Archive for the ‘goats’ Category

Things That Made Me Smile Today

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera on ready all day to capture everything that made me smile. You should be thanking the stars for that right now – I would be posting several hundred pictures…….

But I did capture Tanya sitting on the nest, getting ready to lay her second egg:

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Doesn’t she look so tiny and fragile? Don’t let her fool ya!

And here’s Georgia. She actually got more than a smile out of me with this one:

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We have had such a beautiful day. The weather is great. We got a lot of bee equipment cleaned up in anticipation of the arrival of our hives in a few weeks. And we smiled and laughed a lot. What more could we ask for today? I hope your day was just as wonderful.

Our Saturday

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

We got our first turkey egg! It was quite an exciting moment. The proud mama is the little jenny to the left:

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She came up missing mid-afternoon and we looked all over for her. Bernie finally found her in his boat. He’s begun calling it the “Brooder Boat” since having a chicken hen hatch out her babies in it last year. We picked her up, carried her into the turkey coop, and put her in the turkey nest we built for her.

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It’s just some lattice nailed to a couple of boards, and covered in pine limbs, but she seems to like it. She laid her first egg in it! The picture below was taken after the fact. You may be able to see the fake plastic egg in the back that I replaced her egg with.

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The egg wasn’t quite as big as I expected, but it’s still larger than the chicken eggs.

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And it’s speckled. I have no idea if that’s normal, or if it’s because it’s her first egg. I hope to find out by comparing it to future eggs!

Bernie finished framing and screwing in lattice around the bottom of the deck.

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I really love it. He’s going to build me some flower beds in front of it. I can hardly wait get some flowers in it.

Georgia is getting big.

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I love her ears.

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Mirrie is getting big too, but she still seems like my little baby.

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We got 20 more strawberry plants in the ground today and we cleaned up the horseradish, rhubarb, and asparagus beds.

We’ve had a nice Saturday on the homestead. How has yours been?

Getting Back to Usual

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

Things are getting back to normal since I returned from Germany. It’s a cold and blustery day here. Bernie and I bundled up and went outside to get the heater bases set up for the chicken and turkey waterers. I actually remembered to take my camera and get a few pictures to share with you.

Mirrie and Georgia were happy to see us. They are getting so big.

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We’re finally fairly convinced we did indeed end up with one tom and two hens – even if the tom ended up being one we thought was a hen, and the hen ended up being one we thought was a tom. As a result, two of them got renamed. Jake is on the left (he used to be called Tanya) and on the right is Loretta (she used to be called Hank).

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That’s Loretta on the left, Jake in the middle, and Sarah on the right:

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It’s hard to believe how much they’ve grown. You may be able to get a good idea from this picture with Bernie’s legs in it:

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This is Pretty Boy Floyd – the cockerel I kept from the hatch in May:

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My poor hens are finally starting to come out of their molt. These two are the last of the molters, and just starting to get feathers in again:

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This is one of the pullets from the May hatch – I love her coloring:

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Bernie got a nice fire going in our new wood burner this afternoon.

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Elvis kept warm by laying in the sun, across from the wood burner.

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And Priscilla staked out her favorite hiding place on top of the curio.

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And Diesel enjoyed relaxing in the warmth of his bed.

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Dolly has always enjoyed chilling in my chair, but since my trip to Germany I think she’s gotten just a little too comfortable in it.

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It’s nice to be home and back with Bernie and all the critters. I missed them.

Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

We let the turkeys and goats out in the yard for a while this afternoon.

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They were all incredibly interested in the area where Bernie was splitting wood, and his log splitter.

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Bernie has actually trained the turkeys. He points….

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And they fly up…..

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Georgia was totally fascinated with this.

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Probably because Georgia doesn’t quite understand the concept of “trained”.

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Bernie gave a piggy back ride or two.

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And then he and the turkeys contemplated the meaning of life.

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Hank really enjoys his piggy back rides.

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I could just kiss the feathers off these turkeys.

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*sigh* Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.

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Lean-to and Browsing

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Bernie’s been busy adding the lean-to on the front of the goat barn the last couple of days.

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He never ceases to amaze me what he’s learned to do since we’ve moved here. I think he does such a nice job with buildings – something he had no idea how to do not so very long ago.

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Georgia and Mirrie worked up an appetite admiring Bernie’s handiwork.

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Sometimes Mirrie gets so excited she forgets to quit walking forward while she’s munching.

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Georgia is convinced the best leaves are the highest leaves.

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She does a pretty good job of stretching up to some of the taller branches.

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Mirrie likes to do her browsing a little closer to the ground.

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That way she can ham it up for the camera a little easier.

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Sweet little goat babies.

Georgia and Mirrie

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Each afternoon I open the entrance to the goat barn and bring Georgia and Mirrie out into the yard to play and browse for a while. And each afternoon, their first stop is the milking/storage area where Mirrie tries to get at the sweet feed, and Georgia nibbles a little hay.

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Today, they took off running like crazy once they got outside.

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They were in a great hurry to get somewhere.

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Ah, I see. They needed to get to this tree before it got away.

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Georgia struck out on her own.

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Mirrie refused to be left behind.

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Good thing, too. Georgia found a tasty oak leaf.

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And Mirrie found a small tree in need of pruning.

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Georgia struck a profile pose for me.

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And then they begged some carrots off of me.

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Before too long, it was time to head back to the goat barn. They weren’t very enthusiastic about going back in, until I promised a little sweet feed as a reward. That got them moving.

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It’s never easy walking away from these little faces though.

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Thank Goodness for Springtime

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

We’ve been truly blessed with some nice weather lately. Really nice weather. The kind of weather I was convinced we wouldn’t ever see again. We’ve taken advantage of it.

The goat barn has gotten a little update. Here’s a before picture of the storage/milking room:

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Not bad. But we added a shelf, and it made all the difference – at least to me:
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And this is looking from the storage/milking room over at the goat barn area:

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That little wall is just over four feet tall – and little Mirrie could jump up and easily look over it. I worried she would eventually be able to make that leap and end up in the storage/milking area – with free access to hay. I have a true fear of that right now…. So, we fixed that little problem. It now looks like this:

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Bernie added an upper door to the lower one I go into on the left. And he added a couple of 2 X 4′s to keep her from getting over on the right side.

I also built them a hay rack outside. Bernie will build a lean-to over this area in the very near future so it will be protected from weather.

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They seem to like it pretty good.

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Mostly Mirrie was interested in getting at my sunglasses I hooked on the door while we worked.

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Or playing on her spool.

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Georgia doesn’t really like getting on the spool, but she likes aggravating Mirrie when she’s on it.

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Georgia is such a sweet girl. Just look at her precious face.

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She’s good at finding browse in the yard.

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And Mirrie’s good at joining in when Georgia finds good eats.

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We also built a milk stand for them today.

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Milking is a little way off, but this is also good to use for trimming hooves and doctoring. Once we secure the neck, we can give them sweet feed to keep them somewhat distracted while we do what we need to do.

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Check out Fiasco Farms for detailed plans on this milk stand. We didn’t follow this exactly, but it certainly gave us the basis for what we built.

I also had some time to work in the greenhouse this weekend.

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This was our first winter with the greenhouse, and we enjoyed tomatoes and peppers well into October with in. It also housed a few plants for me over this brutal winter. I was quite pleased to find that the vast majority of them not only survived, but flourished! Look to the right and on the floor.

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The left shelf has the seeds I planted this weekend. I’m hoping they will do well in the greenhouse and flourish in the garden.

With the exception of the Sago, Aloe Vera, and fig trees, everything else spent this harsh winter in the greenhouse. I’m tickled at how well everything did.

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I appreciate the sunshine, warmth, and new growth of springtime. And the opportunity to start anew. Spring allows us to do that. Start anew. Thank goodness for springtime.

You Rock. You Seriously Do.

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

I want to thank each of you personally for all the kind words. But I can’t. Every time I try my eyes fill with tears and I can no longer see what I’m typing. Thank you – each and every one. And forgive me if it seems impersonal. It truly is not. I just can’t get past the emotion.

I suspect I’ll never get over losing sweet little Hope. Especially since I’ve learned what I could have done to prevent it. And even what I could have done to save her. It would have been hard. But I could have done it. That will haunt me forever I’m sure. But now I know. I won’t lose another to bloat. At least not without saying I did my dead level best to save her. But honestly? I did my best with Hope. I just didn’t know……

Georgia is doing GREAT. She is already running to me when I go into the goat barn. I’m not surprised that she is showing dominance. She is the Queen, and I am respecting that. Mirrie? Not so much. Mirrie couldn’t care less about the Queen. When I enter the goat barn Mirrie runs up to me screaming bloody murder. Georgia is right behind her, and butts Mirrie out of the way. I understand that Georgia is Queen. I reach down and pet her first. If I’m feeding Mirrie a bottle, I make sure I offer some sweet feed to Georgia first, and then feed Mirrie. I’m trying to teach Mirrie, but she is too danged sweet, cute, and stubborn. And before it’s all said and done I am on my knees kissing Mirrie and loving on her. Georgia comes right up, and I’m sure to show her as much attention as she will allow.

It’s going to be ok. I don’t think I’ll ever really get over this experience, but it’s going to be ok. We’re building a milking stand this weekend. It will hold goats while they are milked, and while they are worked on (trimming hooves, etc.) I’m excited to get that finished.

Please allow me to also quickly bring you up to date on the pups….We had to take them to the vet for booster shots this afternoon. Diesel weighs 77 pounds. Dolly weights 70 pounds. The vet wants to see Diesel at 70 pounds, and Dolly at 65 pounds. This will not be easy. These pups exercise daily – a lot. They also enjoy their treats – a lot. The vet asked what they get treats for and Bernie said “Breathing.” And the vet reached down and petted both of them and said “You are wonderful pups – but breathing just isn’t that special”. *sigh* Now the pups are on a diet. The good news is that the surgery Diesel is certain to have due to hip dysplasia may be prolonged if he loses weight. That’s worth is to all of us. At just over one year old, Diesel has a fair amount of issues with his hips and legs…..

Thank all of you. Not only for following my blog, but being such sweet friends. Spring is springing – and soon I’ll be posting about planting in the garden, preserving, canning, baby chicks, pregnant does, and all the wonderful things that this time of year brings. Thank you for sticking with me during the hard times. Because there are always hard times. No matter what you dream about living in the country, you must accept that there will be hard times. It’s not easy, but you can get past it. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes. In the end, that really is why I started this blog in the first place.

XXXOOO

There is Still Hope

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

I have to tell y’all, losing our little precious Hope in such a traumatic way was a horrific experience. I would not wish that on anyone. As upset as Bernie and I were yesterday, poor Mirrie was beyond consolation. She didn’t understand where her sister went. She couldn’t stand being alone. It was such a bad day for all of us.

Even though none of us will get over our loss, Angie knew that we needed a companion for Mirrie as quickly as possible, and she offered us a sweet one year old doeling. Today I went and picked her up.

Interestingly enough, she had never been named. When she was born someone has asked to buy her, and requested that Angie not name her. This person wanted to choose the name. Time went on, and eventually the person that had wanted to buy her backed out of the deal. And the little doeling had gone so long without a name, that she was just known as the goat with no name! So, as I drove this little girl back to the homestead, I pondered on what her name should be. I didn’t have to think on it very long. Angie and I were both born in the same state. It seemed only fitting that I should name this little girl something that represented one of my first bonds with Angie.

Meet Georgia.

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Mirrie is SO happy to have one of her old friends here with her now.

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She’s still my baby…..

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But now we all have Georgia with us too.

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We miss our little Hope. But today it finally feels like things may be ok again.

Thanks to all of you for your overwhelming support and kind words during all of this. It means so much more than any of you will ever know.

(((hugs)))

And Speaking of the Nature of Nature….

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

I just posted about the nature of nature – the fact that if we live with livestock and chickens, we must expect that we will lose them. And today, we lost our precious little Hope to bloat. This has been an emotional and horrific experience, and I really am not mentally able to go into detail. I will try to post in more detail in the future – so those of you who have not experienced bloat may learn what to look for – and maybe even the extreme steps that may save the life of your precious goat, cow, or other animals that are susceptible to it. I wish I had known……

Mirrie is ok. She is sad. She is lonely. But she is ok. I’ve spoken to Angie several times today. She has been, of course, my angel. The one person who could ground me and keep me sane during all of this sorrow. She has offered another goat, that is about a year old, to keep Mirrie company. Goats are VERY social creatures. They NEED company. I have accepted her offer.

Bernie was there with me throughout this ordeal. He just wanted to fix it. Bless his heart – he wanted everything to be ok, not just for Hope, but for me. And when it wasn’t, well….. we have spent the day trying to comfort each other. This has been the worst day on this homestead. And even so, the pups warmed my heart on the mail check. Mirrie made me laugh trying to suckle my chin. The cats were as annoying as ever. And Bernie’s hugs are worth all the money Bill Gates makes…….

This really is the nature of nature. If we bring nature into our life – and we SHOULD – we need to be prepared for the hand nature may deal us. The more prepared we are, the better chances we have at bluffing and winning that hand. I promised to step you through our homesteading triumphs and losses when I started this blog. We had a loss today. A very big, heart wrenching loss today. I am going to share it.

But not today.

Today I’m dealing with the nature of nature.