Duck, Duck, Chicken

Duck Pond Damage from Winter 2023-2024 (complete collapse)

Chicken Coop Damage from Winter 2023-2024.

This is the back half of the chicken run.  

We were able to get this pen repaired and usable pretty quickly the Spring of 2024.  This Spring we added the Raspberry and Blueberry planters.  We ordered the planters online in pieces and put them together one afternoon. 

The duck pond area needed a lot more work to be ready for our ducks.  We didn't get to it all last year but made it a priority this Spring 2025.  The ducks were blocked off on the other side of this little passageway under their "Pond House".  You can see the walls are back up straight (with more support now) and the netting above is back up.

This is the space between the duck pond on the left and their double decker house on the right.  We are adding flowering plants from the front yard to this space to add a little color and life.  

We drained the guck in the pond ("we" being Justin) and then put in a retaining wall around the rim of the pond, some hardward cloth for support and then a lot of pond pebbles for a nice look around the pond (hopefully the ducks will let it stay looking nice). 

You can see that with the rocks in place, it's looking quite spiffy.  Once the water is in, the water filter with the little waterfall is running and the ducks are all splashing around, it's going to be one cool pond.

We did have some issues with algae two years ago, so part of the plan to combat this is prevent erosion/drainage into the pond from up the hill, keep the netting in good shape to prevent leaves and acorns from entering and clogging the filter and we have gotten some natural barley straw extract.  We have plans to put in some water plants- caged in to protect them from our ravenous ducks and helpful bacteria. (Pro-biotics for the duck pond)!

This section will be the duck entryway into their pond.  Behind this wall we have already planted some flowering bushes and plants last Spring, which means we will have some pretty colors throughout the summer. 

The rest of the rocks are in place.  The water was filled enough to get the filter running and the waterfall!!! We are expecting a lot of rain tonight and tomorrow, so we will see how high the level gets afterwards.

RELEASE THE QUACKERS!

"Raisin" the beauty of the flock is half Harlequin and half Appleyard.  She was born here at our TNT farm after incubation with two Khaki Campbells last Spring.  

"Raisin" in front with her tan Khaki sister "Vinny" and her darker colored Dad "Eggbert" (The only one left from our first flock of ducks).  Naming the animals is one of our favorite parts.

Not everyone jumped right in the water, some were busy scavenging for bugs.  It was fun to see them explore the space and we'll see what happens tomorrow in the rain. 

We replanted a few front yard blueberry bushes last year to this area in front of the duck pond and this Spring turned it into a little garden from the bricks we pulled from inside the pond area.  The brick patio is cleaned off and easier to check for duck eggs in the coop. 

We made this archway pen with cattle panel and tarp in the back section for roof and walls; we also used some scrap metal from our broken shed to make the back wall.  Up front we have scraps of hardwire cloth finishing the front walls aside from the door.  This was quick construction and done in one day.  It made it through the winter in great condition, but we did add chicken wire and rubber netting along the front section so that the smaller birds can't fit through and escape, which did happen on turkey day last year. 

This year the Pekin Ducks are spending their time in this pen, instead of soaking our indoor pen with their Shenanigans. 

They have a nice dry section in the back, and plenty of wet in the front. 

Meet our newest addition, "Whaley" an 8-week-old Gotland ewe lamb from Wells.  Although she has beautifully soft black wool right now, as she ages it should all turn gray, which is what I really wanted.  Now we have a nice variety of natural color fibers to work with on the farm.

Bahh bye for now.

We’re Running Full Spring

Castonguay TNT Farm

Big News: Now officially an LLC Business!

Meet our newest additions:

Ewe "Galaxy" (a Finn/Romney/Dorset) has birthed her first lambs: twins "Apollo" and "Dream"

    

Apollo is the boy and lighter one on the left and Dream is the girl and darker one on the right.  

They are Finn/Romney/Dorset-Southdown mixed. 

These two littles weighed in at around 7 pounds at birth.  They were so small compared to our Katahdin/Southdown lambs that have always been closer to 11-13 pounds.

Fiber Art

   I opened an Etsy shop to show off/sell my needle felting creations across the country!

Castonguaytntfarm.etsy.com

Dyeing with Natural Dyes

I'm just getting started with natural dyes and found I got some beautiful colors with onion peels, which I then used on some recent projects like the cheetah shown above.  To get that particular yellow, I did add alum as a mordant on the third run through. 

 

            The first batch, color looks better in real life.     

The second batch, color is a bit more yellow.

Full Spring Ahead

This Spring in Maine has been a whiplash of doing some farm work outside and more snow storms.

At least we can have fun with it!

A few more needle felted pieces. 

 I sold the brown bear set as my first sale out of my Mama and Me Bear Collection! 

(the rest of the bears are shown above)

My next collection is going to be called "Feltimals" and are simplified safari animals to be used as key chains.  They will be available together or Etsy soon.

The Difficult Birth

Nala was the 2nd ewe to birth this year.  She is now about 7 years old and on her 4th year being a mom.  This is her first single birth, and she had a little girl "Minnie".  She has had prolapse in the past, and so we have been cautious with her.  But Minnie came out backward and huge: at 16 pounds, she was quite stuck, and it took a lot of pulling to get her out.  Nala had some weakness and couldn't stand for a few days, her prolapse returned.  She has since fully recovered.  Little (or rather "big") Minnie had some neuropathy from the birth trauma, but with a visit to the vet to get checked out, a little anti-inflammatory and some physical therapy that we did at the farm, she was perfectly healthy before a week's time.  She was nursing on her mother lying down despite her own difficulties and although we thought we might have a bottle lamb situation, she has flourished. 

Minnie getting checked out at the vet.

Minnie with her weak leg from the neuropathy.

Natalie and her single "Walnut" a little ram. 

First lamb of the season, born in January, so early.

Lamb

We have selected some of our female lambs to stay on the farm to be mothers starting when they are on their second year of life.  Especially since we have transitioned to a new Ram on the farm.  We used to have Lambert the Southdown and now we are placing our trust in Felix the Finn Ram.  He is a cutie.  The other lambs go to "market" which means they either fill our freezer, or that of someone who purchases them.  It may seem like a whole lamb is too much, but they are much smaller than a beef cow or a pig.  This is an example of a smaller whole lamb from our 2024 flock.