SillyChicken's journal

[SillyChicken]

This little one is now named Pinehollows blue skys, sky for short.

Our new herd sire.. still a lamb, nice wool, lilac. His name is Sweetgrass Serenade! I just picked him up on June 21st!

nice shot of Dani my ewe

 

[SillyChicken]

Thought I would share the photo of our new puppy, Sage. We don't have her yet, another 2 agonizingly long weeks to wait! She's a Olde English Bulldogge (not an English bull dog) I can't wait. After loosing two of our older Cane Corso girls this year (still have two left), I've felt kinda empty... I managed to talk DH into getting another baby. The two remaining dogs are 9 and 7, I wanted the pup to learn from the two I have as they are good about the livestock and even better about protecting everything.

Here is our Jacobs ram, his horn's are growing nicely!

 

[JakeM]

Sage is adorable! Congrats on getting her.

I've always wanted Jacob sheep (cause their exotic, having the same name is just a bonus), but I won't be able to until I get my own place.

 

[SillyChicken]

It took me 20 yrs before I finally got mine! I've always loved the multiple horns... they seem almost prehistoric. Our ram is coming along nicely. Hoping for a bunch of new littles in the spring.

Speaking of sheep... what brought me to post this morning was a little gem of a find I picked up off craigslist... I knew about the reputation of this spinning wheel going in, but it was in such pristine condition that I couldn't help but get it... and for $65 it was a great deal. I like to be able to make things work, so we'll see what happens. It was only missing the drive string, but I put one on last night and it was spinning merrily along! I wiped it down but I will give it a nice coat of wax and lube up the moving bits. I'm excited to try it!

I opened up a jar of our home canned rabbit soup the other day... turned out very tasty!! We cut down on the number of rabbits we have, but I made the DH keep 3 incase we wanted to breed more. This soup was too darn good not to make more!

Finally getting the slidding doors installed on both sides of the sheep/goat run in shed. we have doors to install on the other side of the fence for us to use, but it sure cuts down on chores time... which leaves me more time to just hang out with the critters for a few minutes in the evening.

We also installed interior wood gates to each side of the shed (it's spilt in half) so I can feed everyone their own grain at night. Having the building partly over the outside fence makes it nice to feed without going into their runs and keeps us out of the weather as well. When the red inside gate is swung inward, it blocks the entry door for the livestock... I designed it this way so my elderly parents can feed them (if we go on a vacation) without getting hurt etc...

 

[SillyChicken]

Sage is getting big... she's a little chew machine!

I have been repurposing a large shipping crate into a hunting blind. Put a coat of paint on the outside of it last night... will put on another tonight and then some camo patterns. I have about $80 into this thing in paint and hardware. I've tried to use stuff around the house to keep cost down. Got the carpet and steel for the roof for free... the seat pads on clearance... crate and pallet were free as well.... it's coming along nicely! Can't wait to use it!

Got it done and in place... discovered it's really a bit too small, but it's a roof! used it briefly a few times.
I

 

[SillyChicken]

Ugh... so heart broken.... my beautiful ewe dani (avitar) was found dead. After she lambed in the spring, she was very thin and never really recovered... even after worming, and giving extra food, and supplements. Not sure what was wrong with her, I was traveling for work and my DH buried her before I got home. At least I have her little one. I hope to get another ewe in the spring. In the mean time, Penny and Dani's lamb are in with Serenade... well actually they're all out in the back yard. Their summer pasture was pretty much grazed over and I want to keep them separate from the goats over winter and during breeding season. (Don't want the wool smelling buckey either PU!) Today, I see my little herd was at the back door wanting to say good morning!
They're so cute! The ram has been non-aggressive so far, but I still keep an eye on him.

We also have a couple new additions.... no names yet. The larger black one is a girl, the wee one is a male (been calling him wee man) .... They are 6 and 4 wks old at the time I got them (way too young to be pulled IMHO) The lady who had them had too many house pigs. Poor little guy was cold so we put in a heat lamp (secured out of reach) and he's been doing much better. Neither one would come near us but I finally got the girl to start eating out of hand... and yesterday she let me touch her cheek. I'm sure by end of winter they'll be snuggling in my coveralls! LOL! They are potbelly's... and yes we are planning to process the youngsters. With it just my DH and I, we have a hard time with a full sized hog. Some will be made available for sale as pets as well.

 

[SillyChicken]

Got a really nice mature doe during opening weekend... not out of my blind, I was hunting on my dads farm.

Everyone harvested a deer over the weekend so it was a very successful season for us! I took the venison hearts and cut them up and dried them in my oven for dog treats. Sage loves them!
I have the livers too, but I'm hesitant to cook them and make the house stink...

 

[SillyChicken]

Are most of my photos gone?

 

[SA Farm]

There are some I can't see, but the majority of them are still there

 

[MsDeb]

I don't know how many you had before, but there are some wonderful pics here that I just looked at for the first time. What a great variety. Your stew looked yummy (and it's way to close to lunch time for me to be looking at pics of food!) and I'm excited about your spinning wheel. I want to learn to spin. Thinking of taking classes after the first of the year. Post more stuff!