Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Life on my little farm and milking

The chick experiment went well, mama took to the two Gold Sex Links and so a week later I got two more chicks {White Leghorns}from Tractor Supply.  I kept them in the house for the first few nights and then put them out with mama at night.  After about 3 days of that, she finally took to them but I lost one.  It was acting off and not active like the other.  They are definitely a lot smaller than the other two but the one that survived is running with the bigger two and thriving.
The goats on the other hand...
I have been still holding Dahlia several times during the day so Grace can eat.  Two of those times she gets on the milk stand to eat so it is easy.  I figure that they are a month old now so I can cut it down to a couple of times a day maybe three.  Both kids are eating leaves and tasting everything. 
Dahlia still has these cactus spines of stitches on her belly and I've been snipping a couple every morning and pulling them out while she's on the milk stand.  I've changed her to sweet feed and I let her eat all she wants while she's there.  Her spine still stands out so I know she can use it.  The kids are thriving and Grace is only a bit smaller than Marco Polo.
I decided not to sell Marco Polo to the lady that wanted only one.  I really want them to go to the same place and go as a pair.  I have two people that might want them, so we'll see.  I really need to find homes before we go to Colorado.
I am milking her in the morning and not getting much since I'm leaving kids loose.  Just to get her used to it.  I bought a Henry Milker.  Then I upgraded and bought all the parts to make a two hose milker and after all the fuss, decided that all I really needed was longer hose and I bought silicone hose and I'm putting the valve on the section with the pump so I can close it off when I'm done so the milk doesn't go up into the pump.

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