No experience with hair goats. How about Alpacas? It is quite profitable I understand. I have an ex class mate who she and her husband both quit their jobs because they make more money on the alpaca fur. A little costly to get started but a lot easier keepers. In my case I figure I am going to be allergic to all their hair so I'm not tempted. Are you going to have time for a working farm with a new baby? I just had a feeling you two were going to start getting ready for number two.
Poor little Amelia. Doesn't seem possible she is getting jaw teeth already.
If you decide to get back into chickens again let me know and I'll send you some eggs. No bantam cochins but I've got lots of other stuff. I am trying everything I can to keep from hatching. I don't offer eggs to anyone but I'd be glad to send you some. I'm trying to keep from starting up another incubator. And of course this one I am using is overflowing. I thought I was done with peacock eggs until the India blues start laying again in late summer. But the whites gave me an egg yesterday. My boys are all molted and you can't tell them from the hens much.
I have a ton of Sebbies left. I thought I had mostly girls left but the last group I got turned out to be mostly boys. I've got three that were hatched late season with crooked beaks. I finally figured out it was because they were getting calcium depleted. I guess next spring I'll put them on layer feed. If the grass had come back in their pen I think they would have been fine. There's just way too many of them out there.
Originally Posted by cherwill
I need to spend several days in my garden but there just isn't time. Plus when it's so hot it's really hard to make myself work out there too long. At least taking care of the chickens I keep moving around so it doesn't seem quite as miserable. Evenings are the best time but like last night the bugs were going insane trying to eat me instead of the veggies. They forecast rain again last night but we didn't get any. Even with those insane winds we didn't get that much rain. I need to work in my flower beds just as bad but I just can't find the time.
I keep saying I will get a count on my chickens when I decide which ones I am going to keep. But it seems that the number and the birds are always changing.
I worry about my garden since I dug the garlic. I understand it helps keep the bug population down.
My grandpa used to grow all their food. He used to store his potatoes on frames that had chicken wire suspended over them. He laid them out flat on a concrete floor and he had potatoes until the next year. I think the clue is to keep the air flow around them and have them in the shade. He had a building where he stored all of his gardening produce. I don't have the space for that but it would be nice. If a person had an unfinished basement where they didn't have to have other things it would be perfect for food storage.
My potatoes are still blooming and very green. So I'm not attempting to check for harvest yet. I may have to plant some late green beans and see if they do anything since this first batch is destroyed. I need to do some tilling and stuff first though.
I am getting a couple of cats this evening. I sure hope they will be good mousers and stick around. I haven't figured out where to feed them yet that the dogs will let them eat without stealing their food. If this works well I might get a couple more later. I just don't need any chicken predators out there.
You just don't know how hard it is to stay in one place! I've tossed the crutches. Those are an accident waiting to happen. I am such a clumsy person and can't seem to get the feel for them. For one thing I don't have a working right wrist and I think you need that arm strength to use them. I really don't know since I can't seem to manage them. I have my walker which is okay for in the house. I actually feels pretty good today which is amazing to me after the initial pain of the injury. And timing was perfect I guess to get that steroid shot for the arthritis because my swelling really hasn't been that bad. I found that I have a lot more support if I keep a pair of boat shoes on. They kind of hold the air cast in place better so it gives more stability. They are kind of hard to get off and on but really help. I never thought about re-injury. I have really weak ankles anyway and am always twisting them. Maybe I won't be wearing my slick ole flip flops so much the rest of the summer. I don't think DH is going to be willing to do much animal care. I'm pretty determined to get back out there and work as soon as I can. My biggest hurdle is getting down the steps to get outside.
Thank you. My BIL has an older type wheel chair he said I could use. Not being that familiar with wheelchairs I don't honestly know they difference. The only thing I could think of is that it might be heavier and might not fold up. Does anyone know? I just want to use it one day anyway. However I sure could see how it would help me get my chores done. I'm thinking I might have to use my lawnmower if I can find a way to haul feed on it. I could just zip around the yard and stop to feed. Now the water is a different situation. Not sure how to get the hoses every where. I'll bet if I ask DH to come up with a plan he would thinking hard to keep from having to do my work.
I think I may stick with the goats idea!I am not a fan of the alpaca/llhama type critters personally, not sure why....We would also like a herd of something that Lucie will stay with. I just feel she needs a more important job than she has right now as a general farm dog. I think she would really thrive living with a herd of goats.
Grammy Verna you are too funny!!! We are def waiting until Amelia is at least 3 before we have another. I can't do "2 under 2."
Hey! You never know!!! You have family support now. Amelia is going to grow up way too fast now.
I dunno about the geese thing but it sure was evident boys were reining supreme with these last ones. My last 6 eggs weren't fertile at all either. I am going to figure this goose thing out some day. I have those late boys with crooked beaks too which I have no idea what to do with. I am sure it was because of nutrients. Next year I am feeding the girls laying feed for sure. It's a shame because they are pretty colors and going to be nice other wise. I may have to try eating them. Makes me very sad to think about it.
I offered them to my older sister that have a nice big pond in their yard. The Canadians come every summer to have babies. I suggested she have some pretty geese but they don't like the idea of having them there all year. The rest of my family just doesn't have this need to be surrounded by animals I do. I have a female born about the same time that has a short beak. I just plan to keep her. She might just free range the yard. She is a gorgeous bird, kind of blue, white, buff combination. I don't think the beak thing would be hereditary as I am sure it was caused a calcium deficiency, but I don't know that I want to breed her to find out. I guess I'd need to put another one out with her so she isn't lonely.
Thank you for the egg offer! That is really sweet, I will send you a PM. I really miss my brahmas too. Kinda wish I hadn't sold my big buff laced roo. Not sure how we would have fit him in the car that was already jam packed with cages....
I have those gorgeous partridge brahmas which are still in really high demand, my project double laced blue gold, and my lights which haven't produced me a fertile egg yet since I added the imports, and some black imports which are too young to lay yet. I have lots of English Orpingtons too. Wish you were closer and wanted to work on a project you mentioned a couple years ago. I have a bunch of white English boys and be glad to donate one to you. Speaking of the same I do have one young English lavender cuckoo from Fancy Chicks . You know how totally awesome her birds are I am sure.
Hope your kitties work out well for you! Mine have bluffed at the chickens a few times just for fun but all it takes is one broody to flog them and they run for the hills!
So far the new kitties are staying in the shop. No promise of mousing yet. I told DH he needs to quit feeding them Fancy Feast or they'll never try catching mice. The little boy, named Jackson by the previous owner is just the sweetest thing. It is going to be very difficult to keep from bringing him in.
All I have to do though, is look in the house because Milk, the 18 year old is still having potty issues and her tumor still seeps all the time. Tessa the other cat has a habit of catching mice then jumping up and releasing them on my bed. That's enough reminder of why I don't want more house cats.
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Oh man! I would love to go to the beach. One more thing to miss about my parents. It was so great to go spend time with them and spend time on the beach. My brother still has a beach side home in North Carolina but he is working in Kansas right now. I could go use it at any time but I just don't think it would be much fun without him being there.
I haven't gone anywhere. I'm still trying to keep on the reading and stuff. I've just been crazy busy this summer. I'm working on a more stressful than usual project at work and have been putting in extra hours. This week, I've also been helping a friend move. I've also been doctoring my injured horse. We think he has tendonitis so it is taking him a while to heal. In the meantime, it is extra work for me. This spring, I started working on making some curtains for our sunroom. The windows are abnormally sized, so it is WAY cheaper for me to make them than to buy them from the store. Plus, this way I get exactly what I want. However, my little one has decided that sewing isn't much fun so I only get to work on them when his daddy is home to help watch him or when he is sleeping. That means that I haven't gotten much time to work on them and haven't even gotten the first curtain finished enough to hang. With the heat we've been having recently, I have had to relocate (the sunroom is also my office) to a different room to stay cool enough to keep working...
