CHICKS, RABBITS, PIGS, GOAT & KIDS

My daughter’s boyfriend has decided to hang up the farm life and go back to work. They wanted to know if we wanted to buy the rest of their chickens. We have room for a few more in our miscellaneous coops and they are already laying eggs, so this is a no brainer. Anyways the g- kids wanted us to save their favorite chicken, Lil Red. I am such a softie.  My daughter will be bringing them to us this afternoon when she gets off work.

Truck is coming along slowly but surely. New parts are about to go into it. The tear down is down to a bolt or two. It will be nice to have it all done. We need it running for the work we have to get done here.

The g- kids have been getting a lesson in backing over the last few days. They have baked muffins for us a few times now. Now if only I can get them to finish cleaning their room, which would really make me happy. I have a warned them already that they have to keep their new room clean or they might lose it altogether. They get their space including bath and loft bed in a whole area off the main house and it should make them very happy if they abide by the rules. Today is their laundry day and yes I do make them do that too. Little by little they get rid of things that they don’t need which will make their transition to the new room easier to move.

Well it must have been a false alarm on the rabbits part because we have no babies as of yet. We need to move a few hutches close to the house so I can maintain them when the girls go back to school easier. They seem to like their new homes. The kids say they are heavier. The kids want to start training them. They saw something on Pinterest last night they thought was cool, “How to train a rabbit with a clicker.” They wanted us to build them a suite in their room too. Not! It was a cool but not in the small house we will be living in.

The goat seems to have settled in well too her coat is shiny and she is letting us pet her more. She was very skittish when she got here. I am making plans for a few stalls in the barn maybe this fall. I have been looking at others set ups for their goats and a playground will be one of those things I will put in the pasture for them.

We have a new escapee in the girls pig pen. Sox has made her way into the boy’s pen a few times now. She could well be pregnant also.  I hope not because she is the tiniest pig we have. The days have been so hot here the pigs stay in the mud holes most of the day. Temperatures have been near 100 degrees. Even the pool seems very warm these days. We all just do the best we can to keep cool and continue on though.

Growing Up

Growing Up

          Today we are getting lessons in breeding rabbits. Since the g-girls brought their bunnies over to our house to live we have since found out that we have one male and two females. Today we also noticed that their female that brought started to pull out her fur. Hum… Well I know what that is all about but they were worried, so I told them to go do some research on it. And research they did. They came back in to tell me they needed to get a box for her because she was going to have babies. We let them know there was already a hutch set up for her in the back yard. They were so excited too. We got it ready for her and prepared her box and rounded up food bowls etc. They watched a few more videos and came in to tell us we needed to cut her nails before the babies were born. They even told me how they can tell whether the rabbits are pregnant by how big their bellies are in your hand. They told me they were to check the babies every day for the first week to see if they were healthy and well fed.  They will be good farmers one day if they keep up the good work researching. 

          I too did some research just as a refresher course since we have not had rabbits here for a good many years. We never raised the dwarf bunnies before we had the meat bunnies. I found out how much feed they were to have every day and what they weight for the basic knowledge. I also found out that the Netherland bunnies are a very popular breed. Did you know rabbits can breed and have their kits in 30 days? Did you know female rabbits were called does and males were bucks? Or did you know that momma rabbits were called dam and male fathers were sires?  You only need one buck to ten does when breeding, and it can be as early of 5 months old for the does and 6 months old for the bucks.  So if you think rabbits would be a great thing to  breed  make plans for lots  of them and a way to sell them before you get too crazy because the can  have up to 8 babies if you are breeding dwarfs.  Everyone needs their own pen just remember and the male is the one put in with the female. I hope this is a help to anyone who reads my blog that may be interested in rabbits breeding.  Well now you know just a bit more.

          In the mean time we will have to put the male in his own pen too. I am sure my bunny will be pregnant too if she isn’t already. In the meantime I think my g kids are starting to grow up, and in ways that is good and in others it saddens me.

Final Plans and Homesteading

Things have been so busy and chaotic here for the last few days. We have settled in our new chicks, which are from the same group of chicks we got in the beginning. Our friend decided to down size some more and the folks he was sharing with didn’t show so we were asked if we wanted them. We now have 5 Dominique, 3 Rhode Island Reds and 5 Australorps. My 3 kinds of heritage chickens for my project of good layers. One large egg layer and two medium ones.

The other day I went to feed and our goat was out of her pen. I was truly afraid we would have to chase her down but she went right back in as soon as she seen the feed bucket for her. And then there is Scapey the pig! She is no longer able to go through the fence to get back in with the other girls. She is always out roaming the yard or in with the boys. Unfortunately I think she is pregnant. She has found the row of blueberries and spends a bit of time eating them and she has one spot she favorers to rout, which is better than just routing up everywhere. I tried to lure her back into the pen with the other girls and one of the momma pigs rushed out the gate. I love that if you bring food they just follow you anywhere! Back into the pen momma went but not Scapey. She will not go through that gate. So back in with the boys she goes. She has been a bit more trusting  when I am in the yard, she comes to see me when I call her but  I only ever touch her nose. She is such a funny pig.

Last night my granddaughters brought over their rabbits so now we have three. I am going to have to sex them to get them separated into pens or we may have more than that next month!

Hubby fixed the leaky faucet in the bath. So no more drip, but what a booger that was. I have put the final measurements to the house plans, making sure all cabinets fit in their places in my kitchen. Also measuring furniture for the space we will have to place it. I have scaled way back on size now and figured how to save us a lot of money. We are added 16 feet to each end of the existing house and the trailer will be history. No more shifting walls and floors or leaky roof! This renovation won’t take as much time neither. Less materials and less work. As soon as the truck gets its new gaskets etc. we will be on our way and the parts come in this week, and the truck has already been tore down and ready to install the new parts! For the first time here I believe my homestead dreams are starting to come together! The grand kids are excited too because the front closed in porch will become their bedroom and they will have everything they asked for. One loft bed, their own bath, a window seat and plenty of space for them to play school. We will also have the Library/ Office one the other part where I have my indoor greenhouse. That part may be the last of the project on the house but it is in the plans. It is my grandkid/parent suite as it may. 

I know our goat is not pregnant now because she has gone into heat and the male goat that was coming with her may not come at all. My daughter said they have tried for the last week to catch him. I think he will be staying there. I don’t want to have to chase him here if he ever would get out! We have put out the word we are looking for a Nigerian buck.

This has been a busy last few weeks. I made my deodorant and some arnica salve for my oldest daughter. Maybe I can get some soap made soon. We are getting close to the end and it takes a month or more to cure. With all this rain I have to get back out and mow again too. Not to mention electric fence still needs to be run in the bottom part of the field down low to keep the pigs in and around the top area too. I want to get the garden in for the fall growing crops too. Homesteading is a never ending job. I hope this time next year we will be making money off of it.