First lambs of 2017

But first some pretty yarn that I've been working on. . .

This is a before shot.  I bought 2 batts of this at the 2016 All Missouri Spin In.  I can't really remember the vendor and they didn't give a content list.  i'm not sure what the wool is in it, but I think the shiny white may be mohair or silk?  It was my first time spinning from a batt and I have to say I did enjoy it. 

  I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to make of this.  I'm calling it Lavender Glory and it ended up about 330 yards. 

  I also put some eggs in the incubator, we are now a week into the 21 day period. In a few more days, I'll check for development in the eggs.  About a dozen Buff Orpington eggs went in with some eggs leftover from my parent's incubator filling; a few silver laced Wyandotte and some bantum somethings. LOL.

ONTO WHAT YOU'RE WAITING FOR
!!!  BABIES!!!

Saturday, March 11 in the late morning Dusk delivered of twins.  The little black is a ewe and to reveal my 2017 naming theme is Daytona.  Yep, Nascar racetracks and it only seemed fitting for the first ewe to be named after the season's first race. 

The white is a little ram.  We're holding off on naming ram lambs this year until we have the ewes all delivered.  We will be keeping 1 ram lamb to be show stock for this year and next.  Extras will either be for sale or be butchered.  I already doubt this little guy will be butchered though, as I've already had some interest in purchasing him if he comes for sale.

It's hard work being born!

With 5 more ewes that all look bred, stay tuned for more lambs!

Remembering Maggie . . .

This post remembers Maggie.  She was one of our 1st ewes and lived to the ripe old age of 12, which is pretty good for a sheep.  She died in her sleep, curled up in her favorite spot.  I noticed her acting a bit slower than normal the past couple of weeks and I guess it finally caught up with her. 

The above picture is how I'll always remember Maggie, coming to the fence for chin scratches or grain, whichever was handy.  She will live on in her daughters and granddaughters.  Some pictures below.

 Loretta - 2015 daughter

 Lynn - 2015 daughter

 Dolly - 2015 Granddaughter

 Dawn - 2014 daughter, also showing at birth George and Tammy 2016 granddaughter and grandson being kept.  Dawn is also the mother of Dolly above.

Catching up

Once again, I have been a bad blogger!  Time sure can get away from you when you're having fun and being busy!

Breeding season started a bit earlier this year.  Niles went in with the girls in October & will stay there through December at least, maybe January.  This means that we could, hopefully have babies as early as March.  It was a tough decision for us.  I like the April babies that we've had before because the weather is so much nicer & reliable.  March here in Missouri can be very up & down & we've had late March snowstorms.  BUT, I chose Shetlands because they are very hearty & good mothers.  I also felt this would be better for the showing lambs, letting them have a little extra time to grow & such before going to the fairs in the summer.  Last year, being a learning experience, we weaned our lambs at 10 weeks, right about.  They only had 3 weeks before they went to their first fair & it would have been less if we had hit the first fairs in our area.  Now, they were well weaned, etc.  But I wondered if it would be better for them to have a bit more time to grow & get worked with away from mommas.  So, we're trying March lambs.  IF somebody didn't take the first time, well that's why we're leaving Niles in there longer.  If for whatever reason one of the ewes didn't stick until later, that's ok. Better to have a late baby than no baby.

The other exciting thing was our end of the year
county wide 4H recognition banquet.  We are so proud to say that Fluffy Girl was the county top 8 year old girl, as well as winning the quality of life award!  She had to write a short essay on her 4H projects & how they incorporated into our lives & making them better.  Naturally, our sheep helped. LOL.  The top 8 year old was chosen based on 4H involvement throughout the first year.  She received the beautiful doll with her award, name & year embroidered on it for the top 8 year girl and a lovely 4H cookbook with a clover cookie cutter for quality of living award.

Our 4H club was chosen the outstanding club and Randolph county received special recognition as being the top county in Missouri during the state fair in sheep.  The county received a nice plaque & all the sheep kids were given a nice feed bag sack.  We had several other winners & mentions from our club.  Very proud of our kids & the families supporting them!



I had my black pochin decide to be broody last month so I let her sit thinking she would break with the cold weather approaching.  But to be on the safe side I put my last 5 silkie eggs under her from my black pen.  I lost my lovely splash silkie hen just before this. :(  I also bought 3 NICE young chicks from a good breeder just a few weeks ago.  They were still a bit young to be outside so up the brooder went again.  Good thing because just as the weather finally decided to get cold last weekend I had chicks start hatching!  I hated to do it, but with cold weather here I took them away from my hens & brought them in.  3 little silkies & 1 cochin & I think we're done.  We'll now have chicks in the house for the winter. LOL.
  Big happening on the nature front!  Fluffy Girl's first deer!!!  A nice button-buck taken with 1 shot at 100 yards!  Our family motto growing up was, "You kill it, you clean it."  However Camo Dad and I don't quite trust her with a knife yet.  So he did the cutting & she did the gutting!  I'm happy to report it didn't bother her a bit.  She was a little concerned about that before the hunt, as a boy at school got a deer & reported the gutting as "disgusting"  LOL.

Saying Goodbye

I know!  I've been a bad blogger!  My only excuse is a change in life's schedule & we've been settling in! I'll do better I promise!

I titled this post "Saying Goodbye" because we've said goodbye to wonderful Kenny! He's gone to a great new home not to far from here! Exciting and sad at the same time.  Kenny now has his own flock & I couldn't be happier for him! I've been promised updates on him & his future lambs! One of his new girls is a border Leicester so that should be an exciting cross.   There were a few tears but we're happy to see him placed well! Please enjoy the pictures below from Kenny's life with us. 

Just in time

Looks like I baby proofed the chicken pen just in time!

3 pochins & 1 cochin so far.  Momma is still sitting on a few eggs & the other aunt should be due in about 2 more weeks.

Weekly update

So no good pictures from the last week.  The whole family has been running around with softball, 4h, and the other things life throws at you.  LOL. We've had a few games going on.  I'm glad I've only got 1 kid playing instead of 2 or 3. I have friends who live at the ballpark.  We had a 4h meeting & are busy getting ready for show season.

Saturday found Fluffy Girl & I at MU vet school for state poultry day.  A good seminar on eggs including safety & nutrition and other information was presented. We learned about USDA grading on chicken carcasses. The rest of the morning was spent with junior & senior judging of eggs, live chickens, & carcasses. Fluffy Girl being a first year, spent that time learning about judging those things.  They provided a nice lunch followed by a quiz bowl. Fluffy Girl did compete on a junior team with 2 friends.  They lost,  but we were proud that they even tried.  I think they were the youngest team.  She also lost a tooth right before their turn.  LOL.

We spent Sunday at a family reunion for Camo Dad's grandfather's family.  Fluffy Girl enjoyed playing with her cousins until we had to go home to rest a bit before softball practice.

We've spent a lot of time trying to keep cool in this Missouri heat & humidity. It's so true when they say "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." I spent some time in Oklahoma when I was younger.  The temperatures were similar, but Missouri is sooo much more humid!  I, personally love heat but sweating through your shirt when you haven't done anything is hard.

My big concern has been the rabbits.  Angora rabbits are cold weather animals & can heat stroke  easily. They're in open cages & are in the shade all day and have plenty of water available.  The sheep are actually pretty ok as long as they have shade & plenty of water.

The heat wave continues this week.  We have 3 whole evenings at home this week before our next game on Friday. Hopefully I can get some ongoing projects finished.  LOL.

I almost forgot my other big news!  Stay Fluffed Farm is on Instagram as of yesterday! Don't forget to follow us for instant updates! Here's the few pictures I do have.

 Mama cat, Ruby continues to hold hunting lessons.  This is the 2nd bird & 2 frogs that have been brought to my porch. I wouldn't mind so much if I didn't have to get rid of the leftovers.  LOL. 

 I cut the last of our heirloom lettuce.  It's so hot now that until fall lettuce tastes bitter.  

 Here's a good picture of the kids learning how to judge a class of post production hens. 

Another New And A New Harecut

 Meet Cocoa. She was found in town running loose. So we took her in.  My hopes are that she's a young rabbit & will get full size to use in a meat rabbit program. Our best guess is that she was an Easter present. 

 Here's Miss Elizabeth with a mostly done haircut. Feeling better already! 

 Woo Hoo! My stock racks are done! Camo Dad had these made for me in trade for an old stock trailer that needed repairs.  We decided that racks would suit our needs better than a trailer.

 I didn't get pictures of the whole process, but mama cat, Ruby brought up a frog today.  She waited until the kittens were interested then let him go.  After he got away from the littles, she caught him & brought him back to them.  This occured a couple times until he stayed caught. Pictured is the girl that's a copy of Ruby. This may sound mean, but this is how kittens learn to hunt.  Ruby is a great hunter & I will be keeping the other girl for an additional farm cat.  I have/had another cat but I'm pretty sure she has another family on the side.  LOL! She comes & goes & we really need another hunter on the farm. 

Additions To The Farm

We've had a few additions to the farm this week & 1 sad/happy goodbye.

 Here's a new English Angora doe.  Since she's an English, i decided she needed a very English name.  So she is now Elizabeth, also known as Betty. Betty needs some tlc so will be sheared over the next couple days. She's more than ready & has several matts in her coat.  I'm going to give her a little time to settle in & then will breed her to Buck. 

 Here's Buck, enjoying some time in the play yard & eating grass. He's  French angora and is pretty sweet. 

 Orschlens reduced the price of their half grown frying pan specials to $2 this week.  For those who don't know a frying pan special is a group of heavy breed chickens from the hatchery that are unsexed, but generally roosters.  However sometimes you get lucky & can get pullets, which are young females. These were big enough that with the help of a knowledgeable employee I picked out 7 that I THINK are pullets. Only time will tell if I choose wisely.  There are 3 barred rocks, 2 buff orpingtons, 1 production red & 1 rhode island red.  My general chicken coop is full of girls that are getting past production age & they aren't actually a production bred chickens anyway.  So these girls will be responsible in the future for our egg needs. 

 I was also able to acquire a 3 month old doe that's a mixed large breed. When older she will hopefully give us some meat rabbits.  We traded a rabbit we had bought last year that was supposed to be a young full sized doe. Both as a pet for Fluffy Girl & for meat rabbits, Fluffy Girl named her Connie.  

Connie turned out to be Conner & was a mini rex. Note the mini! Not at all what we needed! So we were lucky to find somebody willing to trade this new baby girl for Conner. He went to a home to have girlfriends & we are happy for him.  :)

On a sad & happy note, Fluffy Girl decided she was ready for grandma to sell her pony Diego. Diego was her 3rd birthday present from grandma & grandpa and has been a great pony.  However, Fluffy Girl outgrew Diego & was found a nice horse in 2014. Grandma promised that Diego didn't have to find a new home until Fluffy Girl was ready. Fast forward to last weekend. Grandma put the word out with horsey friends & quickly found somebody that would be a great home! Diego now belongs to another little girl that's almost 3, to teach to love & ride.  His new family knows that if he doesn't work out or when he's outgrown he's able to come back to retire.

Fluffy Girl was very sad, but acted very mature about Diego needing somebody else to get love from!  I am very proud of her making such an adult decision and her behavior during it! 

That's all for now and I can't wait to see what else this long weekend brings. On that note, we at Stay Fluffed Farm want to thank any service members for what they are doing or have done for our country!  Thank you to the family members who have lost a loved one in service! You are the reason for this long weekend and know that we appreciate your services & sacrifices all year round, not just 1 or 2 days a year! We take exceptional notice to this year round as we live about 1 mile away from a veterans cemetery and on any given day can see or hear a veteran laid to his final rest.  Hearing the salutes and bugle hit my heart every time, as i think about what they've done and who they've left behind. So if you are active military, a veteran, or a family member, we thank you again! 

Chicks!

Remember the sign of spring picture showing my little broody cochin?

This is what i found tonight.  About a week or so ago the black pochin decided to brood with my little buff.

This is what was underneath my buff. The little guy must have gotten out of the box so she decided to be the floor mother.  

I didn't get a picture but there's another under the black pochin dying off! I wonder how many we'll have? 

Birth Announcement

This afternoon my treasured mare Lydia delivered her 2nd foal.  I have been very anxious about her well being & hopeful that my order came out right.  She had a quick & easy delivery & is doing good!  But my order was completely messed up!  I wanted a bay filly & received a sorrel colt. However she is healthy & we can try again next year and that's what matters to me!

j ch

Triple Surprise

My morning feeding had me hearing new voices in the flock. Sure enough i saw a new lamb, then another,  THEN ANOTHER!  Yes, both my girls that were expecting soon lambed together! 

 Dawn gave me a nice set of white twins, ram & ewe. 

 Maggie delivered of a red brown ram lamb! 

All babies seem to be healthy & doing well! 

The end of the circle

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of a new life.  Today we mourn the end of another on our little farm.  Kris, pictured above, suffered a serious injury on Saturday and padded due to those injuries this morning. She will be missed.