wait.. you guys turned me into a CHICKEN? *glares*
ok so things are really hopping right along. i think we are done with our crazy hatch...there are a couple eggs still in the bator but they basically have until tomorrow then we'll assume they were not viable. especially b/c i found where my turkey momma has been laying her eggs and we'll put her eggs in next.
yesterday was really profitable. i took some of my old jewelry into the same shop that i went to with my friend.... and they gave me a big pile of $$ for it! i couldnt believe it! i just took my high school ring, a bracelet, some gold chains (not even rapper-style ones!), and a locket. it was like free money, baby. i dont wear any of that stuff anymore... so it was a total score.
so with the loot we are going to get another freezer, and.... a scythe! i'm ordering it today from
http://scythesupply.com/outfits.htm
whoot!
providing i dont cut my leg off this is gonna be great. i cant use the stupid weedwhacker and i generally break anything mechanical.... so this will be the ticket.
and i'm gonna rip up the remaining grass that out by the road. i spent all afternoon mowing it and getting madder about it with every step. so problem solved - that will be converted to more hay/alfalfa and i can get out there and cut it down myself. and since the dog moat is coming soon that crazy old man wont be able to mow down my dang hay anymore. whooot!
i also sent in a soil sample. i'm pretty sure it will come back labeled "this is the worst soil in the county."
so i'll use their recommendations to fix up the soil so my pasture will be A++. and as someone pointed out... if i can get some alfalfa and clover going... i can feed a cow.
especially since.... my friend also gave me a box of calf bottles and a bag of milk replacer!!! its like someone up there knows i'm destined to own a cow...who will of course poop everywhere and improve my soil... so it all comes together in a nice tidy little package. and if i dont get a calf i can feed the replacer to the pigs and chickens and thats free food too!
so tons going on.
today we are headed out to work on another area to fence. because.......
in related goat news........Debbie's baby, Dahlia, nearly bought herself a one way ticket to the grill.
for the last couple weeks Debbie's milk has been VERY low. and she's been lopsided. so i changed her food. then changed it again. and then spent a lot of time rubbing and feeling her udder to see if she was congested, hard udder, hot udder, whatever. nothing. so then..... the day before i was gonna run right out and either sell Debbie to the ethnic market for being useless....or buying the mastisis test...we locked Dahlia up for the night.
the next morning... Debbie was totally full.
so Dahlia has been milk stealing when no one is looking.
i woulda grilled her but she is so well bred we have high hopes of her being a supermilker. so she lives. for now.
and soon she will be living in a new fenced in area next to the pigz with Nibbles. Nibbles loves to graze and provided we can keep them inside the fence, they are going to start working on mowing down a new poison ivy field. then we'll coop Dahlia up for the night so she has zero access to Debbie. either she'll get over her milk stealing or else. and hopefully i wont get covered in poison ivy while milking Nibbles. but she's starting to be at the end of her milking curve so i might just stop early to save myself. OTOH, i should keep drinking her poison ivy flavored milk so i can build up my immunity. humm.... i solve that problem later.
anyway
btw, all of the goats are totally nuts right now. we had to 'get the dog' to convince them to all go into the goat house the other night. it worked. the dog (Dog#1) thought it was great and Kai didnt understand why she couldnt chase the meat bags around. (never, sorry Kai) Dog#1 did have to send Nibbles around the goat yard for a couple laps before she decided that he was just toying with her and was gaining ground fast. i would have put an end it to but i figured she was working off a couple of those extra pounds.... she's starting to get pretty tubby and wants to know why her grain portions are getting so small. my reply was "push back, Fattie, i'm not getting in trouble with the breeder for bringing her a whale again." luckily her buck isnt that particular....but still. wow she is packing on the pounds.
in garden news - i'm totally out there gettin' 'er done. hopefully we'll have a great fall crop of cool season veggies. i'm also planting a lot of oats as a cover crop this year. hopefully it will be mature by the time it gets really cold - i can cut the heads off for the hens, then it will winter kill and create a nice mulch which can be scraped off and provide a lovely friable soil in the spring. thats my plan anyway.
thats the word here.
happy saturday!!!
* OFG slaps on her stupid garden hat, pulls on her gloves and walks away muttering "a chicken? seriously?" *