Just done

Today is one of "those days". And by that, I mean I just feel done with all of this homesteading stuff. I spent 4 hours doing chores around the yard, and very little seemed to be going right. The cow is not letting down. So very little milk. I wanted to move her to a new area today. Couldn't get the fence to work. That took up a lot of time. Finally decided to move her in the back, but I had to redo that fence. Thought I had it working and put the cows back there. Watched as the little cow went through. Decided that since I don't have much growing (yet) in the garden, I could eat breakfast and have some coffee. Went back and fixed the fence, and watered the fence line. I really want them to get a good shock so they. Leave. It. Alone. Got the 2 groups of chickens fed. Watered one of the gardens. Watered the pots of seeds. Did the sprouted grains. Decided what to do with the trapped squirrel. (Woo hoo!). Strained the milk. I was so done at that point. We hadn't even done school, my hair wasn't brushed, Regan wasn't dressed, and it was 11:00. I am rethinking the whole moving of the pasture area every other day. It just simply takes too long right now. Yes, I want to feed Elsie more from what I can grow, but I am feeling overwhelmed with this. Perhaps if I move the cows once a week, and make the areas bigger. It would still be moving her to fresh areas and letting the grass rest, but it would be more manageable for me.

This is the squirrel trap we got. It took 2 days, but we caught one! We are going to relocate it to the lake area. Hopefully we can catch more and I will be able to have a great garden.

Updates

Early March--picked up 13 egg chickens. 2 Delaware, 2 Golden Laced Wyandottes, 2 Rhode Island Reds, and 7 Buff Orpingtons. Also got 25? Meat chickens.

Mid March--Ellie had her baby and it was a heifer. A few days prior to this, I thought she was in labor. She was losing her mucous plug, and was having runny stools. She also seemed to be contracting. We eagerly awaited for labor to progress. She sure looked miserable! By the next morning I was quite concerned that something was wrong so I called the vet. Who came pretty quickly. It ended up that she ate something poisonous. 2 days later we woke up and there was the calf! Milking her was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I tied her up to the fence and put a barrel by her rear legs. She did kick some, and I couldn't ever leave the bucket on the ground, but she didn't really kick me. It was more of a kicking of the bucket. Not even really hard. The next week she and her baby were sold.

April 7--woke up to a strange noise. As I went downstairs, we realized it was Elsie, bellowing. Kirk and I went outside and saw that the water bag was broken and hanging down. She was rocking back and forth and seemed really unhappy. I called the vet and left a message, then went into the house to get dressed. Kirk came in a few minutes later to let me know that the calf was born. I was super disappointed that we just missed it, and then he told me that she had had it before we ever went out. She was bellowing at her calf to tell it to get up. The calf--a bull calf--was fine, and eventually nursed. Elsie is super bossy with the calf, who we named Buster. He was sweet the first few days, but is turning out to be quite the stubborn calf.

Elsie has not been easy to milk. She had a very swollen teat, and was constantly kicking me. One day I was head to toe manure from her kicking. I kicked her right back and we had a come to Jesus moment. She got better, but still wasn't great. I needed a stanchion. I made a redneck stanchion, and although it wasn't pretty, it got the job done. I really expected her to be so much better! She was such a sweet cow before calving. Now? Not so much.

Varmints

A few days ago, I saw a rat scurrying across the garage floor. I informed my husband, and we put it on our list of things to do. Which meant it wouldn't get done for some time. Today, I found that sucker in our garbage can of chicken food. So, Joel got his b.b. gun and out we went to shoot it. For all that Joel wants to hunt and use his gun, he really couldn't take the first shot. So I did. Unfortunately, it took several shots to finally kill it. Even though I really don't like rats and I want them dead, it is sobering to take a life. With a trap or poison, killing is very hands off. But shooting? That is up close and personal. That rat looked me in the eye and whimpered so pitifully.

After it was all over, and Joel having dealt the final kill shot(s), he informed me that his gun doesn't always fire when pointed down. That explains a lot.

Happenings around the homestead

Cows are wandering around the yard, munching on good grass

Clothes are drying on the fence

Lavender and peppermint are infusing some coconut oil

Pastry berries are sprouting on the counter

Chickens are free ranging

Crackers from This recipie are being enjoyed with some homemade hummus

Books are being read and children are playing

Regan is getting ready to go to bed

New Babies

Today I bought 11 baby egg chicks.  I got them at the feed store, and they were more expensive than if I had ordered them through the hatchery, but totally worth it as they all have their big chick feathers.  So, I saved on chick starter and a heat lamp and the stink of keeping them in the garage.  They are out in the yard in the coop that Kirk built, and I am a little worried that something might get into the coop through some small spaces around the bottom of the coop where it doesn't quite touch the ground.  I did put stuff around the spaces to hopefully keep any predators out.  Could be worse--the guy at the feed store was telling me he lost almost his entire flock of chickens to a black bear!  He said the bear ripped off the doors, and he had chicken parts strewn about.  I just can't even imagine.  He told me there are several black bears that are around, and they are not shy about ripping off doors and destroying anything that might have food that is outside, even in a garage.  They have no trash service, and must take their trash to a dump 10 miles away.  I think I'll stick where the black bears aren't.

The baby chicks that I got are all black, with the exception of one lone barred rock.  The rest are sex-linked and black australorp.

They really didn't like the camera.  Or maybe it was just me?

Can you spot the one that isn't like the others?

Kids are Funny

At Friday school the other day, the lesson was about making goals.  The teacher read a story about a woman who had three goals.  When the teacher asked the kids what a goal was, one of the boys said "a point".  *snort*.

Finally

The cows are just about as big as they are going to get!  Aren't they cute?

Elsie has the horns, Ellie May doesn't

Well, we finally finished putting up the fence in the front yard for the cows.  The bushes were super thick and so the fence didn't quite get closed all the way.  It only took 2 weeks, and we now have escaping cows.  No biggie, the bushes are down enough that we can get the fence all the way to the other fence.  The cows are staked out in different areas of the yard.  They really ate the front area down quickly, much faster than I thought they would.  The grass seems to take forever to grow back.  It didn't take that long when we had to mow it.  Hmmm. 

It only took a week to finish off 5 feet of fence.