Baby Girl

First-time mom and triplets

Brownie the Nubian had her babies today. All three were chocolate with frosted ears. So far, two have survived. Here's a pic of the second, a small doe.

Baby Aster

Hopefully, the little buck will make it and I'll take good pics of both of them after work today.

I am taking a hint from Eden Hills Farm and am naming kids by the alphabet. Sounds like a wonderful way of keeping up with ages, etc. With that being said, this little doe will be Aster. Her brother, Abe.

Welcoming new animals!

Here are better pics of Maybelle, Penelope and two of the bunnies...



Maybelle the Nubian







Penelope the Nubian





Sydney and Maybelle





Californian Mix bunnies



New on the Farm

This weekend, we welcome five new animals to our farm. Sorry these pics are so dark. I spent a couple of hours with Daddy, feeding the cows and horses. I guess the sunlight just got away from me.

Penelope and Maybelle came to us from Crestview.

Maybelle and Penelope, Nubians

 I bought three Californian bunnies at the feed store on Sunday. They are absolutely precious. Appears to be a male and two females.

Two of the three bunnies.

Oops! I forgot about the two splash hens and partridge silkie hen.  :)

Welcome Penelope and Maybelle!

We brought two new goats home yesterday. Penelope and Maybelle are two-year-old Nubian does. Many thanks to the Conroy family of Crestview. The girls have been nosing around and exploring this morning. Hope to get pics up this afternoon. Penelope is chocolate brown with moonspots. Maybelle is more of a piebald color in black and white.

Candling Images: Amazing Pics!

I just had to share this wonderful post from Diane Eng aka SilkieChicken on www.backyardchickens.com.

Thanks to ZooMummzy, I am doing a test run of my little plywood bator and her little rooster! And I'll be sharing pics! These images are all taken using a point and shoot Canon Powershot 710IS, and the light from an eagle tac  set on high output. Photos are in real colors unless otherwise noted.

Click thumbnails for larger image!

The incubator:
   

It's got a clear top for hatch day viewing and two lightbulbs covered in foil because I was too cheap to buy ceramic heat lamps. The reason behind two bulbs is in case one light bulb burns out the incubator won't go cold.  It has a salvaged computer fan and uses a salvaged GQF thermostat. There are about 8 layers of spar urethane coating the little beast so it's water tight. Started making it when I was about 13, so if I were to do it again, it would be much larger and have space planned for a fan/thermostat.  Temperature is measured with a Fluke digital multimeter with thermometer attachment, and humidity is measured via wet/dry bulb methodology.


0 hrs Note that with a bight enough light you can see though brown and green eggs easily. Shell thickness and egg size will impact image quality, so note these are bantam eggs.

 

Please follow the link to "Read More." Trust me, it's worth it!

Turkens!!!

Many thanks to my dear friend, Gina King, for picking up my Turkens. I am now the proud owner of two roosters and five hens. They are lovely birds. I'm starting to think I'd rather have an entire flock of them. So nice to have birds (Turkens and Dominiques) who aren't aggressive. After those mean Rhode Island Reds I had the first year, I promised myself I'd never have another mean bird.

Never say never...

I have a phobia of all things rodent. I put all this aside when I saw a beautiful mini Rex at the sale yesterday. So precious and soooo soft. I brought him home is a small wooden box. Sydney had no idea what I'd bought and was anxious to see the "chicks."  When she realized I had a rabbit for her, she was speechless. After mini squeals, oohs and ahs, she jumped up and squeezed me tight. He is very sweet. Tiger the cat likes him a little too much, though.

Short stretches

We are replacing several short stretches of panel fences with old-fashioned board fences.

Candling

Photo courtesy of Sydney Adams, Jr. Phorographer Extraordinaire.

Candling eggs is an age-old technique for determining chick development. We use a bright, LED flashlight. Here's a pic of a white egg we candled tonight. This egg has been in the incubator for two days.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Isabelle stays busy at night, so she naps when she can.

Come on, Brownie!!!

Brownie is a first-time mother and we're all a little anxious.  She was bred when we bought. Not quite sure when she'll kid. Judging by her udder, soon.

Benefits of Probiotics... From Eden Hills

Courtesy of Eden Hills' Blog

I read a fantastic post on Eden Hills Blog today and had to share!

from Teresa...
I am a very firm believer in the wonderful benefits of probiotics for animal health care.

I’m going to share the story of Goliath’s illness because I’m hoping someone might learn.  Goliath was born here on the farm, and he was always a snuggler and a hugger.  He was so sweet!  I decided to keep him.  I even went out and bought three lovely Boer nannies so he would have some girls of his own.

Welcome Turken Chicks!

Turken chicks in the brooder

We had a great day today. Made two new friends in Mitch and Beverly Sconfienza of Silver Hill. We bought 20 of their little Turkens. After a quick trip south, we found that Mitch and Beverly share many of our loves including Nubian goats and Great Pyrenees.

We made it home just before dark. Installed the chicks in the brooder and added three eggs (thanks, Beverly) to the incubator.

In approximately 21 days, we'll have Dominique chicks and more Turkens to join these chicks. I may set a few Bantam Cochins tonight. Haven't quite decided.

I've seen it all!

A washing machine converted to a chicken cage!!!

Filling the 'Bator!!!

Can hardly wait to fire up the Genesis and hatch these babies! 

I'll have a dozen buff / blue turkens, a dozen blue turkens and a dozen Dominiques.