Just kidding, there is nothing good about putting things off. I just re-read my last post and I can’t believe I have gotten absolutely nothing done I had planned. Oh sure I did get started on cleaning out the places I need cleared to begin building the new goat shed and chicken emporium. The tedium of life though seems to have misdirected my attention and I need to get back on track.
I found hay for the goats and with the help of my nephew Josh (and family) I purchased and moved 2 tonnes into my shop. The goats have gone through about 6 bales of the stuff so far this month and if that rate holds true for the winter I should have about 10 bales to spare at the end of April.
For this month the goats have been giving me 1/2 gallon of milk per day average, and the chickens have started in to production with 7 or 8 out of 13 laying on a regular basis so far. The eggs are no longer small except when a hen starts laying, and I swear one of the hens is half ostrich by the size of eggs she lays.
Did I mention I need to rebuild the coop? The nest boxes are difficult to reach into, clean or refill with litter. The window that opens gets in the way of getting to the nest boxes and the hens have started digging holes in the dirt right by the front supports. I fear I will go out there and find pressed chicken one of these times……………………………..
What I said about procrastination above is sooo true. it is now 2 months later and I need to get back on a regular schedule of posting.
FYI the weather link is not working right at the moment. Something to do with updates on my computer so all it displays is the weather for Oct. 4 2011. I am working on a fix to that. Among other things.
So about the chickens, I lost one hen, I don’t know why she died, just was laying under the coop one afternoon. No sign of predators or illness, just dead. I now have an even dozen hens and that should be plenty for now.
The eggs are getting bigger and I have at this point 8 dozen eggs in the refrigerator. I did fix the problem of the collapsing coop with an old bowling alley bench I had laying around. the chickens like to dig down and take dust baths in the dirt and for some reason they were doing it right next to the corner supports for the coop. I placed the bench upside down under the tongue beam of the coop and now it has better support.
I am working on an inside chicken run in the shop for the winter so they can be protected from the snow and colder weather. I now have the back corner cleared out and have begun constructing the enclosure. I will have pictures up as soon as I take them.
The other thing I need to get done is the new goat pasture. The girls are showing signs of being ready for breeding and their milk production is tapering off drastically. I am trying to complete the pasture fencing and I need to work on creating a shelter so I can bring in a buck and have a place for him to live. I have known I need to do this for the last couple of months and I have put it off and just puttered around. Then it rained for a couple of days, and all I really wanted to do was go out and work on the goat pen/shelter!
I guess I didn’t think that Jon moving back to Seattle would be that big of a deal, but with having to take care of goats AND chickens, AND garden and the dog and cats (and cats and cats and cats) I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Yesterday we spent most of the day harvesting from the garden because there was a freeze warning for overnight. It didn’t drop below 38 degrees, but you never know. We stripped all of the tomatoes and tomatillos and cabbage and all of the peppers that were ready. took most of the Hubbard squash and a few of the smaller pumpkins. I also introduced myself to the new neighbors and asked them to come take some produce and the folks across the street came over and took potato’s and carrots and leeks and basil and some beets, and I still have more to give away. We even donated a bunch of produce to the church for a fund raiser dinner, and took some to church this morning to give away, including about 14 heads of cabbage.
I still have more produce than my family can use. The one good thing is my daughter is here between job contracts and she does not mind baking and canning. So far we have pickles, zuchinni relish, pesto, salsa, salsa verde and well I can’t think of anything else just yet. “We” will probably prepare some pumpkin so we can make pies when she is gone back to work.
I had better get back out there and do something constructive.