At Life-Springs-Farm & Aviary, we have fired up our incubator for a trial run. Every spring about this time, we thoroughly clean and disinfect our incubator and hatcher using a reliable disinfecting spray made for incubators. Once that is done, it’s time fire them up and make sure they come up to, and stay at,Continue reading “Incubation – When to Incubate Eggs and When to Leave it to the Birds”
Category Archives: Farm Animal Health
Animal of the Month – The Mandarin Duck
The Mandarin is a bright and colorful wood duck from Asia, primarily China and Japan, but they are also found in Siberia and North and South Korea. They are Asia’s counterpart to our North American Wood Duck. Easy to raise in captivity, the Mandarin is a duck that is becoming more and more in demandContinue reading “Animal of the Month – The Mandarin Duck”
Going Back to the Good Ole Days
These days, I am more obsessed with farming and gardening on a larger scale than I have in the past. Mind you, I have been growing an organic garden since 1988. However, as the years have come and gone, I have found myself expanding in both my thinking and my actual gardening practices. A fewContinue reading “Going Back to the Good Ole Days”
Baby Goats and Winter
Nigerian Dwarf goats go into heat every 21-28 days. We learned early on that the boys can successfully breed at an early age. This winter has been a mild one for us in northern Michigan. When we found that we had not taken our little Nigerian Dwarf buck, a.k.a. Bucky, away from the girls earlyContinue reading “Baby Goats and Winter”
Animal of the Month – The Falcated Duck
The Falcated Duck is a beautiful duck that used to be called Falcated Teal. The male has a shiny green and copper/brown head and a brown and white body. It is about the size of a Gadwall Duck and American Widgeon. The female is mostly brown with some gray/blue feathers on the wings. Naturally, itContinue reading “Animal of the Month – The Falcated Duck”
Animal of the Month – American Dorper Sheep
The American Dorper sheep is a hair breed that originated in South Africa about 1946 (when the breed was finalized). Blackheaded Persian Ewes were bred with Dorset Horn rams and, over time, the result was a hardy meat sheep that shed hair rather than wool that needed to be shorn. The meat from the DorperContinue reading “Animal of the Month – American Dorper Sheep”
Animal of the Month – Ringed Teal Duck
The Ringed Teal is a fairly small duck as are most of the ducks in the Teal family. When in full color, the males have a pinkish breast that is spotted with black. The back is a chestnut color that is truly striking. The flight feathers have a bright patch that is a nice shadeContinue reading “Animal of the Month – Ringed Teal Duck”
Animal of the Month – Golden Pheasant
The Golden Pheasant is often called Chinese Pheasant because of its origins in China. This stunning bird is native to central and southern China. It thrives in areas of the dense cover that forests and mountains provide. In the wild, the birds eat an omnivore diet consisting of insects and grubs, as well as bambooContinue reading “Animal of the Month – Golden Pheasant”
The Birds with which We Live
We purchased more ducks when in Wisconsin a few weeks ago and I thought you might like to see some of them. Also in the mix are our pheasants and quail. I hope you enjoy! PS: Please remember that we will have ducks and pheasants for sale sometime in the near future.
Keeping Everyone Warm
Here in northern Michigan, January can be brutal. This year hasn’t been as bad as “normal”, but right now we are in the midst of a ton of lake effect snow – up to 10 inches. The weekend forecast is for that much system snow. Ugh. Keeping everyone warm can be a difficult thing toContinue reading “Keeping Everyone Warm”
