# Pioneer Chicken - April Happenings



## Pioneer Chicken (Jul 7, 2014)

Howdy! I've been on this forum for a little while and finally decided to start a farm journal. For years, my family just had pets which consisted of a dog and a few cats. When we moved a while back, we noticed our new friends had chickens, rabbits, and goats which got us to enjoying their critters and thinking 'bout getting a few for ourselves. One bright and sunny day when the birds were- oh, nevermind- one day we just up and decided we'd get us some chickens. And so we did. ( : A few months after we'd acquired six white rock pullets, our neighbors gave us a rabbit they'd found wandering the neighborhood- likely an abandoned Easter 'pet'. A few more chickens, a move, a dozen rabbits more, three Nigerian Dwarf goats and we were set to be your poster surburban homestead. Since then, we've added guinea fowl, a garden, LaMancha goats, fish, and, more recently, quail to our little farm. I think that's enough jabbering for now and time for some proof. ( ;

This is Peace, the Independence chicken. She was one of the original White Rocks that dominated the nice little place we called a backyard. Within months, it was nothing short of a large glorious dust bath. I'll get revenge someday. Bwahahaha. Ahem, sorry 'bout that.

 

Don't let that cute lil face get to you. This bunny meant business. Top sheeprabbit you ever met. Yup, you heard right; this little guy- Oreo's his name- herded 'his' whole flock of chickens in a circle- perfect to the 'T'-whenever he wanted to. When we moved, we found out the sneaky (and blessed, may I add] little critter had chewed the electrical cords behind our couch.
 

That's Little Girl; top goat of all goats that ever touched hoof on this farm, with the exception of one, and only one goat- Little Joe, the herdsire. She's four years young and every bit as in charge and bossy as you can imagine. She adores her people too.
 

And these two were her best goat buddies, sisters by the name of Gentle (pure white] and Bambi. Both were part of a set of quads and were as different as could be. Gentle was sweet, quiet, calm, and patient- well, to a point. Bambi was my vocal, clumsy, and most impatient little powerhorse of a goat. I bet she could'a pulled me on a cart all by her lonesome.
  

Step aside folks.  Meet Major Bonacelli, one of the handsomest of fishes with flowing tail and spunk to boot.
 

I think that's 'bout good for an introduction, don't you think?  Y'all come back now, ya here?


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## frustratedearthmother (Jul 7, 2014)

You're off to a great start!  Can't wait for more installments on your journey!


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## SA Farm (Jul 7, 2014)

frustratedearthmother said:


> You're off to a great start!  Can't wait for more installments on your journey!



X2


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## Pioneer Chicken (Jul 11, 2014)

Fourscore and ten da- oh, sorry; on the fourth, one of the broody henshatched an egg and badly injured her chick. You do not want to know what I said to that hen. Because I'd had something similar happen a few years back, I decided with the advice and support of my family, to try and save the little guy. Unfortunately, he died overnight. This called for new protocol; all new mama hens must be checked bi-hourly [new word folks if it isn't one already (; ].


A few days later, I was quite surprised to find another broody with two very adorable guinea keets, dry and fluffy as could be. Well, how do you like that? I'm glad she was a good mama by nature...or was it 'cause she heard me threatening the hen next door? If she hadn't been, I'd'a had me a good stew already. Nevertheless, good mama hatched two more making a grand total of four very fluffy peeping chicks.


The garden is faring well...except for one evil thing; the squash vine borer. It attacked the pumpkins and the yellow squash which had been faithfully giving us delightful -um- yellow squashes. I only have one left to harvest; perhaps the last I'll get for the summer. Evil bine borers, I WILL get revenge- once I find out how to eliminate you from my garden. Bwahahaha


Out of all the sunflower seeds my pa and I planted, only one has shown me its lovely face.


Graham is growing like a weed. Already starting to stink and act like a buck; I don't think he's even four weeks old. He's a cutie, though.


The quail have names now. Tommy is patiently awaiting his new flock.


Billy [because he was a  bit of a  bully, I named after a bully I knew when I was younger] and his girls Aunt Bee, Thelma Lou, and Lou-Ann. The girls are giving me three lovely, little speckled eggs everyday.


Annnd, I finally taught Sally how to speak! Or did she teach me how to teach her? What a smart pup!


TTFN,
PC


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## Poka_Doodle (Sep 2, 2015)

Hello


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## Pioneer Chicken (Sep 2, 2015)

Hi! Wow, it's been a year since I've posted! suppose I shall work on that now.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Sep 2, 2015)

PART 1: 

Well, it sure has been a while, hasn't it? There have been quite a few changes here, so let's get started with today's ...oops, sorry.  Just a little Roy Rogers stuck in my head.  

In May 2014, I had purchased two lovely Lamancha does only to find out later that both does tested positive for CAE.  I had to catch and bottle raise all the kids this year which was quite the adventure.  I found a good pet home for those two.  Of course, all nine kids are already living and hopefully loving life in their new homes.
{Trip & Trouble}





A few of the little darlings.  They grew up so fast.  This here's Wildkat.  Yes, my dear grammar friends; I did say that quite intentionally.




{Calico Kat}




{sapphire}




{Ivanhoe}




I still wasn't happy with my Nigerian Dwarf goats' milk production and I wanted to get a fully-registered herd so I sold Little Girl, her year old dry doe Little Byte, and AlleyKat.
{Little Girl}




{LittleByte}




{AlleyKat}




Oh, how could I forget?  I bought myself a nice buck in the early/late winter...um...February.  Haha...I love, love, LOVE how his offspring look!   All of them had great length, were wide in the hocks, and had nice, round escutcheons.  Was so very tempted to buy one of them, but I had great self-control...
{Gus}





which lasted till May when I found and hencetoforth almost immediately-after some hearty, hopeful research and several intense interviews[okay, okay, it wasn't THAT dramatic] - got me some good-looking does- four to be exact. Hey, ya sell a bunch, ya buy a bunch; that's how it works, right? Of course right.
{Quintana & Cocoa Puff}





{Darling Diamond}





{JustDucky}





  All that searching set me to looking for a Lamancha buck and another Lamancha doe...yes, I needed some serious help.  Thankfully, the sane side of me said no more and put an end to hunting for any Lamanchas.  That's not to say I don't still lurk Craigslist or Facebook though.  Oh,  the temptation!  Don't worry, I'm behaving myself... for the time being.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Sep 2, 2015)

PART 2:

My quail set-up didn't work out too well.  One of my males flew out and I wasn't able to catch him.   I was so upset, I got rid of them as soon as I could.  Bummer since I really enjoyed them, just gotta get a better system and then I'll give it another go.

seabiscuit, my male guinea, kicked the bucket for some unknown reason this spring, so I picked up Mr. Handsome.  He was a good boy till I let him free-range with his hens Polka Dot and Polo.  shortly thereafter,  he turned into a mean ol' brat. He bullied the Bantam Coop residents so much so, that they wouldn't go in at night anymore. Then he started attacking the humans so we locked him up in the chick pen;the chicks are put in a cage at night.  Well,  I failed to check for any holes because I hadn't had escapees till that night.  That blasted guinea killed one and injured two of four escaped chicks. I was so stinkin' upset.  I almost butchered him right then and there before remembering I didn't want to deal with two mourning hens for however long it took me to get them a new mate.   He still awaits his date with the stew pot.  That will be the day of sweet revenge...





speaking of chicks, this was the year to get new layers.  WOOT! WOOT!  Oh yeah! Chicken Math won and we got a total of twenty chicks . Or maybe it was thirty...hmmm... Hey,  every two years is special, ya know?  We get to go chicken crazy.  We being my mom and I.   My precious little darlings that I claim as mine are Iris & Izzie, the Barred Rocks; Nani & Lokelani, the Buff somethings; sunny & shadow, the Light Brahmas; suri, a mottled Japanese bantam; and Eema, the White Jersey Giant.  We also have Marishka & Cherry, the Production Reds; Lily,  & a young roo,  White Rocks; Daisy, Daffodil, &Tulip the White Rock pullets; sushi, a sweet lil dumpling of a silkie, & Yoko, also a silkie; 4 Black Jersey Giants {all of which I sold}; Jitterbug & Cha-Cha, Black Australorps; and Polar, the new male guinea...more on that little stinker shortly.
{suri & sushi}




{Iris}




One of the White Rock pullets; probably Daisy or Daffodil





Dearest, I forgot the Leghorns. Yes, yes, of course, before the chick extravaganza, we picked up four just-about-ready-to-lay White Leghorns from a lovely lady and her mother. Their names are Pensacola {Penny}; Italy {Italee or Tally}; Asia; Croatia {sha-sha or Asa}.


















With their flock leader,luver guy, and chicken roo, sir Liverwort.





Even though she's not new, she is such a darling that I must make you aware of her existence... meet Ebony Jewel.





PART 3 will come in due time my dears.  In the mean time, hope y'all are enjoying the thrilling and most adventurous life of Pioneer Chicken.   Come back now, ya hear? Pretty please?


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## Pioneer Chicken (Sep 2, 2015)

PART 3: 

Greetings and salutations, my fellow forum folks! Ah, that was a lovely intro, wasn't it?  Let's see, what should I start with? After my first start, that is. 

Polar.  How 'bout we start with Polar-the little stinker...but I already stated what he was, didn't I? Oh well. Nothing like repetition to get one's point across.      My little replacement has turned into a junior Mr. Handsome.  He's developed an apparently fascinating habit of picking on my Iris and sushi and anyone else his age who irks him.  Guess I should've turned Mr. Handsome into stew sooner, huh?   I think my choices consist of having two delicious suppers; one pot of soup and some time for Junior to mature; or a pot of soup, sell Junior, and find myself another guinea. 





Had some folks finally purchase the vacant, overgrown, mini-forest corner lot next to us.  Most all of it's cleared now with a lovely southern house rising up.  Losing a lot of privacy and a good strip of land which meant my dad and bros had to move the buck barn and the doe barn.  The good thing 'bout that is the bucks got a new pen with a little more room than they had before.  The does lost half their pen, so will likely be joining it to the pen beside it.  They're also building a fence on our property line.  





Thinking about breeding Belle the Lamancha with Joe the Nigerian Dwarf for Feb kids and more milk production.  The younger does won't be ready till the end of this year/ early next year to be bred so I'm thinking it might be wiser to go ahead and get her fresh instead of waiting another four months to get her bred.  Not the best photo of her set up, but I like it better than the others; she really is a nice doe.  Belle isn't registered, though,  I'm going to try to see if I can get her made a recorded grade with ADGA, but I don't care if she's not able to be.  she's a great doe,both personality and milk production-wise. 






What would you do if you had to deal with  a bully male guinea?
What's your favorite Pioneer Chicken critter so far?
Have you changed your goals for your goats/ chickens/little/big homestead?


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## animalmom (Sep 3, 2015)

Lovely photo essay!  You have been very busy this past year, and it sounds like you've been having a good time with the work.  Shame your male guineas have been such bad boys... they had such great potential.  I don't have guineas but I can tell you that if one of our Buff Orp roosters started acting aggressive, no matter how good looking he was, he'd be in the stew pot by sundown.  Somewhere out there is your perfect gentleman guinea who will charm your little ladies and give you nice little keets.

You have so many very nice looking animals that I find it hard to claim a favorite, however, I love Gus' face, and that Joe is one hunk of a buck.  Hope you keep all of your devoted readers posted, with lots of pictures, on your current and future plans.  Looking forward to seeing Belle's and Joe's kids.  Bet they will be super cuties!


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## Pioneer Chicken (Sep 3, 2015)

Thank you animalmom! Yes, that's what I'm kind of thinking;  just need to keep looking, I suppose.  I so wish I'd could get kids from Gus early next year, but all my new does are too young yet...may not be till May / June or late next year.  Really looking forward to that though.  

Me too.  I think I definitely will breed Joe and Belle this fall.  It would be so hard to go without having a -albeit, short- kidding season in a few months.    Not to mention seeing how Belle does with her second freshening; can't tell you how impressed and pleased I am with her first freshening and for doing so well milking for a little over a year.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Oct 14, 2015)

Hey y'all.   It's  been rough for me this month.  Tomorrow marks the two week date that my dog sally died; quite unexpectedly.  she was only four years old.  I truly couldn't have asked for a better dog; I had always thought the smart, loving dogs you see bonded with their owners on TV or heard about were for those who were dog people  or for somebody else; definitely not me! But sally proved that wrong.  Before her, I liked dogs but I was more a cat person; sally changed that too.  she  showed me dogs could be great companion animals like cats. 





she loved, loved, loved her life here.   Before she came to live with us, she had lived in two other homes; one was a breeder she lived her first two years of life at and then she lived one month in the city with another owner.  she was so terrified of practically everything especially men when we first got her, but patience and an obedience class really got her braver, more curious, and much more playful.  she grew so much and really discovered herself and what freedom was.  





she loved the goats, the chickens, the rabbits and tried to help me take care of them twice each day.   she always broke up the fights between our two free-range roosters;  now when they fight,it just reminds me of her. 




she loved to just sit beside me or lay down close by.   she was so so smart and knew the basic commands plus roll over, sit pretty, high-five with one and two hands, shake, other paw, spin around, push open doors/gates, and speak.  When sally finally understood what speak meant, it was like a whole new world opened up for her.  I loved hearing her bark or whine in excitement over food, play time, milking, critter lock up, or going back and forth along the fence with the neighbor's dog. Now I just see our neighbor's dog waiting by the fence wondering where sally is. 




You really come to appreciate the little things, even the annoying things, that your dog used to do.  sally used to steal the chicken eggs: ooh, she made me so flippin' mad when she did that.  I laugh about it now.   I miss seeing  her wait under the goat barn or by the back door for me to come out.  I miss her nudging my hand for a pet and petting that soft, thick fur of hers.  I miss playing chase with her.  I miss seeing her run like crazy around the yard, barking excitedly.  I miss seeing her chase and tease our old dog Max.  




I never imagined a pet could leave a paw print on my heart. When I go outside, something is missing.  Even inside, when it's time for her morning or evening meal, I realize she's not here anymore; no  more excited barks, expectant looks, no more what-trick-is-it-you-want-me-to-do.  




 Each moment you have with your dog is something special, something to be treasured because one day, she won't be there.  But she will leave a great big paw print on your heart.




I love you so much sally and I miss you more than words can say.


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## Baymule (Oct 14, 2015)

So sorry about Sally. She was a beautiful dog. And yes, when we lose our faithful friends, they leave a huge hole in our heart.


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## frustratedearthmother (Oct 14, 2015)

What a beautiful girl - so sorry you lost her.


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## BlessedWithGoats (Oct 14, 2015)

I'm so so sorry for your loss @Pioneer Chicken! It is so hard to lose our beloved pets! Sally was a beautiful dog, and she sounds like a wonderful friend as well! 
It's okay to cry for her; let the tears come if they will! She can never be replaced, but you'll always have the fond memories of her! 
I'm here if you need a listening ear... I know it's hard to lose a dog; I lost my first one almost four years ago, and it still hurts sometimes. 
God Bless you and give you comfort during this hard time in your life!
BWG


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## Latestarter (Oct 14, 2015)

X2+ Terrible thing to have to deal with, especially when she was so young and should have been around for another 10 years! So sorry to hear of your loss. You know of course that she'll be waiting to meet up with you again. I hope you can take solace and maybe later on, find another to help fill a portion of the hole she left.


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## Poka_Doodle (Oct 15, 2015)

Sorry


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## Pioneer Chicken (Oct 15, 2015)

Thanks y'all.  I have been crying my heart out.  It's been real hard.


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## BlessedWithGoats (Oct 15, 2015)

Pioneer Chicken said:


> Thanks y'all.  I have been crying my heart out.  It's been real hard.


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## goatgurl (Oct 15, 2015)

oh an, pioneer chicken I'm so sorry for the loss of sally.  i know your heart is hurting


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## Baymule (Oct 15, 2015)

We lost our beloved Labrador Danny, on December 20, 2011. Our grown kids adopted a black Lab/Great Dane the day after Christmas for us. We named him Parker and we love him madly. The grief we felt for Danny endured, but as time went by, we could fondly recall him without wanting to cry. You will get there too, but first you have to cry it out. I found this video and played it over and over, tears rolling down my cheeks. It seemed to help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I&feature=player_embedded

This is a link to the story I wrote about Danny the night he died.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/611066/danny-dog


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## Scooby308 (Oct 15, 2015)

So sorry for your loss. My Rottie turned 14 years old this year. She was a pound rescue at the age of 2. She's the best trained, smartest dog you will ever meet. I rarely have to give a command, she reads my mind. Every year for the last three years I keep saying this will probably be the last year. And every year so plugs on seemingly fine. She loves the cold and snow as much as I hate it. I so dread the day that will come.

Condolences


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## Pioneer Chicken (Oct 20, 2015)

Thanks so much y'all.  Your words mean a lot to me. I got some of my favorite photos of sally printed out and will be hanging up one of them in my room.  



Scooby308 said:


> So sorry for your loss. My Rottie turned 14 years old this year. She was a pound rescue at the age of 2. She's the best trained, smartest dog you will ever meet. I rarely have to give a command, she reads my mind. Every year for the last three years I keep saying this will probably be the last year. And every year so plugs on seemingly fine. She loves the cold and snow as much as I hate it. I so dread the day that will come.
> 
> Condolences



 I found sally on Craigslist, but I honestly consider her a rescue with how terrified and shy she was for the first half year or so.   I'm afraid to think what would've happened to her had she gone to the shelter.  I think the rescues really appreciate when they have a human who truly cares for them and is willing to put the time and effort to help them be the best dog possible and they show it by sticking by your side no matter what and doing whatever they can to please you.  




Baymule said:


> We lost our beloved Labrador Danny, on December 20, 2011. Our grown kids adopted a black Lab/Great Dane the day after Christmas for us. We named him Parker and we love him madly. The grief we felt for Danny endured, but as time went by, we could fondly recall him without wanting to cry. You will get there too, but first you have to cry it out. I found this video and played it over and over, tears rolling down my cheeks. It seemed to help.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I&feature=player_embedded
> 
> ...



Thank you so much for sharing your story.  You wrote it so well; Danny sounds like a great dog too.  It really is a beautiful thing, the bond between a human and his dog.


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## Latestarter (Oct 20, 2015)

I've never been one to make or have "close friends". I'm not anti-social as a rule, but it is what it is. My dogs have always been my best friends and I feel your pain at your loss. They are closer than family as they are ALWAYS there for you, no matter what. I will never understand a person who doesn't like or care about dogs. Again, condolences!


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## Pioneer Chicken (Oct 28, 2015)

Earlier this year, a couple finally purchased the overgrown, forested lot and are in the process of getting their new house built.  The house is looking marvelous, by the way; just beautiful.  A good 'ol Texas home.   Anyway, as they drew nearer to making much more progress, we needed to get our fence on our property line. We 'lost' a good slice of pie, but it's okay, we're finally getting all our property mapped out!  My dad and three brothers have done most of the work; I did help with the goat fence though. 

I'll start with our doe barn.  Dad and my bros moved it up about 12-15 inches.  Haven't got the new stairs in or made just yet.  The shed to the right was also moved up and there is now a wood fence behind it and going down about six feet or so.  We still have about half more of the backyard to fence.  In the meantime,  welded wire is fenced between the new fence and the neighbor's fence to keep critters from going in or out.






This is what it looked like before joining the three pens.  I had a doe pen [to the right] and two kid pens [middle and left. The one on the left was the original which we had shortened for the third pen to make a 'hallway']. 




The does had lost half their pen when the new fence was built so I decided their pen should be joined with the pen closest it.  Now I have a doe pen and a kid pen, which is perfect for the time being.




The hay feeder is to the right in the doe pen and, yes, that is a cave one of my brothers built for the does to enjoy in the summertime or a light rain if they don't want to go in the barn.  




The kid pen is to the left...




This is the buck barn where Joe and Gus reside.  I think my favorite part about all this 'remodeling' is that they get a much larger pen.  Really is quite nice actually.  Probably the only thing we will [sadly] have to change is the fence. Had we known the new neighbors were going to build there fence close to where the old one was and left the gap in between, we never would've done the welded wire.  Reason being, we don't want a whole lot of strangers coming by and watching us or looking at the animals[believe it or not, it has happened and they could pet our bucks or feed them- not good!], so in due time, we will be replacing that with a wood fence as well. 

We- well, I should say Dad and my bros  - just have to build some stairs and fix the buck barn sliding door so they can go in and out as they please.





The buck barn was moved up about 10 feet or so.  You can kind of see where it used to be and how small their old pen was directly behind the barn and new fence. 




Directly to the left of the first photo showing the goat barn, is the big chicken coop with its new pen {built this spring, if I recall correctly].  I LOVE it y'all! sooo much more room.  Rhett, our handicapped-ish rooster, resides in the hutch that you see on the left.




Looking down at the goat pens when standing in front of the big chicken coop.




I have continued this post in the next post just because I have about ten more photos to upload here.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Oct 28, 2015)

Going up to the left of the big chicken coop is a nice brick pathway.  To the right is the banty coop and to the left is our garden.  My mom has done a lot of work in the pathway areas recently so I need to post photos of that.  It looks absolutely lovely now and ever so much tidier. 





The Bantam Coop. 





Our garden straight on...




To the right...





And to the left.





For some reason, I didn't get a photo of Pumpkin the pet rabbit located a little further up from the banties.  The chick run, located in the Big Chicken Coop, is directly across from Pumpkin. 





And, finally, even further up are Mom's rabbits.    To the left of that wall is our campfire/ cool hangout area.  





Hope y'all enjoyed! Take care now.


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## Latestarter (Oct 29, 2015)

Thanks for sharing all the pics! Looks like you have a regular homestead all set up there in suburbia 

Edit to ask; Do the goats use the "cave"?


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## Pioneer Chicken (Oct 30, 2015)

Latestarter said:


> Thanks for sharing all the pics! Looks like you have a regular homestead all set up there in suburbia
> 
> Edit to ask; Do the goats use the "cave"?



  My original herd used it a lot more than my new girls, but my newer girls use it occasionally.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Oct 30, 2015)

My sweet Rosey died early Thursday morning.  I've had her since she was a tiny kitten and she passed at 15 years of age.  My precious precious girl. I miss her so unbelievably much.


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## Latestarter (Oct 31, 2015)

Let's hope this isn't one of those things that travel in threes...  Sorry you lost yet another family member.


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## babsbag (Oct 31, 2015)

So sorry you lost your beloved kitty.   It is never easy to say goodbye.

 I have had cats my entire life; I'm 57...and since I retired I have fostered 4 litters of kittens and I said I would NOT keep any. My "old" cats are between 2 and 16 years of age ( 4 of them), my "new" cat is now 7 months...guess who kept one?   Animals have a way of weaseling into our lives and for me cats are the biggest weasels of them all.  My new Bug looks a lot like your Rosey; she was very pretty.


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## Baymule (Oct 31, 2015)

So sorry about your Kitty.


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## Poka_Doodle (Oct 31, 2015)

So sorry, lost one of my 4 year old cats to Feline leukemia in July and have lost 6 foster kittens top Pan Leukipinia (not sure if I got the spelling right) so I know the feeling way to well


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## Pioneer Chicken (Jan 14, 2016)

I have really cut back in my herd due to my training to become a doula and starting school.  Down to four with one buck left to sell.   It makes me sad, in a way, because I'm not going to have kidding season around the time it usually happens in February.  I'm already missing that I don't have pregnant does to care for either and won't be having to keep an eye on a bunch of trouble-making, adorable, fluffy little goat kids.  I'm  hoping come July, I will have (at least two) cute kids plus lots of fresh milk.  

The chickens are laying fairly well being that it's winter  and I'm happy to gather six to eight eggs per day.  

Honestly, I'm not feeling like much of a farmer these days.  And I kind of miss that. But right now I need to focus on my schooling (I'm planning to become a midwife so I'm working on the basic courses for the next year and a half before hopefully transferring to a nursing college).  I'm already thinking that once I've finished and graduated with my schooling, I'll get myself a few more does, a good farm dog, and some other critter/s that'll make it seem more like having a farm again.


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## Pioneer Chicken (May 11, 2017)

Hey y'all!

It's been a while! After a year in college, I've decided it's just not my thing.  I spent most of last year indoors studying and absolutely despised it. I'm currently working part time as a nanny which I'm really enjoying. I would love to be able to have a job working on a ranch or be self-sustainable but I'm just praying about it and keeping myself busy. There's plenty to do around here, that's for sure. 

For the past two weeks, I have been working hard to use up the milk that our Nigerian Dwarf is giving us. She is the first ND I've had who's given me so much milk- and for a first freshener too! She's giving me six to seven cups a day. I'm so thankful that after all those years of research, learning, buying, and selling has finally paid off! Anyway, I haven't been able to make cheese since I'm out of rennet and finally ordered some yesterday because it is difficult keeping up with it all! LOL I've made English muffins (twice); five batches of pancakes; pretzels; Irish Soda bread; Rice pudding; and dinners using milk. Needless to say, that's only used a few cups over a gallon of milk. I still have at least another gallon to use up and Tana is still gaining on me! Time to make mozzarella and pizza when I get the rennet.  Ah, well, I'm happy to have this problem. It's a good challenge. I'm hoping to start making soap too. By the way, do any of y'all have a cream separator? If so, what brand and how do you like it? 

We have about twenty chickens now and since this is the year to buy our replacement flock, we have fifteen young chickens as well.  Several hens have gone broody too (one of them, Keets, hatched fifteen chicks, raised them and now she's broody again. So much for her laying eggs for us.  Silly girl!) This her with her first clutch which are a little over two months old now. 





Merrylegs & Pussywillow 





Our garden is growing and we should be harvesting tomatoes and peppers soon. It looks like we'll get another good harvest of grapes and blackberries too. I'm thrilled! I love the hard work that we put into gardening and then all the reaping we get to do afterwards. It's such a blessing. 





In addition, I have been elated that there are still yellow-bellied racers in my area. I hadn't seen any for a few years.  I think they're just beautiful. This one is a juvenile. 





I currently have five goats: one registered buck, Gus; one registered doe, Tana (she kidded prematurely- I'm pretty sure my Lamancha doe rammed her   ); one mostly- Lamancha, Belle, and her two kids which will be wethers, Elkanah and Sinai.  They are the sweetest things. I'm so happy and pleased with my herd right now.  I hope to add another doe or two in the coming year. 




Sinai





One of my goals for this year is to get more involved with horses and learning about their care.  I'm so happy I got to ride three times in the past month; so in love!


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## Latestarter (May 12, 2017)

Sounds like you're leading a pretty full life. Sorry college didn't work out for you... it doesn't for many. Nothing wrong with that. Some folks aren't meant for that route. Some folks just pick the wrong major...


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## babsbag (May 12, 2017)

@Devonviolet should be getting her cream separator any day now. I am hoping she will update us when she has a chance to use it. 

You can make soft cheese without rennet. You can order cultures from New England cheese company. There are very good and easy. You could make yogurt too. Goat milk yogurt isn't very thick so I usually make keifer so I can just drink it. Ice cream is good too, sometimes I add a little whipping cream to the milk, but not always.


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## Pioneer Chicken (May 12, 2017)

Latestarter said:


> Sounds like you're leading a pretty full life. Sorry college didn't work out for you... it doesn't for many. Nothing wrong with that. Some folks aren't meant for that route. Some folks just pick the wrong major...



Thank you for the encouragement! That means a lot to me especially since I tend to feel that others scrutinize my choice which sometimes makes me question my decision to stick to farming and that it's the right thing for me but I love it and could do it everyday.  College? Not so much.  I know that I would be miserable if I continued just to get approval from others. 



babsbag said:


> @Devonviolet should be getting her cream separator any day now. I am hoping she will update us when she has a chance to use it.
> 
> You can make soft cheese without rennet. You can order cultures from New England cheese company. There are very good and easy. You could make yogurt too. Goat milk yogurt isn't very thick so I usually make keifer so I can just drink it. Ice cream is good too, sometimes I add a little whipping cream to the milk, but not always.



Thank you for the information! I will check that out.  Would you mind sharing your recipe for ice cream? Do you use cream? I know there are recipes that mostly use milk. I tried it a few times; it was all right, it didn't fully have the ice cream texture, of course.

Ah, I've made yogurt before and wondered if I was doing something wrong because it never quite thickened like the store-bought greek yogurt we buy.  I did have keifer at two different times but I never figured out how to make it last in the winter months when I wasn't milking my does.  Would do it again though...


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## Baymule (May 14, 2017)

About the college.....I have a daughter with 2 Masters Degrees and working on her PHD, she is a college professor and loves her work. Her husband is a 6ty grade English teacher and loves his work. They don't love their student loans so much, but pay them faithfully. They are middle class, working hard, 3 kids, paying the bills.

I have a son who holds 7 licenses for crane operator, the really big construction ones. He didn't go to college. He worked at crap jobs for several years until he got on with a company that would send him for the classes he needed to be licensed. He makes more than my daughter and her husband put together.

You will find your way. You will find what you want to do. There are three ways to go about it.
#1. Get a job making a lot of money that you don't like, but can use the money to do the things you like on your days off.
#2. Get a job you love, but don't make much money and can't afford to do the things you like to do.
#3. Get a job you love and make enough money to have the things that make you happy.

A friend of ours, a medical technician, now works as waitstaff because she can make $1,000 to $1500 a week in Dallas. She is saving her money so she can buy a house with a few acres so she can have some chickens and a garden. That makes her happy.

What makes you happy? Can you make a living at it? What does it take to make a living at it?


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## Pioneer Chicken (Feb 20, 2018)

Hi y'all!

Seems like I'm making it a habit to give an update once a year. Hope to post a little more often. : ) 

Our Nigerian Dwarf, Tana, had four boys four weeks and two days ago. They are the cutest things and oh-so-lovable. <3 
    

I was impressed with Tana's FF udder and production last year but this year? WOW! 
  

My mom's bunnies are due any day.  Two are pregnant for sure, though she's thinking all three are.  One is grumpy (not her normal behaviour) and one is grabbing all the hay she can.


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## Baymule (Feb 20, 2018)

Adorable goats! Maybe you can post a little more often? LOL


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## Pioneer Chicken (Feb 20, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Adorable goats! Maybe you can post a little more often? LOL



Thank you! <3 I hope!


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## Latestarter (Feb 20, 2018)

I had completely forgotten about this thread. I HAD seen you back to posting again and never connected it all. Glad things are going well for you... and are you happy? Making a living? Good to see you NOT being a stranger!   Congrats on the 4 boy kids  Very nice looking udder!


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## animalmom (Feb 21, 2018)

Oh my word!  THAT is a great looking udder.  Are you milking her?  How much is she giving?

Inquiring minds would like to know.  Please and thank you.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Mar 3, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> I had completely forgotten about this thread. I HAD seen you back to posting again and never connected it all. Glad things are going well for you... and are you happy? Making a living? Good to see you NOT being a stranger!   Congrats on the 4 boy kids  Very nice looking udder!



Thank you!  Yes!  Been very busy with work (still nannying)- pretty much nonstop so that's good and I got a pay raise several months ago!   Being gone at work often only helps me appreciate the time I'm home and helping out with our little farm so much more.  



animalmom said:


> Oh my word!  THAT is a great looking udder.  Are you milking her?  How much is she giving?
> 
> Inquiring minds would like to know.  Please and thank you.



Thank you!! <3  I'm milking her once a day and she's giving me 5-6 cups per milking.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Mar 3, 2018)

Two of Mom's rabbits had their babies a week-ish ago.  Opal had four kits- one died a couple days after birth but the rest are doing well.  Maysie had three- all dead when we found them.    Nellie, who's been grumpy (unusual for her) hasn't shown any other signs and she's way past the due date Mom had down for her so we're thinking maybe she isn't pregnant after all.




In preparation for the babies, my dad built a nice new bunny box.


With all the rain we had last month, my dad built a milkstand in Belle's barn. I love it! No more crouching in the barn or waiting for the rain to slow!


Took some stance photos of Tana's boys. Still working on better set-ups.  I have names for them all but they're not official yet.  So far, my top two picks are Abraham  and Cowboy. 

Bandana Cowboy
 

LittleGun


Abraham


Churro


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## Pioneer Chicken (Aug 22, 2018)

I haven’t posted in a while. Had been aiming to do better about that. Ah well! 

I recently picked up a new buck. Very happy with how he looks and that he’s a half brother to a buck I used to own. His name is Tex.


One of Tana’s boys sold. Have three  left to go. 

I also picked up a sweet doe named Kahlua. I call her Baby Girl because she is such a sweetheart. She’s the buckskin in the front. 
 

There have also been two feral cats and their kittens which have been visiting us since May.  We’ve named them Peaches and Blackberry. Peaches has six kittens( one of them is older than the other five). BlackBerry is more shy but is starting to warm up. I’m not sure how many kittens she has. I shall post photos later!!


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## Baymule (Aug 23, 2018)

Kalhua is so pretty!


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## Pioneer Chicken (Feb 19, 2019)

Looks like I'm just in that habit of posting updates every few months or so, LOL.   Had two does kid in January.  Tana gave us three bucks.  STILL waiting on a doe from her! Anyone want a buck or wether? 
  

And after six years and four kiddings, Belle gave us TWIN does!! 
 

Peaches and Blackberry, the feral mama kitties, are doing well too. They were both spayed with my local shelter's TNR program.  In January, for the first time, Peaches rubbed up against me. She LOVES attention now. Blackberry isn't there yet but she is no longer running away when she sees me or my mom.  We occasionally see O'Malley and Bagheera, the two tom cats.  Bagheera (solid black like Blackberry) is very much like Blackberry while O'Malley will sometimes let me pet him.  Two of Peaches kittens went to a home together and they are settling in well.  Marmalade and Sheba are very tame with me.  I take them to work fairly often and Marm has made friends with almost everyone at the clinic while Sheba still hisses and pretends to hate attention. It's been a neat journey so far working with all these feral kitties.
 Blackberry
 Peaches
 Sheba & Marmalade
 O'Malley


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## Pioneer Chicken (Feb 19, 2019)

We also had a sheep show up a few days after Belle kidded.  Miss Sheep lambed five days later with a ewe lamb and a ram lamb. They were adorable!  After mama and babies had a few days to bond, we took them to a friend who raises and breeds sheep.  She looked happy in her update!


Hoping for kids(at least one doe and twins would be great  ) from Tex and Kahlua aka Baby Girl in June. She's such a good girl.


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## Wehner Homestead (Feb 27, 2019)

The sheep just showed up?!


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## Pioneer Chicken (Feb 28, 2019)

My brother (not super animal savvy)  called to tell me that animal control was outside our yard trying to catch one of my goats.  I rushed outside in a panic and saw that it was not my goat (thankfully!!) but a sheep!  Another brother and I offered to help catch her (took about half an hour ) and then kept her at our place till we could find her owners or take her to a friend who raises sheep. In our nearly 10 years of living here, that's never happened!


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## Wehner Homestead (Feb 28, 2019)

Just wow! She’s lucky she found you instead of a pack of hungry, wild dogs!


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## Pioneer Chicken (Mar 11, 2019)

We received our chick order this past Thursday.  The night before, I picked up two Gold Stars and two Black Stars to raise for my friend.  I also picked up a Golden Sebright for my mom and surprised her with it when I got home. Hoping it'll be a pullet!! Our chick order contains White Leghorns, White Rocks, Jersey Giants, Bantam Cochins, a Speckled Sussex, a Delaware, and a Sumatra and then two Buff Orpingtons for my friend as well.  I'm excited to see what the Sussex and Sumatra look like grown since I've not had either breed before.  

   
It was so nice out on Saturday and I finished quite a bit of chores at home, rested, and then headed out with one of my brothers to a local hike area.  I had so much fun and was thrilled to find little creeks and ponds filled with water thanks to having a lot of rain. Plus, I found pretty purple flowers.  Can hardly wait till it stays warm so I can get out more when I'm off work.


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## promiseacres (Mar 11, 2019)




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## Pioneer Chicken (Mar 19, 2019)

Twas a lovely day so I took my senior kitty Sandie outside for a little bit. 
 

Then I let the goats run around and browse. Love my babies. So happy that my three wethers are going to a petting zoo in a couple of weeks. They’ll love all the attention!
     
Went to the zoo with a friend yesterday. Really enjoyed getting to see all the critters on such a sunny day. ❤️ Snapped a super cute photo of the Komodo dragon and one of the venomous snakes. I also learned that one species of cobra can grow up to 20 feet long!!


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## animalmom (Mar 20, 2019)

Great pictures!  Thank you for sharing.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Mar 20, 2019)

animalmom said:


> Great pictures!  Thank you for sharing.



Aw, thank you! I'm happy to share!! <3 <3


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## Pioneer Chicken (Apr 12, 2019)

Thunder went to her new home yesterday. She’s such a sweet girl and I’m so happy about where she is now.
 
The chicks are finally outside. The weather has been nice although it was 44F this morning.

Baby Girl is definitely showing signs of pregnancy. She is due mid June.

The boys are scheduled to be picked up next week and then my new buck should arrive near the end of the month. I’m so excited. I’ve been waiting to add a goat from this herd for years!!


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## Pioneer Chicken (Apr 19, 2019)

Sooo,  Thunder wasn't getting along with her new little sis so I offered to trade Cloud for Thunder.  I was also really missing Thunder and realized the moment she left, that I had sold the wrong doe. I'm so happy to have her home. Cloud and her new little sis have bonded well!! All's well that ends well.  

The boys also left for their new home on Tuesday.  It's just my four girls and Tex.  Expecting the arrival of my buck next week- currently waiting for a status update. <3 

The chicks are growing well and I'm happy that they were officially kicked out of the garage two weeks ago.  I'll be glad when the six go to my friend and I sell the rooster or two we got, leaving the number to around a dozen or just under that.


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