W A N T E D : FOUR YOUNG GOATS

The goats were not there when we checked them yesterday afternoon. They were not in their usual area bordered with some flimsy electrical strings. We went to the ends of the earth looking for them until it got dark(oh oh, there are coyotes in this part of the country). They'd probably be dead if our neighbors hadn't seen some really peculiar creatures in the runaway of their private airport. They tied the goats up in the back of a truck for the night. In the morning we went to get them. When we came back with the goats, we could not put them where they belong, so we left them with the cows. Tied.

MORE Chicks

     Sorry I haven't  written in a long time, I was busy with school and chores.  Anyway, we got another batch of chickens some weeks ago. Some more broilers which put inside in the begining(like all the others) and them put them in the small chicken house† which is where they currently are. Since the old broilers used to be there, we had to move them into the coop that the first ones were in, and then we had to move those into a new one that my dad built.

    We found some more snakes when we moved my chickens (the broilers) into the fenced area.  The day after we did that my dad found three small copperheads in a spot.  They didn't eat any chickens, so my dad flung them away.  That was all in the end of march.

  

†see picture on the second post.

Just Another Day...

 We got some goats a couple days ago so that they could mow the lawn and thus save a bunch of money 'cause we don't have to buy a big machine to cut the grass. The plan didn't work out well because we have to fence them in a small area for some weeks so they can calm down. We thought the grass would last a week, but it lasted one DAY.

 Now we have to cut the grass, collect it in a bag attached to the mower, and give it to the goats for the next couple of weeks. Also the golf cart we used to lug water around broke so we have to bring the water in a bucket all the way to the cows and the other animals. Hello! Animals should work for humans, not vice versa.

Snake Attack

Look in the corner, maybe a rat snake.

      We put the broiler chicks outside in the pen where the bigger ones were, so we put those in another one that my dad built with my brother. Then yesterday my mom called my dad. We (my brothers, my dad and I) were going somewhere when she called. She said a snake was in the pen. When we got home at eight, we saw the shape of a big ol' serpent curled up in the back of the small pen. We got a light and saw some chicken feet sticking out the viper's mouth. Dad got a stick and when he poked it, the snake started to throw up some naked chick.

      How it managed to remove the feathers I have no idea. My dad crushed its head and then beat it to death. We took some photos and investigated. Turns out it was a Texas rat snake, non-poisonous. We need to be careful.

Busy Day

      My dad is almost done with the fence, all that's missing is to run the electricity through the wires. We alredy put one of the cows in.

     When my dad moved the pen this morning, he accidently crushed one of the hens. It was alive when I checked the pen at noon, the chicken was inmobilized at the back of the coop with blood down it's back because the other chickens don't quit pecking at it. I want to kill him to take him out of his misery, but I don't know how to do it.

                                  By the way, I made the wooden fish under the plate.

As a relief from the previous paragraph's gruesome topic, I made a really good italian recipe a couple days ago, called gnocchi. It tastes great with tomato sauce and cheese. Don't eat a lot, 'cause the gnocchi is very filling. I'll post the recipe in the next entry.

C A T T L E

  We had gone to San Antonio to buy some cattle a week ago.  The cows arrived two days ago, a steer and a heifer with her calf.  The heifer is named Brenda, and her calf is Matilda.  The steer don't have a name, since its destined for the butcher's shop, actually my dad nicknamed it 'hamburger' since that's what it'll probably become.

  My dad is still fencing out an area for the cows so they are currently in the neighbor's pen. My dad is using electric wiring to fence about 2 acres around our lake, with subdivisions because we'll be doing the rotational grazing method.  

Almost An Official Farm

      We got the new broiler chicks today!  The procedure to take care of them is the same as the other ones.  A wooden chicken house (inside the shed) is were they are currently living.  The food is different than the other egg-laying chicks, since it was made to make things fat.  The chicks are yellow and real small.  We're going to eat them when they are 9-11 weeks old.  I'm in charge of them.  My dad ordered a lot of organic chicken food -one ton!- a couple days ago, it came this Monday.