How was your 2013? ups/downs of farming

[Southern by choice]

I remember so much of all that each of you have posted. Glenmar I remember when you lost your horse and when you started rabbits, The milking, the "festival"! ...and of course those beautiful Highlands.
with Sheepgirl I remember when your ewes were lambing, remembered you were at work with one of them, remembered when your dad came home! With Brownsheep I remember the YAKS! I also remembered your turkey. Also you were off at school some of the time when some of the events were taking place and you so wanted to be there.
With Elevan... oh that was just a heartbreaking read... so much there for awhile, so much sadness. You sure did go through some things, but you also persevered! Your homemade products were a hit! I remember that too! You were on the radio! You also had many battles on other fronts... always wondered how one person possibly does as much as you do in a day!
and BTW- NOT a horrible animal owner at all.... you had MANY challenges this past year.

Livestock Lover hopefully you will get the goats you are hoping for!
@ksalvagno - thank you.

Here's to a great 2014!

 

[promiseacres]

I remember these too, what challenges everyone had. I think my little farm had a good year in 2013.
January was mild and we had our first ram lamb born, I was excited as he was a 4 horn with daddy's coloring, named him JR. We also lost two mini donkey jacks
February was cold and had the nextl amb born, a little ewe we named Mya. Also got new chicks from Pearce Pastures.
March had lots of snow! Bought a ewe and her two lambs and 2 new mini donkey jennies.
April Treya finally lambed and she gave us twins! It was in April that Smoke had issues with her horn growing back towards her eye.... ended up losing sight in that side but she pulled through and I learned to not hesitate about horn care/maintance.
May went on a vacation to St Louis and while there the neighbors dog attacked our sheep. Once again it was Smoke who took 100% of the attack (such a good mama) She was treated for over 6 weeks and has permant scars and a lame rear leg. Tough Girl! Thankfully our neighbors took care of the critters like they were their own and we did not cut our trip short.
June went and picked up another ewe, this one double registered. Had 4 Roos processed (ones from Pearce), YUM!
Also began harvesting (broccoli) and processing vegetables, this lasted thru October this year! Also got the sheep registered!
July I sold the mama ewe (brownie) I'd bought in March due to her just not being up to par on worm resistance and size. Also had to sold the mama donkey b/c she was chasing the sheep. Started working again with nautilus and driving.
August was busy busy with the garden and canning.
September I had my first hatch (Dark Brahmas) 5 from one of my broody hens and 3 out of the incubator DH told me to get after we got too many extras! On impulse took two of our mini horses (Rayne and Naut) to walk in a parade, good times!
October not much happened... did pick lots of apples from friends and made applesauce and applebutter. Kids were sick a lot, DH was putting in crazy hours due to harvest. Pulled the critters off of the pasture, thought I was going to have to shoot RP b/c of his "attitude" during rutt, but we finally came to an understanding.
November finally started on our shelters, and working most weekends got the lambing shed/pen/hay feeder all done! Traded one of the April ram lambs for a little ewe lamb (4 mos). Which put me "over" my max of ewes, but she's too young to breed til next year. Bid on eggs on ebay and of course ended up with them, all was good til hatchday then lost them all b/c someone (a child) messed with the heat control. All possible due dates passed without lambs but was ok with that.
December so far has been COLD!!! Sent JR to the processor on Dec 4, excited to taste my first home raised hair sheep!
Overall a good year, learned a lot (and remembered some). So glad for a better set up for lambing and feeding. Still wanting bunnies (velvetten lops) but maybe next year. Also looking forward to raising our own Dark brahmas and leghorns, possibly a third breed which defiantly means more chicken coops/areas. Have a decent list of buyers for eggs, so have to think about replinishing the egg flock as the girls age. Very thankful for God's Blessings.
Good to hear from others! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

[GLENMAR]

Thanks Southern and Ksalvagno. Here's to a HAPPY NEW YEAR for all.

On another note. One of my goals for 2014 is to donate a large portion of eggs, vegies, honey, etc
that we produce on the farm next year to the local food pantry. I did not realize they would take those things, and they are so close. Most people, including me, do not realize how much of a need there is in our communities.

 

[Southern by choice]

we are working on the same things! You are so right. We are hoping to do chicken, eggs, and possibly goat!

 

[Azriel]

My 2013 was a year of a lot of tears and a little bit of laughter. January 3 my 37 year old Arab mare died, I bought her before she was born and was at both her birth and her death. Feb. I hatched out over 100 chicks, I took everything out of my smallest bed room covered the floor with tarps covered with news paper and shavings and had the full room as a brooder. Most of the chicks were sold in the first 2 weeks. March I bought Rosie my yearling heifer and doubled my cow herd. April I bought my 2 baby bottle calves (heifers) and doubled my herd again. May. My Mom lost her 3 year fight with cancer and left a huge hole in my heart. June The 6th Bess the adult cow had a bull calf. We started haying and all went well and we got 92 1200# round bales. Yea! enough to feed my animals with some to sell. End of June LaceyJ my 8 year old Belgian Tervuren had to have emergency surgery that would have been at least $1000 if I didn't work at the vet cinic, so thankfully I only had to pay $300. July We were working on one of the tractors and Kes my 3 year old Belgian Tervuren was about 50 feet away digging in a gopher hole when she was shot and killed by a stupid person thinking he was shooting a coyote. Aug I drove the tractor down to one of the lower fields to cut sage and open it up for a new hay field next year. I get about half done and the tractor broke down so I had a 3 mile walk home, I go past one of the springs and see very large cougar tracks on top of the tractor tracks that were very fresh, so I grab a big stick and put my shirt on it and hold it up over my head to make my self bigger than its prey range, and I kept turning and looking back at every noise. Got a big laugh out of that when I got home. Got both Bess and Rosie AI'd and never saw them come back in season so looking forward to May calves. Sept I weaned my bottle calves and tried to put them out with the cows. They got scared and took off and it took me about 3 hours of walking and calling to find them. They were so happy to see me and followed me back to their pen. The next time I put them out with the cows I had penned them where they could see the otheres through the fence and get used to the fact that they were cows also, and it went much better and they stayed with the cows. Oct. Cutting, splitting, stacking wood for winter heating. Hunting season opens and all the crazys come out so the horses and cows have to be up by the barn, and I keep busy chaseing hunters off my land. Nov pretty uneventful. Hunting season ends the last weekend. Yahoo. Dec County Sheriff calls me at work they caught 2 18 year old kids poaching on my land and they had shot my 32 year old Arab gelding twice with arrows. One in the shoulder, and one went through his upper neck area, he did not die, but is going down hill fast after that and I have already talked to the vet about putting him down after Christmas. Weather took a cold turn and we had -30 for several days and 18" of snow. Temps are back to normal 35-40 now.
Looking forward to 2014, I need to make a decison on what breeds of chickens I really want, no more than 3 breeds. Find a milk cow, and get more beef cows. Maybe get some meat rabbits. Think about a couple of milk goats. Learn how to make cheese. Think hard about getting a puppy. Quit my job.

 

[Southern by choice]

Wow, just WOW.
a great deal of loss Azriel.
I am so sorry you lost your mom.
What a hard year, very sad about your horses and your BT.
tears and laughter.... that is an understatement.
I sure did chuckle when you "doubled" your herd... twice!
And chicks in the bedroom! Calves learning that they are cows. and the big stick to ward off the cougar. I was really picturing that.
Hoping 2014 brings wonderful things for you!

 

[Azriel]

Thanks Southern, it was a tough year but I made it through and looking forward to a better 2014. I'm hoping I can double my herd again.

 

[Southern by choice]

I hope you can double your herd too!
but of course most important... get that pup!

 

[OneFineAcre]

we are working on the same things! You are so right. We are hoping to do chicken, eggs, and possibly goat!

We donated 2 goats and a starter flock of chicks through Heifer International. We've supported this organization for several years now.

www.heifer.org

 

[Sweetened]

My most sincere condolences, Southern, for your loss.

As upsetting as it is to see the majority of people having had rought years, it puts my heart at ease that I wasn't alone in that. This year has been a train wreck, for the most part.

January marked our second year with chickens, the gateway drug, and was an uneventful month, I suppose. The oops litter of puppies was doing well, and we were preselling them like crazy.

By February, we had gotten into goats: two Cashmere/Spanish crosses. Later that month, to put some rank in the herd instead of just top and bottom, we added an Oberhasli we got from auction into the mix. DH's brother was found collapsed and unconscious in his bathtub, so he flew out to be with family and I stayed and watched the farm. Unfortunately, brother passed away before the end of February after being pronounced brain dead and removed from life support. The flu had mutated and attacked his heart; apparently, one in a million chances and all of the circumstances have to be just right.

March was a sad month with lots of grieving and 2 completely failed hatches. The chicks that hatched did so 3 days early, but most eggs died late in development despite fertility being 98% or more. A few of the chicks that hatched ended up partially stuck in eggs only to find they were that way because they were severely malformed -- putting chicks down was incredibly hard.

Project bird​

In April the first non-puppy mammal was born on our farm to our herd queen Estelle (picture below). To go with our "Classic" names theme, the buckling was named Walter. Estelle had me in a mess. I was told "If she gives milk, she's HOURS away from kidding." Panicked, I was up with her ever 2 hours for two weeks. When I arrived home from work, I found her missing from the herd and ran as quickly as I could to find her.

He was beautiful, and we were so excited!​

At the same time, deals were falling through for puppies and suddenly we're stuck with 10 dogs. We eventually managed to sell 4 of them, but still have half the litter. We're a little overwhelmed. The purchase of the farm was finalized, and it was ours for sure.

May and June brought a lot of heartache. Of the chicks that survived the hatches and grew into lovely young birds, over half of them had died for unknown reasons. No symptoms, no signs of illness, just death. I later found out they were likely eating mouse feces as my coop had become, unknowingly, infested with mice. It was also during this time we had been losing rabbits to contaminated feed. The neighbor put a poisoned carcass out for the coyotes without telling us, so the dogs who never wandered suddenly disappeared for hours. Finally came home wreaking of death and covered in rotten carcass. Literally smelled them before we saw them. One of the pups ended up poisoned from the carcass, managed to get some of the bait. I went to sleep with him on a Saturday night fearing he'd be gone when I woke. He's still alive today. So much chaos.

Tank, the poisoned puppy​

Through July and August, our flock was devastated by dogs. The puppies managed to break through the kennel in several different ways and spent their out time playing-with-until-dead chickens. Lost about 1/4 of the flock the first time, and on the second successful escape (until we pretty much built a new kennel over the current one) had our numbers brought down from 86 to 17. I was told by many people to 'just shoot the dogs', but I couldn't bring myself to it. What they did was completely natural. You could look at the birds that were left (very few left in pieces) and see how the dogs had played with them until they died, at which time they consumed them. To this day, to have them out when we're around, chickens are a non issue, and they're not interested. Also in late August, we arrived home to find Estelle had been killed by dogs as well. A precision kill, one that should have impressed me but I was too upset to be okay with it.

Last picture ever taken of Estelle, curled up with her kid, Walter​

September and October weren't much better. The dogs bolted from the property twice in a span of 25-30 seconds, only to come back from wherever they went with their faces covered in quills. One dog ended up with it 3 times. Over 3 grand in vet bills to remove them, as the dogs were too large to hold down. We considered putting them down, but couldn't bring ourselves to do so and are still trying to sell them. They are amazing, despite all the trouble they've caused.

The rest of the year has been neutral, more or less. I can't say as anything extremely terrible has happened, but I'm always half waiting for it, trying not to ask the dreaded "What's next". I've learned a lot of lessons, found out a lot of problems and am working to fix them. Jumping head long into these things is a hard and earth shattering way to learn, but you buck up or get out quickly. I still consult books, love asking questions on and reading forums, and sharing my experience where I can. Next year will be better -- it just has to be.

Agnes (doe), possibly boer X with Sven (background, buck) a young Saanen, I'm told​