Our goat princess

https://youtu.be/eye8FnWeKl8

New addition

We have been waiting for weeks for our pygmy to finally give birth. We had a day marked on the calender but that was almost a month ago.

She has been showing all the signs for over three weeks now and I have been pulling my hair out in anticipation. Goats are not like my chickens, I can't candle the belly to see how far along she is. It's a sit and wait if you don't know he got her the first time.

She had dropped her udders about 3 weeks ago and I was convinced she was about to kid. But day after day nothing. Then yesterday.... her udders doubled in size but she wasn't leaking or showing signs of labor so I left her be. I checked on her one more time before we called it a night and nothing. This morning I went out for chores and her him. She had the cuties floppy earned baby boy!! All dry and clean so she must have had him in the middle of the night. She was big and did think she had two in there especially since he is so small buy mommy seems to be doing great!!

More updates coming soon!!!

Just like with Murphys law when you plan something it does not always happen the way you want it to... or so I have learned. We had hoped to have the new coop up soon but with things being so busy and funds not always able to be there sometimes we have to wait. So I had to come up with a temporary solution for about 30+ birds  who were running out of room very quickly in the broader boxes. So yesterday I rolled up my sleeves and built a small shelter outside my coop for them. Now one good thing is the fact that it is summer so it is warm enough for them. My only concern is the rain , they do have some protection but depending on how they are in a few days I will either add sides, keep it the same, or male just a few minor fixes. But over all I am happy with it, for younger birds at least. More projects and pictures to come!!

Pictures of our goats :)

Once I had one I fell in love!!

Goat barn extention

So on the farm we have our two does that are now due any day. We had plans to put up a new separate in closure for the girls but with the weather and one thing after another we were delayed. Luckily I was able to get the help from my fiance and we are on our way to making the new section and  I am in hopes it won't take to long but at least with the basic frame up we are on a good start. I will be sure to post more pictures when we are done. I am in hopes the girls pen will be about a 8x14 and there pasture of corse but what idea I have in my head and the end product are usually close but different in some way so we will see what happens!!

This year's projects 2016

Things have been very crazy the past few weeks. Between battling the continuous changing weather I ended up in the hospital sick for a few days. It set me back some but I still have so much to work on before summer is creeping around the corner.

Aside from all the chicken stuff we have planned, the new coop, a new garden this year, and fixing the goat area. I have my hands full to say the least. But the key thing is to figure out what is our priorities and what can wait. To be honest everything is all falling on the same time line. But I think putting our heads together we can figure out the best plan to have a successful year.

On my list for this summer of what I need completed are

Gardening boxes
New coop (big big job)
Redesign horse and goat area
Prepare for kids this spring
Make room for new birds
Excavate kennels
Keeping fingers crossed on starting our underground green house
As well as a few other small jobs!!!

Most of the supply I have been collecting over the past few months. Some I am still saving for little by little. But my goal is that all the waiting the past two years will start to pay off this year. I hope :-)

More projects more pictures to come. Any questions or comments feel free to ask. HAPPY SPRING!!

Merphys law on the farm

Around this time of year I have learned that I should expect everything to go wrong. Water building up where you don't want it. The water lines freezing and unfreezing because of crazy weather changes. And mud so much mud. I believe that when working on a farm you need to expect everything to go wrong and do your best to be prepared for anything that could happen. Not being prepared can cause you to not only fall behind but in some cases can become very expensive fixes. Trust me on that one!!

Recently we have run into some problems ourselves and they will cause some issues and major rethinking on the property. 

The barn... We have an old tractor barn we turned into a horse barn which I then turned into a horse/goat barn 😊. I have been making plans to dig out the horses side and to lay down gravel and sand to help with water collection areas on the horses side. Great plan 👍. Until a section of the roof collapsed leaving me with only one bay ... We had the wood everything for me to build up the barn and fix it. Now I weigh two options. The wood that fell is to damaged to put back up so either way the roof would have to be replaced. So the only other option if I don't fix that section would be to fix it to leave the one bay and just build a smaller barn/shed for the girls. Either way in the end it will cost more than originally expected. It's just about figuring out what the best option will be in the end. I will post pictures once we decide.

In my eyes I try to look at everything as "it happens for a reason". Maybe the goats and the horse together would have turned out bad, so it's life's way of pushing me into a different direction, even it if ends up being a little more work. Even the worst catastrophes can bring to light a problem that you didn't even think of. I have said it before water collection is our biggest problem, so it's just a matter of creating drainage fields to help keep the property cleaner and less muddy. 

You can't think of everything but if it could happen expect that it might and try to fix it before the problem ever happens. Chickens hatching early, goats kidding early,

animal dies, what ever the issue try to think of a before hand "what would you do?"