A Tiny Homestead

AQuack AndaCluck Farm

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Today I'm talking with Rebecca at AQuack AndaCluck Farm.

 

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00:00

You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. Today I'm talking with Rebecca at a Quack and a Cluck farm in Illinois. Good morning, Rebecca. How are you?  Good morning. Doing good. Good. Well, how's the weather there? Because it's been raining since last night here in Minnesota. Well, we didn't get rain until this morning and now it's drizzling  and cold.

00:28

Yeah, and I hate to sound like a farmer, but we need the rain, so I guess it's okay. Yeah, we definitely do.  Definitely. It's really dry. It's been dry. It's needed. um Okay, so the first question I have for you is how you came up with a quack and a cluck for the name.  You know, honestly,

00:51

I sat and I thought about it for a very long time.  And one thing that  I did was, you know, kind of come up with some names and I Google search just to make sure, you know, nobody else had any of them. didn't want to, you know, take somebody else's name.  And it just kind of hit me. I'm like, well, we got chickens and we got ducks. They make noises. There we go.  And  so I just, it just kind of came together. It worked out great.

01:20

I  love it. And the only thing that's hard for me as the podcast host is that I have to make sure I pronounce  cluck very carefully. Yeah. Yeah. There was another lady who had a name like yours and it was something it had clucking in it.  And I I practiced for a whole day in my head and out loud saying clucking. So I didn't screw it up. uh Yeah. You know, and it

01:50

It only takes just a little bit of a tweak in there for it to sound like something completely different. Yeah. And that's the one word that I never ever say on the podcast because I don't want people to be alienated. So,  right. So every time I find somebody with a name that ends in UCK, I'm like, OK, Mary Evelyn, be careful of how you say this word. Right. Yes. Very enunciate.  Yes. So is that chicks that I hear in the background? It is. Yes.

02:20

um This is our first year  of doing fall hatches. um I'm not so sure that I like doing it. uh Of course, it's partly because my chickens are like,  no, we're out. So  it's been kind of random on what's hatching and what we're able to hatch.  Okay.

02:45

Well, it's a lovely sound. think that chick peeps are beautiful to hear. do not,  I'm gonna step off to the side for a second.  The peeps that they sell at Easter,  I hate them. I don't like them. Every year I try one and I go, God, those are gross.  But  baby chicken peeps, the sound are just beautiful. So. Yes, I agree. And  on that side note of yours,  I do not like those peeps.

03:15

I want to like them and my son always ends up getting some because he loves them and he's like try again so I eat one and I'm like it's just straight sugar it's gross. They're cute they are cute I'll give them that it's just that texture is just I can't get past that.  either I don't like them and my husband just laughs at me he's like you love marshmallows.

03:42

And I'm spoiled. I have had homemade marshmallows before. Homemade marshmallows are fantastic.  And Peeps got nothing on them.  No, no. And once you have the homemade marshmallows, you can't even look at it or even taste, you know, the store-bought marshmallows the same. They just don't taste the same to me. No, they absolutely do not. There is a place up in Duluth, I think it is. I interviewed the lady that owns it and she makes homemade marshmallows and she sent

04:12

I actually ordered some from her. had to try them.  And she sent me a package and I opened them the day I got them and they were gone. There were like 12  in the bag. And I ate probably eight of them. I saved four.  Two for my husband, two for my son. Because I'm a good mom and I am a good wife.  I wish it was the same here. I make something like that  and  it doesn't even really have time to set up before the kids are reaching in and taking them out and eating them.

04:41

It's like same day they're gone. yeah, absolutely.  OK, so let's let's bring it back in the line about homesteading. Tell me about yourself and what you do at a quack and a clog farm.  Well,  we  we are trying to be a little bit more self-sufficient. um So we have  lots of chickens, plenty of chickens. A lot of them, though, are also

05:11

ones that we're trying to preserve, trying to bring back,  like the  Pavlovaskan chicken breed.  I have heard it pronounced,  you know,  a little bit different.  So I may not be saying it right to everybody, but I've heard it both ways. The Sebastopol geese.  We also have like Mandarin ducks  and Australian spotted. um

05:42

We have, we milk our cow or I'm sorry, we are working on a milking cow. We're leaning towards that. But we are uh breeding goats. We milk the goats.  We make soap from the goats milk. We also have pigs  and we just had a litter a few weeks ago. uh

06:10

Some of them didn't make it. She had a pretty good size litter. you um know, just we're just trying to become more self-sufficient and also, you know, share the love of our birds  and our animals  in general. Fantastic. So you have the special breeds is what you're telling me.  We do have some special breeds. um

06:37

There are, you know, your more common  breeds, but are probably a little bit more harder to find in my area, like the cauldots, the black east indies.  Um, I mean, we do have turkeys and peacocks as well, which I do know there are a few people around us that have those, but I mean, even growing up as a kid, you didn't hear of anybody having any of those.

07:01

birds on their farm. knew like turkeys were wild, but peacocks you just seen at the zoo. didn't realize, you know, people actually had them on their farms.

07:14

So, I mean, you know,  but, you know, we also have like sulkes, I'm simani and simatras. We have, you know, we do have your standard regular breeds like your Rhode Island Reds and such, but yeah, we do, we do have a lot of,  um, you're more harder to find breeds at least for our area. You know, it might  differ in different places.

07:40

Yeah. So are you on a good size piece of land and outside of city limits? We are outside of city limits. We are on about three and a half acres. That's a good size piece of land. Yes. It is. We are hoping to possibly expand soon, um, depending on how the farmer allows us, um, you know, or if he's looking to possibly sell part of his, his land. Um, so we'll see.

08:10

We'll see how it goes. You know,  we're in the same boat. We live em surrounded by a big cornfield and we're smack dab in the middle of it right off the road that parallels the field. And uh we know the owners, they're super nice people. And we would love, love, love, love to be in a position to buy a couple more acres because our property is three acres. And five acres would be perfect. Like there would be just enough room to have all the things we want to have.

08:39

like a milk cow, that would be great.  Yes. But three acres is just not quite enough for everything we have going on  already. So I don't know that we're ever going to be able to do that because in Minnesota there's a law for farmland that you cannot break up acreage that is smaller than 40 acres anymore that's being used for growing crops. And so  the idea

09:07

of being able to get the two acres adjacent to our property. It probably will never happen because it's going to break that law to do that. Gotcha. Yeah.  That's something that we're hoping that we can do. You know, we're not real certain that  he's  going to go for it, but we're hopeful, you know. um But that's kind of what we're hoping to do is be able to purchase a little bit more or even property away from ours.

09:37

So then we can expand because we do want to be able to have a milking cow and you know some sheep  things like that. um Just being able to like I said our  ultimate goal in general is just to be more self-sufficient.  Yeah and the thing that's hard is that when you want to be self-sufficient  it's really nice to have a milk cow. It's really nice to have a couple of steers fattening up for the following year for the freezers.

10:06

It's nice to be able to have the things that would  make you capable of taking care of yourself.  And if you push it too hard on three acres, you end up having things on top of each other and that just doesn't work very well.  Exactly. Exactly.  We're learning that.  One of the things I said to my husband when we bought our place five years ago, and it was a blank slate. mean, there was a pole bar and a house and a garage  on three acres and a tree line.

10:34

And I said, I do not want this to become a junkyard homestead, you know, because you see people who have land and it's filled with old  dead tractors and pickup trucks and boxes and things. And I was just like, no, has to stay nice.  And it is staying nice, but we are definitely adding infrastructure every couple of years. Right, right. So yeah, ours was pretty much a blank slate as well when we bought it.

11:04

It originally had a really nice barn on it, but prior to us purchasing the place, they had torn it down. I don't really know why or anything like that. But having the blank slate kind of made it easier for us to be able to build what we needed to, where we wanted it, how we wanted it.

11:28

And one of the things that I was just telling a friend of mine was, you know, you go to your tractor supplier, whatever you purchase, one of their little cute little coops or whatever, that would not survive out here because unfortunately we get direct wind hits. Yep. So my husband builds them and  last  two years ago, maybe we had  160 mile

11:57

plus our winds coming through and not one of them moved. And it was nice. was, it kind of like was okay. If we ever do have a tornado get super close to us, we're going to be okay. I think, you know, I don't think that obviously if it runs through our property, you know, that's a little different story. Right.  But knowing that my animals, when they go up, they're secure. Wind isn't going to take them out. kind of, it's

12:26

It's nice. you know, driving around out here, you do see those old buildings that are falling apart and it's like, how is that still standing? Because it's barely hanging on. But I also like seeing that.  Yeah, for sure. So  what's the nearest big city to you, Rebecca? um Well, defining big, I would say probably Peoria, Illinois, and that's about an hour and a half.

12:57

Okay, yeah.  My grandparents lived in Illinois. They lived in Oakwood, Illinois.  Okay. So I know where Peoria is. I've driven by it many times to go visit my grandparents. Yes. Yeah. That I would say would probably be the nearest big city.  you're sort of  mid-west of Illinois, like in the middle on the west side? Yeah.

13:25

Okay. Kind of like in that belly area. Yeah. Illinois is, it's so weird. I grew up in Maine and Maine is very forested and very hilly. And we would go out to see my grandparents and we'd get to Indiana, well, mid Ohio. And it would start to get flat.  And I would be like, Oh, we're getting closer because it's getting flatter. And my dad would just laugh and he would say,  yes, that's why Mainers call people from away,  flat landers, because the land gets flat.

13:54

Yeah, the West you go and so I'm aware of how beautiful Illinois is but I'm also very aware of how flat it can be Yeah um Very flat like there's there's no ifs, ands, buts about it  Yes, and I mean Maine has some flat spots but not like the Midwest does  and uh I made a lateral move over 30 years ago to Minnesota and

14:22

Minnesota is a very strange state because the southern part there are some very flat lands here and up north it's all forested like Maine where I grew up  and There's also just there's so much water here. I mean, they're not kidding when they call it the land of 10,000 lakes Right. Yeah, we took a I haven't been to Wisconsin, but I have been to Michigan and

14:47

Oh my goodness is Michigan beautiful  just all the forestry alone. So I can only imagine. mean you're talking about one state over really how beautiful Wisconsin is.  Oh yeah. Minnesota and Wisconsin aren't a whole lot different in my opinion. I'm sure that other people might have a different opinion because everyone does.  But  Wisconsin is also interesting because it also has like  zones of different topography.

15:17

topography, there we go, just like Minnesota does. So it's kind of neat.  Okay, so I have a question. I was looking at your latest post on your Facebook page. Yeah. And there's something about NPIP certified.  What is that? What does that mean? So basically, um my flock has been tested  for,  in layman's terms, basically just um

15:47

A strain  of salmonella. Okay.  Um, so it's something required by like not every state.  Um, I know that there's a few that it just kind of a whatever thing they don't require it.  Um,  but  to ship birds  in or out of pretty much every state, you have to have it. Okay. Or eggs.  Um, okay. Cool.  It allows me to, be able to ship.

16:17

um eggs and birds. I have not shipped birds. I don't feel comfortable doing it. um Or to even go to shows. It allows me to go to shows.  Or um even like the state of Illinois requires it for like swap meets. Okay. All right. Do know what it stands for? the what the letters stand for? um

16:44

If I had it in front of my head face, I would be able to tell you I have a  really bad memory when it comes to that  I'm gonna Google it and P  I P Yeah, I have I

17:00

I  am,  you know, to be all honest and serious here, I am dyslexic. So I do have a hard time recalling certain things when it comes to things like that. no, that's fine. And of course, I'm trying to get to it and it's telling me this site can't be reached. So um it doesn't really matter. I was just curious. I'd never seen the I'd never seen it before.  I know it's for the warrior.

17:27

It's National Poultry Improvement Plan. That's what it is. Yes. There you go. Got it. So now I can put that in the show notes for people who don't know. Awesome. OK. So so do you you don't ship birds, you don't ship chicks, you just ship eggs? Yeah, I have worked with transports before.

17:52

uh I just do not feel comfortable shipping live birds with the way the post office has been running. um I know a lot of people have good luck with them and things like that, but I've also seen a lot more where there's  delays. A lot of people are getting their birds,  you know, that have passed  due to shipping delays or just rough handling and.

18:21

I just don't feel comfortable with it. would rather know that  if you're going to get a bird from me, that it's healthy, it's going to get to you okay.  Then ship something and just hope for the best.  You know, eggs are kind of one thing.  They're a little bit more sustainable, you know, if there is a slight delay.  Yes.  know, birds,  those are live  babies, know, live.

18:50

Juveniles I just I Just have a really hard time getting past the idea of shipping something that may not make it to you alive  Yes, and I'm gonna say something that might be controversial, but I'm gonna say it anyway um I can't imagine being a day old or two day old chick Being popped into a box  put on a truck or a plane shipped across country

19:18

and having to sit around in a box with 16 or 20 or 100 of my siblings  with a little bit of food and a little bit of water,  hoping that I stay alive. Yeah, and you know, that's, I feel like that's more of your hatcheries that ship your date olds. Most of the ones that, and I'm not saying  not every like farm does this or what have you, but I do know um a few farms that do ship  and

19:48

They will not ship day olds.  They wait for a few, you know, even a week or so before they even ship because they do want them established. They do want them thriving, knowing that they're going to be okay before they do just put them in a box. Yeah. But yeah, I even, even being, you know, a week or two old and being sent out. Yeah. I definitely see your view and how you, how you look at that also. Yeah. Chicks are very fragile.

20:17

They're very, very breakable. Yeah. And you know, then you have some that are even more so, you know, you get into your smaller breeds like your kiki rikis or your saramas. I mean, even call ducklings.  don't know  very many at  all  of, know, your individual small farms, hobby farms, homesteads, whatever,  um, that will ship even baby call ducks because of how even fragile they are.

20:47

ah I do know that there is hatchery that  is shipping baby calls and I'm just like, can't even like that freaks me out a little bit. Like they're ultra sensitive  and you know, they do need that water. So it's, it's, you know, a very hot topic. Yeah. That's why I said, I'm going to say something controversial. And  honestly, if you're trying to get chips, chips, uh-huh.

21:16

shipped to you, that's fine. Do whatever you're comfortable with. But I would rather find a local person  and get them from a local person where I can go pick them up  and gently take the box to my vehicle and then take the box from my vehicle to the brooder gently. And that way they're protected and they're safe. Oh, I agree. I agree. that's, you know, I can't speak for like every, every farm out there, but ones that I've talked to, even myself.

21:46

Even when it comes to  eggs, I would rather be like, you know,  is there anybody closer to you? I, you know, I did ship some of my Turkey eggs to Oregon.  Um, and she said that, you know, she's, she was very insistent on, on these eggs. And I was like, okay, ah I will get them sent to you. And they did really, really well, but it is a long distance even for that, you know, um,

22:14

And I do know that a lot of people will want eggs or, you know, like chicks or even eggs shipped to them, um, because they can't find them.  Um, you know, we'll go on back to like the Caldots. That is something that a lot of people are just like, I can't find them in my area. They're hard to come by. And they're, you know, even here,  they're becoming a little bit more popular. But when I started with them,  you couldn't really find them anywhere near you.

22:45

Now, now you're seeing a lot more of them. um It's basically down to what colors even, you so it's kind of same with chicks as well. You know,  there are some chickens that are harder to come by. There are some that, you know, you see everywhere.

23:08

Yep, absolutely.  So I'm going to ask a question I don't ask as often as I probably should. If someone wanted to get into raising ducks or raising chickens,  how do they get started? Because you've been doing this for a little while. So tell me how you get started.  So one thing that I do  even to this day, um especially if it's a new breed or anything like that, um

23:37

I make sure to do the research.  Um, that will make or break you. It's when you  are like, oh my goodness, those cold ducks are so cute. I need them. want them. And then you go get them and you get them home  and you don't know how to care for them properly. You're going to end up with dead birds.  Um, unfortunately this last spring I sold some Sebastopol goslings  and some of them didn't make it because

24:06

They were not brooded properly  and they got too hot because they were brooded as chicks and you can't, you can't do that. So one thing that I always suggest to people is,  um, you know, make sure that you know  what you're getting into. Um, dig around, ask questions. I'm always, always open to answering questions. anybody that has bought from me before, I, you know, it's always.

24:35

If you got anything, reach out to me. Feel free. It's okay. um

24:43

Talk to, talk to breeders, ask them questions. A lot of breeders,  you're really good breeders even,  will help you. They'll help you along the way, help you answer any questions, anything that you have. But the biggest thing is  knowing what you're getting into because not every  bird is the same.  You know, whether you're looking at chickens, not every chicken is the same. Some require different things.

25:13

ducks, same thing. They're not all the same.  Like the sabbatical geese, you know, they're  the way they're feathering is  they get colder a little bit faster, you know, if the wind's blowing right on them. So they do need to be able to have wind block. These kinds of things are very important to know. And that's, you know, that is the very first thing that I tell anybody that, you know,

25:43

hasn't owned ducks before. Do your research. Understand that you can't put like a call duck in  with your bigger ducks if you're going to have drakes.

25:56

It won't work. mean, I know people do it and they have success, but most of the time it's because they've done the research and they're in a really big enclosure or they're free range. But then you have to look at those risks as well and understand that. So the deeper, the deeper you dive into it, the deeper you look into it and you ask all these questions, come up with all these scenarios.

26:26

the better off you will be prepared for when you get your new chicks, your new ducks, your new breed. So basically educate yourself before you jump in.  Very much. You know, don't just look at pictures and be like, oh my goodness, they're so cute. Because they are. They are all adorable. Every chicken is adorable, except for I have a problem with naked. But that's okay.  But.

26:55

You know, it really like if you're going to spend the money for the bird, know what you're getting. Yeah. And I'm going to add to that, know what it takes to take care of them of your time and your energy too. Absolutely. Absolutely. Because, know, just just like with the sabbaths of bulls and putting up wind blocks, that takes some time.

27:21

You know, and they do need space. They do need to be able to graze even during winter.

27:28

You know their main source of food is  basically, you know, your grass your dirt that kind of stuff  Mm-hmm. Not so much grain. You don't want to overpower them with grains Yes, there's so many things that go into having birds in general not I mean even if you were gonna have Pigeons, there's a lot that goes into bird care. Yes Absolutely

27:56

And, you know, knowing, you know, what to do if a medical issue comes up, you know, like rhino or, you know, when they're hatching out of an egg, do they need help? You know, like, call ducks are notorious for needing help, but not every duck needs help, you know. So it's all a learning process. And one thing that, you know,

28:25

I always tell everybody is we all started somewhere.  We all made mistakes and we all learned from it.

28:37

So don't feel bad if you make a mistake. Just learn from it and keep going. Things happen and you learn. Yes, that is the joy of being alive and learning new things.  Yes, yes.  I'm going to pull this around to dogs because I have the best dog in the entire world. Fight me. She's the best. um

29:06

We got her a and I thought that we would break her. We had never had a puppy before and she was eight weeks old.  And we know her former, we know the owners of our dog's parents, they're friends of ours. And their dogs have  at least one litter a year usually. And  the lady is always posting photos of the puppies when they arrive and then as they grow and then they go to their new homes.

29:33

And every time she posts a new litter when they're about four weeks old,  I'm like, you can't just have one. I need another one. And my husband's like,  no,  our dog is the best dog  in the world. She's the only dog we need. And he reminds me of this. And I go, okay, fine. And so, so I just really try to enjoy those puppies vicariously. And if we have the chance to go visit them,  we go visit them and we help socialize them, but they do not come home with us.

30:02

because  animals just like children need to be taken care of. Yeah. So it's all part of the homesteading and farming life, but  you got to know your limits and our limits are the best dog in the world.  One dog. That's it.  right. Yes. No, I,  I definitely hear that, but it's really hard to pass up more than one puppy because they're very cute.

30:30

Oh my goodness, they are. have two little babies right now. They will be four weeks  old Wednesday.  And  they are the sweetest little things ever.  And I do know one is going to a fantastic farm in about two weeks.  Well, no, actually it's closer to three weeks.

30:59

And I'm excited. I'm excited for them and I'm excited for the little guy. ah It's fun being able to have them, but also finding them a great home. And we do not breed very often um because of the breed of dogs that we do have. um The idea is to make sure that they do go to a good home. Purposeful breeding.  Yeah.

31:28

Yes. uh Is it Rottweilers? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They are adorable as babies and they are scary looking when they're big grown up boys. And I love them. I think they're beautiful.  And I've known some very sweet Rottweiler dogs. They are big loveys, but they will definitely put the fear of God into you if you are where you're not supposed to be in their guard dogs.  And you know, that is one thing that we have out here.

31:57

partly for that purpose um to be a guard dog, but they do know their limits. They do know, you know, okay, if we tell you to stop, means stop. They are great dogs. They are fantastic. um Our oldest, which I like to call grandma now,  she  is the sweetest little thing ever. And she,

32:26

I mean, you put any kind of baby in front of her, baby chick, baby duck, whatever, she does not even care. And it's a beautiful thing.  It's a beautiful thing to be able to do that.  And, you know, that's one thing that we work on out here as well. You know, are they going to necessarily go to a farm home?  No, but we still introduce them to  the birds rather early, you know, once they get their vaccines going and stuff.  Sorry.

32:56

Um, we start the introduction just in case they do go to a home with even chickens, for example, that way, you know, they understand they know that is started. Does that make them a livestock guardian dog?  No. So please don't get that confused and don't, you know, think that, oh, I can just take any dog and, and create a livestock guardian dog. That's  two different things.

33:24

It definitely is. And I'm going to say our dog is  an Australian shepherd and she,  she was sold to us as a mini, but apparently that's not a thing. She is a small Australian shepherd  and  she would be a great show dog because she's very athletic. She would also be a great herding dog. That's what she was bred for. She is not a livestock guardian dog either  because she's only 35 or 36 pounds.

33:53

And any predator here, a coyote would take her down in minutes, a pack of coyotes she'd be done for. Right. So her job is to let us know if something is on the property that's not supposed to be here. She's an excellent watchdog. Yes. Yeah. And that's, you know, and that's just kind of what these guys are too. You know, they're just here to watch and protect.  But I do know a lot of people, um you know, they get into

34:21

the poultry and then they're like, well, you know, this dog's really good with the chickens. They're a livestock guardian dog or whatever, you know, they just kind of have that mindset and it's like, no, that's not what they are, but it's good that they're good with your chickens. Yeah, we call Maggie the farm dog because everybody refers to us, our place as the farm, but she may be a farm dog, but she's not a livestock guardian dog. we're good with Right.

34:49

All right, this was wonderful, Rebecca. Thank you so much for talking with me today. Where can people find you?  You know, just on our web page on Facebook, we do have  a website that we're building, but  we're having issues with it. So hopefully that'll be coming soon.  Awesome. Let me know and I will add it to the show notes when you have it up. Okay. Okay.

35:16

As always, people can find me at atinyhomesteadpodcast.com, because I have a website, because I used to make them, so that's why I have one.  And please check out my Patreon, it's patreon.com slash atinyhomestead.  Rebecca, I hope you have a wonderful day. All right, thank you, you too. Thank you, bye. Bye.

 

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A Tiny HomesteadBy Mary E Lewis