Saturday, March 30, 2013

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Sorry for the lack of posts here!
The flu ravaged thru the house for a couple weeks, bouncing back and forth among us like a berserk pinball.
Then we had wind, wind and , yes, more damn wind. And sand wind and dust wind and cold wind and....just damn wind.
My sons leg is healing slowly. Therefore, most of the farm chores are still  alllllll mine. The feeding, the milking, the cleaning of pens, etc., etc., and so on. I get up at 5 am and by 8 pm I am so exhausted I fall asleep in the armchair.
BUT!
Tabatha, our fast growing Belgian Malinois puppy makes darn sure I wake up every hour or two to pet her, pay attention to her, feed her, clean up her poop, etc...
So, yeah...exhaustion to the nth degree.

Ugly Betty, one of my favorite chickens went broody and hatched out three of the most adorable chicks ever. They are currently living in our smaller rabbit hutch, both rabbits being in the spacious bunny palace we constructed last month. Betty is a wonderful mama hen and it is delightful to watch her take care of her little ones.
I have eggs from the turkeys, peafowl, geese and ducks in the incubator....but nothing yet.
That's a quick update....will try to get some pictures in the next few days to post.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Pictures!

Little Nate

Nola with Nate and Nikki

Proud mama Nola

Leo, Lilacs baby

Nikki close up

Lucky, who is now in a new home as a loved pet!

Nola's kids having a snack

Good view of Lucky

Goatapolooza!



A Plague On Your House!

Or, in this case...my house! The Darlin' Man brought the household a present from his workplace.
Some sort of evil virus that left it's victims unable to function with coughing, sinuses running like a faucet, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, vicious muscle aches, debilitating weakness and fatigue.
The Darlin' Man was down with it for a week!  As he was busy passing out and crawling back and forth to the bathroom, my son screwed up his leg ( BAD shin splint) and then he came down with the evil virus as well.
So....baby goats needing attention, mama goats needing to get into a milking schedule, feeding all the critters, my new egg incubator arrived, geese, ducks and turkeys all laying eggs, the usual household chores and half the work force here down for the count!
ACCCCCKKKKK!
Then...I woke up with the sniffles.
Oh no.
But that day some dried elderberries I had ordered arrived. I immediately made some syrup and made the Darlin' Man and my son start taking it and I started dosing myself with it as well. Two tablespoons of syrup to start, then one tablespoon every 4 hours. I also minced up raw garlic, let it sit for 15 minutes, then swallowed it down. Two teaspoon fulls to start, then 1 teaspoon full every 6 to 8 hours.
I got the virus anyway BUT it was much milder than what everyone else here was going through.
The Darlin' Man and my son recovered rapidly after they started taking the elderberry syrup. You should really start taking the syrup BEFORE you get sick...but, what could I do...I didn't get my elderberries in time!
Oh...best recipe and info on elderberries HERE.
I don't know what ever happened to Pure Cajun Sunshine, but the info on her blog is priceless!  Browse around on there, you'll love it!

So....virus in check, check. Placed ad to sell male baby goats, check. I have sold four of the six males and one of the female babies. We are keeping Nikki, Nola's little girl. Two of the males I sold are still here, they will be picked up next weekend and the week after that, Ginny, Gabby's wee girl, will go to the same home as Champagnes little boy Yang. Gabby's boy, Gabe, has been sold to a friend that wanted a pet. We will be castrating Gabe this afternoon.
I sorta started milking, but then, with everyone sick and no help, I put the babies back in with their mama's and decided to wait another couple of weeks. All the girls have a baby nursing, so their milk will keep flowing.
SO...will start milking in the next few days, finally. We are all over being sick, although my sons leg is still messed up. He will come out and help me, even if it is just to sit there and talk to the goats. His very presence seems to calm the animals down.
So...there's an update of what has been going on here!
I'll post some goat pictures later today when I have the time.