Goodbye Goats - Hello Sun!

So, just a few days ago, Saturday January 15th, we sold two of our goats.

Our beloved and beautifully patterned Coral Belle, who gave me some amazing, rich, sweet milk and out of this world cheese as well as plenty of great personality and conversation. . .



And another beloved doeling, Marguerite, who was quite shy but very beautiful. We never had a chance to try any of her milk though.



Marguerite is on the far left, Coral Belle on the far right.




We sold them last weekend so that we have more room for the pasture to grow and not get over grazed. If it were really up to me, I would have kept Coral Belle, she was an absolute sweetheart and had amazing coloration, but at least we still have our colorful Nubian buck, George. He'll now be the sire to the remaining two doe's kids. Hopefully he'll throw a LOT of color and sweet temperament!





George, despite being a buck, is a very sweet, odorless, mellow, and quiet goat.


Well, beyond the sad news of loss, we must move on. . . And today was a perfect day to show for that. We had some rare sun show up!

First up is a Black Copper Marans hen who is really, really busty! This girl has a lot of size to her, bigger than my other lines of Black Coppers, and this photo perfectly shows how meaty she can be. I'm certainly going to use her next for our Shamo x Marans meat-bird projects.



After that, there's another kind of size. . . This here is a splash colored Jersey Giant basking right behind a rather small looking but normally sized Wheaten Ameraucana. The splash Jersey Giant still has a lot more growing to do, too!



And, her sister, another behemoth still with some time left to continue growing. Behind her is an Araucana hen.



And, on the smaller side, the Araucana. . .



Also wandering around is a rarely seen Silver Duckwing colored Araucana.



And, in relative subject, here's a gorgeous Blue Ameraucana.



Wandering more in the shady times of the day is another beauty, a Buff Ameraucana.




Well, that's it for now. This sun only lasts so long, and then it's just a bunch of long, large shadows cast by the trees. Winter is a dark time of the year, but when the sun does come out, it is a very nice advantage. Also, you might notice, but some of the birds are just finishing up on molting, so their feathers aren't looking in top condition.

COLD outside.

George, our one and only buck, says - "Happy New Year!!! It is FREEZING so far!"


Yes indeed, it is freezing. . . That photo and the following is really what it looks like throughout the farm lately. It has been beautiful, sunny, and clear. . . But also freezing, frosty, and completely shaded. Across from our farm, on the other side of the road, is a huge line of tall trees that always blank out our sunlight for the winter, and so in tough times like now, the only areas that get sunlight are the far end of the pasture and little tiny temporary strips through the Bachelor Pad, the Polish Pen, and the main lawn. Anywhere else, it is an almost eternal darkness, constantly coated then re-coated with thick blades of frost.







Even our Yak is frosted! And no, this isn't snow. .. It's frost. It doesn't bother him though. Yaks are originally a species originating and toughing out the cold Himalayan mountains.





And yes, he had the opportunity to sleep in a warm barn. . . He tends to enjoy the cold weather we don't often get, and spends a lot of late night time out in it.

But, in the short moments and small spaces of sunlight, even the least cold hardy animals survive. . . Our Shamos, for example, are naturally a desert-type chicken, and do not do well in cold, however our pair is doing pretty well.





And, the next breed of chicken to not like the cold sadly doesn't get much of a chance to get out in the sun, but when they do, they really enjoy it. . .




Well, I hope you're doing well and warm wherever you may be reading this! It normally isn't snowy or icy here, but we do experience what you're seeing for a few days to a week per year. We normally get frost, yes, but not this heavy except in a coldsnap or two per year. This is our second one. Well, technically half of it is in the new year, but. . . I count a whole winter in one year.

Death on the Farm

R.I.P to our buck, Aladdin, and to one of our "originals," a hen named Cheesecake.







Although not posted about nearly enough, our Kinder Goat herd has suffered a sad loss just a few days ago.

More than a week ago, he fell under an odd illness that I figured was some sort of digestive issue, perhaps he ate a bad mushroom. . . It was raining outside, and unlike the buck he'd been living with, he was standing out in it, crying out over and over. I finally went down to check on him, and thought nothing of his unsual behavior. He's young, so he does stupid things at times. I moved the other buck to a new spot, then moved him. When I pulled him by his lead line, he walked for a short while, then collapsed to the ground and continued crying out. I thought he was just being stubborn. But after a while of touching and feeling his underweight body, I decided to do a test of flipping him carefully on his side. I did so, and he simply lay there, still crying. Now I knew something was wrong. After trying to help him up, which he didn't respond much to, I immediately carried him on over to the does' and yak's pasture so he had direct access to hay, a large dry barn, and fresh water. He was there for about a week, and never passed on his illness or symptoms to any of the does or the yak, but didn't get better.

The last day, he went dramatically downhill, and through all my worries and efforts and even research to find out what was wrong with him - Nothing helped. He was very slowly fading away. He first had the strength to exit and enter the barn, then it went down to tripping over things, then not standing up at all, then not even laying with his head held up. His stomach was gurgling often, as it did when I first found him, and he was still thin and crying. . . It had to have been a digestive issue, but what? Fearing the worst, we did nothing more but give him a proper burial.

Even now, days later, none of the goats or the yak display any symptoms or illness. We've been on the thoughts of a bloggage, a spider bite, a poisonous mushroom, . . . Who knows.

I really feel guilty that the only recent photo I have of him is the one in the snow. . . Because he has matured a LOT since the others. His face was extremely wide, ending in a very pointed, narrow snout, and his whole body was pretty chunky. It is too bad, he would have been an exceptional buck. . .










Cheesecake, a darling and much loved Brahma, has been on our farm for nearly 2 years. She's always been the sweetie, and one of our "original" chickens we started the farm with. Just yesterday, after the death of our buck, I found her completely flopped over and in rigor mortis in the Goat's Barn, under their "raised bed." Though it sounds graphic, I did an autopsy on her to find out what caused the death. Like shown in the first photo, she was in molt, so it was not egg related, and her crop was fine - But her body had a lot of excess fluids. She's buried near a tree now, and will always be in my memory. Now, all I have are two Brahmas. . .




And, with that past, we also got rid of all of our "food / cull" roosters from the bachelor pad.

We no longer have our White Ameraucana, New Hampshire x Marans mutt, blue Jersey Giant, or our completely red looking Wheaten Marans.



We've been through some sad and rough times lately. The rain is non-stop, the muck is worse than ever, and the numbers are decreasing. We're culling for food, selling to thin down the herd and flock, and even experiencing some death in no known relevance to our actions.

I honestly can't wait until we start hatching eggs and seeing the sunlight again. Probably in February.

Kinder Goats!

Finally got my camera fixed.

Well, here they come a . . . walking. Tried to get the whole herd of our new Kinder goats come a runnin' down the hill, as they usually do, but instead they take their dear sweet time walking. . .


The big one is Coral-Belle. She is our provider of cheese, yogurt, and milk.



. . . Any day now. . .



The black kid in lead is our little buckling, Aladdin.



Aaand snack break. From left to right is Aladdin, Angelica, Marguerite, Mallow, and Coral-belle.



Marguerite, following Angelica in the lead.



Despite the fact that they decided I'm not the point of their destination this time, Kinders are VERY sweet, loving goats.



And isn't Coral-belle just gorgeous? Those spots are amazing!! We're getting delicious cheeses, milk, and yogurt off her right now, and are also hoping she's pregnant, due for some babies come Christmas.

If there's one thing I'm certain of with goats right now, it is that I LOVE the Kinder breed! Far more than La Manchas. They're very freindly, laid-back, not the trouble makers most goats can be, produce an amazing amount of milk for their smaller size, and have an extraordinary 6-10% butterfat in their milk, which allows for MORE cheese!!

Spring has certainly sprung!!

First, there's the KIDS!! Yes, our LaMancha goat, Jugs, finally birthed a pair of twin kids!! One is a girl - A beautiful black, red, and white; Another is a boy - a very neat ashy dun brown with white splashing. I'm so proud of Jugs though - She birthed them so fast and with such perfection, all on her first timer!










Next, there's the Tolbunt Polish eggs! A while ago, I paid nearly $200 for a dozen Tolbunt variety Crested Polish hatching eggs. I set them just 6 days ago, and now have exactly 50% fertility, which for Tolbunts is great! Here's some candling photos:





And last, there's the farm in general. Here's some beautiful peach blossoms:



Here's Paintball, our second LaMancha doe, due to possibly have a kid in June.



And finally a BLUE egg to show off. This one is what one of my Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas hatched from.



Then, there's the Araucanas and Marans with a couple Ameraucanas, enjoying the latter day's sun. Today was beautiful, with constant showers and lovely, warm sun in between each one.

(pics coming soon)

Update for All!

So it has been a while since I've updated the news on the farm. . . Well, let's start from the biggest animals down. :)

First, Djimon the Yak. You heard it, he's bigger than the goats now! He's maturing quite well now, and is quite the "man" . . . Okay so not really, but he thinks he is!



He's so hairy now! And it doesn't stop there. . . He's still got a LOT more wool to grow. Speaking of growing, take a look at how his horns are coming along. . . They used to be little stubs, now they're becoming longer, and I can actually hook my hand around them!



And of course, there's the other black four leggeds. . . Here's Jugs, previously named Zing. She's sooo close to birthing a kid! Look at that belly. . .



And then look at that pretty head.



But, what about this "3rd Goat" of ours? When did that come into play? Well, yes, we now have a 3rd addition to the four leggeds. . . We recently (two weekends ago) got ourselves a Nubian buck. I normally don't care for Nubians, but this guy has a most interesting color, hard to tell in photos though, of creamy tan with big white spots here and there. Also, he's very needy and an absolute sweetheart! He even wags his tail when you pet him.




Now, past the four legged animals, are the chickens. . . Here's our first Ameraucana and Marans chicks we got a while ago, back in February. They're 2 months old now!

The first photo is of our "keeper" Black Copper Marans cockerel walking a long the chicks' new permanent perch, just across from our current layer's perch. He has some undesired traits such as mossiness and a red chest coming through, but we're keeping him for Olive Egger production. "Mossy" Marans, those who have too much copper or golden feathers scattered around their bodies, are often known to lay darker eggs. So, we're keeping him to give us some beautiful Marans-Ameraucana crosses, so his traits won't affect the offspring, as they're going to be hybrids anyway.



Next is our Ameraucanas, who have really grown! We do indeed have some cleanfaced ones, (no muffs and beard) which is also undesired, but the cockerels we're not keeping and the hens will only be used for egg laying. The boys in this photo though are our keepers - One black, and one blue from this particular batch of Ameraucanas.



All 12 Marans and Ameraucanas that are 2 months old are now living with the adult hens. Eventually all of our chicks, including the ones in the incubator right now, will be introduced into the main flock once they're a month old. Then, when everyone hits laying age, the cockerels will all be put into their "bachelor pad" and the hens will all have free range until a month later. . . Then, the breeding programs begin.

And speaking of chicks, here's the Araucanas I got just a little while ago:



Full wing feathering!! They're also getting feathers in on their shoulders and back now. Of course, this photo may look like a chick you can get from the feedstore or hatcheries, but believe me - It isn't. These are true Araucanas, not the "Americanas" and "Araucanas" sold at hatcheries. They're the real thing; The rumpless, tufted, blue egg laying breed from South America.

And to further prove it, here's a gorgeous white one with amazing tufts, with another amazing blue just to the left, also with a lovelt set of tufts coming in.



And, here's the most interesting color of all - blue cuckoo. It isn't a true "barred cuckoo" color, but close enough. As a chick, it is completely convincing. But as it grows up, it is more of a blue tipped splash color. I got my Araucanas from a lovely guy named Gary Ramey, and he mainly works with this weird color as well as splash. I'm hoping to continue work on this color, and especially get some tufts in that genepool, because so far - I have two of thse. One with a clean face, and another with only one tuft.



And then past the Araucanas are our own recently hatched Black Copper Marans, Wheaten Marans, and BBS Ameraucanas. They're maturing very well! Here's our only three Wheaten Marans. . .

The first is feathering out straight brown so far, and a cockerel. It has a very well sized comb, and displayed the proper behavior just days ago.



This one I'm unsure on sex of, but has part black, part brown wings:



Another one I'm unsure on, as it has solid black wings:



And then, there's the Black Coppers. Some are getting some beautifully developed cockerel combs, some are just plain nice looking, and one is solid black. There is not a white feather or bit of down on it - Even its feet and beak are black. Very interesting.



Here's a group bunch of them, with the biggest combed Marans in the middle:



And last but not least: My 3 BBS Ameraucanas, being the biggest and heaviest of the bunch. They're only hours to a day older, but that can change a lot. Pictured is one of the blacks.






Hope you had the patience to look through all that! It sure is a lot, and don't worry. . . There will be more!!

My next post will be all about eggs. I'll be showing pictures of what we currently have in the incubator, what we eat and sell, and what we have that hatched out already, and we're just waiting for to grow up and give us more beautiful eggs! :)