Crazy chickens everywhere!

Well we adopted a new chicken this past week and have appropriately named him Shadow. Not only is he black but he is willing to follow you around the basement and outside since we keep the other roosters away from him. He is much smaller than our other roosters so we don't really see him much. He was perching on the satellite arm, but the past two nights he has been sleeping in the woods somewhere. He comes to the back door when he is hungry and the parents that we are open the basement door for him to come running in and to get a good meal. ::shakes head:: never thought i would say that about a chicken! We decided today to put him in the buck pasture since the other chickens stay away from there, and in hopes that the higher fence would deter him from flying over. It will give him a safe place to sleep and a warmer place (since he is not a fan of sleeping with the other chickens). Here is a picture of Shadow from todays basement lunch. 

He is a very handsome man, hopefully he will warm up to little bit and we can have some nice cochin hatching eggs! 

We have been talking about the up and coming goat barn, and what it needs to have and should have and all the details so we can start debating and then get to leveling and building. I am excited about this! So far we have a 20x30 structure and an existing small structure that has to be moved. 

Here are some Christmas fun pictures of the goats! Enjoy! 

Its almost here!

We had a wonderful weekend with friends and family in CT/NY. The trip was way to short, but very worth it. While we were gone Miss Hatti and her grandkids watched over everything for us. From what I hear they had a wonderful time and are considering purchasing some animals in the future. 

We are ready for Santa here, our stocking are hung by the chimney, the tree is up and decorated as well as can be, and the presents are wrapped and tucked away in a clever hiding space. Now all that is missing is the snow (which is not going to happen since we are supposed to have a 50deg Christmas).

Oh, I was cleaning this weekend and stumbled across something Chris wrote for me one morning, wanted to share his cleverness and cuteness with all of you:

After the dogs were out

they ran back to be fed

finishing that, they sneaked back to bed.

The girls were crying

as I was trying to

convert ounces to cups in my head.

The girls got the milk they needed

were filled with water and grain

while they bleated .

A quick prayer was said 

to the empty cage that

was set up for the birth of food.

The eggs were rolled

as a story was told.

Tucking them back into bed.

It was a very clever note that was created to let me know that all the morning chores in the house has been done.  We had baby goats to bottle feed, a cricket cage that needed to be cleaned, dogs to feed and walk and our first set of eggs in the bator that needed to be turned by hand.  

Hope you enjoyed his little poem! Well time for work, have a Merry Christmas!

Another weekend down

We finally got our second pasture finished today! Only took like forever :) The ladies have plenty of room to eat the brush. Hopefully this will help us keep our hay cost down a little bit. 

Chris also managed to start siding the run thru to keep the ladies out of the wind. We talked and decided to side it all around and turn it into a small shelter. The more places that are warm and not windy the better. 

On an exciting note, we will be going to CT soon to see the family. It will only be for a few days, but I am excited. I am baking cookies out of my ears to take with us. 

Guess that is all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Fencing, Fencing, Fencing!

Well last weekend we worked to clear the new fence line. Nothing like 100% overgrown land on a hill! Anyway, all we need to do this weekend is set posts and string the line, then the girls will have a nice new area with lots of veggies still growing! 

SweatP and the twins are doing good, Jasper is getting so big it is hard to believe that he is only 3 weeks old. Pumpkin is coming around and will curl up in my lap when i am out in the field playing with everyone. Lilly is still shy, but we are working on making her a sweat heart. 

Still not babies from Stella and Sadie, I think they are 2 months out, which will mean that Buster is the Daddy . . . again. Next heat cycle Florence will take the trip to the buck house and hopefully will be bred for May babies, I have to be careful to not have babies coming in July, when we are getting married. 

Otherwise all is well here, working on planning thanksgiving dinner at home for two. Lots of food to be prepared, you would think i am feeding a family of 12! We wish everyone a happy and safe thanksgiving!

Slow Weekend

Well, this past weekend was rather slow around here. I was home alone on Saturday so I cleaned house (how exciting).  Sunday we went to Chris' parents house for dinner, and did not do too much work. In the morning chris worked on the electrical panel so I was unable to do my baking. 

I posted our little Jasper for sale, have not received any emails, so hopefully this week someone will be interested. I need to make up some fliers and post them around, see if that helps. I have also been thinking about selling my buck, Buster, so I can see about purchasing some registered males and attempt to go thru the progency test with my girls. But who knows!

We still have 2 pregnant does (Stella and Sadie) and I am looking to breed Florence next heat cycle to have some may babies!

Like I said not a very exciting week has passed, oh well, there was that one little incident when i thought something had gotten on of Chris' favorite chicks, turned out that one of the goats knocked the water container on her, so she was safe and located the next morning. 

Maybe this week will be a little more eventful! 

Getting things up and running!

So we finally seem to have the website up and running! I found a way to update visitor without having to spend a ton of time on the computer, which will definitely make this easier. So what has been going on around here, SweatP had triplets 2 weeks ago, 2 does and 1 buck, all three are doing wonderfully! We collected our first egg this week from one of the chickens inside, which means I have to get the lights out in the coop so the others will lay. And, sadly, we sold our Kiko buck Whitey to a good home (only down the road), since we have no use for him with our minis. 

I went to a craft show yesterday in Mt. Airy, and had a great time, I sold my dog biscuits and dog coats.  I met a woman who make soap from her goats milk so I am looking forward to going out to her farm and looking around and learning as much as I can. 

Here are some pictures of the new babies!

This is Jasper, he looks white, but is going to end up being a cream color. He has wonderful markings down his back and on his face and knees. We are planning to sell him, as a buck or a wither. 

Next we have Pumpkin (thank you ashley for the name), she is a chocolate brown with black legs and a stripe down her back. She has some white markings on her face and frosted ears, not sure if she will be for sale yet, still need to decide!

Last but not least, we have Lilly, she is so far the favorite among family. She is half white, and half chocolate, with black legs.  She also has some white markings on her brown face. We are not sure about selling her, but most likely she will be retained. 

Well thats about all for now, I have 2 more does expecting and hopefully more eggs to come soon as well! Thanks for stopping by!