Devonviolet Acres

[Devonviolet]

Thanks, @RolllingAcres! Actually, both the colds and my ankle pain are better this morning. We are both coughing up mucous and are feeling better. I attribute the quick turn around to the Elderberry Syrup, with ginger and honey, that I make.

I was worried about DH, because he had it a lot worse than I did, and he turns 72 this Friday. When a person gets into the mid 60’s and early 70’s it is a LOT harder to shake a bad cold, and many times it turns to pneumonia, and hangs in there for months and months. Some never recover from it.

My cold was mild for a few days. We were being careful not to kiss or eat after each other, and then I think we drank out of the same bathroom cup. My cold went from mild, to a moderate version, last Friday. So, 3 days later, I am a LOT better!

As far as my ankle goes, last night (around 9:00) I noticed, when I got up to go to the bathroom, it didn’t hurt as much. By this morning it was a LOT better. All day yesterday, I was putting my Violet’s Lotion on it, alternating with an ice pack, for 20 minutes. I think that really helped get the inflamation down. Today, I am going to take it easy, and continue to rest it and put Violet’s Lotion on it.

 

[Rammy]

Nothing can keep @Devonviolet down for long. She will be up and kicking in no time. Sometimes your body says slow down for a while. Then its back to full speed.

 

[aisha3789]

Congrats on the farm!! It is really so beautiful and has so much potential. I hope you will post updates on the changes you make.

Well! We did it!!! WE BOUGHT THE FARM!

It seemed that Mr. Murphy, and his law, did their darnedest But, we finally got the keys to the farm and drove out to "our farm" this evening.

We hit a snag earlier this week, regarding the funds for our down payment. After selling our condo in PA, we put the proceeds into our PA bank account, knowing it was safe until we needed it for our new farm in TX. I guess I was thinking we could just write a check, for the deposit. Well, I learned we needed to do a wire transfer to get the money to close in 2 days! Long story short, we pulled some strings and got the funds wired into our Texas bank, so we could get a cashier's check, which we did this morning.

We went to closing, signed and initialed all the loan papers and I pulled out the bank check, to pay our closing costs. I was shocked to realize that it was not signed, by the bank manager, so it was not valid! Well, of course the title company wouldn't accept an unsigned check! So, I got on the phone with my bank, and eventually they agreed to cancel the cashier's check and wire the funds. That took another 1-1/2 hours, but we finally got confirmation that the funds had been received by the bank at 5:00!!

So we drove to our new farm, to feed and water the chicken, rooster and turkey hen they left for us. When we got there, the rooster and hen were pecking in the leaves (next to the fence, in their fenced area). The turkey was over by the coop. When she saw us getting out of the truck, I got the treat of my life! I wish I had a video of it! She held her wings out from her body and came running full speed across their fenced area. It was so comical! She was actually HAPPY to see us! I guess the fact that I had a small bag of left over corn chips, from Chipotle, didn't have anything to do with it.

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Here she is with the rooster and hen. The turkey lays eggs, although she is currently not laying. The hen is 3 years old and has stopped laying. The sellers didn't know the chicken's breed, but I'm guessing Rhode Island Red? Does anyone know the turkey's breed? Black Spanish?

Several of you know this, but for those of you who don't, we bought five acres with a 2 year old house
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It has a shed (I'm calling it our temporary barn) I'm thinking for a possible future milking parlor. If not, DH can use it for his workshop.
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It also has a leaky small metal shed - which needs some work, but would be good for storage, and a small loafing shed (some call it a run in shed).
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Four of the five acres is densely wooded. So, our plan is to get some sturdy fence installed ASAP a, and buy some goats. We aren't sure which breed yet, but are looking for parasite resistance, and ability to tolerate the hot Texas Summers.

I have more photos, but when I try to upload photos, clicking on the "Upload a File" button opens the pop up window, but then when I click on the "Choose File" button, it causes the page to close and reload. So, I'm giving up for now. Maybe I can upload photos some other time.

 

[Devonviolet]

Congrats on the farm!! It is really so beautiful and has so much potential. I hope you will post updates on the changes you make.

Thanks Aisha! Welcome to Backyard Herds.

Over the three years we have had the farm, we have made lots of changes! As you read my journal, you will see all the animals that have come and gone, as well as two that have been here all along - Violet & Deo, our amazing Maremma LGD's (Livestock Guardian Dogs), and all that we have built.

You've come to the right place, to learn about homesteading. How cool that you are an American, living in Pakistan. My heart goes out to you, though, not being able to find a compitent Vet. That’s great that your DH is a doctor and can figure things out to help with the health of your animals. As a nurse, I know that a background in medicine helps. It doesn’t go all the way, though, so you have come to the right place to pick up where your hubby’s knowledge leaves off. A few people, who might be able to help you with rabbits, off the top of my head would be @Pastor Dave, @animalmom, @Baymule. And I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of them. You could also look at the list of forums in the Rabbit area.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Very nice home and acerage, congratulations on your move....Can't wait to see what you get for goats, we are in florida and have ND. Love them soooo much, enjoy your slice of paradise

 

[Devonviolet]

Thanks B&B. We had 4 NDs when we first started. They were gifted to me, by a friend, who had a “bumper crop” of wethers in 2014. They were 8 months old when we got them. Their purpose was to train our Maremma LGDs, who were 5 months old, when we got them in Feb. of 2015.

If you look at this page, you will see pics of the 4 boys:

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/devonviolet-acres.30335/page-26

On Feb. 8, 2017, we went to @goatgurl’s to pick up Falina and Ruby. Both had been bred and were due in March and April. Here is my first post, the morning after we brought our two LaMancha does home.

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/devonviolet-acres.30335/page-26

Since then, the boys have been sold. Ruby had a single boy and Falina had twins - a boy and a girl. We kept the girl, Angelica and the boys were eventually butchered.

This last spring, Ruby lost her twin boys, and got sick, so we put her down. . Then Falina got mastitis when she was dried off, after she got pregnant. After she delivered her twin girls, she got mastitis twice, which antibiotics didn’t cure. .

The twin girls, Hope and Faith, were bottle fed, since we couldn’t let them nurse during the antibiotics. And they have turned out to be the sweetest little girls!

On March 16th I drove to Waco, South of here, a 2-1/2 hour drive, to pick up our new little Nubian doe, Rosemary. I just adore her! I fell in love when I first saw her photo on Craig’s List.

I will stop here, and let you browse through my journal for all the rest of the details. There are a LOT of them . . . Too many to enumerate here.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Thank you for sharing the photos, looks like everything is going great with your place...i will have to sit down and read your journal. Right now i hear my four legged critters on the monitor telling me its time to eat...so dang demanding lol, i just love them

 

[Devonviolet]

The weekend before last, when we were part of a craft sale, instead of doinf farmer's market, one of our customers asked about our chickens. I told her about all the chicks I bought last Sept. She asked if we had any chickens for sale. Her preference would be six hens.

I thought about it for a second or two, and told her, that I might. I had to go home and look. The bigger they get, the fuller the 16x16 chicken run feels. So I looked and it turns out I had 9 Buff Orpington hen and LOTS of Buff roos.

So last weekend, when we were working the flea market, she came,to get the chickens. I explained that we had six hens. And a nice Buff roo, if she was interested. She said sh already has a rooster, who is getting agressive with her granddaughter, who feeds the chickens. So, she didn’t need another roo. But when I called this afternoon, to let her know when we would be bringing the pullets by, she said, that they had been thinking about it, and decided to get rid of the cranky roo and they would take one of our roos.

So, this afternoon, we took the birds over to them, and I got a couple photos, before we left them there.

 

[Rammy]

The weekend before last, when we were part of a craft sale, instead of doinf farmer's market, one of our customers asked about our chickens. I told her about all the chicks I bought last Sept. She asked if we had any chickens for sale. Her preference would be six hens.

I thought about it for a second or two, and told her, that I might. I had to go home and look. The bigger they get, the fuller the 16x16 chicken run feels. So I looked and it turns out I had 9 Buff Orpington hen and LOTS of Buff roos.

So last weekend, when we were working the flea market, she came,to get the chickens. I explained that we had six hens. And a nice Buff roo, if she was interested. She said sh already has a rooster, who is getting agressive with her granddaughter, who feeds the chickens. So, she didn’t need another roo. But when I called this afternoon, to let her know when we would be bringing the pullets by, she said, that they had been thinking about it, and decided to get rid of the cranky roo and they would take one of our roos.

So, this afternoon, we took the birds over to them, and I got a couple photos, before we left them there.

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Glad your chickies are getting a good home. Im sure the coop will feel alot less crowded now. GLad she is taking one of the roos, too. That's one less roo you will have to worry about putting in freezer camp now. The chickies are cute.

 

[Devonviolet]

Glad your chickies are getting a good home. Im sure the coop will feel alot less crowded now. GLad she is taking one of the roos, too. That's one less roo you will have to worry about putting in freezer camp now. The chickies are cute.

Isn’t that the truth!!! I ordered 8 Buff roos, to send to freezer camp, and somehow ended up with 12. I also ordered 8 Buff hens, and ended up with 9 hens. . That leaves me with 3 hens. I will butcher 10, and keep one of the roos for breeding.

Next spring, I will separate out the hens and one roo, so I can get some straight Buff Orpington chicks. Given my experience losing eggs, I plan to buy an incubator, so I can have a better chance of having chicks to sell. Then, I can brood them in the barn, just like I do the ones I buy from the hatcheries, for a premium. I’ll wait until they are feathered out, so I can get a few more dollars for them.

People at farmer’s market just love to see animals brought for sale. So, we will take them to the market and should be able to sell them there.