Let me start by saying this post will not have any illustrative photos, and you can thank me right now.
One of the things that people don't warn you about when you are a dewy-eyed farmer-wanna-be is the extent to which you will have to think about worms. And not those cute little brown worms in your garden, either. Those are the good worms. I am always happy to see them in the spring when I start hoeing the raised beds.
No, I am talking about the bad worms. The ones that try to eat your son's rabbit alive and have you spending three weeks shoving antibiotics down the poor rabbit's throat in an attempt to stave off infection. The ones that have you scanning sheep droppings for evidence of their numbers and strength (another thing you don't get warned about, the time you will spend analyzing fecal matter).
The lambs are in the barn with a hefty dose of wormer on board, with the hope that they will shed their nasty passengers in an area that will not reinfect others in the flock. The rabbit is in the basement, still trying to recover from a horrid case of flystrike (read: maggots), with the distinct possibility that he will never be able to live outside again.
Me? I am trying not to dream about white creepy-crawlies...
Ah yes, the things you should never be told about before starting a farm enterprise! The maggots are one of the worst :*( So sorry to hear about the bunny and the lambs. Our babies are due for a possible worming as well.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason our bunny lives IN the house! We even named him Dobby so he can be our HOUSE ELF! OY VEY!!! I don't even think I would want to check my kids poop for worms let alone livestock :0). You are a true farmerchick, chick! I perused around your blog but decided to only make one post so you will not have to read more than one! LOVE that you put in a garden---you saw mine---6 buckets and a red wagon! I LOVE gardening but I REALLY had to make myself keep it small this year. We have come off some heck of a year, not sure if I escaped with all my sanity, but that's no shocker to most people!
ReplyDeleteThe boys are getting more grown up every time I click over here...sigh! It all goes by so fast...well, enough of that! Enjoy your week and your blueberries! I wish I had a reasonable resource around here! Just the other day I used the last of our frozen berries from last year in smoothies and managed to squeeze out just 4 freezer pops from what was left!