get relatively clean eggs. Compared to chickens, you put more money into feeding ducks and get less eggs and meat in return. My plan is to butcher all of our males this spring as we don't plan on hatching any duck eggs this spring. Then keep the females until mid to late summer when we need the extra space. I'm going to trade the females to a friend who wants some layers, in exchange for some hair cuts for myself. Meanwhile, I'm researching chicken breeds in an attempt to get inspired about chickens again.

Butchering Dairy Goats for Meat

 We are entering our fifth year raising dairy goats. Initially we did not intend to ever eat our goats. Our plan was to raise does for milk (make cheese), keep two bucks for breeding and sell all the wethered males as pets, pack or companion animals.  At first we wanted to find good homes for the boys and didn't want to sell them for meat except as a last resort. From where I stand now, the flaw in this plan is that there is a low demand for wethered (neutered) male goats, and lack of people who will actually take good care of a non-producing goat. Our experiences have been that people don't take good care of male goats. Potential buyers come out to visit the herd, they talk about their barn, how they'll buy good hay and feed them grain, etc. On one occasion I got a call mid winter that one of the wethers died overnight. They had no idea why. After further investigation, it looks like they didn't have warm enough shelter, and were underfed, so a combination of death by starvation/freezing. After a couple of negative selling experiences we decided that it would be better to sell the wethers to someone who is going to butcher them responsibly as opposed to selling them to owners who are not going to care for them properly.

In the last five years we have gone from eating a mostly vegetarian diet to eating lots of locally and self raised meat, chickens, ducks, turkey and then game given to us, moose and caribou making up our red meat. So, it only made sense that we take the next logical approach and try our own goat meat. This summer we butchered our first goat for meat. She was a three year old doe who had never had a noticeable heat cycle. She was our first goat that we did not breed the first year and we fed her grain when she was younger. I suspect that she got too fat, and it affected her ability to go into heat. 

I'm not going to give a step by step of how to kill and butcher a goat. And you don't have to keep reading if you don't want to go here. However I will go over the basics. My brother does my dirty work. We separate the goat from the herd, offer them tasties, weeds or grain, then he shoots them in the back of the head with a twenty-two pistol, and slits their throat. The next step is hanging them up, skinning and gutting them, which I help with. Our first doe went from alive to wrapped and packaged into the freezer in about four hours. This fall, we let the wether carcases sit in a cool area overnight before cutting them up. In the future, I think that we will butcher goats according to the outdoor temperature, so that we can age the meat for two to three days or more before cutting and packaging.

Our plan from now on is to keep a handful of wethers. Leave them on their dams for the first ten weeks. Separate them into their own pen and feed them hay and garden trimmings until late October/early November. This next year we are not going to neuter them, as they should grow faster and bigger. We'll just have to experiment and see if the young bucks are more flavorful than the the neutered males. 

I should have written this post while the details of cutting up meat was still fresh in my mind. My brother played around with different ways of cutting the ribs. Usually a bone saw is used to cut the ribs and get goat chops (lamb chops) My brother used a hand saw with a blade for cutting wood. This worked pretty well.

 When it was all said and done we had 65 pounds of bone in meat from two seven month old wethers. I am guessing we got close to the same amount of meat off the three year old doe - maybe fifty pounds of bone in meat. As far as taste goes, we have been surprised and honestly, thrilled at how tasty the meat is (never having eaten goat before).

Some key details to keep in mind when thinking about butchering and eating goat meat, is that the goats are small compared to cows and moose etc. So most of the cuts have bones in them, lots of bone surrounded by a little meat. Most of the cuts are better slow cooked in stews, braised roasts, curries or ground up. All of our slow cooked goat meals start the same way, well salted and peppered goat roast seared in oil, on medium high heat all around. Then add garlic, onions and liquid, chicken stock, beer or wine. My favorite flavorings are a little molasses, fresh rosemary and thyme, dijon, whiskey and chicken broth. Other favorites are BBQ pulled goat meat, and red wine and fresh thyme braise with vegetables. When I'm not in the mood to deal with bones at the dinner table, I follow the same steps, but pull the meat out and after it cools, cut all the meat off the bone and return chunks of meat to the pan and reheat before serving. We have done a couple dry leg roasts in the oven that have turned out good. The key to keeping it tender seems to be to cook it to medium rare. I might even try a salt brine the next time we do a dry roast, to increase juiciness and flavor.

We have eaten some cuts; ribs, tenderloin, backstrap, goat chops, cooked fast and hot on the grill or pan seared and finished in the oven. These cuts, seasoned well and cooked fast, are our favorites and come closest to being steak like in texture and flavor - only we are usually gnawing around a bone at the end.

A note on goatiness/ game taste. The meat usually doesn't taste very goaty to us. The exception to this is when I reheat leftovers and there is an excess of fat. To remedy this, I cut most the excess fat off before cooking, and then after a braised dish cools down, I skim the fat off before reheating. Some of the fat on the better cuts tastes milder and is good enough that I often find myself tasting bits of fat to check if they are goaty or not before discarding. Some of our friends and family appreciate the goaty/ gamey taste. My brother has hunted Dall sheep over the last few years. When I taste the fat on the Dall sheep, it tastes very buck like to me. I don't care for it. I did render down a batch of lard from our first doe who had armloads of fat inside. I have yet to use it. I am planing on making soap with it and trying it in pie crust for meat pies.

Final thoughts. Local goat meat is selling for around five to six dollars a pound at Home Grown Market. When local goat owners sell live goats for meat, I believe the hoof on price is $1.75 a pound. Given that we are working towards a self sufficient lifestyle and that we are meat eaters, it only makes sense that we eat our culled animals. The most difficult part about eating goat, is actually killing the animals. They are intelligent and friendly animals. They can easily become pets and close friends. They are also expensive to feed and house. They are time consuming to care for. The more pets, animals, livestock, goats you have, the less attention each animal gets. As a herd owner, I think that butchering and eating your extra wethers is doable, worthwhile, practical, and while not the easiest decisions to make, it sure is nice to have a stockpile of your own red meat in the freezer.

Surviving

What do Fairbanksans do in January? We either escape to warmer locations or hunker down and survive. Just about all our close friends and family are or have been in Mexico, Florida or Hawaii this month. January is the month to leave, after the holidays, dark and cold. The best timed winter vacations are when you get back and there is noticeably more light which is why the population of Fairbanks takes a dive in January.

Those of us who remain here toughing out the most dreary days of the year, well we hunker down and survive bouts of cabin fever. We just came off a couple weeks of twenty to forty below zero. The last few days have seen single digits in either direction which have felt balmy. It was a lovely break from the brutal cold, which is back where we are headed. D spent the warm weather wisely, stocking us up on water and wood.

I forget how much work it takes just to survive thi time of year. A significant portion of each day is spent feeding, watering and caring for all the animals. We've got close to a few feet of snow, and the steep narrow trails turn treacherous this time of year; step six inches off the packed down path and end up in a snow drift up to your thigh. The snow is pretty but it makes for so much more work, clearing stairs and paths, knocking and brushing snow off the hay shelters and then there is the quarter mile long driveway. D spends a couple hours a day outside chopping and hauling wood indoors and hauling and pumping water for the house. Survival.

My inner candle is still burning brightly. As much as I would love to transport myself somewhere tropical for an indulgent dose of sunshine, well I've been treating myself by taking it easy. I am usually cooking up elaborate meals this time of year. Instead, I've been spending my free time reading young adult fantasy novels (no laughing please - my husband teases me plenty). In my defense, it has been a lovely escape, and much cheaper than a tropical vacation.

This is the month for dreaming and resting. Next month I'll start planning a little more seriously, placing seed and chick orders etc. I am just getting around to picking up the seed catalogs. Today the kids and I looked through the first catalogs and they showed me what flowers they want to grow this year in their gardens. Their lists are long and are going to entail quite a bit of negotiating. Noah wants to grow watermelon which has been a temptation for me for some time. I'm drawn to the white and apricot fruited varieties. I'm thinking we may have to try one of the shortest cold season varieties, in the greenhouse inside another greenhouse:) My main thoughts are more shelling peas, pumpkins, some different flower varieties and more medicinal herbs.

Considering the fact that the kids have only left the house twice since Christmas, they are surviving these dark days in good spirits. We have been putting together lots of puzzles, playing lots of card and board games, and having daily lesson time where Noah and I work on math or reading and writing. We have a couple simple science projects in the works, he is keeping watch over some beans that are growing and avacados sprouting in water. We've also been having music time weekly where I pull down the instruments and we all play, dance and sing.

The sun is so low on the horizon that we are getting daylight from about ten to three p.m. Our property hasn't seen the sun since I can't remember, late November I think. But I know when it comes back; about February eleventh it will peak over the tops of the south row of spruce and hit the greenhouse and chicken coop for a half hour, and then it is noticeably sunnier from there on. Someday we will face south, and bask in the sun even on the shortest day of the year. For now, our wood stove and Christmas lights bring cheer into our home, and of course, our inner candles are burning brightly still.

A year in pictures

Here is a collection of pictures from this past year. If you've been following along for a while, you've probably already seen most of these. But I thought I'd share some of my favorites again, starting with this goat walk picture from last spring.

Ah, last winter's get away.

I took this picture yesterday. Can you tell my cheeks are cold? It is about twenty-five below zero outside.

Best wishes to you all in the coming year.