Farm Animals!

Time surely flies when you have fun!

It really doesn't seem like it has been 2 months since the piglets were born! We weaned them last Sunday and last Wednesday the turned 2 months old!! Boy are they getting big!!! There are some that are already almost 50 lbs! There is a little runt that I have been bottle feeding for over a month, he is just so little compared to the rest and is barely 20 lbs.  I was feeding him a multi-species milk replacer and we didn't see any growth from him until there was only about an inch left in a 10 lb bag.  I am now feeding him pig milk replacer and we are seeing more growth and I am only an inch into the bag. He is going to be the hardest one for me to get rid of. He knows either knows his name or just recognizes my voice and comes running thinking that he is getting a bottle!! We call him WeeOne or Wee-Man.  When the weather is good, I go out and sit in the pen with them and play with them!! They are just so much fun!! There is one that we are keeping, she is the best looking one in the group, Cutie! Jacqueline named her.  A few days after she was born she was stepped on, on her tummy, by the mother. She was really slow for the next day but the next week, she was just as strong as the rest of them and she is now one of the biggest 3!!

Cutie and WeeOne (the day after they were weaned)

WeeOne

He cuddles after he has a tummy full

We got the kids started on a project, well, it is mostly me but the kids do help.  We got some bottle lambs, 2 right now and we are hoping to get a few more. They too are a lot of fun!! They are a little hard to get a good picture of, they just don't stay still long enough to get a good one!! 

We also have baby chicks!! 19 total. I needed to replace some chickens that I lost and I think that there are some that are not laying. Egg production is not like it was.   We have Black Australorps, Barred Rock, Gold Star (also called Red Sexlink) and Production Red.  Hopefully the last three will do good this winter.  We know that the Black Australorps do good, we already have 2.  We might be adding more Turkens later in the year, it all depends on how many of the chicks are roosters and if we can build a bigger coop.  So far of the 3 breeds that are producing, we like the Turkens and the Black Australorps.

Just a few of the chicks!! They have grown a bunch since the picture was taken!!

I got the garden all figured out and I am ready to get started!!! I have seeds started and growing good, potatoes cut and ready to plant!! I am planning on having the garden full and hope that it produces the most of the 3 yrs that I have been gardening (this is my 3rd year).  There are 4 types of potatoes going in, Norland Red, Yukon Gold, Russets, and All Blue (they are purple in color!!).  If things go well this week, the potatoes will be planted and maybe some other root vegetables! 

Hope you have a great day!!! Hope the pigs playing leaves you with a smile!!

Growing the Farm!

2016 is already off to a great start, and a lot has been going on!! Our farm has expanded to more then just chickens and a horse.

We have been talking and wanting to get pigs for a little over a year, but it was never the right time to do so.  We prayed about it and talked some more and then the beginning of this year the time was right! We both felt that God was telling us that now is the time to get pigs and begin our journey of The Etherton Farm.

The end of January, we started out with buying 2, 1 bred sow (due, at the time, in a few weeks) and a gilt that was to be bred in the coming week (she has yet to come to the farm). We then found someone with feeders later that week and came home with 3 feeder gilts that we are going to raise and breed.  Having the 4 and watching them has been a blast, some nights we spend to much time in the barn watching them play and become more friendly.

Left to right....Merida, Reba, and Willow

We have already have had an adventure since getting the pigs.  The 3 feeders we not vaccinated when we got them, so we did. That was entertaining!! Just trying to catch them was a workout, and they have so much strength at 100lbs.  I was sitting on one after we caught her, Kevin was about to give her the shot and she crawled with me still sitting on her! After that we figured out that the best way for her to get the shot, and from now on with the other 2, was to get a hold of her leg, nose in the corner, and pushed up against the wall. She couldn't move that way.  We just have to figure out a way to give them shots when they are full grown.

A week ago today the bred sow had her piglets! First one was born at 9 Tuesday night and baby number 15 was born at 2:30 Wednesday morning!! It was a long night, but it was fun, exciting and a new learning experience for me!! We did end up loosing one, mother laid on it. The 14 piglets are doing great!! There are 'porkers' in the group and a runt or 2.  But the little ones surely don't let the big ones push them around! Boy are they growing fast!! They are getting more and more active as each day passes!!

Sally is the mother's name and all 14 piglets!!  

We have yet to de-tusk the piglets, we did learn that that should have been done soon after birth, but it will be done here soon! So far this has been a wonderful learning experience!!

Yesterday, I added another animal to our farm. A pair of ducks! Muscovy ducks and they are fitting right in with the chickens great!! The chickens on the other hand are not quite sure of them.  They are so fun to watch!! I have yet to name them.  He acts like she is the queen, he will walk to the food, chickens will walk away and then when the 'coast is clear' she walks to the food. The same is for the water, he is the leader and then she follows! I did clip their wings, as they do fly a little and I wanted them to stay in the run with the chickens.  I would like to add more ducks later and I would like to stay with the Muscovy breed.

I really am loving this farm adventure!! I am looking forward to what God has in store for us and this farm!!  Have a blessed day!!

A Wonderful Year!!

This year is coming to an end and it has flown by!! I will do my best to recap everything that has happened since the last post!

September:
September was a lot of fun, and we filled almost every weekend with fishing! We live next to a little river and we decided to find a good spot and fish it.  We had fun, until Nathaniel fell in the river, he didn't get hurt it just scared him. He was more concerned about his fishing pole that was in the river, then himself being all wet. Where he fell in, it was shallow and he was able to stand up immediately and there was really no current.   We did learn the importance of having steal leaders and a fishing net when you fish on the river! We did catch some fish, but they snapped the line with their teeth.  We did try catfishing, but it was a bust, and it was fun!! Looking forward to next spring and summer to try it again.  For my birthday I wanted to go fishing, and it turned out to be a very warm day too!!We had a little pizza party on the river fishing!  I caught a fish, but before we could get it in the net my line broke.  Then a little while later Kevin caught that same fish and it still had my hook in his mouth!! It was a fun day fishing and exploring the river!

Biggest fish we caught!

Jacqueline had fun fishing!

Nathaniel had more fun playing in the river then fishing

He was searching for empty clam shells

October:

We learned the importance of having electricity in the chicken coop! It took us two weeks to get the underground wire in and hooked up.  The easy part was using the tractor to dig a a line all the way to the chicken coop, the hardest part was using a pick-ax to dig through two levels of cement just to get close to the coop. Once it was hooked up the chickens all sat under the light! I knew they needed light, but didn't really know the importance. I do know! And they love the light! 

October 10 was the opening weekend of pheasant hunting and Kevin gave it a try this year, and he enjoyed it! We all went out together one day and had a blast! It is fun, and I am going to try it next year! We also tried it for the first time too. I did have to a little research on how to cook it. Its a little drier then chicken but tastes good!!

This is after we put the line in the ground, starting at the little shop all the way to the coop, and got it covered up again. 

Next to the coop, all of it was cement.

Inside

We found out that these lights are not a fan of the low teens or single digits, it either doesn't turn on at 4 a.m. but later in the day,  or it just doesn't turn on at all.

All content, 'light bathing!'

Added some decorations for the chickens!

Got one!! 

November:

The upstairs is finally ready for the kids to be moved up there!  Jacqueline's room is mostly painted, a bright dark purple and a light (almost white) pink.  I still have to do all the details, the corners, trim along the ceiling and the bottom. I haven't gotten to Nathaniel's room yet to paint, but I do have the paint. It will be a light green and either a brown or a blue.  Both kids love having their own room, and they are both doing a fairly good job at keeping it clean. I don't have pictures yet, but I will when I get them complete! The bed room (the one the kids shared) is now the office/spare room.  The computer is no longer in the living room and it makes the living room look bigger too!! 

Deer season opened the first weekend of November, we did go out, but didn't get anything. Kevin got his on Friday the 13th, right in the wheat field by the house!  It was Kevin's first whitetail deer! I got mine two days later! The kids where with us and where just as excited as me that I got my first deer! This was the first year that we didn't take the deer to the butcher, we did all the cutting and processing ourselves!  It was a lot of work but it was worth it. We got more meat out of the deer then we would have if we had the butcher do it. And we wasted less then they do too.

Kevin's whitetail buck!

My muley buck!

December:

For the Christmas concert at school, both kids sang in it! It was the first year that the preschool sang in the concert.  Nathaniel didn't sing, but stood with his class really good and had fun! Jacqueline did really good singing with her class! She practiced at home for weeks before the concert that I knew almost all the words by concert time!

So far this winter I have been dealing with frostbite and pneumonia with the chickens. The frostbite is minimal and there is not much I can do to prevent it, or so I've read. After Dad helped with mentioning what medicine to get, the pneumonia is almost all cleared up. Most of the California Whites were sick and quit laying but they are starting to lay again and are even acting themselves too!

Christmas was a lot of fun, full of family (Josh we missed you!) good times, great laughs and yummy yummy food! Kids got clothes and things for their rooms, which they are very happy about! Kevin got me a gift that, we as a family are going to enjoy, a puppy!! She is 15 weeks old, a heeler and husky cross! I named her Diamond! She is the most energetic and lovable puppy ever!!

Jacqueline at her concert!

Nathaniel at his concert!

We dressed up Kelo for Christmas!

Diamond!

She has one of each eye!

Earlier this year our Church bought a building, an old Church that needed a lot of work, and all through out the year it was gutted out and fixed up. It still needs a lot of work on the inside and is still a 'construction zone'. But as the Pastor said "The sanctuary, the heart of the building, is almost complete and ready for us to move in!" And we did move in and had the first service on the 20th!! It really does look beautiful on the inside!! No more services at the theater!!

I hope that you all had a great Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year!!!

First Day of School 2015

The kids have been waiting for this day for almost all summer!! I have heard "How many days until school starts?" just about every day! Then there was jumping up and down with excitement because school starts the next day! Both of the kids were equally excited for school, more then me.  I was hoping that summer would last a little bit longer!! I think that almost every parent hopes that!

Jacqueline's first day of school was on the 21st, she only had a half day. She wasn't a happy camper when she came home because she only had a short day of school and she thinks that she missed out on having music.  But she did have a good day!!

Jacqueline dressed herself, she was so proud of the shirt that Tante K got her that she had it set of to the side since she brought it home and told me that it was for the first day of school!!

Jacqueline wanted to take pictures with Kelo for school! It looks like Kelo loved the attention too!! Jacqueline loves this picture and it was the one that she told me to post on Facebook to show everyone!

Her new favorite shirt that Tante K got her!!

All of Jacqueline's favorite things and what she wants to be when she grows up!!

Nathaniel's first day of school was on the 25th.  He loved his first day and was excited for his next day!! He loves school just as much as Jacqueline does!

I asked Nathaniel where he wanted to take his pictures at and at first he said with the chickens then he said with Kelo just like Jacqueline!

All of Nathaniel's favorite things and what he wants to be when he gets older!

We had to step away from the fence, Kelo was trying to eat the paper and was trying to grab Nathaniel's hood! Nathaniel thought that it was a little funny!

For now Jacqueline is going to school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Nathaniel goes on Tuesday and Thursday.  Neither one is to much of a fan to be home when the other one is at school, they both ask when the bus is coming and that they miss each other! They both run to the door when the bus pulls up to welcome each other home! It really is the sweetest!! Jacqueline is really looking forward to November 2nd, that is when she goes Monday thru Friday, that way she can eat lunch with Nathaniel and sit with him on the bus!

School is going great for both so far! Jacqueline is making new friends and so is Nathaniel! I know that this school year is going to be great!!

Have a great day!!

Chickens

The hen that I let sit on eggs, she did hatch them!

The first egg hatched on the 12th, a cute full of fluff half Leghorn and half Turken. (Hatched from a white egg, only hen at the time laying a white egg was the Leghorn).

Such personality at only 12hrs old!

The next 2 eggs hatched the next day, both full Turkens! Sadly one of them I knew wasn't going to last very long.  It wasn't healthy looking, looked a little deformed.  Had no fluff on the top of its head and I was not able to see the eyes. I think it was blind.

The 3 babies together, Middle one is the unhealthy one. I think the Turken ones were only a few hours old and the fluffy one was 24 hours old.

The unhealthy baby did pass when it was about 18 hours old.  I was in a way glad to see it go, as it would be difficult for it to live and survive without seeing, but sad to see one of the babies go.   

At the time of the picture taken, this cute fluff ball was 72 hrs old

This little unique one was 48 hrs old at the time when the picture was taken.

Sadly it was the last picture I will get of fluff ball. On Sunday morning when I opened the pen both babies were still in the pen with the mother. That afternoon, fluff ball was missing.  There was no evidents of the baby in the pen, almost like it vanished.  I figured a cat climbed into the pen and got the baby.  That evening, I measured, cut, and pinned together a trampoline net.  Just needed to sew it together in the morning and attached to the pen to save the last baby.

Opening the pen this morning and baby was still with the mother. I was going to get a few things done in the house and then get the netting sewn together and put up. I went to go check on them a few hours later and the last baby was gone. Again a cat got to it. 

No more baby chicks. I'm a little upset and bummed that they are gone. I am going to be better prepared for the next time that I let a hen sit on eggs.  

This whole thing has been a great learning experience and I have learned a lot.  The mother was a great mother.  She hardly ever got off the eggs and was so protective of the chicks when I went in to see how things were going.  I know now from experience that Turkens are very good setters and mothers. ( I did read after I let her sit, that Turkens are good setters.) 

If there is another hen that becomes broody within the next week or so, I will be letting her sit on eggs.  I will be picking and choosing what eggs I will let a hen sit on.  My new to me hens are just now letting the rooster come close and they lay white eggs, same as the Leghorn.  So all brown eggs (from the Turkens) will be under the hen as I know that those will be fertile.  I will put about 10-12 eggs in the nesting box for the next hen, only if it is this week or next.  That way when the eggs hatch it will be middle to the end of September, in time before it gets to cold and hopefully they will be old enough and can handle the cold.  If no hen is broody then, maybe there will be one the end of February.  Would love to have baby chicks in time for Easter for the kids!!

The last picture of both babies together.

Even though I am upset about losing both of the baby chicks, I am proud of myself for even getting to the point of the eggs hatching (well, the mother hen did that, but me caring and watching over them) And I am looking forward to the next batch of eggs to hatch whether it be this year (fingers crossed for this year, maybe an early birthday present for me!!) or next year!! I am ready for them and will be better prepared to keep them all safe!!

Garden update and Chickens!!

August has come too fast!! Summer feels like it just started! Nevertheless it has been a fun busy summer!! Kids go back to school in a week and a half. Jacqueline will again be in Kindergarten. At the end of last year she wasn't ready to advance to 1st grade, and if she did, she would be struggling to keep up with the rest of the class.  Now she will be at the top of her class and will be more then ready for 1st grade.  Nathaniel too will be in preschool, we were planning on him doing another year of preschool.  Jacqueline starts school on the 21st and Nathaniel starts on the 25th! They are so excited for school to start again!

The chickens are doing really good! I did just get 18 more hens a few days ago, and are doing great and getting along pretty well with my other ones!

There are 16 of the white ones, they are California Whites.

There are 2 of the the black ones and they are Australorps, I think!

They are 3 years old and they lay really good.  They were handled a lot more then the Turkens were, and we can pet these ones which is cool!! One of the Turken hens is becoming friendly, she will brush up against my led and kind of let me pet her! There is one hen that I am letting sit on eggs, she was really broody and after 2 or 3 days of trying to get the eggs an being pecked at, I thought that was enough and let her sit on the eggs and see if she does hatch any.  I moved her and the eggs to another shelter, started out as 5 eggs and now there are 4.  We are 4-5 days away from baby chicks!! So far she is doing really well, the kids are excited!!! Well, I am too!!

I put her in the cat carrier to move her and this is where she has stayed! She will even close the door too!

The garden is going really well! The turnips and the radishes are done.  Green beans are going good, my 3rd plot is flowering and I will be picking from all 3 within a week.  The peas are doing ok, I will be planting more, so I have a fall crop of peas.  Peppers are close to being ready, I have a few cucumbers almost ready, same with the honeydews!

Red tomatoes

Yellow pear tomatoes

Honeydew, it has now almost doubled in size!

Brussel sprouts!! 

Carrots are starting to pop through

We had a wind storm come through a few weeks ago and it knocked over most of my corn.  I did manage to stake it and tie it up and it doesn't seem to have affected the corn at all. 

The corn is covering all my peppers.

None of the roots came out of the ground, some were close!

Got the corn standing again!

T-post and yarn did the trick!!

Kevin and I found out a few weeks ago that we made it in the drawing for buck tags and we both drew bucks!! We are really looking forward to hunting season!!! We have seen some nice looking ones around here lately and hoping that they stick around come November!! We are going to try water fowl hunting this year and maybe even pheasant too!!! 

Hope everyone has a great Saturday and enjoy a wonderful Sunday!!