First Kidding of 2014

I witnessed my own goat kidding for the very first time! I've had many goats kid on my farm, but never been able to catch it. I got part of it on video, until I started helping dry baby goats off, as it's SO cold! I was thankful for the company and help from my pal, Meredith! As cold as it's been in Maine, I'm SO thankful she had them during the day and not the middle of the night! The baby in the back is a buck and the one in the front is a doe. They are from one of my bucks that passed away this winter and they are beautiful, so I may just keep them :)

Daddy and Emma are going out for one last check on Stella (pregnant goat) for the night! We've had her in a stall with a heat lamp for the last few nights, in case she has babies in this cold. 

We fired up the incubator yesterday and are waiting for it to be the right temp before we fill it with eggs. We should have chicks in a month!

Daphne (Mini Lop Bunny) had her babies around 5 yesterday evening. I checked on her one last time last night and then left her so she could do her thing. I went in to feed and water her this morning and I saw 1 baby outside of the nest. I'm not sure if there are more inside the nest she made, but I don't dare paw around in there yet. I think I'll wait a week or 2. I'll post pics as soon as I see them :)

It's supposed to be sunny and almost 50 degrees today...enjoy the weather! I know we will be!

No babies yet...I kinda wish they'd come while it's warm, but they'll come when they are ready! Our chickens have started laying eggs again and we're getting almost a dozen a day! Fresh Eggs $3/dozen

We're expecting baby goats and baby bunnies anytime now! We're getting a spot ready in our shed (next to our house) with a heat lamp for Stella (goat) and Daphne (bunny) came in the house this past weekend...it's too cold for babies out there! We'll post when the babies arrive :)

Happy Valentine's Day Farm Friends! We got a wicked snow storm yesterday into this morning and another one on the way Saturday night into Sunday (another 8-12")...I'm pretty sure we need it ;)  We just got a phone call from Bumpa that our lowline angus bull calf was born this morning! What should we name him? Valentino, perhaps?

Well Folks, 6 more weeks of winter it is! We won't let that get us down...our chickens have started giving us 1 egg a day (doesn't sound very exciting to some, but we haven't had 1 egg a day all winter)! We're planning out our gardens and what we'll be planting this year (hoping to have veggies and flowers coming out of our ears)! AND we may have 1 bred goat, possibly due March :)

The critters have been enjoying the warm weather while it lasts! We're putting the last few touches on the barn before Buddy comes home this weekend...finally! We're getting ready to breed our Mini Lops for Easter Bunnies! We're also getting ready to place a chick/duckling/turkey order, as we lost a lot of our birds to a fox (we think). We're thinking Spring :)

I'm not sure we needed a second rain/ice storm so soon, but that's Maine for ya! The critters are all fed and trying to stay dry and so are we! Hoping the weather straightens out and we get snow instead of rain and warmer temps instead of below zero...anyone with me?

A few photos of our last storm...gearing up for another one Thurs-Fri!

 

 

 

I picked up the new bunnies Saturday! They seem to be settling in nicely :) Yesterday, Jamison helped me trim the goat's and sheep's hooves and I wormed everyone before the wicked storm we got...we got a foot of snow! After a cup of coffee and the baby goes down for a nap, I'm headed out to shovel! Jamison will snow blow the rest when he gets home from work. Enjoy the snow everyone! And I'll try to get some pics of the snow to post later :)

I picked out 2 new bunnies with pedigree today! I know I'll breed them for Easter bunnies, but not sure if I'll show them or not. I'll pick them up right after Christmas and I'm SO excited!!!
 

 Harlequin Mini Lop Buck

 Daphne (Mini Lop Doe)

Since my last post we've lost Charlie (alpine/nigerian dwarf) buck and Patrick (nigerian dwarf) buck :'( The vet believes it was due to too many parasites in their systems. We wormed them, but apparently with the worm/parasite problem this year we needed to double or triple the wormer dosage. A lesson learned the hard way :( We don't have any more bucks on Little Bit Farm and I'm thinking about keeping it that way for a while! We may try again next year, but for now we just have 4 adult does and a sheep.

Jamison worked hard the end of Nov-beginning of Dec to finish the barn so my horse could come home, only to find out we couldn't find anyone to trailer him home. So he and Sundance (my sister's paint) will stay at my grandparent's till next fall. We'll move to my grandparent's for 2 months, while they are in Florida to take care of them. Emma will enjoy seeing them everyday and helping take care of them!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! It's that time of year where we bundle up to go out and do chores, thaw water buckets and feed out lots of hay! No stall for Buddy yet, as my husband has been trying to get a deer. Today is the last day of hunting, so fingers crossed he gets a deer and starts my stall! I REALLY want Buddy home before snow is here for good!!!

If you are local and need a Christmas wreath or tree, visit my pal at Broken Oak Farm in Fayette! She's open every weekend till Christmas (I believe) with plenty of wreaths, swags, Christmas trees, hot cocoa and plenty of critters to visit!

Jamison was busy this weekend putting up gates and switching Rosie (pig) to a new pen, in preparation for Buddy (horse) coming home. We still have a lot of work to do before he can come home, but I'm anxious to be able to see him everyday, brush him, lunge him, ride him whenever I want!!! I miss spending time with my boy I'll post pics as he makes progress on Buddy's stall and the inside of my barn!

I'm am officially the worst blogger in the world!!! I can't believe I haven't posted since July!!! Anywho...I'll try to catch you up...

We sold all of Rosie's piglets, so she's on her own now (which she seems to enjoy). Jamison's planning on breeding her again VERY soon for Spring piglets.

We're down to 5 goats (4 does and 1 young buck) and a young wethered sheep. We lost 3 baby goats over the past few months to parasites :( I swore I was going to give up, but a couple of my goat pals (Meredith and Tammy) suggested that I try one more breeding season and go from there. So I will...I've had my buck in with the does since he was young and have never seen him overly interested, but you don't always see anything and the next thing you know your does are pregnant! So again this next Spring/Summer, I'll have NO idea who's bred and when they're due...it'll have to be a surprise!

Jamison did well showing all of his chickens and ducks at the fairs this year! He sold over 20 birds to cut back for winter. He still has a winter coop to finish!

And we found out my horse, Buddy, is coming home for the winter. He'll go back to my grandparents for Spring/Summer/Fall so he can graze and we don't have to feed hay. We don't have the pasture they do! We have a lot to get ready before winter...wish us luck :) I'll try to post more often!

We have piglets...10 of them!!!

Contact me to reserve yours...they're going fast!

First off, I'm SO sorry for not posting in ages! I have a lot to catch up on!!!

I sadly said goodbye to my little Pepperanne, a week ago last Thursday, to what a goat friend believes was an overload of worms/parasites :'( I had wormed them, but with all of the wet/humid weather we've been experiencing in Maine it wasn't enough! I encourage everyone to make sure you worm VERY regularly and make sure to give them extra vitamins and fresh water every day. I was giving fresh water, but wasn't scrubbing my buckets with bleach or offering electrolytes (which are important for any animal in that kind of weather)! I've learned a lot, but am VERY sad I had to learn the hard way!

On a happier note, Rosie (our pig) was due to have piglets on the 26th and still hasn't had them yet...anytime now! I'll be sure to post pics as soon as she does! We've raised pigs before, but never had our own piglets.

Emma and I picked our first 3 cucumbers from the patch yesterday and a quart of blueberries! We're bringing some blueberries to the bakery where we get pig food from in exchange for a blueberry pie...YUM!

I'll be posting more often and posting some recent pics of Little Bit Farm soon :) Thank you to those who follow our page!

The critters and I aren't liking the rain, exept the ducks of course...it's a great day to be a duck! Speaking of ducks...our broody chicken hatched 5 more ducklings!

 

We've decided Peachy wasn't really bred, so no more kids this spring :(  We're hoping Patrick and Charlie are old enough to breed our does this fall for spring babies for 2014! Our little lamb, Chevy is doing great and he's finally eating grain!!! When we got him he would only take milk...no grain, hay or water. Hope you all make the most of this rainy day :)

Look what our broody chicken hatched on Tuesday!