well, made up 2 9oz bottles, lilly has been taking 4oz but shes also been on momma, everything im reading says 10-13oz at 4 weeks old so i figured ill do 9 to try not to upset anyones tummies...
well lilly knew the moment she saw the bottle what time it was and little mis shyness comes rancing over grabs the bottle and goes to town.
poppy...not so sucessfull lol, she was curious, but as soon as a bit of milk dripped on her nose that was it, all interest lost. caught her and got a few oz in her but she just wasnt interested and i wasnt interested in fighting her and stressing her...they are nibbling at grass leaves and hay so i dont think shes going to starve to death...
I made the bottle a little on the warm side and ehaded out there right around 2:30, sat with them for 1/2 hour, fed them then sat with them for another 1/2 hour or so...lilly had some scritches...poppy had a couple sniffs lol.
i can tell already Poppy is going to be true to the nubian character, Stubborn.
but when i headed out there i called to them and did get a reply back from poppy, so theres definatly hope lol.
now my house is filling wiht the smell of chocolate chunk cookies...
(i used 3/4 butter and 1/4 olive oil

)
im very excited for cookies.
and this afternoon the planning for the next stage commences.
trying to decide what the next logical "critter" step would be...
on the "for the future" list is:
Quail: cotrinux for meat and eggs, currently thinking 3 breeding colonies
Chickens: eggs, plan right now iss EEs, Speckled Sussex, and Brown Leghorns probably 1/2 a dozen of each of the EEs and Sussex and a dozen of the leghorns.
Chickens: Meaties, right now thinking about doing 4 batches of 25 each year, 2 in the spring and 2 in the fall. i figure 100 birds a year SHOULD put more than enough chicken on My table lol.
Guinnea: Big patrol, rght now planning for 1/2 dozen, then will all to the flock as the land gets cleared out and set up. probably 12-18 birds total, they also make nommy dinner table birds so....
Geese: american buff, hoping i can hatch out pretty much all their eggs and sell them being there a "rare" breed, but mostly its just because i LOVE geese!, would love a flock of 6
Sheep: Shetland for wool (and occasionally lamb, i eat lamb rarely so would only keep mabe 1 ram lamb back each year), planning a trio, 2 ewes and a ram
Alpaca: Wool and omg there cute... would LOVE a breeding trio, but would also settle for a pair of wethers...theyd be more pasture ornaments anyway
Cow: Dexter for milk, will have 1 cow, will keep back any bull calves (unless i get a big cash offer) for the freezer and sell any heifers.
Pig: Old Spot, planning a breeding trio, and will keep back 1-2 piglets each year for the freezer, GOS sow piglets sell upwards of $400 a peice so its a worth while investment to get a breeding trio set up.
I think for now the 6 runners will keep me in ducks for a while, i can add to that flock later if i need to.
id like to add a couple more rabbits to the rabbitry, right now hoping to add a 2nd rex buck and a new rex doe to the herd and depending on how the babies of the rex sell might invest in 2 meaty does too...(their ofspring would be specifically for the table if the rex sell well enough.) but i think for now another buck and doe and ill keep my rabbitry "as is" for a little while...
Now ive got my goats i know ill be adding at least 2 more does in the future (hopefully next spring) and a nigerian dwarf buck (and he'll need a buddy so hell probably get a wether buddy to hang out with lol)
right now im thinking the logicalls for the next critters woudl be guinnea, and either the layer chickens, or the Quail.
Im thinking chickens and guinneas might be the logical step assuming i can house the guinneas and the hens together...
I do need the bug patroling, and the layers will take a while to start earning thier keep so i think those woudl be the next logical step.
sheep, alpaca and cow are at the very bottom of the list with pig somewhere in the middle...yeah..ill get there LOL.