Why you might ask? Well, once you start handmilking three goats every day, it is a little harder to find someone to “farmsit” for you. Handmilking goats (or even cows) isn’t a skill most people have and it isn’t something easy to teach like filling a hay feeder or letting animals out into the pasture. So when we started milking we became tied to the homestead in a whole new, harder-to-take-a-vacation-from way. Hence the dragging of the feet until I remembered that I DID really want to do this and I had better get a move-on because once we sell the kids (goat kids, not human kids) in a few weeks, the mama’s milk will dry up if we aren’t doing our job.

So, like so many other things we’ve done since we moved here, we read a little, googled a little and then just did it.

And guess what – it wasn’t that bad! I mean, the first time was pretty funny, what with milk squirting this way and that, annoyed goats jumping around, and the crazy uncoordinated squeezing attempts by Josh and I. And the very last goat we milked stepped into her pail, knocking half of it over and contaminating the rest. So no milk for us that time but the pigs sure enjoyed it!

The next day it was definitely easier and today was even easier, taking us about 45 minutes to milk and strain all three goats. Better yet, it tastes just like cow’s milk! I mean, I knew it SHOULD given the way we are doing things (no bucks on the homestead, cooling the milk quickly, etc) but until we took that first sip we just weren’t sure. I had images of trying to dunk cookies in milk that tasted like goat cheese. Oh the horror!

I think I’m starting to get down the whole “as soon as the goat moves it’s leg, yank the pail away cuz she’s annoyed and about to step in the milk” thing down. Now I just have to practice my aim so I can give some milk to the barn cats straight from the source…

PS: Thanks to Jill at the The Prairie Homestead for her Goat 101 series and Fias Co Farm for being awesome goat and milking resources.

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This post was linked to the Homestead Barn Hop. To see some other great homesteading blogs, click the button below.

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Meet My New Goats!!
2. Slackers
3. The Totally Terrified Owner Of A Cow

I think we will be trying this for this year’s Chicken Nuggets (and possibly the blogger’s other design for a chicken feeder). Normally we just plop the waterer on the ground inside the electric netting. The chickens promptly drink and then poop in it. Nice.

So after reading about the modified version, Josh’s mind started whirling. (I swear, I think I saw smoke…) Since we don’t have anything out in the fields to hang a waterer from, he is envisioning a tripod with the waterer hanging down from the middle.  It would be similar to a camera tripod or one you use to cook over an open fire but maybe made out of wood so it would be sturdier.

I guess we’ll just have to see what he comes up with!

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Homemade Chicken Waterer
2. A Clandestine Chicken Mission
3. A Recycled Chicken Coop – Part 1

No, not human babies. These babies didn’t cause me a one little flicker of pain. Well, no pain but I did lose some sleep and added a few gray hairs because of them. But they are cute and cuddly and little balls of squishyness so I forgive them. But the Bad Queen, well, she’s not someone I can forgive. The Good Queen has happy, faithful subjects. The Bad Queen is about to be overthrown, by both her subjects and the controller of her universe (aka: me.).

But before that tale of trouble, the babies!!! The cuties!!! The bouncing balls of energy!!!

The first babies born on our farm arrived bright and early on Easter morning! Our ewe, Molly, had a beautiful set of twins: a pure black male and a pure white female. They each got “Eastery” names: Eggbert and Esther. The next morning Alice gave birth to a single pure white male, which the kids dubbed Francis. (We tried to breed a third ewe but it doesn’t seem like she “took” so I think our lambing days are done for the year.) We are keeping the female but the two males will hang around until fall when they will be introduced to my freezer.

Eggbert (black) and Esther (white)

And we’ve got goat babies! Our three goats each gave birth to twins, which tripled our herd We have two males (Hermes and Tyler) and four female kids (Hera, April, Holly and Polly). One set of twins (Holly and Polly) are identical which is pretty cool. And they all are so adorable. All the mamas did a fantastic job bringing the babies into the world. The oldest twins are almost 3 weeks while the youngest set is only one week. We only need the mamas for milking so the kids will be going to the farm where we originally bought our goats once they are weaned. I know when the day arrives we’ll be sad but at least we can go visit if we ever want to. We’re hoping to start milking sometime within the next week or so.

Penelope with daughter April just minutes after she is born

Meet Hera! What, don't you name your goats after Greek Gods?

The identical twin girls, Holly and Polly. Don't ask me which is which!

Playing on the slide

Human kids + goat kids = FUN!!!

Almost two weeks ago, we picked up 85 one-day-old Freedom Ranger meat chickens. At our house, meat chickens are called “The Chicken Nuggets”. Yep, we even call them that to their beaks. They are currently in their brooder in our garage. We’re hoping to move them outside into the chicken run tomorrow. Josh built a little hover box to hang in their outdoor pen to provide them with heat if they get too cold. I’m debating bringing them back inside at night until we hit the warmer overnight temperatures forecast for later this week but just the thought of corralling 85 Chicken Nuggets running wild makes me tired. (Sorry, no chickie pictures. Last year they were cute so I took a ton of photos. This year, they are food-to-be. My how times change…)

A photo from last year's Chicken Nuggets. Imagine the kid taller, otherwise they look the same.

And now, for the news of the Queens!

Queen bees, that is.

The bees enjoyed the wonderfully mild winter and are growing like crazy! In fact, one hive is getting ready to swarm already. (When they get too crowded, they start growing a queen egg. Right before the queen egg hatches, the old queen takes half the hive and heads for the hills. Actually, they usually head for the nearest tree for a day or two and they vanish to parts unknown.) This is the hive the Good Queen. Her house – er – hive is in order, her subjects adore her and all is well. So tomorrow (hopefully) we’re going to split that big hive into two littler hives. She will remain in one hive and her daughter will rule the other.

Bees doin' their thang

Our other hive, which has always been weaker, is doing okay as well but the queen (hereafter to be known as the Bad Queen) isn’t doing the best. The Bad Queen doesn’t lay her eggs in a uniform fashion (not like the photo above) and she doesn’t keep the other bees acting in the appropriate manner. We think the other bees have noticed because we see a queen eggs being grown in this hive as well. (When the queen starts to fail or isn’t up to par, the bees decide to make a new replacement queen. The reigning queen has no say in the matter and if she tries to interfere, they will actually kill her. They take their queens very seriously.) So, since any new baby queen would be the daughter of the “so-so” queen, we decided to buy a new queen in hopes that she will be better than the daughter. Tomorrow we will find the Bad Queen, squish her and put the new, hopefully better, queen into the hive. Or so the plan goes. Have you ever tried to find one specific bee in a hive full of 30,000ish other squirming, moving, almost identical bees? Um, not so easy. Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well and the reign of the Bad Queen comes to an end.

We aren’t all just babies and queens around the homestead but those are the things on my mind right now. There are tons of other things going on – vegetables started indoors, fences being put up, wood being cut and split, kids almost finished homeschooling for the year (woohoo!), and about 1,000 other things. Some days I feel like I’m in control and doing just fine. Other days I wonder how in the world all this stuff will get done. But somehow all the important things will get done and the unimportant ones don’t matter that much anyway.

Firewood - cut, split and stacked into this beautiful yard ornament

All in all, it has been a great spring. Hopefully things are going great in your neck of the woods too.

Goodnight all!

A beautiful Wisconsin sunset taken by my equally beautiful daughter

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Playing With Bees
2. Checking Out The Bees
3. Things I Didn’t Know A Year Ago: Bee Edition

1) Fin has a new home. He attacked a chicken, a cat and snapped at the sheep. He enjoyed hunting waaayyyy more than herding so we found him a great home with less temptation. Plus the family has a Jack Russell Terrier so they know a little something about dogs and their prey. We’ve exchanged emails with them and he seems to have settled in nicely. The kiddos weren’t happy but, after the cat was badly hurt (but thank goodness not killed), they understood.

2) We just ordered 85 meat chickens. Last year we had 50 and right now our freezer is almost chicken-less so we upped it by 25. Plus my dad wants the kiddos to raise him another 10. The chicken tractor we built last year only houses 50 so we’ll need to build a second one. Watch out innocent drivers – the minivan will be covered in hog panels again!

3) We’re pasturing three pigs this summer. We just ordered three Tamworth pigs to arrive sometime in May. They come from a pasture-based farm so we’re hoping it goes well. Two pigs for us, one for my parents (to be raised by the kids). We may even advertise to see if anyone would be interested in buying a half or whole pig that we would raise as an extra. Last year we really enjoyed the piggies so I’m excited to have them again. Plus our bacon supply is getting low and, as my 9 year old says, I heart bacon.

4) Bees have been ordered. We decided to order a nuc of bees in case one of our hives didn’t make it (although they are both looking good – woohoo!). A nuc is different from the packages we got last year. A package is a group of bees with a queen that comes in a wooden box. You dump them into your empty hive. Our package came from California. A nuc is basically a small hive. It is a few frames with a group of bees and a queen. The frames already have “bee food” so the bees can jump right in to having babies instead of first collecting food. Plus the nuc is coming from a guy up the road a bit so it will be a Wisconsin hive that we know can withstand a Wisconsin winter. All good things in my book.

5) Onions and peppers are being started inside. I LOVE planting the first seeds of the year! And we’re getting together a final list of what we’re growing this year. Fun stuff to think about while the snow flies.

6) Sheep and goats are getting close to having babies! And the goats are getting, to put it nicely, a little round. The sheep still aren’t showing but I’m told that is common. This month we are going to put together some lambing and kidding kits for when the big day gets here sometime in the beginning of April. And, as prep work, we’re going to be shearing the sheep the last weekend of February. Josh took a class and bought the shears so I’m hoping it goes well.

7) For my birthday, I got worms. Not as bad as it sounds – they’re composting worms. Actually, I got the worm house and the worms are in the mail as I type. (This is the house Josh bought for me – he sure knows the way to my heart!) The house will be placed in the kitchen and we’ll feed them food scrapes, paper, card board, etc. that they will turn into lovely worm poop and a compost tea. These will be used in the garden as compost/fertilizer. And when our worms multiply enough, the chickens will have a yummy little treat! And no, there is no way that the worms can escape their home – I made sure of this already!

February is dubbed “The Month Of The Wood”. When we bought our homestead, the people had relatives that owned a tree service. Apparently he brought them lots of long, huge logs that they decided to just leave lying in the fields. Our job has been to cut it into firewood lengths, split it all and then stack it to let it dry properly before next winter. So far we’re done about a cord (which is a pile of wood stacked 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall). We probably have another cord or so of this soft wood to go. In addition to that, we’ve ordered 11, yep, ELEVEN, more cords of hard wood (which burns more steady than soft wood). It comes in eight foot long logs that we then have to cut, split and stack for drying. Oh, and once everything is dry (or seasoned) this fall, we have to move all 12-13 cords into the sheltered area to stay dry. Fun times, huh? The good news is that this is 2 years worth of wood so we won’t have to do this again next year. Plus, this uncut, unseasoned wood is $90 a cord, whereas buying split, seasoned wood from someone else is about $200 a cord. I’d say it’s worth the achy muscles!

9) The laying hens are going crazy with eggs! Anyone local want to buy some free-range, organically-fed eggs from some really happy chickens? Or even fertilized eggs since we have 5 roosters? My kids would love you forever since eggs have been on the menu at least once a day for a few months now. Or, if anyone wants a Barred Rock rooster or two or three or even four, come on over – they’re free!

10) I’ve started dabbling in soap making, herbal remedies and tinctures and essential oils. My family is a little nervous at being my guinea pigs…

And that’s it. Well, actually there are a million and one more things but those are the most interesting. Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods! And if you have any advice or ideas about our new adventures or want eggs or pork, let me know.

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This post has been linked to Farmgirl Friday. Click the button below to check out some other great farming blogs!

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. The Wood Stackers
2. Um, Hello.
3. Wood Stove Potatoes

Frame Materials:

1/2″ hardware cloth

scrap lumber – we used a 1×6 that we cut in half to make two 1x3s

poultry staples

screws

Candy materials

8 pounds of sugar

1.5 cups of water

1/2 (read: half) tablespoon of vinegar (white or apple cider)

winter pollen patty (optional)

To build the frame:

1. First you need to measure the length and width of your hive. Now cut two pieces of wood for the length of your hive body long and two other pieces at the right width. Cut them with a 45 degree angle at the ends. The angled ends aren’t totally required (you could just leave them straight) but the angles help the box fit together more tightly.

2. Using screws, attach the boards to form a box. But be warned: using knit gloves to while doing so can lead to unintended consequences:

3. Time to add an entrance/exit hole. Find the center of one of the shorter boards (the front and back pieces). With a 5/8 inch drill bit, make the hole near the bottom of the board. (When placed on the hive, this hole will sit just peeking out from the telescoping lid so that is why you want it placed towards the bottom of the board and not centered.)

4. Now for a bit of “do as I say, not as I do”. We cut the hardware cloth to the exact size of the box with about an inch extra. We then used poultry staples to attach the cloth to the box. This is NOT what we will do when we build more of these. Why not? Because the staples and hardware cloth don’t let it sit snug against the hive body when we put them on the hive.

Instead of doing it this way, next time we will cut the hardware cloth a few inches bigger and fold it up into the box. Then we’ll staple it to the inside of the box which will allow the wooden frame to sit flush onto the hive. So, do as I say, not as I did.

Oh, and make sure you attach the hardware cloth so that the entrance/exit hole is closest to the cloth. Otherwise it will sit under the telescoping lid and the bees won’t be able to use it.

And that’s it. The frame is built. In all, it took about an hour to build two boxes but that included cutting a 1×6 down into two 1x3s since that is what we had laying around.

To make the candy:

1. First line your frame with newspaper. Some people also use wax paper but since I can get extra newspaper for free from the recycling center that’s what we used. Only one layer of newspaper is needed since the bees will eat through it to get to the sugar.

2. Add 1/2 (half) tablespoon  of vinegar to 1.5 cups of water. The vinegar helps prevent mold. Add the water/vinegar solution to 8 pounds of granulated sugar. Mix well. The sugar will become moist and lumpy but not soaking wet.

3. Now, this step is entirely optional and can only be completed it your bowl is shiny. But I highly recommend it since it makes your sugar sweeter. Okay here it is: Spend about 5 minutes making funny monkey faces at yourself while laughing hysterically.

Again, this step is not required but is recommended.

4. Plop the mixture into the frame and smooth it around. Leave some space around the entrance/exit hole so that the bees have room to come and go.

5. We decided to include a winter pollen patty for them as another food source. Using a glass bowl, I made a hole to put the pollen patty into. Someone used a piece of a 2×4 board to do this, other people just pushed the sugar out of the way with a spatula. Whatever works for you.

6. If you’re using a pollen patty, put it into your candy board. Our patties were pretty big so we cut one in half and put it in the newly created space for it. (We got our patties from a local bee supply store called Dadant & Sons.)

And now you have a sugar board! You don’t have to wait until the sugar hardens to put it into the hive; it’s ready to go now.

Placing the candy board:

1. To place the board, remove the hive lid and inner cover. In this photo, you can see the bees eating the pollen patty we put in the hive a few weeks ago. This is the weaker of our two hives and the fact that they are at the top of the hive already isn’t a great sign. We’re hoping the candy board and pollen patties give them all the extra food they need.

2. Place the candy board onto the hive with the hole in the front. Then place the inner cover back on.

3. Finally replace the outer cover. See how the candy board hole peeks out from under the lid to make an upper entrance/exit for the bees?

And now you’re all done! I am by no means even close to someone who know anything about what she is doing. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll try to help.

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This post was linked to Homestead Barn Hop. To check out some other great homesteading blogs, click the button below!

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Checking Out The Bees
2. Bringing The Bees Home
3. How Much Help Is Too Much?

When we opened the struggling hive this weekend, we saw bees right away – not a great sign. When it gets cold, bees form a cluster in the bottom of the hive. As they hang out, trying to keep warm, they eat all the honey they have stored around them. When that honey is gone, they move up in the hive to find more food. The goal is to have them move into the very top of the hive (which contains the last of their honey supply) as spring starts and they can begin making more honey.

The weaker colony at the top of their hive

We checked the stronger hive and could see the bees down in the hive but not up top like the weaker one. Woohoo, maybe we won’t kill them both!

Now, this is where our homesteading philosophy comes in to play. It goes something like this:

1) Everyone carries their own weight – parents, kids, animals, plants. If you aren’t doing your part, you may just find yourself replaced (or have your allowance deducted, if you happen to be of the kid variety).

2) We will help animals and plants to some extent but will not coddle them. If a variety of plant doesn’t grow well for us, we aren’t going to baby it along or save the seeds for next year. If an animal is constantly sick or needs special attention, we will cull that animal. We don’t want to make more work for ourselves. We select animals and plants based on their natural abilities to succeed in our climate.

So, if we based our actions solely on these two things, we wouldn’t give the bees much help to get through the winter. Our ultimate goal is to have bees that can survive a Wisconsin winter without much intervention.

But there are some mitigating factors with these hives.

First, they were new hives without any foundation. That means the bees had to make all the honey comb they would need to store the honey and pollen. They also use the comb to raise their bee babies. Once we put them into the hive, they had to make the comb, gather nectar and pollen and start laying eggs. All this “housekeeping” work takes away from their honey making time. Next year, they will use the comb they built this summer to get a jump start on their egg laying and honey making.

Another strike against these hives was their arrival date. Normally our weather allows our area to get new bees in mid April. We ordered our bees from California. Unfortunately they had a cold, wet spring like we did here in Wisconsin. They weren’t able to produce new packages of bees until much later. We finally got our bees around the end of May – a very late start. They then had to go through the whole comb-building process which further delayed their honey production.

The package of bees we got this spring

Finally, we’re new bee keepers. That should speak for itself. The poor bees. I know there were probably things we should have done differently or didn’t do at all (or perhaps we did things we weren’t supposed to – the possibilities are endless when you are knowledgeable enough to cause lots of trouble).

Now, we knew going into this winter, we would need to feed some sugar which can be in syrup form or in a hard “candy” form. That’s just because we live in a frozen tundra that has months and months and months and months (I could go on and on….) of cold weather. They bees often don’t have enough time to make all the honey for their winter needs and for the honey thieves (AKA: bee keepers). Plus we knew these particular hives had the other problems I just mentioned.

So, the question becomes: how much help is too much? We are in mid January and one hive is close to starving. They won’t be able to make honey for themselves until sometime in June. They have been a weak hive from the very start. The other hive has outpaced them all spring and summer and probably has enough honey to last at least a few more months. The smaller hive is not going to make it without serious help. But how much is too much? How much will push us over the line of being helpful and into the realm of coddling them?

This is a question we face in many different areas of the farm. Because of our cold, wet spring, the garden struggled, particularly the longer growing plants. So can we fairly judge their performance given the hand mother nature dealt? What about the chickens that have been selectively bred over the years to get food from humans instead of foraging for themselves? If a breed turns out to be bad foragers, should we give more food or cull them from the flock to allow room for chickens who still have this skill?

Sometimes it feels like a harsh decision, particularly when it means the death of an animal if we choose to limit our involvement. Those are the times it kind of sucks to be the ones in charge. Each animal and plant is important to us and it hurts to lose any of them. So we try really hard to make an informed decision based on all the facts and unusual circumstances. Sometimes we swoop in like the cavalry, sometimes we stand back and watch. And every time we hold our breaths, hoping we made the right choice.

As for the bees, we decided each hive should get a little extra help this year but it comes with a notice that next year, it’s honey or bust.

PS: Check back on Monday to find out how we made the bees some yummy candy boards to help them survive the winter!

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This post was linked to FarmGirl Friday at Deborah Jean’s Dandelion House. Click on the button to check out some other great homesteading blogs!

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Things I Didn’t Know A Year Ago: Bee Edition
2. Playing With Bees
3. Babies and Queens

Who, Me?

A few days ago, Penelope started coughing. At first I was like, “Did she just COUGH?” because we hadn’t heard them do that before. Then she sneezed a few times. We mainly noticed it when she was in the barn so we thought it might just be a reaction to the dust from all the straw and hay. Since we’ve gotten them, it’s been warm enough that they go out to the pastures every day. Now when the weather is really cold and windy or snowy, we keep them in the barn with free access to the barnyard (which, being fair-weather goats, they don’t use because their hooves might get cold). Being around all the dusty hay and straw can make some animals cough and sneeze.

But then we heard Beatrice and Minnie sneezing and coughing, not much but a few times. And yesterday I saw some yellowish gunk in Beatrice’s eye, kind of like kids can get with colds. On a positive note, Penelope isn’t coughing or sneezing anymore and everyone is eating, drinking, peeing, pooping and being as stubborn as usual. So hopefully the virus is working it’s way through the herd and will be done soon.

I am watching them very carefully though because I have read that goats can develop pneumonia easily. If they develop a raspy cough (as opposed to this dry, “normal” cough they have) or if have greenish discharge from their nose or eyes, it may be pneumonia. If either of those things happen, my next step would be to see if they have a temperature. Now, I’ve never taken a temperature on an animal before but I do know you don’t just ask them to open their mouth and hold the thermometer until it beeps. I know that at some point I’ll have to take a temperature but I’m hoping that day isn’t today. Or maybe I’ll just make Josh do it….

You want to take our temperature WHERE?!?!

Regardless, if we have to take the temperature, we will. Goats are usually around 103 degrees so we’d be looking for anything higher that than. If they have any of those symptoms, I would call our vet. But since they are still in the realm of “normal cold” then we’ve decided to stay away from antibiotics. Instead, I’ve ordered an herbal immune boosting tincture to give them.

Now, stay with me here. I didn’t grow up in the 60s, I don’t wear bell bottoms and groovy isn’t my favorite word (although I have been known to say it a time or two). But I have been researching medicinal herbs as an alternative to Western medicine. I figure humans have been using food for thousands of years to make our bodies work so why not try using it now instead of other non-natural products. I know that herbs won’t cure everything but for things like viruses (which antibiotics won’t help anyway), why not try it? I’ve taken an herbal medicine class and made a few concoctions for our family if we catch a cold. Well, turns out that those same herbs can be used for the same purposes in animals.

For us, it would be best to give the goats something in liquid form. That way we can just squirt it into their mouths and know that we’ve given them X amount of X. I can make these liquid remedies but it takes a few weeks of “brewing” while the goats need it now. (In hindsight, I should have made them already but my foresight isn’t as good as my hindsight.) So I compromised. I ordered a bottle of Immune ST from Molly’s Herbals. I decided to order from Molly’s Herbals because they also run the web site Fias Co Farm which is a wonderful site for goat owners. They have so much information and are extremely knowledgeable on all things goats. I really appreciate their willingness to share what they know and the things they make for their animals. I’ll use their tincture on the goats now while I get to work making my own.

I think the cold just needs time to run it’s course. But if there is anything I can do to help it along and make the girls feel more comfortable until it’s gone, I’m willing to give it a try. So I’m off to start my hippy, er, witchy, um, total-normal-for-everyday-people brewing of medicinal herbal concoctions while I wait for my package in the mail.

Have a groovy day, dude!

PS: No one at Molly’s Herbals knows me. These are not affiliate links and I get nothing from them for talking about them. I haven’t used their products yet so I can’t say how well they will work.

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This post is linked to a new blog hop I stumbled across called The Country Homemaker Hop. Check it out for some other great blogs!

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Ding Dong! The Ram Is Gone!
2. Ding Dong! The Ram Is Gone!
3. A Recycled Chicken Coop – Part 3

This is Fin. We got him from a dog rescue. They believe he is a 2 year old Blue Heeler/Australian Shepherd mix. He is just the sweetest dog -and this is coming from a person who isn’t really keen on dogs, especially dogs that stay indoors most of the time. Something about their drool, their need to lick and the dog smell. But Fin is cute enough that I almost forget about all that. Almost.

Our hope is that one day he will not only be a pet, but also a working member of our farm. Austrailian Shepherds and Blue Heelers (also called Austrailian Cattle Dogs) are both herding animals, primarily bred to help farmers herd cattle and sheep. Once Fin gets settled in, we would like him to help herd our sheep and maybe the goats and most definitely the children.

Right now, he needs to learn the basics, like “sit”, “wait” and “come” (not to confuse him with my 5 year old who needs to learn the same things). After that, our plan is to find someone local that can help us learn to work with Fin as a team when dealing with the sheep.

We decided to wait to introduce him to the sheep, goats and chickens until we get a better feel for his tolerance of other animals. He has seen them from a distance but not up close yet.

Except for one poor little chicken.

My son had Fin on a leash and was jogging with him around the yard. One of our free-range laying hens happened to be in a bush and, just as they ran by, she popped out of the bush right into their path. I was across the yard from them and watched the whole thing. It was one of those moments where you see it all happen, yet are powerless to stop it. All I could do was watch as Fin reached down and scooped her up into his mouth. My son started yelling “FIN! NO! HELP!” and I ran over to them. Fin was just standing there like, “Wow, I caught something. Now what?”

As I got to him, Fin opened his mouth and I grabbed the chicken. A quick health check revealed no gaping wounds or blood. The kids took the chicken into the coup while I took Fin inside to his crate. I checked the chicken again and it seemed physically okay but it couldn’t stand or walk. All we could do was make her comfortable and wait to see how she would do. My hope was that she was just in shock but it is now two days later and she is still not moving. We pick her up and take her to the water and food but that isn’t something I want to do for the rest of her chicky life. So if she still can’t move within the next few days, we are just going to have to put her down. I would much prefer her to go quickly than to be in lots of pain or slowly starve to death.

So, while this was an unfortunate event, we can’t really blame the dog. He hasn’t shown any aggression towards the chickens, really not even to this one that literally jumped out in front of him. I think it was more a freak occurrence but I guess we’ll see as time goes on. If he is unable to leave the chickens alone, I’m afraid we would have to return him to the rescue. And that would be very, very hard for the my kids and even me.

Cause, for a dog, he’s kind of a sweetie pie.

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Meet The Sheep
2. Meet The Sheep
3. Ding Dong! The Ram Is Gone!

No, not the tractor. (I wish.)

No, not the car. (I already own it.)

No, not the wagon. (See tractor.)

See all those bricks of green yummy-ness? That’s what I got. All 210 bales!

And why was I so excited to receive this wagon full of hay? Because until our farmer friend drove it over here, we had been hauling hay from his farm to our’s in the back of our mini van. We can fit exactly 10 bales when both the back rows of seats are down. And if you put a tarp in first, clean-up is a snap. (Ask me how I know that clean-up ISN’T a snap without the tarp.) So if anyone tries to tell you that a mini van can’t be considered a farm vehicle, just tell them they’re wrong.

But back to my Christmas present. Well, I guess it was really a present for the goats and sheep who, you know, like to eat. Since winter is here and the pasture isn’t exactly a buffet of scrumptious goodness, the animals are chowing down on hay. Our 7 animals are eating about a bale a day. (If you want the details, one bale is about 45 pounds, each animal eats about 6 pounds a day which equals – ta da – about a bale a day.)

So the provider of just about all our animal feed, Mr. Shoe, took pity on us and drove the 10 miles from his place to ours. We then spent the next 30 minutes unloading the wagon. We had two types of hay. One is an alfalfa and grass mix for all the girlies to eat now. Because they are pregnant they need a good hay but nothing fancy. Then, when they all get close to having babies, we’ll switch them to the “better” type of hay. It has more alfalfa in it and less grass. Alfalfa is higher in protein so as lambing and kidding gets closer, we’ll give the girls some extra energy for birth and then lactating and milking.

The whole family helped. Mr. Shoe tossed the bales out of the wagon while the kids, Josh and I hauled them into the barn. Needless to say, I don’t have many photos because Josh insisted that I had to actually participate instead of just snapping pics. Sigh. The hard life I lead…

But at least now the barn is full, my van will stay (relatively) clean and the animals are set for the rest of the winter. It is strange but when I look at those stacks, it makes me all warm and squishy to know we are ready and able to provide for our animals so that they can provide for us.

Or maybe I just breathed too much hay dust….

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Pigs in May!
2. Wordless Wednesday
3. Advice Needed: Mulch for the Garden?

Ding Dong, the big ole ram is gone!

Now, don’t get me wrong. Ramsey (the name the kids gave him since he didn’t have a name) was at our house for 45 days. Even though he was HUGE, he was a gentle, kinda

Ramsey is the BIG boy on the right

sweet guy. He and three of our ewes hung out in the barnyard. We’re hoping that he got along very well with the girls, wink wink. So Ramsey himself wasn’t really the problem.

One of the problems was Virginia, our little lamb. She was a bottle baby and grew a little slower than mama-fed lambs so we decided to hold off on breeding her this year. That meant that Virginia had to be separated from the ram, and therefore, the rest of her herd. She was miserable! For the first 3 weeks, she didn’t even have the goats to hang out with since they were at another farm being bred.

By the way, I felt a little like a pimp. All I needed was a big purple hat. You got animals that need a little bow-chicka-wow-wow, I might just be your gal…

But I digress…

Once the goats came home, she perked up a little. During the days, she went out into the pasture with them but we put her back in her own stall at night. At least the around-the-clock pitiful sounding bleating finally stopped. She was happier with her new “herd” but it is nice to have sheep with sheep, just for simplicity’s sake, you know?

And there is another problem that I NEVER knew. I mean, who would have guessed? So here, get this:

Sheep and goats can cross-breed!!

I kid you not.

This boy sheep could get a little too friendly with my girl goats.

Don’t believe me? Check out this BBC News article for info about a sheep-goat hybrid. Strange…

While being interviewed for BBC News would be interesting, I’m not really up for an over-sexed geep (who knew there was a slang word for sheep-goat hybrd?!?!). So it meant that not only Virginia but also my little goaties had to stay away from Ramsey. Whenever the weather was too bad to take them to the pasture, they had to stay in the barn since “the man” was in the barnyard. Now, I know lots of animals live their whole lives inside closed stalls and never set hoof on green grass but that’s not how we roll. I always feel bad when they don’t have room to roam.

So, long story short, we were glad Ramsey came and did his job but it was time for him to go home. As he drove away with his owners this past Saturday, we stood and waved with a smile. Goodbye Ramsey. We were glad to meet you but don’t let the barn door hit you on the way out.

Other posts that might be of interest:

1. Meet The Sheep
2. Goats with Colds
3. Um, Hello.