On the farm right now.

So in the last 3 days I have lost 2 chickens. 2 of my favorites. Lucky was my Blue laced red Wyandotte that we spent so much time on trying to fix her after she got her leg pulled through the fence. She healed well, had a permanent limp, but ran around, ate and layed eggs like a normal hen. I lost her 2 nights ago. We locked the coop the next night, and then last night we had gotten busy when we got home I forgot to lock them up and I lost my naked neck hen. I will say that naked neck roosters are ugly. The one I have now is only still alive as my goal in farming was to raise my food, knowing how they were treated and that they lived happy lives. General has been picked on by other Roosters (who ended up in the stew pot) and was always sad and off by himself. We kept his daughter as she was pretty, I really liked her.

 (This picture is of Lucky, she is in the middle, this is soon after her injury, you can see she is holding her leg up)

(General's daughter, in front of the waterer)

 

Well the chickens are locked up tight for the night and we have a trap set to catch whatever it is that is killing them. When we lost chickens before all that were missing were their heads and their guts, the last 2 we lost, all that was left was a lot of feathers. We will continue to lock them in at night, even if we do catch whatever may be getting them, but I would like whatever it is to be out of the area.

I have been having a really hard time letting go of Remington. We have decided that for sure we will have Lizzy bred again, and pray that the next foal has no issues. I can't go through that whole process again, but I am willing to try again for that dream of having a miniature horse foal. We are looking for a stud now, I would like her to be bred before the end of the year, not so much right away as I am not sure I would want it born in this heat.

We have pigs coming in a bit. I saw the birth from 2 sows, and when they are weaned they will be coming home. So we are working on getting their pen set up. These pigs are being raised for meat. The girls have been warned as they were also at the birth, and I am sure will become attached to them. They will have names, just to make it easier when talking about them, but their names will be Chris P. Bacon (B. came up with this name "crispy bacon") and Hammy.

We are learning as we go, and I am hoping that I can get what I learn logged in, to either help myself one day in the future if a similar situation arises, or if I can help someone else just starting out like I am.

We are getting a horse on Wed. Her name is Reyna, she is 8 years old. We are all super excited and looking forward to having a horse that can be ridden again. We love Lizzy, but she is a pet. One day we may train her for pulling a cart, right now she is just here for us to love on and spoil. My oldest has used her in a few barrel races, and she loves riding her.

My duck Daisy hasn't laid any eggs in a while. If she has, either someone is snatching them, or she has a nest hidden somewhere. The last egg I found ended up falling under their pool and I was not able to reach it. Well tonight I cleaned their pool and the egg had spoiled and broke open. Oh my gosh I don't think I have ever smelt anything so foul before. It is awful.

I think that is about it for the night. Today was a good day. Staying busy, getting ready for Reyna, and just enjoying my small farm life.

Trying again

I had tried blogging before, but had nothing really important to share, and life was pretty boring. Well here we are, starting over and trying my hand at hobby farming. One day my goal is to be pretty self sufficient but for right now, while learning and starting out, it is pretty much just a hobby.

So where to start. I am a Stay At Home Mom, and I have been pretty much for the last 15 years. I have worked part time a couple of times, and even did home daycare at one point. I have loved being home for the kids and it has been a blessing. My children are all in school at the moment, so pretty much I am home taking care of the animals.

I have 3 little girls. B is 14, She loves animals, barrel racing, drawing, crafting, horses and one day plans to be a Vet. She is doing pretty well in school, and is a really good girl. A is 10, she loves singing, dancing, music and animals as well. I don't think she has a plan yet on what she would like to be when she is grown. She is extremely smart and does very well in school. V is 6, my baby. She loves to sing and help her mommy in the garden, and around the house. She is a sweetheart, the baby of our family and pretty spoiled.

Shawn and I have been married for 17 years. We have been through a lot in that time and we are still going strong. We met in Germany. He was stationed there in the Air Force, as was my father. We got married soon after meeting. Our first date was on Jan 24th, 1999 and we were married on Apr 9, 1999. What can I say, when you know he's the one, you know it. Shawn was in the Air Force for just under 18 years when he was discharged for medical reasons. It was extremely hard for us. The military life is all I had known. I won't get into that, as that is a novel in itself.

We moved down to sunny FL to be near my parents, and my children would grow up around their Grandparents. I have always wanted a farm, and a horse. I never thought it would happen.

After Shawn got settled in the civilian world, and in a job he enjoyed the search was on for our home. I wasn't looking for much, but one of my must haves in our new home was I needed to be allowed to have chickens. That was my goal. I wanted a fireplace, but my must have was my chickens.

We found a nice doublewide home on 5 acres. Perfect for our family, big enough for us, woods around us, quiet peaceful, and you guessed it, zoned agricultural so I can have my dream of a small farm. One day we would like to build a small home on our property, but this will be many years down the road, and I am truly happy where we are now. Most of the land has trees so it will take time to get it cleared out and fenced the way we want it, but we plan to do a little at a time.

I have had chickens for about 2 years now. I started with 6, bought chicks from a breeder nearby, and right now I have 12 older chickens (Including 2 roosters), 10 older chicks (almost big enough to join the large flock) and 11 small chicks still feathering out. I get about 8 to 9 eggs a day right now, and whatever money we get from eggs goes towards feed. I also have 3 pekin ducks.

 

 

I have also started my hand in goats. I have Nigerian Dwarf goats, that I plan to breed and use for milk. I have 3 Does: Reese, Brooklyn and Callie, and my wether Biscuit and buckling Gravy. I believe Reese has been bred, and I haven't noticed the other girls going into heat in a while now, so am wondering if they have been bred as well.

My dream of having a miniature horse came true, as we found one that we fell in love with. Her name is Elizabeth, (Lizzy). We were told there was a chance she was bred, but started to believe she was just fat, when one day I was surprised to find a gorgeous foal laying at her feet. Remington was perfect. He had my heart the second I realized he was real and I wasn't dreaming or seeing things. Unfortunately his time with us was way too short. He had problems right away, we called a vet out, was given a clean bill of health and within hours he was barley alive. They thought Dummy Foal Syndrome. He spent 5 days in an animal hospital, when we brought him home he was outside with his mom during the day and in the house with us at night. She was refusing to nurse him, and he was having trouble latching anyhow so we were bottle feeding.

His last morning alive he was too weak to even hold his head up. I rushed him back to the animal hospital, he was seizing on the way. It took them a couple of hours to get him stable, but he had another seizure and they were unable to save him. My heart still breaks with the thought of him. I love him so much, and just want him here with me. I have videos and pictures of him for memories, but that is it.

To round out our little farm we have 3 dogs, 1 indoor cat, 4 outdoor cats, 3 turtles, a hamster and a rabbit.

We plan to get piglets in the next couple of months, which I actually got to see born recently, and we are bringing home a horse the girls can ride this weekend. So that is my introduction. I hope to have some things to share as I try new things, get more animals, and enjoy this journey we have started.