Journey to the Wild Mountain Thyme Farm

Above 40 degrees.

2012-02-04T20:08:00.000-05:00

To say we have enjoyed a mild winter this year is to put it lightly. The farm critters are certainly enjoying the mild winter as well. 40 degrees seems almost tropical and everyone is eager to get out and get some fresh air.


Pippy aka Quack Quack had a near death experience at the beak and claws of one of our turkeys. Several months in the ICU (laundry room) and he is ready to rejoin duck society.


When Nano talks, everyone listens.

Everyone leaves the barn today.


Psyche is less than a month away from delivery. I am thinking a single again.


She hides it very well.

Pearl is a little reluctant to leave the barn.

The pigs are very happy to be outside. Thank goodness for electric fencing!

It amazes me that the goats can find anything to graze on, but there must be something there.

Time to walk the plank and head for higher ground.

One chickens scrap bucket is.......

another Turkey's object of affection.

Hercules does a dance....

A little wing flapping....

and a little foot stomping, but to no avail. No romance today.

Cricket blends well with her surroundings. Once a house cat, now a porch cat.

Where have we been?

2012-01-29T22:56:00.000-05:00

I am not really sure. Plenty has happened since October, but the drive to sit down and write just wasn't there. So a quick recap and then mostly pictures. Bryan switched jobs, he now drives a dump truck, which is much easier and he enjoys a lot more. Eve and Kevin made it up for Thanksgiving, a smaller crowd than we are used to, but we certainly enjoyed having them. I had Carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand, (not a good time for a farmer to be 1 hand down) I am glad that I had the surgery and will soon be having my left hand done. Christmas came and was nice and low key.
Sarah, Maggie and I joined 2 of my brothers, their families and my sister in Rhode Island for New Years. This is a wonderful tradition that I have missed for the last couple of years. For those of you who know us, know that Maggie has had a sometimes difficult road since she came home to us 7 years ago. She had some serious developmental issues that we thought were resolved. I have been concerned that some of her quirks were getting in the way of her progress at school. After many interviews, test etc. Maggie has been diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome. We are actually relieved to finally have a 'diagnosis' which will lead to a specialised plan for her education.
That just about brings us up to date. Once again I hope my 'blog block' has lifted and I will continue on a more regular basis. Anyhow, here are some pictures that give a peek into our lives.


Goats with hair cuts. Unfortunately we lost Castor this month.


Cricket decided that sharing the laundry porch with a dog was ok, but the duck was too much. She has moved to the front porch and the banana box with mohair.

Fey, one of my 2 birthday presents.


Simi, my other present.

Bryan finally had the time to put up a new side on the barn.

Cousins having fun.

Jenna, Mathew, Sofia, Maggie & Sarah at 40 steps.

David and Sofia moments before the duck snatched the whole cone out of Sofia's hand.

Maggie hanging with Uncle Andrew.

Maggie at Brenton Point.

Some things never change.

Eve running at Fort Adams, running for her friend Catherine, who is at peace now.


Newport will always be the home of my heart.

Morning after a full moon.

Slightly blurry, but beautiful.

Fey and Simi enjoy a rare 'quiet' time.

Even Buddha can keep smiling in the snow.


Simi climbs the door of the porch to let me know she has been locked on the porch.	Yes that is a vertical climb.

Pigs love pumpkins

2011-10-31T15:11:00.001-04:00

Pickle and Petunia made it through the night in their little shelter. What a better way to celebrate than with a pumpkin.

They're here

2011-10-30T22:37:00.001-04:00

Yes, we have 2 little piggies. It's picture time.


Petunia is belted, Pickle is not.


Look at that nice ham on Petunia.


This is the first time that they have been out of the barn. They are loving the dirt and leaves.

root, root, root.

And still more rooting.


The ham shot.

Pickle has a leaf stuck on his nose.

They are never far from each other.

OOOh what is this?

Smells good.

How do I eat you?

Maybe later.


The end of the first day.

Yummy stuff

2011-10-17T20:27:00.001-04:00

Have I mentioned how much I love the Autumn? The time of cooling weather, changing leaves and all the good things that come out of the kitchen. We have 3 huge apple trees that were overflowing with apples this year. I have made a few wonderful apple pies and am ready to move on to a new challenge. Apple Cider Donuts. I first fell in love with Cider Donuts when we lived in Delaware and the local orchard made them. You could buy a bag of them for $5, fresh and hot, covered in cinnamon sugar. Thanks to the cover of Hobby Farms Home magazine, Mom and I were really craving fresh donuts. After sitting on the recipe for a week or so, we did it. Before I share pictures, I just want to say that there is nothing in the world as good as a fresh hot donut that you made yourself.


Step 1: Get the apples.


Step 2: Make the dough, (this is not step 2) Step 3: Cut the dough into donut shape.

Step 4: Fry those puppies up.


Step 5: Roll them in cinnamon sugar. Still piping hot.

This is what happens when you get tired of cutting the dough, just throw the bits and pieces into the hot oil, funny looking but still just as tasty.

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of us eating them, but eat them we did and were they goooood.
I highly recommend home made donuts.

So what are you waiting for, it's 'Time to make the Donuts'!

Goats and Shoats

2011-10-15T16:59:00.002-04:00

There have been occasions when the weather is not the greatest or when the goats refuse to leave the barn in the morning, that I will leave them in the barn and just open the outside doors. They will usually mosey on out at their leisure. Unfortunately, there are also occasions that I forget to latch the gates to the feed area. The chaos that I return to is by default my making, but ooooooh the goats. The pictures are not the best because I took them with my camera and the guilty parties where not going to hold still while I gathered the evidence against them.

Glowing eyes of 'bad' goats.

Archie, Alice's other kid and a couple of 'innocent' Angora's. They said they just took a wrong turn, the gate is right next to their pen's gate.

Alice and her kid Angus, Alice is the 'gate cracker', she knows just how to open the closed gates.

So we are becoming pros at dealing with the chaos that the goats throw at us. Hmmm how shall we celebrate, Get Pigs! Yes in about 2 weeks we will be bringing home a barrow and a gilt, aka a boy and girl pig. Yes we have heard how trouble free pigs are, how docile and respectfull of their domicile, not at all like goats who walk through electric fences, open gates, eat massive amounts of unauthorized grain. No I am sure that the pigs will be quite a vacation for us. And as Sarah would say, 'yes, I am wearing my sarcastic hat'

These piglets are 'cousins' of the 2 we are getting.

Trying to get a picture of the 'grandpappy' pig. Weighing in at around 800 lbs and the size of a Yugo.


Full facial of granpappy, really doesn't do him justice.

The pigs are a cross of Hampshire, Tamworth and Yorkshire. I am sure they will give me plenty of stories for the blog, keep in touch to see what happens!

Autumn

2011-10-09T19:02:00.000-04:00

My favorite time of year. Normally the days are getting cooler, (today it was in the high 70's) and the nights call for a fire in the stove. There is a sudden rush of activity to get the farm ready for the winter, which seems to be coming sooner than we think. This year our apple trees are overloaded with apples. They aren't the prettiest but they sure do taste good.

There are even good apples on the ground.

from this to....


to this! Yummy.

Every fall we feed the goats and sheep as much pumpkin as they can eat. This year we were rewarded with 'volunteer' pumpkin vines. This is just a small fraction of the beautiful pumpkins that the goats planted for us. Of course they get to eat these too.

Today was also the last day of the garden, we have had a couple of light frosts, but enough to finish off the tomatoes. The Turkeys are quite happy to spend the next month cleaning up the garden.

Lots and lots of tomatoes to eat.

Not quite sure the hot peppers are quite what they want to eat.

The goats are thinking of love right now, and no fence will hold Esau. (our fence isn't the hottest to begin with.) Luckily none of the girls are really interested, though I am keeping a close eye out.


Everyone together in the far field. (probably eating pumpkins) The sheep are in a separate field next to the goats.

I love the vibrant mums.

I bought this bush last year and have no idea what it is, but it is very beautiful.

The last of the swiss chard.

Our mountains are just starting to turn, I love to watch as the colors creep upward.

Random Farm Bios Lets meet Sybil

2011-09-14T20:15:00.000-04:00

Sybil is one of our original hens. She came to us in a box that peeped, all the way from Iowa.

She was cute, fuzzy, well adjusted and like any one of the other hens we received that day. She grew up to lay wonderful eggs. She was even friendly enough to hold.

Unfortunately Sybil's feathers were suffering from the abuse of the roosters, and early on she was forced to endure the shame of the hen coat.

This didn't slow her down, and it also seemed to make her more attractive to the roosters. At one time or another we have had too many, and they all seem to LOVE Sybil in particular. Sybil began to hide in the next boxes in the hen house, she would jump out at you whenever you entered the house run up and peck you and run back into her hiding spot. The pecks never really hurt but it seemed as if her mental state was slightly unbalanced. That is when we started calling her Sybil, perhaps there was too much power in the name.
With the lure of warm weather Sybil left the hen house with the rest of the chickens, but unfortunately she again caught the eye of the rooster. Her chicken pheromones must run hot.

Sybil still runs up and pecks but never in anger, in fact more often she runs to get away from the roosters who love to chase her. She spends her nights sleeping in the 'people' part of the hen house. Her nightly protector, is Beetle, the dethroned rooster. She hides under his wings or behind the feed barrels. If chickens could go 'postal' it would be Sybil. You only have to look at her to see that there is such a thing as fowl mental illness. A chicken pushed over the edge because of stress.
Well today the ultimate in insults happened to Sybil. Oscar our Great Dane escaped the fenced yard and went on a chicken spree, Even Oscar seemed to know Sybil was an easy target. I walked out of the barn to see a limp Sybil dangling from the slobbery jaws of a happy looking dog. Luckily he dropped the toy and went in search of new conquest.
I rushed to where Sybil was hiding in the deep grass, amazingly she was unharmed. Oscar was still dancing around us and with each bound, Sybil shrieked at him, if she could have shook her wing at him I am sure she would.

A very angry and bedraggled but valued member of our farm.

Who knows who I will highlight next time. Stay tuned.

About time

2011-09-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

I am amazed that I haven't blogged much this summer. I thought I would have so much to blog about, and I did, just no time to do it. So instead of a recap of all the exciting stuff you missed (and there was some really good stuff too) we are just going forward.
So this is what I did today, with a lot of help from Sarah.
We shall call this episode, How to make a goat happy.

Step 1: Notice that their stall is NAAASTY.

Step 2: Remove NAAASTY and rinse.

Step 3: Put pretty white stuff on floor.

Step 4: Put in fresh Hay. (this makes them really happy because they usually have straw which is not as tasty)

Step 5: Put goats back in stall.

Now these guys don't usually get hay in their stall because they are Angora's and it is no fun to pick out the hay from their fiber, but I didn't have time to get straw. 3 of the boys are very happy they can lay down to eat, very lazy boys!

We were able to clean all 4 stalls today, so we really made all of the goats happy, and there is nothing better than happy goats.

While we were cleaning, we had a mild thunderstorm, when we left the barn I couldn't resist taking pictures of he beautiful rain drops hanging on the pine tree, I only wish that the picture could capture the sparkling light reflected in the drops.

For Sale (how can you resist)

2011-08-18T00:38:00.000-04:00

Hamish
Born 4/3/11
$300.00

Doughall
Born 4/4/11
$300.00

If you have questions please email me. wefroggy@ptd.net The boys are going to be shorn soon, if you prefer them with their fleece please let me know.
They are both beautiful boys, out of Esau, a Solid Medium Copper Buck.
Hamish's Dam is a Silvery Brown Dark Belly Badger and Doughall's Dam is White with color coming down on her Sire's side. Lineage on both is available on request.

2011-08-02T22:27:00.000-04:00

I knew farming wasn't going to be easy. But as usual I blindly ignored the hard stuff and focused on the fun and easy stuff. It seems the last month that has really come to bite me on the butt. I have made some really rookie mistakes with the goats, and thankfully we are finally digging ourselves out of the hole. (I hope) In my inexperience, I was trying to help the goats, and was actually doing more harm than good. With the advice of my goat mentor and my vet, I think our buck Ash is finally on the upswing to good health.
Ash was an amazing healthy big buckling, once he came to our farm he got sick, we got him over that. Then when he seemed to be getting better he began an downward spiral again. I did what I thought I should do, however, I missed a few important steps. Downward spiral continues. Mentor steps in, vet steps in. Between the 2 of them, Ash is looking better. We brought him up to the house yesterday and gave him a bath. He looks even better. He is still not ready for breeding season, and he may make a pass this year, but I think he will survive.

He is still a bit puffy in the face, but the bottle jaw is receding. I would like to have brought him up to the house temporarily, but the dogs would have gone nuts and we really don't have a place to put him in the house.
As with everything positive there is naturally a negative. During the illness with Ash, Sue and Junebug also became sick. They just were not thriving as they should have. We lost the both of them within 3 days of each other. They were beautiful goats and we will miss them a lot.

So we have had a rough season, I am learning as we go and am learning from my mistakes, it is just sad that I lost some beautiful babies. On the other hand Hamish, Doughall, Archie, Angus and Daisy are all healthy happy goats. Hamish and Doughall will be posted for sale soon, ya know, in case you want a beautiful Angora buck or whether.

Got milk

2011-07-27T22:34:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make, I have always loved udders. I think this udder is one of the most beautiful there is. Pysche gives me about 1/2 gallon of milk a day, so yes, we 'got' milk.

This is an empty udder, thus my nickname for Psyche, "Saggy Baggy"

And this of course is Psyche's opinion of the whole process. Without Psyche's milk we would not have the Goats milk soap, the cheese, yogurt and all the other lovelies that we get from her. Thank You Psyche!

I'm back

2011-07-27T10:19:00.000-04:00

So for those of you who follow my blog, you will have noticed that it has been a couple of months since I blogged. With the green weather, comes the green work. We made it through all the rain and am coming out of the heatwave. The biggest obstacle to getting back on the blog horse has been how to recap the last 2 months. So instead of doing that, I am just going to pick up today and go forward.
It is barn cleaning time, this causes lots of confusion for some of the goats, as they come home to a new stall. Out of all of our kids this year, we only have 1 surviving doeling, she is quite happy to have moved out of the kid pen and into the big girl pen, her mother Maple is not so happy. Psyche broke her leg a few weeks back, she is recovering well, and really enjoys the solitary pen. So much for goats being herd animals. She enjoys sitting back and if she could give the queenly wave she would.
Hamish and Doughall will be looking for new homes. Hopefully I will be able to sell them soon before I can't part with their amazing fleece. I did sell 5 of my sheep, leaving us with only 1 ram and 1 ewe. I am considering still whether I should keep or sell these 2 as well. I think I will revisit sheep next year, or not.

Completely off topic, we had a Sow bear and her cub walk out of our hedgerow yesterday and just as quickly disappear back in. We have heard that it is a busy bear year, but we haven't really seen it. It is a nice treat to actually get to see them in the yard.

I think I will leave off for now with some sunrise pictures on the farm. Next blog will be more interesting I promise, but for now it is good just to be typing again.

A sense of well being.

2011-05-14T21:56:00.000-04:00

When things begin to green up around here, I am in awe of the beauty that surrounds me. The sweet smell of cherry and apple blossoms fill the air. A hint of lilac begins to show, honeysuckle bushes that cover our hedgerows are just beginning to show the promise of sweet fragrant blossoms. As I stand under the old apple trees, I close my eyes and breathe the amazing sweetness and can almost feel the vibration of the buzzing bees as they hover over the paper white blooms.

As much as I love the cherry and apple blossoms, and I do love them. There is another tree that holds my heart. This tree does not embrace spring with a hint of green, but covers it's winter weary limbs with perfect tight buds in shades of purple, not sure where it got it's name, for it is the Red Bud tree. I had never seen one of these trees until we moved here.

The red bud tree is in the unfortunate position of growing in the back yard where the dogs hang out. When we first moved here Oscar was a puppy, and he was soon joined by puppy Max. And of course puppies chew on things, well the two of them chewed on trees. I believe that our dogs are really termites in disguise. They chewed on rhododendron bushes, they chewed on the back steps, they even chewed on the outside walls of the house.
The poor red bud tree fell victim simply because her limbs hung low enough to grab. She has persevered and still is beautiful because of her scars.

Most of the trees and flowers that are here were planted by the previous residents, you never know what is going to bloom and where.

Spring also brings many birds to our feeders, of course occasionally it brings a bear or two. My favorite feathered visiter is the Goldfinch, or as we call them, Pennsylvania Canaries.

This May Day, we took our love of quilting to a larger venue. Over the winter Mom painted a Bear Claw quilt square onto a 4x4 plywood. We picked that square because of the bears that cross our property. Normally these are placed on a barn, (Barn Art, google it, it's cool) but because the spot on the barn that we want to put it is occupied with a silo, we put it on the chicken coop, thus ours is called Coop Art.


Today we had my favorite weather, cooling mist over the mountains, with sunshine in our valley.

Spring

2011-05-14T20:54:00.000-04:00

Spring is truly here, so I thought to show the joys of spring on our farm. The goats are very happy to be out of the barn for most of the day. Maybell and Junebug, our last kids of the season are truly enjoying their new freedom.


Luna on the alert, of course her charges are all out in the field.

The run for the far field.

Little Daisy runs to keep up.

Still running.

Gaining speed.

Not quite there yet.

Archie's favorite spot on the wheel.

Maybell takes a snooze in the sun.

June bug is completely worn out. Her first day out was quite exhausting.


We had 2 ducks hatch in our incubator. This is #1.

This is #2.

One of our Turkey Hens is very confused and madly in love with the truck.

Meet Elvis.

Nothing says warm weather better than a dust bath.

Final additions

2011-05-08T00:21:00.001-04:00

So far this year we have been a little boy heavy in the barn. The scales were tipped by 2 on the 5th. Flo gave us 2 adorable little doe lings, little carbon copies of herself.

Maybell came in at 6.4 lbs.

June Bug followed at 6.7 lbs.

We had some concerns, Flo teats are quite large and the babies couldn't get them into their mouths. June Bug was showing signs of becoming too chilled. With some work, the girls were fed and clothed and put to bed. I find that I have to milk Flo a bit on one side and then the girls have not trouble with size.

All hail the great udder, giver of lots and lots of milk.

There were signs of pop-corning today so all is good.

The girls may not have their daddies beautiful color, but they have their mommies waddles, my favorite goat feature of all.

Rain Rain

2011-04-26T20:49:00.000-04:00

We have had thunderstorms yesterday and today. I love the mountains in the rain.

Of course that means our fields are flooding. Thankfully most of it is in the woods. The tree in the center is under water.

This is almost the same shot just a few minutes later. The rain rolls in fast.

This all part of the field that is usually dry.

The goats found ways to keep themselves amused in the barn. Going where they really shouldn't be.

This is Acheron, our new buck. He is a beautiful boy, who is very home sick at the moment. I will try and get better pictures of him.

We finally have blooming daffodils, Spring is that really you?

The Goat whisperer

2011-04-24T15:09:00.000-04:00

My daughter Sarah has found her calling with the baby goats. She loves them and they love her.
Daisy loves to give kisses that tend to get out of hand.

In addition to her tasty nose, the babies love her long hair and will try very hard to reach it.

Sarah's next project is Hamish and Doughall, they are still a bit reluctant to cuddle.

The mighty Doughall.

Hamish and Pansy.

Sarah is a great help around the farm, my city girl going country!

popcorn

2011-04-20T09:24:00.000-04:00

It's been very dreary here the last week, I love rain and fog, but even I have limits. So to brighten the mood, this blog is going to be just goats. Enjoy.

Daisy, Hamish and along comes Spot.

Doughall, our funny bunny.

Nothing particular

2011-04-07T21:14:00.000-04:00

The day started off like this,

And then went to this,

By the end of the day, all snow was gone and it was in the 40's, quite warm. The second picture actually serves two purposes, one to show the change in the day and second, if you look closely in the far trees you can see my wandering ducks. Ping and his ladies have taken to wandering off into the field, it only took them 3 days to discover the flooded areas in the woods. I am worried that they may move permanently to the woods.

Spot and Slinky found a nice warm spot to nap.

Wallace and Sarah had a little dance, I don't think Wallace is a natural dancer.

Archie just get cuter.

Angus is pretty cute himself.

Daisy is terribly sweet.

Hamish manages to look distinguihed, even when he is hopping in and out of the hay manger.

Doughall has amazing color and if anyone is interested, both he and Hamish will be for sale in a few months.

And weighing in...

2011-04-04T10:43:00.000-04:00

at 6lbs 8 ounces, is Doughall.

So much for the theory that Pearl was expecting twins. He is a beautiful dark brown, with a light brown head. When I got to the barn this morning, he was clean and dry and fed.

I thought more baby pictures might be nice as well.
Angus

Archie

Snuggled up with Sarah, he is sound asleep.

Daisy

The sheep have shown complete disregard for the electric fence and have been roaming the farm this past week. This morning they were headed up the driveway to the road, hopefully this netting will contain them. So far so good.

Surprise

2011-04-03T15:03:00.000-04:00

We weren't expecting to meet Hamish yet, but here he is. Pansy had a little buckling today.

Pansy is turning into a very good mother. Of all the births so far, she has been the most attentive mother.

And of course everyone gets a sweater.

small bits

2011-04-02T21:38:00.000-04:00

We are still waiting on spring to show up. Snow on the ground, snow in the forecast.

Oscar and Max are just planning on sleeping in front of the fire until summer, I think they need a do not disturb sign on them.

We are finally above freezing though and that is good news. We got our first turkey egg, found it in front of the duck encloser so we cleaned it up and put it under one of our broody hens. Not sure if it is fertile, or even if we got it in out of the cold in time. We shall see.

Pearl and Pansy are due to kid any day now. Pearl looks like twins maybe and Pansy looks like a single, of course I am completely guessing.
I picked out my Dairy buck, a beautiful Sable named Acheron. He promises to be an amazing boy. Right now he's a little camera shy.

Spring in the mountains of Pennyslvania

2011-03-26T15:19:00.001-04:00

Spring brings thoughts of flowers, and birds and flowers etc. etc. But here in North Central PA, it brings snow. We went from a couple of weeks of lovely temps and sunshine to snow and frigid nights. We saw green and now we see white.
But there are some sure signs of spring, babies. You have already met Archie and Angus, now we have Daisy.

She is out of my Saanen doe Maple, an unexpected kid for this year, but a welcome one. I have been keeping an eye on her and didn't think she was close, but she proved me wrong this morning.
By the time I got to the barn she was clean and dry and had already eaten. She is another kid who could come from Pan or Esau, only her fur will tell. It does look like she will upright ears like her mama.

More Pictures

2011-03-19T19:20:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist posting more pictures of Angus and Archie. They made it through the night and Alice is turning into a fine mother. They are both nursing well and she now stands still long enough for them to get a belly full.

The angora girls were hanging out today looking for more grain. They are always looking for more grain. We know for sure that Pearl and Pansy are pregnant, but Larkspur and Sunflower aren't telling if they are. I guess I have to do an udder inspection soon.

Another loss another gain

2011-03-18T21:13:00.001-04:00

Spring has come to the farm, at least for this week. Who knows what will happen next week. I took some pictures of the morning, one of my favorite things about living here is when the mist rises on the valley and floats around the mountains. It is very peaceful.

Now all the snow is gone, and we can once again see ground. Of course that means we can see what the moles have done to the ground. Pretty in it's own way, it's like a giant ant farm.

Loss:
We had one more ewe due to lamb, and once again, she chose to do so when I wasn't home. I found her half delivered and in rough shape. We lost her and the lamb.
So far this is our tally:
Psyche, miscarried 1 buckling.
Artemis, 2 live lambs.
Persephone, 2 live lambs.
Iris, 1 deceased lamb.
Athena, 1 live lamb, 1 deceased lamb.
Flora, 1 deceased lamb, deceased ewe.
So we are at a 60% success rate. I am not sure if that is good or not, it certainly doesn't seem so. The loss of the ewe and lamb brought home how easy it is for something to go wrong. Needless to say I was and am worried about my goats coming up. Alice, Pearl, Pansy, Maple, Flo and possibly Larkspur and Sunflower are all due to kid. And with the exception of Flo, it is the first for all. Colored me worried.
Gain:
Alice delivered 2 healthy bucklings this morning. She was showing some signs yesterday, so after putting everyone out this morning, I came back to check on Alice. She was standing by herself at the barn door. A quick check and I knew we were close. Alice thinks she can hide from labor, boy is she wrong.

Before her water broke.

I will spare the gory details, but we met Archie first. Alice did great, she seemed very surprised at what she found when she turned around.

She didn't have much time to get to know him before Angus came along. For as long as it took for Archie to be born, Angus was in a hurry.

While the brothers got to know each other, Alice was completely dazed. It took her awhile to warm up to the boys. They were quick to get to know each other though.

After being a weighed, a healthy 5 lbs each, cleaned and fluffed they were dressed in their best attire. Very ivy league.

Sarah and Maggie fell instantly in love, of course.

Now we get to play Who's your Daddy.
We thought Esau. The floppy ears could have come from Alice's boer sire.

Or is it Esau?

We are now at 80%, getting better!

Soap

2011-03-05T19:46:00.001-05:00

I thought I would do a small bit on making soap. (nothing great to take pictures of otherwise, just slush and snow)

Most of my oils come in 5 gallon buckets. I drive down to the Lancaster area to get these.

I usually make 4 batches at a time, each in one of these pots, it is easier to measure out 4 at a time, instead of trying to haul buckets around for each batch.

My trusty little scale has served me well. Most of my measurements are by grams.

Some of the oils start out as liquid and some are solid, once into the pot, they all melt together.

Once the oils are on their way to melting, i begin the lye process. I store my goat milk in the freezer in pre-measured amounts. I also label the milk with who it is from, this batch is from Flo, and when I milked her.

I keep the milk in the sink in a cold water bath. This keeps the temperature down so the milk wont scald. This is where it gets tricky with goat milk soap, normally without the GM, I wouldn't really care about temperature, but it is very easy for the milk to curdle and turn all sorts of nasty colors and smells.
Keeping the mixture in the sink is also a safety issue, once I start adding they lye, it becomes very caustic and can be dangerous.
It usually takes between 15-30 minutes to add the lye to the milk. Once this is done and the oil is at the right temp, it is time to mix the two together. This is when the magic happens.

The mixture begins to saponify, a fancy word for blending. Well it is actually the chemical process that changes the oil and lye into soap. Stick blenders are a great tool, it cuts down the mixing time, it also ensures that everything is blended completely. I mix until I reach lite trace, when the mixture begins to thicken up. At this point I add the scent and botanicals if needed.
Once these are added, into the mold it goes. I use wooden molds lined with freezer paper.

The soap sets in the mold for 24 hours, it continues to change. After 24 hours, I unmold it and cut it into individual bars.

Finally, the soap goes into drying racks, where it will cure for 4 weeks.

This allows the moisture to evaporate out, leaving a hard bar of wonderfulness behind.
And that is how I make soap. (well the non secret portions anyway.)

But wait.... There's more

2011-02-25T12:07:00.000-05:00

Yes more snow. I really don't think I am ever getting out of here. I was able to get to Delaware to pick Sarah up before this all began, she made it home just in time for a snow day. It is a beautiful snow, but I am just not as impressed as I used to be. I remember our first winter here and how accomplished I felt getting wood for the fire, shoveling and just being able to deal with the challenge of the snow, now I just feel overwhelmed and defeated. I did manage to get some wonderful pictures this morning though.

I got a call from Mom on the trip home that one of the sheep had given birth and the lamb was not doing well. I was expecting Athena to give birth, but it was one of the twins, that was a surprise. I didn't think they were quite due yet. She gave birth to a 11+ ram lamb and as near as we can tell, one of his legs was behind him during the process. He wasn't able to get up to nurse, so we brought him up to the house and I milked the mother for her colostrum, but our efforts failed and we lost him late last night. He was the first of Zeus's lambs. I fully expected to go to the barn and find more lambs this morning, we still have 2 ewe's that are pregnant, thankfully neither decided it was time yet.
This is one of those times that illustrates that I am still learning and do not have things quite set up the best yet. I am juggling space in the barn because both rams are inside right now. I had to move Apollo outside and he is not happy about it at all. We lost 2 of our shelters, so I cannot put him in either of the far paddocks, so he is constantly banging on the barn door. Life would be simpler if I could put him and Zeus together.

More snow

2011-02-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

Not an exciting title, but I'm not very excited right now. Just when everything had almost melted, we got a foot of snow. Beautiful light, fluffy, powdery snow. However, Sarah is stuck in Philly, the Atv wouldn't start and the water froze in the barn barrels despite their heaters. I made arrangements for Sarah, charged the battery on the atv, and hauled warm water to the barn in order to melt snow and make more water. So in the scheme of good thing bad thing, the atv got immediately stuck 5 feet out of the barn. So there is now a shoveled walk from the house to the chicken house and then to the barn. Yes I am done with the snow. So I have decided to put up pictures to show those who do enjoy the snow. Well except for the first ones, Maggie does not enjoy the snow, she barely enjoys the outdoors.

Mom makes the trip to the chicken house before I got a chance to shovel a path. She is quite the pioneer.

Contrary to what some people think, Oscar loves the snow, he clearly loves being a snow puppy. He and Max are having a grand time.

Wallace and Marmalade are in agreement with Maggie, the outside is just no fun.

Spot and Slinky disagree, they love the snow.

And the ducks think that if they sit in the snow long enough it will melt and become a pond. "Positive waves Moriarty, positive waves"

So lets all send out positive warm waves, and bring on the spring.

Haircut's all around

2011-02-20T21:40:00.000-05:00

It was shearing day today, my woolly beasties shrunk. I am always amazed at how small my goats really are under all the fiber. 3 of the sheep also got sheared today and we discovered that the remaining 2 Ewes are pregnant as well.

Zeus also got his first haircut, he wasn't so happy about it.

In addition to getting a haircut, Pine also made the move into the boy's pen. Up until now he has been in with his sisters. Luckily Castor and Esau were so busy butting heads, they really didn't pay him much attention.

I still have to get in and trim the hair between the horns, but until then most of the angora's are sporting mohawks.

The girls weren't spared either, the shearer also confirmed that Pearl and Pansy are both pregnant. Yeah Esau! We are still a couple months away.

All in all everyone came out just fine.

We did have an amazing wind storm a few days ago, and 2 of our shelters went tumbling. We're not sure if the one can be salvaged, the second one looks fine, just upside down.

Lambs day out

2011-02-14T20:56:00.000-05:00

The lambs have made it out for the first time.

Melt Down

2011-02-13T17:25:00.000-05:00

It is amazing that 35 degrees seems tropical, but I can hear the icicles falling off the roof and the ducks even found a mud puddle this morning. The goats are out running amok, well they are out of their pens, but only ventured outside for a moment, after all the snow is still deep out there.
The lambs are growing like little weeds, they are bouncing all over the place. I can't wait till they get outside to play.

I let the 2 Ewe's get to together for awhile, and after some head butting and trying to figure out who was who they settled into their old routine. Tomorrow they will become pen mates again, time to make room for the others to come in preparation of the shearer coming next week. Also at that point Athena will stay in until she lambs.

I got tired of painting the lambs to tell them apart, so they now have colorful new collars. Of course the boys thought that trying to eat them would be a good idea. Why is it always the boys?

Alice has been keeping a secret from me, can you tell what it is?

Yes, it would seem that she is going to have a kid. I am assuming the father was Pan, which would be very nice, but who knows what that kid will end up looking like. She is starting to develop her udder, so I am keeping an eye on her. She appears to be keeping an eye on me as well.

Flo is preparing for her grand kid, by learning to play hide and seek. Someone needs to tell her that just because she can't see us, doesn't mean we can't see her.

We have finally reaped the rewards of the angora goats. I am very pleased with the gorgeous yarn that Gurdy Run Mill spun for us. This yarn is 65% mohair and 35% jacob sheep. After seeing the results, I wish that I had access to more jacob. A friend kindly enough gave me some bags of it. It blended beautifully with the mohair to produce a lovely 'brushed nickel' color. I was able to get 42 skeins of yarn and am not sure if I should dye any of it, or just try to sell it as is. I am leaning toward as is. The shine on the yarn is not 'to dye' for. (pun intended)

A snowy walk to the barn

2011-01-28T10:13:00.001-05:00

We have been lucky to have missed the really big snows that have been hitting the east coast, but we have had some really pretty ones. This morning is one of those, I am amazed at how things look completely different with a coating of snow.

The garden in winter.

The hens are heading into the tom's pen. They like to roost with the ducks.

Nothing stops the ducks from gathering at the water hole, no matter what the size.

The last hold out hen, she seems to be the smart one and sleeps inside the chicken house.

Amazing icicles.

A brave soul. She didn't spend much time out in the snow.

The barn in all her glory.

I love the view of the mountains.

Don't forget us

2011-01-27T14:12:00.011-05:00

The last 2 days have been all about the babies, but on the many trips back and forth to the barn the other residents of the barn have asked that they not be left out. So I took some pictures and listened to some stories.

Spot likes to remind us of his presence constantly. He has discovered that there is a world beyond the barn, and is frequently spotted, (much to Wallace and Marmalade's displeasure) on the porch. He is sure that the other cats really want to be his friend. We shall see.

Alice has mixed feelings about her lack of horns. She is sporting the hornless look now, a decision that I came to after getting stabbed one to many times in places I would rather not be stabbed. As if there is any place that getting stabbed with horns that is good.

Maple is just wondering what all the fuss is about, she considers herself a baby, and she isn't getting this much attention. She doesn't even get a cute sweater to wear. Oh, well, keep the hay coming.

Esau is right next door to the new residents, he just doesn't understand why he isn't getting the extra grain Oh well, he will just keep pushing his penmates around.

He is wondering if the hay outside the corner of his mouth makes him look cool. Yes Esau, you do look just like James Dean.

And then of course we have Pine, who really has no respect for his fleece. He has lovely locks, which he takes every opportunity to fill with hay. Little does he know that soon he will be leaving his sisters and moving in with the other boys. Poor boy.

Luna would really like to get to visit the babies, she promises she will be good. Artemis said absolutely not, don't you even think of putting that little nose anywhere near my girls.

More Babies!

2011-01-27T00:41:00.005-05:00

We went to the barn to check on the boys before going to bed, and it's a good thing. Artemis had just had her two ewe lambs. Yeah!! We dried them off, took care of weighing etc. and of course took some pictures. I am so happy to have 2 little girls, they are of course as cute as their half brothers.
For the girls we did right ear and left ear, until they get names of course.
The boys, of course, slept through most of this.

Gain

2011-01-26T18:06:00.003-05:00

After the last post it is fitting to title this one 'Gain'. Today, completely unassisted, our Ewe Persephone delivered 2 ram lambs. They will not have names, but we are calling them tail and butt, because that is where their marks are to tell them apart.
Occasionally I am unable to make it to the barn in the morning, don't worry everyone is set up from the night before. Today was one of those days. We had morning appointments and then I got a migraine. When we got home I went to bed. Mom made the trek tot he barn a little while later, I got a phone call, 'We have a Baby' When I got to the barn, we actually had 2 babies. Not sure when they were born, they were clean, dry and up and around. Both of our Ewe's were still together and Butt was trying to nurse from Artemis. At first we thought they had each had one, but further inspection showed that they were both Persephone's. My main regret is that they are both boys, but I am very happy that they are healthy and everything appears to be just fine.
There is a 4 lb weight difference between them, and that concerns me a bit. Tail was over 9 lbs and Butt is just over 5 lbs. I did try to bottle feed Butt, but he took a little and hopped away. The boys are wearing sweaters that I had knitted, they were an experiment and are too small, but they are very cute. I will have to make more now.
I separated the Ewes, it looks like Artemis will be delivering soon also. Hopefully I will get girls from her.
So everyone has been patiently reading this, saying 'pictures?????' Here they are.

Loss

2011-01-18T21:22:00.002-05:00

We are anxiously waiting for the birth of lambs and kids, yet we overlooked the loss that often goes hand in hand with gain. Today we lost our little Oberhasli buckling Pan. Since we got Pan, he has been small and never quite in the best of health. He always got hit hardest from parasites, and because of his size, was the brunt of many a head butt.
For the last few months, he has had his own pen between his favorite girls, he did love Maple and Alice but was too small to deliver. Well, we shall actually see about that, he did enjoy trying.
This morning when I went to the barn, he was down in his pen. I decided it was just time to let him go. I have tried everything in my arsenal to keep him going, but there comes a time when you just have to say good bye.
So Good Bye Pan, we loved you and you will always have a special place in our hearts.

Confused Ewe

2011-01-17T19:48:00.004-05:00

Well I thought by now I would have an exciting story to tell about ewe's and lambs. But instead, all I have is a story of false labor and a few pictures of fat ewe's. This all started on Friday night when I went to feed the critters. Artemis was in her pen curled up in the corner. She wasn't eating or drinking, getting up only to stand for awhile. I figure birth was imminent. I gathered all my supplies and headed back to the house. After dinner, Mom, Sarah and I all returned to the barn, I was prepared to spend the night. After 1 1/2 hours, we called it a night and headed back to the house. Arty wasn't showing any more signs other than being very uncomfortable.
Saturday morning I went back out to the barn, no change. I checked every couple of hours, but nothing was going on. Saturday night she seemed more restless and uncomfortable. I continued to check her every hour, finally calling it a night around 10.

I was sure Sunday morning I would find lambs in the pen. Instead, I found both ewes up and around. Eating like food was going out of style. It would appear that Arty has changed her mind.

Snow and candles

2011-01-10T20:27:00.010-05:00

We had a really pretty snow this weekend. The dogs enjoyed playing outside, but only for short periods. I think I need to make Oscar a sweater. Doesn't matter what we feed him or how much he just doesn't gain any weight. Of course Max, aka fat sausage, doesn't have that problem. 4 of the Muscovy ducks have moved into the chicken house, leaving the rest of the ducks out in the cold. They will not enter the chicken house and do not like to go into their 'house'. I suppose they will move inside when they are cold enough. I do worry about them though. One of our turkey hens has also moved into the chicken house. This causes quite a stir amongst the chickens, who will move off of the main roost to crowd on the secondary one. Occasionally they will move back with the turkey, but more often than not, she has the roost to herself. One of the ducks has gone broody, picking the prime piece of real estate directly under the chicken roost, deep in poo. She has been sitting on this lovely poo nest for over a week, and yet she has no eggs. I am actually relieved that she doesn't have eggs, it is too cold for babies. Well baby fowl anyway.
We are still on lamb watch in the barn. The 2 ewes, Artemis and Persephone have now been in the barn for over a week, and look ready to go at anytime. I check for signs twice a day, but nothing yet, only increasing bellies and udders. I think that instead of giving birth, they are actually going to explode. We will also begin to keep an eye on Psyche, though she should have another month to go. I am anxious to get the first lambing over so I know what to expect.
Because it has been so cold, we have been confined in the house more than usual, I have taken this time to make more candles. I took an informal poll on Facebook and got some great scent suggestions.
I have 9 different scents to start with, and only in limited quantities. I will have these candles available on my Etsy shop, so I can release them in small numbers. If the scents do well, I will make more. I have wanted to make candles for a few years, but my old insurance would not cover candles. I made some Christmas candles and was pleased with how they came out. Hopefully my customers who purchased them were pleased as well.
On a more serious note, my RA is still all over the place. I have been in a roller coaster flare up since Christmas, and performing normal tasks ranges from uncomfortable to downright painful. My Dr. has put me back on the original medicine to see if it helps. I was taken off due to some breathing issues, which turned out to be unrelated. But of course, it is a slow process and a bit frustrating as well. Time will tell if the meds will work, or if I will finally have to face the infusion therapy. It has been almost a year since my original diagnosis, and while I don't feel much better, at least the damage has been minimal.

Don't touch my duck

2011-01-02T16:50:00.018-05:00

For some reason, Oscar has always loved the small rubber ducks that I sell. Maggie had a couple she was playing with and decided to give one to Oscar. He was in Heaven, until Max moved in on his duck. This was his solution.

A minute later he had both paws holding Max down, and then he kept rubbing the duck on Max's face. Max was smart enough to hold still until it was safe to make his escape.
We took our Christmas tree down today, and found a really cool birds nest inside. Not a great picture, but it was a cool surprise.

We had another mild day and everyone was taking advantage of it.

I have been trying to capture some pictures of the 'calico' hens, they are fast and obviously camera shy.

After a great day spent outside, everyone loves to come in for a batch of fresh hay. I have discovered that goats are like cats, they can have hay all day, but as soon as you put out 'fresh' hay, it is a feeding frenzy. The way they attack their hay, you would think they hadn't spent the day eating hay outside. I think Alice is actually smiling.

Maple is showing off her lovely green ears.

I just can't get enough of Esau, he is soooooo pretty, errh I mean handsome.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T19:09:00.012-05:00

We had another quiet New Year's Eve. I can't remember the last time I stayed up till Midnight. Sarah spent her night in Rhode Island, she still makes the annual trek to my Brother Andrews. She goes up with Eve and this year with Ryan. The numbers are dwindling down.
We did have a mild 'celebration' on New Years Eve Eve, Bryan set the chimney on fire. I mention Bryan specifically, because those of you who have been following my blog for awhile, will remember that I set it on fire our first winter. Of course when I did it, the chimney cap wasn't dripping flames, just saying. We got our visit from the fire dept, I think all the trucks in the station respond, thankfully they weren't needed. Bryan had most of the fire out by the time they arrived, but it was still a good to call them. So we are thankful we ended the year on that note, instead of beginning the new year on fire.

New Year's Eve was much more mundane. Yesterday I began to clean out barn stalls so we could move the 2 pregnant Ewes into the barn to await the lambs. I was able to clean one stall and figured that the 3 Angora boys needed a clean stall also, so I moved them into the clean stall and began the monumental task of cleaning their old stall. I tend to deep litter the barn stalls which is great for warmth in the winter, but a real pain when it comes time to clean.
Today was another 40+ degree day, so out the goats went and Bryan came to help clean the second stall. We got that done as well as Pan's stall, though it is so small it only took 4 wheelbarrow loads. Pan (or Tiny Tim as he is shaping up to be) got to wander the barn and yard. He is still separate from the other goats because he is so small, the other goats, (Flo) pick on him. So while they were locked up in the main field, he was free to wander at will. Will usually takes him to the Barn firs for some fresh hay. After awhile, we noticed he hadn't been seen for some time. Bryan went to look for him in the barn, no sign, the field, no sign, the yard, no sign, the bottom of the barn, no sign. You get the picture. What makes this hard to comprehend, is that he is wearing a bright red coat.
How do yo lose a goat in a red coat? He never wanders far, so I wasn't overly worried. I went back up to the barn, and wedged between two bales of hay, was small goat butt. I don't know if he was stuck or not, but he came out chewing. so he was at least happy.
He then wandered to the chicken house for some grub, and then to the garden, no grub there, and finally back to the upper barn for more hay. He is finally putting on some weight, is it any wonder? He will never grow to his full potential, though so I will be looking for a new buck later this year. Pan, of course will always have a home here.
The sheep were 'free ranging' today also, sometimes we open their gate and let them wander between the fields, It started to rain and they all found their way to the barn. I took this opportunity to pen the 2 pregnant Ewes into the 'maternity' ward. It turns out that the girls were bred when we got them or shortly after when they were still with Apollo. Because of this, i don't know when they will drop their lambs. All I know is their bellies are large and their udders getting large. Normally I wouldn't mind them lambing outside, but without a clue as to the date, I feel safer with them inside the barn, away from the coyotes that pass through the field sometimes.
They seem quite comfy in the new digs, but the remaining Ewes were not happy at all, keep in mind that the 3 remaining girls are daughters of the 2, and they miss their mommies. As with most mothers when they know that their children aren't really in any danger, they seemed not to hear the wailing from the outside pen.
I did stop to get some pictures of our resident Hawk, he circles the field on a daily basis, and thankfully, doesn't make it up to the chicken house. Knock on wood, but we have only lost 1 chicken, last year, to a hawk. He is truly beautiful to watch.
He wasn't the only one catching mice today, Slinky, one of the barn cats caught one and had a great time with it.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that at least one of my younger hens had been laying eggs in the outside duck hutch, a place that freezes overnight and usually during the day. I closed up the hutch and figured problem solved. When my egg numbers in the chicken house did not increase, I figured they were on strike, as happens in the winter. Not so we found out today. Bryan had closed up the goat trailer yesterday, today he went up there and there was a chicken inside of it, he said there wasn't one yesterday. There are cut out 'windows' that she had used to go inside, but was unable to get back out. When Bryan looked in the trailer, there were 2 nests, chocked full of eggs, most of course had been frozen. I wish I had taken a picture of that, sneaky birds! I have 2 options to try and solve this dilema, 1 is to leave them locked up later in the morning and the 2nd is to just close the trailer and hope they return to the chicken house, some how I don't think it will that easy. We shall see.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T17:37:00.013-05:00

It is Christmas day, and a truly wonderful day it is. After the initial destruction of the living room, the kids have settled to their presents. Naps have been taken and it has been a very leisurely day all around. It started snowing mid day, a beautiful fluffy snow, so Sarah and I took a walk to see how the critters were doing. Along the way we got some great pictures. It appears that 2 of our sheep were bred before we got them, so birth is imminent. Of course, being my first time, imminent is a relative term. All I know is their bellies are hanging low and udders are coming in. I know that both of these girls are not first time mothers, so I am hoping they will do just fine with minimal help from me. I have been keeping an eye on them to see any other signs, but without knowing just what to look for I could be hit over the head with one and not realize it.
So it looks like Persephone and Artemis will be the first to give birth on our farm, (excluding Isabella the hen, of course).
Speaking of Isabella and her chicks, 9 of the original 13 have survived, 5 of those are roosters. I am thinking of starting a new breed of calico chickens. The cross of a Americauna and and Egyptian Fayomis is pretty cool. I wish I could keep all of them, but soon testosterone will take over.

We have had to pen our Tom Turkey, H.R. Puffin-stuff. He is very assertive and I never know when he is going to take a dislike to someone. Has anyone ever been sued by a postal worker being attacked by a turkey? I don't wan to be the first. His hens hang out with him during the day and fly out to roost in their old spot. Evidently Puff is too big (or stupid) to realize he can fly out also.
Our temperatures have been in the 20's, which means hauling water for the birds twice a day, the yard is full of frozen lumps in the shape of water dishes. Of course, the ducks hop in the water as soon as it comes out, I don't think the chickens appreciate drinking the ducks bath water. Oddly enough, the duck pond does have a de icer in it, but they prefer the fresh drinking water.
Our barn cats are growing and are often seen romping around the entire farm. Spot, the bolder of the kittens has discovered the wonders of the porch, however Wallace and Marmalade have no problem telling him it is not his porch. Wallace is actually on the move and has become the garage cat. Now that the shop is open, he spends a lot of time in there, curled up in front of the kerosene heater. Lola, the other barn cat, seems to love the freedom on the farm. She is a beautiful long haired black cat, that seems to wear her matted hair with pride. The downfalls to having a long haired outdoor cat I guess. This spring she will get a good grooming, but for now I figure the clumps help to keep her warm.
Luna and Terra are quite big now, but are still puppies at heart. They do seem to be settling into their guardian duties finally.

Well it is time to cook dinner, so I will sign off, and Wish everyone a wonderfully Merry Christmas.

Change of seasons

2010-12-08T22:12:00.002-05:00

The Survivor.

So once again I have missed a big chunk of time. I won't try to fill you in completely, to tell the truth, I probably can't remember everything that has happened.
Fall lasted until Thanksgiving weekend when we got our first snow. Just enough to be pretty. We had another wonderful visit with friends and family from Delaware.
It is quite a nice tradition we have going now and there is always a full house on Thanksgiving. This year we did cook our own turkey, it was quite good. Terrance was a great tom when he was alive and I appreciate his life.
Of course both he and HR Puffin-stuff both decided to become aggressive right before Thanksgiving, so now we are left with a angry Tom who thinks anything that steps out of a vehicle is the enemy. He is now in lock up.
This past week, winter has truly hit. Everything is frozen which is so much fun when you have to haul water to the barn, knowing that in an hour it will be frozen. We normally have 100 gallons of water stored in the barn in 2 barrels. When things started to get really cold, we dropped the de icer, but we only have 1 that fits the barrels. So tonight Sarah and I used my heat gun to thaw the faucet of barrel #2 so we could then pour it into the barrel #1, oh I just love the winter freeze. Last year we bought 4 electric water buckets for the goats, this year we have more than doubled our barn population, so out to get more buckets we went. As of tonight everyone except Pan, aka Tiny Tim has an electric bucket so their water won't freeze. Luckily Pan is in the back of the barn and not in the direct freeze zone.
Flo went on a little sleep over after Thanksgiving. She went to spend some quality time with Teddy, the buck from Twilight Laughter Farm, where Psyche and Maple came from. Teddy is also the buck that Psyche spent her 'time' with. He is a beautiful creamy coffee color that I hope shows up in his kids.
I am truly lucky to have great goat ladies so close by who are willing to share their wisdom and experience.
Right before Thanksgiving, I also opened my soap shop, at long last. The one problem that I have run into is the heat, no amount of heaters can compensate for the fact my shop is in a cinder block garage. But other than that, I am really happy with the shop as a whole. I have also opened an Etsy shop. Life is busy, busy, busy.
We are now preparing for Christmas, for once we have our tree up early and it beautiful. We found a local place to cut our own tree. Sarah and Maggie picked out a great 7 foot spruce that fits perfect in the living room.

Maybe just one more.....

2010-10-25T20:09:00.007-04:00

You guessed it, we have a new goat. I couldn't resist, and I tried. I had been eyeing this guy for a little while, but said no. But then the circumstance was just right and into the car we jumped and off to New York to pick up Esau. He is an Angora buckling in beautiful Morritt coloring. We won't be able to breed him until next year, but he assured us he is all boy. It was quite a stinky ride home. Our current buck Castor is 1 1/2 and just doesn't seem to have any drive. If we have any kids next spring, I will be surprised. He has settled into his new home quite nicely, even if he is in a temporary pen. I actually have him out with Pan during the day and for the most part they just ignore each other. I did catch Esau wagging his tongue and shaking his had at one of the girls yesterday.
We also got a surprise of Duck eggs. At first I thought they were really dirty chicken eggs, until I pulled one out that was HUGE. I re examined the others and sure enough we have ducks a laying.
This week Bryan and I are going to start on the winter duck enclosure, it is getting cold and we should have done this a few weeks ago, but better now than when it snows. The enclosure will also give the turkeys somewhere to roost out of the weather as well as our 6 hens who refuse to use the chicken house.

time for catch up

2010-10-19T19:49:00.012-04:00

It has been quite awhile since I posted and I have tried to figure out the best way to catch up. So here goes....
First up Goats:
We have 2 new goats, Pyche (formerly Psycho, but Psyche fits our naming theme.)and her half little sister Maple. Psyche is Sable and Maple is Saanen. For those of you who are interested A Sable is a Saanen that carries a colored gene. Poor Pysche only has a small black spot on her coat that comes out in her winter coat. And for those of you not interested, that was kinda boring. Psyche is still in milk, which is quickly being turned into soap, cheese and just plain drinking milk. I am amazed at how little difference in taste there is between cow and goat milk, if you have the right milk. Our girls are fed nice hay, pasture and organic grain. The combo makes tasty mild milk. Maggie has made the switch without complaint, in fact without knowing. Sarah doesn't drink milk and Bryan is doing ok.
It is also mating season, though I don't know how we are doing there. My Angora buck Castor doesn't seem to have a big drive, so we shall see if I just missed the activity. If not i will have to find a new buck for next year. When I brought Psyche home she had been bred but Maple had not. Maple is a doeling from this year and I had not planned to breed her or Alice, however Pan

my Oberhasli buckling had other ideas. Flo has not come into season, at least not that I was aware so I could get her up to the buck for a little rendezvous.
Nothing new with the sheep, except I hope that Zeus has done his duty by the ladies. Again, we shall see.
Fowl news:
I was able to sell 2 Turkeys, so we are down to 5, and only 1 destined for dinner. I will keep 1 Tom and 3 hens in hopes of breeding next year. We are holding at 10 ducks but that will change soon. Ideally I want to be down to 5 but it may be 7. We are still having trouble with our pond, but the ducks don't seem to mind swimming in nasty green water.
Isabella and her chicks are doing well, but as the weather gets colder, the dilemma grows as to what to do with them. We had reached a peak of 12 eggs a day and suddenly dropped to 5-6, someone is hiding their eggs somewhere. I will find them, I swear. The last of our hens, the ladies, are of laying egg age but refuse to enter the chicken house. They roost out of reach so I can't snatch them and put them in.
Bryan has turned the garden under for the season with only sole surviving pumpkin vine. The chickens had a great time in the spring eating all the vines. I think the vines will be a bit more secure next year.
Our barn cats are all settled in and doing barn cat things. The boys are still at the point that if you kill it you get to eat it. I have found a few half eaten 'things' by their dishes in the morning. Eeww. Lola seems to be accepting the boys as well, though grudgingly. I think it is more an issue of them not letting her ignore them.
The soap shop is coming along, the electric is being finished as well as more paint and new windows. I have also been turning my inventory into goat's milk soap. My hopes is to have it open early November.
I think that is all I will do for now, I don't want to go on for too long.

Babies, babies, babies.......

2010-09-11T20:19:00.013-04:00

With that lead in you would think I was going to tell you about babies, well I am, but not yet. First lets talk sheep. As you know, (if you've been reading)the sheep were in need of shearing. Well they got their fabulous hair cuts today and they look great. Very different for sure. I did not have the two lambs sheared, but the 3 ewes and Apollo are all sporting new doos. Once the girls were all back together, there was much head butting and getting to know one another again. the ewes look almost like 2 tone sheep. I don't think the fiber will be any good this time around, due to the matting from before, but we shall see what it comes back as.

Mom is that you?

Everybody squeeze together, share the warmth.

Do my horns look bigger?
So, lets talk about babies. Isabella our Egyptian Fayoumis aka bitch chicken, pms chicken etc etc, has been broody again. The last time she was sitting on approximately 30 eggs, from various chickens. Nothing came of that large clutch. She went broody again, but this time she picked a more secluded safe spot to sit on her own eggs. Well today, when Mom was walking past the chicken house, she heard frantic peeping, she finally located a lone chick under the chicken house. After she rescued it, we went to see Isabella.
Sure enough, she was sitting on a bunch of little fuzzy babies. We reintroduced the escapee and it seems to be going well. Concerned about more escapees, we had to move the brood into a safe box. Isabella did not approve, but we finally got everyone set. Enjoy the pictures.

Some look like Dusty, some like Beetle, either way they will be interesting chicks.

New Barn Kitties

2010-09-05T21:54:00.014-04:00

Yesterday we took home 2 tiny barn kitties. Bryan and Sarah went to the bookstore in town, and they had a box of kittens that had been found in a box. They came to tell me at the Farmer's Market. When we got there after market, only 2 where left a boy and girl, black and white almost identical. Of course we took them, I had originally been looking for girls.

Well it turns out, we have 2 boys, why does this keep happening? Anyhow, they are the tiniest things, we figure about 4-5 weeks old.

They settled into the barn quickly and showed no fear when it came to Terra and Luna either. Thankfully the girls don't seem at all interested in hurting the kittens, just like to watch them.

So Spot and Slinky are warming up to us as well as the dogs and sheep.
Yes in this picture the kitten and sheep are touching noses.
Terra and Luna are growing like crazy, though Luna appears to be the better guardian dog, she has no problem staying with the sheep or goats, while Terra seems to find any way to escape the pens. Sometimes she spends her entire day in the barn, electric fences don't seem to slow her down.
I am a bit worried about the pups, they are definitely submissive to the goats, but Flo the goat and the new ram have been butting the girls and they immediately drop to a submissive posture, but both of them will keep butting. Flo seems to take delight in actually going after the dogs, while Apollo usually does it if the dogs are in front of the barn door, which of course means in front of the food.
I still have not found anyone to shear the new sheep, I think I must see what I can do on my own, the fiber isn't worth saving this year so I only have to worry about the sheep and not the fiber. I am also not sure what to do with Apollo, I don't completely trust him and his horns.
Bryan has almost completed the concrete in the barn. Our barn was an old milking barn complete with drain troughs. This made walking and working in the barn difficult sometimes. One of our stone walls had separated at some point, but what concerned us was that some critter was digging in it and pulling out the dirt. By filling in the troughs with cement, it braces the walls a bit.
I spent a lot of time taking pictures of the kittens, so I decided to take some of the goats as well. Our weather has been very nice the last couple of days, cool and clear. This view just reminds me how lucky I am to live here.

Mystery sheep

2010-08-27T19:48:00.011-04:00

Bryan and I drove 4 hours to Allentown to pick up 6 sheep. I got a great price on them, but of course had to buy a trailer to haul them in, build a box to put them in and a couple other considerations.
We took the scenic route and Bryan swore we just kept getting further and further away, but it was just the GPS telling us when we would get there, not how long it would take.
So as soon as we get to the guys farm, the sky opens up and it downpours, its fun to wrangle sheep, but even more so in the rain. Once the dears were loaded it stopped raining and the sun came out. I hope that isn't a sign.
Now these were supposed to Corriedale sheep. Now they might have some Corriedale in them, but they are full. I don't know what they are, but I do know they need a serious hair cut. I can't get in touch with the shearer so i might have to do this myself. Because winter is coming, i won't have to shear down to the skin. The ram and 2 ewe's are a hot mess. The 2 lambs and 1 yearling are ok and may not have to be done.
Of course last weekend before Bryan and I took off on our grand adventure, Bryan discovered that the fence was in need of repair. Because of that, everyone has been in lockdown in the barn. There are some very unhappy sheep and goats in that barn.
Of course as I write this, I am in Lancaster County, so I do not have to listen to them bellow for the time being.
I have emailed pictures of the sheep to one of my groups, and I am hoping for some help identifying them.

On other news, we lost another turkey so we are down to 7. We finally reduced our rooster numbers by 13, so we only have 5 left to go. The ducks are still going strong, though we must reduce there as well.
We have a new barn cat, though I don't know if she is happy with the situation. She does seem to like the huge piles of hay in the barn, hopefully she is catching mice while playing.
We did have another visitor to the farm. At first I thought it was lola the cat out wandering at night. 'she' drove the dogs nuts for 2 nights standing outside their yard. On the day that Bryan and I went to get the sheep, 'she' made a daylight showing. Oops, its a very happy and fat porcupine.
The goats are looking good with their haircuts. They have a months worth of growth and are at their cutest I think. I sheared Pine and Castor and on Pine we left his bangs, I think it cute, but I think he thinks otherwise.

Turkeys in shape

2010-08-11T17:13:00.006-04:00

We like to keep all of our animals as healthy as we can. The Turkeys like to make the most trampoline as well as the soccer ball. After all, being healthy starts with healthy food! Speaking of healthy food, the garden is producing and we have. We have squash, cucumbers, peas, Swiss chard and so much more.

Down times

2010-07-29T08:58:00.010-04:00

I haven't blogged in awhile, between the heat and health issues, it has been a rough patch. We have had a few weeks of heat and humidity, (I know, who hasn't)and I am learning that the RA doesn't go well with either of those. At least I assume it is the RA that has just had me beat.
So basically almost the entire month of July has passed, and while so much has happened, I can't really recall it all. Due to personality issues, Sage and Juniper have moved on and the barn is a much quieter place to be. On a sad note, we lost our 2 ewe lambs this week. We knew at some point this would happen to us on some level, but it was incredibly sad to be so helpless when it comes to the health of your animals. I am still learning to understand what they are trying to tell me in time to do some good. When your kids are sick they tell you what hurts or feels yucky. But the animals can only talk with their bodies, and so often symptoms can have so many causes. So while I realized that Heather was not feeling well, the action I took was not what she needed. Thistle never showed signs of not feeling well, we just lost her.
The vet came out and had a few ideas, on the good note, he did dose a couple of our younger goats who where showing signs of anemia. They are both on the mend.

The turkeys are growing and are finally free ranging. We did not plan to let them be completely free, but they had other ideas and didn't seem to mind going through the electric fence, and yes the voltage is high. We had put their tractor down in the goat field. By the morning all the turkeys had found their way back to the chicken house area, where the pen was located before. So for now we have 8 turkeys roaming amongst the many chickens. It's just a fowl fest.
The time has come though for 15 of those fowl to grace the freezer. Once that has happened we can let the turkeys roost in the side pen. A much better idea than roosting on the dog cage next to the duck yard.
We have also had visitors this month. Sarah's friend Kay was with us for a week. Now we have her friend Santina with us. My friend Eve came up from Philly with her daughter Sarah. We had a great time and can't wait for the next visit.

A day for ducks

2010-07-04T21:30:00.009-04:00

First, Happy 4th of July. I think the only ones to truly celebrate today were the ducks. After our health issues and the ducks, we made some quick changes. Changes, not on the to do list for this weekend.
First off we (mostly Bryan) finished the fence as well as the gate for their enclosure so they no longer have to be locked up in the house at night. This will hopefully take care of the feather pecking that is going on and causing my ducks to be colored bright blue/purple. While helping Bryan do this, we decided to dig a pond. Up until now, they have had to make due with a small kiddie pool, not deep enough to get a good dunk.
At it's deepest the pool is about 2 feet, and around 8-9 feet in diameter with a nice shallow ledge to stand and then an incline to climb out.
While I know they are incredibly happy with the end results, the ducks let us know that we really didn't belong in the pen with them. At one point one of the ducks was giving up pointers.
We got the hole dug and had a quick run to Home Depot for the liner today. By early afternoon the pond was filling and ducks where circling. They fell in love with the hose for the waterfall, and finally one took the plunge. It wasn't long before they were all jumping in and swimming happily. A few of the ducks were even swimming underwater, a short trip but I don't think they care. You can see the duck underwater in the next 2 pictures.
Perhaps tomorrow we shall get the waterfall done, they seem to enjoy the water coming out of the tube the best.

Vet on the go

2010-07-02T21:07:00.003-04:00

A very bloated Flo.

It seems that we are under a grey cloud health wise. We are still fighting the mastitis for Flo as well as now a form of mange on her udder and underbelly. Dr. Burleigh came out yesterday and did a great treatment and I also got to talk to him so I have a better idea how to proceed. I would have been happier with her progress today, but when i went to see her I discovered she had bloat. This can kill a goat. So I quick consulted my books and gave her a dose of mineral oil and baking soda and then called Dr. Burleigh again. His suggestion was to stomach tube her to allow the gas to escape.
Easier said than done. I wrestled with her for a few minutes, me grunting in effort, she burping and flinging vomit. She won. I did notice that she was not quite so big, so I got some more BS into her and left her in her pen. A check an hour later revealed that she was much better and out to pasture she went.
One thing I learned about the mastitis is that I need to drain her more often than what I usually do, so I get to milk 3 times a day now. My usual plan is to separate her and Alice overnight so I can get a good milking in the am. Then she goes out with Alice during the day and Alice nurses off and on through the day. Now if Alice had been nursing both sides, she would have kept Flo pretty drained, but she wasn't nursing the bad side. So I would milk Flo's bad side in the evening when everyone came in. Now I get to spend a mid day milking with her as well. I did notice tonight that her bad side is milking nice white milk instead of the green stuff we have been getting.
I feel she is on the road to recovery at last.

Second health issue we have is Zeus and the scours. I have been treating him for 2 days now and I think he is on the mend, but in the morning I get to look forward to wrestling the strong ram and getting covered in sheep shit. Isn't that the thing that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning and greet the day. Hopefully tomorrow I don't have to dose him again and can skip the wrestling match.

Our final health concern are the ducks. We have been having problems with one of the Muscovies pecking the wing feathers off of the other Muscovies. Well, yesterday morning one of the Muscovies was unable to walk on her legs, she was pulling herself around by her wings. Into solitude for her. I consulted the best batch of people I could find, Backyard Chicken forum members, and got some great suggestions. We kept her on her own last night, and fed her some special treats today and she is walking a bit better, however, another one started showing the same problems, all the ducks got the special scrambled egg snack and seem to be doing better. I am going to be switching feed around to prevent future nutrition problems.

I count myself lucky to have a vet that will come out to the farm and is very, very reasonable, but on the other hand, I have learned that I can step up and assist my animals if they need me. I have picked maggots out of wounds, bandaged bleeding hooves, dealt with all manner of bodily fluids and not shied away yet. For those of you who know me, you will realize what a triumph this is for me. I feel like I am up to the task of being responsible for my animals. My own Independence Day!
The pool after the bears had their way.

Progress is still happening.

2010-06-28T23:29:00.008-04:00

It was really great to have our nieces Blue and Nyssa here to help Bryan and I, (mostly Bryan). They put the first coats of paint on in the shop, helped build a new wall, built a much needed chicken tractor and where just overall great guest.
Bryan also got a coat of paint on most of the barn roof. The cherry picker couldn't reach the far side of the roof. It seems that all of the animals are growing like crazy. The ducks are all feathered, well except the muscovies that keep getting their feathers pecked on. Our duck accommodations are not ideal, and one duck likes to take it out on the others.
The turkey warmers also have another name, The Brats. They quickly outgrew the brooder in the chicken house, thoroughly making a mess of the entire house. We put a baby gate over the door, but they soon flew over that. So they got their way, they are out in the big world during the day and then back inside at night. It is going well, the older chickens give them a bit of a hard time, but nothing serious. Most of the trouble comes from the Plymouth hens, who will chase anybody and everybody. The goats are all well, as are the sheep. Zeus and Pan are both settling in well, I still haven't heard about our last 2 additions, the 2 ewe lambs.
I have been selling soap at the local farmer's market, though it is a very slow market. I figure I can get my name out there and plug the shop once it is open. That is another bunch of fun. I have many calls to make in order to make that happen, that is of course on top of the work still needed in the garage. I hope the inspector doesn't have any surprises for us.

Busy week

2010-06-14T21:28:00.005-04:00

Bryan took the week off to get some work done. And we are off to a great start. We started on the garage so my shop will have a home some time this summer. We have been going through boxes still left over from the move. My nieces from Rhode Island have come to help, which is a really great thing.
Today they cleaned out the last of the goat stalls that was still in deep bedding, which translates into a big deep mess of hay, straw and other 'stuff'. They did a great job and Sarah was right there with them. I had them start on another chicken tractor and I went off to take pictures for the blog. I got a few of them taken, when I noticed one of the goats was standing behind the cattle panel bleeding profusely from her side. Earlier I had seen this spot on her, but it looked like she had been laying in poo and gotten it matted in her fiber. Well obviously that was not the case. I called the girls and they came and helped me catch her and get her into the barn.
I started cleaning her side and quickly discovered a bigger problem. Fly strike. Bryan finally was back in the barn area so he came to help. We thought that she had a wound that they had gotten into, but the more we worked the more perplexed we were. She had a bump, but no wound. The nearest we figure is that she had a cyst that started to bleed and the flies settled in.
It took a lot of work to clean her up and finally dress the wound. She also got a shot of penicillin and we shall see how she is tomorrow. I am really glad the girls were here to help.
Before this happened, Bryan was moving metal roofing panels from around the compost pile, he had told me that there was a snake around there, well there sure was. To me it looked like a rattle snake, but no rattle. Bryan finally caught it and relocated it to a far off portion of the farm. I am waiting a response from my nature expert to find out what kind of snake it was. Come on Amy!
I did manage to get some pictures of Zues before the emergency with Pansy. He is a beautiful, big boy and Thistle and Heather really seem to like him. I do have to separate them or I will have lambs out of season.
I was not able to get pictures of Pan, but I think he is one of the cutest goats I have ever seen. He is tiny and so soft and cuddly. He enjoys being petted and loved and I wish we could bring him into the house. The big boys pick on him, but they may not be here for much longer. That is another story.
So my flock is just about complete for now, possibly 2 more ewe lambs for Zeus but we shall see.

A summer day

2010-06-08T17:04:00.007-04:00

There really isn't a cohesive theme today just a bunch of random thoughts and pictures. We'll start with the ducks. They are growing like crazy and will soon have a new enclosure. Bryan got a couple of fence post in the ground before the post hole digger quit working. We put them out every morning and give them clean pool water, as you can see by the picture, they do not believe in keeping it clean. We now know that the Indian Runners are not white, like the other ducks. It looks like they are wearing a brown bib.
Bryan also got the goat shelter built in the far field. This will be important soon when the boys are banished to the bachelor field. As soon as Kenny comes and cuts the field we will be putting up new fencing so we can rotate. I am amazed that the goats and sheep have not eaten the grasses down. It appears to be growing faster than they can eat, which is a good thing. I will be picking up Zeus, our Ram lamb this weekend, so it will be one more boy to join the group.
We are still having fox problems, so we moved the chicken tractors over by the dog's yard and will put the electric net around them tonight. The only way to get rid of the fox problem is to trap it, but we have the cats and rabbit to worry about. For now we will go with electricity.
The weather has settled into the nice range of the 70's, I may just get some work done this week.

A bunny tale. (long)

2010-06-06T20:54:00.008-04:00

Last Easter we got the girls rabbits in hopes of joining 4H. We did join but never made it to any meetings, which never seemed to be what we had thought it would be. So we had 3 pet bunnies, all girls we thought. When the weather was nice we moved them outside. They had it pretty good, I thought. Everyday we put them out in the grass so they could exercise and eat fresh greens. We even brought them dandelion greens and alfalfa from the field. Soon though Fufu became an escape artist and climbed the fencing. Easily caught, this became almost a daily routine, she (actually he) was forever foiling our attempts at keeping him caged. Unfortunately, this was to be his downfall and after an escape trip, he got sick and died. I can only assume it was something he ate, as there were no wounds anywhere.
So now we were down to 2 bunnies and they lived in their nice hutch together. When the weather got cold, we moved them into the barn and Bryan made a nice encloser so they still had plenty of room the play and still stay warm. Despite the large area they had, they both managed to escape, but were still in the barn.
When the weather turned warm, we opened the barn doors, but put up bunny fence in front of the door to prevent them escaping, silly us. First Mrs. Magoo fled, but she stayed close and came back to eat and drink. Piggy whiskers hadn't figured it out yet. We tried catching Mrs. Magoo, but to no avail. So we kept an eye for her and made sure she had a safe place, food and water.
Just about the time that Piggy made her break, Mrs. Magoo disappeared. No sign has been seen since. Piggy didn't have an easy time, she got entangled in the electric net fencing, luckily the charge was low enough that she recovered. We reinforced the hutch, fence enclosure and thought we had finally outsmarted Piggy. NOT. After a few days of recovery, she escaped again, never to be caught again.
Now please don't think we are negligent pet owners, we love Piggy and are finally admitting that the rabbit is just smarter than we are. It has been 2 months and Piggy has free run of the farm. She is quite happy and fat. She likes to hang with the chickens, but her special love is Wallace, our 'barn cat'.
I think this love affair began last year, when the bunnies where in their outdoor fencing, Wallace would come and sleep next to the fence. Often touching noses through the fence. Well now that Piggy is free, she has not forgotten those visits. She chases Wallace around the farm. At first it was innocent nose touches and a sniff, now it has moved on to X rated conjugal visits. Never mind that she is rabbit and he is cat. I have actually had to turn the hose on Piggy, she doesn't take no for an answer.
But it turns out that Wallace may not actually mind, for he often seeks Piggy out and vice versa. It seems that Wallace will hop up on the picnic table when he needs 'alone time' and Piggy is content to sit under the table. But as you can see, Piggy has overcome this obstacle as well.
So true love wins out I guess.

Sad News on the chicken front

2010-06-02T15:18:00.002-04:00

As you know from reading my blog, I am having an overpopulation of chickens right now. Well, be careful of what you complain about. Last night a fox dug under my chicken tractor and killed my 4 Buff Orpington's. It took 2 and left 2 behind. We went out today and purchased some moth balls to hang around rooster run and the other remaining chicken tractor as well as a baby monitor to listen for noise. I am also planning on staying up late with my .22. I don't know why I didn't take better precautions after we spotted a fox this weekend, as they say hindsight.
I had a box for the hens to go into at night in the tractor, but it didn't close, I guess I will be making some modifications before the next batch has to move in. The Serama's are still in their tractor, but they have a secure box inside theirs.
It is a shame, because I really liked the Buff's, I think they were the prettiest girls I had.

Flo in charge

2010-06-01T17:51:00.006-04:00

Flo and Alice are settling in, we still haven't solved her udder issues, but we are working on them. They are both happy with all the free forage and hay they can eat, not to mention the excellent organic grain they get at night. Up until today we were tethering them close to the house, but today I finally let them out with the rest of the goats. I was worried about the fence because neither girl had ever been fenced before. Alice got zapped a couple of times, but quickly learned after that.
Flo quickly let everyone know that she was now in charge. There was very little disagreement among the other goats, though Sage did look a little sullen. Flo also let Sage know that I was her human and he was not to try and get any special attention. At one point he was actually hiding behind me. The transfer of power went very smoothly and no one got hurt.

Alice was quite happy to be able to run and play as much as she wanted. She is one of those goats that likes to climb and has scaled the vertical stone wall of the barn. At one point I looked out the barn window and she was looking in, mind you the window is about 5 feet off the ground. There was just enough ledge on the outside for her to cling to.

The rest of the goats quickly went back to there important duty of munching grass and laying around. We are lucky that they aren't eating the grass quicker than it can grow. In spots it is quite high so that you have a hard time seeing goats that are too lazy to stand and eat.

It was also a day for
taking pictures of flowers, view these in my sideshow. It feels like summer is here and there is beauty blooming all around us. Things are settling into a rythym and I am beginning to truly beginning to feel like a farmer.

Goat Rescue

2010-05-27T20:04:00.007-04:00

I now have my milking goat, the problem is she is in rough shape. She had twins in Feb and they have been draining her. I purchased one of the kids as well, so I have to separate them so Flo gets a break. I still want to try to milk her, but we shall see. My first concern is her health. She has lost some of her hair and she is super thin. She may also have some mastitis.
She is a pure Sable goat and her doeling is Sable/Boer cross. Luckily the kid who we named Alice looks fine, big and healthy. We had to do some re arraigning of pens but I hope things will settle. I need to call the Vet to come out and do a quick check of the girls to make sure that they are OK. Here are some pictures of the new kids on the block.

Pool Opener at the Farm

2010-05-24T11:30:00.010-04:00

The ducks finally made it outside today and they are having a great time.

The Buff's also made it out into the sunshine.

Turkeys and Turkey warmers

2010-05-20T11:45:00.008-04:00

Today is Thursday, it must be Turkeys in the mail. But not only did my 10 Narragansett Turkeys arrive, but so did 10 mystery Turkey warmers. Just what I need right now, 10 more chicks. Don't get me wrong they are adorable, but where am I going to put them. To give you a picture of my dilemma, I have 1 Chicken house. 12 adult chickens, 25 teenage chickens soon to be divided into the tractors, 5 1 month old chicks, 10 2 week old ducks and 5 3
week old chicks. All of my brooding spots are full. The turkeys were headed to the barn, far away from the chickens. Now I have to factor in 10 new chicks, who will most likely be roosters. I think I have a fowl problem. I am surrounded by cuteness and not sure just where to house them.

On a non fowl note, the lambs are out on pasture again and loving it. The dogs were also excited that something their size was out in the field, of course the sheep want nothing to do with them. I went to pick out 2 new lambs. They are Dorset/Merino crosses and were bottle babies so are incredibly cute and friendly. They will be ready to go in about a month, just about the time I am bringing home Zeus the ram lamb. Busy busy time on the farm.

Rainy Tuesday

2010-05-18T13:56:00.011-04:00

It's a perfect day to do things I do not enjoy. Like trimming hooves and de-lousing. No one enjoys this process, but it is a necessary task. Bryan also got the gate finished on the lambs pen, but they don't seem in any hurry to leave it.
The scours are over and both lambs are doing well. Hopefully next week they will make it back out to pasture, though like I said they don't seem to be in a hurry.

This past week has been great weather, not to warm, and not too much rain, I think they call it Spring. It's hard to recognize sometimes, but I think this is it.
The dogs are growing like weeds, and sometimes they actually take their job seriously, and sometimes not.

Spring also means that the Barn Swallows are back. This year they are a bit confused, normally the door is always open for them, but now that there are new residents, the door closes at night. They haven't given up their nests though and are still sitting. It is a challenge to walk in the barn without being dive bombed.

Zeus

2010-05-12T17:02:00.003-04:00

Not a big post, but I wanted to put up a picture of our ram lamb Zeus. He will be joining us next month. He is the handsome boy on the left.

I also thought I would post a picture of the 3 inch egg that I found in the hen house this morning. All I can say is Ouch!
The brown eggs are normal size.

The cuteness factor

2010-05-11T18:37:00.005-04:00

Today the cuteness factor got cranked up a huge notch. We finally got our ducklings. We are supposed to have 10 White Muscovy. Now they are not the prettiest grown up ducks, but they are adorable as ducklings. But looking at our additions, I believe we ended up with 5 Muscovy's and 5 Pekings. Either way, I am a happy farmer. I do have to warn you that the following pictures may cause uncontrollable smiles, and perhaps a few giggles.

The new lambs are adjusting as well. We are still dealing with the scours with Heather, though she is on the mend now. For those of you who don't know what the scours are, you don't want to know. I don't have any new pictures of them, but I should have them shortly.

So if anyone is keeping tally, we are at 7 Angora goats, 2 Nubian goats, 2 Lambs, 12 adult chickens, 2 Serama chickens, 25 teenage chickens, 5 3 week old chickens, 4 1 week old chickens
and now 10 ducklings. What a mess I have gotten myself into. Of course we are still expecting the turkeys in a couple of weeks, that will be a fun one.

Bryan finished the first whole section of electric fencing, we may sub divide it, but for now we are set. I dare a coyote to touch it. All of the goats are quite happy to be out playing during the day now, despite the cold weather. Last weekend it was in the 80's, this weekend the 40's and 50's. No garden yet. But there is hope. (I think)

Sheep, Sheep, Sheep

2010-05-04T12:29:00.007-04:00

The sheep are here, the sheep are hear. Today we picked up Heather and Thistle, 2 Border Leicester/Corriedale cross ewe lambs. Next month they will be joined by Zeus and Border Leicester/Blue Faced Leicester ram lamb. For now we have the lambs in with the goats, but sometime soon they will be seperate. The introduction went very well and everyone is happily munching grass.

We are definitely on a sheep high right now. Mom and I just got back from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and it was great. We came home early on Sunday and found that Bryan had almost finished the permanent electric fence. Things are moving along quiet well.

Heather, formally known as Raccoon eyes. She had beautiful fawn circles around her eyes.

Thistle and Heather munching grass.

Just pictures

2010-04-29T09:37:00.005-04:00

Coyotes at 3 a.m.

2010-04-24T18:47:00.000-04:00

Bryan and I awoke to the very loud yipping and barking of coyotes this morning at 3 a.m. It sounded like they were in the chicken house. Bryan jumped out of bed, threw on his sweats and grabbed his gun and out he went. Though by the time he did all this the pack was gone. Thankfully they did not get in the chicken house or the barn and all pets were present and accounted for this morning.
After the rude awakening, we decided to get a real start on the permanent electric fencing. Bryan began laying out the posts and running the wire. He now has 1/4 mile of wire run and will hopefully get more done if the rain holds off tomorrow.
In addition to the Serama eggs we got earlier in the week, we actually received 2 grown Serama's on Friday. Here 2 bits is facing off against Beetle, our Black Cochin. Both he and his hen Milly are fully grown.
Our 2 month old chicks did get out today, this is the second time they have been outside, and they seemed to enjoy it. I let a couple of the hens in with them to see how they would do, and it went well. Hopefully I will be able to integrate the 2 groups soon. We have Barred Plymouth Rocks and Silver Laced Wyandottes.

Blossoms

2010-04-21T19:15:00.000-04:00

I am a little behind in posting, but Spring is here and RA is acting up, so time is not well spent. We finally had to pack up the bird feeders for the summer, the bears are officially awake. It appears that the mother and cubs are still passing through a few times a week. The date and time are not correct on the picture, this was taken last week. They weren't able to get the suet that night but came back a few nights later and it was eaten.
We did have some eggs arrive in the mail, we were given 7 Serama Chicken eggs, (I later broke one). They are now in the incubator, we shall see how they do. We will actually be getting 2 adult Serma's in the mail this week also. They are small chickens, very small chickens. My chicken house is getting over full.
I also found out that my 10 chicks from the local feed store should be in this weekend. Oh, what have I done.
I managed to get out and take pictures today of all the trees in bloom. I will sign off with some pictures.

Warmer days

2010-04-06T09:51:00.000-04:00

This past week was nice, we are unseasonably warm and not complaining! We had a lovely visit from our Friend Eve and her daughter Sarah. We traveled together to China and have been friends ever since. The goats and dogs are getting on much better together, though the pups are really pushing to live with people. They are growing fast and thankfully no longer fit through the electric fencing.
I finally got one of the chicken tractors done, I like to call it the Frankenstein Chicken Tractor, it has me really re thinking the second one. The month old chicks did get outside for a little while but had to be put back in for the cold night. They are not fully feathered yet, so they have a couple more weeks of indoor confinement. It worked out well though, because we picked up a new rooster from the shepherdess who I got most of my goats from. We went to take a look at lambs and she offered a rooster as well. I have looking for a new rooster, it would appear that our rooster is a little to considerate to the hens. The goats are happy to be spending more time outside now as well. They almost have the routine down by now. I think the picture says it all.

Cold Again

2010-03-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

Spring seems to have slipped away from us again. We got a bit of snow on Friday and temps have been cold. I guess I took the electric water buckets out of the barn a little to soon. The pups are settling in though we did have some problems with Luna and the electric fence. She was still small enough to fit through the netting, getting zapped each time. She did it for about 3 days before she quit trying to go through. She is not as interested in the goats as Terra is, but I think she will do fine in the end.

The goats are getting used to having the dogs around, though Sage seems to dislike them the most. He is more afraid of them than the others. But he seems to be getting a bit more aggressive with the other goats as well. A problem that we may have to deal with at some point.

I got the outside feeder built this week, Bryan came home and helped me with the finishing touches. Of course Sage wanted to help also. He offered to hold the boards down by standing on them and also assisted by getting the screws out of the boxes for us.

I am still working on the chicken tractors. For something relatively simple they are taking me awhile to finish. But the chickens can't go in them until they have more feathers and the weather is warmer. I have 2 for the roosters and 1 for the teen age hens. Of course then we have to prepare for Ducks and Turkeys. But that's another story.

New Additions

2010-03-21T20:46:00.000-04:00

We now have 2 LGD's. I lucked out and found Great Pyrenees puppies that were pure bred but not papered and they were close. Mom, Sarah, Maggie and I drove 2 1/2 hours south and picked up Luna and Terra. The ride home took a bit longer because they pooped and threw up all the way home. They were not happy pups. It is very hard to accept that these are not pet because they are so incredible cute. Big fluffy balls of love, but we shall adjust.
We put them in with Pearl, our lone Doe. She wasn't too thrilled, but hopefully she will be the easiest to bond with. Tomorrow they will go out with the herd under supervision.
I was able to start on one of the Chicken Tractor's before the dog interruption, I will have more work to do next week. I have 3 to build 2 for our meat birds and 1 for the young hens before they are ready to be introduced to the flock. We are also expecting Narragansett Turkey's in late May. They will need accommodations as well. So much to be done, I am glad Spring is here.

Spring is coming (really)

2010-03-14T20:33:00.000-04:00

So it has been about a month since I blogged. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and was in pretty bad shape for awhile. For now I am a bit more balanced and functioning better. So on with Spring.
We have gotten our first batch of chicks for the year and are planning where to put everyone. I am still planning for Turkey's and Ducks as well. I am also hoping to get some Lambs this year as well.
Bryan also tapped our Maple trees this spring. We are making professional syrup, but it's a fun experiment. So he tapped trees last weekend when he was home and then off he went. Mom and I (both temporary fully functioning) circled the yard gathering over 45 gallons of sap.

When Bryan got home this weekend, he set up a sugar "tent" and began to boil down. We live and learn, by the end of the weekend, he had a better plan and was looking forward to next year. Of course we still have to finish this years. More work for next weekend. Also on the ever growing list of things to do is an outside bread oven.
The goats are well, they loved their week out but I had to lock them back in with all the rain we had this weekend, I think I am raising fair weather goats.

Time to make plans

2010-02-11T08:37:00.001-05:00

So it is the middle of February and the planning has begun. How to make the garden better this year, getting the soap shop up and running, new animals, etc. etc.
I am planning on raising turkeys this year, just a small number to start with, but that means building a roost and deciding where to put it. They can't be with the chickens, so that means in the field with the goats somewhere. I have grand plans for a roost, Bryan of course thinks I'm crazy. We made a big lumber purchase from our local lumber mill. Where we get our lumber from is like the Walton's lumber mill. It is a Father and Son operation, very small and very friendly. We can get rough cut lumber to our specs at a good cost and we are shopping local. Win Win all around. The down side this time is that the lumber is still damp and froze in the weather, so it is heavy and wet, not that we are doing any building yet, but it is really heavy to move.
I would also like to get ducks this spring, but must decide whether they will go in with the chickens or get their own home. Again another building project for me, one I haven't shared with Bryan yet. The ducks can be close to the chickens so it may just be an annex to the chicken house. The turkeys and ducks will come from our local feed store, so I am not sure of the variety yet, I only know that there will be no hybrids.
And of course there is the plan for sheep. I am still investigating types of sheep to add to compliment the goats and their mohair. They will graze with the goats for now and may eventually be separated, but their upkeep is much less demanding than the goats. At first I was not thrilled with sheep, after all they are dirty and smelly. But the more I look into it, the less dirty and smelly they become. I have also found out that mohair is best blended with wool, so there we go.

Snow (finally)

2010-02-10T18:25:00.000-05:00

Yes, finally we got snow. While our family in De and RI have been hit with huge snow storms, we have missed the great white stuff. Last night and into today we finally got some. Not much by their standards, but enough for a snow day. I love snow days, I got the barn chores done early and the chickens even came out for a bit in the snow. The rest of the day was spent knitting, sleeping and taking pictures of the birds in the snow. Nothing is more beautiful than a male cardinal in the snow.
I had a chance to let the goats out yesterday for a little while. Everyone went semi willingly. Cedar and Castor just couldn't get it, so back into their pen they went.
The rest of the gang spent a couple of hours frolicking and running around. It is nice when they can get out, it is a long winter stuck in the barn.