Barn Building Continues

Well, Chris informed me that I need to keep up with the blog on a more regular basis, so I am going to do my best to spend time updating the blog, facebook, website, etc!

This weekend Chris and I spent time cleaning out chicken coops and working on the barn. Chris' dad came over on Sunday to help with some more barn progress. The barn is coming along, and it is hard to not get excited about the girls being able to move into it!

The back wall is almost completely sheathed, the second stories windows are sheathed. Here are some pictures of our progress. 

Three views of the back side of the barn. 

Windows at the very top

Second story hay storage

And Deva was supervising the guys the whole time, she is pleased with the craftsmanship and was cracking the whip to get the guys moving!

Here's to hoping the winter stays mild so we spend the cooler days working the barn. (I prefer this time of year for barn work then the summer, too hot and too much gardening/canning to be done)

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Dad!

Merry Christmas!

Love - Dragonfly Farm

Happy Winter!

Well it certainly has been a while since our last update! I think a New Years Resolution for the farm is going to be more regular with updates to the Blog! (and website!) anyway ....

We have been busy around the farm, all of the babies from Spring were sold. We decided to retain three, Sable (Sadie/Donnie), Jayden and Melanie (Misty/Elvis). The three are doing well and are continuing to grow and become a part of the herd.

With the cooler weather Chris, Myself and Joe (Chris' Dad) really pushed work on the barn. The barn now has a room, the top is framed for windows and has been sheathed. We are working on sheathing the back right now. Then all that is left is, adding windows and doors where needed, sheathing the other three sides, deciding on siding material and putting it up and the interior work. There will be three sections to the inside of the barn. 1) a feed/storage room, 2) a nursery and 3) main goat area.

There is still a lot of work to do, but if we can continue with this momentum the barn will be done in no time!

Over the last few months we have lost two of our peahens, leavings one male left. We have plans to get him some females, just having some trouble locating someone that has any right now. One of the hens we literally lost, she flew away, and the second died from a parasite overload. Some lessons you just need to learn the hard way, but know that I have an idea on what to look for in a sick peafowl the better I am with preventative care.

We have added a few animals to our clan, we adopted a female turkey and 5 chickens. They are doing great. We also purchased 30 standard cochin chicks in May. We had some major issues with predators breaking into the chick pen, but after a few weeks and about 10 losses we got everything straightened out and the chicks have grown into beautiful looking hens and roosters. We have already begun to receive eggs from them. I can also see that Chris and I will be enjoy plenty of fresh rooster this Winter.

As the weather began to get colder in October, we began to plan our breeding season. We have already had quite a few mating sessions and are waiting to see if any of them took. We are hoping for an early start to kidding season with the first babies being born in March. We are continuing to breed females as well so we hope for a long season for Spring of 2013 as well.

Oh yes, I almost forgot!
This fall I began creating homemade Goats Milk Soap to sell. Our product line is called, Body By Dragonfly. This has been a wonderful experience so far, selling mostly at craft fairs in the area. We did create an etsy page and hope that sales will pick up from there. Come and check us out!

Baby Pictures

Well as promised, here are some baby pictures that were supposed to be in the last post.

Sable - from Sadie and Donnie - she will be retained as Sadie is due to retire.

Jayden and Melanie - from Misty and Elvis - Jayden is the black and white and Melanie is mostly black

Dottie, Stella and SweetP are due to kid in July/August - i will keep you posted to their progress!

I know that there have been lots of requests to see updated pictures of the barn ... so here ya go!

Since these pictures were taken the roof has been put up on both sides and an over hand has been installed to protect the windows that will be in the split of the roof. The barn is coming along nicely. The next step will be to frame and side!

Spring 2012!

Well yet again I have let the blogging slip my mind as we get into the swing of spring!

We have been busy prepping and planting the garden (and even harvesting a little), raising baby goats, raising baby chicks, building the barn and starting the soap making.

Barn Update - The roofing material will be delivered on Monday! yeah! The roof frame is up and the nailers are in, all we need to figure out is how we get the metal sheets up there! Once the roof is on framing and siding will be begin. The barn is coming along nicely, we can't wait to get the goats in their new home.

Baby Chicks - We decided to purchase chicks for the first time this year. I found some blue, black and splash standard size cochin chicks for sale on Craigslist and for the price I could not resist. I purchased them from a wonderful young farmer. The babies are doing well, we have lost a few due to a pesky hawk, but think we have solved the problem of how he was sneaking into the baby pen.

Soap Making - I have decided that in part with the new barn, the goats will need to expand their function on our farm. With all of the babies that we have been having we have begun to milk some mammas as their babies leave the farm. Anika was our first milking victim! She did great considering it was her first time and ours. I have been freezing the milk and began experimenting with soap making. I am still in the trial phase. I have found a basic recipe that I really enjoy for the lather and the texture so now I have begun my experimentation with scents and add ins. A few weeks ago I made an Oatmeal Honey Bar that is great, and I will be keeping the recipe. Today I made a batch of Eucalyptus Mint with mint flakes, I will let you know how that one works out!

Garden - This year we have: Asparagus, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Strawberries, Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, Cucumbers, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, Radishes and Lettuce. So far we have enjoyed the Broccoli, Cabbage, Strawberries, Radishes and Lettuce. We cannot wait for the rest of the vegetables to mature!

Baby Goats - We have had a great season so far for baby goats. At this point we have had a total of 8 babies and 7 of those have been girls!

Anika gave birth to Belle and Colt on March 29. 

Deva gave birth to Alexis on April 6.

Lilly gave birth to Aurora, Jasmine and Show White on April 23.

Misty gave birth to Jayden and Melanie on May 19 - pictures to come

Sadie gave birth to Sable on May 28 - picture to come

Sable will be retained as it is getting close to Sadie's retirement. 

Still expected to give birth:

SweetP

Dottie

Stella

Thank you all for taking the time to check in with us! 

Winter Update

Well it has been quite some time since I have updated! Things have been a whirl wind around here, let me see if I can get you all up to speed (I am sure I will leave some things out!)

We sold all of our baby goats from Spring/Summer 2011 - which means we sold 17 babies total! Our best year so far, hoping for one just a big and successful this year. Our waiting list for 2012 has already started.

Progress on the barn has been going well, we have the roof framed. We are waiting to purchase the tin for the roof and then move onto framing for the sides. I cannot wait for the barn to be completed and for the girls to move on in! I think they are anxious too since they keep spending time under the frame, I bet they are picking out the corners they want to sleep in!

The piglets, Max and Daisy May are doing GREAT! They are quite a pair. Max and Daisy do not like to be apart and follow each other around the yard. If I am out there with them they like to follow me around. Max and Daisy like to have their bellies scratched, sometimes they will walk right up to you and lay down when they feel they have not been getting enough attention. The pigs like to spend their time rooting through the yard to find the tasty roots below.

New addition to the farm - For Chris' birthday I got him 3 peafowl chicks. We think that we have two females and male. We are very excited to have these beautiful birds on our farm and look forward to collecting and hatching their eggs!

Our rescue efforts continue - a few weeks ago we rescued 12 chickens from a friend that was moving and could not take their beloved pets with them. They are all pure Dominique and are adjusting well to pasture life.

With every farm comes the chances for loss, sadly we have had our fair share this year.

-In September our beloved goat Pumpkin passed away. I had a necropsy done on her and the vet informed me that if if weren't for the fact that she was dead she would be perfectly healthy. So that was not very helpful information.

-In January, our valiant Gallahad passed away. He struggled a long fight with parasites and finally lost his battle. It was a very sad loss for us since he was so sick for so long and then showed such great improvement, only to come home and find that he had passed.

-Big Red, our first Rooster that was hatched here was attacked and killed by a neighbors dog while protecting his flock. That was another hard loss for us since he was our original Rooster.

-Krunk, Chris' favorite Silkie Rooster, with a foot deformity was pulled out of his chicken coop by a Racoon.

-Itty Bitty, Chris' favorite bantam cochin hen went missing from the farm without a trace. She did leave behind a sweet little hen to take her place.

It has been a rough start to the year, but we are persistent and cannot let these minor set backs discourage us from moving forward. This year we plan to finish the barn as well as add more pastures for the animals.

For chickens, we have decided to replace the coops we currently have with pure chickens of the same breed. This will be done over time as chickens come out of production or go missing. Coop 1, formally Red's Coop, will be the first coop to under go such a transformation. The Dominiques moved into coops 1 and I have found a local source for pure Dominique eggs that I will hatch this year and add to coop 1.

Well, thanks for checkin in ! I promise to update more timely this year!