Hens are teasing me!

I got 9 eggs last week, but none for the last 3 days. I even heard a laying cackle yesterday morning but haven't located the egg. I am tempted to pen them up in a stall in the barn at night, and not let them out in the morning until they pay their debt to society - in eggs!

No duck eggs either. The ducks sound like they're laughing at me too, every time they quack.

In other news, Ezra the baby goat isn't such a baby any more. He's quite interested in all four does, and spends a lot of energy playing head-butt games with his wethered "cousin," Hickory. Ezra is 9 weeks old now and ready to go to his family, as soon as they can come get him. Although I must admit the thought occurred to me yesterday, that I would love to get a doeling sired by Ezra out of Viola. I could really use some of Ezra's dam, Little Bit's, nice udder genetics to improve on Viola. I know Viola was in heat in July, and I wouldn't doubt she's already bred to Hondo (Ezra's sire). Maybe ask for some return breeding rights for Ezra from his family. I do know that Hondo's dam, Cat, had a pretty nice udder as well though, so maybe that alone would be enough to improve Viola's daughters. Breeding to improve is very much a game of patience, because any doeling born this winter wouldn't freshen until a year or more later, so I won't know what if any improvements there would be for at least 1.5 years.

I decided to give the meat rabbits one more try. Now that I'm the one feeding and watering everything, it's much more likely for livestock to survive than when we were depending on older kids to do it. I bought another New Zealand White buck, a big sucker they had named Clyde. I put Hasenpfeffer in with him last Thursday, and another doe this Thursday. Next Thursday the last doe goes in and 2 weeks after that Hasenpfeffer will kindle if she's gonna.