This afternoon, I went into the sheep enclosure to collect the blue egg a chicken had just laid in their feeder. Then went to toss the hay in the alpaca feeder as they don't seem able to get the smaller pieces out by themselves when Sockeye butted me in the butt, hard. Wow, that hurt, and is hurting still 2 hours later. Wonder if I have a bruised tush.
Sad today. Went to check if there were any new lambs this morning and discovered that Vicki, the black alpaca, had died sometime in the night. She didn't have blood around her mouth, was just lying in the normal sleeping position, but with her neck twisted at an abnormal angle. She was fine yesterday evening, now Elli is an orphan, both mum and dad, dead. At least she has Frogz, but I don't know if Abby will allow her to nurse. Vicki still had milk, although she was cold and already stiff.
This afternoon, I went into the sheep enclosure to collect the blue egg a chicken had just laid in their feeder. Then went to toss the hay in the alpaca feeder as they don't seem able to get the smaller pieces out by themselves when Sockeye butted me in the butt, hard. Wow, that hurt, and is hurting still 2 hours later. Wonder if I have a bruised tush.
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Lacey with her twin girls born yesterday morning, one black and one more like papa. When Herbie and I came back from taking the bottles back to WalMart, BaaBaa had had a single boy, who seems a good mix of his dark mama, and light with brown around the eyes, papa Haven't managed to snap a photo of him yet, will try again later. Watched Muffins little boy jump this morning Just heard from Adam who bought one of Annis' boy puppies. He sent a photo of Basedgod (yep, I think it's a strange name as well) and is very pleased with him. They are a good fit. It's nice to have feedback on the puppies. Adam reports he is super smart and can sit, stay, wait, fetch, lay down, is good on walks with no tugging and is nearly house trained Good luck with that Adam and Summer, he is a boy and they tend to lift their leg anywhere, everywhere, anytime LOL.
It's sunny today, but still below freezing, although not much of a wind today like there was yesterday. Thinking about going out and getting stuff done on the farm, but it's warmer here inside. Later this afternoon, Amanda is coming to visit. She is joining our milk-herd owners group, yippee. I look forward to showing her around the farm, and Vicki starts next Monday. We is growing, folks !! 3 more lambs today, girl twins for Lacey, one black like mum and one light with brown, again like her papa and a single boy for BaaBaa, mottled brown. Think he's going to be a big boy. So, think still 6 ewes to lamb, including the triplets from Amy, potentially another 15 lambs in total !
Otherwise a quiet day on the farm, with a trip to Walmart to return bottles and to get oil and a filter for Herbies Honda. He did the oil change when we got back home, I did boring things like laundry, watering the house plants, collecting and washing the eggs - think I found 2 dozen chicken eggs, and 1 each duck and goose eggs. Lots of excitement on the farm this morning. Fed the dogs, cats, chickens and when I went out to feed the sheep, discovered that Muffin lambed this morning, twins, girl and boy lambs. The little girl is black with white on her forehead and neck, the little boy looks like a baby Sockeye (his papa) light with dark around his eyes. The little girl was lying in the hay on the outside of the fence, the little boy inside. Picked her up and put her back in the sheep enclosure, went in an checked on them, they're OK, saw both of them drinking from mum, so all's good. Then went out to fetch Dolly for milking, to find a calf lying down. Walked through ankle deep muck to reach it, first thought it was one of the girls as the belly was sooo big, but no, it was one of the young Jersey bulls, Boytjie. He must weigh a good 700 lbs, I couldn't push him over. His head was thrashing in the mud, so I went and got the buggy, loaded a syringe with deworming meds and iron, got the drench gun with anti parasitic meds and electrolytes, put molassas and bicarb in the tube feed calf bottle, as I didn't know what was wrong with him. Chatted to God about saving him, then went and fed him the feeding bottle to give him energy and bring up any gas, gave him the drench gun, then injected him on the rump. Constantly had the chase all the other cows away, as this was the most interesting thing that had happened in the pasture in ages :) Tied 2 ropes to the front of the buggy and to his front and back leg on the underside, and reversed, pulling him over. Thankfully, he got to his feet, I struggled to remove the rope from his back leg but he helped by kicking out with it, and although he was covered in mud and shivvering, he seems none the worse for the mishap. He burped, blew lots of gunk out of his nose, and besides looking a little sorry for himself, seems OK. All the other calves came over to greet him, Pearl going head to head with him a little. Then it was continue as usual, do the milking, after advising today's herd-share owner that I was running late, clean up, collect eggs etc etc. Herbie missed all the fun. Here they are, cute little lambs with their mama, Muffin. Think the little black girl was born first, as he was much wetter than her. The first goose egg of the season. I put 2 chicken eggs with it to show the size. Later this afternoon I found a 2nd goose egg out in the cow pasture. Don't know where the ducks are laying, haven't found an egg for a few days now. 'Twas relatively warm today, in the 40s. The ice is slushy and we have at least 3 ponds, one in the vegetable garden, one on the side of the cow pasture and then the one where we usually have a seasonal pond, at the back of the 2nd pasture. The ducks and geese are having a great time, me, not so much. The mud / poop mixture tries to suck my shoes off !
Took the buggy and drove around the pastures today, down the trail through the woods, around the sheep enclosure, checking the electric fencing, looking for eggs, noting newly fallen trees. Checked the bee hives. Seemingly have 4 active hives. The smaller Top-bar hive is rather active, bees buzzed out and one followed me. I thought it was gone, but it had landed on my back, crawled down my sweatshirt and under the bottom edge and stung me in the small of my back when I was squatting at the blueberry bushes a short time later ! March and I've experienced my first sting - does this bode well for the harvesting season ?? Dolly still has a hard lump the back quarter of her udder, I massaged it again during milking to try and loosen it and if it is not much better tomorrow morning, think I'll have to re-medicate that quarter. I'd rather get it completely better than risk losing it. Makes milking more of a schlep as I have to milk 3 quarters, decant this good milk for herd-share owners / ourselves, re-milk all 4 teats and this milk goes to the cats bowl, and then hand milk that back quarter (directly into the cats bowl) as for some strange reason she doesn't let-down for the milking machine, which is why she got the mastitis to start with. Silly girl. Herbie called earlier this evening, his truck broke down in Cadillac, so he was waiting for his company to do whatever to get it fixed. On a Sunday night, doesn't sound like it'd be anytime soon. This time change surely messes with me. Had to get up early as a guy wanted to buy the Net10 card I had posted on CL, so I'm tuckered out now, methinks it's off to bed for me. Just been outside checking on the beasties. It looks as if Muffin is starting to give birth. Last year she had a single lamb, Whisper. Wonder what she is going to present us with this year ? From what I can tell, all our girls are preggers, including the newbies, Strawberry, Licorice and Buttercup, as well as the 2 surviving girls born on the farm last year, Marmite and Cheeks. Will watch Nancy, who gave birth to still-born twin boys last year. Sockeye comes up to me for lovings through the fence. He is the papa of all the babies being the alpha male, so will send him for processing this Spring.
Eric, Liz, Sage and Nolan visited the farm this evening. Haven't seen them for a while, they missed all the puppies. They sloshed through the muck and mud to help fetch Dolly for milking, helped carry all the milking parafinalia through the tunnel to the milking parlour and set up, and then all, except Nolan who is just over a year old, had a go at milking Dolly. She was great, didn't kick anyone, just stood and let strangers pull her teat. They left with some farm produce. Hope we see them again soon, they are fun. Oops, haven't written in a while, so here goes a quick update.
Last month a recruitment firm advised I was the perfect candidate for a job, in another State, so I'd have to commute. At the same time, a friend of mine was working through the possibility of having to move States (her family are here) to be with her husband who had lost his job here in Michigan but found work in another State. They have a young son, so I advised her that it was important for her to keep her family together, her son and husband. Ended up the hiring client didn't think I was the perfect candidate. Didn't relish the thought of only seeing my husband for a few hours once a week, that's not why we were married. I spoke to God, I've been out of work for over 2 years now, we need money, but no outside job was working out. We need the farm to pay more if I'm to stay here and in the past week, I've had 4 new potential herd-share owners contact me. Had to have another talk to Him, Buttercup is imminently due to drop her calf so is not being milked and Dolly picked up a bit a mastitis in her one back quarter, so I can only milk 3 quarters for human consumption, the fourth I give to the cats and dogs - doesn't seem to bother them at all. Many owners, not enough milk, although that will all change 2 weeks after the first calf is born and we are expecting at least 5 between now and October. Went to my first Estate Sales today with Jackie. Sort of made me sad, peoples belongings being picked over by strangers. I'd never thought about it before, but when you die, something has to be done with all your stuff. Herbie said I wasn't to buy anything that couldn't fit into Jackies' van. One old wooden ladder for the chicken house and 2 glass dishes is all I bought, one old Pyrex for lasagne and one rectangular Anchor with lid for feta cheese under $ 30 in total. Made some good yoghurt this last week, strawberry, cherry / almond, blueberry, honey / vanilla and plain. With no excess milk I suppose I won't be making much more in the short term. The tractor needs a new clutch. Herbie is really disappointed that we weren't even able to do one job with it. He says he had hoped that we'd get at least a years' work out of it before having to replace anything. My thumb was shocked when I tried to switch it off the only time I drove it. Herbie didn't believe that I'd been shocked, asked me 3 times if I was sure I hadn't just twisted it ??? Great news ! My brother and his wife are expecting their 2nd child. Congratulations, Aimee and Craig. My dad is excited, but also disappointed as they were supposed to come to the States later this year or early next year, but are having a baby instead ! He cannot go visit them as Trudi is rather bad with alzheimers and he is her only care-giver. Their daughter Keira is nearly 18 months old already and none of us in America have met her or Craigs' wife, Aimee or her daughter from her first marriage, Alyssa. My dad said he didn't understand why Tanya or I didn't have kids, or adopt or something. Had co-op this past Wednesday, Jackie and I went to the Farm Country Cheese house in Lakeview to pick up the cheese order on Monday, brought it to the farm, cut it, weighed it and labeled it here so that it was all ready for the members at the co-op. I duffed it on Michelles' order. Gave her 5 lbs of Colby instead of the 5 lbs Mozzarella she wanted. Fortunately Lance down at the Saranac Deli bought it, as we don't eat Colby here on the farm. Well, off to bed with me. Goodnight all. Spring must be on the way - the cows are starving, so are the sheep. After feeding them well in the morning, about 4:30 pm their hay is all gone and they are bawling for more ! Herbie put up the new electric fencer today. Dolly and Milkshake were outside the pasture this morning, they broke a fence hook and pushed the wire down in 2 places - I think they were looking for more food !
Judy came over this morning to bring me egg cartons and we gave her some yogurt to try. She tasted the Peppermint / Chocolate Chip one, loved it ! Funny Herbie. He didn't have any yoghurt last night, as I'd put it all into labeled containers and he thought I'd be mad with him if he ate it because he thought it was destined for someone ! Looks like I'm going to have to label his yoghurt by name LOL. Big arrows in the fridge 'These are for you'. Michelle, Aidyn and Curt popped around tonight to pick up their yoghurt and also bought some beef, salmon and eggs. Thank you for supporting your local farmer. Enjoy ! The dogs don't listen to me, Rosco and Anni chased them down the driveway. I wish someone would bump them (just a little) so that they learn that cars aren't toys. They don't chase me so I can't teach them this lesson. I stand and scream at them, to no avail. Must look and sound like a lunatic. This is one reason why Rosco is only let out when I don't think anyone will still be coming around. Anni listens, sometimes, when she is out on her own. That cocky little Bantam rooster that used to attack me, well, it was his turn today. One of our large roosters taught him a lesson or two, I knocked the larger rooster off him once, then later he was lying on the ground with his one wing stretched out. I bent to pick him up and he hustled away, I couldn't catch him. Tonight when I went to close them up for the night, he was huddled under the ladder, so I picked him up and put him on the high shelf above the roosting boxes. Now I understand why he was on the roof outside yesterday and the day before, staying safe from another rooster. Time to process the boys, aggression not good in the coop and it won't be long before they try attack me. Found the first duck egg today, out on the ice in the duck yard, slightly cracked and frozen. This afternoon I put some straw out for the ducks, as one was lying under the creeper at the front of the house, but I must have disturbed her although I walked past without looking at her, I don't think Anni did the same ! Couldn't find her egg. Yippee, I like duck eggs for home use and have some customers who prefer them too. Actually saw a chicken push her egg out this morning. It was pretty cool and I waited a while before taking it from her so that it could harden and dry. It was very warm and completely clean, impressive. She was sort of squatting, then I saw a little of the brown of the egg and out it popped. No mess, no fuss. She didn't even start calling until I disturbed her. Made 2 small cornish rock hens today, or squab LOL. With onions and carrots, and sauted potatoes from breakfast. Really feel for a Coke, but can't, as the caffeine will keep me hopping all night. I don't do well on caffeine, limit it to before lunch time when I do partake. Although I enjoy espresso. Give me 3 at a time and I'm buzzing, but only in the morning. Can't remember when I had them last. Once again, I'm tired of being cold ! Come on, be warm already ! Herbie says that if March comes in strong, then ..... I don't know what, but it's supposed to be good.
Herbie took the tractor off the trailer this morning and spent time looking it over, driving it etc etc. He thinks I rained on his parade as I didn't want to go out and drive it. Not today, Herbie, I'm cold and tired. He said at least I could take pictures of him on it, through the window, so I did, including some video, which I can't post here as I have the free edition. Made lots of yoghurt today, 4 flavours, as Michelle wants some tomorrow and of course, Herbie eats it every night ! 12 x 16 oz containers of Strawberry, Cherry Almond, Mint Choc Chip and and one bowl Plain Whipped for me. I think that the cherry one came out the best, will see what others think. Pictures below. Made the labels the same as those for our other products and eggs, with space to write the flavour and add the date. Well, off to shower and bed for me, goodnight all. Oh dammit, just remembered, I still have to re-make it with clean sheets. |
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March 2023
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