"Homegrown" Egg Shell Membranes...

THIS is an eggshell membrane as opposed to the almost non-existent membranes from store-bought eggs. 

Missing Runner Duck

So sad... One of our black runner ducks came up missing yesterday when we put everyone up for the evening. We searched their popular "haunts" in the woods with no sign of her. We are going to head down the hill toward the creek today to search for feathers and predator hideouts. We are now down to only 2 ducks (one is a male). We have chickens sitting on eggs, and several are duck eggs, so we are hoping for some ducklings in another week or so. Farm life can be so cruel. 

Chicken Coops

We now have a nursery coop and a quarantine coop. We had been using an entire horse/goat barn as the quarantine holding area for new chicks/ducks... This will be much better:)!!! 

Deep Freeze

So upset... One of our favorite bantam chickens was dead in the coop this morning:(. I know this type of bird isn't particularly cold hardy, but we had a heat lamp in their coop to at least shake off some of the cold. Even with the heat lamp, their water was frozen. All other chickens, ducks, and guineas were fine. We have to assume our beloved hen died because of the cold weather:(.