SA Farm's journal

[SA Farm]

Got all my hatching eggs ready to set tomorrow! I actually got more than I needed, so it was only a little tragic when DS managed to get hold of them and smash a bunch before I caught him
So, I’m setting Silkie and Sebright eggs. Near the end of the month, I’ll be getting bantam Barred Rock and Speckled Sussex (for my sister).

An example of egg sizes. The first one is from my Speckled Sussex/Silkie cross hen, then the Silkie eggs I just got, then one from my recent bantam acquisitions. Still have to crack one open and see if they’re fertile before saving them up to fill in any gaps when candling next week.

Today I got Foxy crutched. She’s got a little udder starting and was good on the stand. It took us a minute to figure out how to get her on it since sheep like to walk straight and with the stand tucked into the corner of my barn now, she had to go up the steps and turn. She wasn’t a fan. Took grain and some muscle to get her up, but once she was there, she was fabulous I won’t be able to do full shearing on the stand where it is, but it’s fine for crutching and will work for milking if I’m lucky enough to get going with that more this year.

Katana was catching the discarded wool lol
Katana now not only gets in the way when I’m gathering hay, but has taken to jumping up and snagging a mouthful to run away with

Tomorrow I’m planning to get Coy done, then I have to get the chicken coop cleaned out before the day of rain we’re expecting Thursday.

 

[SA Farm]

Beautiful sunny day today! I actually sat on the porch in the sunshine and didn’t freeze to death after two seconds! Looking forward to more days like this one soon
Incubator is full! Can’t wait for little fluffs in 3 weeks! Just have to go hunting for all my chick stuff since I took a year off hatching and things went into storage….somewhere…lol

It took less than 15 minutes to get Coy crutched with my hand shears. Both girls are now ready for lambing

I even managed to clean out my chicken coop. It’s a converted dog house with a vinyl floor that makes cleaning it super easy. It’s actually harder to clean out the nest box than the main area. The entire roof comes off to make all the management stuff even simpler. It’s only really big enough for 4 LF chickens, but since they always have access to their 10x10ft run, I push the envelope and keep 5.

We had eggs for breakfast. Out of the 5 SS/Silkie eggs I cracked, only the 2 most recent looked fertile. This is a bantam egg and everything is so tiny, I’m finding myself second guessing my initial thoughts because, compared to the SSx, these are either fertile or have a much larger blastodisc than the other hen.

Well, either way, I’ll save them up and fill any gaps when I candle next week (though, I’m really hoping there aren’t any!)

 

[Baymule]

You got a lot done!
Chicks on the way!

 

[SA Farm]

I candled some eggs and, from the few I did, they’re developing nicely! I’ll do them all and pull empties Tuesday night to set the next batch Wednesday morning.
(3 days of development)

I finally picked through enough wool to do a dye batch again. I’m blending some black alpaca with it. I might do some with white alpaca as well and spin them up together for a varied look. So far I really like the combination. The alpaca is so soft and smooth, it slips very easily, so running it through the carder twice is necessary for it to actually blend with the wool a bit better.
Kind of a pain since it also goes all static cling on me too, but I’m hoping the end result will be worth the effort!
(4 mini batts so far)

 

[Baymule]

I can’t wait to see what you do with it!

 

[SageHill]

I candled some eggs and, from the few I did, they’re developing nicely! I’ll do them all and pull empties Tuesday night to set the next batch Wednesday morning.
(3 days of development)
View attachment 96297
I finally picked through enough wool to do a dye batch again. I’m blending some black alpaca with it. I might do some with white alpaca as well and spin them up together for a varied look. So far I really like the combination. The alpaca is so soft and smooth, it slips very easily, so running it through the carder twice is necessary for it to actually blend with the wool a bit better.
Kind of a pain since it also goes all static cling on me too, but I’m hoping the end result will be worth the effort!
(4 mini batts so far)
View attachment 96296

LOVE LOVE LOVE Alpaca!! I got some and braided a working line for one of my dogs -- sooo soft, and strong and light weight. The BEST. Yours is gorgeous -- and purple

 

[SA Farm]

Only 7 out of 42 eggs pulled last night! 2 were infertile, the rest I suspect were too cold at collection. Big ol’ blood rings. I think I have a quitter too, but I left it in for the time being.
Here’s one of the ones developing nicely:

I also did a deeper search of the shed and found all my chick stuff behind, underneath, and inside some other stuff. Typical.
Got it all dug out and set up. Today I need to run the extension cord out and make sure the heat lamps are working. I still have time to buy/order new stuff if necessary. If the lamps did die, I might go for those brooder plate things instead of the lamps. We’ll see.

Last night I attended my very first spinner’s guild meeting. Pretty cool. More people than I was really expecting. I was also pleasantly surprised that there were some people my age and younger! It was fun to talk fibre and sheep with someone other than my less-than-enthusiastic husband
@SageHill speaking of fibre, the purple is wool. The black is alpaca that I blended it with. I’m still debating trying to spin 100% alpaca or not. I find it somewhat intimidating If I do, I probably will dye it since most is plain white

Ugh! I’m getting so antsy for lambing! I’ve been watching way too much YouTube and it’s not giving me enough of a lamb fix…Probably because I don’t need a lamb fix as much as I need to know my girls are done lambing and everything went well. It’s the not knowing that drives me crazy!
I was hoping having actual due dates would help with some of the anxiety I get waiting on lambs, but so far…not so much At least both girls are looking good, acting happy and healthy.
2 1/2 weeks to go before their due date

A pic of Katana this morning at sunrise just because:

 

[Ridgetop]

I’m still debating trying to spin 100% alpaca or not. I find it somewhat intimidating

When we were taking our spinning classes (not bicycles) we were told that to properly spin alpaca, llama, and other fibres that are not wool, that they did not spin as well without a small amount of wool blended into them while spinning. Alpaca and llama fibre does not have the barbs on the individual fibers that wool has. The barbs are why wool spins so well. Alpaca, llama, and non-wool fibre is smooth, so the strands have trouble "grabbing" onto each other to produce a good twist.

 

[Baymule]

A spinners guild! How exciting to find other spinners! That is awesome, so happy for you.

 

[purplequeenvt]

What do you have for a spinning wheel? I used an old Louet for years, upgraded to a Schacht Sidekick when someone gifted it to me, and then bought an Electric Eel Wheel 6 recently when I was having trouble spinning due to my knee/back issues.