Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[NH Homesteader]

Oh and as for time and money... the goats are the most time consuming critters here, but the pigs are starting to be more expensive. So my DH can back off now, lol! There's just nothing for them to eat all winter so hay and grain it is.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yes - pigs are pigs, lol.

Thankfully, the pasture is coming in here and most of my piggies are at least trying to feed themselves. The females are only getting grain once a day now as opposed to twice. The boys however don't have the option of roaming the pasture. I added a young male pig to their pen yesterday also. But, there's a barrow in there that I need to get out. There are 5 males in that pen and three of them are the same size. Unless I'm behind him its hard to tell which one has nuts, lol! I think I'm going to have to get DH out there to work the gate while I'm trying to separate them.

Plus - there is electric across the gate and they don't seem to understand that when I unhook it that they won't get shocked. Big Daddy will stop at the wide open gate and does not want to cross that boundary even if I've opened a gap in the electric. Usually that's a good thing - but not when I want to move them. Geeze.

Really hope to get some birds processed this weekend. Saturday is supposed to be stormy, but Sunday should be beautiful. I've got a ton of other things on the list to do but I really need to make that happen. I've got 20'ish young birds coming up that eat a lot already. I need to make at least 8 or 10 old birds go away - preferably into my freezer!

 

[NH Homesteader]

When we picked up our pigs, they had the hardest time loading Stanley because he wouldn't leave the fence lol.

Good luck on the birds. I have a roo that needs to go. He's mean! How old are the young ones now? Almost laying age?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Gosh I don't even remember how old they are - but probably 4 months-ish. I think I remember thinking when I got them that they'd start laying by summer. So, it shouldn't be long!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Nice! Yay eggs! I'm not getting many eggs, I have an egg eater. Grrr.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Got a few things done when I got home from work. First order of business - unload feed. Only 10 bags so it wasn't too bad, lol. Needed to get the yard mowed before the possible storms tomorrow-so that got done. Fed everybody and then started goat shuffling. I got Emily moved over to the other side of the barn so that if she goes in labor pigs won't get to eat her babies. I felt that was kinda important! Then I got Lucy and her two moved out to the pasture. They were buttin' heads with everybody when I came in - but not too violently. Hope they figure it out before morning - cuz it might be rainy tomorrow.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Oh good, you're getting more rain. Wouldn't want your mud to get dehydrated. Ughhh. Hope it's not too much!

Yes, babies not being eaten by pigs is kinda important!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

As gentle as the AGH's are - they can't resist those smells that come with birth. A couple years ago I got out just in time to find doe kidding and a pig headed her way fast. Geeze....

I'm hoping that the worst of the storms stay north and east of us...we're kind of in the 'tail end' area of the warnings. However we had a very intense, very fierce cell pass over us last night - thankfully only lasted a few minutes. But, if that's a hint of what's to come - I can not want it!

I'm still concerned about Dallas...she's a bit unsteady when standing still and her when she's resting her head definitely has a slight wobble. But, she eats, runs, plays... The other thing that's concerning me is that her mama (Noir) is not really letting her nurse. At least not that I've noticed since yesterday. Her bag is not totally tight - but it looks pretty full this morning. I'll try to keep a close eye on them today. I've never seen anything like this so I'm at a loss as to what to do for her. I'm torn between just watching her and/or throwing the medicine cabinet at her. If I did start medicating her I'd probably give her a tiny bit of dex. Maybe even start her on some antibiotics. A b-complex injection... I dunno - color me stumped!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I snagged Noir and let Dallas nurse. Noir didn't fight so maybe I'm over-reacting. (wouldn't be the first time, lol) I also went ahead and gave Dallas a 1/2ml. of Dex and 1ml of B-complex. I need to go ahead and take her temp and then I'll decide on antibiotics.

Lucy and her girls are still not feeling really comfortable being out in the pasture. They are staying a bit standoff-ish from the other goats - except at feeding time when they're in there shoving and fighting for their grain. Lucy isn't going to miss a bite of food if she can help it and she's teaching her girls the same thing, lol.

DH is off at the train museum again today. I'm trying not to be a little miffed. I mean, I suggested he volunteer - but I thought he would be doing this after he retires - not using up our weekends now. We don't get to spend much time together during the week and he runs errands on Sunday - so Saturdays are the only chance to spend any time together. Oh well, sometimes it's a blessing in disguise, lol!

I need to get some seeds in the ground so I think I'll go work on that for a few minutes.

 

[NH Homesteader]

At least he's retiring in a few weeks! Yay!

Hope Dallas does alright. It's stressful having all those babies to worry about!