The countdown is on and Firefly is due in 11 days. They say to be ready a week before, so really I only have 4 days or so to be completely ready. And as big as she is I won't be surprised if she does come early.
I am a little nervous since this is our first time with a kidding experience and there are things that can go wrong. My biggest fear is that a kid will come out weak and need assistance in beginning life and my second fear is that the mama will need assistance getting the kids out.
My to-do list in getting ready for kidding day is:
1. shave the backside of Firefly to make cleanup of birthing easier. I did this today, just 15 minutes ago. It wasn't too difficult except the back of the udder which would not let me touch. I'm not sure how to get that accomplished. It isn't too hairy but they say it is helpful to have it shaved. I did get the tail shaved, which looks funny, and the rump and back of legs. She looks spiffy. Of course no pictures, I couldn't get them on here anyway right now because of pc trouble. My mentors at Fias Co Farm has some pictures of a finished shaved goat. That's there "preparing for kidding page" so you can see all kinds of neat stuff.
2. Clean up the 2nd stall for kidding. It is clean but need to get feeders set up and also bucket of fresh water.
3. Have all necessary needs in the barn ready to go. I still need to buy some betadine for disinfecting if necessary, but I think I have everything else I need.
I guess that's about it. I'll definitely have the camera on hand for this big event.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
May Day update
What a rush of a week has gone by since I've posted. Thanks for being patient with me, we've been so busy.
I cannot believe it is May!!!
Now that things have settled down we'll concentrate on getting the garden in. I wonder though if it is safe! Yesterday we had frost on the window of the truck, 40 days later than the average last frost date. But despite that I did plant 5 pumpkin starts that needed to go in the ground. Charissa started her cucumber garden with a row of lemon cucumbers (they are delicious) and a row of slicing cucumbers. Joseph and I planted a row of spinach and a row of red leaf lettuce. I cannot wait till the salad garden begins to produce for me!!! James and I discussed making a cold frame before fall so that we can have salad all winter long. We have one started in the wooden raised beds that were here when we moved in, we just need to add to them to put the glass windows on top.
We still have one rooster to butcher but he is not nearly as noisy as the other and he is not mean in the least. He actually turns and runs the other way when you walk in the coop. :)
Firefly has under 2 weeks till kidding and they say to be ready a week early. So we are finishing up the kidding stall for her. It's just a matter of cleaning it out and putting a warming box in the corner. The baby kids love to climb under things to sleep so you put in a wooden box on it's side for them to climb into to sleep. I've finally decided on my plan of action for milking. There are so many ways people do things, choices were:
1. Separate mom and kid right away and bottle feed from the get go.
2. Let mom take care of everything for the first 2-3 months and then separate (which is hard if it is a single birth).
3. Let mom have kids for 2 weeks then separate at night and milk just once a day. (again is hard if single birth)
I've decided to follow choice #3 unless she has just a single birth, which is rare and her last kidding was single so it's unlikely. With 2 kidding and coming into milk I decided once a day milking will give me plenty and I'll only do that for 2 months and then wean them by separating them from mom completely.
I'm very much looking forward to having milk again.
I'm a little nervous about this being my first kidding and pray that all goes well so I don't have to assist in any major way. :)
I hope to post more regularly from now on.
Have a great day!
I cannot believe it is May!!!
Now that things have settled down we'll concentrate on getting the garden in. I wonder though if it is safe! Yesterday we had frost on the window of the truck, 40 days later than the average last frost date. But despite that I did plant 5 pumpkin starts that needed to go in the ground. Charissa started her cucumber garden with a row of lemon cucumbers (they are delicious) and a row of slicing cucumbers. Joseph and I planted a row of spinach and a row of red leaf lettuce. I cannot wait till the salad garden begins to produce for me!!! James and I discussed making a cold frame before fall so that we can have salad all winter long. We have one started in the wooden raised beds that were here when we moved in, we just need to add to them to put the glass windows on top.
We still have one rooster to butcher but he is not nearly as noisy as the other and he is not mean in the least. He actually turns and runs the other way when you walk in the coop. :)
Firefly has under 2 weeks till kidding and they say to be ready a week early. So we are finishing up the kidding stall for her. It's just a matter of cleaning it out and putting a warming box in the corner. The baby kids love to climb under things to sleep so you put in a wooden box on it's side for them to climb into to sleep. I've finally decided on my plan of action for milking. There are so many ways people do things, choices were:
1. Separate mom and kid right away and bottle feed from the get go.
2. Let mom take care of everything for the first 2-3 months and then separate (which is hard if it is a single birth).
3. Let mom have kids for 2 weeks then separate at night and milk just once a day. (again is hard if single birth)
I've decided to follow choice #3 unless she has just a single birth, which is rare and her last kidding was single so it's unlikely. With 2 kidding and coming into milk I decided once a day milking will give me plenty and I'll only do that for 2 months and then wean them by separating them from mom completely.
I'm very much looking forward to having milk again.
I'm a little nervous about this being my first kidding and pray that all goes well so I don't have to assist in any major way. :)
I hope to post more regularly from now on.
Have a great day!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Butchering Day
We butchered our big rooster yesterday and I didn't take one picture. I guess my hands were a bit messy and James didn't think about it either.
It went well. All I can say is that I hope the eviscerating gets easier with each chicken. He's nice and big and will be tasty Sunday afternoon.
It also makes me even more leery of commercially raised chicken as most of them are processed mechanically and I cannot imagine a machine doing what I did yesterday with any accuracy at all. And from what I read...they don't. So I think from now on we'll stick to our home grown variety.
We have one more to butcher but he is smaller and gentler and it is 5:45AM and I have yet to hear him which I find interesting.
Have a great day!
It went well. All I can say is that I hope the eviscerating gets easier with each chicken. He's nice and big and will be tasty Sunday afternoon.
It also makes me even more leery of commercially raised chicken as most of them are processed mechanically and I cannot imagine a machine doing what I did yesterday with any accuracy at all. And from what I read...they don't. So I think from now on we'll stick to our home grown variety.
We have one more to butcher but he is smaller and gentler and it is 5:45AM and I have yet to hear him which I find interesting.
Have a great day!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
So Busy
It is Holy Week for us Eastern Orthodox Christians and so therefore besides the every day farm duties of busy spring, we are busy with Church. This is why I will not be around much this week except to maybe update egg count, which certainly is awesome as of late.
We begin the Feast of Feasts Sunday, and in honor of this St. Brigid Farm will be butchering the roosters and setting them in the crockpot for a good 10-12 hours. This will make for amazingly juicy and tender meat that is making my mouth water just writing about it. Butchering day is tomorrow (we'll have pictures later) and I hope I can catch that cotton-pickin' rooster!
My tomato plants are huge...maybe a foot tall. I'm worried though as some of them are yellowing and the tallest of them seem to look weepy, like wilting. But they have plenty of water and and I have "fed" them fish emulsion from time to time. The only thing I can think of is that they have outgrown their pots again. If so I'll need to get them out side in big buckets. My dad suggested making a tent for them, another on the list of 100 things to do NOW. But I really want LOTS of tomatoes this year so I better do all I can do for them. Do you have any suggestions?
I'm getting ready to move chickens around. I will start butchering soon and thought I'd put the small, older flock into the smaller coop until they are all gone. So we are moving fence and clearing out coops and disinfecting them. I hope to accomplish this today and tomorrow.
Firefly has only a little over 2 weeks to go until kidding and they say to be ready a week ahead. As big as she is I really think it would be fun if she had triplets. And I wouldn't be surprised if she is a bit early.
We'll update as time allows!!
Have a great week.
We begin the Feast of Feasts Sunday, and in honor of this St. Brigid Farm will be butchering the roosters and setting them in the crockpot for a good 10-12 hours. This will make for amazingly juicy and tender meat that is making my mouth water just writing about it. Butchering day is tomorrow (we'll have pictures later) and I hope I can catch that cotton-pickin' rooster!
My tomato plants are huge...maybe a foot tall. I'm worried though as some of them are yellowing and the tallest of them seem to look weepy, like wilting. But they have plenty of water and and I have "fed" them fish emulsion from time to time. The only thing I can think of is that they have outgrown their pots again. If so I'll need to get them out side in big buckets. My dad suggested making a tent for them, another on the list of 100 things to do NOW. But I really want LOTS of tomatoes this year so I better do all I can do for them. Do you have any suggestions?
I'm getting ready to move chickens around. I will start butchering soon and thought I'd put the small, older flock into the smaller coop until they are all gone. So we are moving fence and clearing out coops and disinfecting them. I hope to accomplish this today and tomorrow.
Firefly has only a little over 2 weeks to go until kidding and they say to be ready a week ahead. As big as she is I really think it would be fun if she had triplets. And I wouldn't be surprised if she is a bit early.
We'll update as time allows!!
Have a great week.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Huh?
A couple of days ago, APRIL 17th to be exact, we got a special weather statement warning us about freezing weather moving in. "Cover your veggie starts and your flowering shrubs." It is suppose to be cold from Friday the 18th to Thursday the 24th, with lows around 30, give or take a few degrees. This is unseasonably cold. And the funny thing is, last weekend (while I was enduring 95-100 in AZ) our thermometer on the back porch registered 77 and the kids wanted to play in the sprinkler! I laughed and giggled about this, I couldn't believe it. I told James, "We used to say to this type of thing while I was growing up, 'Only in Minneeesooota', because it happened a lot."
OK, well it gets better!!!!!
Yesterday right after dinner we see this white stuff falling from the sky!!!!
It snowed!
And snowed!
We only (only....hahahaha...it's APRIL 18th for petes sake) got an inch or 2 BUT here are the snow totals for around the Seattle area...mostly north of Seattle...
Clearview: 10.2" Woodinville: 6.5" Mill Creek: 6.2" Edmonds: 3.5" Shoreline: 3.5" Mukilteo: 2"
My friend, Liz, emailed last night that she had 3.5" of snow on her back deck as of about 9pm. She lives in Bothell where we used to live not long ago.
So as spring is well under way here in the Pacific Northwest with tulips beginning to bloom, my spinich WAS planted, my red flowering currant (picture below) covered and hummingbird fodder....we have snow!
OK, well it gets better!!!!!
Yesterday right after dinner we see this white stuff falling from the sky!!!!
It snowed!
And snowed!
We only (only....hahahaha...it's APRIL 18th for petes sake) got an inch or 2 BUT here are the snow totals for around the Seattle area...mostly north of Seattle...
Clearview: 10.2" Woodinville: 6.5" Mill Creek: 6.2" Edmonds: 3.5" Shoreline: 3.5" Mukilteo: 2"
My friend, Liz, emailed last night that she had 3.5" of snow on her back deck as of about 9pm. She lives in Bothell where we used to live not long ago.
So as spring is well under way here in the Pacific Northwest with tulips beginning to bloom, my spinich WAS planted, my red flowering currant (picture below) covered and hummingbird fodder....we have snow!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Firefly (and another pilgrimage)
Here is a picture of Firefly. You can see how big she is getting from her pregnancy. If she doesn't have twins or triplets I'll be shocked. She is getting really uncomfortable and makes all kinds of grunting and groaning noises when moving around. I had to call her previous owner to find out if this was normal because I was worried she was going into labor. I'd come up to the barn and could here her grunting and groaning. She told me it was normal...Firefly has always been very vocal about her large belly discomforts.
Butter is just starting to "show" a little and she is starting to form an udder.
I'll be headed on a plane today for the desert of AZ and a visit to 2 Orthodox Monasteries. I talk about it a tiny bit here.
Butter is just starting to "show" a little and she is starting to form an udder.
I'll be headed on a plane today for the desert of AZ and a visit to 2 Orthodox Monasteries. I talk about it a tiny bit here.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Updates
Egg count is up!! On Sunday we had 32! I just ordered more cartons for selling eggs but in the meantime we are out of cartons. If you read this and have an St. Brigid Farm egg cartons laying around please send them on home.
;) We are selling lots of eggs now. Soon I hope we will be on the profit side of the spectrum where the farm is concerned. I need to get my excel file transferred onto this 'puter to make the updates.
I've decided to start butchering next week to stock the freezer. I also plan on eating my roosters for Pascha! I think they will make a very tasty return to good meat eating. I just don't think they are worth keeping and the other day as I was headed in to fill their feeder the big rooster came tearing after me from across the yard! Stupid bird! I stayed behind the fence until he was done jumping up at me through the fence. Yeah, he'll be much better in my crockpot. It isn't worth it just to hatch my own eggs.
Firefly is really protruding on the sides, full of kids! It appears as if Butter is starting to fill out as well but it is still hard to tell. I'm busy preparing for the kidding season!
More to come!
;) We are selling lots of eggs now. Soon I hope we will be on the profit side of the spectrum where the farm is concerned. I need to get my excel file transferred onto this 'puter to make the updates.
I've decided to start butchering next week to stock the freezer. I also plan on eating my roosters for Pascha! I think they will make a very tasty return to good meat eating. I just don't think they are worth keeping and the other day as I was headed in to fill their feeder the big rooster came tearing after me from across the yard! Stupid bird! I stayed behind the fence until he was done jumping up at me through the fence. Yeah, he'll be much better in my crockpot. It isn't worth it just to hatch my own eggs.
Firefly is really protruding on the sides, full of kids! It appears as if Butter is starting to fill out as well but it is still hard to tell. I'm busy preparing for the kidding season!
More to come!
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