Well, I THINK Brie is bred. She showed many signs of heat. We took her to the buck. She stood but only for brief seconds and experience says that SHOULD be long enough but well, it's hard to imagine that it really is long enough.
So we'll see. IF she took she is due June 12th.
So the 2 dates to watch for seeing baby kids around St. Brigid Farm:
May 1st
June 12th
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Farm Updates
Well, it's been over 20 days since I've written anything on the farm blog! Wow! I just cannot believe how fast time flies. It's just crazy.
Since my last post on December 20th when the farm was frozen over this is what has happened...
~My unofficial measurements of snow came to nearly 2 feet of snow...it came...it went. But we DID have snow on the ground for 22 days!!!! Lots of snow on the ground for 22 days! That is our biggest news. Never have we ever had that much snow on the ground anywhere near that length of time in Western WA...at least not in my 15 years here and not that I've heard from others. The chickens hated it. They refused to come out onto the white stuff. I had to start laying hay outside the coop to get them to go outside into it. They were "cooped" up for nearly 3 weeks until I started laying the hay outside. :) I have tons of pictures here (from 12/22) and here (from 1/5).
~The chicks have grown so much you can hardly tell them apart from the others. Besides their nearly nonexistent combs and wattles they look like hens. We still have about 2 months to go before we start seeing eggs. Couldn't be soon enough as we have so many wanting eggs. We fixed up the fencing around the small coop and they now have the ability to go outside. Although, they are still quite hesitant.
~The 38 or so laying hens I have left have done a fabulous job cleaning out the garden. They have another 3 weeks to enjoy this bigger "yard" and area before I still them back into the smaller chicken yard. I'll then give the garden a month of "rest" after covering all growing areas with newspaper so that the grass/weeds don't get any funny ideas about peeking up through the top of the soil. Then we till sometime in early March. This year I will focus on growing things that I know for sure love to grow in this part of the country. I've given up on spending so much energy on trying to grow one of my favorites...tomatoes!
~We are now on the countdown of losing our milk supply for the short-term. Butter has only 7 weeks left until she should be dry for her last 2 months of pregnancy. It's perfect timing though as there are only 7 weeks until lent begins. I couldn't have timed it more perfect if I had tried. During the break from milking, which I am looking forward to, I need to really do a lot of reading on cheese making and get busy planning it out better.
~Someone has now asked to buy a "cleaned" rooster. So IF we have any roosters in this new bunch I just might sell my first meat. I think we actually might have one or even 2 roosters. Two of them are kind of looking like males.
I guess that is all for now. My updates are fewer and further between because I need to focus on things NOT internet. The internet has sucked way too much time from my life and I am trying to change that. So I'll update when the time allows or if there is exciting stuff happening on the farm.
Since my last post on December 20th when the farm was frozen over this is what has happened...
~My unofficial measurements of snow came to nearly 2 feet of snow...it came...it went. But we DID have snow on the ground for 22 days!!!! Lots of snow on the ground for 22 days! That is our biggest news. Never have we ever had that much snow on the ground anywhere near that length of time in Western WA...at least not in my 15 years here and not that I've heard from others. The chickens hated it. They refused to come out onto the white stuff. I had to start laying hay outside the coop to get them to go outside into it. They were "cooped" up for nearly 3 weeks until I started laying the hay outside. :) I have tons of pictures here (from 12/22) and here (from 1/5).
~The chicks have grown so much you can hardly tell them apart from the others. Besides their nearly nonexistent combs and wattles they look like hens. We still have about 2 months to go before we start seeing eggs. Couldn't be soon enough as we have so many wanting eggs. We fixed up the fencing around the small coop and they now have the ability to go outside. Although, they are still quite hesitant.
~The 38 or so laying hens I have left have done a fabulous job cleaning out the garden. They have another 3 weeks to enjoy this bigger "yard" and area before I still them back into the smaller chicken yard. I'll then give the garden a month of "rest" after covering all growing areas with newspaper so that the grass/weeds don't get any funny ideas about peeking up through the top of the soil. Then we till sometime in early March. This year I will focus on growing things that I know for sure love to grow in this part of the country. I've given up on spending so much energy on trying to grow one of my favorites...tomatoes!
~We are now on the countdown of losing our milk supply for the short-term. Butter has only 7 weeks left until she should be dry for her last 2 months of pregnancy. It's perfect timing though as there are only 7 weeks until lent begins. I couldn't have timed it more perfect if I had tried. During the break from milking, which I am looking forward to, I need to really do a lot of reading on cheese making and get busy planning it out better.
~Someone has now asked to buy a "cleaned" rooster. So IF we have any roosters in this new bunch I just might sell my first meat. I think we actually might have one or even 2 roosters. Two of them are kind of looking like males.
I guess that is all for now. My updates are fewer and further between because I need to focus on things NOT internet. The internet has sucked way too much time from my life and I am trying to change that. So I'll update when the time allows or if there is exciting stuff happening on the farm.
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