Winter's Come & Gone

We keep holding our breath, waiting for this faux spring to go away and plunge us back into the late Ohio winter we all know & dread.  But as the month of March progresses, it looks like we lucked out this year.  Actually, this feels more like the Kentucky winters I'm accustomed to.  Now the kids know why we didn't do much sledding nor ice skating. 

Most of the building is completed on the farm.  We should have the pen fences up soon and the barnyard cleared of all the scrap wood - I think a spring bonfire is in order.  :) 

Last weekend the goats had their glamor shots taken for the website. They're munching on grass in most of the pictures.  The new grass in the pasture was just to tempting to ignore! 

Brady's planning to open the beehives for their first check of the season very soon.  They're probably low on food supplies so I made up a batch of bee syrup for their feeders.  In unrelated news, area retailers report a spike in the sales of 5 lb bags of sugar.

I was just thinking the other day that I need to put out the hummingbird feeders for the season.  And get a better bird feeder - the lid pops off the old one whenever a strong wind comes along.  Or, rather, when any kind of breeze comes along.  I think it's manufactured by a bird seed company.

However - I'm planning to do very little this weekend.  It's March Madness!  I can't believe I live with a bunch of yankees who don't get into college basketball.  That sort of thing would never happen in Kentucky - they would be driven across the river and out of the state ... to Ohio.  :) 

Next weekend (March 24th to be exact) marks the first anniversary of this blog.  Wow!  A lot has changed on the farm in the past year.  Maybe I'll take some pictures to show all the changes. 

Coming Up

Finish coop fence, work on goat website, finish sock pattern, taxes (ugh)

What's Blooming

Daffodils!

Up This Hill And Down

Ellie Mae & Tootsie

Just a quick entry while there's a peaceful moment on the farm.  We added a second doe to the flock - Ellie Mae.  She and Tootsie are having a difficult time learning to share their feed but we've seen a lot of progress over the past few days.

So much going on with chickens the past couple weeks!  The basement chicks have taken up residence in the smaller coop which means we can turn the basement back into a family area again (after a thorough cleaning - dust everyhwere!) We have hatching eggs for Delaware chicks in the incubator (a heritage breed, also a key ingredient in the making of Golden Comets apparently).  And we are providing our Cuckoo Maran rooster for stud service the next week or so.  :)  Everyone's busy on the farm!

The geese are back!  We've noticed several already paired up and looking for a nesting spot.  Hopefully they'll have better luck than our pair last year. 

The goats' website is under contruction, just awaiting beauty shots (scheduled for this weekend).

Brady's Steelers Hat didn't pass the cuff test, so back to the drawing board.  Oh and I should be able to finish the sock pattern this weekend and get that published next week.


Sleeping Katy & Sock

Coming Up

Finish coop fence, photo shoot, work on goat website, finish sock pattern


Back Up And Push

Guess what we went and did.

We've expanded Smith Creek Farm to add registered pygmy goats to our growing (although still tiny) herd.  Meet the new additions:

Amanda with Tootsie

Cody with Gunner

Gunner is by far the more active of the two.  He also thinks he's a mountain ram - beware of head butts when you're near Gunner!

Tootsie is rather shy but adjusting well to her new home. She can tolerate our presence in the pen but won't let us get near her yet. Poor girl - it's stressful moving to a new home.

Brady built a gem of a goat shed! He took a dirty nook of the barn and built a cozy home for Gunner & Tootsie.  The outside pens are built tough and tall with plenty of room for our tiny herd.  He even installed a custom built bin for feed storage.  How awesome is that?  Pictures coming soon ...

Also coming soon - a new website just for Gunner & Tootsie.  As members of the National Pygmy Goat Association we need to showcase our herd for potential buyers.

Our curious winter keeps us on our toes.  After several (unseasonably) warm days, Brady suffered through a cold snap to finish the goat shed in time for their arrival.  This week our false spring continues with warmer temps which looks like it'll last into the first part of March (with a spring thunderstorm thrown in for good measure).  We've notice some of our trees are starting to bud too early.  I need to check the apple tree - last year's spring freeze destroyed our apple crop and hopefully we won't have a repeat this spring.

DIY Chickens
The basement brood has entered its 5th week on the farm, which means they can soon transition to their permanent home in the new coop as soon as Brady puts the finishing touches on it.  They should be relocated this weekend if all goes well.  And not a minute to spare!  Our next batch of 25 arrive next week!

Knitting
The sock pattern just needs a photo then it's ready for publishing.  In the meanwhile I've started a new pattern tentatively named "Brady's Steelers Cap".  This is the 5th attempt to design a hat to his preferences but I know once it's completed and it's "Brady approved" it should meet the needs of most guys.  And it'll be in Steelers colors (bonus!).

Coming Up

Finish coop, transfer chicks, goat website, band practice 

Socks About Town

I see knitters doing this all the time so here's my sock-in-progress while waiting for an oil change.  Cool, huh?

Working on a Building

New Coop

Things have settled down (somewhat) on the farm after a hectic week of chick hatching.  We ended up with 25 chicks but two didn't make it past the stress of cracking through the shell.  :(  A sad fact of life on the farm.  Another chick is showing signs of curled toe syndrome, probably because he was the very last to hatch and the incubator conditions weren't ideal at that point (constantly opening/closing the incubator top, which messed up the humidity and temp).  All in all, we had a 52% hatch rate on our first DIY project.

On Friday the breeding stock arrived - 28 more chicks for a total of 51 healthy peepers in the basement!

Although they're tiny & fuzzy right now, they're already sprouting itty bitty wing feathers.  In a few weeks they'll be ready for a coop.  Fortunately (for February in Ohio) we were blessed with a perfect weekend to continue work on the new coop.  The floor is finished, Brady finished the ceiling yesterday, and the kennel pens arrived today.  Within the next few days we'll finish the back wall, install nesting boxes and roosts, finish the floor covering, and have the fence assembled.

Buddy and the chicks

Hard to believe it's just the start of February.

Oh, and Brady's already sizing up the 4th coop area.  

Coming Up

Finish coop, finish sock pattern, band practice

Chick Alert (Day 3)

Chick Count:  17

Yesterday was super-busy at the farm - 13 chicks arrived!  Two more arrived this morning with more expected before the day is done.  All chicks are healthy and have adjusted to their new home quickly.  Tomorrow our shipment of breeding stock arrives (25 more chicks).  The basement echoes with peeps!  :)

Brady is taking advantage of our (unseasonably) warm weather this week and making a lot of progress on the new coop in the barn.  Should have everything wrapped up within 6 weeks.  In the meanwhile Brady and I will share the house with the 50 (or so) chicks that have taken over our basement. 

Chick Alert (Day 2)

Chick #3 made their debut just as I was leaving for work.

Brady reports 12 more (yikes!) should hatch today.  Wonder if we can qualify for maternity leave?