Got to thinking that I have not done a critter overview of the year yet.. We are heading into 2014 with…
Two horses- Brandy-Clyde Mare, Sam- Belgian Gelding
Both are broke to ride and drive, currently both have full sets of riding tack, but only Brandy has a full set of driving harness, I have a number of different draft powered farm/garden related tools.
Cows- Glenda – 10 month old beef calf
Sheep- Ten ewe’s, One ewe lamb, and One yearling Ram, currently six lambs, with six more momma’s due yet.
Pigs- Miss Piggy- a Purebred Large Black Female, and Kermit- a Mixed Heritage Male, Piglet are planned for the year.
Geese- Currently six geese, Ganders, Honk (mixed breed) Lou (purebred) and four females, Hiss (mixed breed) and Pom (purebred) and the other two are planned to be butchered.
Rabbits, – Blue- Breeding Buck, Red- Backup Breeding buck, Does -Tippy Toes, Adele, and Cher, backup does.. Little Girl and Big Girl..
Guinea Fowl- Breeding birds- Two females and the pearl male, Total of eight unnamed offspring of the best from last year, fate unknown, some stew point, some breeding?
Chickens- Roosters, Total 3, Laying Hens- 16 in total, all different breeds
Ducks- Regular- Two drakes, two hens (matched in breeds)
One pet duck, its a half-bred male, I would stew pot him but Dh loves this duck.. so I am stuck with him till he dies of natural causes.. sigh..
Ducks- Meat- One drake, four hens
So that is what we are starting our year with in terms of critters, I will try and do a mid summer report and a late fall report this year as well..
While the hounds and purrpots and the little piggies, sweek and puddin are part of the farm, I don’t consider them “farm critters”
If you can’t eat it, it’s not on the list, and while I know that in parts of the world, all three of what I consider pets can and are eaten, I was born and raised in Canada, and to me, they are pets, not livestock..
Just another Day on the Farm 
How do you manage your hens/roosters? Do they all live together? If so, do you separate them out for specific breedings? How do you keep them warm in winter? And what is the coldest it gets there?
We are still learning with our chicken breeding program and keeping roosters and could use any wisdom you have to impart on the subject.
wow, those are some great questions, I will do short answers here and then if you have more questions ask and I will try an come back and address at least some of it in more depth as the correct timing comes in the breeding season’s etc.
Once I have done a full fall cull, my wintered over chickens all live together, I don’t keep roosters that won’t get along, I try and keep one rooster for each six to nine hens.
Once spring comes, if I want certain breedings between certain hens/roosters, then I have them in different pens, (its worth noting that the books say that a hen can keep the sperm of a roo for up to two weeks) so you need a min of a two week close off from other roosters before you start egg collecting if you are working on pure chicks if you have different breeds.
They have a indoor/outdoor winter setup, they have deep bedding inside, with nest box’s and roosts, they have a double set system on the door, by that I mean they have to come though the stripes on the inside, walk though and come though the carpet stripes on the outside, if the weather is really, really bad, I have a wooden door that can be pressed in to stop airflow but that might happen maybe one or two times a winter only if then.
Don’t remember if you are Canadian or American, but we can get down into the low -30’s, I have lived where it can get below -40 and had chickens, as it gets colder, you need to increase the protein counts in their feeds, but most of the time in our winters on the cold snaps -25 to -35c is more the norm.
Frost bite is a clear factor for roosters with big combs, when I am looking at who to keep back, smaller combs are a better thing for me..
Best rules I can give for roosters, IF they attack you, cull them and stew pot them.. don’t keep a attacking rooster, and please don’t pass him on as a problem to someone else.. For the girls, you should look for a dancer who courts their girls, and cull and stew pot the rapist ones.. and last but not least, if they should call the hens and the chicks when they find something good, and if the girls call for help and come running by, he should turn to defend them, not run faster then them.. If you can get a boy that meets those three above, you have a truly good rooster..
Ps, roosters have favorite hens, so do keep in mind that if you have a few roosters and x amount of hens, that not all hens can be breed, sometimes you need to take away the favorite girls to get them to breed who you want..
Thanks so much! That is very helpful.
I had no idea Farm Gal! Wow! I have a daughter that wants to become a farmer, (she’s 10) I think I’m going to show her your blog.