The Critters at Tanglewoods

There's a lot going on here with the animals, too. We'll soon have full freezer and pantry shelves, and it feels good to finally have some pay back for all the spending money on feed and time on care. My husband is really excited about getting a "harvest" soon. So, here's what's going on now.


We weren't supposed to get any roosters with our last batch of chicks, other than the dozen white orpington's we got as meat birds...


...but this guy must have been sexed wrong. He's a picture of manliness, cockerel style. Only 8 weeks old, crowing and attempting to mate with the young ladies. Isn't he a beauty? I wish I could communicate to him that his very life depends on his being gentle with the humans here at Tanglewoods.



And then there's this chicken here. It was our rare breed chick, and is one of my favorites, though I suspect it's also a cockerel. I'm not positive yet about that, however. I'm really hoping it's a hen. We really can't keep three roosters with only a dozen hens. We definitely want to keep the rooster we have now (he's such a gentleman with his ladies, protective over them but never aggressive in any way), though he's about to loose all but one of his current hens. I hope he likes his replacements. I believe the old hens will be going into the canner and freezer on Sunday (I hope).



Our meat birds are growing really well. They'll be fryer size in five more weeks, so we'll be busy again then.



The bunnies are fryer size now, and ready to go in the freezer. That should happen later this week. They're weighing in at about 5#, so all dressed out we should end up with about 50 lbs. of rabbit. Someone get the BBQ sauce, and I'll start the grill! Mmmm, yummy!
We also have two more batches of bunnies due soon. Looking forward to a winter of rabbit stews!
Is this making food out of these cute furries difficult? You bet it is, but it's also going to be so good to have healthy, clean, ethically raised meat. There hasn't been a lot of meat around here lately, and every one of us is looking forward to eating well on this little homestead.



Dan surprised me with this awesome goat "balance beam". I was so thrilled when I saw it! I'm very thankful for so many things about this man. However, lately it seems like the already terrific guy has been quietly replaced with a super deluxe version. I was absolutely shocked yesterday when he said, "I think I'll come to town with you. I don't feel like working today." WHAT? Rather run errands with me in town than work? That's just too unbelievable. But, we had a real nice time running errands together. While I was shopping at the co-op he even took little Six on the kiddie rides (our town's most popular summer festival began on Thursday).



The goat jungle gym makes the perfect spot to sit in the shade and have a chat with a good friend.



As usual, Starlight would rather eat.