Sorry for the delay in posting. But, it has been a really busy spring at Foxhide Farm. The kidding has mostly subsided. To date, 22 does have kidded with 3 stragglers left to kid in the next couple of weeks. It has been a buck year for sure. With 22 does kidding, resulting in 47 kids, there were only 14 does. It was a little frustrating with some of the AI breedings, I was hoping for more does. But, there is no shortage of does on the farm. We still have 15 dry yearlings from last year. So, the future is ok.
In addition to the kidding, milking, bottle feeding, barn cleaning, trips to the feed mill, hay hauling, disbudding, deworming, vaccinating, AND working a full time job off the farm that is a one-hour drive from the house, we actually managed to add another project.........square food gardening. We put out 3 4' X 4' boxes giving us 48 square feet of gardening space. The pictures show the progress of these beds. As the growing season continues, I will post more pictures so you can see the "produce progress".
We bred the two Jersey heifers AI with sexed semen in hopes of getting them pregnant (with heifers). They were bred 2 weeks ago, so next week we will check to see if they are recycling. Wish us luck.
Also, I am a licensed judge with the American Dairy Goat Association and the show season is under way. I judged this past weekend in Little Rock, AR and will be in Portage, WI in 2 weeks. Then June, is very busy. I will be judging in Indiana, North Carolina, and Vermont. I have judged dairy goats in 17 states and will add 2 more this year. I really enjoy seeing goats from all over the country.
We have placed our order for chicks. They should be in the incubator as I type this. They should hatch on May 18th. We have ordered Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Speckled Sussex, and White Rocks. Can't wait for them to arrive. I haven't had chickens since I was in high school and look forward to raising these little girls. If the plan comes together, within the next year, we will have our own supply of milk and eggs as well as some produce. I don't know that we can achieve total self sufficiency, but I figure every bite helps.
Hope things are going well on your farms and don't forget to check out the farm website http://www.foxhidefarm.com/.
Hey, I was just through Portage WI a couple of weeks ago... It's on the way 'up north' to my home in the western UP... LONG DRIVE!!!!
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, Portage is a very historic area and so named because it is near the overland canoe portage the French trappers used to get from Lake MIchigan and the Fox River to the Wisconsin River and the Mississippi.