Happy Family

Here are more pictures. Maybe the girl's name will be Tipsy because Stef says she looks drunk when she walks. Don't know about the boy yet.


See how big one of Frosty's teats are. Not sure whats wrong yet. We will test her for mastitis in 2 days when her milk comes in. For now I am milking that side out to her dismay.


The yellow on her side is from the iodine I spilled on her while dipping her umbilical cord.

KIDS!!!

Around 1pm this afternoon, Frosty had twins. One buckling and one doeling. The white one is the doeling the black one is the buckling. Everyone is doing fantastic. The buckling is very healthy walking around and trying to eat. The doeling is a bit more timid and isn't up looking for food yet, so we are trying to help her out. Frosty has a very swollen teat that may or may not be mastitis. We are still investigating.

Chicken Coop

Finished the chicken coop today. The first picture is of the inside before it was finished. You can see the nest boxes.
We will have access to the nest boxes from the outside of the coop. Sheet metal on hinges lines the back of the boxes.


Here it is finished. You can also see the almost finished barn behind it.


So with the big chickens and ducks in their new home, the little chicks got moved into their new home today.



On a side note, I am in the middle of moving the fence for a different pasture for the goats, so everyone has to stay inside the pen until I finish. It's pretty pitiful huh?

Newspaper for Chicks

I have had a few people question my choice of using newspaper for chick bedding. The newspaper can be too slick for very young birds. I have found that if the chicks are over a few days old though, I don't have a problem with splayed legs. I try not to get true day old chicks anyway. Most of these guys are already feathering out quite a bit. However, I do not recommend newspaper for guinea fowl until much older, I have learned the hard way on that one.

I like the newspaper. It's free and easy!

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1. Write your comment.
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Thank you Misty.

Goodbye Evil

We had our first casualty on the ranch today. Evil died. I believe she had an infection from a cut on her teat and I didn't catch it in time. We butchered her and I was relieved to see she was not pregnant. That would have been awful to lose any babies too.

We weren't sure if it would be safe to feed her to the dogs or not, because of the infection. We decided to put her over a spit to cook then feed the dogs.

As sad as this was for us, Evil has been a great practice goat. Stef could practice his butchering skills and since it was going to the dogs not have to be too paranoid about cleanliness and we got to try out spitting a goat. I think it has gone very well.

I have a picture of the spit but can't post it now for some reason. I will try again later.

Chick Update

Here's a pic of the first set of chickens and ducks. The ducks are ginormous!

I let them free range during the day and put them in their tractor at night. The tractor is getting a little cramped so a new coop is in the works.
Don't worry about Ama eating them. She is on restricted access. Her free roaming privileges have been revoked. She can only be outside with me by my side at all times. She is actually really good around the chickens. Most of the time she just lays there and they peck around her. Hasn't full out tried to get them at all, just stalked them once. Still wouldn't trust her around them by herself.

Chicks and Tin

Craigslist rocks! We finally found some tin for the barn!

Stef starts work on it today if it doesn't rain. I can't wait for a barn!

Also got 20 more chicks at a great price from Craigslist. They are Black Australorps and Buff Orpingtons. They are good for egg production as well as meat. They will lay brown eggs.

Top 5 things to do when....

you are waiting for your friggin goats to have babies-

1. Work on a puzzle...


2. Put together a yard swing...


3. Wash your dog... (Ama is scared of the camera)


4. Put a fence around your garden...

And finally...

Cut your sons hair!!!

Not yet

Okay it is 8:44 on Sunday morning and there are no babies yet. I got up once last night to check on them at 3am. Nothing new.

This morning there isn't any goo coming out and they just look normal. I haven't seen Holly poop yet to see if it is still loose. I let them out with the rest of the herd and will keep an eye on them today.