Keeping up Appearances...

Sometimes appearances are just that... appearances.  Here we are nearly mid April and still no sign of a baby goat for Chiba.  And since I sold the buck right before Thanksgiving, I don't really see how she could be pregnant.  



"I'm not pregnant"

A Boer Goats gestation is 148-152 days, with the gestation calculator using 150 as the average number of days.  I'm going to use November 10, 2014 as the date I'm pretty sure I sold him, because that was a Monday, and the small livestock sales only take place on Mondays, and because that was right before Thanksgiving.  Make sense? 

To clarify, if I calculate the number of days from November 10th, this would put her at 150 days as of today (April 8th).  I hope she proves me wrong and drops a kid this week, but it doesn't seem likely.  And if she isn't pregnant, well, then she is embarrassingly overweight and the shame is on me for letting her become that way.  Enough said. ~A

Goat Milk, Goats, Gardens and More...

Sadly, Chiba the goat gave birth to a still-born doe on May 13th.  On a good note, she seems to be recovering well, and is producing around two pints of milk every evening.  I've been freezing all of it with the hope of making cheese in June when my Mother and Grandmother visit.


Chiba's milk is on the right.

Around the farm, things are "greening" up nicely and the temperatures are definitely much more pleasant.  The garden is in and things are growing well.  Last weekend I bought a peach, pear, and two apple trees, bringing the total fruit trees on the farm to seven.  Can I declare I have an orchard now? 

The Buck goat was moved outside into a large pen, and the little spotted mare is his pasture mate for the time being.  They seem to get along fine. I'm hoping that being outside will settle him down a bit and he'll become less aggressive to humans.  Time will tell. 

I walked the back of the property yesterday evening, and so far the ticks do not seem to be a problem.  Maybe the harsh winter took care of few of them?



Louie, having a swim...

June is just around the corner and soon farmers will be cutting the first hay of the season.  It's one of my favorite times of the year.  June also means that if I want to have a heritage turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, I need to hatch some soon or buy some chicks.  The six eggs I have in the incubator are due to hatch yesterday or today.  So far there is no sign of anything trying to make its way out of an egg shell. I'm going to be really bummed if I can't hatch my own turkeys each year. I hope all of you are enjoying your spring and weather is good. ~A

Chicks and Buns

The spring babies are all vibrant and healthy, and growing like weeds.  A couple of the bunnies are now venturing away from the nest and out into the world, and sharing carrots with the mothers.  The baby chicks are showing some odd color variations the previous hatches never had.  Anyone know why this would be?  Same roosters and hens, so what gives?

Chicks!

The first batch of chicks have started hatching out yesterday and today.  With a few winter power outages and some issues controlling the temperature in the incubator, I half doubted any would hatch.  This morning it looked like about 50% were out of their shells so far.  After tonight I think I can assume what's hatched is final.  Little dog BiBi cannot be torn away from them, as it is always with a new hatch.  She's so motherly.

A little blonde Turken

The Pear Shaped Princess

Still no signs of a baby.  I spoke with the vet about the possibility of a blood test to determine if she truly is pregnant.  She's looking in to it for me. Then at least, if I found out she wasn't, I could start her on some sort of diet and exercise plan... Happy Friday! ~A

Pressure cookers, snow, and a fat goat

 

"You know who" has still not shown any sign of a due date.  I'm ready to give up on her...

 



 

I'm feeling rather low and beat down with all this cold and snow and snow and cold.  And what do woman tend to do when they're feeling down?  Shop, of course.  And so I did.

I have an aluminum pressure canner/cooker that I absolutely love, but knowing that aluminum is not the best to cook with (only to can with), and knowing how often I use my canner (a lot!), I decided to splurge an buy a smaller, everyday stainless steel cooker for non-canning use. So I bought an 8-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker this morning on Amazon and now I can't wait for it to arrive!

I hate waiting.  I'm already dreaming of all the recipes I want to try with it. 

Five days or so and it will arrive.  Unless the delivery man cannot get up my snow filled driveway.  Fingers crossed...

Still no signs

Well, its February. 

February is Goat kidding month.  The month when goats normally start having babies (aka "kidding").  But the only kidding happening here on this farm is my goat kidding with me about whether she will ever give birth.  Can you tell I'm getting impatient? 



February 3, 2014

Adios January

Its 36 degrees today as I sit here slurping a hot bowl of tomato-basil soup, and this weather feels absolutely amazing after so many days of arctic BS.  This is the last day of January and I am very glad to see it go! I am so hoping for a kinder February and looking forward to spring again.

Not much of anything is happening on the farm right now.  Its just cold and uneventful.  Mama-to-be goat still has not shown any sign of having any babies any time soon.  I really am beginning to wonder if she is in fact pregnant?  What a trick that would be.  She went out for a stroll and played in the snow with her BFF doggie "Louie" yesterday, and seemed as content as ever bouncing around the snow covered pasture.

I am almost decided that a pig will be added to the farm this year.  I'm a little leery about getting one, because I know nothing about pigs and I still have to set up a pen for it.  But the farmer called me the other day and said the two sows had just given birth and the piglets will be ready in mid March.  So I need to hurry up and make a decision, pig or no pig. Have any of you out there raised a pig before, and if so, can you give me the dirt on what I'm getting myself into if I get one?  Is it worth it? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Well the weekend is finally here, and I'm looking forward to some better weather and the quiet time to experiment with some new recipes. I hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

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What (almost) a year can do...

A little flashback to some of the farm babies, showing how they've grown over the past year (or less).

June 2013 (We're focusing on the little yellow guy here)

Remember that little yellow guy?  Here he is in December of 2013

 

And how about this cute little man back in March of 2013...

 Here he is now in December of 2013.  (With a suspicious turkey watching from behind....)