rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

Yes. If I can wait until they're 9-10 months old they're about 5 lbs and very tender and flavorful-more than turkey. A hatchery orp cross went after the food bucket yesterday (and then my boots), so he's not going to be waiting that long or get that big, but the pure bred ones should stay docile enough. It's just odd to have no pullet chicks at all. It's a bit of a reminder that the 50/50 odds of getting a pulllet/cockerel are PER EGG, not per straight run batch, I guess.

I still have 2 ready to butcher drakes running around to do and 11 more ducklings hatched this week that will be processed as thanksgiving or christmas birds. I wonder if the pattern will hold out and they will be almost all male too?

 

[Baymule]

Two years ago I ordered 50 Delaware chicks, straight run. I got 11 pullets. 11. We butchered ALL the roosters, meanest darn chickens I ever had. I was going to butcher the Delaware hens this fall, but they killed my favorite EE hen, so I killed every one of the mean witches and they are now packed in jars. They made some nice broth too. I'll never ever have Delawares again. I now have 10 Australorp pullets and 2 roos, one of which is challenging me, he will go to freezer camp soon. I have 14 EE hens, 1 rooster, and one crippled EE rooster that I just let loose in the yard. I have 4 other yard hens that just do what they want. I have some Muscovy ducks too, but have had no luck with them reproducing. I think I only have them to keep the rat snakes fed. So we just got 6 guinea chicks. Supposedly they will keep snakes away. We'll see.

It sucks about your RA or possible lupus. What do you do to fight that? Besides pharmaceuticals is there a diet that you can follow to reduce inflammation? My sister has polymyositis and because it is a rare disease, had a hard time finding a doctor to treat her.

Your tree of heaven sounds like our Chinese tallow trees. A terrible, useless weed clothed in a tree trunk. Curses on the idiot that brought them to this country.

Your goats are cuties, have you made kefir or cheese? A fellow BYH'er that lives a short distance from me makes kefir and it is delicious. @Devonviolet also makes cheese and that also is yummy. We have bought both kefir and cheese from her, a tall glass of cold kefir, crackers and cheese, that's a meal!

 

[rachels.haven]

Trouble with muscovy reproducing?! It has to be the snakes! Each of my girls would want 24-22 ducklings each batch,and 3-4 batches a year. They only don't make that many because I replace about half of the nest with golf balls every time and limit them to 2 or 3 batches. I hope those snakes get guinead soon! My muscovy have eaten all but one of our snakes, but they were only garter snakes.

For my mysterious autoimmune issue I'm just on a low dose of hydroxichlorquinine which makes me malaria proof as a side effect. They're waiting to see if it brings down the antibodies that mean my body's attacking itself down. No change in symptoms except that it's warm so the cold can't bother me so that med is probably a dead end. I still don't test positive for rh, and no lupus rash, so no definitive diagnosis, and no more aggressive treatment. But I'm getting by even if my muscles don't want to move when I'm cold and after a while of that my joints hurt. Go figure. I get along mostly fine in the summer, spring, and fall. It's just winter and using hedge sheers or weed wacking that gets me.

The only diet I'm on is now is a gluten free one because I can't digest wheat anymore. It's stupid. I've never been able to handle it well, so I got genetically screened for celiac as a kid (not that) but now it's very dramatic. Basically if I want to live with less pain and be able to keep food and water in, no wheat (or barley or oats to a lesser extent). Doctor did not seem concerned last time I mentioned this, but next time I go I will be more assertive to find out if it's related especially as my winter torture begins again. Oddly enough I've been loosing weight and being less endlessly thirsty and puffy since becoming gluten free. And the kicker is that I've been eating more instead of less because I'm not constantly sick.

No kifer or cheese yet. My goat in milk is still only making 2/3 cup to one cup per milking and it gets consumed fast. I'm really not sure why production is so low. She's starting to get fat and all and her eyelids are a good color, so not enough resources shouldn't be the issue. She's a two year old first freshener, and may just be a low producer, but she's patient with my kids and she'll be staying. Cheese and yogurt and other things are for next year when the other does get bred and freshen. Then maybe we'll get 3 cups per milking, lol. I'm looking forward to having more milk.

That's good to know about the Delaware hens. I considered them once. We have eaten hens for similar offenses. I have the worst luck with rhode island hens. If I get them I wind up with injured hens, picking injuries, and once a dead rooster while I was watching. I also culled some australorps from meyer hatchery because they wouldn't stop laying 3+ immature eggs per day until they all began prolapsing one by one. So I processed all the ones left because it appeared it was all I could do. They even laid multiple per day if I kept them caged in the dark.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad we don't have chinese tallow trees here. They sound A LOT like trees of heaven. I bet they'd get along great (I wonder which invasive would win).

 

[rachels.haven]

Goats eating their daily shrubery.

Ava trying to eat the camera strap.

Olivia trying to eat the camera strap in an attempt to not be out done.

Angel not falling for the camera strap trick.

There, now I don't feel like a picture slacker.

 

[greybeard]

Ava trying to eat the camera strap.

According to to box and instructions that came with my Cannon camera, that is not a strap. It is a (free) "Anti-theft Device."

(not joking...that's what they called it..."Free Anti-Theft Device included!" )

 

[rachels.haven]

Ah. I see. That must be why she's trying to steal it.

I confess, I never read the manual. Also, I always thought they included that so you wouldn't drop the camera. Pretty sure would be thieves can figure out how to get something off your wrist.

 

[rachels.haven]

Start of fall pictures. Ava's breeder has a couple of bucks that these girls are going to meet as soon as I catch them in heat.

Herd queen on pesky teen violence.

Livie on the stand getting her breakfast.

Ava getting her own shot trying to eat the "anti-theft device", as usual.

 

[rachels.haven]

Well, it looks like my son gets in on the attachments. Oops. A boy and his goaties.

 

[Latestarter]

Handsome young man you've got there! Love kids with animals!

 

[rachels.haven]

Oh no. I went to go get a buck rag from Ava's breeder and met the bucks. Yes, they were dirty and greasy, but to me they did not stink. They just smelled kind of like goat milk and goat cheese from the store. Kind of like how the does smell kind of like tide. Not that I'd eat a buck on a cracker or wash my clothes with doe essence.


Now I want a couple of really nice bucks...and maybe a few more does to justify their existence.

This will probably not happen for a while. My 3 year old did not want to be anywhere near me and my husband and five year old told me I reeked after I got back in the car. I think we'd need more acreage out of respect for my boys before I got any goat boys so the bucks can be far away from them because bucks apparently stink. I'd probably do what I do now and take care of the bucks with the chickens early in the morning, then shower, and do the children and does so no one would have to smell anyone else.

*lotsa dreams*