Fifty Meals

Yesterday, hubby and I put together this box.

It is for my new adventure that I mentioned earlier.  Can you guess what is to go in this box?

I'll give you a hint, it comes in this small box.

Chicks of course!

But not just any chicks, these are 50 male white rock x fast growing meat chicks!  I am going to be raising them pasture raised in a chicken tractor but meanwhile they are to live here inside the greenhouse where it is snug and warm.  When they reach about 2-3 weeks, they will go outside in the tractor.  Am looking forward to watching them grow.  And lining my freezer.  But until then...we love baby chicks, it never gets old.  

Electric Fence and Foal Update

I finally got my electric fence working on the portable pen for the sheep however sheep are wily little things and don't let a little thing like electricity stop them!  They crawled under it, leaped it and even knocked it down.  The only ones who actually respected the electric fence were the goats!  And here I thought goats were the difficult ones to contain!

It seemed such a waste of time and space for three little goats so I brought in Sierra and Pixie for company.

Speaking of Pixie...still no foal.  We are at 342 days and this is where we are at.  Belly has dropped more.

Actually, if it weren't for the dropped belly I would not know she was pregnant.  From behind she does not look in foal whatsoever.

And not much different from the front either.

What udder she had developed a couple weeks ago has all but vanished and her vulva doesn't look much different. Maybe a little longer but not much.

Truth is, I keep searching the pasture for a dead foal because she looks so not pregnant any more...with the exception of the dropped belly.

I should think any day now we will have a foal on the ground...hopefully alive and not dead as I fear!

Mushroom Melt

Me and the Bambino went out yesterday to pick up the newest member to our crazy household.

My son has wanted a Jack Russell for oh I don't know how long.  Just forever I think.  A couple years back we had found an older jack russell/beagle mix for him but the dog ended up having some issues and took a good bite into my arm several times.  So we rehomed him with someone without small children and the Bambino's search continued.  This time around I was being picky about what we were looking for.  And to be honest I was leary about bringing a purebred Jack Russell into the house because of their high level of energy.  So we waited for one to come to our doggie daycare and sure enough when one did arrive, the Bambino couldn't get enough of him.  This is him with Wilson the boarding Jack Russell.

It was a good test run to see if he would enjoy a Jack Russell as much as he thought he would.  So the search continued and meanwhile Bambino sold rabbits, his John Deere replica toy collection, and did extra chores to raise money for his very own dog.  Then at last he found the perfect puppy and brought him home.

He slept in Bambino's arms the entire hour and a half drive home.  The Bambino refused to move and wake him and got cramped by the time we got home but he was a fantastic little owner.  He has named the puppy Max who is the smallest puppy I think I've ever seen!  He has two diamond shape eye patches.

And a mushroom marking on his back.

I mean that just did it for me.  My obsession over mushrooms could only mean it was meant to be. One thing for certain he has melted everyone's heart and will probably be a fixture in the household for a very long time.  Well done Bambino.

Foal Watch - Day 338

Well according to my research, Pixie is approximately 18 days overdue.  Some sites claim that mini's gestation period is 320 and some say 342.  But I'm not to panic as she can apparently go as late as 350 days.  I've put her back outside to keep her moving and hopefully help stimulate contractions.

Pixie from behind.

She's a maiden mare so doesn't show too terribly much.  Meanwhile in the mini pen, I am certain that Meadow has gone into heat.  Tex is showing an awful lot of interest in her.

He's only about nine months old and doesn't really know what to do, but it isn't impossible either.

It would be fantastic if these two love birds hooked up though.

And maybe have another expecting foal next spring.

Egg Increase

Our egg count has been pretty pathetic lately.  We were lucky to get an egg a day.  So we gave the chicken coop it's spring cleaning.

Bought 7 one year old Isa Reds.

And voila we had seven eggs the very next day.

Those girls are laying machines!  Now finally I can get back to some baking.

A Beautiful Place

Today, someone I sold an item to from Kijiji came by the farm to pick it up.  He drove off the paved road and onto our gravel driveway and passed the horses grazing in the meadow to the left of the driveway.  He came up and around our drive and saw the sheep munching on the grass next to the red roofed barn.  Parking his car and getting out, he was immediately greeted by our free ranging chickens.  The man turned and opened his back door and out popped a child.  The man beamed at the child as if they were being greeted by Mickey Mouse at Disney World.  They made their way slowly to the porch while being escorted by our rooster.  On the deck next to the porch they broke out into wider smiles as our goose strolled leisurely next to the pond where a lone duck swam about below.

I open the door and greet him and the first thing he says is, "What a beautiful place you have here."  It's not the first time I've been told this.  Actually it's almost always the first words out of people's mouths when they visit our farm.  It certainly is a compliment however I always think a little ironic since this "beautiful place" isn't so easy to maintain as one may think.  I believe those coming from the city often have no idea what it takes to make a place like this so beautiful.  And it isn't easy.  Or fun at times.

For instance, the horses are only in the pasture because they have been giving me a hard time in the sacrificial lot from bending fence tops, chewing up the drive shed next to the sacrificial lot, and taking hissy fits for being condemned in said sacrificial lot.  And I refuse to house them in the barn and spend money on straw and hay not to mention the time and energy on mucking out four stalls.  So I finally relented and sent all the horses back into the big pasture.

The sheep are a pain in the butt to keep contained behind the barn as the horses have ripped their electric netting and they plow right through it and get themselves all tangled up.  The chickens are out free ranging because there coop is ten inches thick in manure and I don't have the time to muck it out.  The goose is hanging out next to the pond because the duck below is trapped and can't get out and after being rescued by farmer's husband, goose was not getting too close and falling in again.

I guess what I'm saying is though we may look like we live in paradise, not everything is what it appears to be.

Foal Watch

Day 326 in foal.  We are getting closer!!  We are super excited.  Udder is developing but still not complete, vulva has not slackened yet.

Belly has dropped some but may or may not drop much more after this since Pixie is a rather small miniature.

Order

In an effort to help get my mojo back, I tackled my overdue over cluttered bedroom.  The Bambino had moved in with me back in the fall.  Our old house has neither a function-able basement or attic so where most people use either of these rooms for storage such as camping gear, Christmas decorations, or miscellaneous items, we do not have that option.  Instead we stored all of those items in the loft above the barn.  However, my entrepreneur daughters claimed the loft for one's tack shop and the other's dog agility area.  So all my storage had to be rehomed.  The only option was a bedroom.  So out moved the Bambino and his room became the new storage room.

With Farm Girl moving away for the summer, she graciously offered her bedroom early to the Bambino knowing how restless I was becoming, and would crash in the storage bedroom instead. So out moved the Bambino's furniture yesterday leaving an empty but still cluttered bedroom.  Led by my desire to get over this funk, I dove into the clutter.

Finally after months of being surrounded by clutter, I have order.

You have no idea how good that felt and really did help lift my spirits.  Though I'll miss the Bambino.

Finding My Mojo

I've been feeling rather down lately.  Whether it be spiritual or physical I just can't seem to get my groove on.  I've been in a perpetual funk for weeks now.  Not wanting to do anything, go anywhere, or see anyone.  Maybe it's been the weather or maybe it's been the mountain of failures I seem to be having.  Money is tight, my marriage is shaky, my goals for this year nowhere near to being met, and now with the loss of our one and only lamb born on our farm my depression really hit it's peak.  I was mucking out the sheep's five inch layer of bedding in their pen and I nearly quit right then and there.  I couldn't physically do it.  I was exhausted  exasperated, angry, frustrated and simply did not want to go on.

I love my animals, I do, and I love farming.  There isn't anything else I would rather be doing.  When I am with the animals I feel a sense of peace and tranquility.  The idea of giving them up is downright dismal.  But they cost money to own.  Lots of money.  I no longer have the luxury of owning an animal that isn't able to to give me a return of money.  I hate that I just wrote that.  I hate that that is a reality in my world.

But the truth is I am not a wealthy woman.  I don't have the luxury of owning animals purely out of enjoyment.  My husband is not a lawyer.  He is a butcher and butcher's don't make a whole lot of money.  I've been looking for other sources of income for years and when I fell in love with the animals and farming I thought I finally found that source.

But my attempts so far have resulted in bad outcomes.  The death toll is getting to me.  Yes, I understand that deadstock is an inevitable part of farming but when the numbers seem to be greater than livestock I begin to doubt my abilities to do this.  Not only do I feel immensely guilty because these animals are dependent on me for their health and livelihood but also because it is a loss of yet more money.  Every time an animal dies, I loose an investment.

I hate this feeling of giving up especially on something I love, so I am working on picking myself back up and getting my old mojo back.

I've got a new business plan and adventure which I will blog about in another post, and I'm also focused on changing my diet.

I plan on growing and eating from my farm, become more self-sustained, bring out the old canning equipment, learn how to bake bread properly as well as learn how to butcher my own animals.  Maybe it's the hint of spring, or the inkling of my old self returning, but I am ready to take on some new challenges and defeat some old ones.  Spring is a time for growth and change.  I will face and concur all obstacles if it kills me.  But hopefully it won't.

New Dog

I got a new dog.  Actually she has been in our family for the past year but belonged to Oldest.

Oldest had discovered that Ivy, a border collie, required more attention and stimulation then she was able to provide.  Originally, she had not wanted me to work Ivy on my sheep as she feared she'd become to obsessed over them and not be able to switch to agility, the main reason she bought her.  However, Oldest had gotten far too busy to put the time into her and Ivy was beginning to show signs of destructive boredom and misbehavior   So she permitted me to start her on sheep just to keep her mind active.  I've put her out with the goats to help with her commands and to observe her interest and concentration.

At the moment Ivy sees working the goats as play.  But she has been stimulated enough that when she comes into the house, she lies down and sleeps rather than pounces about anxious.  I thought the situation was going to remain that way, Oldest keeping Ivy for agility while I used her for the sheep once in awhile to keep her active.  But then the other day Oldest announced she was selling Ivy.

She had a buyer lined up out in Nova Scotia and we were to say goodbye to Ivy.  There are some dogs that I don't like, there are some dogs that I can't help, there are some dogs that I simply don't make a connection with me, but this dog was not any of those.  I liked this dog.  A lot.

And the feeling was mutual.  So I talked with hubby, told him I would eventually some day have to buy a herding dog anyway and since this one was already here, why not just keep her.  He thankfully agreed so we bought her from Oldest and now she is officially my dog.  Can't wait to get her started on herding.  But first, this poor dog is sadly out of shape and needs lots of exercise to build up muscle and stamina.

The Goats Now

So I was pretty certain none of the goats had taken...then I thought maybe some had...then I vetoed that...then I thought maybe just Faun had taken...then I thought otherwise.  And now, now I'm thinking she's expecting yet again.  And perhaps Jadis.

When I went into their stall tonight I noticed all the flat bellies.  Hay bellies had all disappeared.  Except Faun.  She was bigger than the rest.  And Jadis wasn't too skinny herself.  One of the reasons I vetoed my goats being pregnant was no obvious sign of a baby bump.  However the girls are all consistent with bloating and deflating in unison.  When one gets fat, they all get fat.  When one gets skinny, they all get skinny.  But tonight, they were all skinny except Faun.  And maybe Jadis.

So we pulled them up into the milking stand and took photos of their development in the posterior region for future reference.

This is Jadis's keister and you can see she is far too hairy to notice any development.  It is minimal but I definitely noticed something.  Whether it was something or not is another matter.

And this is Faun's back end.  It is not the clearest photo but she is showing more obvious signs of an udder development.  Or at least what I think looks like one.  But then again, she's been looking like this for a while now so who knows.