Angels With A Purpose - No Pigs, Mini Nubians, and a Swing Set

Saturday, November 7, 2009

No Pigs, Mini Nubians, and a Swing Set

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.

On a brighter note.....Our chickens are huge! They are six weeks old and seem to be thriving. We let them out everyday for a couple of hours. If it wasn't so cold I would probably leave them out longer. I love watching them outside roaming around scratching and eating grass. They are super friendly and come right up to us if we sit on the floor. We changed our mind about what we will be using as a coop. We were fixing up the shed right behind our house for them, but then decided we would rather keep all of the animals together (including my children who's playground is being placed on the other side of the fence next to my garden). This way their is only one place to visit for feedings, caring, playing, and watching of the animals. There is another shed by the smaller barn (where the goats will be) and we are now converting that into a chicken coop. This way I can let them out every morning into the yard with the goats. We plan to move the goats periodically around the 6 acres, so eventually we will also need to make the chickens a tractor to move them around in.

And while we are on the subject of 'goats' ........ I am excited to state that we will be picking up our Mini Nubians next weekend! Woohoo! I can't wait. We are so excited! We are finished fixing up the small barn for their new home and the fence is up. They will both be (prayerfully/tentatively) pregnant, so we should have kids in March/April and plenty of delicious milk. I am also excited about making goat's milk soap. I have been in love with goats for so long now and I can not wait to bring them home. The days seem to be dragging. It kind of feels like I'm a child waiting for Christmas day. I am finding myself dreaming about goats with long pendolous ears swaying as they run. I feel Susan (from Whispering Pines and their current owner) made great choices in breeding the does. I can't wait to see what their kids will look like!

We were also Blessed with a Wooden Swing Set today. My children are so excited! We have been planning to get them one for a while. Like I stated above, it is being placed next to the garden. I am hoping to post pictures later. It is really nice and exactly what we were planning to get for them, except this one was free. I love it how God knows exactly what we want. We serve an awesome God! I know my children will really enjoy this and I am so grateful.