A Jesusfreaks tales of farm life with soon to be Six kids

[Jesusfreak101]

No no I am not lol I can't imagine y'alls cold weather up there. Yeah thankfully she had 10 in total but only 9 were born alive. She currently inside the house we getting down to 9 tonight so I moving her sister into her house along with the older kits while she inside the house.

 

[farmerjan]

That is so great that your doe had her babies, nearly all alive, and that you could manage to get them inside so that the survival is much better. No one could have predicted the miserable weather you have continues to get.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

With baby number five on the way and dh being gone alot i thinking of cutting down on my animals. Expecially said cow. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Midwife also wants me to cut back on them. Current count is 8 dairy goatd,(three adult females two in milk, 4 kids, and a buck), 2 meat goats, the heifer, three pigs, 4 adult rabbits, 18 rabbit kits, close to fourty chickens more or less, several ducks and three geese, two cats, one dog, to toads and a box full of snails long story on snails.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Okay so thinking out load. If i make some changes to how I feed might make it less of an issue to keep the animals. I don't know, how i feel about getting rid of them. Alot of the provide for my family and it would put a big burden if we didn't have them. I don't know...

 

[Baymule]

Ducks and geese need water and more care than chickens. I’d put them on the cull list. Do you need 40 chickens? Get them to a manageable number, add new chicke every spring to keep the eggs coming in the winter months, butcher the 3 year old hens in the fall.

Sell the rabbits. Buy Cornish Cross chicks, raise them, slaughter and stock the freezer. No feeding or care in the winter. A lot of meat in a very short time. Then you are done until next year.

Sell or slaughter the heifer. Too much, too big for right now, later, when you aren’t pulled nine ways to Sunday and back, you can get another one.

Keep the goats. Small, manageable, your family drinks the milk and can slaughter the kids after they attain size, for meat.
Toads and snails gotta go.

Pigs. Breeding stock? Sell and replace with feeder pigs. Raise them 6 to 9 months, slaughter. Done. No pig chores for the winter. Or slaughter the ones you have now, take a rain check on pigs until next spring. You need a break from all the work you are doing.

Stocking the freezer with the fryer size rabbits you have now, the heifer and pigs will provide for your family until next spring when you will better be able to make the decisions on how to proceed. Slaughter the ducks and geese too. Fill the freezers and tend to YOU, your coming BABY and your children.

You have overloaded yourself. Time to unload, enjoy the fruits of your labors and concentrate on what is most important.

Maybe I sound a little harsh, you asked and I gave a third party answer. You know I always shoot straight and would never say or do anything to hurt you. You are at a crossroads and you need to reduce the workload on YOU. If Momma goes down, the whole family falls apart. You are the glue holding it all together. If you don’t take care of yourself then you can’t take care of anybody else.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

X 2 what @Baymule said, great advice

 

[Baymule]

@Jesusfreak101 have you made any decisions on this? I know you are rolling it around. You don't make huge changes without considering everything.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

As of right now we going to stay as is for the most part. Changing about goin in the pen with the cow and the goats she with to just throwing feed over. Dh would like to hold on to the animals. As they provide self sufficiency and he want us to be that. For now i working put what the kids can help more with and he going to be helping as well so as long as that continues the animals are fine. My oldest has been helping with the pigs and rabbits, boys help with the birds and garden. Dh has been helping with the feed and learning to milk lol.

 

[Baymule]

I am glad that the responsibility is getting spread around. For the longest, you have shouldered most of it all. With your husband being gone so much, he relied on you to hold down the home front and you have done an admirable job of it. With him pitching in and the older kids helping, your family is pulling together as a team. That is what family is supposed to be, but few achieve it. Congratulations on well raised children and a husband that recognizes that being a Father and a Husband is more than bringing home a paycheck.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

To be honest i think most of it was my fault for never actually asking and just doing the jobs that needed to be done.