Devonviolet Acres

[Baymule]

And now you'll have another goat in milk! Cheese! That ought to make some yummy keto pizza!

ETA Are you getting some of this wonderful RAIN? I've been watering the grass seed I planted, every day! it takes hours of moving the sprinkler, REALLY needed this rain.
Happy Fathers day to your sweet DH.

 

[Devonviolet]

I know you bought Danny for providing meat kids. Saw a happy dance at "both bucklings" & assume that was why. We have to plan those things, just like growing fruit & veggies.

The was because there were TWO babies! We have agreed that we are going to sell all babies. So, each additional baby is more money in our pocket. Hence, the !!! I’m going to start with Craig’s list. I’m not going to castrate them, because I’m hoping I can sell them as 50/50 purebred dairy/meat bucks. I will sell Calendula as a 50/50 purebred dairy/meat doe. If they don’t sell, for at least $250 each, we will butcher them and put them in the freezer. I have some names of people who would love to buy some goat meat.

So, today I went out, to feed animals, and the two boys were out with Mama Goat. It was easy to see that the one with white ears is brown and the one without white is black.

As I watched them, from the window, this afternoon, I saw the brown one nursing on Hope.

 

[Baymule]

Sounds like a plan. Either way, it's a win/win. Twins!

 

[Devonviolet]

Well, Mama bird is back on the nest. I guess she has laid another batch of eggs. I noticed that Mama and Poppa were flying around the nest last weekend. This morning I saw her sitting on the nest.

Our two new bucklings are gaining weight, and are SOOOO sweet. I’m not milking Hope yet. With two kids on her, she isn’t going to have milk for a while. But, I am taking her and the kids to the barn every morning, so she gets used to getting up on the milk stand and used to being cleaned and touched. Yesterday was the 2nd day I did that, and she actually sat down on the milk stand. SHE DOES NOT LIKE BEING TOUCHED!!! For now I will just keep cleaning and touching her udder, so she gets used to being handled.

We take the boys (Basil and Sage ) along, to the barn, and put them in the stall while I “milk” Hope. DH will hold one of them while I am working on Hope, and when I am finished, I will hold the other. They are SOOO precious. They squawk when I pick them up. But, then when we cuddle them, they settle right in. It is so soothing to hold them. I can almost feel the endorphins release, and peace and joy flood my being.

Here is DH holding them the other day:

Basil is definitely brown and Sage is definitely black. So, it is easy to tell them apart.

Here they are climbing on Mom this morning:

For the last three weeks, we have have a broody Buff Brahma hen setting on eggs. We didn’t have any purebred eggs at the time, and she had been staying in the nest box for a couple weeks. So, one day, I just put 8 eggs under her.

Tuesday was 3 weeks, and I found a chick in front of her. I checked under her and none of the other eggs had hatched. Wednesday, I found two dead chicks partially in and out of the shell. Yesterday I found two more chicks in the nestbox. I left the her in the box with chicken wire over the front, so the chicks don’t fall out, onto the floor of the coop.

This morning, there were still 3 eggs in the nest. We wanted to put the hen and her chicks in a stall, in the barn. So, I put the chicks in a small bucket, and DH took the hen. As I was leaving the coop, I heard an egg break. It was total liquid. And all three chicks were now saturated in it! So, I got a bowl of water and rinsed them all off. In the mean time, DH had put Mama hen in the stall. I put the chicks in with her, and got some straw, made a nice nest in the corner, and put the two remaining eggs in it. Both candled dark, but the smaller one felt light. The big one felt heavy, so I am hoping it has a chick in it. Mama hen cooed and got the chicks and eggs under her. This is how she looked when we left the barn:

 

[Baymule]

Hope will get used to being “milked” before too long. About the time she is ready to milk, it will all come together. The boys are cute, I know y’all are enjoying them.

Momma hen is taking good care of her babies! Hope more eggs hatch.

 

[Devonviolet]

Well, Mama Bird decided she didn't want to lay on the eggs anymore. So, this morning she was in a different corner, with her chicks under her, and the two eggs were in the nest. So, out to the compost pile they went.

 

[Baymule]

Have you started the incubator yet?

 

[Devonviolet]

It’s doing the initial stabilizing run now. We will add the eggs tonight, before we go to bed.

I read the instructions last week, but for some reason, I missed the step, where you run it for 12-24 hours before adding the eggs. DUH!!!

 

[Devonviolet]

We now have one yellow duckling in the coop, with Mama Muscovy, who has been sitting on nine duck eggs, in a corner nest. The other day, I went out to collect eggs, and when I stuck my head into the coop, I saw a little yellow duckling running around the coop and peeping. Mom was out eating with the other ducks and chickens.

I didn’t want to move Mama duck, and her eggs, to another space, away from the other birds. So, we got some chicken wire and made a little pie shaped enclosure around the nest, which is in the corner. We then put a piece of welded wire, loosely on top, to keep the rest of the birds out, so they won’t eat the duck’s food. We attached it in the back, and left the front loose, so we can lift it for access to food and ducklings.

Pekin eggs take 28 days and Muscovy eggs take 32-35 days, so I am thinking the one that hatched, is a Pekin duckling, and the rest of the eggs are muscovy eggs, since only the one duckling has hatched so far.

It’s so cute! The duckling likes to get on top of Mama duck, for most of the day.

 

[Baymule]

That’s so cute! Pretty mamma duck too! I like your cage set up for her!

Yay for setting eggs in the incubator!