We are now down to four goats - Summer and Sukey, my two milkers; the last boy from this year's kids, PC; and our buck, Lucky. Just sold the two girls, Mac and Panda. I hope their owner will be pleased. They live five miles away, and they want them initially for brush-clearing, but may want to breed them for milk later.
I removed PC from the girls' stall; that means I will definitely be milking twice a day from now on. He is now in with Lucky and our male alpaca, Feldspar, and hollering his head off. That will only last a day or two. He eats hay and grain now, and at 2-1/2 is probably close to old enough to start breeding his own mom and "aunt", and I'm not ready to have them bred yet.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Chicks & turkeys, growing up
The other day I moved the baby chicks in with the big hens. For two days now, the big hens stay far out of the way of the babies, up on perches, as if thinking, "What are those noisy little things?"
They're starting to mingle somewhat - the leftover bread I tossed out last night helped. I saw two chicks in the doorway to the outdoor coop yesterday, wondering what's out there.
Today I opened the back door of the barn to let the turkeys free-range for the first time. They tend to fly a bit (mostly up) so we'll see if I have to round them up tonight or if they all find their way back to their coop. I have no idea yet how much trouble they're going to be, and the amount of trouble they give me will determine if any of them make it past the holidays or not.
They're starting to mingle somewhat - the leftover bread I tossed out last night helped. I saw two chicks in the doorway to the outdoor coop yesterday, wondering what's out there.
Today I opened the back door of the barn to let the turkeys free-range for the first time. They tend to fly a bit (mostly up) so we'll see if I have to round them up tonight or if they all find their way back to their coop. I have no idea yet how much trouble they're going to be, and the amount of trouble they give me will determine if any of them make it past the holidays or not.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
No milk
Forgot to go back out to the barn last night and move the mama goats over. This morning I only got about half a quart of milk, that was it. Time to seriously consider weaning those babies!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Farm update
Time to update!
Goats:
I didn't end up leaving the moms and babies separated. A couple of the goat babies caught on to the bottle feeding, but the little white one (big white one, really!) did not do well with the bottle. She was looking like she was losing weight, so I put the moms and babies back together. Instead, so that we end up getting enough milk, I take the moms away at night, and put everyone back together in the morning after I milk.
This is just about a moot point now, as the babies are ready to wean anyway. Everyone is drinking water from buckets, eating hay and grain, and grazing well. I have decided not to keep any of these babies this year and will plan to keep a baby for breeding next year. Sukey is giving copious quantities of milk, which almost makes up for her escape-artist tendencies.
Oh, and this is what happens when you fence off the backyard to let the critters eat the grass for you.
Alpacas:
No baby from Castanet. Still can't tell if she's pregnant or not. I know we bred her later than the others, but don't remember when her last breeding was; I just recall that she showed interest well over a month after regular breedings took place. Oh, well. Next time. I'm thinking I might try to trade one of my girls (Seven, the youngest white one, who's ready to be bred any time now) for a different herdsire - I'd really like better fiber, and more options.
We lost Andy on June 15. If he was a child, it would have been called "failure to thrive." His appetite wasn't increasing, and he didn't seem to be growing or progressing. I went out one morning and found he'd passed. We spent some time wondering what it was we didn't know, that maybe his mom knew and if that's why he'd been abandoned. It's one of those things only God knows, I'm afraid.
Chickens:
We currently have 13 laying hens and one rooster. We also have, as of June 15, 36 baby chicks! I ordered a bunch at the feed store. We wanted to concentrate on some of the more rare breeds, so that we might contribute to a flagging population. With that in mind, I had asked the feed store to locate Dominques for me (10 pullets & 2 cockerels). We also got 12 Ameraucanas, which may turn out to be more than we need. My intention was, with Dominique cockerels and both Dominique & Ameraucana hens, that all the brown eggs would be "purebred".
I had also asked for a dozen Chanticlers, if they could in fact find any. All of the hatcheries I contacted were sold out until 2010, so I didn't have much hope, except to get on a waiting list somewhere. Chanticlers are very rare, apparently. So of course the feed store found some for me, and we ended up with 36 chicks!
We really don't have room for 36 chicks! I really want to keep these, however. Bearing that in mind, I may sell off most of my laying hens (except for just a few) and just put these babies in the coop far earlier than I usually would.
Turkeys:
Turkeys are getting huge! We still have all 8 that we started with, and they are now about
2 months old. They are starting to develop coloring on their feathers.
I had purchased 8, thinking that they might not all make it to adulthood (they all seem to be healthy so far!) and if they did, that I might keep a breeding pair. Right now I'm thinking that we really don't have enough space to keep turkeys for breeding at this point. I'm not sure yet if I'll sell off a couple or keep them all for butchering.
Goats:
I didn't end up leaving the moms and babies separated. A couple of the goat babies caught on to the bottle feeding, but the little white one (big white one, really!) did not do well with the bottle. She was looking like she was losing weight, so I put the moms and babies back together. Instead, so that we end up getting enough milk, I take the moms away at night, and put everyone back together in the morning after I milk.
This is just about a moot point now, as the babies are ready to wean anyway. Everyone is drinking water from buckets, eating hay and grain, and grazing well. I have decided not to keep any of these babies this year and will plan to keep a baby for breeding next year. Sukey is giving copious quantities of milk, which almost makes up for her escape-artist tendencies.
Oh, and this is what happens when you fence off the backyard to let the critters eat the grass for you.
Alpacas:
No baby from Castanet. Still can't tell if she's pregnant or not. I know we bred her later than the others, but don't remember when her last breeding was; I just recall that she showed interest well over a month after regular breedings took place. Oh, well. Next time. I'm thinking I might try to trade one of my girls (Seven, the youngest white one, who's ready to be bred any time now) for a different herdsire - I'd really like better fiber, and more options.
We lost Andy on June 15. If he was a child, it would have been called "failure to thrive." His appetite wasn't increasing, and he didn't seem to be growing or progressing. I went out one morning and found he'd passed. We spent some time wondering what it was we didn't know, that maybe his mom knew and if that's why he'd been abandoned. It's one of those things only God knows, I'm afraid.
Chickens:
We currently have 13 laying hens and one rooster. We also have, as of June 15, 36 baby chicks! I ordered a bunch at the feed store. We wanted to concentrate on some of the more rare breeds, so that we might contribute to a flagging population. With that in mind, I had asked the feed store to locate Dominques for me (10 pullets & 2 cockerels). We also got 12 Ameraucanas, which may turn out to be more than we need. My intention was, with Dominique cockerels and both Dominique & Ameraucana hens, that all the brown eggs would be "purebred".
I had also asked for a dozen Chanticlers, if they could in fact find any. All of the hatcheries I contacted were sold out until 2010, so I didn't have much hope, except to get on a waiting list somewhere. Chanticlers are very rare, apparently. So of course the feed store found some for me, and we ended up with 36 chicks!
We really don't have room for 36 chicks! I really want to keep these, however. Bearing that in mind, I may sell off most of my laying hens (except for just a few) and just put these babies in the coop far earlier than I usually would.
Turkeys:
Turkeys are getting huge! We still have all 8 that we started with, and they are now about
2 months old. They are starting to develop coloring on their feathers.
I had purchased 8, thinking that they might not all make it to adulthood (they all seem to be healthy so far!) and if they did, that I might keep a breeding pair. Right now I'm thinking that we really don't have enough space to keep turkeys for breeding at this point. I'm not sure yet if I'll sell off a couple or keep them all for butchering.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Trading spaces
Yesterday I separated moms (Summer and Sukey) from babies (Panda, Mac and PC). I was getting very, very little milk at milking time, and the babies were far too skittish. A couple of reasons for bottle feeding include making babies more friendly, and being able to monitor how much babies eat. If someone suddenly loses their appetite it could be an early sign of illness. So far Mac has really caught on to this drinking from a bottle thing; the other two have only gotten a little bit of milk. I'll give them a couple more feedings to catch on. When I was watching them while feeding them this morning, I came to the conclusion that drinking from the bottle must use different mouth movements than drinking from a teat. They seemed to be chewing on the nipple to try to get milk out. What they need to learn to do is suck on the nipple.
This is Sukey on the milk stand. She is becoming a very good milk goat. So far she's only put her foot in the bucket once, and that was my fault for not paying more attention to her body language while I was milking her.
Here are the three babies sitting out in the sun yesterday. From left to right, they are Mac, PC, and Panda.
We have decided on names for the alpaca babies. This one is Andy (as in Little Orphan Andy, instead of Annie)
And this one is Rocky Road, for the ice cream flavor - chocolate with marshmallow coloring suits him.
Yesterday and today I have also locked the alpacas out of the stall, including little Andy. He has been hanging out in a corner of the stall since he was born. Now he has Rocky to follow and emulate, and learn to be an alpaca instead of a wallflower. Besides that, he needs the Vitamin D. It's very important to growing crias. Rocky's mom is making sure he gets plenty!
This is Sukey on the milk stand. She is becoming a very good milk goat. So far she's only put her foot in the bucket once, and that was my fault for not paying more attention to her body language while I was milking her.
Here are the three babies sitting out in the sun yesterday. From left to right, they are Mac, PC, and Panda.
We have decided on names for the alpaca babies. This one is Andy (as in Little Orphan Andy, instead of Annie)
And this one is Rocky Road, for the ice cream flavor - chocolate with marshmallow coloring suits him.
Yesterday and today I have also locked the alpacas out of the stall, including little Andy. He has been hanging out in a corner of the stall since he was born. Now he has Rocky to follow and emulate, and learn to be an alpaca instead of a wallflower. Besides that, he needs the Vitamin D. It's very important to growing crias. Rocky's mom is making sure he gets plenty!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Baby pictures!
This is Milk with her new baby boy - still working on a name.
Isn't he cute? He has the most gorgeous color, too! I can't wait to be able to spin some of his fiber!
This is a "mystery" baby born May first. I wasn't going to talk about him until I was pretty sure he was going to make it. He was abandoned; we have some idea of when he was born, but it's only an idea. It could have been overnight or very early in the morning; he was dry when he was found, and had slid down a hill. His mom wouldn't claim him. I don't know if it's because he disappeared (slid down the hill?) right after birth, or because he was born with a weak suck reflex. Either way, I bottle-fed and force-fed him for about a week before he would reliably drink from a bottle. I tried to get him to nurse from his mom, but he wouldn't. She stays by him outside, but he doesn't nurse, so I continue to bottle feed. He's a good size, and a sweet baby, just orphaned through no fault of his own. He's bottle-feeding well now. I think we may call him "Mayday."
Isn't he cute? He has the most gorgeous color, too! I can't wait to be able to spin some of his fiber!
This is a "mystery" baby born May first. I wasn't going to talk about him until I was pretty sure he was going to make it. He was abandoned; we have some idea of when he was born, but it's only an idea. It could have been overnight or very early in the morning; he was dry when he was found, and had slid down a hill. His mom wouldn't claim him. I don't know if it's because he disappeared (slid down the hill?) right after birth, or because he was born with a weak suck reflex. Either way, I bottle-fed and force-fed him for about a week before he would reliably drink from a bottle. I tried to get him to nurse from his mom, but he wouldn't. She stays by him outside, but he doesn't nurse, so I continue to bottle feed. He's a good size, and a sweet baby, just orphaned through no fault of his own. He's bottle-feeding well now. I think we may call him "Mayday."
Sunday, May 10, 2009
An unexpected Mother's Day gift
I went out to feed everyone tonight, after spending almost all day at the NH Sheep & Wool festival (and coming home with goodies!) and found one last Mother's Day gift! Milk, our bay-black girl (and easily the one with the softest fiber on the place) had her baby! It's a very cute medium or dark brown boy, with a white streak on his forehead, a small white patch on one lip, and one nice-sized rear sock. He is a gorgeous color! Now we just need to come up with a name...
So far I like Kenobi (for Obi-Wan - the brown is reminiscent of a dark brown Jedi robe), Jedi (same reason), Groucho (because of the markings - eyebrow, and "cigar")... It would be great if I could relate Mother's Day to a sci-fi related name, but I'm not sure I can put the two of them together. Alternatively, something that relates the color or markings to sci-fi, or something that relates Mother's Day to a male name.
I'll post pictures in the morning!
So far I like Kenobi (for Obi-Wan - the brown is reminiscent of a dark brown Jedi robe), Jedi (same reason), Groucho (because of the markings - eyebrow, and "cigar")... It would be great if I could relate Mother's Day to a sci-fi related name, but I'm not sure I can put the two of them together. Alternatively, something that relates the color or markings to sci-fi, or something that relates Mother's Day to a male name.
I'll post pictures in the morning!
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