Posted in Mini Nubians
We finally have our Mini Nubian goats home and are enjoying them! I am also learning daily to try and be more frugal minded. We almost ended up spending a lot of money unnecessarily. First of all to transport the goats, we were planning on buying these huge dog crates. After talking to some friends who have transported their goats in their "cars" without anything with no problem, Greg and I decided to try and transport them in our SUV. We were kind of scared and being that it was a 3 hour drive, we decided to buy a divider just in case. We heard stories of goats trying to sit on your lap while you are trying to drive. We wanted to make sure they stayed in the back of the SUV. Well with Greg's great idea, we ended up not needing the divider and will be returning it. Woohoo! $80 back in our pockets!
This is the way we transported them (Greg's invention btw) and it worked GREAT:   It was so simple and "cheap". We put down a tarp and lined it with a couple of cardboard boxes. We then put card board boxes going all around and made a sort of semi cage. We put down plenty of straw on top of the cardboard boxes, then mixed in some hay on top of that. We put our girls in and brought the tarp up to seal before closing them in. This worked great! They were very comfy and we didn't have to spend a lot of money. Now about my girls. They are not what I want my herd to end up looking like. I want them to look more like Nubians, just a more petite version. Unfortunately, because this is such a new breed, I could not find any breeders closer to me. I don't have the kind of money you would need to ship these beauties from all over the country. I found a couple of breeders a few hours away with beautiful goats, but they were babies. I needed one already bred or ready to breed for the milk. To be honest Greg, the kids, and I are excited about taking on the challenge of breeding theses beautiful critters for the proper conformation and long pendulous ears of the Nubians. I think we are off to a good start. The girls I got both come from great lines and have good potential. They have also both been bred to two beautiful bucks. One to another mini nubian and one back to a full sized nubian. They are due to kid this Spring (I can't wait!). They are both awesome milkers with beautiful udders. Our girls already have well attached udder that produces great quality and quantity of milk. They also already have the sweet, docile, and very friendly trait known in Mini Nubians. We were thinking of starting from scratch (Nubian X Nigerian Dwarf), but were fortunate to find these babies within a decent driving distance. For those interested in dairy goats, but don't have a place to keep these huge animals.....A Mini Nubian might be right for you. What is a Mini Nubian, you ask? Well the Mini Nubian is a cross between a Nigerian Dwarf and a Nubian goat. The goal in breeding Mini Nubians is to produce a mid-size dairy goat with good conformation, high milk production, pendulous ears, and the roman nose of the Nubian. The first generation of Mini Nubians are usually created by breeding a Nigerian Dwarf buck to a Nubian doe. When you breed a first generation to another 1st generation Mini, the kids are second generation. When two second generations are bred, their kids are third generation and so on. Many first, second, and sometimes third generation Mini Nubians have airplane ears and need to be bred back to a nubian (I'm doing this with my 3rd generation mini) to bring down the ears of their kids. MiniNubians can be any color or combination of colors, which I love the variety in these babies. If you are interested in seeing and learning more about my girls, you can read about them here: Angels With Purpose Farm |
Posted in Chickens
We had a very busy weekend. A lot of hard work and a lot of fun. Right now my husband only has the weekends to work on the chicken coop and unfortunately yesterday his saw broke. Uuugh! LOL....how frustrating. Honestly, the coop is more for us because the chickens seem fine where they are at (in my garage). I know eventually we need to get them in their coop where they will have a lot of room to play (10 1/2 X 15 1/2), but for now they are fine in the garage. We let them out daily to play and get used to being outside where they will be spending most of their day anyways. This coop we are building is their "winter" home to keep them out of the cold, but once spring comes they will be in a tractor for nesting and out on the pasture for fun. We had some unexpected visitors yesterday, which was such a warm welcome with all the work we had. They helped us with the chicken coop and to dig the ditch. We are digging a ditch from the garage to the barn for electricity. This will add electricity to the big barn, the goat barn, and the chicken coop. Their children also helped our children break in their new swing set.  Xander actually started playing on it the night before. Poor thing couldn't wait. He wouldn't even run inside to get a jacket and it was freezing. He wanted to take a couple of quick pictures (he says for my memories, we all know he just wanted to play  ), then we ran inside. You'll notice he is wearing women's mud boots. They're mine and he won't take them off. He will even go to the store wearing them. LOL I wonder what people must think of me.  Well here are some more picutures of our weekend. Like I stated above, it was a busy weekend full of hard work and loads of fun: I feel so Blessed that our Lord has given us this opportunity. We had such an amazing time working and playing this weekend. These will be memories my family will cherish for ever. To think, this is just the beginning. There will be so many more days like this! Praise the Lord for His abundance in Grace and Mercy because I know I do not deserve this. |
Posted in Newby Farm Decisions
First of all we decided to wait a little longer for pigs. We still want pigs and will eventually get them, but I feel the timing is off right now. After our boar died we decided not to pick up the gilt. When dh and I first discussed having farm animals, we knew we wanted happy animals. Although a lot of people have told me the gilt would be fine by herself, I could not bring myself to bring her here to be alone. Sure she would have an abundance of love from us and plenty of other animals to look at, but in her world she would still be alone. Besides, being new to all of this we should give ourselves time to get used to each animal. |
Posted in Pigs
I don't really feel like blogging right now, but wanted to give an update. This blog was created for me to keep a record of our happenings on the farm. Both the good and the bad. This is definitely a bad. After trying to catch our pig for two days, we have finally lost him for good. My son found him today in the neighbor's corn field. He and the neighbor were trying to lure him back to our house to get him in the pen. The pig tried to get away by running into the cows field. He soon got surrounded by some very territorial heifers who kicked him to death. We are so sad. I know this is part of "life on a farm", but it is still very hard for us newbies. This was our boar we were going to use for breeding. We are supposed to pick up our gilt tomorrow. I'm now not sure if I should pick her up. We don't really have the money to run out and get another boar right away. I wonder if she will be lonely as I know pigs are herd animals. This was a very hard lesson learned. Well, actually two. First of all, I will never buy any animal from a farm where they are raised without any human interaction. This pig was extremely terrified of people. I thought if I brought him home and showed him enough love, he would get used to us. The farm I am getting the gilt from raise their pigs with so much love, that they are like big puppies. Secondly, I will never assume anything with any animal. If I would not have assumed that this pig would not be able to jump the fence I would not have let him out of the cage and alone. I would have waited until dh finished the electric gate. |
Posted in Pigs
Well we've had our first escape and it is not fun. I had such a bad feeling yesterday about this pig. First of all the farm we got him from (because of circumstances not chosen by the owner) do not give these pigs any personal attention whatsoever. There is a lady who comes out to feed them once a day and I believe that is all the attention they get. This poor little piglet is terrified of people. We are still not sure how he escaped. We fed him and thought we left him safely in his new home. Then my husband and son, who were setting up the electric fence to let him out the next day, hear a noise and watch him escape into the darkness. We did not find any holes anywhere in the pen. I am guessing he jumped over the partition/fence that divides the pen and then out the opening in the other stall. It seems kind of high for him to jump, but that is the only possible way. |
Posted in Mini Nubians
I am so sad to say we will not be getting the Nubian goat we were looking forward to. We are so sad. She had a miscarriage and her current owner has decided to keep her until she is sure she can kid again. This has taught me a lesson on not getting too attached. At the same time I believe God allows certain things for a reason. A lot of things have been giving me funny feelings about this doe. Every time we were supposed to pick her up, something would come up. Maybe it was the fact she was going to miscarry.....I don't know. She comes from a really great farm and the young lady that is raising her takes great care of her animals. She thinks maybe one of her other does might have bumped her too hard. I have no ill feelings towards this farm, it's just that I believe it is not meant to be for me to have her. Maybe it's just the timing that is not right. Either way we are not getting her at this time. I am still hoping to be able to purchase her later. For some reason she has a big peace of my heart. |
Posted in Newby Farm Decisions
Well we are done clearing and cleaning out the barn/pen area for our goats and pigs (yes, we decided to get the pigs....more on that later). Now we are putting up the fence. After a lot of research on the different types of fencing, we decided to go with electrical fence. At first we wanted the solar powered charger, but after researching realized it wouldn't be a good fit for us. Although it states it will operate up to 21 days without sun light, the power is not as strong. In these cold cloudy days, I do not want to take a chance in losing my animals to predators or having them escape and getting into my neighbors beautiful garden. We decided to go with the Parmak Model SE-4 Super Energizer 4 Fence Charger (110-120 volts). All the poles are up, but we still need to run the wires. First we sectioned off a big peace of land into a square where we will have them (for now because I plan to rotate them around the land). We put up four T-Post in each corner. We then divided this square into two parts, one side bigger than the other. Two more T-Post went up there. Then from these T-Posts we placed the Poly Step-in Posts about every 10' from each other. Now we need to put in the wiring. We went with the 14 gauge wire and will be running 4 hot strands of wire. The first one will be about 6" from the ground, the next one will be about 12" from the ground. We will then add another 8" from the last one, then the last one will be 12" from that one. This means our last hot strand will be about 32" from the ground. We have sectioned off a pretty big area for our animals. We will then divide this area in a little less than half for our two piglets. The divider in between the goats and the piglets will probably only have 3 hot wire strands until the pigs get a little bigger. Then we will only need two. We took pictures putting up the post, but I have not downloaded them from my camera yet. We should be done putting in the wires today and I will be taking more pictures. Once we are done, I will post them.
 The characteristics of the Tamworth reflect the breed’s centuries of selection for an outdoor life. Pigs of this breed were expected to find their own food, especially mast (or acorns) of oak and beech forests. Long heads and impressive snouts enable these pigs to be efficient foragers. Long, strong legs and sound feet give Tamworth pigs the ability to walk for considerable distances. Ginger red coats make the pigs adaptable to a variety of climates and protect them from sunburn. Tamworths have an active intelligence, and they are agreeable in disposition. Sows are prolific, able to produce and care for large litters. The piglets are vigorous and often have 100% survivability. Both sexes of this breed reach a mature weight of 500-600 lbs (227-272 kg). The Tamworth was traditionally considered a “bacon” breed, meaning that the pigs thrived on low energy foods but grew slowly. They produced meat and bacon that was lean and fine grained. The breed has an excellent carcass yield of up to 70% due to their fine bones creating a more productive meat to bone ratio for finished meat products. |
Posted in Newby Farm Decisions
Wow.....I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. We have been so busy here in the farm. I really wanted to keep a good record of our daily activities as we start homesteading, but to be honest, with the excitement of our new life I have forgotten. For our goats, again after much research, we decided on the Nubian Dairy Goat. I'm in love with their floppy ears and round roman noses. This goat was developed in England mainly as a dual purpose animal, i.e. for milk and meat. English Swiss type does were crossed with bucks from Eastern countries such as India, Egypt and Ethiopia. The breed is characterized by its Roman nose and long, wide pendulous ears. The Nubian is the most popular breed in North America today and multiple births of 3 and 4 kids are common. They tend to be more out of season breeders than Swiss and therefore provide winter milk more easily. They are also favored by buyers who purchase for meat because of their meatier carcass. Milk production is a little less than Swiss breeds but a good Nubian doe can average 2.5 litres per day over a 10 month lactation. Greg, the kids and I have spent the last couple of weeks cleaning and clearing out the Small Barn for our goats. We should be picking them up next weekend. I wanted to pick them up this weekend, but it took a little longer than I thought fixing everything up. I am getting a pregnant doe from Hilary at Always Somethin' Farm and I am getting another doe from Geraldine Garvin at Country Calico Dairy Goats. Cleaning and Clearing out the small barn has been a lot of hard work, but very satisfying. I never knew such hard work could feel so good. I can't wait to have our animals settled in. We still have to pick up some hay, electric fencing, and posts which we will do this weekend, then we should be ready for our babies. I have also been working hard on clearing my future garden. I will not start until next Spring, but wanted to clear it out and get it ready. I should be receiving some books I ordered on gardening sometime next week (since I know nothing about gardening) and will start brainstorming on what I want to do. I am so excited about this also! Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what we have been doing: Another thing we are contemplating is getting a pig. I'm not sure when this will happen, but I have already started researching and brainstorming with DH on what type of breed we would want. We know we want a heritage breed and have been looking into the Tamworth Breed. We visited a farm with Tamworths piglets yesterday and the children were very excited about it and wanted me to buy one right away. The owner of the farm is also new to homesteading and really did not have much information to give me about his pigs. He actually bought his breeding pair only two months ago and the sow was already pregnant. This made me uncomfortable because I am looking for pigs that have been raised organically/naturally. This meeting did not satisfy me and I wanted more info before purchasing. I also would not allow the children near them, since the owner didn't really know them himself and seemed a little leery about the pigs. This made me a little uncomfortable about the way they were raised. I am looking for a family who raises their animals with love. I wanted to really get a feel for the breed. In doing more research about the breed in my area I found out one of the families in my homeschool group also has and breeds Tamworths. Woohoo!!!! I know she is running an organically and natural farm and her children are a big help. I am sure her pigs are raised with lots of love and should be more docile than the pigs we met yesterday. We will be (hopefully) visiting their farm on Saturday. So this is what we have been up to. As you can see, lots of work and lots of planning. |
Posted in In The Garden
We found this this morning and I was wondering if anyone can tell me what it is. It was brown with white stripes and it has a heart on his head: |
We enjoyed our first week of homeschooling this week. I forgot to take pictures of the first day this year, but did capture some pictures on Thursday when I remembered. I didn't get many outside, but will try to remember today when we tackle fixing up the farm. We will be cutting down overgrown weeds/trees, fixing up the smaller barn for either goats or pigs....maybe both. It's getting late, so I need to get off this thing, but please go read about our first week of school at: |
We Will Be Officially Moved in...... Tomorrow!!!! We can't wait. We have been living with more than half our stuff at the farm house and the rest in the old place. Tomorrow we will be completely moved into the farm house and will start living the life of our dreams. Today as we were there taking in the rest of our stuff, my oldest son enjoyed driving around in the lawn mower and shooting his BB Gun.
 Xander calming a Nubian enough to be able to pet it. You should have seen this same goat a few minutes earlier.  Here he is with another one of his buddies.  This poor baby was scared of everyone, yet it allowed Xander to pet him as he whispered sweet nothings in his ear.  Not sure what he told this calf, but she stood up and followed him everywhere he went after this.
 The owner was very impressed and told me all about 4H. She stated it is very rare to see a child his age get along so well with farm animals unless they were raised with them. She stated most two year olds would have cried the first time one of the goats tried to jump on them. She went on to say that she believed Xander would be a great farmer when he grew up. I laughed because at the time we never would have imagined the Lord would bring us to the place we are at now. Something like what Sarah did when our Lord told her she would have a child at her age.
Now at age 5.....  (This pic was actually taken last Oct).... Xander has not lost his love for farm animals and is extremely happy we are moving to a farm. Last night as we laid in bed, he told me his plans for taking care of his animals. He has a small John Deere kiddie tractor with a small trailer. He stated he will wake up "really" (his word was "weally") early and load up his tractor with the chicken's food to drive out to the chicken coup (which is about 20 steps from the back door). He will then return home and load up his tractor with the pig food and do the same. He will then take the cows their food and continue this until he feeds all of "His" animals. Once he is done feeding and watering all of his animals he will then come home to eat his own breakfast before starting school (we home school). Mid-morning he will take a break from school and let his animals out to play (I believe he thinks when they are out to pasture, they are playing). He plans on having all sorts of animals although his father, brother, sister and I have only discussed having chickens, pigs, and are debating between a miniature cow, regular sized cow, or dairy goats for now. We'll see what the Lord will bring us once we are settled in. Right before he closed his eyes he whispered, "Mommy, now I think I will dream about horses." and then fell asleep. LOL...he cracks me up. He is too cute. Well tomorrow will be a long day filled with the children's first day of school (kindergarten, 8th, 9th, and 11th grades) along with cleaning the very dusty and cobweby farm house that has been sitting vacant for a little over a year. Oh and let's not forget, the joy of unpacking. |
Posted in In The Garden
Apples and Bugs......
I was so disappointed to find out our apple trees are infested with bugs. I noticed a while ago that the apples that were falling on the floor had bugs, but I figured that the ones in the trees would be fine. Well today I realized it's all the apples. This guy told us that this is a good thing because it means our apples are organic. This doesn't make sense to me because the apples I currently buy are organic and have no bugs. He actually picked up an apple and started eating it bugs and all! He stated it was protein. Yuck! He laughed at me when I made a face. I guess he must think us city folks will never make it in this farm. I guess I got a lot to get used to. I am going to look online to find out what I could do to get these bugs off the tree in a natural way. I really hope I can find a way to do this without chemicals. I think the trees are all going to die if I don't do something. The leaves are also being eaten and the tree looks as if it is drying. There absolutely has to be a way to take care of this. Besides, I'd really rather get my protein another way. If any of you know what kind of bugs are attracted to apple trees and know of a natural way to get rid of them, I'd really appreciate the advice! |
Posted in Newby Farm Decisions
Garbage......
So what do we do with it? This is something we had not thought of. Now I am scouring the cyber world trying to find out. When they first told us that there would be no garbage or recyclable pick up, I thought great. We were planning to start composting anyways, but now it really hit home. We have never composted before and don't know the first thing about it. What goes into a compost bin and what can not go into a compost bin? What do we do with the garbage that can not go into a compost bin? I've heard of people burning garbage, but how do I know what to burn and what will not be a good idea to bun. And most importantly what do we do with the rest. Also, I honestly don't know much about recycling. I'm sure we were doing it all wrong. Plastics in one bin and papers in the other was all I knew. I'm sure when you are taking it to the recyling place yourself, there is a lot more to it. |
Posted in Newby Farm Decisions
My dh has always wanted a ride on lawn mower and he now has two! |
Posted in Newby Farm Decisions
We had such an amazing dinner today. Our dinner consisted of freshly picked vegetables from our friend's garden. I've never seen vegetables so big and they were so delicious. What a difference from store bought. This was their first garden and they did such an amazing job. I am so proud of her. They used no chemicals at all, only natural pest control. In other words, they worked with nature instead of against it. It has made me look at bugs, worms, birds, etc..... in a whole different way. We serve such an amazing God. I've realized everything on this earth has a purpose. They also used natural fertilizer (manure from a neighboring farm |
Posted in References
Today will be a day spent cleaning and packing. On my down times, I will be reading and studying. I've made a list of books I want to buy and add to my library, but I wanted to read them first to make sure they will be a good fit for our family. |
Posted in Chickens
Today I have spent most of the morning/afternoon reading and studying chickens. We were advised and planned to concentrate on some good laying chickens for now and then gradually bring in meat chickens. Now after all my reading, I'm starting to wonder if we should change our plans. Should we just get chickens that would serve both purposes? Some books state you should concentrate on a good laying breed for eggs and a good meat breed for meat. Then other books state if you will have a small family farm, it would be best to get chickens that are both good layers and meat producers. Very Confusing for this city girl! |
Posted in Newby Farm Decisions
My husband and I have been discussing starting a farm for years. 6 years ago we even bought land in FL to start our farm, but things did not work out as planned. We still have the land, but ended up moving miles away to MD. |