Last kids of 2010

Bucklings from Maggie the Nubian (12/26/10)

Maggie, Sydney's pet goat, gave her quite a birthday present today. Actually, a birthday present times two. Maggie gave birth to two little bucklings around lunch time. These are our last kids for the winter. Sydney has begged to keep them. Not sure how we'll do it. I'd like to take them down to see Dr. Lee at Lee Vet Clinic in Atmore to have them disbudded.

Bunny's Babies

Bunny gave birth to twin beauties today!

My Sweet Sydney

Sydney's favorite part of goat farming... snuggling with newborns!

First Kids of Winter 2010-11

Craig and Sydney check out the kids.

Maxine, the Saanen, gave birth to two beautiful buck kids today.

One is white with waddles, just like her! The other is chocolate with stripes and looks like his dad.

No disbudding for these little fellas, as we won't be keeping them.

We'll enjoying playing with them for as long as they'll let us.

The two boys sniff around while their mother eats.

We are watching Bunny and Maggie, the Nubian, closely.

They are our only other nannies expecting. Bunny, a speckled Nubian / Boer cross, should have hers soon. She is huge, so we are expecting her to have at least two kids.

We'll keep you posted. Have a great Sunday!!!

Kids Any Day

Funny how changes in weather make for changes in the goat barn! Looks like Maxine may have waited for the warmer temps to have her kids. It's a balmy 63* this evening. Only a few nights ago, we were contending with temps in the teens. I'll post pics of the kids when they get here!

Oats

Craig and his uncle, Johnny, moving a gravity wagon full of oats.

Alabama National Fair

Another addition to the herd

I know she's not a Nubian, but I couldn't resist this little nanny.

New addition to the herd

Nubian cross nanny. Love the frosted ears.

A few of our sweet Nubians

Three of our Nubians. Buck, Molly and Maggie.

An egg or two or three or four a day?

Sydney, feeding chickens bread crumbs.

Have you ever thought about how many eggs a chicken lays each day? The thought never crossed my mind until a couple of years ago.

We started our original laying flock back in 2007. My grandfather reestablished his flock at about the same time. Grandpa asked Craig to take care of his chickens for a few days while he was a little under the weather. Craig fed the chickens and gathered the eggs. My dad asked him later how many eggs he had in the basket. Craig, noticeably disappointed, said, "Only seven."

Daddy asked, "Well, how many hens are there?"

"Seven," answered Craig.

Depending on the breed of chicken, hens lay an average of an egg a day. Some, more prolific breeds, like Leghorns, lay an egg everyday, while others lay one to three eggs a week. Hens start laying a little after six months of age and can lay well into their teens, with their best years before the age of four.

Our current flock has a couple of everyday girls and the rest of the ladies are every-other-day layers. We have three eggs in the nest one day and six the next.

We have Welsummer chickens as well as a few Sexlink hens.  We love the dark brown and often speckled eggs from the Welsummers. The Sexlink hens are hardy and good layers. They usually lay a nice brown egg everyday and fill in the gaps in egg production caused by the not-so-proficient Welsummers.

Welsummer rooster, center, with Sexlink and Welsummer hens.

Egg production is affected not only by the breed of bird, but the time of year. Chickens lay best at temperatures between 45 and 80 degrees and need about 14 hours of daylight. Some chicken owners have lights on timers to continue to stimulate the hens to lay regularly through the winter. We choose to let the hens have a break. We do, however, use heat lights in the winter to keep the ladies warm.

Another fact in egg production is a hen's general health. We feed 16% layer hen mini-pellets, free choice, and also allow our chickens to free range. Chickens are not vegetarians. In my opinion, to remain healthy, they need a variety of foods including grain, grass, insects and the occasional treat (they love turnips). Chickens also require fresh water and sanitary, secure housing. I can't stress "secure" enough. I've had too many friends say, "I wanted chickens, but a fox ate them" or "A dog killed all my chickens." Breeches happen, but you must do your best to protect your flock. We use electric fencing and a Great Pyrenees to guard our herd and flock.

For more chicken information, visit BackyardChickens.com. It's a great site with all sorts of information. Be sure to check out the forum.

Getting ready for winter

Round bale from the big field.

It's been a hard summer, following a hard winter. As the days get shorter, we're working on our preparations for Winter 2010-11. We're putting up square bales of perennial peanut hay for the goats and will be working on closing in the barn addition soon.

Cows Don't Need Wristwatches

Cows Don't Need Wristwatches | Daily Yonder | Keep It Rural

My grandfather had about ten head of cattle and several chickens. He farmed purely out of enjoyment. He sold eggs as well as sweet milk, buttermilk and butter. Growing up next door, my brother Jesse and I were very involved from a young age in activities at Grandpa’s farm. As small children, we were thrilled to scatter the corn for chickens, gather the eggs and open the gate to the pasture so Grandpa could pull his long-wheel-base Chevy inside. We learned so much from my grandpa in the time that he was with us. He left a huge void in our family when he died from cancer in 1992. I was 15 years old.



In the happy years before, our days hinged on that special time every afternoon that we spent with our grandpa. During that time, I discovered many life lessons that made me what I am today.

First off, always be on time. My grandpa did not care when Sesame Street was over. If I wanted to go with him to feed cows, I had to be at his house at 3:30 p.m., sharp. My mother used to joke with him that his cows didn’t wear wristwatches. He would always counter that the cows knew when it was time to be fed and that’s when he was going to feed. If I was late, I got left, plain and simple. I shed plenty of tears, sitting at the house on the back porch waiting for him to come back. I realized at a young age that I couldn’t blame anyone but myself for being left behind. I learned to be where I needed to be, when I needed to be there, if not earlier.

Grandpa taught us the value of hard work. I remember getting paid 10 cents a week to help feed cows. I collected those shiny dimes with pride and saved them to buy a bottle of soap bubbles or maybe even a jump rope. I also remember, greedy little me, asking Grandpa for a five-cent raise, telling him I needed 15 cents. He gave it to me, too. It was the easiest raise I ever got.



An important lesson I mastered early on was to watch out for the bull. Though they changed every couple of years, their attitudes didn’t. Usually, the bull was overbearing and would throw his weight around if not treated with respect. In life, we come across “bulls” that we must handle with care. They are not always bigger than us, but we must still respect the power that they carry with their “weight.”

Another lesson I took to heart was that we should be patient with the little calves and old cows. Every year, when the new calves were born, we had to take special care that the babies made it out of the pen each evening with their mother into the pasture. Let me tell you, this was no simple task. First of all, we often had to contend with a very protective mother who didn’t understand that we just wanted to help. We had to drive the little one, who didn’t see the danger in running through a barbed wire fence, down the fence row and through the gate to where she belonged. This had to be done with care because if you rushed the calf, she would turn straight into the fence and get cut.

We also had to contend with old cows. Many afternoons, on the road to the feed trough, an old cow would get right in front of the truck. No amount of horn blowing could convince her to move. Sometimes, she would turn around and stop, as if to ask, “Do you mind?” These cows taught us to respect their age and give them their space. In life, we must appreciate individuals of all ages. Each plays an important role in society and should be respected for such.



Grandpa taught us to expect the unexpected from things put under pressure. Whether it was a cornered yearling ready to tear down the catch pen or a strand of new barbed wire, stretched taunt with a come-a-long, we knew to respect the fact that without care, someone could really get hurt with either. In tense situations, things often react differently than they normally would. Expect the unexpected.



The way I see it, these lessons, taught through simple daily tasks, made a greater impression on me than any story or fable from a textbook. Although my grandfather did not live to see us reach adulthood, I think he would have been proud to see how we retained the lessons he taught us, under the guise of an afternoon of fun at his farm. As my daughter grows, I look forward to the day when she’s old enough to go with my dad, her Grandpa Lee, to the same cow pasture, take care of some of the same old cows and discover some of the important lessons that made me who I am.