Sunday, April 17, 2011

This Week's Happenings


Well, the above photo is what our driveway looked like this week.  On Monday Peter was able to head down the driveway with our car, but on the way home ended up parking it about midway up so we could still use it if we walked down to where it was sitting.

The top of the driveway is the worst.  Needless to say, wearing rubber boots is a must.


Our little pig friend has done very well.  I was thankful when he was brought back to the barn to his mom and siblings, since I no longer had to be up twice a night to feed him a bottle.


As you can see, the piglet's left front knee is enlarged.  I guess he isn't walking on it much, but sure keeps up with the rest of the crew.   Jim said he is the best eater when it comes to the feed they are giving them in the weaning process.

And no, we didn't let him out of his box in the house on a regular basis, it was done only to see how well he could walk before getting him back to the barn.


I think the above photo was taken on Friday.  Yes, we still have quite a bit of snow.  The latest forecast is for another storm to hit Monday night and could last until some time Wednesday.  May can't come soon enough for me!


The area surrounding Jonathan's chicken hoop house is fairly clear of snow, and the laying hens  enjoyed getting outside once again.  However, the chickens drifted closer and closer to the house, so Jonathan set up his electric poultry netting around the opening of the hoop house so they could be out but away from the house.


We are in a flyway of sorts, and it is always enjoyable to watch the Canadian geese returning.


One day last week David came running up to the house to let us know that Ebony had just had triplets!  We knew she was huge, and suspected she would have a bunch.  Last year she also had a set of triplets, but one died. 


Jonathan and Peter held Ebony while the triplets had their first taste of colostrum.  The last 2 born were on the weak side, so the day involved helping them to nurse every 4 hours.  Everybody was doing very well by the end of the day.  Goats only have 2 teats but all 3 seem to be getting enough milk.


While all the hoopla was happening, Samson was checking out Leah's kids.


Leah's kids were born almost 2 weeks ago, but they are the same size as the newly born triplets.  We think Leah had her twins prematurely.  Thankfully, all went well.


Jonathan's Rhode Island Red chicks are doing very well in the brooder.  Every day he lowers the temperature so they will be acclimated to cooler weather when they go out of the brooder.  I think Jonathan is scheduled to receive his first batch of broilers around May 1.


This is Milkah, Della's heifer calf.  She sure is cute!  We have her in with the goats.  A lady we know from the area came over one day to burn off Milkah's horns, and showed Jim and Peter how to do it. 


David needed something to help him climb onto Darla's back, so he and Peter constructed a stand to do the job.  Darla is doing very well during her daily training sessions by Peter and David. 


Doesn't this look wonderful?  We had snow again yesterday!  Thankfully most of what came down melted today.  We'll see what we receive during the next storm tomorrow night.

7 comments:

Robert Sagor said...

Our place looks similar, and I am in mid Alaska!

How is your barley fodder system doing? We sort of have ours set up but not very well yet. :/

Kimberly said...

Love all those babies. I don't like the mud though. Our place is muddy, too. It sure makes it hard to keep a house clean. At least we aren't dealing with a flood like some areas though I am weary of all the snow.

Kelle at The Never Done Farm said...

Uggghhh! we're getting snow today and tomorrow( or so it's forecasted) I know we NEED the moisture but I'm sick of the gray days!

Your farm is thriving, I don't know how you all keep up. Cortney and I run ourselves ragged everyday and don't feel we accomplish a lot and then poor Mike comes home to a whole string of things we need help doing or found that we couldn't fix ourselves.

On a positive not e we did get majority of the garden, manure composted and tilled, so when the weather straighens out we can plant when the time is right. My neighbor planted his spuds, onions and carrots yesterday*sigh* He does this every year, trying to beat us to the punch and it ALWAYS comes back to bite him, I guess he's hard headed and we're tired of trying to help him. Funny thing is that we most always have the first corn, first potatoes, and tomatoes and he pouts around like a 3 yr old*wink*

All your animals look great, that heifer is a doll baby! I'm envious, we won't have a calf until next Spring and pray it's a heifer.

Blessings for your week,
Kelle

The K. Family said...

Well our snow is almost gone but we sure have a lot of the mud stuff. Love the little lambs! What fun!

Marci said...

I send you green grass wishes!!! Love all the animal pictures. Even with the mud y'all are blessed!! :)

Anonymous said...

Great blog, again Lynn.

Love those little guys.

The calf is so cute.

Would'nt it make a great picture if you could get all the newborns lined up at once. Maybe even better, a video of trying to get them all together.

Anyway happy mud season, be glad your not in down town Fargo.

Gp B

Wendy said...

Not like you'd have time right now to do such a thing, but I sure would like to see a "day in the life" video journal of your operation. As busy as you all are now, though, someone would likely have to wear a helmet-cam all day so they could continue on with chores!

Another day of mixed precip and all the world looks of black and white. But yesterday the sun was bright and beautiful. Nine more days and then it's May...yippee!