How I Met Your Goats

To continue with the tv character names, we have;

Lily

Barney

Robin

I love goats.  They are sweet, lovable and playful.  They are also very curious and a little naughty.

After Limey dropped them off this afternoon, he left for the hardware store to pick up some wood for their housing.  The kids and I played with them for a bit and then went into the house for a quick bite to eat.  I was a little worried because Limey had left the duck house next to the fence.  Sure enough, 5 minutes later, I'm staring out the kitchen window to see Lily and Robin standing on the duck house and staring into the chicken yard.  I ran out in time to see them jump into the chicken run to eat the chicken feed.  The hens were not impressed and had scattered around the yard, clucking loudly at the intruders. 

Meanwhile, Barney is standing next to the duck house bleating loudly about being abandoned by his girlfriends.  Robin was easy to get back to her paddock because she had a collar on but Lily didn't have one.  Limey was just pulling in to the driveway as I was trying to drag Lily out of the chicken run by her neck.  She did not want to give up that food!  Once out of the run it wasn't too hard to get her out the gate but in the main yard it was a different story.  Goats are very nosy and Lily was ignoring my attempts to push her back into her own yard.  Limey thought this was all very amusing and just stood and laughed at the spectacle.  I finally managed to lure her with a bucket of feed.   After I moved the duck house, there were no further attempts at jumping the fence.  The ducks however, continue to come and go as they please.

Just another day at the farm.

Wanderers

This is what I saw when I looked out the kitchen window this morning.

Before we got the ducks we debated clipping one of their wings to prevent flight. Limey was advised that this was unnecessary because the male is too heavy to fly and that the females wouldn't wander far without him.

So far they have been in the front yard, the chicken paddock and to the side next to the neighbour's property. They always come back and are easily led into their paddock. There are no greener pastures ladies!

I suspect they'll be wandering more often when the goats move in tomorrow...

Did I say goats?

Victory!

Our first egg.

Resistance is Futile

I tried to stay away from Kijiji but my addiction is too strong.  As a result we have been overtaken by "the Borg".

They are 6 month old barred rock hens. My reason for purchasing? They have just started laying.

Hopefully we'll see some eggs tomorrow!

The Ducks Have Landed

I picked muscovies out of all the different breeds because in addition to being excellent meat birds, I'd heard that they aren't as noisy as regular ducks. That's the understatement of the year. After Limey put them in their paddock I watched the three ducks have what appeared to be a conversation. It's hard to be sure because although their beaks were moving, no sound was coming out.

Aside from that tiny glitch in the matrix, they are really lovely birds. The male is huge and has the most beautiful green feathers on his back. The females have these cute little mohawks.

Zoe, Jayne and Kayley

Don't they look serene?

Do you think they like fireflies?

The chickens have been very interested in the new arrivals. They casually walked over to the fence adjoining the two paddocks to sneak peaks while pretending to eat. They did the same thing when we brought the pig home.

Speaking of the pig. She came close enough to sniff my hand today so I was able to get some better pics.

Checkers

I know, I know, you aren't supposed to name your food animals but we can't help it.  

Checkers is a Tamworth/Berkshire cross.  She's about 6 weeks old and it should take about 6 months or so to to feed her out to market weight.  Right now she's a little jittery but she should calm down soon enough.  Her breeding gives her high odds of a pleasant personality.

What a pretty porker!

Mmm tomato!

Shunning the tomato in favor of her spilled feed.

Don't watch me eat.

A Snake in the Grass

If you would like to cure
The fever called life
Get some relief
From all the struggle and strife

The grandest medicine
That I can propose
Is under your nose
A snake in the grass.

Is It a Chicken?

I was half asleep when Limey told me to look up at the ceiling in our bedroom. It was obviously a bat but for some reason my sleep addled mind thought one of the baby chicks in the sun room had developed super powers. I knew it was ridiculous the moment the words were out of my mouth.

What can I say? I've lost quite a few brain cells since having kids.

Sci Fi Bunnies

We've added a breeding trio of rabbits to our little farm.   The two girls are  year old New Zealands.  The male is a Californian and only a couple of months old.  Limey was a little surprised at how big they are.

Martha

Donna

The Doctor

I had to restrain myself from painting the tractor blue and labelling it "Police Box". It's bigger on the inside, really!

Chicken Bios

I thought it would be fun to post a little blurb about each of the 6 chickens in the paddock.  Some are more interesting than the others.

This is Lemon.

She's my favourite chicken so far.  Limey warmed up to her pretty quickly as well.  Lemon is at the bottom of the pecking order.  Everyone picks on her, shooing her out of the run, chasing her out of the coop and pecking at her for fun. This is probably why Lemon is fearless, she has nothing to lose.  She was the first to take food from our hands and is often seen scratching around the paddock by herself.  The other day after being chased out of the run,  she tore across the paddock to where our cat Pippin was standing in an awkward attempt to befriend him.  Pippin may not have been impressed but we sure were!

This is Meringue.

Meringue is just above Lemon in the pecking order and she's pretty boring at the moment. Her only point of interest is that she has black tinged feathers on her chest.

This one is Toffee.



Toffee was Limey's favourite until Lemon charmed her way into that spot.  Toffee is also fairly spunky.  She's often the seen leading the others around the yard.  We thought she was top bird until we saw the others pecking at her.

Betty, named after a car.

Limey tried to convince me that Betty is named after Betty Crocker but it's pretty obvious that he named her after his dead Kia Rio (Blackbetty). Betty is another boring chicken. She's above Toffee in rank but is pretty equal to her based on their interactions.

The last two are the Australorps, who no doubt due to being raised with minimal human interaction are the snobs of the group. They are at the top of the pecking order. Penny is Picard, Cocoa is Riker. They are always the first to run off to the coop when any perceived threat is nearby and they are sneaky, devious little chickens. Limey saw them tricking the other hens into leaving the run so that they could get the layer pellets all to themselves.

Penny

Cocoa

The chickens have been fascinating to watch. Their personalities and interactions with each other are really entertaining. Although I'm not looking forward to the inevitably fighting that will occur when we add the new birds, it will be neat to see how the current order gets shaken up.

Damn You Kijiji!

I really have to stop checking out Kijiji's livestock page.

That's two Ameraucanas and six Barred Rocks. While collecting chick supplies we also found a breeding pair of Buff Orpingtons which we get to pick up next week.

The chicks are unsexed. It'll be interesting to see what we end up with.

In other news, the pig shelter is built and the rabbit hutch will be put together tomorrow.

Pigs, chickens, rabbits,  in-house renos in under 2 months.

That's just how we roll.

Piggly Wiggly

I'm clearly not very good at enforcing my own rules.  The rule was no animals until next year.  We now have chickens.  Rabbits are getting picked up next week and now we've just agreed to buy a pig.

She's the black and white one in the middle.  She's a tamworth berkshire cross and she moves in with us next weekend!

Movie Star Chickens

The girls went into the coop all by themselves tonight.  Limey went to tuck them in and kiss them goodnight only to find they had tucked themselves in.  

Here's a video Limey took yesterday.

The Ladies

Limey brought home six chickens today.  Two are australorps and the other four are cross breeds.

The australorps are a little shy compared to the others but hopefully they'll relax as they get used to their new home.

We are so excited about having chickens.  I'm in love with them all already.  It's also made us more excited about getting other animals.

Should we get pigs or goats next?

Checking out the scenery.

Stairway to heaven.

Wait a minute, that's not a chicken...and who's that creeping in the background?

Playing nice, no fighting yet.

The Coop

The chicken yard is almost complete! We just need some supplies; food, food dispensers, wood shavings etc and it's all ready to go.

Limey will be picking up the supplies tomorrow on his way to pick up some chickens. So far we've only managed to round up two laying birds. Lots of people have chicks but I'd rather not start with babies, especially with winter around the corner.

The birds are either australorps or buff orpingtons. Limey can't seem to remember which. They should start laying next month. It's so exciting! Hopefully we can find some more birds soon.

Pickup is at 10am and I'll be posting pics of our girls as soon as they arrive. In the meantime you'll have to settle for pics of the coop.  In case you are wondering we have a run in addition to a fenced pasture for penning up the birds on the rare occasion that we are away from the house for a couple of hours.  Yes I am slightly paranoid about predators. 

Chicken yard divided into two pastures.

The coop opens to both pastures.

Nest boxes!

The Big City

We finally got around to driving down to Halifax.  I have to say, I was less than impressed.  Maybe it's because I compare all cities to Ottawa but it just wasn't very nice there.  We did find some decent shopping areas but it wasn't enough to make me like the city.

Here's the only picture I managed to take in Halifax.

What can I say, it was foggy.

Despite an endless road of big box stores, we didn't end up buying much of anything. Apparently home decor colours are seasonal because I could find nothing in blue. Lots of gold, red and orange, but no blue. We did buy some rubber boots, a bagful of clothes from Value Village and other boring items.

We were about to call the day a bust and go home when Limey spotted a yellow sign in the distance.

I jumped for joy when he asked me what Lee Valley was.

The purchase that followed made the entire day worthwhile.

Oooh a garden seeder! Just plop the seeds in and push...while standing up! This should cut planting time down a lot. If only they had a high wheel cultivator, my life would be complete.

A Little Manual Labor

Limey deserves a little pat on the back for digging all the post holes for our paddock fence by hand. He initially rented a post hole digger, but it didn't work very well so he went back to using a shovel.

The first day was hard but after Earl passed through, the wet ground made digging a lot easier and the job was soon finished.

Today he'll be putting up the wire for the fence and hopefully starting on the coop.

Now I need to find us some chickens!

The Next Project

Limey was eager to do some work outside. 

               

Any guesses as to what we'll be fencing in?

Dining Room!

Another room that is more or less complete. Well as complete as it can be at the moment.

Here's the before and after pics;

Yucky carpet, orange trim, weird ceiling.

Light and bright and airy!

I'm glad I didn't return the wall paint because it actually turned out really well. I can't stop staring at the dining table. Limey made it exactly as I imagined it.


The room is pretty empty at the moment but it'll get filled soon enough. I have plans for a sideboard that Limey will build for me in the same colour as the table. Dining chairs are needed.


We are planning a drive to Halifax next week to do some shopping. Options for decor are limited to Walmart and Zellers within an hours drive from us. I've been checking out yard sales and thrift shops but haven't been able to find anything so I guess I'll be buying new. Next year the space will also be filled with a wood stove, which will take up a bit of room.


The big question now is what room to do next?