Reflections

Reflection.
What an odd word. Miriam Webster Dictionary defines reflection as:
1.  the production of an image by or as if by a mirror
2.  the return of light or sound waves from a surface
3.  a thought, idea, or opinion formed or a remark made as a result of meditation
4.  consideration of some subject matter, idea, or purpose

When I peer out of my office window on this December 31st day, and see the ducks playfully enjoying a rare thawing of their water in the pond, each of those definitions seems relevant. The sun is producing a light show as it bounces off the surface of the water. The ducks have an upside-down mirror image of themselves mimicking each movement they make. I see several potential Spring projects that need to be tackled on the island, the gazebo and the edges of the pond. Lastly, is the feeling of accomplishment I have as I realize the amount of work that was put in on that pond over the course of the year.  Back-breaking, muscle-aching, dirty fingernail kind of work that resulted in an exuberant weeping willow tree only beginning to reach it's full potential, flowering bushes and perennial plants now hibernating for the winter, and my Grandmother's bright blue gazing ball adding much needed color to the otherwise drab December landscape.

Oh yes, and the orange fence. That ghastly orange fence that surrounds what proved to be a very fruitful garden this year. I have great ideas for that fence and it does not include the color orange. I will reflect more on that later.

2016 has been for us a year of major changes, new adventures, hard work, heartbreak, sacrifice, and celebration. Sounds like every year everyone ever has reflected on doesn't it? Nothing new, or as the saying goes, same story...different version. It seems strange though how new life, new projects and new goals makes everything seem different.  Take for example the pigs. We finally got them to the processor two months later and 50 pounds heavier than expected, but to our delight were told that our pigs were some of the healthiest he had ever seen. (I shared my daily feeding with goat's milk which elicited a hearty "I can't wait to see how beautiful that meat is going to look!"). Funny how such a simple thing can give you a feeling of great accomplishment. We have never raised pigs before, yet after this experience I find myself already deciding on the different breeds I want to try next year, and preparing for a much earlier butchering date! 

Prior to moving to Missouri we had never raised goats either. Now here we are on our fifth freshening (birthing baby goats and producing milk for you non-goat people) with four different goat mamas.  We have been blessed every single time with beautiful healthy babies and practically error free births and lactating. Only once did we have to give a baby some milk replacer, and only for two days until mama got that milk thing figured out. Now, thanks to our beautiful new goat Petunia, we have our fifth set of twins.

You did good Petunia!

 Girl and boy

Adorable aren't they? This set is a little different then the others as these can be registered as full Nubian, ensuring us a better return when we sell them. 

So, here we are beginning a new year, and already the wheels are turning for what lies ahead. We know for sure that we are getting lambs in the Spring because I am absolutely sick of mowing 15 acres of perfectly good grass. I have already purchased steel rings and clips to slip over t-posts to keep the lambs from wandering, and to make sure that they graze where needed. After researching thoroughly the different breeds available, we have settled on Shetlands, a docile breed of smaller stature known for their exceptional wool. The plan is to get a ram and two unrelated ewe lambs to start a small herd, and thanks to the many forums I keep up with on-line, there is a breeder not far from us willing to hold back a few when she starts lambing in March.

I also received a lovely photograph from my oldest daughter for Christmas of a brown and white calf. To my husbands typical reaction of disgruntled unbelief, she announced that the calf in the picture is my new present, that he is a steer, and his name is Charlie. I love it! 

We now have our chicken breeds we have been wanting for different egg colors and better overall market prices. Egg sales should be good next year, as should our take at the small animal auction when we start hatching chicks in February. We have a steer to raise just the way we want to have excellent quality grass fed beef next fall. Our milk goat is producing an enormous amount of milk to feed these babies, so we will have an excess of fresh goat's milk when they are weaned. I cannot wait to make all kinds of fabulous milk based products. Hopefully our other goat is pregnant now so I can trade the babies for horse training lessons as agreed upon by the buck's owner.  Bartering is fantastic! The lambs will keep the grass mowed, freeing up my time to concentrate on more pressing chores. (Like learning how to shear sheep. ha ha). The new pigs will keep the north/east tree line cleared out and benefit from any milk we have left over. I also need to extend the surface of my road-side stand to accommodate more vegetables as I know the garden will be great next year. 

We may need to reflect upon our goals for the farm at the end of spring when everything is topsy-turvy and nothing is going as planned!

In the mean time, here are some of this year's memories, or reflections as some would say.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Whew, that was a lot of reflecting! It's been a good year and we look forward to sharing the next one with all of you.
From all of us at Heeby Jeeby Chickens, and D'Ranch...Happy New Year!

Goat selfies, ugly molting, and other nonsensical things.

I love to read blogs from other farms and browse through their adorable photos of the farmers and their animals. They are always so well posed, well lit, and the clean fluffy animals happily stand still with perfect little photogenic faces looking with great expectation at the camera. How hard could that be?  Um...really hard. Impossible actually. They must have taken thousands of photos to get only one or two that were blog worthy. I have a much greater respect now for these people and their animals after attempting my own.

No, I won't stop running so you can take my picture!

Chickens : "No way lady, we are outta here! "

Donkey : "I am keeping one eye on you in case you make any sudden movements with that camera".

After being stepped on, knocked down, head-butted, and pooped on,

this look says "I swear if you do not stand still I will leave you tied to a tree".

Not a good hair day, but the goat is cute!

Lesson learned. Goat selfies are a health hazard. Don't even get me started on the pig selfie I attempted. 

So I guess I will stick to chicken photos. Like this poor darling who has just decided to molt, a full month after her friends.  We have below freezing weather in the forecast for tomorrow and I am just relieved she has chosen to sleep in the barn this week. We have all heard the phrase "ugly crying" referring to us females who tend to bawl with mascara running and snot dripping. Well, this is officially ugly molting. Some chickens lose a few feathers on their sides, or their backs. They may grow new tails or wing feathers after a week of shedding, but this poor hen has lost half of her feathers including all the ones on her neck and back, most of her fluffy side feathers and half of her wings. 

          

Well at least the rest of the farm is unconcerned with me and my camera. So here are a few moments for your enjoyment. Including one actual selfie with a precious chick named "Pink". (If you know her and her music, then you will get it.) Thanks, Alexa for the name

Afternoon nap

Paco enjoying his dirt bath

Waiting for Cheerios

                  

(New babies)

(Do you see the cat in the straw?)

We love our chickens!


Happy farming my friends.

Learning the hard way

     We have all done it, tried something new then realized down the road that you should have done things differently. Perhaps educated yourself a little more or asked a few knowledgeable friends for their advice on the subject.  Your new mantra becomes "Next time, thing will be different"!  I have always told my children "You cannot learn from always being perfect, you learn from making mistakes". I can say that with absolute certainty because I have mastered learning that way my entire life!

     As I look out onto the farm today, I see thousands of leaves covering the ground, a pond that insists on displaying its affection for the color green, a hen house that is still in the "when I get to it" stage, and pigs.  Yes, big fat pigs.

BIG

FAT

PIGS

 It is simple really, I should have called in August to have them put on the schedule for processing in October. Naively I picked up the phone last week, called a local butcher, and was told that they would be happy to process the pigs after the 1st of the year. What?! But they are only two little pigs, surely they can be fit in to the schedule? With a giggle that could only mean "Oh, you silly first time pig lady", I was informed that scheduling begins in early August, and that as of November the facility shuts down, sterilizes, and prepares for deer season. After which they shut down again, sterilize, and open back up in January for regular business.   Surely not all facilities do this, so I called another. And another. And yet another.  After seven calls, and seven identical answers I realized I would have to rethink this whole pig thing.

     The frustration that comes with a simple lack of knowledge is always a hard pill to swallow. Why didn't I call sooner? Why didn't just one of the dozens of people I spoke to about raising these pigs warn me of this Autumn shut down? Why did I think this would be an easy endeavor? Each passing day they grow larger and harder to contain, although they are still in the normal range for butchering. I only know this because I have since been scouring every pig article I can find about home processing. Could I butcher them myself? Oh. heck no, but I still want to know what is involved in the process so I am better informed. For now, we continue to move their pen around every few days, and let them out to run free and frolic in the pasture an hour or so each morning. As long as they have to be a part of our farm, they will have the best quality of life I can give them.  I just pray there is a sudden opening in the butcher's schedule before December!

God bless, and happy farming!

Pig Snuffles

What are pig snuffles you say? Why, they are the wonderful mud circles you get on the backs of your legs when the pigs are encouraging you to fill that food dish, or scratch their backs, or just walking with you as you complete your morning chores. 

The pigs have become another source of enjoyment for me over the last 2 months, and although they are being raised strictly for food and not pets, their lives could not be any richer. Here are a couple of short videos to enjoy of pigs doing what pigs do best... Getting dirty!

Warning, they are sideways. No one ever said I was a master videographer.

Forgive the goofy commentary.

I knew when I purchased these pigs that a typical pig pen with dirt and mud would not suffice. The smell that emanates from these pens after the pigs have been housed an extended amount of time is indescribable. So I had to come up with a different solution for housing that benefited both us and the pigs. Voila! The movable pig pen.

 Over half of the undergrowth in the forest has now been successfully cleaned out down to bare dirt thanks to these lovely creatures, and by keeping their bathroom area spread out, the chickens handle any poop issues we may have. Sounds gross I know, and while they are NOT eating the poop, they are pecking the grain that doesn't digest and scratching like chickens naturally do, so the piles are spread out and the smell is minimal. Isn't nature wonderful?! 

By keeping the pig pen in the forest, the need for shelter is eliminated. The pigs also stay cool in the shade of the trees, and have an abundance of new undergrowth to root through every few days. The down side is the actual moving of the panels through brambles and thorns, ticks and chiggers, poison ivy and any number of vines and green stuff that can cause rashes. Long sleeves, long pants, tall boots and gloves are mandatory for each move. Is it worth it? You bet! The pigs are happy and healthy, the forest is getting cleared naturally, and I keep collecting things long ago buried in the soil that my pig friends discover for me daily. Thank you Ham and Bacon excavation team!

Until next time,
Happy farming.

Where does the time go?

Has it really been since April that I last jotted a new notes and shared rambling thoughts about farm life? Where does the time go? I have noticed that since the days have become longer, so has my work load. What is the old saying about "busy hands"?

As I am sitting here typing this I have a lovely view out the back door of the deck and beyond that, through the trees, the cove that leads to the lake. Closest to my proximity and the focus at this very moment however, are the bird feeders that grace the railings of the deck. All 7 of them. Not to mention the 4 hummingbird feeders interspersed between.

 Looking at them and listening to the sounds of the Blue Jay reprimanding me for the absence of seed in that particular feeder, reminded me that they all need filled again. The 7+4 on the deck, the 2+2 in front of the house, and the solo feeder hanging at the welcome sign. Why so many feeders? I love birds. It's that simple. It is just another thing to add to the list of chores that seems to grow each day as the sunshine increases it's visitation time, and the temperatures rise. I realize it is a choice to have these feeders, and I could decrease the chore list by simply reducing the number of opportunities for the birds to peck at seeds and nuts, but it is a choice I happily made. Just like the pigs.

I know, I know...enough animals already! But seriously, look at that face. These little guys were the unwilling participants in the first annual greased pig contest at our local fair. Afterwards, well, they had to have a home. I am trying to be good, and am only keeping 2 of them to butcher in the fall. Knowing that the cuteness wears off fairly quickly with these little swine as soon as they outweigh me by 100 lbs., I will happily send them off to the butcher to come back as bacon. For now, they are being spoiled rotten with weeds from the garden, scraps from the kitchen, frozen scrambled eggs, and corn and oats soaked in fresh goat's milk thanks to our lovely goat mama, Rowdy.  Pigs never had it so good!

As for our lovely Rowdy, she and her precious babies are doing what goats do best; eat, poop, and make a mess. We learned a very difficult lesson last month and it is a mistake I vow to never repeat. You see we bred Rowdy so that the sale of her babies would pay for her feed for the year. That way she is completely self funded as a weed-eater. Great concept, worked liked a charm last year. That was then, this is now. She finally gave birth on June 8th, 3 weeks after her supposed due date. (Goats are not "late", I obviously just thought she was bred earlier than she actually was). So she graced the world with these 2 little darlings.

A buckling (little buck or boy) and a doeling (little doe or girl). Imagine our delight as we were hoping for at least one girl to trade for an actual milking goat later, and a boy to sell or take to auction. We chose the auction route and it was a HUGE mistake. The auction itself is nice enough, and people usually are fair about pricing things according to worth, and selling for a small profit is the norm. We attended the same auction in April and walked away with a handsome profit off of 2 goats and a hand full of chickens and ducks. This particular day it was 97 degrees at 11am , and no one was in the mood to buy anything except an igloo cooler full of ice.  Still, I just knew that when the buyers saw this tiny buckling with his beautiful fawn colored coat and dark blue eyes they would be clamoring over each other for a higher bid. Seriously, he is 90% Boer with a splash of Nubian for good measure, who wouldn't want that perfect mixture to add to their herd?
Answer: No one.  Not only did I take that tiny baby away from his mama at only a few days old, I did her a complete disservice by selling him to the only person in the entire arena who was willing to pay $20.  $22 actually. 22 measly dollars for our perfect little goat with the ears like velvet and a snuffly nose that he liked to bury in your neck. 22 heartbreaking dollars for her sweet baby that Rowdy called to for days trying to get him to come back. 22 "I will never forgive myself for doing that to her" dollars.  I cried all the way home.

Now, Rowdy and Peanut (the doeling) are happy grazing on the new pile of tree branches I gave them from the tree trimming I tackled yesterday, and munching on the new vines of poison ivy that keep popping up this year. Rowdy reluctantly lets me milk her each morning and I share that bounty between the pigs, dogs, cats, and a little saved over for cheese making. Her milk you see is not great for drinking as she is not a true milk goat, she is a meat goat. But the animals don't care, they just want more please.

Rowdy complies as long as the feed lasts in the bucket and I don't get too over-zealous with my tugging and squeezing. In the mean time Peanut plays like all kids do, climbing on whatever she can find, jumping circles in the air, kicking and bucking at falling leaves. She is a happy baby.

So now friends, my chores are calling. The garden is in full swing, the grass needs mowed, tables need painted and horse hooves need trimmed. Somewhere in the midst of it all, I still need to build a pig pen, and find a milk goat, after of course I feed the birds.  Maybe just one more bird feeder in that empty spot...

Happy farming.