I knew it! Show season is just around the corner! So much for keeping up on my blog posts…. It’s a good thing though- means there’s a lot going on here.
Since my last post, we have sold all of this spring’s kids except for the 6 doelings I’m retaining. I was sure we’d have some left-over kids this year since we’ve moved, but it was really the opposite effect. May have something to do with the over-abundance of livestock people up here. It really is amazing what a difference there is between the communities here and the ones in Lake County/Bay Area. There must be at least 10 horse/cattle trailers that go down our road daily. Love it 
I planted a few fruit trees also since my last post (and white washed all of the young trees to protect from sunburn). We ended up with an apple, Asian pear, apricot, and nectarine tree going down the driveway to add to the other fruit trees we already have here. Everything is in full bloom and is absolutely BEAUTIFUL right now. Driving to town feels like I time-traveled back to the 1800′s with all of the rolling green hills, cattle (WAY more cattle than people here), and old old barns.
All of our girls (goats) are doing great. We have some very promising udders and some beautiful junior does this year. This seems to be one of our “off” years as far as show seasons go. Every other year or so, there is a show season where I just don’t have very many animals to show due to them already having certain show wins, needing to mature a little more, etc. Looks like we have 3 or 4 senior does to show this year and a couple juniors. Our midget yearlings who were victims of some HORRIBLE hay we had purchased from the feed store last year have really began to bloom, finally. They’re looking great. Still midgets, but no longer ugly midgets. They’ve already grown quite a bit since we’ve moved and hopefully will continue to put on some needed inches before we breed them this year. Our bucks have also finally made it up here and LOVE it. They don’t know what to do with themselves in the big front pasture. When I let them go out front, they all looked out into the field then in unison jumped up in the air and took off running. They’re now enjoying the front pasture with the llama and one of the horses. Things like that make me even more appreciative of our new farm. It is quite clear how much all of the animals appreciate the upgrade in facilities as well….
We had two pullet casualties since we purchased them which is to be expected. One squished itself under the waterer (no idea how that happened) and one sacrificed itself to the outside world of predators by escaping. I have since rewired the pullet coop so no more escapees. Speaking of chickens… one of our hens has gone broody. YAY! Most broody hens are a nuisance and it is a trait that has been bred out of most chicken breeds, but I feel its necessary to have at least one broody hen on a self-sufficient farm. Our broody hen isn’t a rotten one either and allows me to check eggs under her and mark which ones I decide to let her keep then take whichever I don’t want her to keep. She’s pretty cute stuffed into the nesting box poking her head out every so often. Shane built us this fantastic row of nesting boxes (I think I posted about that in an earlier blog), however, all of our hens feel the need to sit on top of each other to lay eggs in one of the boxes. Never mind there are 7 or 8 other identical available boxes in the same row…. Once we begin to have Buff Orphington and Australorp chicks, we can begin to rehome the crazy White Leghorns and California Whites. Those breeds are great layers but are CRAZY as far as personalities go. Hopefully the eggs our hen is sitting on are fertilized by our late rooster, Ernie. He was recently butchered due to a bad attitude and replaced with a very sweet (but vampire-like biter) Astralorp rooster. Night before last, our new rooster (who was still adjusting to the new facilities) somehow escaped from the chicken palace and got in with the livestock guardian dogs. I found him hiding in the grass the next morning, playing possum. I swore he was dead as a large patch of feathers had been removed from his back but he opened on eye and looked at me then made the saddest moaning sound… At least he was alive! He sat patiently while I smoothed salve all over his bare back and cooed with his eyes closed. He hasn’t crowed since that event. I think he feels a bit emasculated… I didn’t think he would survive the night (because who knows if he has any internal damage), but he’s been a trooper. Eating and drinking then moping around a bit. Only time will tell if he’s going to make a full recovery.
Another addition we’ve also added to the farm recently is a boer wether. He’s currently in quarantine until I get his blood test results back, and if he comes back clean, he’ll have a destiny for the dinner table eventually. Lola has also officially been butchered and put into the freezer. She finished out nicely with plenty of fat cover with only being grass-fed. Shane did a great job preparing her to be cut up then we had a relative (who used to be a butcher) come up to help cut her up and package her. It was sad to see her go but I am SO GLAD I no longer have to sheer her. I haven’t made any lamb dishes yet, but when we had our last lambs butchered, they were pretty tasty (when they weren’t cooked in a typical yucky lamb dish). Lola was borderline yearling mutton so we’ll have to see if there’s a taste difference or not.
Lastly, the garden has finally been tilled and our seedlings have been started in flats. It’ll be nice to start our garden earlier here vs. the beginning of May as we did in Lake County. Since we are doing heirloom, organic seeds this year, we’ll be able to let a couple plants seed out and save seeds for next year’s crop!
Our house improvements are still never-ending but it is really beginning to come around. We’re currently in the process of having our new windows ordered and installed then next will be a new roof (a metal roof at that!). Shane has been installing new ceiling fans and new light fixtures while I’ve been painting like crazy. 3 more rooms and the ceiling left to paint, but what a difference it’s made so far! Any more of this rainy-day weather and we’ll have all of these projects done in no time at all. I’ll be thrilled to no longer smell mold from the windows floating throughout the house and listening to them clang all night when the wind blows. These improvements are also going to be a huge factor in helping keep the house cool in the blistering summer heat. Pretty exciting! Once Shane is out of the fire academy that has been consuming ALL of his time (he’s home maybe once a week), many of our outside projects, including some fencing, will be addressed and completed.
All for now.
