# Emmadipstik's Journal - Lots of weird things going on here...



## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jun 21, 2012)

Hello! We live in Southwest Idaho and own about 1 acre. We try to make the most out of that little acre, so far we own 4 goats, Laylie, Nellie, Yoshi, and Napoleon. Two chickens, Goldielocks and Red Devil. We also own a few house pets, a Border Collie named Jazzie, three cats, Bonnie, Snickers, and Midnight, and a corn snake, Red. We have kind of named the farm RoseNLynne Farms. *L*aylie  *Y*oshi *N*ellie *N*apleon and then my name *E*lizabeth.

We just started this little "Hobby Farm" in September when we bought our first two goats, Laylie and Bella. Bella happened to be a runt, she didn't grow over the two months we had her. She was 7 months old and 17 pounds. We had wormed and vaccinated her, and taken her to the vet, but her health just kept declining. She passed away 2 months after we bought her. Luckily Laylie was growing like a weed, she was 55 pounds and is over 100 pounds now. She has the wackiest personality, and is just thinking All. The. Time. You can see it in her eyes. We waited about a week after Bella died until we decided we had to get another goat or sell Laylie. So we went and picked up Nellie. She is a big goat. Probably weighs in around 120 pounds. She was going to be our pack/cart goat until we realized you cannot touch her legs or belly without being kicked or bitten. I've been trying to "desensitize" her to touch, she's coming along slowly. Now that she's bred, she has been having mood swings. A few days ago she was moping around acting as if she was sad, and then I go out there today and she was running and playing with me and the others. She is the oddball of the herd. Now our boy, Yoshi. We had been searching for a breeding buck, kind of a goat stud, for months, and we could not find one. Finally we decided to take the plunge and buy a buck. This was a huge jump for us, we knew he would get stinky and be a buck, but we went out and met up with a family who was selling their Nubian buck kid for $75. His sire was gorgeous and his dam had an amazing udder. We decided to go ahead and buy him. When we were handing over the money for him, she decided she only wanted $25. He is sweet, and hasn't really gone "bucky" on us yet. We'll see though. About a week ago, we decided to buy a fainting goat. This was the original breed we were going to go with, but we decided to go with Alpines and Nubians. But we found some fainting goats for sale for $75, and we went and looked at them and bought an 8 week old wether. He is the cutest thing. I was able to buy him for only $50 because I sounded so nice on the phone, and the breeder knew he was going to go to a good home. 

Now onto the chickens, we had actually been planning to get chickens since two summers ago. My DH sent me to go buy hay for the goats, and we were at the local hatchery. They "happened" to be having a hen sale. It was me and my youngest daughter alone, at a chicken hatchery that was having a hen sale. Not the smartest move my DH could make. We decided we would start off with two hens, and then slowly integrate more into the two that we have now. We went with an Araucana and a Rhode Island Red. Goldielocks is the Araucana, and Red Devil is the Rhode Island Red. We get about two eggs a day, sometimes more sometimes less.

I suppose you would like to see photos of the animals, so here are some.

Laylie










Nellie









Yoshi









Napoleon









Their pen.





Their old shelter, now used for hay storage.





Their new shelter. My youngest daughter working on it, it was painted green later, and yes a roof was added.





What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
We live in Southwest Idaho, it can get very hot or very cold in a short amount of time.

How many people are in your family? Marital status?
Family of four, happily married!

How would you define your farm?
Hobby like farm.

What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Build a barn...

Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to?
I've built a mini barn before. Yes, I want to build a full sized barn.

Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
Not a bit 

Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
I was born with the love for animals, so my mind inspired me!

Is it a hobby or an occupation?
Hobby, mostly.

In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?
I know a lot about goats, horses and most farm animals. Except for chickens, I want to learn more about chickens! 

In what types of farming will you never choose to do?
Raising animals for butchering, I could never do that.

Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply?
Definitely!

Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
Planning my dream house. (With lots of land! Oh and a barn!)

Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
Yes I can drive a tractor.

Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
We make goat milk soap. Yes we have taught some family/friends.

Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
On the amount of land we own we can legally own 1 cow. I have 4 goats and 2 chickens.

Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
Nope.

Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
I enjoy growing alfalfa and lettuce.

How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country?
We live in the middle of no where, but own 1 acre.

Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?
I do wood work sometimes, I've built a stanchion, mini barn, potting bench and chicken coop.

If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
Alaska, with lots of land 

Are your family or friends also interested in animals?
Nah. It's pretty much just me.

What is on your to do list?
Build a better chicken coop, build a fold down ramp onto the stanchion, build a barn, and build kidding stalls. Oh and desensitize Nellie 

Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to?
Not yet, were getting there. Yes I would enjoy that.


This has been a super long post and if you really read all that then you must be like  I will have to keep you all updated, and I promise there will be lots of photos ahead


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## bonbean01 (Jun 21, 2012)

Welcome Emma!  Looking forward to your journal...loved all the photos


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jun 21, 2012)

All my goats have dry skin on their nose and ears. Any ideas? I'm thinking they may just be rubbing it on something.

It's gotten much scabbier since I took this picture.






And just some photos from this evening:

What I see everytime I go out to their pen.





Nellie being nosy.





Nellie looking noble.





Laylie enjoying my keychain.





Laylie being nosy!





I turned around and this is what I see.





Laylie is adorable!





Just lookin' adorable!





On the way out!





Goldie our Araucana!





Two eggs! One on left is Goldie's, one on right is Red Devil's.





Still enjoying my keychain...





The back part of the yard. Oh and Jazzie lounging around 





Really Laylie?!





No really huge updates other than Laylie's soupy diarrhea is gone, and Napoleon's Coccidiosis is gone! There will be a whole lot of photos on this journal, I hope you guys like photos and I'm not crazy...


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## HankTheTank (Jun 22, 2012)

Not crazy at all, and we certainly love pictures!!  Laylie is so cute with the keychain!

My goats get some dry skin on their ears in the winter, similar I think to what yours have...I use a product called Bag Balm. It's made for cows udders, but people use it for chapped hands, and dry skin on animals. It works very well


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Jun 22, 2012)

HankTheTank said:
			
		

> *Not crazy at all, and we certainly love pictures!! * Laylie is so cute with the keychain!
> 
> My goats get some dry skin on their ears in the winter, similar I think to what yours have...I use a product called Bag Balm. It's made for cows udders, but people use it for chapped hands, and dry skin on animals. It works very well


No...You are 100% wrong. Yeah, we LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE pictures... But, once you join BYH... You become crazy....


Speaking of scabs, our doeling has a little spot o her head, no fur there, just dry and scaby. Doesnt seem to bother her, but i dunno.


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## HankTheTank (Jun 22, 2012)

Good point. I stand corrected


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Jun 22, 2012)

HankTheTank said:
			
		

> Good point. I stand corrected


LOL!!!

Hank, do you have a journal?


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## HankTheTank (Jun 22, 2012)

Yes I do, just updated it like 30 seconds ago!


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Jun 22, 2012)

LOL! I saw


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## BarredRockMomma (Jun 22, 2012)

I love the pics of the goats. I can never get enough of pics. Goldie is a beautiful hen.


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## BrownSheep (Jun 22, 2012)

Hi neighbor! I'm down in the magic valley so I can't be far off from you.


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jun 23, 2012)

Sorry I havent posted, but I've been busy. We volunteer at our local shelter and decided to foster four kittens. So we now have four kittens to foster for a few weeks. Thier names are Clarence, Kisses, Ella, and Sissy. I'll have to post pictures later though... Its not been real exciting around here lately... I hope I didn't just jinx that.


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jul 14, 2012)

It's been REALLY busy around here! Yesterday the temperature reached 106 degrees!  

Laylie is a precocious milker, and her udder is amazing. She is producing over a quart a day. We have been milking her because if we don't she gets really bad rashes where her udder rubs against her legs. Anyways she developed a blown teat two days ago.  Is there anything we can do about it? It's not bad, just a lot wider than the other. 

I'm still milking her once a day, should I stop? I feel like I need to dry her off, but I'm not sure how. Also the top part of her udder is very hard and has this huge lump the size of a softball in both sides of her udder. It isn't at the bottom, but at the top. Not hot or painful at all. Just feels weird. I'm pretty sure it's not mastitis. Were getting a vet out here to look them all over in a few days, but are there any ideas? Is it normal? 

I will try to get pics tomorrow. But I really need advice on what to do.


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Jul 14, 2012)

emmadipstik said:
			
		

> It's been REALLY busy around here! Yesterday the temperature reached 106 degrees!
> 
> Laylie is a precocious milker, and her udder is amazing. She is producing over a quart a day. We have been milking her because if we don't she gets really bad rashes where her udder rubs against her legs. Anyways she developed a blown teat two days ago.  Is there anything we can do about it? It's not bad, just a lot wider than the other.
> 
> ...


 i wish i could give you some info, but sadly I can't

Okay Okay but I do have to mention this cause I see about 100 people make this little mistake and makes me go crazy (no offence, its really common and I used to make the same mistake) , cause well Im the chicken lady. 

Goldie, is and EE, or EasterEgger. An EE is a mix breed chicken,and the only reason a EE has a breed name is because MOST of them lay colored eggs. Goldie, is an EE ameracauna mix, an Ameracauna (sp?) has a beard like Goldies, tho you lucked out and got a pretty one (we had a brown one but my friend has a WHITE ONE!  ) An Araucana, looks like this-> 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 Many Many MANY hatcheries sell Ameracaunas and Aracaunas. Sadly, these are simply mixes, and so they are reffered to as EEs, but novices can sometimes think they are an Araucana or Ameracauna, which is how they sell them (that and EEs tend to be good layers and lay green eggs typically so why not get 'em?)
Oh that and you can really only get Ameracaunas or Aracaunas from a breeder, hatcheries have mixed breds of what you want, so if you get an orpington- no big deal, its an orpington your not gonna notice, but on a Ameracauna or Aracauna you can tell  
Also, a chicken can only lay an egg a day. You get 3 a day sometimes?  Maybe you missed out on collecting an egg laid later in the day? I dunno, but pretty much the only chicken whose managed to get more then one egg a day is a Leghorn


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jul 14, 2012)

Thanks for the info! We got 3 eggs in a 24 hour range, only because we figured out that one of our neighbors free range chickens got in and laid the third egg! But Goldie is a good layer, so it's okay if she's an EE, she's still pretty to me. We also have a Rhode Island Red that lays every day.

I was wondering why she didn't have the feathers on the side of her head (I'm not sure what their called), so I wasn't sure she was an Araucana.

I am hoping to get a peacock or two... but I literally cannot find any! Later today I will post some photos of the new chick I rescued from a fair, and Laylie's udder. The new chick is so small she can get out of the enclosure so she's living in the garage...


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## ILuvSheep (Jul 14, 2012)

emmadipstik said:
			
		

> Thanks for the info! We got 3 eggs in a 24 hour range, only because we figured out that one of our neighbors free range chickens got in and laid the third egg! But Goldie is a good layer, so it's okay if she's an EE, she's still pretty to me. We also have a Rhode Island Red that lays every day.
> 
> I was wondering why she didn't have the feathers on the side of her head (I'm not sure what their called), so I wasn't sure she was an Araucana.
> 
> I am hoping to get a peacock or two... but I literally cannot find any! Later today I will post some photos of the new chick I rescued from a fair, and Laylie's udder. The new chick is so small she can get out of the enclosure so she's living in the garage...


I think their just called tufts, lol. And Goldie has a beard, and yes her color is to DIE FOR!!    Our RIRs are great layers, and but we have some sucky EEs, LOL, that and one decides that laying in the woods is better!  Once we found a clutch of 15 green (hers) eggs, with a couple brown (orpingtons) in the shed!! All this time, we thought she wasnt laying! This was for a month so she was laying almost every other day!!!   

Peacocks are AWESOME! Buuuut, I cant have any  too loud!!! What breed of chick? If you know  


Your chick sounds like the quails we had- they all died, but we ended getting some that were a week old and they are growing like weeds!!


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jul 14, 2012)

Thanks! I think she's pretty too! I didn't choose her, the hatchery gave her to us. The new chick definitely is a chicken , I'm just not sure what breed. But I estimated her age to be around 6 weeks. I'll post pictures in an hour or two... Er well, once I find my camera...


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## ILuvSheep (Jul 14, 2012)

emmadipstik said:
			
		

> Thanks! I think she's pretty too! I didn't choose her, the hatchery gave her to us. The new chick definitely is a chicken , I'm just not sure what breed. But I estimated her age to be around 6 weeks. I'll post pictures in an hour or two... Er well, once I find my camera...


Ooh, so you just said "I want a Aracauna hen" or "I want 2 hens" ? LOL! Well, at least you can figure THAT out, LOL. Post pics and I can tell, and I'll give you an est. age guess. By 6 weeks you can tell if its a he or she! 

LOL! Once i kept bragging bout the new coop, and everyone was like "PICS PICS PICS" but... i couldnt find the camera and when i did everyone was gone


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jul 14, 2012)

I finally found my camera! I took pictures of the chick, and Laylie's udder.

We got a quart and a half of milk today!





*Here's the chick:*

Chick back




Chick Head




Chick Body





*Laylie's udder after milking:*

Udder empty back - The part that is still there isn't milk it's just a hard lump.




Udder Empty Right




Udder empty Left




Udder empty front





*Laylie's udder before milking:*

Udder full left




Udder full right




Udder Full Front




Udder Full Back




Udder Full Side





*Annnnddd:*

Is she pregnant?






I don't normally milk Laylie that much, but I wanted to show just how big the lump really is. I need advice on her udder... Is it normal to have that lump left after milking? Oh and can you guess what breed the chick is?

*If the pictures of after the milking don't show how big the lump is, here's a diagram.*

Red part is hard lump. Blue part is where the milk is.


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## BrownSheep (Jul 14, 2012)

She looks like my wyandottes.


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## that's*satyrical (Jul 14, 2012)

Chick is silver laced wyandotte


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## ragdollcatlady (Jul 15, 2012)

Could the "lump" just be the mammary tissue?  .....????...I know that on my girls, once I am done milking and the bottom half of the udders are empty and very soft, they still have some firmer tissue that can be felt up deeper in the udder. I just figured it was the actual tissue that produced the milk...kind of like on people.......but more uddery!


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## autumnprairie (Jul 15, 2012)

I love your goats and your website


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jul 15, 2012)

Why thank you! 


I think it probably is mammary gland, but I am getting her looked over just to make sure it's okay, and not mastitis or something. 


I love her already, and I do believe she is one of those Wyandottes! Thanks!


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## autumnprairie (Jul 15, 2012)

Keep us posted on what you find out on her udder


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## ILuvSheep (Jul 15, 2012)

emmadipstik said:
			
		

> Why thank you!
> 
> 
> I think it probably is mammary gland, but I am getting her looked over just to make sure it's okay, and not mastitis or something.
> ...


Aww they beat me to it! LOL

Yup, its a silver laced wyandotte, and its the classic looking hatchery type. The breeder type has better lacing, but most of the hatceries look just like that  

Don't be surprised to find the wyandotte (if its a hen, obviously if its the roo) is the lead hen, they are a dominate breed but good layers  

Get a pic of her/his comb so we can have a gender guess!!!  

Cant help you with the goat :/ Im just the crazy chicken freak, LMAO, not the goat expert


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jul 31, 2012)

I haven't died haha!

Things have been awfully busy around here. Were hopefully adding a new pet to the family tomorrow, a rat! I have wanted a rat since 5th grade... It's been a while 

Our little guy, Napoleon, has officially become a cinder block! He is the same size but is so heavy!

Uhm... Nellie isn't developing an udder yet, so I don't think she is pregnant. 

Oh and Yoshi dunked his head in Laylie's milk.

There's been a lot going on lately, but I can't remember the half of it!

So now I will post pictures so I don't have to keep rambling... Unfortunately I only have a few! 

I don't think goats are supposed to sit like this!






Just some of our goat soap.





Close up of one bar.





Uhm... Yeah wish me luck with the rat!


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## autumnprairie (Aug 1, 2012)

on the new pet


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Aug 2, 2012)

i LOVE rats!!! They are THE BEST PETS! My BFF's (well, only frends) were the class rats  If my dad wouldn't go CRAZY I would beg for one


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 2, 2012)

We of course ended up buying him :] He is gigantic 

He said he would come with a ball to roll in, a small bag of food, a book on rats and his cage. They gave us so much more! 

All that they gave us:  His cage, A roll-in ball, a book, a bag of bedding, two brand new water bottles, a bag of Natural Waist Friendly Mix, a bag of Canary/Finch Bird Seed (He likes bird seed!), a bag of Reggie Rat Food, some Forti-Diet Healthy Bit Treats, Honey covered Bird Seed sticks, a recipe of the food he likes, a container of Oats, a rope toy, and a cave/hutch thing to hide in.

And now pictures :]

The inside of his cage.





Everything I got!





His face!





Jazzie really really really wanted to eat him :]


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## Sugarbushdraft (Aug 2, 2012)

He is so cute! I miss the class rats :[ oh well, I can find voles here (i guess those are cool... :/ )


So, can we have more pictures of him? You keep saying hes big but you only posted one pic 

Sounds like those people were worried about their baby going to a new home


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 2, 2012)

Haha sorry :] The only one I can get at the moment :]

Yeah they were very worried about him!


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## Sugarbushdraft (Aug 2, 2012)

Aww, so cute!

OK now I REALLY want a rat


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 2, 2012)

Come on they need you to buy them!


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## jodief100 (Aug 4, 2012)

I had pet rats as a kid, I loved them. Great animals, very personable and I taught them tricks.


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Aug 5, 2012)

emmadipstik said:
			
		

> Come on they need you to buy them!
> 
> http://www.deviantart.com/download/145211416/Sad_Rat_Animation_by_lizspit.gif


Dont tempt me with rat eyes!!! 

Up to my parents tho so sadly after pigeons, chickens, goats and quails i think rats are out of the option


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 7, 2012)

This Saturday we are going to our first Farmer's Market to sell our soap :]



_Our soap count is:

112 large bars

69 small bars

18 "fish" bars

20 lavender wands

170 bath jelly cubes

160 magic explosion cubes
________________________________

549 pieces to sell_




We've been making soap every Wednesday, so we have over 300 bars in the back that aren't yet cured so we can't sell them.

The "fish" bars are clear soap with plastic fish in them so it looks like a fish in a bag :]

Were also taking Napoleon with us as our "Mascot".

So he gets a bath at 5 a.m on Saturday!

Should be fun, hopefully everything sells.



The "fish" bars:





The magic explosion soap:





Clean Linen Large Bar:





Lavender Small Bar:





Orange Mini Shapes:





Travel Soap Packs:





Up close Travel Soap Pack:





Lavender Cool Shape Bar:





Labels & Stuff:





Lavender Stick:





To Do list:





Napoleon Now:





All four of them Running:





Chick likes to ride on her back:





Again: 





They were hyper:





Very very hyper:





They like trees:





He's kind of slow:







*Also Check out the website, it's been updated! 

http://rosenlynnefarm.yolasite.com/ *


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Aug 7, 2012)

Cool, and I'll check out your site in a sec!


Hope you sell most of it, and, what is your recipe for the exploding soap?!  ?!


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 7, 2012)

It's actually just ivory soap 

But shhhhh.... it's a secret!


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Aug 8, 2012)

emmadipstik said:
			
		

> It's actually just ivory soap
> 
> But shhhhh.... it's a secret!


Then why does it explode?!?


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 8, 2012)

I think it's something to do with the air pockets inside of the soap...


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 9, 2012)

I just read a thread on a 4 day old kid having an udder. (Cool thread by the way! )

My Alpine doe Laylie is a precocious milker, and has been producing two quarts of milk a day for over 9 months. 

Will her kid be a precocious milker, or start having an udder at 4 days old?

If the kid does start having an udder, I should just leave it alone, right?

I don't think she is even pregnant so I don't really have to think about it, it just really is interesting to me :]


Also how do you tell if a buck is infertile? 

Yoshi our Nubian buck is 8 months old, and has shown no interest or acted bucky at all. He acts like a doe.

Any ideas on that too?


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 22, 2012)

Lot's of weird things going on around here lately...

It starts off with a scary animal scream at around 2 am a few nights ago. Still not sure what it was... 

Then yesterday Laylie's belly got HUGE. It's still huge, not hard though so it's not bloat or worms. Wormed her 4 days ago.

And now just an hour ago I set down my milking pail and go away for just a second, and when I come back the milk is gone.  And I look at Laylie and she has milk dripping off her chin... 

Is it okay that she drank her own milk? There was probably a quart in the pail...

And Yoshi is infertile... 

So any information on if Laylie will be fine is greatly appreciated, also I need some help with the post above.


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Aug 22, 2012)

emmadipstik said:
			
		

> I just read a thread on a 4 day old kid having an udder. (Cool thread by the way! )
> 
> My Alpine doe Laylie is a precocious milker, and has been producing two quarts of milk a day for over 9 months.
> 
> ...


I read that too, pretty cool!!

I kind doubt it, but, ya never know!!

Uhm , I'm no expert but, I don't think the fact that hes not INTERESTED in the does means hes infertile, but ya never know!!!!! 

Animal scream? Porcipine? Mountain lion? Just some ideas of what it might be!

Big belly- Huh, weird.... 

LOL! Bad laylie!!! I don't see whats wrong with her drinking her milk, but I might be wrong. Ive heard stories of them milking themselves 

He is? How can you tell? Hes not breeding, or he bred and it didn't work? Sad to here 

Maybe Laylie's eating a lot...?


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## ragdollcatlady (Aug 22, 2012)

> And now just an hour ago I set down my milking pail and go away for just a second, and when I come back the milk is gone.  And I look at Laylie and she has milk dripping off her chin...


My Spellbound did that too! I turned around for a second and she hoovered up her own milk in like 2 seconds flat! She was a bottle baby so I don't know if that had anything to do with it .......  

And no it won't hurt her....It's just a little weird....


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Jan 30, 2013)

Hey! I've been so busy i havent had a chance to get on here!

A few updates:

-Two of our chickens passed away this week.
-Nellie's pregnant and due in 2 months!
-The snow is melting!! Woot!


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## BrownSheep (Jan 30, 2013)

The snow is melting! and it looks like southern Idaho should stay pretty nice for the next couple days.
Looking forward to the kid!


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