Enough with the mud

Okay it's not straight!
At all...

 I finally got fed up with the mud, the horses' feet are wet and muddy, and while there is a dry patch, this just isn't fair to them. It's mid-December! The ground is supposed to be well frozen, maybe even a little snow.

So I got together a few step-ins and some tape & hopefully the cows won't test it. The horses can't go out into the big paddock because the big bales are still out there & they are still too fat.

 We'll keep this open to them for the whole winter if the fence will stay up, but it's really not very high Mads could step over it if he wanted.
Once it snows the whole thing may come down. When we replace the fences we've already decided we're going to expand the sacrifice area, this looks like a good amount of space.

Maddie is very happy to eat the "grass"

Megs went for a good little boot.
Took me about 20 minutes to wait for her
to settle so I could take her blankie off.

Coop Upgrade/Date Night on the Farm

Yeah date night now consists of catching up on farm chores together, it's very romantic.

Anyway, the chickens finally have a night roost! It's a little lower then I was planning, but the chickens seem to love it & I think this might work out better anyway.

It's 89" wide, the same as the back of the coop, about 2' tall & high (maybe a little less).

So no more pooping in the nest boxes, hopefully! Instead they can all sleep on the roosts here, and be able to get up high enough to sleep on the backwall (which none of them do).

Murder Most Fowl!

One of our little 6 week old chicks was killed in the coop, so if you're soft at heart you may not want to see the next picture.

Survy

Bonnie you are an evil, evil, goat enabler!! :)

Yankey didn't fit in so well at first, she was fine the first few days, and then decided she was top-goat of this pack of wimps (which she really really is!) and like any dictator started taking it too far... In fact I put her in an Ad up for sale.

But things have settled down now, the boys have accepted she's queen of the barn and Harry is just head over tail in love with her! Too bad for Harry he lost his balls quite a few months ago...

So when Yankey starting showing heat signs today, and Bonnie let me know she had a cutie-pie (!!!) little Alpine who was looking for a home... Well!

Here is Survy!

Struttin' his tiny stuff!

He's almost 6 months old, a June baby, so
around the same age as the other boys

Who are terribly jealous!

But Yankey likes him! That's all that matters.

Harry is most jealous of Survy's balls!

Doesn't he have a sweet face??

Actually he's just perfect for Yankey, I
think they'll make a lovely match.

Even if he doesn't catch her on this heat he'll get her on the next & soon enough we'll have a lovely pack of goats just bouncing around off the walls and sneaking out under the fences.

Megs is impressed with the new arrival,
Maddie couldn't care less and with Megs
distracted didn't want to take his head
out of the hay...

So Hares still keeping a good eye on his lady
friend but I've put on a little Barry White
in the barn and hopefully we'll have some
early May kids!

Fall Hatch Report

Dear Santa, I'd like an incubator for Christmas.

The ladies did not do very well, we'll have to compare with any spring/summer hatches and see how they do then.


Coco  between 7 to 14 eggs (after the girls snuck in & laid more eggs for her), 0 hatched.

EE #1 7 eggs 4 chicks (1 DNS - my fault)

EE #2 11 eggs 3 healthy chicks (at least 2 DNS premature?)

The remaining 6 are very healthy, and are starting to have all their feathers come in. The Maraan baby* and one of the EE babies are the largest and I'm expecting those two to be full sized birds. 

*Looks like a roo! & we have a Lenny Jr.

The funny thing is that EE#2, miss nasty, has stolen all the chicks! EE#1 will still come to the defense of her chicks but it's #2 who cares for them during the day, cuddling all 6 under her wings.

Cook: Dijon Tenderloin

This is one of my favourite, hubs & the kids, not so much.

1-3 tbsp Dijon (adjust to taste)
1 tsp fennel (")
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix thoroughly then coat your tenderloin. Bake as normal, quite delicious!

Magic hour on the farm

3 inches more snow please, then we can just stay like this all winter.