I had the big idea recently that I would raise goats again. But my first buck died. Then the next little buck I had gotten from a friend, bottle fed so carefully for weeks, and had finally moved to the big goat pen, out from under the protective shelter he had been raised in, succumbed to the freeze last Saturday. It was quite a blow to find the little guy dead. That was when I began to think, hmmmm...This isn't working...
So I decided to just stick with chickens. They have been my most successful venture. I've got a fairly good start on them this year, my "chick room" in the barn is full:
My bigger hens, the ones I hatched out here at our little farm last year, are laying now, much to the delight of my little boys. Luke grabbed a little basket he's had for a while and has dubbed it the egg basket. Now he and Tommy search for eggs every morning:
Have you ever had a chance to see a freshly laid, free range chicken egg? There is just no comparison with a store bought egg, either in the way they look or the way they taste. A store bought egg has a pale yellow yolk and a runny white part. A freshly laid hen's egg has a firm white and a bright orange yolk, in fact, the better they eat (as in the more grass, seed and - let's face it - bugs) the brighter the yolk can look:
See the difference? The one on the left is an egg one of my hens laid yesterday. The one on the right is a store bought egg, bought just last week...
Here's my a few of my big chickens. They are camera shy (and people shy) so I never seem to get a picture of anything but their back sides:
And last, my goats. I'm not sure what I'll do with these ladies. They are outliving all the husbands I get for them. Seems they are destined to be childless... But they sure make great lawn mowers!
I still have plenty to keep me busy. Life is pretty good. I do have the small farm, even if it won't ever pay the electric bill. It's a great place to grow little boys and even girls if you have enough kittens. I love my house and my family.
So I'll reshift my goals, and we will do what we can do easily and what's fun, and quit worrying about having a "real farm." This is close enough, right??
What a wonderful post. You & I are very close in age and we are both raising young kids. I totally get what you're saying! Thanks Carla! I love your farm! I no longer have livestock: down to "just" two dogs and one cat as far as animals go. But I am learning to accept that as this is now my season of life.
ReplyDeleteMy boss's daughter is raising chickens at their place on Lake Texoma. She treats them like pets, and they lay lots and lots of eggs. In fact, I have a dozen of them on my desk right now, waiting to go home. There's nothing wrong with just raising chickens.
ReplyDeleteAs for the goats, I think your nanny goats are ganging up on the young billy goats and ensuring they remain old maids.