Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Decisions...Decisions....And New Critters!

Let's start with the new critters first.
The Darlin' Man stopped by the feed store to grab some feed on the way home yesterday. (Yes, you KNOW where this is heading)
I thought it was fairly safe to let him go by the feed store without supervision. His car is in the shop, so a friend from work was giving him a ride.
Unknown to me,  the friend drives a pick-up truck
Pick-up truck = OODLES of room in the bed of the truck.
Yeah.
Soooooooooooo...................
We have 14 new chickens and 1 new peahen.
Our chicken coop was not big enough to absorb the influx of so many hens, so the Darlin' Man and The Boy quickly slapped together an annex chicken coop.
The new hens had been turned loose in the yard so we spent the next hour rounding them up and putting them in the annex coop.The penhen (we named her Pandia, after the daughter of Selene and Zeus) was easily put in the large peafowl pen. Pericles immediately began strutting and showing off his tail to her.
She didn't appear impressed. In fact, she looked a little panicked!
But all the chickens are in their pen...except for one that has managed to get in my neighbors yard.
The chickens are a mixed lot.
We have Barnvelders.


They are VERY pretty! When they lay, they lay dark brown eggs.
We have Buff Orphingtons:
We have Americuanas
and their cousins Aracaunas

The last two lay BLUE eggs! And I loves the cute tufts on the faces of these...one of ours looks like see has old fashioned side burns and a bit of a beard!
We got a couple of Rock Islands, as well.

We also have a bunch of others that I have NO CLUE what breed they are.
When I can persuade the camera and the computer to start speaking to one another again, I'll post pics.
I understand the Darlin' Man's enthusiasm for all things farm related...but 14 new chickens?!?
While I have a hen setting a small clutch of eggs...and the goose setting her clutch...and the turkey hens setting their clutch...and the penhens setting on their small clutch.
???!!!!???
............sigh.............

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Back to decisions.
I think I need to get rid of a couple of goats.
Hard to figure out which ones, as they all have their good points and a few flaws.
I think pretty Molly may be the one I need to sell, as she doesn't milk as well as the others AND her milk has an *off* taste. She is friendly...but she has figured out how to open all the gate latches. The pen she is in, we had to use bungee cords to fasten it closed.
Also, I may sell Gerte.
I can't imagine giving up any of the others.
Nina is still a pain to milk, but she is learning. Lily can be a bit touchy, but she now jumps up in the milking stand easily. Gabby and Champagne are staying with us! Champagne is a dream to milk, even if she doesn't have the highest yield. Gabby is...well, just Gabby. She and I have a rapport thing going. Although her biggest flaw is she will NOT wean her kids! Gerte is almost as big as Gabby and still nurses every chance she gets! So, I may sell Gerte so Gabby will have a little more yield and a bit more relief from Gerte tackling her to nurse!
So, gotta decide on this within the next two weeks.
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Oh....and the Darlin' Man cheerfully told me that the feed store may be able to help him get a vicuna.
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4 comments:

  1. Look on the upside, with all the new hens you can set a lucrative business selling eggs :D
    What will you be doing with the Vicuna?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina, Vicuna fiber (wool/hair/fleece...whatever they call it) is the most expensive in the world. 1 oz. of combed fleece can sell for 28 dollars. That's an OUNCE, not a pound! Make it into yarn...$75 per skein.

      Delete
  2. I hope ya'all have a yard stretcher!! lol!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hee hee... your guy and me might have a bit in common...

    ReplyDelete

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