Bun pictures

I'm going to try to figure out how old the kits are so I got them out and weighed them this morning. I figured this would also be a good time to take pictures. I took them next to a coffee mug to give some perspective.

This is the smallest bun. We refer to it as Little One. It weighs 5.45 ounces.

This is Blue Ear. (We marked its ear with a blue marker so we can tell the 2 biggest ones apart). It weighs 7.08 ounces.

Biggin is the largest. It weighs 9.02 ounces.

House Bunnies!

We found a dead kit with the others yesterday, so the bunnies came inside. I feel bad, it was my favorite little one. I don't know what really happened. Deklan thinks it got crushed by the others. Or it could have been too cold or the moms aren't feeding them. I never saw them nurse, but rabbits only nurse like once a day so it is hard to actually see them do it. Anyway, I'm feeding them goat milk 3 times a day with an eye dropper. This is definitely a new adventure. We'll see how it goes.

Baby Bunbuns

I bought an animal trap this morning, but didn't catch anything. Stef went out with me to do chores tonight and caught the dad, and 4 kits. 2 of them were older and 2 were younger. We put them in with thier moms but the moms seemed less than thrilled to have them back. We'll see how it goes. If they don't eat enough we might have house bunnies! They are sooooo cute.

Wascally Wabbits

We have had several bunny breakouts lately. They started digging different tunnels in the colony and found they could dig themselves out. We have tried to repair the damage, but we haven't done such a great job. Well, we lost 2 rabbits to dogs this way so we decided it would be best to move the remainder of the rabbits into cages. We caught both of the girls yesterday and put them in our last available cage. We left the lone male in the colony. You will find, if you are in animal husbandry long, that the male of the species is often seen as a second priority most of the time. In other words, we are willing to risk him to make sure the girls are safe in a cage. He doesn't seem to want to venture out though.

As we were doing chores this morning Deklan spied 2 baby rabbits coming out of a tunnel in the colony. Aw, man! We took their mama away! They are probably old enough to be on their own and were coming to get some grain. I do want to catch them though, just in case, and it is supposed to get cold again this weekend. If you have ever tried to catch a wild baby rabbit, you understand what a difficult task we have in front of us. I think I'm going to try a wild animal trap first. I'm gonna get one in town when I go in for my chiropractor appt. this morning. Wish us luck!

Postponed

I was on my way to the store to get dog food and laundry detergent(for doggy pee pee blankets and towels) but when I went out to the car the window was iced over. Do you think I got something to scrape the window? HECK NO!! I do not live in Texas to scrape my windshield! I, of course, turned on the heat and defrost on high and am now in here posting this.

I am so wiped out

We took DD and Jake to get fixed today. Had to be in Austin by 8:30. Stef and the boys did chores (thank god! It was windy and 20 degrees). The boys and I dragged (literally) the dogs into the back of the car. Again we made sure to put plastic down in case of any accidents. The place was super hard to find and I thought we would be late, especially since DD puked on Deklan and JD pooped in the car before we got there. We finally got them dropped off and decided we deserved to get some breakfast at IHOP. First, though, we had to clean the car out and stop at Goodwill to get Deklan some new pants to wear.

Next we headed to Bastrop to drop off some gifts at CPS for foster kids, went to WalMart to do a last bit of Xmas shopping and went to visit Dad. Then we went home where I made dinner, cleaned up a bit and headed back to Austin to pick the dogs up. They were so pathetic, totally drugged up. Deklan was in the backseat with them and they were laying side by side on the seat. We had to push the front passenger seat way back to make sure DD didn't fall off the seat. We got them home and Stef carried them in and they are here in the house with us now. Jake is not to keen on being inside. He is whining a lot. I think we will put him in a kennel tonight and DD in the laundry room.

It is going to be freezing tonight (literally). We are supposed to have a high of 30 degrees tomorrow! I DO NOT LIVE IN TEXAS TO DEAL WITH THIS CRAP!!!

I win!

Charity finally, really went into heat today. I loaded her up this morning and took her to Fran's, who, by the way was extremely gracious to let us trespass while she and John were not home. (Thank you) Charity was not as put off by Rastiff this time around. They got along quite nicely and did the deed for sure 2 times maybe 3.

Charity is done, Flower is done, and I'm beginning to believe Cole took care of Holly. So there it is, I WIN.

Have I mentioned...

How much I HATE cold weather??

Well, maybe not as much as flower hates it. Poor baby is all puffed up and miserable.

Good thing Niko is such a gentleman and let her use his coat.

DD too.

The boys think its great!



It didn't really freeze last night but sleeted and we had very high winds. Tonight it is really supposed to freeze. WAH!! All of the animals seem to be dealing with it well except for Flower and DD. They are the only ones that look thoroughly miserable. Oh yeah, and me too. Well, now I'm off to cover the pipes...

Business Card

Not my best photography ever, but you get the general idea. I'm going to attach this card to my cheese and soap I'm giving as gifts this year. I did the art, it is supposed to be a goat in a tub of soap bubbles. Deklan is going to work on some better stuff for me tomorrow.

One down...

... and maybe 2 to go. This morning Flower was sniffing Charity's rear end and trying to hump her so she took the trip to see Rastiff today. She hopped right in the car like she does it everyday and drove me nuts on the way over. I have the seat covered with plastic so if there are any accidents its not that bad, but Flower was all over the place like a puppy. She is such a character. Rastiff and Flower are just a match made in heaven. They were blubbering and snorting at each other through the fence and boy was her tail wagging! The deed was done 3 times ensuring Rastiff's nastiness was smeared all over Flower for the ride home. To take advantage of that fact, she made sure to rub up against every available surface while in the backseat. And then, for her last thank you to me for taking her to see her new beau, she peed on the backseat after removing the plastic,of course, mere yards from the driveway. Yea, Flower!


I say maybe 2 to go because maybe Charity got bred on her visit to Rastiff. I have to keep my eye on her to see if she goes into heat next week. And maybe, just maybe, Cole got the job done with Holly on her previous heat. Fingers crossed.

What to do...

I don't know what to do with these does. I can't tell when Charity is in heat. I thought I could tell when Holly was in heat (like yesterday), then today nothing. She was real interested in a buck rag yesterday, today she couldn't care less. She has discharge from her vulva like usual but she never did really holler super loud like she usually does, but what gives?? Oh, btw, a buck rag is a rag that has been wiped all over a bucky buck and stinks to high heaven, (or smells delightfully sexual if you happen to be in the caprine family). Charity wasn't interested in the rag yesterday but today is a little more curious, I don't know, I'm about to give up!

Goings on...

I really need to set up a routine again with this blog. This is such a busy time for us. We get up in the morning and do chores then it is off to Austin to help Stef with Christmas lights, we get home around 9 or later and go to bed. This schedule leaves little time for blogging. I will try to catch you all up though.

First, we had to say goodbye to Ama last Sunday. She was acting very off for a few days and by Sunday had totally lost all of her faculties and we decided it was time to put her down. Right away Lala and DD tried to take her place out front. They both kept escaping from the fenced barn area to roam up front where Ama used to be. I wish I could let them go back and forth at their will but Lala has a bad habit of chasing cars. I really want to get a fence finished around the front of the driveway sot he whole property is fenced off.

I'm still trying to get the girls (goats) bred. For the life of me I cannot tell when Charity is in heat. I thought she was going yesterday. The boys and I somehow managed to get her into the back seat of the car and we went to Fran's. I couldn't use the truck because it has the dumb top on it and I haven't figured out a way to get it off or how to hold it open yet. Anyway, we got to Fran's and put her with Rastiff, a very handsome and highly odiferous young man. She was not interested at all, but he was... There was a possible breeding but not positive. Yeah! We probably get to do that again!!

Cole is just not interested in Holly. We have tried many times with half-hearted results. Luckily I have the best goat friend in the world, Fran, and she is going to let me use one of her bucks, Magnum (Flower's dad), to use on Holly. I think she went into heat today and will probably take a quick trip with her to Fran's tomorrow.

When Flower goes into heat next she will also be taking a trip to Fran's to see Rastiff. Luckily she is such a hussy I have no problem knowing when she is in heat.

I also made my first batches of soap a week or two ago. Fran and I put our brains together and whipped up a couple of batches. Much to our surprise, it actually worked, we made real soap! With goat's milk, of course.

The pigs are getting bigger. Not sure how much they weigh now. I need to get a weigh tape and tape them but I'm not sure how I'm gonna get them to stay still for long enough to do it. I'll tell you about that rodeo when it happens. I want to get them butchered when they are around 250 lbs. That is when the feed to meat ratio begins to lower.

The chickens and ducks, yes we still have the disgusting ducks, are doing fine. We are only getting 2 or 3 eggs a day now. We need to put a light out in the coop so they think the days are longer. It is also time to butcher again. We have a good 6 or 7 roos we need to dispatch.

Stef is working 16 hour or longer days at UPS, doing Christmas lights and still trying to have soccer practice once a week and keep his martial arts classes up. This year has given us a few extra special challenges. I haven't been able to help as much because my back still hurts from the accident, although I am starting to feel much better now. Also, Stef tried to break his ankle a few days ago. It is swollen and black and blue. He is limping around and pitiful looking, yet he is still climbing on roofs every day. He's my hero.

The boys are doing great. Niko's improv classes are over until January. His class had an improv show for we went to and it was really good. Niko did very well, he was really comfortable being in front of an audience. Deklan's art classes are coming to an end next week. His class is having an art show on the 19th. Everyone in the class is picking their favorite masterpiece to be on display. Deklan picked 'Pears at Sea'. I will post a picture of it soon.