Progress, Slow Progress

When you live in the country, you don't just slow down, everything else does, too. We've been waiting over a month for our well to be fixed - still dealing with the rotten egg sulfur smell - and it looks like our wait is almost finally over. The well people kept telling us they were waiting for their concrete guys to build the pad. We finally found a concrete guy ourselves and the pad is already prepped and will be filled in Saturday. By Monday, weather permitting, we should get the holding tank put in and our issues will be over. 

As for the barndominium, we're seeing progress on that as well. We've approved the interior design and the elevation design. All that's left is the electrical design which we should get next week and once that's approved by us, we're good to go. It's more than time to break ground!

For our land, we're turning in the AG exemption paperwork tomorrow which we've already been told will be approved with no issues. However, we've got to get more animals by the year's end which won't be an issue for me. More goats and hopefully donkeys will be joining the herd soon. We'll also be getting our own guinea hens which don't count for AG exemption but do get rid of snakes. I'm all for that!

Speaking of animals, Cocoa is doing good, but her abscess is being difficult to drain. She really doesn't like the nightly draining and shot treatment we have to do, regardless of how many treats we give her. Hopefully soon it will be a distant memory and she'll go back to enjoying our company. I sure love all my babies!

Not For The Weak

Today was Cocoa's very appointment. Separating her from Scotchie was truly the most difficult thing of the whole process. Those two are inseparable and they both cried when we took Cocoa away. 

The diagnosis was good though! She had an abscess caused by getting poked by who knows what. They cut the spot open and drained a lot out. Here's where it gets gross though, it's an open wound and we have to keep squeezing it until it's fully drained. It was the size of a softball, so that tells you how much we're getting out of there. Also, she's on meds that I give her as a shot in the muscle once a day for the next week. I handle the shots, Rob handles the draining. We make a good team. 

We keep telling her how much we love her, but she's not believing us much right now. Tomorrow, I'll share updates. For now, enjoy this pic of our recovering Cocoa. 

Some Trials, Some Trails

In farming/ranching, you've always got to take the good with the bad. Everything though, is a learning experience. 

Some trials we've experienced lately concerns the animals. Toffee, who I was supposed to get the first of May, will not likely be joining us. She developed silent pneumonia which I've learned is near impossible for a young kid to recover from. Also, our sweet Cocoa has developed a lump on her chest that is rather big. We've got an appointment with the vet scheduled for Tuesday, but I'm suspecting it is a benign mass we'll have to get removed. She is not sick, her appetite is good, and she doesn't seem to even notice it, which is good news. 

On to the trails. As beginning farmers, we have no qualms asking for help and guidance. Yesterday, we met with the National Resources Conservation Service as well as the USDA (they're the same, but different). The NRCS came out to our land today and got the assessment that our land is heavily infested with mesquite which they will help us remove and then help us plant native grasses. The USDA gave us a mountain of paperwork which we're filling out to help aide us in our farming aspects with animals, their care, and crops.

I'll keep everyone informed of how everything advances to maybe help other aspiring farmers as well. As for updates, we're still waiting on our well to be fixed to rid it of the abhorrent sulfur smell. Our plans have gone through stage 1 of the architectural design and now our architect is working on the roof and elevation portion of the plan. The red chicken from our neighbor kept returning to her home so I told her to keep it, but the barred rock, my quail and all my baby chicks are doing well!

Our dog Kenzie who is doing a great job keeping birds of prey off our land

New Additions

We've got two sets of new additions to our farm from this weekend. First, our neighbor gifted us with two of her laying chicks! 

Then, I met with a woman who was overcrowded with Coturnix quail at eight weeks old and I was fortunate to take five of her females off her hands. Soon, we'll have quail eggs!

Don't forget, on May first we're picking up our newest kid as well. I've had to promise Rob I'm done with animals until we get some housebuilding done. Let's hope they build the house quickly! 😊

The Trio

In the beginning, there was Scotchie and Cocoa. Scotchie, incredibly inquisitive and yet a bit of a ditzy blonde. Currently, her horns are growing and yet she rakes her body along the fence instead of her horns when they're itching. If you grab her, she wants treats for the cuddles. 

Cocoa, the reserved one. She's naturally polled (without horns) and will let Scotchie brave each new adventure before trying herself. While she's the largest, she's also the calmest and if you're able to pick her up, she'll comfortably relax in your arms. 

Sundae, our baby for now. She will soon be growing her horns out like Scotchie, but for now she's happy doing her own thing. Where Scotchie is inquisitive, Sundae is extroverted. She'll visit with the pups, she'll visit with the chicks, she'll happily be picked up and carried around like a beauty queen. She understands her sisters are inseparable like twins and sometimes she'll be their third wheel while other times, she's off chasing butterflies. I sure love my trio! 🥰

House Management

We've finally got the concept design for our barndominium! We offered up a few tweaks, but otherwise things look good. Hopefully it won't take her long to finish the plans and we can get rolling on our new home. Living in 37' of RV is not easy. 

While we're waiting for our new home, it was finally time to move the chicks from their brooding pen to their chicken chateau! I can't wait for them to explore the space and get a little sunshine, too. Once they're finally grown, that's when they'll be allowed to free range during the day. We've got too many birds of prey around right now to risk their young bodies. 

The goats each asked when they are getting a new home. In fact, that's my next project. I'll be building them an actual stall. Hopefully this will be completed before Toffee cones home May 1st. New pics of Toffee will wait until we pick her up, for now, enjoy the chicks and goats! 😊

Country Auction

One of the things you learn about living in the country is to find your auctions. Every couple of months, an auction house near us has an auction of farming equipment and miscellaneous items. This particular auction is set up where you can attend in person or bid online in real time. As we had errands to run today, Rob took it upon himself to keep an eye online. 

There was a little bit of everything. An RV went for $84,000 while a bundle of T-posts went for $400. Tractors went for $2200 and upwards to almost $100,000. Rob got into the spirit pretty well and now we're the owners of a Kawasaki 4wd mule. It'll come in handy as we get more animals thereby needing to haul more feed. 

Next, we'll have to see what the sale barns are all about. That's where the animals are auctioned off. We'll probably give it a couple of weeks until we go to those. 😊