# How was your 2013? ups/downs of farming



## Southern by choice (Dec 5, 2013)

Thought it would be nice to see how others fared in 2013. 

As we are coming to a close of 2013 I thought I'd share the highs and lows. 
At the beginning of the year my goals were to become more efficient, publish my website, work on the continuing clean up of "country " woods... meaning old engines, and 60 years of debris... build more breeding pens and a few other things. We wanted to also add 2 new bucks (Nigerians) and a doe, and be of service in the community.

Some of those things did get done but many did not... the ups and downs of having a small food producing farm... 

*January* the family went North to see my sis… fighting the battle with cancer … we all brought home some nasty virus  and then added more by what nasty bugs were here  … we battled this all the way through *February*… Needless to say my pens did not get built and that put the poultry breeding behind schedule.  Eventually we were able to separate all roosters and build a few breed out pens but we were very late in the year. Our spring hatch turned to almost summer. Late for the season we did not breed many birds.  We kept quite a few for started pullets to sell in the fall. This is our normal schedule… Sept/Oct - started pullets.

The rains started in the fall before 2013 even hit and as any North Carolinian can tell you… they never stopped!  *It rained for almost 3 straight seasons*. It was horrible! MUD! It was never ending…it was so stressful.  We worried about the goats and how they would fare. *Spring* came but no relief… then *Summer*… rains were not as bad but we never got the high temps to really dry things out, mowers broke down  and meanwhile I’m running fecals all the time making sure we are not going to end up in a parasite crisis. 

We also ran into water issues and high iron causing a binding effect with the copper. Had the sheep/goat specialist out… and another vet … and another. All the goats are fine but we have had to revamp our watering system and get bloodwork done and try a few things. 


Meanwhile farms all around us were losing animals to worms and or cocci…. We actually did a preventative out of worry. It was very scary as most of the people having issues were some of the most well managed clean farms EVER! That really took an emotional toll as these were all people I cared so much about and it was simply devastating. I literally had to take a break from hearing any more bad news. 

During this time we were on a quest for a buckling…. The breeder that I was hoping to get a buck from had some beautiful animals however I was concerned the buckling would be too closely related. I did end up getting a buckling from a different line. He is specifically to be for my Lamancha. I will wait on the other buckling as I think the breeder may be getting in some stock from different lines!   This one will be for my Nigies only.

As the *summer *rolled through we did see for the first time EPG’s going up. They weren’t too bad but we did end up de-worming everyone across the board regardless of EPG counts… not a normal practice for us. I was just thankful we hadn’t lost anyone.

It seemed we were behind on everything constantly and there was no catching up. We also had to take over our partners herd of Kiko’s…. 


Two of our goats were going to their new home as pets, they would be minimal milkers  and the people just wanted pets… the most wonderful people… yet my heart said something didn’t fit… my goats weren’t the right goats for them… the lady is a fiber person and is an incredible artist. After a long conversation we talked about angora goats… I  knew they would be perfect for her. So my does stayed and they ended up with 3 adorable angoras!  I felt very good about it and they LOVE their girls! By this time I was so attached to the doelings  they stayed. 


By *August *I was in somewhat of a haze… my sister’s cancer had just taken over everything and the family was “on call” for months … all through the summer but by Aug it was looking as if she would pass anyday.  She weighed on my mind and somedays I’d be a normal person and on others I would forget everything… thankfully good friends knew how distracted I was, I would forget to return calls, e-mails etc. Needless to say I really failed a lot of customers. 

Because we were on call we also opted not to do our fall sale… that meant 100 started pullets were staying put at peak time for selling started pullets. It did work out however. 

*End of August* we had an infertile pet doe end up with listeria  which we nursed back to health … a very long 3 weeks! 


My sister passed away in *September*… she won her battle and is with the Lord in full health. The time was a blurr…. It was the rest of the family that cared for her all that time and they carried the burden, but in my heart - it was so heavy. The month of *Sept thru Oct* went by and it just felt kind of empty. My daughter acquired a couple of does whose lines are not from these immediate parts, and we are just now getting back into the swing of it. 

*October* came and went and all I remember is that it seems all our birds went into molt a month before and we tanked in eggs… No fall breeding, no eggs for eating and we couldn’t even supply our customers… one of which is a restaurant. They are still coming out of their molt! Wondering if I’ll ever see an egg again!

Poultry did sell well in *November*, goats are all healthy, started breeding a few does. One of the does we had kept was bred and went to her knew home! She has a great home and will be loved and well cared for.  We also had a litter of pups!  Our waiting list was mostly for males so of course we had all females!  Sadly momma stepped on some, the runt died and we are left with 3! I’m good with that as it is a lot of work! LOL Callie and D’s litter will be due in January… if it took. 


In the end...
I was able to get_ part_ of my website up but am still building it… working on a separate site now. We managed to get over 1 ton of motors and junk out of the woods, build a few holding pens, reduce the Kiko herd,  add some does, found 1 of our bucks, expand the fencing, * and in no way shape or form improve the efficiency ! *

The highlights of the year have been that I met some really great people, was able to serve in my community in a small way which helped me emotionally with so much sadness. Many prayers were answered especially one… a very special soldier made it home. We saw God’s grace and his mercy through the circumstances of many.
*
So here we are at the end of the year and I find myself having all the same goals that I had at the beginning!*  Finish another website, clean out debris from the woods, build more breeding pens, add another buckling, serve in the community. 


At least the freezer is full of chicken and goat!


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## bonbean01 (Dec 5, 2013)

Oh Southern...you've had such a time of it, as many of us do...your Sister was a hard blow to you.  That had me in tears...and then mention of a special soldier, well time out for tissues for me.  You are an amazing person and I am so blessed to know and love you! 
This thread was a great idea, and I will put my year up too....just not right now.


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## GLENMAR (Dec 10, 2013)

I'll go next. 
2013 did not start out all that well for me. In *January* we lost my beautiful Arabian gelding to colic.
I had raised him from a baby, and had him 16 short years. Still brings tears to my eyes to think about it.    Within a month of losing him, we also lost two of my Norfolk Terriers. I think they got into some poison off the property. They were sick, then down hill really fast. We tried blood transfusions on one, and after $1800, she still was not getting better. 
We had 2 single buckings born to my two Nubian does. They were bottle babies, and were sold by summer.
*Febuary- March *The Scottish Highlands came.They are sooooo cool.
In *March, *not much here just hatching. I got some Blue, Black and Blue Splash Orpington eggs to hatch. They turned out BEAUTIFUL. I kept a flock of those.
All my Sebastopols turned out to be males.    So no eggs.
In * May* my Naraggansett hen hatched 10 poults. She successfully raised all of them. Most were sold in the fall. They were really cool. My first full year with turkeys. 
* April*- RABBITS. They finally kicked in. Rabbits everywhere. American Blues and New Zealands.
Veg garden starting out too. Many pens of chicks to be sold during the summer and fall.
*July*- Our first honey harvest. Did not get too much, because they were new bees.
But, that was really neat.
Got a new buckling from another BYH member in Colorado. He was a little freaked out about the plane ride, but has since settled down great. He is beautiful, and so sweet. 
*October- *We decided to have a fall festival. I had BBQ catered in. We had games and pumpkin painting for the kids. Everyone had a great time. About 40 people showed up. Mostly my co-workers. It was HOT that day. I wish it had been a little cooler. Cakes were beautiful. Of course everyone loved the animals.
*December- *We just got done breeding all 3 Nubian does for May 5th kids.  Came home with a new farm truck today. It's a F350 duley. That truck will be able to do ANYTHING.  The best part is that it is used and paid for. 

Looking forward to 2014.
Happy New Year.


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## ksalvagno (Dec 10, 2013)

Southern - My deepest sympathy regarding your sister. Sounds like you had one heck of a year.

Glenmar - Sorry about your horse and pups. We lost our beloved Violet of 13 years this year right before we moved. She had a massive tumor in her stomach and could no longer eat.


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## SheepGirl (Dec 10, 2013)

This past year was good for me. My ewes lambed in March & May this year and produced 5 lambs out of a new ram I purchased. Unfortunately the smallest lamb in a set of triplets, a 5.8 lb ewe, didn't make it. All four other lambs are doing well and the two ewe lambs are pregnant with their own lambs.

In late March/early April my father came home from his second year long tour in Iraq. The year flew by, my ewes were sheared in late April and my lambs were weaned shortly thereafter. Had another lamb born in May to a ewe lamb just shy of 12 months old. She weighed 98 lbs pregnant with him and when he came out he was 9.8 lbs!  She weighs 104 lbs now.

Spring, summer, and fall were good -- had no health issues with my sheep at all. Rosie my one ewe lamb had developed scours (she has a messy rear end now), however I never treated her for anything...didn't even take her temperature. That was her only 'symptom.'

Lambs gained well over the summer except the ram lambs. Hank is weird. He does fine and even gains weight on short winter pasture but then when given first or second cutting grass hay he loses a bunch of weight. His two sons are the same way. They had poor gains when on hay throughout the summer but I let them out on pasture in mid-late Oct and they've been on it for just over a month and they've already gained one condition point. And there isn't even that much grass there and it is all brown to boot :/ At least I know I have sheep that can turn brown hibernating grass into weight gain!

My triplet ewe lamb is only about 15 lbs behind my single ewe lamb. And she's six days younger. Not bad at all considering she was just a little over half the size of the single when she was born!

In September Hank escaped his pen and unfortunately bred Ciqala, so she will have lambs around Valentine's day. This will be her third pregnancy in 25 months, which is about 8.3 months in between lambings. Not bad for a Montadale x Babydoll Southdown cross not known for accelerated lambing. In 2015 this streak will probably stop and she will be back to having lambs in Feb or March since the earliest I've seen her come into heat was about early-mid Sept. But two pregnancies over the course of 14 months produced 5 lambs. Unfortunately the first pregnancy produced a stillborn and a lamb that died within a couple days--probably due to a combination of bad genes (son/dam breeding) and I'm sure she had a mineral deficiency based on the symptoms of the lambs. The second pregnancy produced three lambs, one of which died shortly after birth.

Anyway enough rambling on about my ewe!  The rest of the ewes were bred in October, every ewe settled on their first heat so we should have Ciqala lamb in mid Feb and then starting Mar 1 for two weeks I will have five more ewes lamb.

December we had our first snow and the ewes are adapting to the cold real well. In fact they spend most of their time lying down in the snow. But I turned my gate into a fenceline feeder (check my 2014 lambing thread, pg 3, for a photo) and it's working excellently. Barely any waste and the hay stays clean (no poop, pee, or mud!) even though it's being fed off the ground.

I think that's it for now


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## BrownSheep (Dec 10, 2013)

Overall its been a wonderful year. 

January- We started lambing towards the end. 
February was a hard month. Got a new yak bull. Lost my grandma the same day the only bright spot was it brought our family together for the week. It was a week filled with all of the 9 kids and 21 grandkids which I'm certain my grandma enjoyed. My two ewes died of grain poisoning, including my Bertha. She was my first ewe and one of the sweetest. This left us with 4 orphaned lambs along with a rejected one.  My big tom turkey also died( heart gave out) and my chucker (who thought he was a turkey) disappeared. 

March- We hired a sheering crew to come in. Best money ever spent. 21 sheep in 21 minutes between the 3 guys. We also had the largest lost of lambs ever in a rain storm. 5 of the 9 that were born.  Turkeys  and lambs were taken to the butcher. 

April. Sophie our surprise yak calf was born. One of the most stunning royals I've seen! We also brought home 3 royal heifers. 

May. Brought home two cheap gummer ewes and their lambs. Lambing season also ends....See how insanely long we spend lambing?

 June July and August are spent spending an amazing amount of time building, tearing down, and rebuilding fences.
In August my family went to the fair as a 4-H exhibitor family for the last time. My sister and I still plan on helping out with our old club. Left for college. 

September- One of the old ewes died...We suspect lightening strike. 

October- Not much going on. One bum lab dies.

November. Big rams are sent into the ewes.


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## elevan (Dec 11, 2013)

This was overall quite a bad year for us.

January turned my bathroom into a hospital triage area.  I had one duck in the bathtub and a dehydrated guinea in the shower stall.    Mom's rabbits ate one of their own which led to us butchering several until we figured out which one was the problem.  They were 4 months old and being housed together.  Shortly before this we had a rabbit (Vinnie) who had his tail and ear ate off, he went to the bathroom hospital area for recovery.
I came home from picking the kids up from school to find the neighbor's dog attacking one of my animals. I laid on the horn, threw it into park and jumped out of the car running at it. The horn startled the dog enough to make it let go and I realized that it was Hank, our head rooster. I kept running to make sure he was ok and he ran to one of our dogs for protection. I then proceeded to chase after the dog all the while yelling for the neighbor to get it. They come out yelling at me that it's just and _bleepin _bird. I LOST it and gave them everything that was on my mind which of course escalated the yelling between us. I called the dog warden and the sheriff's department over the situation.
I found Maggie, one of our goats, dead in the middle of the field with a broken neck.  We suspected the neighbors but couldn't prove it.
Our guineas went missing for a week straight along with DH's cat.  When they came home I saw them leaving the neighbor's barn so we suspect that they had them locked up.
We had our first bottle baby goat in the house with us (Scottie).
Built my mom a new 3 hole hutch for her rabbits so that they wouldn't all be housed in the same pen.

February - Rollie, one our rabbits, had babies on the wire on a cold bitter day....no survivors.
The kids shut our best hen's neck in the door of the coop, breaking her neck...I found her that way the next day.
Goldie, our oldest goat, died on Valentine's day.
Jerry, our llama, whose age was unknown (other than older) died.
When a friend came to bury Jerry we went to the barn to get him out and found Lilly (our next oldest goat) curled up next to him dead.

March - took our two standard sized goats in for processing, where they kept escaping their holding pen and we had to keep catching them and putting them back in.  
Put our bottle baby goat outside after he was finally weaned on March 10th.
Marilyn, a rabbit, had babies and was great for a first time mama.
March 14th, went out to check on Scottie (bottle baby goat) to find him curled up in a sleeping position - dead.
March 19th - looked out the window to see mom's horse IN the overflow pond!!  Called my brother to see if he could come help me get her out but between the two of us we couldn't do it.  I called animal control seeking help and they sent out the fire department and a horse sanctuary team.  The firemen put on wet suits and got into the pond and pushed while we pulled - to no avail.  Then someone thought of a sled using a piece of corrugated roofing...she slid right out of the pond.  The vet worked on her for hours, pumping in warm iv fluids and medications but it was to no avail, she had been in the pond to long and succumbed to hypothermia.  She was 28 years old.

April - went on the radio to promote my jam / jelly business for the local store that sells it and ended up talking about goat meat too.
Published Goat Notes as an eBook and a hard copy.
Had someone confess to killing Maggie, some of our chickens and a dog.
Marilyn, one of our rabbits, dropped 5 kits today on the wire. She shouldn't have been pregnant...she shouldn't still be with a male....but alas they are not my rabbits.
Neighbor's cat was caught attacking one of my ducks. DH caught it before I could shoot it. It was turned over to animal control. 
Hit 2 deer with my car damaging a good bit of the side of the car.  The deer lumbered off never to be seen again.

May - lost our best doe (and herd queen)to a bad kidding while we were gone during the day.  Came home to find her already gone.
Broody hen hatched 7 chicks and then one by one lost them all but one.

June - Duck hatched out some guinea keets which we promptly took from her.  Sold them a few days later.
2 days later the duck hatched out her own duck eggs, 7 in all.  Then she proceeded to lose a duckling every other day until she only had 1 left, which she raised up to full size.  I do wish that I'd taken the ducklings and hand reared them so that we'd have more.

July - Goats started climbing the fence and going into the neighbor's yard where she would set her dogs.  This became a daily occurrence.  After several weeks of this I decided to sell the herd.  I had to literally tie the buck in the barn to prevent them from going over the fence.  Not a good life for the goats.
Hens stopped laying in the nest boxes because the goats were using the coop for a playground.
Lost four guinea hens that had been setting on nests outside of the coop to predation.

August - Goats went to their new home.  I still miss them to this day.
My Grandma Emily was diagnosed with cancer...such a dirty word that is.    The doctors said she was too frail to survive chemo.
Another broody hen had 2 chicks....lost one but managed to keep the other alive.
The final broody guinea hen that we had hatched out 20 keets, but eventually lost all but 5.
2 of our cats had kittens but the got flystrike and didn't make it.

September - someone ran over one of my favorite cats and killed it.

October - Pig got loose and led us on a chase.  I grabbed the gun ready to put her down I was so fed up when she finally went back into her pen.
Grandma Emily passed away on October 31.

November / December - Thankfully nothing bad.  Here's hoping that next year turns out much better.

Gosh reading through this makes me look like a horrible animal owner but it was just a really rough year.


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## Livestock lover (Dec 11, 2013)

Never got the goats I wanted.


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## BrownSheep (Dec 11, 2013)

elevan said:


> This was overall quite a bad year for us.
> 
> .
> Gosh reading through this makes me look like a horrible animal owner but it was just a really rough year.


I think this is just because the bad stuff is easier to remember. It hits us hard and doesn't leave us. I can tell you when an animal died or was hurt but forget all of the times something wonderful happened.


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## Livestock lover (Dec 11, 2013)

BrownSheep said:


> I think this is just because the bad stuff is easier to remember. It hits us hard and doesn't leave us. I can tell you when an animal died or was hurt but forget all of the times something wonderful happened.


That's very true.


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## Southern by choice (Dec 11, 2013)

I remember so much of all that each of you have posted. *Glenmar *I remember when you lost your horse  and when you started rabbits, The milking, the "festival"! ...and of course those beautiful Highlands. 
with *Sheepgirl *I remember when your ewes were lambing, remembered you were at work with one of them, remembered when your dad came home! With *Brownsheep* I remember the YAKS! I also remembered your turkey.  Also you were off at school some of the time when some of the events were taking place and you so wanted to be there.
With *Elevan*... oh that was just a heartbreaking read... so much there for awhile, so much sadness.  You sure did go through some things, but you also persevered! Your homemade products were a hit! I remember that too! You were on the radio! You also had many battles on other fronts... always wondered how one person possibly does as much as you do in a day! 
and BTW- NOT a horrible animal owner at all.... you had MANY challenges this past year. 

_*Livestock Lover *_hopefully you will get the goats you are hoping for!
*@ksalvagno *- thank you.

Here's to a great 2014!


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## promiseacres (Dec 12, 2013)

I remember these too, what challenges everyone had. I think my little farm had a good year in 2013.
January was mild and we had our first ram lamb born, I was excited as he was a 4 horn with daddy's coloring, named him JR. We also lost two mini donkey jacks 
February was cold and had the nextl amb born, a little ewe we named Mya. Also got new chicks from Pearce Pastures.
March had lots of snow! Bought a ewe and her two lambs and 2 new mini donkey jennies.
April  Treya finally lambed and she gave us twins! It was in April that Smoke had issues with her horn growing back towards her eye.... ended up losing sight in that side but she pulled through and I learned to not hesitate about horn care/maintance.
May went on a vacation to St Louis and while there the neighbors dog attacked our sheep. Once again it was Smoke who took 100% of the attack (such a good mama) She was treated for over 6 weeks and has permant scars and a lame rear leg. Tough Girl! Thankfully our neighbors took care of the critters like they were their own and we did not cut our trip short.
June went and picked up another ewe, this one double registered. Had 4 Roos processed (ones from Pearce), YUM!
Also began harvesting (broccoli) and processing vegetables, this lasted thru October this year! Also got the sheep registered!
July I sold the mama ewe (brownie) I'd bought in March due to her just not being up to par on worm resistance and size. Also had to sold the mama donkey b/c she was chasing the sheep. Started working again with nautilus and driving.
August was busy busy with the garden and canning.
September I had my first hatch (Dark Brahmas) 5 from one of my broody hens and 3 out of the incubator DH told me to get after we got too many extras! On impulse took two of our mini horses (Rayne and Naut) to walk in a parade, good times!
October not much happened... did pick lots of apples from friends and made applesauce and applebutter. Kids were sick a lot, DH was putting in crazy hours due to harvest.  Pulled the critters off of the pasture, thought I was going to have to shoot RP b/c of his "attitude" during rutt, but we finally came to an understanding.
November finally started on our shelters, and working most weekends got the lambing shed/pen/hay feeder all done! Traded one of the April ram lambs for a little ewe lamb (4 mos). Which put me "over" my max of ewes, but she's too young to breed til next year. Bid on eggs on ebay and of course ended up with them, all was good til hatchday then lost them all b/c someone (a child) messed with the heat control.   All possible due dates passed without lambs but was ok with that.
December so far has been COLD!!! Sent JR to the processor on Dec 4, excited to taste my first home raised hair sheep!
Overall a good year, learned a lot (and remembered some). So glad for a better set up for lambing and feeding. Still wanting bunnies (velvetten lops) but maybe next year. Also looking forward to raising our own Dark brahmas and leghorns, possibly a third breed which defiantly means more chicken coops/areas. Have a decent list of buyers for eggs, so have to think about replinishing the egg flock as the girls age. Very thankful for God's Blessings.
Good to hear from others! Merry Christmas to you and yours!


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## GLENMAR (Dec 12, 2013)

Thanks *Southern* and *Ksalvagno*. Here's to a *HAPPY NEW YEAR* for all. 

On another note. One of my goals for 2014 is to donate a large portion of eggs, vegies, honey, etc
that we produce on the farm next year to the *local food pantry.* I did not realize they would take those things, and they are so close. Most people, including me, do not realize how much of a need there is in our communities.


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## Southern by choice (Dec 12, 2013)

we are working on the same things! You are so right. We are hoping to do chicken, eggs, and possibly goat!


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## Azriel (Dec 14, 2013)

My 2013 was a year of a lot of tears and a little bit of laughter. *January* 3 my 37 year old Arab mare died, I bought her before she was born and was at both her birth and her death. *Feb.* I hatched out over 100 chicks, I took everything out of my smallest bed room covered the floor with tarps covered with news paper and shavings and had the full room as a brooder. Most of the chicks were sold in the first 2 weeks. *March* I bought Rosie my yearling heifer and doubled my cow herd. *April *I bought my 2 baby bottle calves (heifers) and doubled my herd again.* May.* My Mom lost her 3 year fight with cancer and left a huge hole in my heart. *June* The 6th Bess the adult cow had a bull calf. We started haying and all went well and we got 92 1200# round bales. Yea! enough to feed my animals with some to sell. End of June LaceyJ my 8 year old Belgian Tervuren had to have emergency surgery that would have been at least $1000 if I didn't work at the vet cinic, so thankfully I only had to pay $300. *July *We were working on one of the tractors and Kes my 3 year old Belgian Tervuren was about 50 feet away digging in a gopher hole when she was shot and killed by a stupid person thinking he was shooting a coyote. *Aug *I drove the tractor down to one of the lower fields to cut sage and open it up for a new hay field next year. I get about half done and the tractor broke down so I had a 3 mile walk home, I go past one of the springs and see very large cougar tracks on top of the tractor tracks that were very fresh, so I grab a big stick and put my shirt on it and hold it up over my head to make my self bigger than its prey range, and I kept turning and looking back at every noise. Got a big laugh out of that when I got home. Got both Bess and Rosie AI'd and never saw them come back in season so looking forward to May calves. *Sept *I weaned my bottle calves and tried to put them out with the cows. They got scared and took off and it took me about 3 hours of walking and calling to find them. They were so happy to see me and followed me back to their pen. The next time I put them out with the cows I had penned them where they could see the otheres through the fence and get used to the fact that they were cows also, and it went much better and they stayed with the cows.  *Oct. *Cutting, splitting, stacking wood for winter heating. Hunting season opens and all the crazys come out so the horses and cows have to be up by the barn, and I keep busy chaseing hunters off my land. *Nov *pretty uneventful. Hunting season ends the last weekend. Yahoo. *Dec *County Sheriff calls me at work they caught 2 18 year old kids poaching on my land and they had shot my 32 year old Arab gelding twice with arrows. One in the shoulder, and one went through his upper neck area, he did not die, but is going down hill fast after that and I have already talked to the vet about putting him down after Christmas. Weather took a cold turn and we had -30 for several days and 18" of snow. Temps are back to normal 35-40 now.
Looking forward to 2014, I need to make a decison on what breeds of chickens I really want, no more than 3 breeds. Find a milk cow, and get more beef cows. Maybe get some meat rabbits. Think about a couple of milk goats. Learn how to make cheese. Think hard about getting a puppy. Quit my job.


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## Southern by choice (Dec 15, 2013)

Wow, just WOW.
 a great deal of loss Azriel. 
I am so sorry you lost your mom. 
What a hard year, very sad about your horses and your BT. 
tears and laughter.... that is an understatement. 
I sure did chuckle when you "doubled"  your herd... twice! 
And chicks in the bedroom! Calves learning that they are cows.   and the big stick to ward off the cougar. I was really picturing that.
Hoping 2014 brings wonderful things for you!


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## Azriel (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks Southern, it was a tough year but I made it through and looking forward to a better 2014. I'm hoping I can double my herd again.


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## Southern by choice (Dec 15, 2013)

I hope you can double your herd too!
but of course most important... get that pup!


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## OneFineAcre (Dec 15, 2013)

Southern by choice said:


> we are working on the same things! You are so right. We are hoping to do chicken, eggs, and possibly goat!


 
We donated 2 goats and a starter flock of chicks through Heifer International.  We've supported this organization for several years now.

www.heifer.org


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## Sweetened (Dec 19, 2013)

My most sincere condolences, Southern, for your loss.  

As upsetting as it is to see the majority of people  having had rought years, it puts my heart at ease that I wasn't alone in that.  This year has been a train wreck, for the most part.

*January* marked our second year with chickens, the gateway drug, and was an uneventful month, I suppose.  The oops litter of puppies was doing well, and we were preselling them like crazy.  

By *February*, we had gotten into goats: two Cashmere/Spanish crosses.  Later that month, to put some rank in the herd instead of just top and bottom, we added an Oberhasli we got from auction into the mix.  DH's brother was found collapsed and unconscious in his bathtub, so he flew out to be with family and I stayed and watched the farm.  Unfortunately, brother passed away before the end of February after being pronounced brain dead and removed from life support.  The flu had mutated and attacked his heart; apparently, one in a million chances and all of the circumstances have to be just right.

*March* was a sad month with lots of grieving and 2 completely failed hatches.  The chicks that hatched did so 3 days early, but most eggs died late in development despite fertility being 98% or more.  A few of the chicks that hatched ended up partially stuck in eggs only to find they were that way because they were severely malformed -- putting chicks down was incredibly hard.




Project bird​
In *April *the first non-puppy mammal was born on our farm to our herd queen Estelle (picture below).  To go with our "Classic" names theme, the buckling was named Walter.  Estelle had me in a mess.  I was told "If she gives milk, she's HOURS away from kidding."  Panicked, I was up with her ever 2 hours for two weeks.  When I arrived home from work, I found her missing from the herd and ran as quickly as I could to find her.




He was beautiful, and we were so excited!​
At the same time, deals were falling through for puppies and suddenly we're stuck with 10 dogs.  We eventually managed to sell 4 of them, but still have half the litter.  We're a little overwhelmed.  The purchase of the farm was finalized, and it was ours for sure.

*May* and *June *brought a lot of heartache.  Of the chicks that survived the hatches and grew into lovely young birds, over half of them had died for unknown reasons.  No symptoms, no signs of illness, just death.  I later found out they were likely eating mouse feces as my coop had become, unknowingly, infested with mice.  It was also during this time we had been losing rabbits to contaminated feed.  The neighbor put a poisoned carcass out for the coyotes without telling us, so the dogs who never wandered suddenly disappeared for hours.  Finally came home wreaking of death and covered in rotten carcass.  Literally smelled them before we saw them.  One of the pups ended up poisoned from the carcass, managed to get some of the bait.  I went to sleep with him on a Saturday night fearing he'd be gone when I woke.  He's still alive today. So much chaos.




Tank, the poisoned puppy​
Through *July *and *August*, our flock was devastated by dogs.  The puppies managed to break through the kennel in several different ways and spent their out time playing-with-until-dead chickens.  Lost about 1/4 of the flock the first time, and on the second successful escape (until we pretty much built a new kennel over the current one) had our numbers brought down from 86 to 17.  I was told by many people to 'just shoot the dogs', but I couldn't bring myself to it.  What they did was completely natural.  You could look at the birds that were left (very few left in pieces) and see how the dogs had played with them until they died, at which time they consumed them.  To this day, to have them out when we're around, chickens are a non issue, and they're not interested.  Also in late August, we arrived home to find Estelle had been killed by dogs as well.  A precision kill, one that should have impressed me but I was too upset to be okay with it.




Last picture ever taken of Estelle, curled up with her kid, Walter​
*September *and *October *weren't much better.  The dogs bolted from the property twice in a span of 25-30 seconds, only to come back from wherever they went with their faces covered in quills.  One dog ended up with it 3 times.  Over 3 grand in vet bills to remove them, as the dogs were too large to hold down.  We considered putting them down, but couldn't bring ourselves to do so and are still trying to sell them.  They are amazing, despite all the trouble they've caused.

The rest of the year has been neutral, more or less.  I can't say as anything  extremely terrible has happened, but I'm always half waiting for it, trying not to ask the dreaded "What's next".  I've learned a lot of lessons, found out a lot of problems and am working to fix them.  Jumping head long into these things is a hard and earth shattering way to learn, but you buck up or get out quickly.  I still consult books, love asking questions on and reading forums, and sharing my experience where I can.  Next year will be better -- it just has to be.




Agnes (doe), possibly boer X with Sven (background, buck) a young Saanen, I'm told​


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## Southern by choice (Dec 19, 2013)

> I've learned a lot of lessons, found out a lot of problems and am working to fix them. Jumping head long into these things is a hard and earth shattering way to learn, but you buck up or get out quickly. I still consult books, love asking questions on and reading forums, and sharing my experience where I can. Next year will be better -- it just has to be.



Well said.
Through our experiences,  good or bad, we learn. We can only try to do better, be better, and hope.

Truly sorry for all your loss.   
It sure has been a tearful one for so many. 
It is here where we can cry and share and stress and grieve... knowing  others understand.  
Thanks for sharing Sweetened! Your pics are beautiful  hope you are "around" more often. What are your "project birds"?


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## promiseacres (Dec 19, 2013)

Southern by choice said:


> Well said.
> Through our experiences,  good or bad, we learn. We can only try to do better, be better, and hope.
> 
> Truly sorry for all your loss.
> ...


 X2 that is definatly a tough year!


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## Sweetened (Dec 19, 2013)

Southern by choice said:


> Well said.
> Through our experiences,  good or bad, we learn. We can only try to do better, be better, and hope.
> 
> Truly sorry for all your loss.
> ...



Thanks Southern, and Promise.  I would like to be around more   I joined a while back and just lurked.  Recently, though, I started taking some time where I could and I'm glad to be part of the community.  I finally feel like I can contribute on occassion!

I have a breeding project going.  Well, had... From the massacre it's a bit on hold for the next year, I have to pick up my breeds again and wait for them to come into the laying age and so on.  This year I will focus on my Chanteclers and Easter Eggers and next year I'll really get back into my project.  I'm trying to regear the Chantecler for my farm.  I understand the differences will be enough that they won't stay true to type, so I'll run a Chant line and a project line and see how it goes.


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## norseofcourse (Dec 21, 2013)

I'm so very sorry for all the sadness many of you have had this year.  I cried through the sad parts, and I admire how folks just 'picked up the pieces' as it were, and carried on - I'm not sure I could have through some of that.  But I was glad to see there were good times, too.

I've had horses for years, but it wasn't until this year (a few years after moving to my own small acreage), that I made the leap into something else - in *March* I got two purebred (but unregistered) Icelandic ewes.  I found Backyard Herds as I dealt with some type of upper respiratory problem that required a couple vet visits to clear up; feed and feeding (making a hay feeder inspired by SheepGirl's posts); and late pregnancy and lambing (when? when? LOL).

In *April* I was fortunate enough to be present at the birth of my first lamb, and three weeks later I was also present at the birth of my second!  Wonderfully normal presentations and births, exactly like a great series of photos posted by a BYH member who I can't recall at the moment.
I had the ram lamb disbudded by the vet, which required two procedures, with the second one having problems healing and flystrike developed, and I am very thankful to the BYH members here for helping me recognise it and successfully treat it.
Found a great deal on a spinning wheel on Craigslist and got it.  Also found a great deal on a floor loom on Craigslist and got it - I won't need it for awhile, but it was too good a deal to pass up!

*May* - found a morel mushroom on my property, my first one ever! I don't eat mushrooms, but finding it was cool.  Went to my first Sheep and Wool Festival.

In *June* I took my mini horse to his first driving horse show, and was very pleased with how well he did.  I got this little guy free off of Craigslist due to behavior problems, so he's both my first rescue, and the first horse I've trained to drive myself from scratch.  He behaved very well and I was so proud of him.
I also got my little boy lamb wetherized  

*July* went to Ohio Sheep Day put on by the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association and the Ohio State University extension.  Took classes on various sheep care topics, great place to meet lots of other sheep people too, from novices like me to very experienced and degree'd instructors.
Started learning to spin on my wheel.  It's fun but a lot harder than it looks.

In *August* I got a beautiful moorit (brown) ram from a farm in Michigan.  Because of all the trouble with disbudding my (now) wether, I decided I wanted a polled ram.  He is also not registered, but I am considering registering him.

*September*  My young ewe lamb had symptoms that, in hindsight, I should have picked up on (less energy, not growing as fast as the wether), till the day I felt a soft swelling under her chin.  I thought she'd got stung by a yellowjacket.  I had read about bottlejaw but I thought that appeared further back on their jaw.  I checked her eyelids 'just in case', and they were white .  I got wormer the next morning and wormed her, and spent an anxious few days feeding her extra and checking eyelids till I finally saw a faint pink.  I continued the extra care several weeks as she improved and started to thrive again.  I learned my lesson, I now check eyelids regularly.
I got hay in for the winter, all I could fit, hoping it'll be enough for the ponies and the sheep.  Adopted an 8-year old Shiba Inu from a rescue, she had spent the first 7 years of her life as a breeder dog in an Amish puppy mill.  Found a shearer who will do small flocks, had him come out and shear all 5 of mine.

*October*  Went to a fiber fair (smaller than the sheep and wool festival, but similar) and took my wool to a mill that had a booth there, to get turned into roving.
Found a small custom meat processor not too far from me that does sheep/lambs.  Considered taking the wether there, but his wool was so nice, I decided I couldn't.  I'm having difficulty making the leap from 'pet' to 'livestock'...

*November* put the ram in with the rest of the sheep - lambs sometime after April 1  

*December*  Had my first lessons in how to knit.  My older dog got diagnosed with Cushings, so he's on meds and will be retested next week to see if the meds are correct or need dosages adjusted.

Whew, what a year!  I'd forgotten about some of this stuff.


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