Early this morning we added to our garage menagerie fifteen fluffy turkey poults. Ordered from Murray McMurray Hatchery in Iowa, these very rare turkeys are a breed called “Chocolate.” We hope they turn out to be as delicious as they sound, but in the meantime they are just awful darn cute. continued »
Well, our last dairy goat babies of the spring have come, and they are adorable. Best of all, they bring with them delicious fresh milk! continued »
My first experience with pigs was as a child in Pennsylvania. I’d toured an Amish farm in Lancaster County with my family, and we’d been invited to squat by the pigpen and stick our fingers through the fence so the fat pink piglets could come up and suck on our fingers. Which they did, enthusiastically, while my brother and I squealed in delight. In retrospect, I’ve got some serious questions about that visit. continued »
A customer recently sent us a link to a really cool site, The Madison 100 Mile Diet Map, a resource created by four UW-Madison cartography students who wanted to provide an easy way for area residents to find locally produced foods. And Circle M is on the map! continued »
In our quest to employ ever more heat lamps on the farm during this chilly spring, we’ve just brought home 6 adorable Black Cayuga ducklings from Farm and Fleet. These are to be our garden guardians and slug clean-up crew as soon as they are feathered and big enough to handle the weather. continued »
While there are obvious drawbacks to having a baby pig in your dining room – “Mom, are you going to feed that?!” cries my daughter as Napster squeals ever louder in the pen next to her bedroom – there are some wonderful advantages. Like pig play dates! continued »
It is odd how ecstasy has no x. Anyway –
The barely-started month of May continues to have its extreme ups and downs here at Circle M. continued »
Yesterday’s sunny warm weather made a world of difference for the young animals and for my mental state. continued »
Here are some adorable scenes in the life of the pigs these past few days. continued »
Well, the anxiety continues here at our sad, cold little farm. Tonight the temperature is to plunge below freezing in the valley, dealing yet another blow to our makeshift efforts to protect the new piglets from becoming dangerously chilled. As a last ditch and somewhat dangerous attempt to get them through, we’ve hung two heat lamps in the shelter and draped a tarp over half of the entrance. I am, frankly, exhausted with the worry and disappointment and late nights and early mornings midwifing this litter has entailed. I feel sick second-guessing our timing with the breeding. And today when I stopped for a moment to notice how pretty every building and paddock looked in the late afternoon sun, I dissolved into tears. If only the weather had been more gentle! continued »
