SA Farm's journal

[SA Farm]

DH and I have decided to find a pet home for Miracle At 7 months old, I just don't see her being big or hearty enough to be a good breeder/milker - even a year from now. I'm going to see if I can find her a good pet home, but if not I'll keep her as a pet myself, but I think it would be better for her to have more attention and care. I'm afraid our limited resources have to go to productive animals Mind you, she's so tiny, how much could she really eat!

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

Yep, I know what you mean. I had to sell one of my favorite does this spring, a doe I'd had since she was three months old. I'm probably going to have to sell another doe- our first, the one who started it all- next spring since her production just isn't making it worth it to keep her. It's unfortunate,but finances just won't allow it to continue... : / Hugs and hoping you find Miracle a wonderful, loving home if that's so what you choose to do.

 

[SA Farm]

Well, we found Miracle a new home (a fantastic pet home just around the corner - Yay!) and her sale along with a bunch of chickens and rabbits allowed me to add to my farm. Because, you know, I need more animals!
Next year we'll be producing F1 Mini Manchas since we now have 2 LaMancha does in our herd!
I know. I really do need help!
I look at it this way: I sold 1 goat, 6 chickens, 2 turkeys, and 2 rabbits in order to afford the 2 goats and a few other things (lumber mostly), so I have less animals now
So our tiny herd of goats is up to 5
Maple is in milk, so I'll be up early tomorrow milking again. I'm looking forward to it!
Maple and Clover (chocolate) in the car on their way home with us

In other news, we've been insanely busy building our new hay barn and getting all the animals sorted out. Paring down our stock for the winter mostly.
We're also considering building another goat shed since I don't know how easily the 4 does will integrate and have to keep Maple and Clover in quarantine for now anyway. We always have extra dog houses around, so that's where Granny and Chance are right now and Gruff has his own residence since I don't need any kids until AFTER February next year!
So, long story short, sad to lose Miracle, I'll miss her sweet little face, but I'm excited about my new goaties

 

[JakeM]

That is exactly how I transport goats! Lay a tarp down and put them on top. I know it can be hard to need to sell animals, but just think of it as improving genetics if you need to!

 

[OneFineAcre]

 

[SA Farm]

Busy day today! Got up early to milk Maple and found a German Shepherd in my back yard harassing Gruff - good thing Gruff has his horns! That shepherd wasn't getting very far with him!
Caught the shepherd and put him in my empty dog kennel. Got that done and walked over to my rabbits and found that he had killed one of my NZR does Of course is was my favorite one!
Good thing I didn't see that first or I may have grabbed a gun instead of a leash
Owners came by later on, picked him up and paid for the rabbit/damage at least. Doesn't bring her back, but we did manage to find a replacement...Not the same though

Anyhow, after I kenneled the dog, I went out back and put Granny and Chance out. Then I went back and milked Maple. She was perfect! Stood like a lady while I milked her - what a difference in teat size! I'm so used to milking Granny now with her tiny teats, it was quite the change to go from 3 fingers to the full hand to milk her!
I didn't strip her udder since she's still feeding Clover, but she gave me an easy 3 1/2 cups this morning and 2 1/2 tonight making a total of 6 cups! Tasted great too

Did the rest of the chores and worked on the hay barn a bit, then went to pick up the rabbits and just got everybody settled in for the night.
I feel like I could go to bed now!

 

[SA Farm]

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but fall is my favorite time of year The harvest, the preparations for winter, the cooler, less buggy, weather.
I tend to have more energy in the fall, which is also good since there's always so much to do! Today and tomorrow are rainy, so I'm not getting as much done as I would like, but little bits at a time is fine with me.
Today, before the rain, I went out and spent some time in the turkey pen with Chance and Granny. The turkey pen is far too big for our turkeys and has become rather overgrown over the summer, so the goaties are doing their part to help clean it up!

(I can't believe that Dwarf goats and turkeys are about the same size! I've had them both for a while, but never side-by-side until today! What a shock lol)

So there I was sitting on the cement pad that will become a shed someday and Granny comes up behind me and puts her head on my shoulder So I sit there petting her and, of course, Chance wants her share of attention too. Granny didn't like that much and butted her out of the way, but once she realized that I had two hands, she was fine again

Like mother, like daughter

 

[SA Farm]

The hay barn has legs! Tonight we'll be concentrating on squaring them off and putting up the support beams. Hopefully we can at least have the basics and the roof done by Sunday since we have hay being delivered either tonight or tomorrow. Good thing we've got several tarps handy!

The 2x4s are just there temporarily to keep it standing...

Is it just my imagination, or are the leaves starting to turn already?

 

[SA Farm]

The hay barn is done, the hay is all in. I may have sprained my wrist,, but the hay is in! My wrist is wrapped and I can still use it, so that's what counts!
The goats cleared the turkey pen beautifully, so they're back in their own fenced enclosures. I'm considering having them clear my chicken pen while I'm having them clear different areas, since it's a jungle in there and I actually can't find my chickens if they don't want to be found. Plus, I'm not getting any eggs and am pretty sure they're being laid somewhere! Yes, that's right, the enclosure is so large I can't find their hiding places!
Guess I know what I'll be doing this afternoon! Hanging out in the chicken pen with the goats to make sure the goats don't ruin my chicken fencing! Well, the chicken house needs to be cleaned out anyway, so I might as well get that done too.
We've heard from Miracle's new owners. She is now known as Isabel and is fitting in beautifully. Apparently her best friend is a big pig and they snuggle together at night
Gandalf has grown into a good guardian gander and is huge! He likes to sleep on the 'salad bar' and does a great job of watching out for his ducks We still haven't been able to find him some girls, but we'll try again for him next year.

 

[SA Farm]

So, my hay barn is coming along...Still needs some work, but the hay is in!
Looking forward to a bunch of baby bunnies over the next few weeks as well. I'm having a hard time deciding how late to breed since last year was so brutal, I don't want to lose litters to the cold again
Still debating when to get the goaties bred. Haven't put Gruff with anybody yet. Won't breed Chance or Clover until at least December, so it's just between Granny and Maple...and Granny may already be bred, I'm still not sure