NEW STRATEGIES.

As we deal with the fact that we are possibly having a baby any day now, we are trying to simplify some things around here. Since I am currently not as capable as I once was of chasing escaped pigs through the woods, we have them living in our garden where there is a permanent fence that they can't (theoretically) get out of. Jesse has been bringing them lots of treats since there is not as much for them to forage. And in perhaps some sort of reverse-psychology scheme, we have been letting the goats out every morning for an hour or so. They eat along the fence row for awhile and then simply walk back into their fenced in yard, content for the rest of the day. Cross your fingers that these strategies work for a little longer!- Hannah.

EGG SHELLS.

Despite the frigid weather, our chickens have been doing really well lately. We switched to a new type of food and have been diligent about feeding them egg shells, and we've been getting nearly a dozen eggs a day!We keep the egg shells from all of the eggs we eat, and then sort of "bake" them under the wood stove. Once they have completely dried, we crush them up and feed them back to the chickens for calcium. Think about how much calcium they must need to produce an entire egg nearly every day! We have also use oyster shells, but the eggs are free.What do you add to your chickens diet?- Hannah.

GUINEA UPDATE.

Our guineas are growing! They are getting so big (and so LOUD). We are hoping soon to start letting them free-range - right now, they are in a portable coop that we move several times a day. We tried letting them loose last week, but the dummies did not come back to roost - choosing to sleep on the GROUND in a big pile in the woods. Knowing they would be promptly eaten, we put them back inside their coop for a bit longer, trying to get them used to roosting there.Any ideas? Should we just let them out and hope for the best? Or wait a big longer for them to get acclimated to their little perch in the coop? We are eager for them to be FREE and start eating all of our ticks!- Hannah.