Today on the farm:

It seems that Princess Kate could not bear Melina's abuse or continual bad mood since Cissy's death and attempted suicide today. Not really. She was taking a nap under the car, but it sure looks like it, doesn't it?

Here's a close-up. Maia took the picture, and she said Kate was sleeping so soundly she was actually drooling.

Remember those rocket boosters I though the goats had in their feet the other day? I think Grace had the turbo upgrade installed. She actually managed to jump onto the kitchen counter today. It was bottle time and they were so hungry I let them in while I made them. She’s come close to getting up there over the past few days, but all of a sudden, there she was.

Grace jumped onto my 36" high kitchen counter today trying to get her bottle!

Maia took these barn photos for me since I had to run out and the light was fading. She forgot to take the front of the chicken coop, which looks so great with the siding, the nesting boxes and the chicken ramp all together. I think the decking will be installed next.

And look at the old chicken coop! It got a facelift today. Jim was grumbling about me getting rid of it, but it’s a perfectly good building that just is looking a little tired. I was hoping to keep it as my new “brooder” coop for young chicks and get rid of that lousy red one I got a few years back. I decided that if we just fixed it up so that it looked more like the new structures, it would all look like some big farm ‘compound’. The windows boxes that used to be under the front windows have, over the years, rotted the siding underneath the windows pretty badly. I also tore off the front porch railings that had had so many tree branches fall on them over the years they were a complete ugly mess. They’ll also replace the old decking boards with the same decking material to match the other barns.

The old chicken coop got a facelift!

Kiki and Grace got SO big while I was gone. Six days is a long time when you're a goat baby.

Everybody missed me while I was away. They, in their own animal way, all seemed excited to have me home.

Both of the babies seem to have rocket boosters built into their little hooves! I have never seen such small things jump so high. Grace was almost jumping on to the kitchen counter this afternoon trying to get to her bottle! And she can easily jump onto the counter of the lemonade stand. Jumping into my lap from any seat is a piece of cake for both of them. It’s still almost impossible to get a good photo of baby goats though, as they are in constant motion.




I was very disappointed to come home and discover that virtually nothing had been done to the goat house and chicken coop while I was gone. Why is getting a job done by contractor’s always such a struggle? After a stern email to them last night, they did arrive today and worked a surprisingly full day. I now have the live-edge siding up all around the goat house and around half of the chicken coop. I love the way it looks.

Front and entry side of goat house with live-edge siding.

Rear of goat house with the live-edge siding

Far side of goat house with live-edge siding

The chicken coop's live-edge siding

One of these days the buildings will be finished. The chickens are quite anxious to get into their new coop. The higher ceiling height and the solar exhaust fan in the cupola should help to keep it much cooler than the current coop. They’ll like that.

The chickens can't wait for the grand opening of the new coop.

The final “wow” was added to the chicken coop yesterday. The exterior nesting box doors with the individual viewing windows. How’s that for fancy? I think my friend (and architect) came up with the idea, but I just love how it looks. I also love the exterior doors so I can collect eggs without having to go inside the coop.


We got trim around the whole coop’s exterior too. The interior trim will be done next and then the siding and roof! I cannot wait to see that.




And finally, this is the look I get every time I leave Grace and Kiki in their stall. Breaks my little heart.

I have been so busy lately I haven’t had much time to update my site. Things have been busy here on the farm with summer actiivities in full swing.

And as if he heartbreak of losing Cissy after the birth of the babies wasn’t enough, on Thursday morning I went out to feed the farm only to discover that my small brooder coop had been broken into by a predator – probably a raccoon or possum. . Unbelievably, I lost every single chick — and there were 20 or 22 adolescent chicks in that coop — except one. We don’t know how this guy managed to escape the attack, but in the morning he was the lone survivor. We have yet to come up with a suitable name for him. He has, thankfully, been welcomed into the larger flock and is now living over in the big coop.

The lone survivor of the chicken massacre of 2011

The rear of the chicken coop in the beginning of the week.

Front of the coop and nesting boxes at the beginning of the week

Rear of the coop by the end of the week. Walls and washable wall material has been installed and rubber flooring laid down.

By the end of the week this is what the front of the coop looked like. Only one small piece of the scrubbable wall material left to be installed and the trim around windows and nesting boxes.

The cupola was installed on the roof, and that solar panel to the left of the cupola will power...

The solar ceiling fan built into the cupola's base. It runs off a thermostat on the wall and kicks in when it gets to a specified temperature in the coop. How cool is that?

I expanded my garden bed this spring, but quickly realized with the goats having free-roam of the property until the new fencing is installed anything I planted would be eaten in minutes flat. I decided to make some protective fencing myself. So, through the heat of these past two weeks I’ve been building fencing. Evan has been helping me quite a bit when he gets home from school.

The final step was cutting off the excess of the mounting posts with a circular saw.

The finished garden enclosure with an entry gate. It's not fancy, but hopefully it will keep the goats out.

With all of the work it took, we still don't have that much room to plant things. Evan and I spent some time this afternoon getting stuff planted in the cold, dreary weather.

Grace & Kiki are growing like weeds! They practically call me on the phone now when it’s bottle time and Grace can suck down her bottle, which is up to 8 ounces 4 times a day, in about 2 minutes flat. Kiki is a little more lady-like about it and likes to take a break or two while drinking hers. I have discovered it is very difficult to get a good photograph of goat kids…they move constantly.


My goal this week is to get them down to 3 feedings a day. I have to leave for Wyoming on Friday to take Evan to camp and I’d like to reduce the burden on everybody by getting the bottle feeding a little less frequent.

Grace has discovered that sucking on an earlobe is remarkably like sucking on a goat’s udder, so whenever you’re holding she’ll root around for your ear and suck away. And yes, those are goats in the house.


And Kiki discovered Princess Kate’s tiny udder the other day and was sucking away on that. Look at Kate’s face!


It was one of the cutest things I’d ever seen, until about 20 minutes later when I was looking for Kiki and found her under the contractor’s truck where she was covering Princess Kate’s face with kisses.

The chicken’s are anxiously awaiting the move into the new coop this week. They are so smitten with the goat house I don’t know what they’re going to do when they realize this new structure is for them! I am constantly finding them in the goat house, and yesterday there were a total of 6 eggs in the goat’s stall – 3 in the hayrack and 3 on the ground.


Just wait until they get a load of the nesting boxes with individual windows.

I am not/was not a nervous mother with my children. Some may say I was a bit too laid back and casual. However, the thought of leaving my little “kids” for a night and full day has me in a bit of a panic. My husband planned an overnight in Manhattan for us as a Mother’s Day gift back when we thought that Cissy would be in charge of her babies. My friend Cyrena will be farm sitting and taking over bottle-feeding duties. She came and did the afternoon feeding herself just to make sure she had the hang of it. She’s farm sat for me tons so I’m not worried about the other animals. I think my dog would probably rather live with her sometimes. I know she will do a fantastic job with the babies and all will be wonderful.

We can now feed both of them at the same time, which certainly saves time!

I’m still nervous.

Just look at them.

Meanwhile, it’s been a very busy week here. The chicken coop, which didn’t exist on Tuesday morning, now looks like this:

The large square hole in the front of the coop is where a large external nesting box will be. It will hold 12 nesting boxes and have external doors so eggs can be gathered without going into the coop.

This is the side view. The chicken coop is on the left and the goat house is on the right.

This is the rear view of the goat house on left and the chicken coop on right.

My "Corn Flakes" Rooster

He’s got something wrong with his legs. For a while he could barely walk at all. Now he walks a bit like a drunken sailor. I can’t quite figure out exactly what’s wrong – he may have deformed feet. Whatever it is he seems to be able to get around well enough. I’m just keeping an eye on him to see how he develops and if his legs get any worse or better. I really would like to have a rooster so that all my broody hens can have some chicks of their own.

No matter what drama is unfolding, life on a farm continues.

Construction of the chicken coop began today. While the goat house isn’t complete inside or out, it’s complete enough that they can start the coop and finish that later. I’ve got young chickens in my small coop bursting to get out and I needed that bigger coop yesterday.

The chicken coop now has a floor and two walls

The two buildings will be connected by a "silo" that will be a fully enclosed small chicken run

Bullet exhausts himself working so hard and sleeps very soundly

Grace & Kiki are liking their visits to the great outdoors and Melina and Princess Kate are getting used to them.

Mostly Melina and Kate hang by themselves, busying themselves with bush pruning and other important things.

Princess Kate & Melina chillin on some straw bales

Kate doing some pruning

Melina has been seen on the back porch guarding the babies though

The chickens are fascinated in general by the new goat house. Wait until they figure out they're getting a new coop!

There is still little change is Momma Cissy’s condition. She is still in critical condition at the vets. It is still touch-and-go. I will hear from the vet again in the morning and am hoping to visit her. Of course none of this is made easier because it Memorial Day Weekend and the vet is closed for a full two days. They only have someone in the office every few hours to check on the “patients”.

In the meantime, my duties as Mom to my own kids and the goat babies has kept me running. I cannot remember the last night I cooked a meal. But I have had some quality time with my family, and some times when I’m so distracted I cannot even answer a question. We’ve been blessed with beautiful weather, so lots of outdoor activities have been occurring. Tomorrow Evan and I are hoping to get some garden fencing built and finally get some plants in the ground.

I put together a short video of the goat babies dancing around today in the goat house and of them drinking their bottles. They are absolutely adorable and growing like weeds. Tomorrow will be there first venture outside and they will meet Melina and Princess Kate. Click the link just below to watch the video.

Kid Antics

Speaking of Melina, she seems to be horribly depressed without her best friend. Princess Kate seems unaffected by Cissy’s absence and is just glad that Melina has stopped beating the crap out of her on a daily basis. In fact the opposite has happened – she has suddenly become Kate’s protector, which is so interesting to me.