Forgetfulness and Farm Chores

   It's official, I've gone senile.  February went by in a whirlwind and obviously took with it my ability to blog.  The 2nd month of the year was a blur of ice storms, balmy 70 degree days, rain, no rain, sun, no sun, and wind.  When the sun comes out I feel that energy spike and want to do every chore that needs done for the week in one day.  Then the forecast changes and I get in "prepare" mode where fruit trees are covered, straw is spread for bedding and feed for the poultry is doubled.  Sun comes out again and it's either a day on the tractor or a day with the chain saw.  Thank goodness I have had some down time lately and can share some wonderful moments with you.  Like these pictures of our precious Charlie. Love this face!

I learned the art of cheese making last month and have tried my hand at several different types. So far, Neufchatel and Mozzarella are the easiest and frankly, the most tasty. The hard cheeses take a lot of time and work so when ambition strikes and I have extra time for a week I will try that too.

With the abundance of goat's milk and eggs lately cheese just seemed like a great idea!

   Then of course, there are babies. Yay! Heeby Jeeby Hatchery is officially in full swing again and we have some awesome little breeds ready for new homes soon.

We are hatching approximately a dozen chicks and 8-10 ducks each week.  This is the first year we had the opportunity to separate our breeds to have true breed hatches. Here are some of our proud parents and their lovely feathered friends.

 

   

   

 

 

                     

 

So with all the eggs and milk, there is only one thing left to do.  Plant the garden seeds, make a couple of adorable signs and set up the farm stand!

March brings Spring flowers, new babies, and the chores now start in earnest so we are off once again to keep on top of things! Good thing I have Flare to keep an eye on us. 

Happy farming friends!

cow tails and chicken boo boos

So this happened.

His name is Charlie and he was my Christmas present from Alexa. As a bottle baby, he has never known anything except human interaction and feeding, so to say he is spoiled rotten is an understatement. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I have discovered that cow tails are disgusting. I know cows are gross, and just like goats they are not particular about the time and location of a good poop. Nor do they care what may lie in their direct line of fire. In the case of goats it is infallibly their feed pans and water troughs.  I swear they back their butts up and play some sort of twisted game of beer pong using goat pellets as their projectiles of choice. Cows, on the other hand, are not as lucky in the grand poopy scheme of things. They cannot aim, nor do they have convenient little pebbly poos. 

They squirt.

Everywhere.

Most notably down the inside of their tail and on a direct path down the back legs to their feet where it falls with a resounding plop. The resulting "cow pie" cannot just remain where it lands, no sirree, it must instead splash up to attach itself to the underside of the unaware bovine. I retract my former statement, and amend it with "Everything below a cows neck is disgusting". Their faces though...precious as they come.

We have all had the flu in our house this week and are just now getting back in to the swing of things. During our "down time" we had a chicken that suffered what one can only be called "boo boos". One poor little Polish pullet (that we humorously named Pink) has been the victim of terrible bullying by her nest mates for weeks. They seem to find her top hat enticing enough to peck at, as you can see from an earlier pic I took last month.

 This time however, the bullying was taken to a new level and all of her funky head feathers have been pecked off. Now, chickens look fluffy and harmless but the idea that they are the end result of millions of years of dinosaur evolution is not so far-fetched when you have seen the little darlings tear into each other at the first sign of blood. I have seem them peck a weak and injured bird nearly to death, and roosters have been known to kill and eat chicks. Not a pretty picture is it? So when I noticed the bullying getting worse for little Pink, I knew I had to intervene on her behalf before it was too late. Once again, as seems to be a common theme around here, we have a chicken in the house.

Today was a good day for the Heeby Jeeby flock, as we sold four of our good laying hens and a gorgeous little rooster to a family just beginning their chicken adventure. It is rewarding to know that the time we have spent raising these birds and giving them the best care we could will give these lovely people a great starter flock.  In time, we would like to have exact breeds of hatching eggs and chicks to sell, and expand our little business. Not a hatchery, exactly, but more of a "made to order" small batch of quality egg breeds for local hobby farmers.  Besides, if we expand too much then the whole "spoiled rotten" standard becomes much harder to attain. 

Petunia, the milk goat, is now giving us a daily supply of tasty milk that will turn in to all sorts of fabulous concoctions over the next few months. Hopefully we can document and share all of the does and dont's we discover during this process for all of you to enjoy. Until then...

Happy Farming!!!

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!