Sunday, March 10, 2013

More babies and other happenings

 Hello everyone, in my last blog post I mentioned that I wasn't sure when Coco would have her babies. I said something like "it could be today, or it could be another month." Well, it was "today". That afternoon, without anyone noticing, Coco had a set of triplets! Daddy and the kids were all outside working on the garden fence, and never heard a thing. Aislyn finally noticed them when she went to check the chicken coop for eggs. I was amazed, because it was her first pregnancy and she didn't look very big at all.

Brand new

 She had two boys and one girl. The girl's name is Violet and the boys are Rowen and Ash. Coco is doing an amazing job with the babies. She is having no problems nursing all three babies and she keeps a close eye on them to make sure none of the other animals bother them.


Ash 

Violet 

Rowen 

"Mom, is it food?"

Nap time


  Since we can't breed either boy to any of the girls, because they are too closely related, Rowen will be castrated and we'll keep him as a pet and companion for our future buck. We are going to be trading Ash for a Saanen buckling later this afternoon and then we'll use the new boy as our new herd sire when he grows up. I'm going to be giving him a tree name (like Rowen and Ash) but I'm having trouble deciding between Linden, Birch. or Beech. Whichever name he gets, he will be a bottle baby, which is always fun.

 Other than new kids (as if that wasn't enough cuteness) I also got a dozen chicks last week. They were in the "assorted straight run" bin, so I'm not positive what breed they are, but I think they're Barred Rocks. I thought so when I picked them out, since I've had them before, and as they get their feathers and they show barring I'm more confident that I was right. They have spent the last week in a plastic tote on my dresser, which is not very conducive to a good night sleep. Luckily, Daddy built a lid and added legs to the brooder he made me last fall, so now I can move them outside where chickens belong. They'll be going out as soon as we get the heat lamp attached in such a way that they can't peck it or pull it down.

Chicks are so darn cute

Brooder made out of pallet wood and scrap 2x4s

 In pig related news, Daddy also built a feeder for them. It's also made out of scraps and was entirely free. He used some of the scrap plywood he brought home and some really big PVC pipe that was leftover on a job. I decided to paint it purple (because I can!) and then Daddy finished it off with a pink pig on the lid that the pigs lift to get to the food. Apparently, the pig painting came about because he needed a way to keep the lid from staying open when the pigs weren't eating, so he added these two pieces of wood that turned out looking like pig ears. Whatever the reason, I love it!

Pig feeder

 That's all for today folks, there are chores waiting for me.

 Blessed Be )O(