Farm News 12-04-05
Sunday morning, after chores, and cold
Calvin in Denial
Recently, Calvin was mentioned in an article about quaint rural festivals. This is the story:
No one objected to the story until Calvin's two older brothers happened to read it last week. Being older brothers they consider it their duty to ridicule and embarrass Calvin, and they did so. Calvin is now denying that he ever attended the Turkey Testicle Festival in Illinois. He asked for a complete retraction of the story but I think it is entirely too good to deny. Besides, I want to hear what happens if his little sister reads it.
PUPPIES!
Long time readers may remember Bree, who used to be a cute eight year old but is suddenly growing much to tall to be eight any more. She lives with her parents, two sisters and a brother, a half mile north of here. Her family has Pomeranians, and one of them had four puppies on Tuesday. Sadly, the mother had difficulty and died shortly after the puppies were born. Dana, Bree's mom, is going to tackle raising the pups.
Pomeranian owners must be nuts, as far as I can tell. Dana has four children and a husband to care for already, and she takes on four newborn puppies. I've done it and it's an interesting process. First, they need to be licked clean. That stops most people right there.
Feeding them is not the first order of business, bonding with them is. Baby diapers are ideal for rubbing puppies, and they need a lot of rubbing. Rubbing their tummies helps start their internal organs working properly, it helps them start building up their circulatory systems, and it starts the bonding process between you. Like raising humans, you will sometimes need that bonding to keep you going.
After you have them convinced that mama is the one with the rough tongue, it is time to give them their first feeding. Ideally, this calls for colostrum, a yellowish, sticky substance that female mammals make for the first few days after giving birth, before they start making milk. Colostrum has a bunch of stuff in it that starts babies. Like milk, colostrum from one animal can generally be used to 'start' a baby of another animal, regardless of species.
Goats produce what is close to universal mother's milk. Dogs, kittens, foals, calves, lambs, kids, fawns, human babies, and quite a few others do quite well when started on goat colostrum and raised on goat's milk. When I was milking goats I usually froze a few ice cube trays of goat colostrum whenever a goat had babies and then kept the cubes in the freezer. If Lucy and Peanut have babies in the spring, I'll restart that plan.
Newborn puppies are in danger of getting milk in their lungs when bottle fed. Holding the puppy with it's body vertical and the head at the top and then putting a nipple in it's mouth is definitely a way to cause trouble. The best way, according to many, is to use a hypodermic syringe and a catheter, pumping the milk directly into their tummies. I've done it that way and I think that they are right.
My Daughter
Having a daughter in academia is wonderful. I asked her about what animals would be suited for a specialty wool market and received the following. It is a very nice little essay but I'm sure the reader can understand that this is no replacement for a little girl who collected balls of lint and fur.
Fiber Animals
Apparently the reason vicuna fiber is hard to come by is that they were endangered and their Peruvian populations are just starting to recover - which is why vicuna roving (the combed & carded fiber) can sell for $25 per ounce! Undyed Corriedale sheep roving is about 75 cents/oz.
Alpaca fiber is popular and apparently they're easy to raise:
http://www.alpacainfo.com/
And the Huacaya alpacas look like a cross between a llama and a poodle, which is pretty neat. Llama fiber is supposed to be quite nice and is often spun blended with merino wool.
Jacob sheep fleece is also a sort of "specialty" fiber.
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/jacob/index.htm
Most of the other specialty sheep wools for handspinning are the usual English/Scots breeds: Bluefaced Leicester, Wensleydale, and Corriedale are all favorites.
Angora bunnies are cute and fluffy but Dr. M mentioned that they tend to have skin problems, not surprisingly. I think Angora goats are supposed to be pretty delicate, but Cashmeres aren't. You may see reference to "possum fur" yarn out there, but don't get excited, as it comes from the New Zealand brushtail possum (an invasive pest) rather than our North American rat-tails.
Musk ox (qiviut) undercoat fur is very expensive and soft but I rather doubt you can raise them in Kansas.
Speaking of Little Girls
Our twin grand-nieces have been visiting frequently. They are two and a half, an excellent age. A few weeks ago they discovered a Bronze Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, growing near the deck. Alice (or Zella, I can't tell them apart most of the time) plucked a tiny leaflet, looked it over carefully, and stuck it in her mouth. After a moment she turned back to the plant, plucked another leaflet, and handed it to Zella. Zella smelled it and then stuck it in her mouth. After a few seconds each picked a second leaflet, spit out the first leaflets, put the second set in their mouths, and went on to examine Marigolds.
Ducky Report
The duckies are growing, their feet are visible now when they walk. When they first hatch they are so short that you can't see their feet. After a week they are taller and standing straighter and their feet are clearly visible.
Calvin also has a baby ducky at home. He purchased two of them at an auction, sold one, and took the other one home. He put it in a box next to the stove, gave it food and water, and the ducky started growing. When Calvin turned of the lights and went to bed the duck started complaining loudly, so Calvin got up and tried to settle down the baby duck. Now, every night, when Calvin goes to bed, the ducky jumps out of it's box and races to the bedroom, complaining loudly until Calvin picks it up and cuddles it in bed with him.
E-mail Subscribers: To subscribe, unsubscribe, contribute stories, complain or send a gift subscription, send an email to FarmNews@GeezerNet.com . The editor reserves the right to steal ideas submitted, rewrite submissions, and sign false names to them whenever it strikes his fancy to do so.
Calvin in Denial
Recently, Calvin was mentioned in an article about quaint rural festivals. This is the story:
And, Speaking of Turkeys
Calvin attended this year's gala Turkey Testicle Festival in Illinois. I thought it would appeal to him and encouraged him to go. It seems they raise a lot of turkeys in that part of Illinois, and, after butchering the surplus turkeys for other people's Thanksgiving dinners, they have a lot of turkey feathers, guts, and testicles left over. So, once a year, they have a big party and fry up a huge mess of turkey testicles and with that brilliant scheme attract many tourists.
You don't believe me? Check it out at http://www.turkey-testicle-festival.com/
If you can find Calvin in the pictures of the 2005 Festival, you will win a prize for wasting time. If you can say 'turkey testicle festival' three times rapidly you will deserve a prize. Calvin is offering a guided tour of the Turkey Testicle Festival in 2006 at a special price.
No one objected to the story until Calvin's two older brothers happened to read it last week. Being older brothers they consider it their duty to ridicule and embarrass Calvin, and they did so. Calvin is now denying that he ever attended the Turkey Testicle Festival in Illinois. He asked for a complete retraction of the story but I think it is entirely too good to deny. Besides, I want to hear what happens if his little sister reads it.
PUPPIES!
Long time readers may remember Bree, who used to be a cute eight year old but is suddenly growing much to tall to be eight any more. She lives with her parents, two sisters and a brother, a half mile north of here. Her family has Pomeranians, and one of them had four puppies on Tuesday. Sadly, the mother had difficulty and died shortly after the puppies were born. Dana, Bree's mom, is going to tackle raising the pups.
Pomeranian owners must be nuts, as far as I can tell. Dana has four children and a husband to care for already, and she takes on four newborn puppies. I've done it and it's an interesting process. First, they need to be licked clean. That stops most people right there.
Feeding them is not the first order of business, bonding with them is. Baby diapers are ideal for rubbing puppies, and they need a lot of rubbing. Rubbing their tummies helps start their internal organs working properly, it helps them start building up their circulatory systems, and it starts the bonding process between you. Like raising humans, you will sometimes need that bonding to keep you going.
After you have them convinced that mama is the one with the rough tongue, it is time to give them their first feeding. Ideally, this calls for colostrum, a yellowish, sticky substance that female mammals make for the first few days after giving birth, before they start making milk. Colostrum has a bunch of stuff in it that starts babies. Like milk, colostrum from one animal can generally be used to 'start' a baby of another animal, regardless of species.
Goats produce what is close to universal mother's milk. Dogs, kittens, foals, calves, lambs, kids, fawns, human babies, and quite a few others do quite well when started on goat colostrum and raised on goat's milk. When I was milking goats I usually froze a few ice cube trays of goat colostrum whenever a goat had babies and then kept the cubes in the freezer. If Lucy and Peanut have babies in the spring, I'll restart that plan.
Newborn puppies are in danger of getting milk in their lungs when bottle fed. Holding the puppy with it's body vertical and the head at the top and then putting a nipple in it's mouth is definitely a way to cause trouble. The best way, according to many, is to use a hypodermic syringe and a catheter, pumping the milk directly into their tummies. I've done it that way and I think that they are right.
My Daughter
Having a daughter in academia is wonderful. I asked her about what animals would be suited for a specialty wool market and received the following. It is a very nice little essay but I'm sure the reader can understand that this is no replacement for a little girl who collected balls of lint and fur.
Fiber Animals
Apparently the reason vicuna fiber is hard to come by is that they were endangered and their Peruvian populations are just starting to recover - which is why vicuna roving (the combed & carded fiber) can sell for $25 per ounce! Undyed Corriedale sheep roving is about 75 cents/oz.
Alpaca fiber is popular and apparently they're easy to raise:
http://www.alpacainfo.com/
And the Huacaya alpacas look like a cross between a llama and a poodle, which is pretty neat. Llama fiber is supposed to be quite nice and is often spun blended with merino wool.
Jacob sheep fleece is also a sort of "specialty" fiber.
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/jacob/index.htm
Most of the other specialty sheep wools for handspinning are the usual English/Scots breeds: Bluefaced Leicester, Wensleydale, and Corriedale are all favorites.
Angora bunnies are cute and fluffy but Dr. M mentioned that they tend to have skin problems, not surprisingly. I think Angora goats are supposed to be pretty delicate, but Cashmeres aren't. You may see reference to "possum fur" yarn out there, but don't get excited, as it comes from the New Zealand brushtail possum (an invasive pest) rather than our North American rat-tails.
Musk ox (qiviut) undercoat fur is very expensive and soft but I rather doubt you can raise them in Kansas.
Speaking of Little Girls
Our twin grand-nieces have been visiting frequently. They are two and a half, an excellent age. A few weeks ago they discovered a Bronze Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, growing near the deck. Alice (or Zella, I can't tell them apart most of the time) plucked a tiny leaflet, looked it over carefully, and stuck it in her mouth. After a moment she turned back to the plant, plucked another leaflet, and handed it to Zella. Zella smelled it and then stuck it in her mouth. After a few seconds each picked a second leaflet, spit out the first leaflets, put the second set in their mouths, and went on to examine Marigolds.
Ducky Report
The duckies are growing, their feet are visible now when they walk. When they first hatch they are so short that you can't see their feet. After a week they are taller and standing straighter and their feet are clearly visible.
Calvin also has a baby ducky at home. He purchased two of them at an auction, sold one, and took the other one home. He put it in a box next to the stove, gave it food and water, and the ducky started growing. When Calvin turned of the lights and went to bed the duck started complaining loudly, so Calvin got up and tried to settle down the baby duck. Now, every night, when Calvin goes to bed, the ducky jumps out of it's box and races to the bedroom, complaining loudly until Calvin picks it up and cuddles it in bed with him.
E-mail Subscribers: To subscribe, unsubscribe, contribute stories, complain or send a gift subscription, send an email to FarmNews@GeezerNet.com . The editor reserves the right to steal ideas submitted, rewrite submissions, and sign false names to them whenever it strikes his fancy to do so.
posted by The Geezer at 2:17 PM
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