Last Sunday, we had dinner at some Rotary Club friends. They just live a few miles from us - they are in the country, but right next to the city limits. Someone had dumped two puppies in their yard early that morning, and they were trying to find a home for them.
Well, as you know, John and I are suckers, especially for baby critters, so we now have 2 puppies of unknown parentage.
Here is Suellen:
Here is Sissy:
Puppies being trained by Gunner, Buffy and Kiki:
Ducks and rooster hanging around.
Peonies are in bloom.
Puppies are wrestling each other.
This is Maggie, my yearling doeling who nearly died last Thanksgiving. Doesn't she look cute now?
Poor John was tasked with taking care of the critters Friday and Saturday whilst I attended an American Majority seminar in Kansas City. As soon as I got home on Saturday afternoon, we got in the car and went to a housewarming party at Josh and Ann Warren's home - an old Victorian that they are rehabbing - great house, but oh the work must be very hard with those hugely high ceilings (at least12 feet high).
When we got home, I went into the barn to feed the rabbits. Those sneaky goats managed to break into the rabbitry and eat about 20 to 30 pounds of Professional Rabbit Feed. They also knocked stuff over and freely pooped wherever they felt like it.
I was pretty concerned about the goats - they can get bloat from eating too much grain or rich grass and die from a bacteria that develops from all that gas. The goats always have free choice baking soda available to them (yes, baking soda), as it helps to keep the PH in their rumen at the correct level. I decided to encourage them to have more baking soda by putting about 12 cups of it in a feed bucket - they all ran to me when they saw the bucket and all of them ate at least 1/4 cup of the baking soda. This apparently worked to stem the gassiness that was sure to turn into Bloat, they are all just fine now.
Oh, and the baby bunnies have all opened their eyes - they are teh cute!
As usual, I only got about 1/2 of what I wanted to get done finished yesterday. Maybe I should be making weekly to-do lists rather than daily!
I still have to shear goats. Anyone want to come help me?
I did, finally, get a picture of the Angora kits. Took this yesterday - their eyes are not yet open. They are really growing like crazy - you have to look closely to see them in their nest of warm mommy-bunny wool:
The largest one has jumped out of the nest box and into the cage twice now. I need to order another set or two of three cages if I'm going to breed these wooly little buns.
I did get the new herb garden all dug out yesterday. Just need to plant the herbs and then mulch them.
Going to meet Andy and Ashes and Miles in Lawrence today - to take a look at the apartment they are going to move into.
Yesterday, mowed the yard. There is a slow leak in one of the big rear tires of the mower, which really irritates me because I just replaced the two little wheels in front with solid tires that will never go flat. It was not cheap, but worthwhile. I don't think I can do that with the big rear wheels, though, because they really act as shock absorbers. So I fill the tire with air everytime I mow now, I guess.
Today, I need to start the two buckling kids on preventative coccidiousis treatment. Sulamet for 5 days, then wait a couple of weeks and repeat.
To make that easier, I built a small pen in the pasture, as I was building it, all the goats surrounded me, curious as to what this new thing is. I left the door to it open with hay and water inside and I'll let them sniff around it and jump in and out of it while I'm planting the herbs I was supposed to plant yesterday!! LOL!
Then I will bring some goat feed into that pen with me and hopefully capture the two little guys long enough to dose them. It's just an oral dosage, so they shouldn't be too awful!
Hopefully, I will not be too worn out after wrestling with the kids and I will be able to finish shearing at least Horus. I think I will bring the goat stand outside and put it against the barn, so he can't fall or jump off one side while I'm shearing the other. It's a lot easier with two people, but I don't have that option available to me today and I really need to get better at shearing these guys!
Today, our French Angora Rabbit kits are really starting to move around a lot - one of them was actually out of its nesting box! I put it back in as their eyes are not yet open, and I figured it would be better off with its siblings. I promise, promise, promise to get some pictures of them today.
They look much nicer with some hair instead of being all nekkid and stuff!!
Hope everyone has a great day today!
Yesterday, my friend, Robin, came over and held goats for me while I trimmed their little hooves. I realized tha I have got to finish shearing them ASAP, before the lovely mohair starts to felt - however, even if it felts, I believe I have a good use for it. I'll experiment and test my idea before revealing it.
After my goats had their pedicures, I went over to Robin's farm to trim her goats' feet. She has dairy goats, and they are much larger than my Angora Goats, so it takes quite a bit more muscle to give them pedicures. My shoulders feel it today.
Willy is finally looking good after his horrible winter. He's been getting about 15 to 20 pounds of Equine Senior feed a day for the past couple of months, and finally, I believe he is regaining the weight he lost. This is a good thing. Petey has been gaining probably too much weight, because if I don't feed him at the same time, he steals Willy's food. I need to remember to call the farrier - they are both without shoes at the moment, and really need a trim!
I'm still trying to determine if I should go to the trouble of getting more chicks or not. I can order 25 Ameracaunas from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, MO for around $75 after shipping. It will take them about 4 to 5 months before they start laying and they will need special feed for the first 6 weeks of their lives. Hmmm. Is it worth the investment or not?
I plan to get my DR tow-behind brush mower going tomorrow - I've got some brush and weeds in the horse pasture I need to start mowing down, as well as on the side of the road. It is a County Road, but I honestly don't know if they will have the funding to mow them this year, with the budget crunch everyone is in.
Today, it's mow the lawn day, and hopefully, plant the herbs I bought last week day!
The Leavenworth Farmers' Market had its opening day on Saturday, May 1. I got there bright and early with eggs and yarns and my spinning wheel.
This year, I have raised the price of eggs to $3.50 per dozen. No one objected, and they all sold by 9:30 am. The price of chicken feed has skyrocketed in the past year.
What used to be $6 or $7 for a 40 pound bag of feed is now $10 to $11.
I need to at least break even on the eggs. In the summer, I don't have to feed the chickens much because they are true free-range chickens. I get up in the morning, let them out and they wander around the farm eating weeds, bugs, seeds, whatever is around.
Some chickens prefer hanging out in the goat pasture, others like the horse pasture and still others like to hang around the house - hoping beyond hope that John or I will appear with leftover pasta or some other treat for them.
I need to renovate the nest boxes this spring or summer. Many of my chickens have taken to laying eggs in the big barn, in the hay. I check their favorite spots a couple of times a day to collect the eggs there, but it would be better if I can get them to all lay in regular nest boxes.
Many customers on Saturday came to me for eggs because they love getting the occasional green and blue eggs from the Araucanas. I guess I'll have to get more of those, since they are so popular.
There is one little old lady, though, who only wants "real farm eggs", you know - the brown ones!
Most people don't seem to understand that the egg color comes from the breed a chicken is, not what they are fed or where they are raised.
