Hello and welcome to Laughing Duck Farm! I hope you have had the opportunity to enjoy the fantastic autumn we have been having. We have been really enjoying all of the colors of the season, and the sunshine with warmer temperatures during the day have made it a fantastic time to be outside.

On the Farm

This fall has been a bit different than most as it seems to involve more babies than normal! The brooder coop is filled with chicks from two late hatchings. Whenever a hen decides she wants to brood eggs, I let her. I feel that this keeps us a little more self sufficient. This year my wildest hen hid a nest in the garage and decided to hatch out a dozen eggs at the same time my tamest hen kept trying to sit on eggs in the chicken coop. I didn’t know about the hen in the garage, because I don’t usually go in there, but I found a nice cozy place for the tame hen and gave her six eggs, not knowing if she would see the project through.

One day I noticed my wild hen wandering around in the garage with 12 brand new chicks! Now I didn’t want her to raise them herself, because while she would do a fantastic job teaching them to be survivors, she would also teach them to avoid the chicken coop at all costs and hide their eggs as if the lives of their future babies depended on it. Okay, she may have a point. Anyway, I used my grandson’s butterfly net to catch all of those babies and put them into my brooder coop.

A few days later, the tame hen hatched her chicks. I took three just for fun, and let her keep the other three to see how she would do as a mother. I figured there was a good chance she would teach them to sleep in the chicken coop and lay their eggs in the nesting box just like she does. Instead she brought them over to where the cats hang out and sat on a high beam watching the cats devour her young. She will not be allowed to raise chicks anymore.

So now I have 15 new laying chicks. If I’m lucky, seven of them will be hens and start laying eggs next spring.

The other group of exciting babies, as you may already know if you follow us on facebook, are Tuesday’s puppies. She did a fantastic job giving birth to 13 puppies! Unfortunately, after doing some research I discovered that this is far more puppies than a great Pyrenees can take care of. A normal litter should be 6-8 puppies. I was nervous to have to help take care of all of those puppies, but one thing I have learned in dealing with animals is that things have a way of falling back into their design. It was very tragic and difficult for me when we quickly only had 8 puppies left. I cried more than a few tears, but those 8 puppies are huge and strong now. They are roly poly little fluff balls at two weeks old and it appears their eyes are just starting to open. You may notice that most of the puppies are not pure white. This is because their dad is half Anatolian Shepherd so he is bringing all of the spots and color to the mix.

In the Store

Right now the store is stocked with plenty of dried goods. There are a few sweet and spicy new things. One of my new favorites is the spicy mustard powder. This is to make the mustard you get at really good Asian restaurants. You simply add three parts water to two parts mustard powder and mix it together. I like to leave it sit for a few minutes for the heat to increase. Because there are no preservatives, you really only make as much as you will be using that day, but it is so easy to make and really clears out those sinuses! As a bonus, you can blow the powder into the face of your enemies and leave them writhing on the floor in pain, or, you know, just be careful not to breathe it in. (Ask me how I know.)

We are also fully stocked on chicken and pork, with a fresh supply of goat to arrive any day now. We may also still have a couple of pastured turkeys left for your Thanksgiving dinner. Beef will go in in November and we hope to have it back in December. I will not attach the store lists to this newsletter because I know that they are not up to date. I will post them to our facebook page once I catch up on that.

Bulk Food Order

Our next bulk food order will be delivered on November 14. Your order will be due November 8th by 7pm. To order please send me an email at northhaus@gmail.com . You should send me a list that includes the item number, a brief description, and the price you expect to pay. The list below can be very hard to read so this helps to make sure you are receiving exactly what you ordered. Then, on November 14th after 4:30 you can pick up your items at 2482 170th ave, Emerald, WI 54013. Please keep in mind that I only accept checks and cash at this time.

There are some new items on the list this month. There is Lifeway kefir in 32 oz containers (item number 192101 to 192110) or 8oz containers (item number 192131 to 192136). There are also some new dog treats (item 229379 to 229382) and some healing herbal salves (item 825201 to 825230) and if you are into ancient grains, you may be super excited to see that we now have einkorn berries and flour (items 754774 and 754771)! You may also want to start thinking about Christmas. Consumables make excellent Christmas gifts. Item number 335355, tiny jam samplers would be such a fun gift, or maybe little bags of popcorn like item number 715402, which happens to be on sale right now!

If you have any questions on what a product looks like or what the ingredients are, you can go take a look at Walnutcreekfoods.com. Their search tool isn’t the best, but you can search by item number or key word.

Our next delivery date will be December 12 with orders due on December 6th.

I hope this newsletter finds you well, and if you haven’t yet, I hope you get a chance to come out and visit us soon.

Thank you,

Kathy