Today at the Farm!

The ladies enjoying the sunshine.

"Come up getcha Doe bred"

Yesterday we noticed signs of heat in our oldest goat Esther. As newbies to the goat breeding world we quickly loaded her into the station wagon and drove up to Keith's house, the owner of the buck and a local Longhorn cow farmer. We set Esther into the paddock with the buck, two giant Longhorns and Keith's tiny Papillon dog named Rusty - an eclectic animal mix.  Bucky the buck was interested but Esther was paying more attention to Rusty than Bucky!  She was in heat but not yet in "standing heat," meaning close but no cigar!

Keith suggested taking her home for the night and bringing her back in the morning.  He sent us home with what is called a "buck rag,"a handkerchief that had been rubbed on the buck's head where the oil gland is released.  Apparently, due to her behavior when she smelt it, this stinky cloth was to help us tell if she was in "standing heat?!"  Sure enough, this morning Lane held up the rag and she rubbed up against it and wildly wagged her tail.  Greta and Mabel, our doelings, were also sniffing the rag, but today was about Esther, it was her big day.  So once again, we loaded her up in the station wagon and drove up to Keith's. Within minutes of letting her into the same paddock Bucky mounted and bred with her four times.  We won't get into details but Bucky definitely did not have stage fright.  It's hard not to have a good sense of humor about it!

We won't know whether Esther is pregnant for three weeks when her next scheduled heat cycle would take place.  If she goes into heat then another trip up to Keith's will be in order.  While we would prefer our kids to be born in the end of April (meaning becoming pregnant this time around) we do love going to Keith's because he is a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of farming. Today he reminded us that we can keep our rooster in with the flock then remove the eggs as they come and obviously they will not turn into chicks.  He went onto explain that fertilized eggs have more protein and are healthier to eat. We never claimed to know it all!  

Lane, Ajax and Esther in the back of the Volvo

Bucky the Buck

Bit of Romance

Rusty, the Watch Dog

Happy Longhorns

Mama Hen?

For the last couple of months we have noticed that one of our Barred Rocks is bigger, brighter, louder and harder for us to "rangle."  Since flocks form a hierarchy we chalked it up to be that she was just head bird, we named her Mama Hen and moved on... UNTIL three nights ago when locking them in at night Meryl heard load and clear "Cock-a-doodle-dooo." Mama Hen is in fact a rooster! Now, what to do with him before the hens start laying and those eggs turn into chicks! 

Yesterday we processed the first half of our broilers that have been living out in the movable coop.  Due to scheduling conflicts our chicken guru Matt was unable to come up to assist us.  So we watched Joel Salatin videos on YouTube and since Matt had assisted Meryl through it before, we felt prepared to give it a go ourselves.  It was a total success!

Mama Hen is a Rooster!

Processing Area

Plucking

Eviscerating

Looking Forward

Although summer has come to an end and there is less action here at Prospect Farm we do have some things to look forward to.  Thanks to our phenomenal friends Putnam, Raisa, Ben and Kerin we are excited for the installation of a beautiful sitting area surrounded by trees and shrubs.  It is a unique wedding gift that we are thrilled to see unfold!  We are also looking forward to milking our doe Esther in the spring.  That means we have to start breeding now!  We found an Alpine buck from a farmer down the road that primarily raises Longhorn cattle but also has goats, chickens and pigs.  When Esther is ready (in the next 18-21 days) we will drive her over for her special date! In the meantime we are working on building a hoop house for our forty hens.  This way we will be able to use the space they are in now as a birthing and kidding stall for the goats in the spring.  Although the progress has slowed for the moment we anticipate lots to come in the next few months.

Model of Sitting Area - Thanks Guys!

Longhorn Cattle are AWESOME!...the next venture??!

Letting hens out for the first time with the help of Jozie and Ajax!