*fulfilled

Do you know that feeling you have when you are doing what you feel like God has called you to do? It is one of those things that He has called you to that gives you total joy. I am sure you all have had things you knew you were supposed to be doing but didn't really like it to much.   This weekend was such a joy filled weekend for our family doing simple things.

We have been feeding our Nubian's Fillet Mignon, well not really; but they have been eating well nonetheless.   The breeder we purchased our goats from started them on Alfalfa hay, not knowing much else that we could feed them to give them the protein content they need we continued in this expensive hay.  They only eat about half of the bale and waste the other half, eating the smaller pieces and discarding the longer.  Our rabbits have been happy to help us not waste by eating what the goats have turned their noses up at.  At $16.99 a bale we just felt like we needed to research another option.  Eric has been vigilant about this whole forage feeding and hay needs of the goats. His research paid off and we have made the change to Perennial Peanut Hay, the Alfalfa of the south!  We are thrilled about this find, because we can get it for only $7 per bale and they eat everything in the bale - no waste at all! 

Our Saturday started with a drive to the Panama City Beach area to pick up some yard implements, then up to Bonifay to pick up 72 bales of perennial peanut hay, then over to a hatchery across the Alabama line to pick up a few chicks so we can increase our egg production early this summer which will in turn increase our profit.  Our coops are large enough to increase our flock and they have much land to roam at will. 

When we got home we found that Rebel had been busy (sitting around for weeks) hatching out the cutest, most adorable chicks you will ever see!  She had 5 when we got home on Saturday and by Sunday morn she had a total of 9.   She is being a great mother, showing them how to scratch around, drink and eat.  With the 9 we picked up in Samson, Alabama and the 9 that Rebel just hatched out, we have a total of 18 new chicks! 

We did what small homesteaders or farmers have to do sometimes... we had to make the decision to kill one of our roosters. Mr. Baggins bit the big one. He had ran up my leg one too many times -repeatedly. For no apparent reason. I did my best to be friendly to him, bring him treats, etc.. Not only was he trying to hurt me, he was a rather active 'rooster' and was injuring some of our chicks.  We do not see Husan near as vigilant about his rooster duties as Mr. Baggins had been.   Now I don't have to carry a method of protection when I walk in the barnyard!  You can imagine what was on the dinner menu for Sunday dinner.

To finish up our weekend we did finish some butchering duties that should have been done weeks ago.  We butchered three rabbits, so the freezer is getting stocked.  We will be butchering, oops there is that word again for those of you are are squeamish,  again in 4 to 6 weeks.  Our does are both pregnant right now and this will likely be the last pregnancy until summer is well behind us.  We do not breed our does during the hotter Florida months due to heat exhaustion on the doe's part as well as the kits.  If you are a small homestead and you would like to raise a sustainable meat source for your family's table, you should consider raising New Zealand or/and Californian Rabbits.  Not only are we getting a great lean meat source that is free of hormones and who knows what else, we are selling our rabbit droppings for  $8 per feed bag size (40 lb bag) and we are also curing the pelts for future use in coin purses, a quilt possibly or other such things.  We are not wasting a thing!  

*goat coats

Last week we had below freezing weather again so I had to stitch them some new coats to help them stay warm during the blustery nights.  These are the second ones I have made each of them.  During the day when the goats are out browsing in the barn yard they like to rub up against the barn gate to scratch their sides.  Each time they do this, little holes get ripped into the sides of the little coats.

If you have goats or animals outside that have to weather the temps, you can make these fairly easily.  I shopped at our local thrift store and chose some cotton turtle necks as well as some sweaters and woven vest pull overs.  I cut the arms off of the shirts and then sewed up the holes tapering it in towards the neck. I also taper sewed the bottom part of the shirt so it would pull closer to their tummies.



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*chick-inn news at Erilyn

These belong to Husan. I cannot express how thankful I am that these belong to Husan and not Mr. Baggins. 

Isn't Husan a beautiful rooster?  We have not really had any problems with our roosters as far as the hens are concerned, or even amongst the two of them - no problems.  Husan has never even shown any kind of aggression towards anyone. Mr. Baggins on the other hand is a different story.

Mr. Baggins to the left here, and one of our fine hens, Lucy to the right. I have to admit, I love taking pictures of our flock.  They love to come around me when I am sitting on the ground in the barn yard, because often I have some treats in tow that I feed them from my hands.  Just today Mr. Baggins tried to spur me on several occasions while I was in and out of the barn doing chores.  I was on the phone talking to a friend and I was not really paying attention to him... it wont happen again. He didn't hurt me, but he sure as heck scared me.

One of our outside cats, Zeke a Russian Blue is quite at home amongst the chickens. He is one of our three Russian Blues that live "in" the barn.  

I love Lucy!

We are collecting 80 to 90 eggs per week at this time, this makes me happy and helps provide eggs to the families we are committed to selling to. 

Rebel with unrelenting commitment continues on those eggs. She refuses to get up for anything at all - food, pooping, stretching her legs - nothing.  Hopefully in about two or so weeks, we will have some peeps!

Shared at: Debrah Jeans Farm Girl Blog Hop

*picasa UpDaTe!

This photo is SOOC and I have used it to show some of the different edits you can NOW do through Picasa.  Picasa, a google product is a free photo editing program that you can download safely from picasa.com .  If you already have Picasa, go get the updates!  I have been using Picasa for years and recently started using Picnik (premium).  I do like Picnik but sometimes it takes them forever to gather the picnic basket, the blanket etc...  With Picasa being a downloaded product and not a web based editor, things move along much faster.

 I think this is one of my favorite edits (Vignette) to use... before the update I was not able to do this using Picasa, but had to wait for Picnik to load. LOVE IT!

 This 60's look is not my fav at all, but a fav of many bloggers I follow.  Quick and easy edit now via Picasa.

 Just for fun, comic texture.

And this I love.. framed! I can frame it in any color I like, and make the inner and outer border different colors and different sizes if I choose.  Go check it out! Picasa Download

*a clutch of eggs

Over the last few weeks Rebel, one of our Buff Leghorns has become broody.  Broody is when a hen has a strong desire to sit on a clutch of eggs so she can hatch out some baby chicks!  I tried to discourage her, daily over the last week or so. That however, has changed. 

Yep. You guessed it, I gave in to her instincts at this very inopportune time!  I went out to "feed up" on Tuesday morning and found myself making a comfy place for Rebel to call home for her coming babes.  I was counseling myself through the entire process, "do you want to do this right now?", "not really but it looks like Rebel REALLY wants to do it!"  Of course she does, it is all in her name?! You can just imagine how I was going back and forth with myself, do I - don't I? The baby chick lover in me won.   Seriously, it may not be the best timing as far as time of year is concerned but I have to remember that I raised 20 some chickens last January and February. All of them survived and thrived, so I think between me and Rebel we will do a great job at raising her chicks.

We have given Frayja's training crate to her which must be like the Windsor Castle in England in her chicken eyes. She has enough room to raise her chicks when that time comes. Speaking of that, did you know it only takes 17 to 21 days for baby chicks to hatch out?  Guess where I will be living during that range of dates? Yep, you guessed it... in the barn!  I can hardly wait, I do hope I am able to capture some of that to share with you all.

Being broody is a strange state of temperament, at least in my opinion.  Rebel seems to be overly focused on setting on her eggs. By the way, she is not laying on any of her own eggs or her sister's (Ms Trump).  She will be hatching out some Easter Eggers, Barred Rocks, Delaware's, Rhode Island Reds, and or Black Sex Link fertilized by either our Light Brahma rooster (Mr. Baggins) or the Jersey Giant White rooster (Husan).  I have to make sure she is eating and drinking each day. When I go out to feed everyone else, I simply pick her up and put her in front of the water.  She drinks a lot during those times. I also hold a handful of her favorite - cracked corn, for her to eat out of my hand.  Hens who are broody can sometimes become so focused on brooding, that they forget to eat or drink.

Her project due date (range) will be the 28th through the 31st of January.  We are hoping for majority hens so we can increase our egg production in the summer, but if we end up with little roosters were already planning to raise some meat chickens this spring as well - so the roosters will fill the freezer.  


Shared at: Farm Girl Friday's Blog Hop

*greener on the other side?

Why is it that those on one side of a boundary always think the grass is greener on the other side?  Well it is no different for sweet little Nubian goats that live here at Erilyn! All three of them, Neffie, Cleo and Bodie had their sweet little Roman shaped noses through those fence holes seeking out those dried leaves (just like the ones on the side they were on).  These girls eat their grain rations each morning without delay as well as their dried beet pulp.  They are eager to head out the gate after that to get to their Alfalfa hay in the barn yard.    We hope to be breeding Neffie (the black one) sometime this spring.

Lucy, the adorable Delaware Chicken, has no idea why the goats are not showing more of a grateful attitude for what is in their boundaries, she certainly is. NOT.  This photo below was taken early one morning inside the coop before I opened the door to let them out.  Lucy here, is so very guilty of roaming past her given boundaries herself.  In order to keep the chicks safe, we put up boundaries so they would not roam into the barn freely.  Lucy.... the fine Delaware Chicken is notorious for hopping the boundary and getting into the goat stall to find treats for her craw!  

What about you, are there boundaries that you are trying to press through? Speaking of boundaries here is a GREAT book to read, The Hedge of Thorns published by Lamplighter Publishing.  I have read this book many times over and it brings me to tears each time.

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*chicken life at Erilyn

 This is what it looks like every morning when they are let out of the coop. They have water in their coop, but they rush around the corner and congregate here for a bit.

 Meet the Leghorns, Ms Trump and Rebel.  Ms Trump will NOT leave the nest. She has stopped laying eggs but leaves one nest to the next to sit on her fellow chickens eggs.  We did give her 6 or so to sit on and they stayed warm all day, but there was a time in the evening that she left them long enough to get cool.  I am not really ready to shut her in and help her along the way, but she is certainly broody.  (watch, next week I will post about how I have shut her in a crate and helping her along..) If you are a chicken keeper, what would you do?  She is currently sitting on a very popular nest, as you can see her 'sister' sits on her when she is ready to lay an egg if she can't get her to move.  This is a regular occurrence here at Erilyn. 

I love our chickens. I can't wait to get more! We currently sell 5 dozen eggs per week at $4 per dozen.   We will soon be selling some of "fertilizer" as well, since we have rabbit, goats and chickens readily producing!   Have a great weekend!

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Deborah Jean's Farm Girl Friday Blog Hop 

Homestead Revival's Barn Hop