NoobieChickenLady's Journal - SS Score and Mah Kitteh is HOME!! Yay!

[noobiechickenlady]

I found out they are going to induce my SIL's labor tomorrow. Don't know as I like the non-medical induction, but her Dr. will be out of town for a while, so you do what you gotta do, yeah?

So anyways, hopefully I will be welcoming Mr. Tyler Brooks ******* to the world tomorrow. This is the first boy for either of them (they both have children from previous) and they are sooooo excited.

I know he's going to be gorgeous, as all the kids (3, but one is almost 22, so not really a kid) are beautiful.
I just wish I could be there for the birth, I love newborns when they are all wrinkly & red, and look like pink frogs

I saw jack-squat in the woods Saturday. Well, I take that back, I saw 1 non-legal spike and a hugely pregnant doe. Since she appeared to be good stock, I thought I'd leave her to breed a few more. Should have taken her though, because nothing else popped up.
Hopefully one of my redneck friends will hit another one & give it to me, I'm getting low on venison.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Well, its been a while since I posted anything so I figured its time for an update.

My nephew is adorable, as I predicted. Reddish blonde hair & smokey blue eyes. He seems to be a good baby, too.

We ordered chickens, 50 of them. We must have gotten a few packing peanuts because we still have 47 after losing 5, 3 to shipping stress and two got smothered by the others. They are almost 3 weeks old now.

We traded some chicken wire & an mattock cutter for 8 rabbits. The guy who had the rabbits brought over a hive & set it up with lure, so hopefully when the wild hive swarms again this year, I'll have bees. These bees have been wild for at least 12 years, they have the entire back wall of an abandoned house filled with wax and honey.

It has been a cold, wet spring but I have onions, potato, sweet potato, kale, brocolli, cabbage, squash, zuchini & swiss chard in the ground. I'm going to have to harvest the tiny heads of broc, as they look like they are about to flower.
Anyone know what causes broc to form bunches of tiny heads instead of one big one?

I have seeds started of amaranth, hardy kiwi, the roma bush beans & tomato varieties Dace sent me for Christmas, burgandy okra, peppers, cowpeas, the Mother Hubbard squash from Me & thegals & a few other things, not sure off the top of my head. Anyways, the romas look fabulous and I will set them out soon, the rest needs a few more days under the lamps before I start hardening them off.

I have areas broken up & mulched in expectation of my blueberry bushes & fruit trees coming in. I should also get a few black walnut & mullberry baby trees from the rabbit dude.

We decided on a rain garden to improve the water flow in the yard. Already the water settles in the middle of the yard (where the house is...) and drains slowly in one small swath through the front out to the ditch on the south side. So we're going to dig a 6-12" deep hole & transplant cattails & a few other water species into that area. The water from the yard will drain into it, then slowly drain out to the ditch or soak in. Mom says better a "pond" than a mudhole, which is what we have now.

My mother (the modern woman!!) bought a goat. Its a wether, so no stinky buck. But she says now I have to buy a dairy goat to give him some company. She bought him on the spur of the moment to eat the brush around her place. I'm speechless...
But, my dad & Lucky have become best pals, Lucky is a pet for sure.

 

[redux]

I am hugely jealous of your garden. I hope to have land again someday!!

Your garden sounds wonderful.

I used to have a pygmy wethers. He was very attached to me and would follow me all around. A wethers doesn't really have much to concern himself with besides food and affection.

 

[framing fowl]

Hey NCL, good to see you back! Sounds like your garden is off to a good start!

 

[freemotion]

Oh, get a goat, get a goat, get a goat! It is so much fun here on the dark side!!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Get SHEEPS!!!!! Gotta love variety!

 

[freemotion]

No!!! Goaties, goaties, goaties!!!!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

You need more chickens.

47 just won't cut it!

and maybe a couple rabbits.

and a beef or two.


No goats!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

You guys are nuts! I love it! Thanks FF & redux, I'm rather proud of the garden so far

QA, I did get rabbits, I thought I had 8, but it was really 9. Unless they multiplied already... They are loving the grass, we put them in the smaller, elevated hutch at night & let them pasture in the tractor during the day, if its not raining.

Bee, I can't find any sheep owners who are willing to let any go right now. I figure I need both a bushwhacker & a lawnmower

So yeah Free, goats it is! I amazingly found several people around the town that have dairy goats. The next time they breed to a dairy male, I'm buying the little one or two. Raw milk!!!

DH really wants a Dexter, I'd settle for the goats. I had a taste of some properly done goat milk and I love it. The last few tastes we've had, I learned they didn't segregate the does from the buck

Lucky knows his name, this is one smart goatie. He was standing in the back of my dad's truck this morning as I went out. Then he ran to my dad for some horn scratching. I believe he is an Alpine/Nubian mix. He has Nubian ears, but not the nose.

Hopefully this weekend I can disc up the back yard and kill some of the broomsedge. Get some good green going on back there.

I think I've killed my amaranth though... Those seeds & seedlings are tiny!!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Even better than waiting for breeding, I have found peeps who have 14 goaties of various ages that are up for sale!!! I went & checked out their operation Saturday afternoon and I'm in love.

They don't overmedicate, they use rotational grazing to control parasites, they keep breeding records very well. Very clean, nicely maintained place.

I forgot to take my phone with me, so I have no pictures to share, yet! When I go pick up Dixie and the two babies this week sometime, I will be sure to post pics.

One little doeling latched onto me while I was there. She was so precious!! She followed me around the whole time I was there, even though DD was the one to give her a bottle. She would walk up behind me and nibble on the back of my leg Yep, she's the female baby I am bringing home. She even followed me out of the gate. The owner had to pick her up & put her back over the fence because she popped out twice to stay by me when I was ready to leave. It was obvious that she was meant to be mine.
Dixie, her older sister took to me well, too. She's 5 and has a huge udder & teats, owner says she is a good milker, giving about 2 to 2-1/2 quarts every day, while nursing at least one baby. When previous babies were weaned, the records showed she was giving almost 4 quarts every day. She's thrown triplets the last 3 times she's been bred, had twins the first time and her mother consistently throws triplets as well. Usually 2 girls & a boy. I'll have the owner pick out a baby male that can breed with both of them.

All the does & babies were one big family with shared nursing and they pull out the bucklings at 8 weeks. The buck herd was very friendly as well, they all rushed up to greet us as we entered the gate, nuzzling the owners & sniffing me.

I'm so excited!!!!

Going to eat our first rabbit dinner tonight, DH is making hasenpfeffer. Nom nom nom