Northern Goshawks prefer organic chicken, too

Young adult male Northern Goshawk.

Last week I was able to get some decent photos of a Northern Goshawk at our farm. Unfortunately it was standing on the dead body of one of our young New Hampshire cockerels, but what can you do.

We're guessing that this is a young adult male Goshawk. Looking closely at my photos, it appears that this bird is almost completely into its adult plumage. And like most raptors, the male Goshawk is smaller than the female, and this one is definitely smaller than the chicken  it killed. In fact, the hawk couldn't get off the ground with the chicken. (The adult Goshawk tops out at 2.1 pounds, and this 14-week-old cockerel was easily twice that weight.) The photo below shows the hawk trying hard to move the chicken, but it only managed to jerk it a few inches across the grass. I wonder if the hawk learned a lesson from this? Hmm.

The Goshawk tries unsuccessfully to fly off with a chicken twice its size.

I've been trying to get photos of a Goshawk for a while now. Our friend Shelly Ament, a wildlife biologist with Washington's Fish and Wildlife Department, told us that Goshawks are not often seen by humans in the wild. (Ha, I thought. Try letting some chickens free-range in YOUR backyard.) I retrieved a primary wing feather, which I saw fall from the hawk while it was flapping its wings, and we saved it to give to Shelly. She had asked us to be on the lookout for Goshawk feathers. Her department is interested in comparing the genetics of Goshawks in our area to those of hawks in British Columbia, so she was quite pleased to have the feather.

The white supercilium (eyebrow) clearly identifies the Northern Goshawk.

Since we choose to free-range our chickens, turkeys and ducks, we do lose birds to predators from time to time. Still, we feel fortunate to live in a place where we sometimes see beautiful animals like the Northern Goshawk. What a gorgeous bird.

Cat on a hot chick brooder

Poor Cosmo. Our cat suffered through a bout of empty-nest syndrome this spring, after we moved our 51 New Hampshire chicks from their indoor brooder to an outdoor transition coop.

For more than two weeks, faithful Cosmo curled up atop the warm brooder, watching the chicks inside for hours at a time. Naturally, being a cat, he took frequent breaks from this strenuous activity to take naps. No doubt he dreamed about what he would do if the lid were left off the brooder one day. It must have been tantalizing, being literally a few inches above the heads of a lot of tiny little birds. He's a good cat, though, and he didn't really try too hard to get in there. At least, not while we were looking...

As the chicks got bigger (New Hampshires grow fast), occasionally one of them would reach up and peck at Cosmo's tail through the screened lid. It didn't seem to bother Cosmo much; in fact, I wondered if he actually enjoyed these little interactions. He certainly seemed to be fascinated by the little creatures, and I'm sure he got used to hearing their non-stop peeping.

When the day finally came for the big move, it seemed to be a bit of a shock to Cosmo. Suddenly his nice warm perch, complete with soothing background music, was gone. We felt a little bit guilty when we saw how out of sorts he was. But after all, 51 growing chicks do poop, and even with daily cleaning, frankly, we were ready for the babies to move outside.

Now the chicks are going on 9 weeks old, and Cosmo sits on his perch by the living room window, watching them in the sun. Aww.... they just grow up so fast, don't they, Cosmo?

Canyon Creek Farms: we're certifiable

 3-week-old Khaki Campbell ducklings

You've suspected that all along, haven't you? Now we can confirm the truth: Canyon Creek Farms is on the verge of being certified organic.

After wading through the paperwork and waiting for the results of our application review, we are now awaiting the final inspection. There is a huge lot of record-keeping that is required, so I have been working hard on a database system to handle that part of the certification process. We will be inspected at least once per year, and we must be able to show records of basically every single thing that we did or bought or used during the year. Feed purchases. Every application of fertilizer or compost. If we vaccinate or otherwise give medical treatment to an animal, it must be documented. When we buy seeds or plants they have to be certified organic.

Sounds like a lot of work, right? So why are we doing it? Well, partly it's a matter of pride: We have been working hard on our farm for six years now, and we're producing top-quality chicken and duck eggs, as well as Tamworth pork. We have been managing all our animals and crops organically from the start, so we figured that the next logical step would be certification.

 Tamworth piglets

If you've bought our duck eggs recently at Sunny Farms or Nash's Farm Store, you probably noticed that they are labeled "organic." How can we call them organic when we aren't yet certified? The National Organic Program (NOP) rules state that if a farm sells less than $5,000 per year in organic product sales, it can label its products organic. However, we can't use the USDA Organic logo, and we are subject to inspection to ensure we are complying with the organic standards.

Now that more of our eggs are being sold at local retail stores, we anticipate that our farm product sales will soon top $5,000 per year, which would make us ineligible for this exception.

New Hampshire pullets

Up to now, we've thought of our little farm business as more of a hobby, but it's time to step it up a notch and take ourselves more seriously. We've worked hard to provide wonderful eggs and pork for the local community. It's time we honor the loyalty of our customers as well.

Duck eggs now available at Sequim stores

 Our 4-year-old Blue Swedish ducks still produce 5-6 eggs per week!

As our laying ducks came into full production earlier this spring, we were collecting 30-35 duck eggs per day. Sequim's wonderful Alder Wood Bistro, which has been buying our duck and chicken eggs for four years now, was still a couple of months away from the start of their busy summer season.

What to do with the extra eggs?

I started making phone calls. As a result, Canyon Creek Farms' duck eggs are now for sale at Sunny Farms Country Store on Highway 101, as well as at Nash's Farm Store north of downtown Sequim. Sunny Farms sells them by the half-dozen; Nash's offers both half-dozens and full dozens.

Duck eggs are higher in several vitamins, minerals and amino acids than chicken eggs. I recently learned that some people who are allergic to chicken eggs can tolerate duck eggs. The higher viscosity of the whites makes duck eggs ideal for baking, and customers have told us that duck eggs seem "richer and creamier" than chicken eggs.

In addition, duck eggs are larger than chicken eggs: a large chicken egg is 2 ounces, while our duck eggs average between 2-3/4 and 3-1/2 ounces. This means more food value for your money.

If you've tried the Alder Wood tart (the house quiche) or the Chocolate Bliss (a fabulous flourless brownie) at the Alder Wood Bistro, you've eaten our duck eggs. Now you can buy Canyon Creek Farms duck eggs at local Sequim stores to try at home!

Ducks in the High-Occupancy Vehicle lane

Farmall tractor at Nash's Delta Farm.

Last Friday we got a call from Scott, who works for Nash Huber of Nash's Organic Produce in Sequim. Scott had been tending a flock of Khaki Campbell and Indian Runner ducks for over a year, and for various reasons decided to shelve the duck project. He offered to give us the ducks, which he said were about 1-1/2 years old. He thought there were about 35 ducks in all.

David and I had already been discussing the possibility of increasing the size of our laying duck flock (we currently have 10 layers and 2 drakes), as duck eggs are becoming more and more popular around here. So after Scott's call, we debated only briefly before calling him back and accepting his generous offer. Although Scott had said there were a number of drakes in the flock, still we figured we would be at least doubling the number of our laying ducks. Also, the thought of bypassing the 5-month process of brooding and raising baby ducks before starting to collect eggs had an obvious appeal for us.

So, this past Tuesday, we folded down the back seats in our Subaru wagon, lined the whole back area with a heavy tarp and a thick layer of straw, and headed down to Nash's Delta Farm to catch us some ducks.

We were so thankful for the dry weather that day (although it was cold and very windy there), because the yard the ducks were in was all down to mud. Ducks move quite quickly, and these were all smallish ducks and good flyers as well. We moved the fence around to create a small corner, on the theory that we would drive a few ducks at a time into the corner, close it off, and grab the ducks.

 

Khaki Campbell and Indian Runner ducks

It worked reasonably well. One thing about ducks, they like to do everything as a group. And these particular ducks were very nervous, understandable since we were obviously strangers to them. Ducks in general truly hate to be handled, so we were pleasantly surprised at how calm these ducks were once we had actually picked them up.

It took nearly an hour and a half to catch them all, but we got them one at a time and put them through one of the back-seat windows into the car. And although it turned out that there were 40 ducks in all, they seemed to have plenty of room back there.

 

Our new ducks in the back of our Subaru wagon.

When we finally got on the road for the 25-minute drive back home, the ducks were understandably a little bit anxious, and they were naturally all quacking at once. All things considered, though, they were fairly calm during the drive. We knew that ducks like to be talked to (and even sung to), and we wanted them to get used to the sound of our voices, so we kept talking. At one point, David said, "Hey, anybody want to stop for ice cream?" A few ducks quacked. David tried again. "How about tacos?" This suggestion also generated some unenthusiastic quacking. To my offer of fried chicken there was no response at all. Finally, David called out, "Who wants some SLUGS?" Suddenly a loud chorus of excited quacking erupted from the back of the car. We just about fell off our seats laughing.

Once we got home, it was nearly dark, and the process of getting the ducks out of the car and into their new coop was quick and easy. We simply set up a ramp at the back of the car, lifted the back door, and once they figured out that the door was open, they all piled out at once. After a bedtime snack and a sip of water, the ducks headed into their straw-lined coop for the night.

We've had our new ducks for 2-1/2 days now, and they are settling in well and noticeably less nervous around us. We expect that by sometime in January, we will be starting to collect eggs, which is good news for the Alder Wood Bistro, the Red Rooster Grocery, and Nash's Farm Store.The Bistro has been buying our duck eggs for over 3 years now, and whatever extra duck eggs we have will be sold at the Red Rooster and Nash's.

It was quite an experience getting 40 ducks into our car and taking them for a ride, but it was well worth the effort. It occurred to us that if we had been traveling on a different highway, we could have used the HOV lane. And not once did we have to say, "Don't make me stop this car!"

Pot Pies and Egg Money turns 50!

Okay, okay, not really. But this is the 50th post on the Pot Pies and Egg Money blog, so who needs an excuse to celebrate? I thought about listing 50 ways to cook a heritage turkey (my related post of November 2010 is still getting lots of hits), or maybe 50 reasons why mechanical pluckers are preferable when slaughtering turkeys outside in late November when it's snowing and 20 degrees (although I think I just mentioned the only reason that really matters), or even 50 reasons why Tamworth pigs are nicer than bobcats (but that has a little of that apples-and-oranges thing going on).

Tell you what: Suppose I list 50 things I like about writing this blog? Okay, imagine that I came up with 50. Now I'm going to pretend I'm writing a killer query letter and pare it down to what you, the reader, really needs to know.

First, I love to write and am feeling quite cock-a-hoop with myself over the progress I've made on Pot Pies and Egg Money (the book, you know) recently. I know I'm dating myself by using phrases like "cock-a-hoop", but my husband doesn't like it when I date anyone other than him, so I'll stop now.

I lied. About stopping, I mean. The second thing I love about this blog is, frankly, YOU. I am so gratified to look at the statistics every week and see how many countries have at least one of you reading my blog. Last time I checked, that list had grown to over 30 countries! Amazing, this worldwide web thing, isn't it? I appreciate your comments and questions and wish you'd post more of them. And while you're at it, why not sign up as a follower or subscribe? That way you won't have to lose any more sleep wondering if you missed my latest post.

Thanks to all of you for faithfully following my blog over this past year. Keep in touch, and I'll keep you posted (no pun intended) about the progress of my book.

Right now, though, I think I'll start chilling the champagne. I feel like celebrating!

Tamworth pigs are growing fast

The three Tamworth pigs we brought home about a month ago are doing great and seem to be growing almost before our eyes. David insists that when he feeds them late in the day, they look bigger than they did in the morning. Not to sound like a sentimental parent or anything, but is there anything more adorable than baby pigs? OK, maybe baby ducks...

As usual with Tamworths, they are plowing up their current paddock quite happily and efficiently, so we will be moving them to an adjacent paddock in the next couple of days. We've finally started to get some summer weather (80s for daytime high predicted all week), so we're going to keep re-seeding the pastures until the first fall frosts discourage such behavior.

Our average first frost is around mid-October, although we were surprised one year by a night in the 20s in September. Everyone says we're in for a hard winter, and I hear rumors of another La Nina season. Now that it's been over five years since we moved to the farm, maybe I should start learning something about the weather! I guess I assumed that El Nino and La Nina more or less alternated, but if predictions pan out, this would be two La Nina winters back to back.

What are you doing to prepare for winter? I've had a lot of questions lately about heating and/or insulating chicken coops. Do you do either of these before the cold weather sets in? I'd love to hear your comments and ideas.