The Goats have arrived

Well we went from having zero goats to having ten overnight.  We worked very hard putting up electric fence on the backside of our property thanks to the help from my father-in-law who helped me take the fence down and clear out a fence line.  They are all Boer cross but mostly Boer.  We have one billy, four nannies and five kids.  All I can say is that they are eating and pooping machines.  I think that atleast three of the nannies are bred back but I'm not sure. 

Buff Orpington eggs update

Well it's been a while since my last post.  So to catch up on everything the Buff Orpington eggs that I had in the incubator only two eggs hatched.  I probably would have had a better hatch if I would have known to turn the egg turner off on the 19th day.  I just learned that tid bit of information yesterday from a local hatchery on the other side of the county from where I live.  I stopped in there to pick up a rooster to put with my hens, and I have to say that I've never seen a rooster quite like him he's a handsome bird but he has a crooked neck.  They said he was born that way but the have raised several chicks off of him and said they all came out fine.  The main thing is that he does his job and he'll have a long life here.

2 dozen Buff Orpington eggs

Well today ended up being a pretty good day after all.  I was working in the area where my in-laws live and went by to visit them for lunch.  Ended up being a pretty good idea on my part since I showed up with a bologna sandwich and chips, and ended up leaving with a grab bag of vegetable seeds and hopefully 2 dozen fertile Buff Orpington eggs.  So right now I've got the incubator warming up so maybe in 21 days we'll have baby chicks.  I'm not 100% sure if they are fertile so I'm gonna have to do some research on candling eggs.  If anyone out there in my massive following have any insight on the subject please post.

In about two weeks we have gotten almost seven inches of rain. I'm not gonna curse it just yet because I know about mid August I'll be begging for it. Went out to check the chickens this morning and found that one of my Ancona hens must have drown overnight during the torrential downpour. They haven't started roosting yet so I'm hoping by lowering the roosting poles they will start anytime. So that means that we are down to nineteen pullets and and three hens. It won't be long and we will have more eggs than we will know what to do with. The weather is suppose to be nice for the next week, nothing but sunshine so maybe the ground will have time to dry up a little.

My wife and I are finally getting started on making our small piece of land work for us instead of us putting in all the work and getting nothing in return.  Although it is only five acres it still takes a great deal of time to keep up when you have a full time job.  I wouldn't say that we are rookies by no means but we still have a lot to learn.  We've had few chickens off and on, planted a small garden every once in a while and even tried our hand at pigs once.  Most of the time I would buy an animal on a whim then I would be out past dark trying to prepare a place for it to stay, and most of the time after that I would spend wandering if they would escape or if something would get in.  I finally told myself to slow down and think things through.  So I've started a little slower this time by ordering 20 hens and having a good place for them to stay.  This is just the beginning we already have a 1 acre garden plot laid out and plan on putting up fence to keep in goats, pigs and possibly a Jersey cow and hopefully making the garden an acre larger. I know its going to take time doing a little here and there.