Homestead Diary 2-23-12 through 3-4-12

3-23-12 Did fecals on the goats (Starlight and Cupcake). Only two eggs on each slide. Still using the herbal dewormer.

3-28-12 Brought doe (rabbit) to the vet (Cherry; DX2). She appeared to have a mite problem that needed attention. Turned out that it may be mange. Not sure where she could have picked that up since she's never our of her all wire hutch hung up on the wall of the rabbit barn. Got .25cc Ivermectin SQ. I need to give her another injection on the 7th. Praying it doesn't spread.

3-3-12 Deep bedding finally reached the point of "deal with now" in the chicken and goat barns. Hauled out about 10 wheelbarrow loads. This fall, I want to wait longer to begin the deep bedding, to see if I can make it until spring is really here before having to deal with it. Last fall I began letting it build up in October, I think.

I've been working in the storage room of the barn lately. We're trying to get it cleaned out so we can build two more stalls for goats there. One will be for kidding, and the other for the future herd sires.
I've been hauling the canning jars out of there so we can store them on the new shelves in the garage. Thanks to Dan for the hard work. Now I have a place to store all the canning stuff. No more frantic searching! :) I've also been moving hay bales, trying to consolidate now that there are fewer bales. I've still got a LOT of stuff to move before Dan can start building the stalls.

That's about it for farm stuff. The rest of life continues as usual. :) Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Can't Keep Up

I can't keep up with the three blogs that I write on, so I'm sending you to another one. :) If you'd like to see some new goat pics, go HERE.
Today, I'm busy cleaning, teaching, and bringing one of our doe rabbits to the vet. I think she has some type of skin mites. Gotta run! Have a great day, all!

Little Girls and Little Bunnies

We have bunnies just opening their eyes again, and happy little girls. :)

Meat! Oh yeah.

Today we finally got time to deal with the old hens. We processed eight of them, and also two rabbits. Dan was just refreshing his memory for when we do the whole batch of bunnies, which should be soon. We were so thankful that our good friend Lisa could come over and give us a hand with the slaughtering and cutting up of the hens. We haven't, up to now, butchered enough to remember what we're doing, so we were really glad to have a knowledgeable person present.
One of our old hens weighed in at seven and a half pounds before processing, and we found a strange surprise inside her. Over a pound and a half of yellow fat in her abdomen. Yucky! That's what gluttony gets you I guess. She's always been the "boss" and the first one to get anything good. Also, just as I suspected, she was a faker. She had no eggs in her at all, but usually spent some time on the nest each day and left bragging about...nothing. She never left an egg behind, just faked it. She did dress out nice and plump though.
We found a lot of egg yolks inside most of the hens. I forgot to take a picture of that, but I have a whole bowl full in the fridge, and I plan to feed them to my family for supper with some fried potatoes. Does anybody do that? I really don't know if I'm crazy for doing this or not, but I'm going to try it.



In this crock pot there are all the hearts and gizzards as well as the backs, ribs and necks, and the two rabbit rib cage sections. There are also garlic, onions and pepper corns. It smells wonderful in here! I'm getting hungry.




The rest of the meat; breast sections, legs, wings and thighs, fit into eight quart jars, and I canned them. I think some of the meat floated up and pushed the lids up a bit, releasing some of the broth. Bummer, because that stuff is good. I'm looking forward to making a good soup soon so we can try the chicken. It looks like it got nice and tender from the canning.

Tomorrow it's off to get my newest goat! Milking tomorrow night if all goes well! :) I'm also learning to draw blood so I can do that myself. It really pays for me to learn to do all I can since there's not a large animal vet anywhere within a 3 hr. drive of where I am. This way I'll be able to send blood in to the lab myself to test for disease or pregnancy. These tests are very inexpensive provided I can draw the blood and send in the paperwork myself.

Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend! Happy homesteading, homeschooling, homemaking...Happy "home" and all that means for each of you!

The Critters at Tanglewoods

There's a lot going on here with the animals, too. We'll soon have full freezer and pantry shelves, and it feels good to finally have some pay back for all the spending money on feed and time on care. My husband is really excited about getting a "harvest" soon. So, here's what's going on now.


We weren't supposed to get any roosters with our last batch of chicks, other than the dozen white orpington's we got as meat birds...


...but this guy must have been sexed wrong. He's a picture of manliness, cockerel style. Only 8 weeks old, crowing and attempting to mate with the young ladies. Isn't he a beauty? I wish I could communicate to him that his very life depends on his being gentle with the humans here at Tanglewoods.



And then there's this chicken here. It was our rare breed chick, and is one of my favorites, though I suspect it's also a cockerel. I'm not positive yet about that, however. I'm really hoping it's a hen. We really can't keep three roosters with only a dozen hens. We definitely want to keep the rooster we have now (he's such a gentleman with his ladies, protective over them but never aggressive in any way), though he's about to loose all but one of his current hens. I hope he likes his replacements. I believe the old hens will be going into the canner and freezer on Sunday (I hope).



Our meat birds are growing really well. They'll be fryer size in five more weeks, so we'll be busy again then.



The bunnies are fryer size now, and ready to go in the freezer. That should happen later this week. They're weighing in at about 5#, so all dressed out we should end up with about 50 lbs. of rabbit. Someone get the BBQ sauce, and I'll start the grill! Mmmm, yummy!
We also have two more batches of bunnies due soon. Looking forward to a winter of rabbit stews!
Is this making food out of these cute furries difficult? You bet it is, but it's also going to be so good to have healthy, clean, ethically raised meat. There hasn't been a lot of meat around here lately, and every one of us is looking forward to eating well on this little homestead.



Dan surprised me with this awesome goat "balance beam". I was so thrilled when I saw it! I'm very thankful for so many things about this man. However, lately it seems like the already terrific guy has been quietly replaced with a super deluxe version. I was absolutely shocked yesterday when he said, "I think I'll come to town with you. I don't feel like working today." WHAT? Rather run errands with me in town than work? That's just too unbelievable. But, we had a real nice time running errands together. While I was shopping at the co-op he even took little Six on the kiddie rides (our town's most popular summer festival began on Thursday).



The goat jungle gym makes the perfect spot to sit in the shade and have a chat with a good friend.



As usual, Starlight would rather eat.

Growing Young Animals and Old Hens

I was away for a day, and things really seemed to grow in that small amount of time, but then again I was really busy for a couple of days before that. I guess I failed to notice the progress that was happening last week. The garden has grown a lot, and the bunnies and chicks have too. Here's a picture of the bunnies. They're almost ready to begin weaning. The does will be bred again this week, after the bunnies are five weeks old (on Wednesday). A week later the weaning will begin with the heaviest ones. By the time they're seven weeks old they'll all be weaned and the does will have 2 weeks to rebuild their reserves and grow their new litters. By the first week in August each doe should have a second litter.






I forgot to take a picture of the chicks. They're now over two weeks old. They've graduated from the small cardboard circle I created in the brooder house. Now they have the whole thing to roam in, and I made a wire screen to put in the doorway so they have fresh air and can see out when it's warm. They seem very happy with the arrangements. They love to look outside and are very lively, "flying" onto the tops of the feeders. It's really entertaining to watch them.

We lost one of our old hens today. Actually we had to "put her down" as she had a prolapsed vent beyond treating, and was egg bound with broken bits of egg coming out. Because they're getting old, we're having some egg problems. I don't know if this happened really fast or we didn't notice it when it started. I feel pretty lousy thinking we may have missed some earlier sing that things were going awry. However, it's possible that it happened quickly and there were no earlier signs. Since the chickens are older and have been through a few molts, they're laying larger eggs. Sometimes this fouls up the works. Also, sometimes two eggs may try to come through at the same time. If an egg has a wrinkle or a flat side it may be that two eggs collided on their way out. Sometimes the larger eggs begin to have thin shells and break easily. This happens because the hens have the same amount of shell material to cover the larger eggs. A large egg with a thin shell might break just inside the vent causing all sorts of trouble.

Umm...that's not what I meant to talk about in this post. I apologize if that was TMI.

Any way, I hope the rest of our old hens make it for a few more weeks until we have time to butcher and can them. I hope to have some really great canned chicken to use this winter. These old hens have over an acre and a half to range in and look very healthy. People comment that they're the prettiest flock of chickens they've seen. Unfortunately that's probably because some of them aren't laying anymore. Most of them still are laying though, and they do look real pretty right now. I'm not at all grossed out by the thought of eating these old girls. I love their summer diet of plants and insects. It makes me happy to think of eating some great soups and casseroles with this meat and homegrown veggies. :)

Next post: garden pics, I hope.

Cuteness on the Homestead

We're talkin' major cute here! These little ones are at my favorite stage. They're 13 days old today. Their eyes are opened, and they're so much fun now. Perfect for snuggling!



Hattie takes a turn...



then Dani.



The "production" side of me is very interested in how each of these batches of young are developing. The batch in this photo are developing slower in every way, and has a definite runt. They're doing fine, just not spectacular.



This is the other batch. Even in a photo it's obvious they're rolly-polly little things. Developing fast and curiously exploring their little home. Yesterday one of these guys was even trying to escape the box. I'm sure that before three weeks they'll all be hopping out of the nest! This seems to be more than average growth, so I think we'll keep a doe from this breeding pair when we're ready to expand.

Growing Bunnies and Garden NOT Progress

The bunnies are now three days old and beginning to get some white fur. They're still pretty hard to count without disturbing them too much, but we think there are fourteen.
Things to do:

-prepare cage for weanling bunnies
-prepare brooder house for 25 new chicks (coming around June 13th).
-garden????????????

About the garden...I started seeds and planted way too early this year. The broccoli is still alive and doing well. The onions seem pretty happy too. The spinach is alive, but not growing at all. The first two baby leaves appeared, and I'm pretty sure what that spinach thought was, "Woa, baby! It's COLD out there! I'm staying right where I am!"
And it is cold out there. The squash is dead (froze to death). The tomatoes, which I had covered with a sheet during the cold nights, are suffering frost bite...it is altogether not good.
Well, live and learn, I guess. I'm starting over with almost everything. I started more squash and basil yesterday, in pots of course. I don't know what the trick is to starting seeds in trays. I fail miserably at it! This year I spent money on a little "green house" starting tray with peat pellets to plant in. HORRIBLE! I had to plant things way too early because it was apparent that if they stayed in the tray they would die for sure. Ugh...I'm so glad my serious attempt at gardening began last year. I may not be trying it again if it had been this year! I welcome any and all comments with suggestions, constructive criticism, etc...
I'm going to add some garden photos to this post later. Gotta go!

The Bunnies Are Here!

Finally, after one failed attempt and a long years wait, the first of the bunnies are here! Both mamas had their babies yesterday afternoon.


Under all this fluff...



are about eight little pink hairless bunnies. We had to take the nest box out of the cage to do a rough count and remove any dead bunnies. There was only one dead one in both batches, and it was really big. I have a feeling that it was stuck for a while before she managed to birth it and was dead already. She seemed to be in labor for quite a while. It's hard to tell with a rabbit, but that's what I think happened any way.



Here's Mama, anxiously waiting for us to give her family back.

There are fourteen to sixteen little ones out there now. I hope they all make it this time. It would be such an encouragement for Dan after the long wait and all the work it took to get here.

Right now it's easy to look at them as future food, since they're not so cute. In a couple of weeks, oh my, they'll be the absolute cutest little things ever! I am concerned with how the kids are going to take this. It's hard enough with the chickens. However, I grew up spending LOTS of time on my grandparents farm. I quickly got used to the fact that creatures were born and nurtured with care to become food. They had a good life, though short, and we had excellent food. The up side was that there were always more little cute babies to take the place of those who were taken.
"There is a time for every purpose under heaven. I time to be born and a time to die." (rough quotation from Ecclesiastes)
I learned this lesson early and well, and didn't often fail to give thanks and get enjoyment out of the little cuties or the meat on our table. It's a good life - sometimes a hard life, but a good life.

General Update on Life-kinda Stuff

Well, it's been forever since I've been here. I've been very distracted from this blog by the new one I started to keep the area home school families connected and up to date on area happenings of interest. School also takes up most of my thoughts and time, especially between Christmas and June.
We've been busy with our studies, standardised testing, learning to sew, and preparing for the science fair. Hattie's science project is, "What is static electricity?" Among other things, she's going to make a light bulb flash with a negatively charged balloon.
Molly designed a shirt, we made a pattern and we've cut it out and began sewing it this afternoon. It's a stretchy knit, and the sleeves aren't going in very nicely. We had to rip the first one out once, so round two on the sleeves tomorrow. Hattie's starting a doll quilt when the science fair is over, and I'm looking forward to doing that project with her. I bought her a little kit that has all of the squares cut out and contains all of the things we need. Just reading the directions has taught me more than I ever knew about quilting.
Dan and Molly cleaned out the chicken coop and rabbit room on Saturday. It's so nice to see everything all fresh! By Monday, the entire pile of composting manure had begun to steam, and I was wondering if we were in any danger of a fire starting? I guess now that it's raining (raining white drops, as Mama Pea says), we're no longer in danger for now...I hope.
The rabbits were bred on Sunday, so in about a month we'll hopefully have two new nests of little babies. That's pretty exciting for all of us, but for different reasons. ;) We're hoping to have little chicks just when the bunnies are cute and cuddly so we can have the home school group out for a day of fun. Last year, we would probably have already been to that point! I guess I"m just a tad spoiled by last year's nice long summer.
I started some cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, broccoli, head lettuce and basil yesterday. A friend asked what on earth I'd done such a thing for, and where I'd put it when it was started, since it looks like summer isn't coming this year. All I can say is, I hope and pray that true summer is here by the time the plants are ready for the garden.
Right now I'm headed to the basement to start a fire...

Goat Feeding Tutorial

This post comes hot on the heels of the previous one, so be sure to go back to see an explanation of why this is here.

Here's a fairly easy method to estimate hay needs for goats. I used it to estimate how much hay to get to last our animals 6 months (October through March). I'm starting out with 2 Dwarf Nigerian Dairy goats that will be bred when I get them.

You'll start with the estimate that your goats will eat roughly 5% of their body weight in hay per day. You will need more than this, however, since there is waste. How much waste depends on the feeding system you have in place. Using a hay feeder that keeps the goats from laying on the hay and keeps the hay off the ground should result in 10 to 20% waste. You could estimate 15%.

I'm estimating my goats to weigh a combined total of 160 pounds when I get them. My equation will look like this:

160 (pounds) x .05 (percent turned to a decimal) = 8 (pounds of hay per day)
8 (pounds of hay per day) x 180 (days in 6 months) = 1440 (pounds of hay for 6 months)
1440 (6 months hay) x .15 (percent waste turned to decimal) = 216 (extra pounds needed for waste)
1440 + 216 = 1622 pounds of hay needed for 6 months

I've been extravagant with the amount of hay I purchased because the does will be in kid and we will have two breeding pairs of rabbits who also eat hay. I also didn't realize that the alfalfa bales would weigh so much more than the timothy.
So, now I have 25 bales of timothy hay at 50 pounds each = 1250 pounds
15 bales of Alfalfa hay at 100 pounds each = 1500 pounds
Total of 3050 pounds of hay. According to "the formula" this should be way more than we need.
I'll keep you posted.

I also wanted to say a word about the hay I chose and why. There are a lot of different ideas about what to feed goats even among experienced goeat farmers. One practice is to feed only the leafiest alfalfa that you can find. Proponents say that this is the best food for goats, they grow quickly and are well maintained on this hay.
The other practice is to feed only grass hay. Some say that the animals need the longer fibers in this hay to develop and work the rumen properly. They feel that the slower but steady growth is better for the goats in the long run, proving to make their frame stronger, be more gentle on their internal organ development and create a stronger, more disease resistant animal.
I've listened to people talk about these ideas, and read a ton about this. I have no experience with it at all so far myself. Because I don't know yet how I feel about this, I decided to go with a middle of the road approach. Feed some of each. My plan is to give them a limited amount of the alfalfa (say, about four pounds between them) and them fill the hay manger with the timothy free choice. We'll use the alfalfa for the rabbits too. They will probably eat a few pounds a day among them all.
The feed I chose is based on some information I read at this very informative website http://fiascofarm.com/goats/feeding.htm . I did, however, run into something that said to NEVER feed your goats equine feed mixes just a second ago. Ok, so opinions very a LOT. The site above, which I've gone to for info a lot in the past said that you should use equine feeds since they contain selenium and copper, which the goats need. Pregnant goats especially need selenium, as a shortage can cause spontanious abortion.

Ok, that's all for now!

Oops! I forgot to report on cost here. This information will be accurate only for my area of the country though. I'm far from the city and also far from the farming communities here in MN. I chose to go through a trusted distributor, so it's coming second party and I'm sure more expensive than if I could get it straight from the person who cut the hay.

Timothy 50 lbd. bales $4.95/ea
Alfalfa 100 lbd. bales $11.95/ea
bedding straw $5.95/ea
Purina Horse Chow #200 50 lbd. bags $12.95/ea
egg mash 100 lbd. bags $17
scratch 100 lbd. bags $14.50

Barn Tour

OK, this isn't technically a barn, but it's our barn! It was originally designed as a commercial chicken barn in about 1963. It was used for that purpose for about 2 years, I think. It is one long building with four separate rooms in it.


This is the chicken coop. Here's Molly gathering eggs.


This is a picture taken form the other direction.


This is the room just outside the chicken coop. It contains feed and other odds and ends, and also has shelves to store canning jars. Lots of them. It will also soon contain lots of hay and a milking stand for me to milk the goats on.


This is the rabbitry. We have the fourth cage almost ready. It will hang with the other three and then we'll separate the girls. In a few months they'll have families!


This is the future goat barn. It has a door to the outdoors where they'll have a small amount of fenced in pasture. We'll add to it as we can, but omigosh that fencing is expensive!

This fall we're supposed to get electricity to the building. I sure pray that happens, because if not, it's really going to be difficult to do evening chores in the winter! We'll have to keep the kerosene lanterns handy! Let's all hope that doesn't have to happen!