Farm Farm

No Babies Yet!

So it’s time to choose the roof color for the goat house & chicken coop. I finally chose this grey color which goes beautifully with the milkpaint red of the siding, but cannot decide whether or not to use a red roof on the ‘silo’ chicken run or to keep it all the same grey. The silo will be covered in a wire that will rust over time. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Do you think the silo should have a red roof or the same grey as the buildings?

No goat kids yet! And surprise surprise, I think it’s Cissy that is actually going to deliver first and Melina will deliver later this month. It dawned on me like a thunder bolt Sunday morning that perhaps the breeder had mixed their names up, as Cissy was much larger and her udder was more enlarged that Melina’s. Today Cissy is showing signs that labor is coming, but if I had to guess it’s going to wait until Tuesday night or maybe even Wednesday. They have both been sleeping an awful lot. Thankfully the weather has given them nice sunny placed to take naps. They seem absolutely exhausted.

Melina's out like a light.

Cissy is scratching her rear on a tree. She is VERY itchy and is using all manner and means to get her itches scratched; rocks, cement posts, corners of buildings, and trees!

Kate is tired just from keeping up with the big girls!

Cissy's udder was pretty full tonight, but it will get so full and tight it might even become shiny or "strutted" when labor is about 2 hours away I'm told.

On Sunday I prepared the small stall in the new goat house for the delivery. It wasn’t nearly finished, but I need the space. I can’t very well have her deliver in a dog house now. My friend Cyrena and I wrestled 2 3/4″ thick rubber stall mats into it on Saturday and cut them to fit perfectly. I laid down straw and put up a temporary hay rack and water bucket. Then I screwed plywood onto where the doors should be. It’s not perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than what it could be. I had them eat in there on Sunday night and they visit it a lot during the day. If she doesn’t go into labor I will have her sleep in there on Tuesday night. I’ve borrowed a baby monitor so I can listen for any signs of labor during the night.


And low and behold I got the door to the stall installed today!


There is a small deck out the back of the goat house that will have a roof over it so even in bad weather they can spend time outside. Fancy.

And Sunday we had our first hive inspection.

On Sunday we had our first hive inspection, which was probably pretty late, but it's been so cold here! It's a mess in there and we've got comb everywhere, but the colony seems healthy.

My bee guy is coming down Thursday to help me evaluate next steps in creating new colonies for the rear of this hive, which is a dual-colony hive, and for the new hive that I made this winter. Hopefully he can also help me get these messy honeycombs straightened out. I’ll report more on the bees after Thursday.

 

Comments

  1. the chicken run is the rust-colored mesh side part of the goat house? (or looks like that in the drawing?) If so, I vote grey for the roof for sure.

  2. i like the red roof.

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