Another two weeks have already gone by, and honestly, it’s a little hard to know where to start.
Part of me wants to start at the end and work backwards… but I’ll try to behave and fill you in from the beginning instead. Does that make sense? Maybe not. But here we go.
Okay, well — last time we updated you, we were talking about Lola and how she had just been spayed. I’m happy to report that she is now fully on the mend. No more onesie, no more bandages… although we did get a little creative there for a while. She absolutely refused to function in the recovery onesie. Wouldn’t walk, wouldn’t move, just sort of… flopped dramatically. So I ended up cutting up a sock and using the tighter cuff part as a little tube around her waist. It covered her incision perfectly, and she couldn’t wiggle out of it. We called it her little “owie cover.” She wore that for about five days, and honestly, it worked great. And now she’s doing really well.
The funny update on Lola, though, is from just a couple days ago — as in, this Monday (I’m writing this on Wednesday before the blog goes up). I thought I’d try letting her outside. So I put her in the sunroom while the boys were outside, turned around to pour myself another cup of coffee, and suddenly I hear this panicked meow. I look over, and there’s Lola… hanging off the screen door, staring through the glass like she absolutely needed to be rescued immediately. So yes — she’s almost fully recovered… But apparently, she is not ready for the great outdoors just yet.
Which, honestly, is kind of hilarious.
This year’s spring has been… a little wacky. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had snowstorms, a few days of melting and mud, then more snowstorms, and even ice pellets — so many ice pellets that it might as well have just snowed. It’s been a lot.
And I’ll say this — trying to keep all the gates, doors, and access points to the animals clear has been a bit of a challenge. Because what happens is, it snows… and then it melts. And wherever we’ve shoveled out paths — like around gates and doors — those spots are lower than everything else. So all the water runs down and pools there. Then overnight, it drops to around minus ten, and all that water freezes solid. So in the morning, we’re dealing with gates that are basically frozen into the ground under a layer of ice.
Addy has been very gracious about going out there and breaking everything open — and I mean that literally. Chipping away the ice, loosening the gates, making sure we can actually get in and out without a full wrestling match. It’s been… interesting. So yes — that’s your official weather update. Spring 2026 is still feeling a lot like winter. There is a bit of hope in the weather forecast, though.
Over the next couple of days, daytime highs are supposed to be around 10 degrees, and overnight, it’s only dropping to about zero. So… things are looking up. I don’t want to sound all doom and gloom — not that I am — but when you’re out there just trying to open a door and you have to chip away a couple of inches of ice first, it does start to wear on you after a while. So a stretch of milder weather is definitely welcome.
On the days when it’s above zero — or even not colder than about minus three — we’ve been able to use the outside faucet again to fill up buckets, which has been a huge help. Not having to haul water from inside makes a big difference in the daily routine. So yes… we’re cautiously optimistic that spring might actually show up soon.
We do continue to get a surprising number of eggs, even with all of this roller-coaster weather. Our ducks, chickens, and quail are all laying daily now, which is amazing.
For the ducks, it’s officially confirmed — we have seven hens and two drakes. One morning I went out and we had seven duck eggs waiting in the coop, which felt pretty impressive. Now, I don’t know how many of you reading this have ducks… but they are 100% messier and dirtier than chickens. Chickens at least have a system. You let them out, and they know to go back into the coop and use the nest boxes to lay their eggs.
Ducks?
Not so much.
Ducks just kind of… wander around, sit down for a minute, stand up — and there’s an egg. It can happen in their house, outside, or even in the pool. They truly do not care. Honestly, I don’t know how wild ducks survive. So when we go to open up the “ducky bunkie” in the morning, we have to be careful. Addy is usually the one letting everyone out while I’m still filling their waters, and he’s had a few eggs roll right down the ramp and straight into the muck. Same thing inside the bunkie. When I go in to top up food and bedding — making sure they’re not freezing to the ground overnight — I use a little three-pronged garden tool to dig through the straw and look for eggs. Because of course, they lay them and then proceed to either bury them or trample them into the bedding. And that bedding is about 40% poo and 60% straw and wood shavings. So by the time we find the eggs… they are very mucky.
We wash them and refrigerate them right away. We used to just brush them off and leave them on the counter since eggs naturally have that protective bloom, but with duck eggs, if you let all that dry on them, they are way harder to clean later. Once they’re cleaned up, they’re beautiful. Big, clean, rich duck eggs ready for breakfast — can’t complain about that. So yes… we have a lot of duck eggs right now.
To any of our local friends reading this — if you need a dozen duck eggs, let us know!!
Our chicken flock is also getting a little older now. The ladies are about two and a half years old — they’re American Bresse chickens — and while they’re not at peak production anymore, they’re still doing pretty well. At their best, they’re around a 300-egg-per-year breed, but at this stage, they’re laying about every other day, maybe. So we’re getting around two to three chicken eggs a day, which is still pretty good.
The turkeys haven’t started laying yet, but they will. We’ve got three turkey hens and one tom — very creatively named Tom — so we’ll see what happens there once they get going.
And then there’s the quail. Yesterday we got six quail eggs, and on average we get anywhere from two to seven a day. They’re tiny — it takes about four quail eggs to equal one large chicken egg — but they add up quickly. We often give the quail eggs whole to our livestock guardian dogs as treats, which they love. And if we end up with a lot of them, I’ll hard-boil and pickle them. Pickled quail eggs are actually really good — they’re bite-sized and perfect for snacking. So even though the weather still feels like winter most days… the birds seem convinced that it’s spring. We’re not complaining!
We made a trip to Fredericton the first weekend of April, shopping for groceries and animal supplies, plus I had the biggest craving for sushi. At first, I thought I’d just make some at home — pick up all the ingredients, bring everything back, and we could have a cozy night in. But after pricing everything out… The sushi rice, the vinegars and sauces to dress it, the smoked salmon, prawns and fish eggs… we quickly realized that maybe that wasn’t the most economical plan. So instead, we decided to treat ourselves and try a new sushi spot. We ended up downtown Fredericton at a little sushi restaurant called Sakura Sushi, ready to finally satisfy that craving.
It was modern, posters of modern Japanese streets with the lights and the lantern light strung overhead. On the floor at their front window, there were beautiful sun umbrellas, and the staff were very friendly. There’s something about sitting down and having sushi made for you that just feels like such a treat. Everything was fresh, the presentation was great, with some delicious green tea, and it completely satisfied that craving. Sometimes it’s just easier — and honestly better — to go out and enjoy it instead of trying to recreate it at home.
We also managed to fit in a game night with our friends Amalie and Stefan.
They introduced us to a board game called Sequence. I had never played it before, which is kind of funny because it’s actually one of my mom’s favourite games. I have no idea how I managed to go this long without ever trying it. I really liked it. (No, it’s not because Stephan and I won.. three times.) We had a great time playing, catching up, and just enjoying a relaxed evening together.
At one point, Addy ended up discovering something else that caught his attention — these really interesting art books that Stefan showed us called Spectrum Contemporary Fantastic Art. They’re collector books filled with all kinds of artwork — everything from sculptures to comic book covers to cartoons, both political and funny. They were actually really incredible to flip through. Stefan had quite a few of them, and of course, that was all it took. Addy went down the rabbit hole and ended up finding some on eBay… and now he has four of his own. So that was a fun little unexpected find. All in all, it was just a really nice night with friends — good company, a new game, and a few new interests discovered along the way.
After our fun Sushi and games weekend, the weekdays flew by; it was a short week as I had Friday off for Good Friday… Here everything is closed on the holidays still, some on both Friday and Monday… not just the schools. Since the only business-as-usual day was Saturday, after making sure kidding would hold off we did the shopping chores. Stocking up on hay and feed. We did a quick Easter dinner grocery run as we decided to stay home to monitor the goats… and found the beef roasts were tiny and overpriced, however, the lamb was on sale, so I bought a leg of lamb. I finally worked up the courage to try roasting a leg of lamb for the first time. This has been something I’ve been putting off for a while. I don’t know what it is — I’ll happily order lamb at a restaurant, but making it at home always felt a little intimidating.
But there it was, on sale — a nice, large leg that would fit in my roasting pan — so I brought it home and enrolled myself in YouTube University. After watching a handful of videos, I decided to just go for it. I made a marinade using Greek yogurt, paprika, finely chopped fresh rosemary, garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Then I prepped the lamb by slicing lightly through the fat and poking small holes throughout the meat. Into those holes, I tucked pieces of garlic and little rosemary sprigs — kind of like little flavor pockets throughout the roast.
Then I coated the whole thing in the yogurt marinade and let it sit in the fridge for about six hours. Before putting it in the roasting pan, I sliced up some onions and spread them across the bottom, then placed the lamb right on top. That way, it wasn’t sitting directly on the pan. When it was time to cook, I started by broiling it for about five minutes on each side to get some color. After that, I added a couple cups of beef broth to the pan, then wrapped the whole thing in parchment paper and foil. Then I switched the oven to 350 for a slow roast. Now… this is where things got a little interesting. Operator error.
I had started the oven on broil, and it turns out that I didn’t fully switch it back over to bake properly — so the bottom heating element wasn’t actually on. I didn’t catch that until about two hours in. So I gave the oven a bit of a reset (to be fair, it is about 47 years old), turned everything off, and then properly set it back to bake. After that, it went for another two hours, and then I let it rest for about 30 minutes before serving. Dinner ended up being around 6:30, and honestly? It turned out really, really well. We had the lamb with savoury mashed sweet potatoes and asparagus, and it was such a nice meal. Definitely something I’d make again. It was just the three of us this year. Joshua is the only one still at home — and at 22, Easter looks a little different now. No big Easter bunny setup, but we still did a small gift bag with some chocolates, shampoo, and a new toothbrush. Practical… but appreciated. We definitely missed Jay, but all in all, it was a really nice, relaxed Easter. And a pretty great first attempt at lamb.
So, we had rabbits due to kindle Easter weekend… and unfortunately, nothing happened. I thought rabbits were supposed to you know? Breed like bunnies? Sadly, no. We gave both does a nest box full of nesting material, and one of them actually started showing some promising signs — digging a little hollow in the back, patting down the straw and hay. I was feeling pretty optimistic about it.
But here we are now, a few days past their due date, and still no little pink babies in any of the nest boxes. So… time to troubleshoot. This was kind of part of my plan — when I say “my plan,” I mean our plan — to become a little more self-sufficient on the protein side of things by raising meat rabbits. From everything I’ve learned, they’re fairly straightforward to process compared to chickens, and you can use rabbit meat in most recipes that call for chicken. So I was pretty excited about it. Which makes this a bit of a setback.
Now that we’re heading into mid-April, we need to figure out what went wrong. Either our does are having trouble conceiving, or our buck just isn’t getting the job done. So, step one… we’re going to look for another buck. Yes, in the rabbit world, boy rabbits are also called bucks — and the girls are called does — just like goats, which can get a little confusing when you’re talking about both at the same time. We’ll be keeping our two does and bringing in a new buck to see if that improves our chances. I’m specifically looking for either a Californian or a New Zealand breed. Those are more traditional meat rabbit breeds, meaning they have a better meat-to-bone ratio.
Some breeds — like Flemish Giants — are huge, but they eat a lot and don’t necessarily give you the same return in terms of meat, so they’re not as ideal for what we’re trying to do. So… a bit of a learning curve here. The rabbits didn’t work out this time around, but we’re not giving up — just heading back to the drawing board and trying again. We seem to have better luck with growing our vegetables.
Well, on to the goat update. We’ve been checking the goats extra closely ever since about April 3rd — every couple of hours when we’re around, just watching for signs. I check their udders regularly. Once they get really full of milk, we say their “udder has popped.” Not literally, of course — it just means it’s very full and tight, which is a good indication that babies are imminent… on their way.
I also check the ligaments at the base of their tail. Normally, you can feel two firm ligaments running along either side of the spine toward the tail. But when they’re getting very close to kidding, those ligaments soften and almost disappear. So when you gently press in that area, and you can’t really feel them anymore, that’s another strong sign that things are about to happen.
Well, on Friday the 3rd — Good Friday, actually — I checked Missy and couldn’t feel her ligaments at all. Her udder was also getting quite full. I wouldn’t say it had fully “popped” yet, but it was definitely getting there. So we figured Missy would be first. And of course… nothing happened… Nothing really happened over the weekend at all, which was a bit disappointing because we had basically cancelled our plans and stayed home to keep a close eye on things.
With the temperatures still dropping to around minus ten at night, we didn’t want to risk missing anything. Cold weather and newborn goats don’t mix well — you can end up with frozen babies, and that’s definitely not something we want. So we stayed close, checked often, and waited.
On Monday morning, we went out to do our usual routine, starting chores around quarter to eight.
I was just bringing the big dogs their food when Addy went to put out hay. Normally, Missy is right at the gate, ready to charge out as soon as food appears… but this time, she didn’t come out. Addy looked over the gate and said, “Mandy… she’s pushing.”
Well — that got my attention.
I set the dog food down and told Addy to run back to the house and grab our kidding grab bag. We have everything ready to go this time of year — towels, supplies, anything we might need — so he took off to get it while I finished up quickly with the dogs. When I got into the goat shed, sure enough, Missy was already down and actively pushing. Once things start, it can take a little bit to get everything stretched and moving properly, but she did an amazing job. It was honestly textbook. The babies were positioned perfectly, and everything progressed just the way you’d hope. Addy was a huge help, passing me towels and anything I needed while we stayed close and made sure everything was going smoothly. Even held my cell phone with the flashlight on. And then — just like that — we had baby goats on the FunnyFarm one again! Missy had twins.
A little boy came first — a beautiful cream colour — and then a little girl followed, black and white and just as adorable. Both of them were healthy, strong, and absolutely perfect. Missy got her bucket of warm molasses water to celebrate her two new kids. It replenishes her energy and has some valuable vitamins and minerals. They all love this treat! Missy is a much better Mom this time around, so we made sure the kids were dry and that they each had a nice, long drink. I snipped their umbilical cord and dipped the end in iodine to protect from infection. Then we cleaned up, put them in a bigger stall all together and left them to bond. It’s been a few days, and Stewie and Winnie are thriving!! Good job, Missy.
Tessy is next up to kid — at least, if my memory serves me right. Our record-keeping last year wasn’t exactly… top tier. But all the signs are there. She’s filling up with milk, her ligaments are softening, and she’s definitely starting to look uncomfortable. So we know it’s coming — it’s just a matter of when.
The kidding season continues. After Tessy, Alley should be next. Then, sometime in mid to late May, it’ll be our junior does Meg (Missy’s daughter from 2025) and finally Gwen (Tessy’s daughter from 2025), who we’re expecting closer to late May or early June. So yes… we’re just getting started.
So that’s life lately on the Funny Farm — a mix of stubborn winter weather, muddy boots, full egg baskets, and the very exciting start of 2026 kidding season.
It’s been a little bit of everything… some waiting, some problem-solving, a few laughs, and now, finally, some tiny hooves on the ground. If you’ve made it all the way to the end of this update, thank you. It truly means a lot that you’re here, following along with our ups, downs, and everything in between.
As things continue to thaw (hopefully) and more babies arrive, we’ve got lots more to share in the coming weeks. Not to mention more garden prep!
Until next time! 🐐
