There is also the noticing. The observing. The taking it all in.
![spring green](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3911/14337144036_6c8396a536_z.jpg)
![I love waking up to a tidy house and garden.](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3689/14095901348_28429e3cc5_z.jpg)
![Spring in full swing.](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/14239043815_e6c5857de9_z.jpg)
![pretty orange](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5239/14359350224_4cca47ff54_z.jpg)
![It will be so rewarding to watch this area fill in with the white lilac, golden forsythia, Virginia sweetspire, hydrangea and red bud we planted.](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2928/14235795861_5927b75903_z.jpg)
![On Memorial Day](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2901/14095968727_fed1b83c70_z.jpg)
![The lady slippers are in bloom. #orchid #maine](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2903/14137790039_d762a21a81_z.jpg)
![deep purple](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/14336924806_a6ee94d174_z.jpg)
![Inviting the bees to clean for us.](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2895/14265737169_702911c38c_z.jpg)
![making](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14490734565_2074693577_z.jpg)
![Olivia weeding in the garden.](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/14482721285_04a982989c_z.jpg)
![woods road](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5593/14481367811_7c0cc31e6c_z.jpg)
![little leaves](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5484/14298341137_f90fd20dbe_z.jpg)
![daisy patch](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2937/14484775055_4e546c3a34_z.jpg)
![solstice house](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3871/14298424397_65d20dc6a2_z.jpg)
![lush](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5273/14504963323_f8ec766a81_z.jpg)
![frilly](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3882/14483608214_b49ae20b4f_z.jpg)
![purple centaurea](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3926/14461735066_690a88feb5_z.jpg)
![pink locust](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14461705856_462f28650b_z.jpg)
![secret](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2920/14298365807_03b5bb6af9_z.jpg)
One of the exciting changes here On Bradstreet Farm has been preparing for, then raising our ducklings and chickens. We had initially planned to just get chickens this spring, but after Olivia did more reading about egg-laying ducks, we put in an order for six female Khaki Campbells. Three weeks after our ducklings arrived, we picked up our 15 chicks.
![So far, so good - and adorable!](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/13997606978_70f429b0c9_z.jpg)
![enjoying the pool](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3909/14173381549_3c72d522f7_z.jpg)
![Olivia, Poultry Wrangler.](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5578/14142154208_cd12a8d005_z.jpg)
![These girls are moving up to a larger brooder, also.](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3888/14187424210_26213607d0_z.jpg)
![The ducks have been introduced to their pen (which is almost finished). #khakicampbell](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3844/14449042481_e2080a8157_z.jpg)
![outside time](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5595/14511396483_2e3c5e31dc_z.jpg)
![The chicks are now three weeks old. See that Jersey Giant in the back, the cool black and white one Olivia has nicknamed "Skull Face"? She'll be all black one day.](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5548/14488901214_9fba0cdea3_z.jpg)
![The ducks are now officially out of the brooder (and our house)! #khakicampbells](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3867/14506156885_49eac5a605_z.jpg)
![They want what I have - dandelion greens covered in snails. Delicious. #khakicampbells](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5512/14496943334_1eb92dcb39_z.jpg)
So far, we are all completely smitten with the ducks. They are wonderful animals. Hilarious, smart, energetic, sociable, and beautiful. And they eat slugs and snails, so bonus. Also? Starting around five months old, they will begin laying eggs and each duck can lay up to 320+ eggs a year! So, extra bonus.
We've named the ducks Odella, Jemima, Luna, Pippa, Millie and Tilly. We aren't able to truly tell them apart yet, though there is one that has a khaki green bill, so we call her Pippa, and Tilly has the darkest, seal brown head.
We have names for the chickens planned, as well, and our list includes suitably old-fashioned names chosen from both sides of our family trees. Gertrude, Bertha, Irma, and Avis are perfect hen names, don't you think?
As you can see, our days here are full- meaningful, beautiful, wonderful. We feel ever so slightly more settled, more entrenched with each project, with each accomplishment, with each nurtured plant or animal. Everyday we feel more a part of this farm. It's a good feeling.
We have 2 Pekin ducks and they are the best layers, better than all our hens...and ducks ARE so fun!
ReplyDeleteJessy
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