Getting ready for peas

Trellis is up, row is tilled and mounded and I'm all ready to plant sugar snaps. That's the real reason we have snow in the forecast!

Seed starting

Testing all the lights on my grow cart. It's seed starting day!

Too early for chicks

I think it's waaaay to early to be thinking about chicks. I can't imagine having to brood them right now with as cold as it has been. We would have to bring them into the house, because even the garage feels like the north pole. These three turkey hens must think otherwise because they are all sitting on one nest. The silly award goes to Paul for letting them keep their eggs and entertain such silly notions.

Bad place for a nest

The silly turkey hen made a nest right behind the door. So far she is sitting on nine eggs. Anyone in the market for turkey chicks?

Zero for zero

Golly gee I'm frustrated. All four cows pregnancy checked and all four are still open. Redo!

Old chicken

I'm not dead yet! We set this geriatric buff orpington hen outside to soak up some sun during her final days. I' ve had her for years and will miss her when she is gone.

Maggie

My top Nubian doe who took the first time we AI-ed. She is bred to Price of the Fields Berth's Hodge Podge Henry. That is an old buck, but the line is a good one. I can't wait to see her kids in April.

Extracting a straw

Straws inside a cane inside a canister inside a tank. The trick is finding the one you want, and extracting it without burning your thumbs in less than 5 seconds or else you ruin that straw and the others around it.

Fishing for straws

Cooooold nitro

Success! Picked up 38 Nubian straws as part of a swap and trade with another dairy.

Turkey nest

We are letting the turkeys keep their eggs. So far one bourbon hen and one white midget hen are taking shifts sitting on the nest, they are both very attentive.

Road trip

I am off to pick up some Nubian straws in Midlothian.

Lining up for breakfast

Toe trimming

It was very cold standing in the wind holding the horses still for the farrier today. I feel like I was gypped....the weather forecast was for 58 degrees today and it's at least ten below that with a strong southeast wind. The horses decided to be difficult today too. Our mild mannered sorrel Te was intent on nipping my gloves, and he is never lippy. The only thing I can figure is that he didn't like the smell of the deerskin. Otherwise it was fun standing in the cold, scolding the horse for trying to bite my hands and then paying for the pleasure. Three horses, three manicures every six weeks....it adds up.

Test results

Not happy at all. I got the pregnancy test results back today, and we only had one out of six goats that was pregnant. Bad statistics for sure. When we did the AI in the first place, we followed the instructions for the CIDR implants and shots exactly. BUT when we actually did the AI-ing, I took notes of what stage of estrus the goats appeared to be in by looking at the visual clues such as color and position of the cervix, mucus, and also the does' behavior around the bucks. I would have guessed that Maybird would have been the one that took, but I would have been wrong. And I thought that Mary would have had a good shot since we gave up trying to AI her and put her in with a buck. But no, it was Maggie the senior doe who had a positive test result. Go figure!!!

So back to the drawing board. I have a nitro tank now. I need to drive down to Midlothian this weekend to pick up straws from a goat friend, and I also have to order a gun, speculum and light before I can start all over again. I have got to hurry too because the goats will stop cycling in the next month or so. Sigh...

Sneaky Speckles

Paul has been feeding the cows extra alfalfa for protien, and Speckles decided to help herself! It is time to check the cows for pregnancy and see if the AI took. I will be making their vet appointment for later this week. I think I've seen the two younger jersey heifers (Speckles and Spunky) go into heat, so I am not holding out a lot of hope that everyone got bred.

Hilltop Oregano

This variety of oregano is supposed to be really outstanding for culinary use. I was on the lookout for it after reading the Jan/Feb edition of Texas Gardener. They had a tribute article about Madalene Hill of Hilltop Herb farm, and the herbs that she particularly liked. I found these at Northhaven nursery yesterday. It is a hybrid of sweet marjoram and oregano, with the fragrance of the marjoram but the winter hardiness of oregano. Now I just got to get out in the cold and the mud to plant it!

Sammy and Maverick got shots today

I am ashamed to say that they were over do and then I panicked when we started having a stray cat make frequent visits to the farm. Sam got into a fight with him and that is when I realized that I better take care of their vaccines. The stray which Jessie calls magic forest cat, (strange since we live on a sparsely treed pasture), is going to find himself relocated wih the live trap if he tries off drive off my barn cats. He looks just like our declawed tabby Buster who lives indoors and we are always thinking that he has escaped.

Terrific tool find

What woman needs diamonds or pearls when she has her own mortar mixer - i.e. goat soap mixer?! Found it at home depot for half price when someone internet ordered it and then returned it to the store. I've just got to research and see if I can mix soap in a plastic container or if I will have to replace it with stainless steel. All I remember for certain is that aluminum is out.

Icy downspouts at the barn

We are thawing out a little, but it's still cold outside.... and wet, and very very muddy. There is rain in the forecast for Sunday. It's all good for the crops, not so much for the septic.

Nitro tank

I added a new piece of equipment to my farm arsenal today. I met my friendly Coba rep at the gas station and picked up my new used nitrogen tank. It holds 400-600 straws, weighs about 75lbs when its topped off, and can go up to six months before needing more nitro. Unfortunately I can't hoist it up into the back of the truck all by myself, but c'est la vie.

Jessie in biology class

Jessie is "thrilled" to be dissecting in her biology class. A friend suggested that a little strategically placed vicks vapor rub underneath the nostrils really helps kill the smell and thus the queasiness. Jess claimed the hardest part though was removing the skin on the legs. I supported her by coming in at the end of class to admire her work, and to ooh and ah over the spleen and other organs. This was possible in spite of the fact that I got my mom to write notes excusing me from any and all dissecting while I was in school. Little did I know then that learning those type of skills would have been very helpful with my future farm.

It's still cold

Looking off the back porch at my chilly little fruit orchard and the sunset. The temperatures haven't risen above freezing since we got the snow, but the sun still caused a little melt off today. Thank goodness the roads have almost been entirely clear, because our school was one of the few that didn't close.

Great Pyrenees snow dogs

Scout and Tinker love this kind of weather, it's the summers that they are not too fond of.

Snow goat

Mary surveys the snow. Her neck is shaved from when we took blood the other day. She decided to stay inside the dry warm and not risk getting wet. All the goats are very fuzzy right now. It gives them quite another look around the face.... more teddy bearish I guess.

Goats look at snow

Goats don't like wet toes.... we'll stay right here by the barn thank you!

Cinnamon in the forefront is the yearling doe that is blind in one eye, but oh so very sweet. Behind her to the left is naughty tri-colored Maybird, then Mary is partially obscured and solid white, then Maggie the herd queen is in the back to the right.

The dairy goats have the option of staying inside their barn. I wish the cows had the same luxury. Next year I really, really want to get a shelter built in the back pasture for the cows. I get miserable worrying about them when they get a good soaking, and then the temperatures plummet. They can handle the cold just fine, it's when they get wet that I think it is hard on them.

First snow

It was definitely the first snow of 2011, but yesterday was our first snowfall of the season. We had a dry fall 2010 and didn't get any measurable precip until the week before Christmas. I hear we are in a La Nina year, which usually does mean dry, but California is busting that perception with the amount of rain and flooding they have been getting. Our snow was less than two inches and was preceded by rain, sleet and then ice. Not pleasant at all.

Chilly feet

Bad weather is not stopping the neighbor's guineas from making their daily commute.

Baby it's cold outside

Our Corgi Nippy was not too appreciative of the mix of stuff falling from the sky.

Cold, wet, nasty....

...windy and YUCKY! It is coming down in ice pellets.

Preventable tractor troubles

Well I ran out of diesel in the field, and the battery was dead as well, but I just had to get a round bale out before the bad weather hit.>

Dick King-Smith

One of our favorite children's authors, Dick King-Smith, has passed away at the age of 88 and his obit was in the paper today. Author of "Babe" and hundreds of other children's books about animals, he worked as a farmer for 20 years before he trained as a primary school teacher. In his 50s, he wrote his first story called "The Fox Busters" about chickens taking their revenge on foxes. My children love his books.

Some of our favorite titles are:

Lady Lollipop
Ace: The Very Important Pig
Harriet's Hare
The Invisible Dog
Funny Frank
Mixed Up Max
Animal Stories
Mr. Potter's Pets

Turkeys are thriving

I might have lost one hen last month but we made up the numbers when the neighbor's "wild" turkey decided to permanently move in with ours. I don't know what the offspring between her and our Bourbon Red Tom would look like because she is so slightly built and has very dark, muted colors. There is probably not a huge market for mutt turkeys so maybe I will collect her eggs for the kitchen. The guineas have decided to stay too and I am really curious to see how their eggs turn out. I don't plan on hatching any of those out because they are too noisy for my peace of mind.

Starting spring vegetables

Turning under the wheat one row at a time for my spring garden. This row will be sugar snap peas which will go in February 1 along with onion and leek transplants. Tilling in the wheat will add nitrogen and organic matter to the bed, and the wheat that is left standing will help keep down weeds and act as a windbreak. I also plan to harvest some for bread.

Turkey eggs

I am getting at least two turkey eggs a day now. As soon as a few more of hens start laying, I will fire up the little giant incubator.

Blood test results

I got a call from WADDL, Washington Animal Diagnostic Disease Lab, today and they let me know that they received my samples and could process the tests for CAE and CL. Unfortunately they do not do the pregnancy testing; however they could ship the samples on to Biotracking in Moscow, Idaho for a $20 fee. So of course I agreed and was glad that I did not have to take more blood samples....I think I am out of vacuum bottles anyway.

http://www.biotracking.com/