About Our Blog

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Our blog is to inform and entertain you as we pursue our goal of starting a farm. Here we plan on recording thoughts, projects, farm additions and other note-worthy happenings. You may even see us on a magazine or two. If you would like to comment on our blog or just say "Hi" feel free to do so on our CBOX to the left.  Just enter your name and a message, then click the 'GO' button.  We were using shout-box, but had poor luck with it.  We enjoy your emails too, so don't be afraid to email us a note. Yahoo users: feel free to contact us...our profile is mn_nice_couple.  Just because we don't appear online, doesn't mean we're not.  When you send us an IM, please identify yourselves... and let us know why you're contacting us. Put yourself on the map! CLICK HERE to show us where you are in the world.

Madison on a magazine cover.

The Blog 

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April 30, 2008
- Moving more chickens

We ran a few errands in Willmar today.  We even stopped into the extension office to make sure Madison's list of 4-H projects were correct, as tomorrow is the add/drop deadline for our county.  While there, we briefly spoke with Jodi, the Kandiyohi County 4-H Program Coordinator.  She offer to come to one of the 4-H meetings of Mamre to give a talk about parliamentary procedure. She stated that most clubs, with young members, struggle with this sort of thing. Carol and I thought it was a good idea, but mentioned she needed to coordinate it with the club's adult leader.

At the same time, we agree to sponsor a 4-H Achievement Award for showmanship to be handed out during the awards presentation at the Kandiyohi County Fair.  Most of the 4-H'ers who show livestock during the fair, work very hard.  We wanted to be able to help recognize that.  They are still looking for award sponsors.  If you are a local agri-business or farmer, we encourage you to participate.

Our move to the farm is slowly progressing.  Later in the day, Carol and I moved her 70 Cornish Cross chicks, waterers and feeders from the basement to the brooder house (a.k.a. chicken box) on the farm, after cleaning it from the last batch of chicks.  Our house is a lot quieter now... so peaceful. 

Also, we have been exchanging emails with a couple, new to the area.  They saw our website and asked us to process their 3 dozen chickens for them... for pay.  We told them we couldn't legally do that.  Carol suggested the contact a butcher in Hector, MN.  Well, they emailed us back, stating the price for processing is $100 for 50 birds... more if they weigh a lot and even more if you want them frozen.  It doesn't matter if you have 10 birds or 49, the minimum charge is $100.  OK... that just confirms our conviction to butcher our chickens ourselves.

Remember... if you buy chickens from us, we will process them for you... no charge.

I also got a little S15 pick-up running.  It sat abandoned in the pasture, for the last 4 years... it's a wonder it even started.   Hopefully, it will allow us to save a little gas when running errands.  It's a little truck, that seems to run fairly well.  The big Ford F150 only gets about 12 MPG... so we'll use that mainly for hauling heavy loads.

April 29, 2008
- Cattle of our own?

Today, I got a call from a gentleman near Brainerd, MN, asking me if we had boughten our Highlanders yet.  Regretfully, I said no... and that we were still looking.  Carol and I do not own the Highlanders (Caitlin and her calf) we are merely taking care of them.  I believe I have mentioned many times on this blog, I don't want our pasture to go to waste for another year.  So, until Carol and I can buy our very own Scottish Highlanders, we're happy to care for these animals... and our goats, chickens and such.

Any who... my phone call to this guy from the Brainerd area was cut short, due to phone reception problems.  I am suppose to try calling him after 8:30 PM tonight.  He hinted at the prices he would like to get (which is a little out of our range), but he sounded like a cool guy and eluded to what we are trying to do on the farm, as doing them for the right reasons.  Hopefully, we can work out some better pricing... yes... you can assume I'm referring to pricing that is better for us, than for him.  Otherwise, we'll keep looking.

Speaking of cattle, I've gotta say what a pleasure it is to have a cow and calf on the farm.  Perhaps, only a farmer can appreciate this, but... I never knew how nice a cow-pie looks until I saw it in the pasture today.  It has been such a long, long time since there has been beef cattle (or any cattle) on our land.

This evening, when I went out to see how Caitlin and her calf were doing, I brought a brush with me.  Caitlin gets a little fidgety if she's not between me and her calf, but settles down quickly.  Tonight, She let me brush her for a few minutes.  She's no show animal, but to be honest, brushing her felt pretty good.  I was able to groom her entire coat and head.

While I was sprucing up the cow, Carol was in the barn, checking on our pregnant doe... the  last of five.  Earlier today, the doe was looking a little spacey.  When Carol checked her over tonight, it looked like she's getting close to delivery (the goat, not Carol).  After looking at her myself, (again... I'm talking about the goat) I would say she should be throwing kids in the next week.  Carol thinks the goat is going to have triplets... we'll see.

April 28, 2008
- Old McDonald... had a farm.

This morning, Carol and I headed to the farm to swap around some of the chickens and ducks.  I first cleaned one of the goat pens.  The goat pen will now be the new duck pen, at least for the next month or so.  Once the ducks' feathers come-in and they start producing oil on them, we'll move the ducks outside, where they will have a little kiddy pond to play in.  Until that point, we'll keep them inside.

click here to enlarge photo

After we got the ducks settled in, we gave them a couple of handfuls of dried grass we had bagged from last year's lawn mowing. We then removed most of the egg layers from the truck box/chicken coop.  Those birds went into the area we used last year for the poultry - the coop in the barn.

click here to enlarge photo

When done with those tasks, we set-up a water tank outside for the animals.  Hopefully, the new cow and calf will find it easier to locate than the one inside the barn.  We also have a hose in place, so filling the new tank will be a simple task, compared to carrying two 5 gallon pails every time the critters need water. With the chores all done, I set out to take a few photos of the new cattle.  Here's one of the pics of Buffalo Hill Caitlin and her sleeping calf.

click here to enlarge photo

For the past 6 months, following the October birth of her calf, Caitlin has been exposed to the bull Kyloe's Stetson.  With any luck, the farm will be blessed with a new heifer this fall.  The calf will be ours to keep.

Rich

April 27, 2008
- Cattle on the farm.

We left Raymond around 7 AM, to make sure I got Madison and Carol to the Benton County Llama Clinic, near St. Cloud, on time.  Once at the fairgrounds, the instructors gave a quick introduction and explanation of what is scheduled to take place.

Madison was in the second group of three.  Group 1 was to be instructed on showmanship,  group 2 participated in the obstacle coarse and group 3 was an art & crafts sort of thing.  I stayed for the first round... to watch Madison take a llama through the course a few times.  Each child was given a llama to work with.  Madison had the largest of the animals - a large female, who did quite well with Madison.  Some of the obstacles consisted of a jump, teeter-totter, slalom course, going under hoops and over a bridge... there were others you get the idea.

At 11:00, I took-off to Wyoming, to get the farm's first cattle in many, many years.  When I say I went to Wyoming, I mean Wyoming, MN.  It's about 2 hrs east of St Cloud.  I arrived at Rybec Highlanders, to find the new cow and calf waiting for me in the horse barn.  We no sooner got the horse trailer backed to the barn and I was on the road again.  Transferring the cattle took about 2 minutes.  The Highlanders loaded so easy.

I returned to the llama clinic as folks were leaving from the shots and vaccination workshop.  It was the last of the classes.  As I rounded the corner, I saw two chilled girls waiting for me.  Carol and Madison chose getting acquainted the the cow, before getting warmed-up.  I thought, if they had time for that, I had time to find locate a restroom... after 4½ on the road, I guy has to go.  When I returned to the truck, the comment I heard was, "WOW!  I didn't realize these cows had such big heads."  To be honest... I think their heads are normal sized, it's just that their bodies are small.

When you look at a good Scottish Highlander, the head-to-body ratio is a little like that of a Buffalo.  The proportions aren't the same as most cattle.  Did you know, unlike most domestic cattle, Highlanders and Buffalo face the wind, during adverse weather.  Most other cattle face away.  Perhaps, the thick scull helps preserve heat.

We got back to the farm around 6 PM.  When we unloaded the cattle from the trailer, into the cow-yard, it was even easier than when I help load then.  And then the llamas came... and the cattle took off running.  Running straight to the fence.  Then, if like magic, they stopped... so did the llamas.  About 20 minutes later, the cow and her calf found the nice grass in the pasture.

That's how we left the farm.  The goats, sheep and llamas almost refusing to go into the pasture... and the cattle quite content, being the only ones enjoying the new grass.  I hope they're still there in the morning.

Rich

April 26, 2008
- Too cold for sheep.

At 6:30 AM, we got a call, it was the folks with the sheep.  Taking the weather into consideration, we thought it best to postpone our trips to Litchfield, for us to pick-up the sheep and for them to bring them... maybe we'll get the 3 wethers later next week.  Sounds good to me.

When it was all said and done, the weather man pronounced that the Willmar area received approx. 6" of snow last night and today.  So that sucks.  The good news is that other than what's in the ditches, most of the white stuff has melted.

The new pasture has been open for two days now, and not a single animal has been brave enough to venture forward, through the fence opening.  So, Carol and I wrangled up a couple of the animals and lead them through.  Of course we picked Sunny & Jumper, since they are the tamest.  It seemed as long as I stood in the green side of the fence, they were fine.  When I walked through, towards the barn, they followed.

OK, let's get Slick Willy.  Goats are herd animals, right.  If we bring the herd's buck, the rest should follow.  Well... that rule didn't seem to apply today.  He went alone.

I got Willy through fairly easy, and once in the fresh pasture, he was lost.  Mr. Big-tough-guy goat?  My eye.  He looked like a lost puppy.  When we finally got him back en route for the gate and he took off running towards the barn...  the big baby.  I was embarrassed for him.

On to other news, we're headed to St Cloud tomorrow for the Benton County llama clinic.  We need to be checked-in by 8:30 AM.  The classes start at 9:00.  We're taking the pick-up and trailer.  Around 11:00, I'm leaving for Wyoming, MN to pick-up the farm's first Scottish Highlanders - a cow & calf.  The girls will stay for the end of the clinic.  Hopefully, I'll be back before 3:00 PM, when the clinic is slated to end.  Then, pick-up Carol and Madison and head to the farm.

It's going to be a busy, busy day.  To top it off, Carol is scheduled to work tomorrow evening.

Rich

April 25, 2008
- More snow in Minnesota.

The rain hasn't really stopped from yesterday and now it's snowing.  The weather guy said we can expect 2-4 inches of snow.  Lovely!

I'm not really looking forward to getting up early tomorrow morning, so we can get the pick-up and trailer.  We are meeting a Cokato couple in Litchfield to transfer 3 sheep from their trailer to ours.  They have a good sized sheep ranch and have donated 3 wethers to help us develop our farm.

Since we have so many acres of unused grass land, we thought this was a deal we couldn't pass by.  That was the primary motivation for fencing more pasture over the last few days.  These folks are so nice.  After seeing a photo of Sunny, our Shetland sheep, they offered to clip him for us, if we bring him with us, tomorrow.  So, if Sunny is dry by morning, we'll be bringing him with to Litch.

While we were doing chores, it didn't look like the critters had ventured into the new pasture.  The animals must have stayed in the barn because of the rain.  I'm sure they'll find their way to the new ground soon enough.

April 24, 2008
- Digital Farms.

After finishing up with stringing two strands of electric wire around the new 1/2 acre pasture... in the rain, it was time to go home and dry off.  Once in the house, I was proud to say that I was done with that project.  I feel pretty confident it's goat proof.

Anyway, after being home long enough to get warm and dry, Carol mentioned that there were a couple of emails responding to an ad I posted last month, regarding Scottish Highlanders.  I called the first number... it was an older gentleman from Northfield, MN.  Although he wanted more than we could afford to spend, we had a nice talk.  We were on the phone for over an hour, before bringing it to a close.

My next call went to a lady in Nebraska.  I talked with her even longer than I did with the guy from Northfield.  Like most owners of Highlanders, she enjoyed talking about her cattle.  She was asking $500-1000 for the heifers they were selling.  I mentioned to her that we were really trying to find cattle a little less expensive... and the only way we could get one of her Highlanders is if she was willing to barter with us. 

She asked what we had to offer.  I told her I do (or did) web design.  To make a long story short, we tentative deal... one halter broke yearling heifer for a professional looking agri-business website with a year of hosting.

April 23, 2008
- Greener pastures.

I got to the farm around 10 AM and left after dark.  I worked all day on installing the new fence in the ½ area north and west of the cow-yard.  I was exhausted.  Late afternoon, Madison and Carol stopped by with a Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner... which I appreciated.

The new fence has 5 strands of barbed wire.  The first 3 strands are 8" apart, with the upper 2 strands being 12" apart.  Tomorrow, I'll add the 2 strands of electric.  I hope it doesn't rain.

April 22, 2008
- 4-H night.

After 25 years or so, I attended a 4-H meeting.  Madison is a proud 4-H'er and is now a member of the very same club my sister Regina and I were members of, so many years ago... and our father, before us.  It's kind of cool to have 3 generations of the family attend the same club.

Prior to leaving for the meeting, Carol mentioned that one of the leaders contacted her about developing a website for the Mamre 4-H Club.  Carol mentioned she really would prefer me to give the club members, parents and other leaders some details and ideas about creating such a website.  It wasn't long before the members of the club voted on and passed a motion to have a website for the club.

I'm now in charge of creating a website for Madison's new club.  It'll be a fun project and will hopefully be a useful tool for the club.

Carol, on the other hand, found a couple gals to talk to... one of them was more than happy to talk chickens with her.  It turns out that this gal has to many roosters and as some of you know, Carol lost all of hers... I think you can see where this could lead.  lol

April 21, 2008
- Better mileage... more fencing.

Carol and I did a little fencing this morning... I think this was her first exposure to the task.  She doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as I do.  Just the same, she helped me measure the locations for the steel posts.  Next job, running the wire.

With concerns over the cost of gasoline, Carol and I have been looking for a smaller, more efficient truck for the farm.  We went to my Grandparents farmstead to check out some of the vehicles my dad had purchased before he passed away.  There sat a 82 Chevy S15.  We checked under the hood... good, it's a four banger.  With 4 on the floor, it should be a fun little truck to drive.

We hooked-up the jumper cables, poured a little gas down the carb. and hit the key.  After sitting in the pasture for years, it started right up.  Cool huh?  We used the other pick-up to pull the little truck from its resting place.  It was atop a gopher pile and was unable to move off of it under its own power.

Once moved, I was able to drive it up to the yard.  All the gauges worked, it idled pretty good... heck, it even had a ½ a tank of gas.  Our next move is to get it licensed and insured... maybe tomorrow.

Rich

April 20, 2008
- Madison's Birthday Party.

We celebrated Madison's birthday with a small party.  Sadly, since she is the youngest, there aren't as many family members able to attend.  Some are in poor health, others have passed away.  Still, we had a nice day.  Some time ago, Madison attended a 4-H cake decorating clinic, so she took it upon herself to bake and decorate her own cake.  She did a great job.  At a glance, one could easily mistake it as a bakery cake.  Again, she did a wonderful job.

After the party, we checked the cam and noticed that our goat Gunnie, was standing on her own.  WOW!  Just to think, nearly a week ago, we thought we were going to lose her.  Since the time we brought her to our garage, she successfully birthed, giving us a cute little buckling.

Later that evening, we brought Gunnie back to the farm.  She needed a little help, but once we got her through the door, she looked right at home.  She easily found the feed pans, the water and the hay.  She looked happy for the first time since she had became ill.

April 19, 2008
- We have frost in the ground.

This morning I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish at the farm.  The first being, remove the plumbing fixture for the bathtub/shower.  I had a new unit on hand, but wanted to compare the two fixtures to see if I had to start a list.  Of course... I now have a 'short list' of things to get in order to get the new fixture to work.

With that somewhat unproductive chore on the back burner, the next thing to be worked on is to see if the digger is in order for doing a little field work.  Dad had left behind 4 diggers.  I picked one, pulled it our from the weeds and brush and gave it a quick look-see.  The ends of the hoses didn't have the correct ends on them, so it was obvious Dad never had it behind the tractor.  I changed the hose ends and hooked it to the tractor. 

I made sure the hydraulics worked and headed to the field.  It pulled hard, but I was able to dig a little.  I felt pretty good about being the first in the area.  I then head to the 1 acre area of the new pasture.  I have to admit that going down the hill went a lot better than going up.  The field was way to wet to be out there.  Even with the digger tine raise completely out of the soil, the tractor barely had enough traction to pull itself up the hill.

Within seconds, I saw my status of being the first in the field slip to being the idiot who didn't know what he was doing and then buried the tractor in the field.  It was humbling. But with luck on my side, I made it to the crest of the hill where I quickly lowered the digger and shut the tractor down.  I decided that today was not the day to work in the dirt.  Perhaps, I should try again, but after I see other, more experienced farmers doing what they do best.

My third task was the all important fencing project.  Adjacent to our cow-yard, we have another ½ acre of grass.  I feel that during the warm summer months, this area, with its mature trees, should provide some nice shade for the critters.

I was able to dig-in three sets of corner posts with braces.  I used an power auger for the holes then finished the digging with a manual post hole digger, to get another 6" deeper.  Unfortunately, my digger only goes 36" deep, so if we get 10 yrs of use from the posts before we need to re-dig them, I'll be happy.  I think the frost will eventually push the posts out... but we need the pasture now.

While trying to dig one of the holes, I ran into frost.  It was less than 2' under the surface... hopefully, I'll be able to get that single post in before the next weekend.

April 18, 2008
- She can stand.

We put Gunnie on the Hoyer lift again, but she looked a little odd this time.  I told Carol to let me try lowering the lift with Gunnie in it.  Tah-dah.... With no weight on the lift, Gunnie was standing.  She had all fours on the ground and standing on her own. 

We then removed the lift harness from under Gunnie... yep, still standing.  She sort of fell a couple of times when we tried to get her to move, but we only needed to lift her bottom to get her standing again.  All-in-all, she stood for nearly 15 minutes before kneeling (front legs first) to lay down.  We were very excited to see this, as we were trying to figure out when enough was enough.  We heard from many other goat people, saying the same thing.  Most of the time, the goat never totally recovers. 

We're hoping, in a few days, we can bring her back to the barn.  She doesn't look very happy in the garage.  We're looking forward to seeing more of her daily improvements.

April 17, 2008
- Gunnie had her babies.

It's kind of a good news - bad news sorta of deal.  When Carol and I went out to put Gunnie in her sling (Hoyer Lift), the straw was all wet and there was a little goat kid in the straw.  The kid was WAY fresh too.  She still had what looked like yellow jelly all over her... she was tiny... probably the smallest newborn we've seen so far.  The poor little thing was very weak, but was able to give a short yell.  We quickly wiped her clean, then brought her in the house.  Gunnie wasn't interested in her at all.

The new baby was a little doeling... a real cutie.  But she was weak, real weak.  From the time we picked her up, she couldn't lift her head.  We were working on her for about an hour, glancing at the security cam when we had the chance.  Then I saw it, Gunnie started pushing again.  Crap!  "I gotta help Gunnie."

I quick ran out to help our goat give birth.  When I came up on her, I could already see two front hooves.  I tugged a little and Gunnie did the rest.  In approx. 30 seconds, we had another goat born.  This one was bigger and plenty strong.  It was a night and day difference from the first baby.  After bringing this new one in the house, I could see Carol was still trying to save the first baby.  After a few tears, Carol gave up.  Her focus went to the strong buckling, I just brought in.  This time, Ellie wanted to help.  She licked the buckling clean.  Ah!  The rewarding life of being a farm dog...

click here to enlarge photo

Since all the bottles and nipples were at the farm, we made a nipple from a surgical glove... it worked as well as the first time goat kids were born on our watch, if Feb.  Since Gunnie has no milk, it looks like we have our first bottle baby.

How's Gunnie?  She looks good.  As of yet, she does not stand on her own, but she's eating like a fat cop sitting at an all-you-can-eat doughnut buffet.  I'm guessing we'll see the old girl up and about in the next few days.  Gunnie's first born baby died about an hour after her buckling was born.  It was very sad, but Mother Nature made her too weak to survive.

Madison and Carol weighed the buckling while I was doing chores. He weighed only 6.6 lbs.  A full 2 lbs smaller than our small doeling Ginger (two weeks ago).  Although we didn't weigh the newborn doeling, it was obvious she was even lighter than her brother.

April 16, 2008
- A few little things.

Our little farm project is taking shape with the help, advice and networking of and with others.

I called my friend Mike, leaving him a message about hay.  I knew he had hay and I recall he seems to always be in search of it... but I had to ask if he had any for sale.  I only needed a few bales, so I called him when I saw Carol looking at a 50# bag of hay cubes selling for $13+. 

A while later, Mike calls me back.  Regrettably, he told me he had none he could sell... BUT... he had somebody at the farm/shop who did have some sale and could probably help me out.  After a brief discussion, we came to terms.  The best part, it was one of our farm neighbors... who lived just a couple of miles down the road.  A few hours later, I had 20 nice bales of hay on the trailer, heading for the farm.  I have to admit, the hay looked better when I was unloading it than it did in his barn it came from.  The bottom line is this.  It is one friend helping another... one neighbor doing business with another.  I guess this is the way it should be.

After I unloaded the hay, I called Mike to thank him for putting me in touch with my neighbor, regarding the hay.  While on the phone, I asked him about ground-frost and what he thought about my barn hydrant that remained dry.  With experience in his voice, he told me to hang tight, but be grateful that the weather no longer freezes the garden hoses.  At least we have the ability to get water close to where we need it.  I paused... then laughed, in spite of myself.  "Umm, Mike?  I hadn't thought of that!" 

Heck, I was, even now, carrying pales of water from the far hydrant to the barn.  SHEEESH!  That was one heck of a blonde moment, huh?  Needless to say, I'm glad I called him.  FYI.... we now have a garden hose running from the other hydrant to the barn... lol.

I think I should mention, it was Carol's birthday today.  I won't say how old she is... it's not my style... that and I'm not really sure.  I will say this... I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut, that's she remains younger than me. And at this point, that's good enough.

What did we do on her birthday?  We went to the local farm store and picked-up 5 Bourbon Red Turkeys.  If asked, she'd probably tell you that that-in-itself, makes for a pretty darn good day.

Happy Birthday Carol!

April 15, 2008
- Gunnie Update

Gunnie, our ill goat is doing pretty good.  She's VERY stable.  She's getting stronger by the day.  Best of all, she's eating more and more.  Even though she's not standing on her own, we're not worried about her as we were two short days ago.

We decided to put her on the webcam for a few days.  The webcam we bought was a cheap wireless model, but worked well enough for us to keep an eye on her 24/7.  Even though we woke every hour or so, we believe we achieved more rest than if we had no cam.  Give us your thoughts.

- T-Day is MB-day

We finally finished our farm/trust taxes by sticking them into their envelopes.  We had the Fed forms done sometime ago, but nearly forgot about the MN State forms.  Wheeew!

This morning, Carol is putting the final touches on our personal/business tax forms.  It'll be nice to get them sent off, so we no longer have to worry about it.  We estimate our taxes, prior to filing, so it looks like we should get some of what we paid - back.

We also have another celebration, besides getting the taxes done.  It's Madison's birthday, today.  She'll be 10 yrs old.  We usually go out to celebrate birthday events.  Madison choose Dairy Queen.  I'm guessing, she might get a phone call or two from some of my family.  Carol's family lives within spitting distance... mine are strewn all-over the U.S..  Considering I was the 'Wild Child', it's kinda curious that I am the one who stayed near the area of my birth.

April 14, 2008
- 72 chicks.

Running's (our local farm store) called Carol this afternoon, announcing that her Cornish-cross chicks were in.  This will work-out perfectly.  We need to pick-up critter feed and drop off some 4-H show bunnies anyway.  I'm glad we could do it in one fell swoop.

When we walked into the main entrance of the store, we could hear chicks peeping loudly.  The store echoed with the sounds of hundreds, maybe thousands of chicks, waiting to be taken home.  While we waited to be helped with the selling of the mini-lop bunnies, Carol checked her chicks.  They all looked fine.  At the same time, we chatted briefly to a gentleman who was packing-up his order of 750.  WOW!  I asked Carol when she was going to order 750 chicks.  The response I got was, "Ah, never!"  lol

Then came the troops.  Running's had personnel popping up all over the place.  Some readied a spot for the rabbits, someone else asked us what we needed for feeds and yet another with the new chicks.  Carol gave the livestock manager some details about the purebred rabbits and how best to describe them, if somebody asks about them.

So... for any 4-H'ers in the Kandiyohi County area interested in showing rabbits, here's your chance.  The dad is a blue ribbon rabbit from the Alexandria area and the mom was 5th in the Minnesota State Fair line-up.  3 bunnies of this litter of 9 are sold to a 4-H'er near Faribault, 1 is at our house and the other 5 are now at Running's in Willmar.

- Gunnie our goat.

We called the vet clinic again, with an update on Gunnie.  We told the vet tech. the induced labor meds that the doctor injected, didn't work... as she's still pregnant (Gunnie, not the vet).  Carol also mentioned other details to the technician, then ended a the call.  An hour our so later, the vet tech. called back, saying we should try to get Gunnie onto her feet at least a couple of times a day.

With that, Carol and I went into our recycling room to retrieve a piece of medical equipment we haven't used in nearly 15 years (ironic, isn't it).  We recovered our daughter's Hoyer brand hydraulic lift.  The lift is designed to aid in the lifting of human patients.  We soon found the necessary straps and hooks and headed to the garage.

Within a few minutes, we had Gunnie on all fours and baring a little weight on her hind legs.  She's been down since Thursday, so it was nice to see her up and moving again.  She looked a bit uncomfortable.  We were going to take her out of the lift after only a half hour, but she was doing so well, we decided to let her stand for nearly an hour.  While she was standing, she burped, ate and drank... all encouraging signs, we thought. I'm sure Carol will go into more detail on her blog, as she's the medical professional in the family.  I just ask too many questions and don't shut-up until Carol is thoroughly disgusted with me.  That's what I do... it's a gift.

click here to enlarge photo

On a sad note, Carol has been receiving supportive emails from other bloggers, passing on links to stories of others (seasoned goat breeder's and newbie's alike) who have lost baby goats, as we have... drowning in a pail of water.  Although, it doesn't make us feel any better about what happened to our buckling Elvis, it does help us realize that our errors are not ours alone.

Rich

April 13, 2008
- Pregnancy Toxemia.

With the concern of goat pregnancy toxemia fresh on our minds, we're going to do our best to avoid another situation like we are experiencing with our goat Gunnie.  We have increased the rations of all our goats and we have removed a pregnant doe from the herd.  She is now in an adjacent 'birthing' pen, where we can make sure she doesn't have to compete for feed and hay.

I think what helped us get into the situation we're in, is simple.  We decrease the amount of purchased feed we were giving the herd because we were anticipating the greening of the pastures.  With the bouts of snow, interrupting spring's arrival, we forgot to increase the herd's rations.  This caused the mature animals to lean-out, seriously affecting at least one of our pregnant does.

At this time, we stopped the propylene glycol treatment the vet recommended for Gunnie.  After doing a little research, we found that propylene glycol is the main ingredient in anti-freeze.  We all know what happens when an animal takes that stuff into their system, right?  We also read that propylene glycol is an appetite suppressant.  OK... this chemical is starting to make less sense the more we learn about it.  There are plenty of other negative properties to it, but these two are the biggies for us.

We're not blaming our vet, we're just wondering who the over-paid clown is who made this an accepted treatment for goats who aren't healthy in the first place.  For us, the more treatments we gave our goat, the less she seemed to eat.  On the 2nd day, we ceased the propylene glycol injections and started giving her a more natural treatment, with vitamins.  After a few hours, she started to become more alert, she voided and started eating more.  Did we do the right thing?  We don't know yet, but our gut was telling us that the poison we were giving her was doing Gunnie more harm than good.

On the more mundane side of farm life, I cleaned the old chicken coop set-up we had been using as a pen for Wilbert (our pot-bellied pig)... then a make-shift nursery for a goat.  We wanted it clean and dry before using it again for one of our two pregnant does (one of them being Gunnie... if she survives her serious illness).  It was cleaned between each use, so the chore didn't take long... but it still wasn't fun.  Tomorrow, I'll put straw down so it's ready.

Before leaving the farm, I installed two roosts in the hen house for the chickens to use, should they feel the need to.  Some of them [already] try roosting on the feeder guards, without much luck. Most chicken people will tell you that chickens are more comfortable up off the ground at night.  If two old broom handles can make them happy, then more power to 'em.  Maybe the simple gesture of adding new roosts to the coop will help maintain a little order in the busy lives of our chickens.

April 12, 2008
- A sad, painful lesson.

This is something most homesteaders and farmers experience, but wish they never had to.  When I walked into the barn, today, to tend to the goats.  My eyes were immediately drawn to the pen with the newest twins (Elvis & Pricilla).  My heart sank and I felt ill.  In the water paid, face down  was our buckling, Elvis.  He had drown.

I pulled his lifeless little body from the pail and brought him to Carol and Madison, who at this time were in the new chicken coop, feeding the chicks.  The look an Carol's face was one of, "we should have known better."  She later told me she had just read online that one needs to be conscious of pale height... it needs to be shallow, when used for water. When the kids get rambunctious, they like to jump on things with little to no regard to what it is.  They think they can jump up on nearly everything.  In our case, it was a water pail and little Elvis fall in.  His little legs just weren't not long enough for him to get out, resulting in his drowning.

It is our duty to care for and watch over our animals.  Today, we failed miserably with our little buckling.

We are, however, keeping Gunnie alive.  When Carol and I were administering, her morning medicine, Carol notices a few parasites in the goat's hair.  OH CRAP!  She's got lice.  The vet said that Gunnie was somewhat anemic. No wonder, she's these little bugs a drinking her dry.  We quick called the vet and within minutes, Carol was on her way to get some insecticide powder.  The are effective natural insecticides online, but we didn't think Gunnie could wait until Tuesday.

Gunnie is doing better, we feel.  But she really should be on her feet by now.  Perhaps, with the lice dying by the hundreds, she'll make the improvements we should have been seeing last night.

April 11, 2008
- A trip to the vet. - noon

One of our does (Gunnie) had no use of her hind legs last night.  Carol researched the possible causes and even sent out a few emails to her online goat owners.  The response she got was Pregnancy Toxemia.  Carol looked it up again.  The goat didn't have all the classic signals.  But it seemed to make sense.

Before leaving this morning, Carol mixed a batch of "Magic" as some of the goat owners called it. It's sounded like it was sugar water... but taken up a notch.  When we reached the farm, Carol and Madison headed to the bam, while I cleared the drive.  When I was finished, I joined the girls, who were tending to Gunnie.  Carol mentioned, with tears in her eyes, that she didn't think Gunnie was going to make it... and she thought we need to bring the goat in [to Buckingham Equine, of Raymond, MN].

Once at the Buckingham Vet Clinic, the Dr. diagnosed our goat with Pregnancy Toxemia, just as Carol thought.  After a few more checks (internal and otherwise) she treated her with a medical/scientific version of the 'Magic' that Carol mixed-up earlier.  Carol then read a few pages from the medical journal the vet had, and we were on our way home.

We now have our sick goat in the garage, away from the other goats.  The goat get treatment 3-4 times daily, but Carol & Madison are in charge of that.  Unfortunately, the side effect of the treatment is the termination of the pregnancy.  Induced labor should take effect within 36-48 hours.  So we'll be watching her closely.  Even with treatment, we could lose the doe, the unborn babies... or both.

Carol's friend, who works with the County Humane Society, told Carol to research emergency C-section procedures.  She told Carol that if we're with the mama if/when she dies, "You cut those babies out.  You can do that right?"  Needless to say, Carol had a somewhat uncomfortable look on her face when the phone-call ended.

I'll blog more when something new happens.  Thanks for reading.

Rich

- Three days til spring? - 8 am

We got another dumping of snow.  The weather channel is telling us we need to expect more snow tomorrow and rain & snow the next.  A total of 6"-8" is the potential for our area.  It sounds like north-central MN has gotten 12" of snow already, with southern MN getting rain only.

I think Carol and I are planning to head to the farm early today, then again late in the afternoon.  We want to make sure our animals aren't negatively effected by the weather... AND we want to make sure we don't have any new babies.  If we do, we need to get them into a nursery pen, where mama can tend to them w/o interruptions from the rest of the heard.

April 10, 2008
- The chicken coop pics.

I posted Carol's new chicken coop photo gallery page.  Check them out HERE.

It sorta shows the transition from truck box to chicken box/coop.  Enjoy.

April 09, 2008
- Ah... the fruits of my labor.

Today, after taking Chastiti to her therapy, then work, Carol and I stopped-in to our local Runnings farm store.  Carol ordered 70 meat birds (50 for us, the rest for others).  They should arrive next Monday.  If not, the following Monday for sure.  She's going to order another batch in July.

We then made a quick trip to the farm to make sure the chicken coop is ready for her chicks.  She wanted a light switch and outlets (not just an extension cord) so I added those features.  I also stapled chicken wire to the back wall, which Carol stuffed with loose straw (between the studs) for insulation.  It looks pretty cool if I must say so myself.

When it met her approval, Carol went home to get her chicks out of our basement... FINALLY!  While she was away, I did the chores, worked on the plumbing for the trailer house (yep, we have hot water now), and lastly... built Carol a screen door for the new coop.

My little buddy, Booger (our first born buckling) might be a little spoiled.  It seems as though every time he sees me, he starts belly-aching in his little goat voice.  Sometimes, I hate for him to see me walking around.  I try to hide from him when I can.  If he can't see me, he's fine (nice and quiet).  Poor little guy.

When Carol returned, she got her chickens into their new home in no time.  Eat, drink and crap.  What a life these birds have.  We watched the little buggers for about 20 minutes before locking things up and heading for home.  As cold as the temps are going to be though Saturday, we'll see if the old truck box is truly a chicken safe haven.  The predictions are for below freezing temps and up to 9" of snow; 3" tomorrow and another 6" on Friday, with 20+ MPH winds.  SHEESH... will this winter ever end?

April 08, 2008
- Chicken house, chicken box or chicken coop?

I worked on the chicken coop again today, putting on the finishing touches before we introduce the new chicks to it.  Let me clarify something before I continue.  If you ever read our blogs or hear us (in person) talk about our chicken box, we're talking about the coop.  We call it the chicken box simply due to the fact that it was once a truck box... but now a chicken coop.

What I did today was the last of the necessary improvements.  Everything after this point is purely elective.  I replaced the two missing panes of glass in the used window.  I framed and trimmed the window opening as well.  I then put down 1/2" OSB over the floor of the box.  There were several spots that were rotted out, due to the years of neglect... now we're golden.

I also got hung one heat-lamp from the ceiling and to make it look more like a chicken coop, I placed the nest box, that I made last year, on the west wall.  It's only a triple nest box, but should suit Carol's 25+ birds nicely.  We'll just need to check the boxes more often, I guess.  I think Carol is letting a few of her birds have the run of the farm, so they may lay their eggs somewhere other than the coop.  If for some reason, we check for eggs and find a single hen on a pile of a dozen or more eggs, I'll build another set of nest boxes.

It may be too early to mention, but Carol will be selling Farm Fresh Eggs again this year. Later this spring, you may notice a giant "EGGS for sale" sign on the side of the old truck box/chicken coop.  Don't be a stranger.  Stop by and ask Carol about her chickens.  We should have time to chat in May... that's when we should have the coop painted.  If you see the sign, we should have the time.  If you plan to stay more than an hour without offering to work, make sure you bring beer.

Oh yeah.  Tonight was the last night of giving Hilary her shots for pneumonia. This is the goat who was last to have her babies.  She's doing well, she's producing more milk.  It looks like her kids are doing fine.

Rich

- Get you chickens!.

CHICKENS FOR SALE Carol is putting together ½ of her order for Cornish Cross Broiler Chickens.  If you would like to buy some hormone free/antibiotic free chickens in June, make sure you contact us immediately. These chickens should dress out at approx. 4-7 lbs.  Remember, we will be selling these birds live... but if you want us to process them for you, make sure you tell us prior to picking them up. Already, we have a few folks buying birds, but will gladly raise more.  We will call you a week before it's time to get your birds and again the day of.  Please contact us for details. We sell all our birds by the live-weight.  These bird dress-out at approx. 70%.  What does this mean?  It means, if you buy a 9 lb. chicken... about 6¼ lbs (this weight includes giblets) of it will be ready for frying, grilling, baking, or whatever.  If you only want to try a bird or two, we should have a few extra for sale.  Once you taste the difference, you'll order more next time. Carol will be ordering again in July.  The July birds should be ready for pick-up at the end of Sept.  Do we eat what we raise?  You betcha!  We will be raising approx. 100 chickens for our family alone.  Why so many?  Simple... we like knowing we are eating a healthy chicken, raise with care in healthy conditions and we love the way they taste. We will be ordering some beautiful Heritage Turkeys (Red Bourbon) soon as well.  Turkeys should be ready in Nov - early Dec.

April 07, 2008
- Oh great!

More snow.  :^(

- We're OK.

Thankfully, our snow didn't amount to much more than a few flurries.  WHEEEW!  Just the same, we have cooler temps, so working outside gets cold quick.  It looks like we'll be in the low 40's for a few days. 

Carol read from a few of her blogger friends, that some of them are somewhat disappointed with their gardens already, saying something about the potato plants aren't coming up, even though they were planted some time ago.  Carol was quick to reply, that they should consider themselves lucky... especially since we are still waiting for our spring thaw.  You don't have to look to hard to see a few snow piles, still in the groves.  We can hardly wait for the green of the grass to begin showing us that spring is finally here.

On the farm front, our two newest babies are doing well and becoming more active with every passing day.  Hillary, their mother, is doing better as well.  She is on her 4th day of antibiotics, with one treatment remaining.  Without a doubt, we would have lost her and probably her two babies, if Carol hadn't started treating her for pneumonia, when she did.  I think we dodged another bullet.

Rich

April 06, 2008
- Touring The Farm.

We have been invite to tour the Arabian horse stable and Scottish Highlander ranch of The Farm, owned and operated by Curt and Heather Hough/Haubenschild of Wyoming, MN.

A couple of days ago, I spoke with Heather (on the phone) about her Highlanders and to learn a little more about what they do on their place.  In doing so, she convinced me to bring the family out for a tour.  They raise Award Winning Arabian horses (not the expensive kind, but the really, really expensive kind). The animals are top of the line and are shipped all over the western hemisphere. I think she mentioned they recently sold a horse to a gentleman in Brazil... WOW!

We're going to The Farm to look at their Scottish Highlanders and not the horses (I think Carol and Madison will argue otherwise).  Heather and Curt have several registered head that we may be interested in.  Originally, we weren't looking at registered stock for our farm (due to the price), but if that's what folks are selling, it's tough to find anything else.  We like Highlanders for what the breed has the potential to bring to the farm, so grade animals would have been fine.  The big plus of registered animals, is that Madison can show them at the fair more easily.  Some counties like to see purebreds in the "Other Breeds" class.

- Just got back.

We're finally home after visiting new friends north of the Metro.  Curt and Heather's ranch is amazing.  Large, well used buildings, large pine trees bordering the drive and a large pasture with Scottish Highlanders and horses in it.  We were in awe.

Heather greeted us at the door - she was our tour guide.  Just a few steps beyond the house was this 2+ acre pasture.  Heather called for the cattle.  In typical Highlander style, they ambled closer to us.  Heather pointed to the cow and calf she described to us, over the phone.  They looked awesome.  The cow was showing a little age, you could tell she had been around the block once or twice, but her calf was a fuzzy little guy, full of life.  Both black.

We then met her husband Curt.  He is truly the boss... and the animals know it.  He was fun to watch as he exercised a couple of their incredible horses. He's a horse guy through and though.

The two of them showed us some of their mares, their fowls and their cats.  We even got to witness one of their prize foals stand for the first time, on his own.  You should have seen the relief of Heather & Curt after that event.

We talked with Heather a bit more, while Curt did some chores.  Before we left, we stuck a deal concerning the cattle.. but decided to walk away from any discussion about taking home a horse or cats... maybe next year.  We're shooting for the last weekend in April to pick-up the cattle.  Here's an ideal on how nice Heather & Curt are.  They knew about the problems we're having with the farm truck.  With that in mind, they offered to deliver the cow/calf pair, as part of the deal.  We'd love to take them up on the offer, but I think we're a little bit too embarrassed to have them see the farm as it stands at the present time. We'll see how the truck is running by then... we may have no choice, but to have them come out.

It was a pleasure to have met them both.  The bonus of this deal, we will be able to offer the services of the new bull (when he reaches age) to our friends at Fox Lake Farms, who also has a few head of Highlanders.  I suppose we need to offer them the stud services for free, huh?  After all, they offered the use of their bull to us for nothing... even before we had a lead on Heather & Curt's animals.  What a day.

Rich

April 05, 2008
- Do we have a new chicken coop yet?

Not yet, but we're close.  I spent an hour or so, sealing up the roof seams with a couple tubes of black-jack roofing cement.  The seams look good and I think we're ready for the first good rain.  With the roof in seemingly good shape, I directed my attention to the back of the coop.

If I had a cutting torch, I may have done things differently, but what I did, turned out well.  As most of you know, I am converting an old truck box into a chicken coop for Carol (it's not really for Carol, it's more for her chickens).  My plan was to remove the back doors and reuse the hinges for new wooden double doors... but decided to make a solid wall instead.

The tongue and groove siding I use is from an old building that we're tearing down... which coincidently was used for housing chickens, years and years ago.  One might say, the old chicken barn is continuing to serve the purpose of housing/protecting poultry from the elements.  The studs I used for the wall was also taken from the old barn.  Carol took a few pics, but her camera batteries soon gave out.  As soon as she take a few more pictures, we'll post them on a page, showing the progress from start to finish.

- Our new baby goats.

I think Carol has blogged about the our goats in good detail, so if you want to learn more, I would suggest looking at her blog.  Just keep an eye on the headings of Carol's blog (see the left column of this page).  If you ask me, the new babies seem to be doing well.  Mamma isn't producing the milk she should be, but between us bottle feeding and the mom nursing, they seem to be full.  Hopefully, she'll get over her illness before she dries up.  I know Carol likes bottle babies, but I'm not all hyped up about the prospect.  We have some homemade formula and some store bought milk replacer on hand... just incase.

April 04, 2008
- At the farm

Today, I'll be at the farm for much of the time, working on the new [to be] chicken coop.  The temps today should be hitting the highs of near 60°F, so things should go well.

- This sucks

Well, the doe we were waiting on to have her babies... had them.  She had triplets.  Two doelings and a buck.  Unfortunately, one of the doelings was dead.  She was still covered with the embryonic membrane.  Chances are, she was the first born and the mom was too busy giving birth to the others, that she didn't have time to care for her first born.  Carol mentioned that from what she has read online... this isn't uncommon, especially for does who have triplets or quads.  Whatever the cause or circumstances, it still sucks.

After the discovery of the new kids, I worked on the future chicken coop, like I mentioned.  I replaced all the rotten roof supports with new 2"x8"'s and 1"x8"'s.  With the new supports in place, the roof has a nice rounded slope the should shed water nicely.

After installing the new supports, I thought I would start the replacement of the old rusted back doors.  When I opened one side of the double doors, it fell off and onto the ground.  Sheesh!  That was easy.  I imagined the door removal to be the tough part, I was obviously wrong.  Getting the rusty bolts out of the hinges is going to be the kicker.  The rust is so bad, it actually looks like weld.  I pounded the bolts, but the only bent over or broke off.

So one of two things need to be done... either the bolts need to be torched and new wooden doors need to be built or I need to simply block the doors openings off from the inside and maybe put in a recycled window for light and ventilation and a chicken door made for the poultry to enter and exit.  Carol refuses to confine her chickens to the indoors.  So in addition to the improvements to the new coop. once the frost leaves the ground, we'll be installing chicken wire for a large outdoor pen.  We like happy chickens.

Rich

April 03, 2008
- Running errands

We ran a few errands, trying to gat ready for some springtime projects at the farm.  The frost is still in the ground, but we need to get things done.  Once the front leaves, it'll be crunch-time.

We picked up some chipboard (OSB) for the floor of the truck box/new chicken coop.  We also bought a few boards to replace what is rotting in the roof.  A couple of hours and we should be ready for Carol's first batch of chicks.

We also bought some grass seed, in anticipation of warmer weather.  The few areas we had grass, got a little chewed up with the installation of the hydrant and water line to the barn.  Maybe next week, we'll be spreading that seen.  Hopeful thinking?  Probably.

Rich

April 02, 2008
- Tax time

Carol and I are doing the farm taxes tonight.  Now, when I say "Carol and I", I really mean Carol, mostly.  This year it looks like the farm is taking a tax loss.  As most farmers and business folks know, that just because you show a loss, doesn't mean you are bad at business (I may be the exception).  It just means that you are IN business... at least you were last year.

Here's the fun part.  A trust is totally different than any other tax animal I have ever seen.  When we owned our businesses, a loss simply meant you didn't have to pay taxes that year.  A trust is a wee-bit different.  With a trust (at least our farm's trust) there are these things called carrybacks and carryforwards.

Simply put - if you show a loss this year, you can carryback your loss up to two years back or five years forward... or both.  Of course there are exceptions and exclusions (there always are), but in our case, this is what we have to work with.  Any-how, we can "carryback" our loss to a previous year to help offset (get a refund from) previous tax year burdens.  Here's the odd part... you don't start from last year's taxable amount, you take the year prior to that... go figure, right.  Long-story-short:  We should get all of our tax money from 2005 back... and a little from last year.

April 01, 2008
- Baby goat news for Carol

I called Carol, telling her the good news.  She was running errands when I reached her. Without explaining the whole situation, I simply told her, "we have new babies."  In an excited voice she asked "Really?  Did you have the camera?"

I told her that I had not recorded the births on tape or with the still camera.  I could tell she was a little disappointed.  She asked why I hadn't and I explained to her that the announcement of the birth of the goats was my April Fools joke. 

I figured she wouldn't even question the announcement... it was a good prank for sure.

- A new website or two

I started working on the website for our friends at Fox Lake Farms of Faribault, MN.  We have the URL bought and the basic layout down.  I'm pretty excited about the project.  They are a small farm just like us, but a little more established.  Once we get the site nearly finished, we'll announce it here, as well as put a permanent link on our site.  I hope it brings them much business in the future.

While I was working at the farm, the Kandi Elect. dude came up to do some line checks and a meter reading.  We got a talking about what we're trying to accomplish with the farm and the animals we have.  I then asked him if he knew if there were data lines (phone, internet, etc..) installed when the new road was put in.  He thought there was and asked me why it was important.  I told him about our blog and site.

As it turns out, he was looking for a web-guy for his ministry program he was in charge of.  He asked me how much I charge... I told him that I don't really do websites for pay... I prefer bartering instead, and gave him a few reasons why.  He offered me all the used power-line poles I could use this summer for the creation of his mission website.  Was this an accidental meeting?  I really doubt it.  This was meant to happen.

I plan to use the poles for the making of a wooden bridge across the creek and for corner fence posts in the pasture. 

Rich

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