...................
and all I brought back was this lousy t-shirt!
Well, actually it's not all I brought back, and it's not so lousy either.
My family is now officially members of the SouthWest Nigerian Dwarf Goat Club!
I had hoped to take Moon Pie and show him, but because we had such cold temps and snow, I didn't want to trim all his fur. So instead I decided I'd just go and observe and get ideas for the next goat show in July, and show Moon Pie at that time instead.
I can't wait to wear the shirt in July!
While at the Goat Show I visited with my friend, Deanna, of Cornerstone Nigerians who sold me Moon Pie. She also sells handmade goat's milk soap, too. Her soaps smell and feel so rich, creamy, milky-buttery I just wish I could let everyone touch and smell these amazing soaps! The richest, sweetest smelling and creamiest is the Clary Sage Flax Scrub. I also like the Cucumber and Jasmine Gree Tea Soaps, too. What a treat!
And then I recently made a new friend, via Craigs List, who's son raises chickens. So I was able to purchase a dozen fertile eggs from him to give to our Speckled Sussex hens, which have gone broody over the past week. There are several Polish eggs, a couple Ameracauna, Black Australorp, and a few others which I can't remember. After labeling them with an 'F' for Fertile, so we don't accidentally remove them before they possibly hatch, we placed the fertile eggs in the nest box.
I had to scoot out our Speckled Sussex, Kipper, who wasn't all that happy about it. But she's still sweet and gentle and tolerated the move. I got the eggs all situated in the nest box, but I'm wondering if 12 eggs is too many? Our other Speckled Sussex, Spotty Dotty, isn't as dedicated to the next box afterall. And only 6-8 eggs seem to fit comfie underneath Kipper. Hopefully we'll get some chicks in a month, but if not then at least it will be a good learning experience for us.
Kipper waiting patiently for me to finish up with 'her' eggs. Wish us luck trying to hatch out some baby chicks from these eggs.
But the real surprise that I came home with, are these feathered cuties!!!
Previously I had no plans to bring home anymore chickens, but Sugar Creek Farm and Critter Farm's adorable Polish chickens made me yearn to have some of our own cute fluffy headed chicks. So, we bought some from my friend's son!
We ended up buying a Buff Polish, a Golden Polish and two White Silkies! Aren't they adorable?!
They are just 2 weeks old and have feathered out a bit.
The Golden Polish sleeps frequently and quite heavily! The Buff Polish is more active and likes to stretch it's wings alot.The Silkies are just the sweetest things and have odd little feet with extra toes,and feathers that already resemble hair.
18 comments :
Now my DH would say you'd come home with more than a T-shirt---mainly things that breathe, LOL! Cutie chicks for sure.
Good luck with your broody and a dozen eggs. She might surprise you by getting them all done.
I bet you are going to love the goat club! I just adore the new little chicks too:)
I am jealous of the soaps your friend makes. I hope one day to make some of my own;) Jasmine is one of my favorite smells.
Glad you had a good weekend:)
I really want silkies and polish, they are too funny.
A question for you. Now that you've raised angora goats and sheep for awhile, how would you say they compare? I want a few fiber animals that are friendly and fairly easy to raise (as in they don't always try to get out of the fence). Do your angoras respect fences or do they always try to escape as goats are known for? Are your sheep friendly at all? Is one friendlier than the other?
I'm trying to pin down at least what species we want to raise so I can start researching breeds a little more.
Awwww...the chicks :) :) Congratulations!
Hi Ceecee,
Yep, my hubby thinks I'm just a bit nutty and asked me if I could curtail any future purchases of animals...except for a dairy goat. He did give the thumbs up for that. hehe
Sadly, two of the fertile eggs got pushed out of the nest and were broken. So that leaves 10 fertile eggs left for Kipper to brood on and haopefully hatch. I'll keep an update on those eggs as time passes.
Hi Sea2Shore. Thanks! I think we will, too. It's a really friendly and informal group, too. And seeing all the goats is just fun!
And the chicks are just so sweet and it's so much easier taking care of 4, compared to our first batch of 13.
I know what you mean about the soaps. I can't wait to try my hand at making my own soon, too. My friend, Deanna, also teaches soap making classes. Is that cool, or what?!
Oh Christy! You should get some of these cuties when you get re-settled into your new home. They are basically just pets that we hope to show, too. I can't wait to see how they turn out when all their feathers some in.
As for which fiber animal I'd recommend....My husband would tell you not to get angoras. He doesn't like them because they tend to be more pushy and aggressive, mostly with other animals.
The angoras will head butt our other goats, sheep and even the barn cat. Because they are not de-horned they could potentially hurt someone while working with them (trimming feet, giving meds, shearing). I have to be very careful when handling them, because their horns are very long and pointed.
As for fencing, we've never had a problem with any of our goats trying to escape. But we also give our goats almost an acre to roam around on, and they have their herd and guard llamas to stick around with.
I like to think they are just happy living here with us. hehehe
I love our sheep. They are so gentle and sweet.They weren't bottle-fed, so we've had to gently and slowly tame them, and can now pet and handle them without them running away.
Our Karakul is the friendliest and most tame.
The llamas are probably my favorite fiber animal, though. Their gentleness, curiosity, and beauty are such a joy to watch and be around. They are pretty easy to handle, feed and care for and can be trusted around children. They also produce a lot of fiber (usually every two years)and can also be used as guard, pack/hiking companions, to pull a cart, and to take to shows and obstacle courses.
Can't wait to find out which kind of 'woolies' you finally choose.
Thanks Robbyn!
Can't wait to hear if the eggs hatch! Love the new chicks, such cute fluffy heads. I love homemade soaps. I bet those smell so great!
I agree with you about the Polish chicks. They turn into beautiful chickens.
We have bought fertile eggs before and had pretty good luck with most of them.
And I just love goat's milk soap too. The Goat Club sounds like it will great fun.
Have a good day!
Thank you for the extensive reply. I really like the Karakul sheep so I think I will try to find some of those when we are ready for mammals. I'm not sure about the llama, they make me nervous for some reason. LOL. How much space do they need? I'm thinking about a dairy cow sometime so I think I want to stick to smaller animals for my other animals, but I'll research the llama.
OOOOO, thats all so exciting! Good luck on hatching the eggs, and the new chicks are SO adorable! Haha, love the shirt. ;-)
Hi Pony Girl,
Well so far, we have just 7 fertile eggs left. 5 of them were kicked out of the nest and were cracked. I've read that a broody hen knows which eggs won't hatch and just discards them. And at least now she can fit all 7 underneath her body! hehe
I love the goat milk soaps so much, too. I could buy them all! They are usually so rich, creamy with a sweet buttry scent, even if there has been no other scents added.
Thanks for stopping GaFarmGirl. I'm glad to hear that you had good luck with the fertile eggs. We are actually getting excited about seeing our hen hatch them out and raise them. And seeing what kind of chickens they turn out to be! hehe
Funny that I had no intention of allowing her to utilize her broodiness until my online blogger friends encouraged me. Also ironic how we farmer folk just need to take advantage of any good opportunities that come our way.
Hi Christy.
Your welcome! I've learned so much from other people that I'm happy to share what I've learned, too.
I was also a little intimidated with llamas, too. But they are very easy to handle, are gentle around children (people even take them to nursing homes and schools to share them!) and are just interesting and joy to watch.
Llamas don't need much space either, but you're better off getting two because they like having a buddy.
Two can be quite happy on a 1/4 acre, and they don't tear up grass like cows or horses and they don't cover the pasture with feces either.
They use communal dung piles, so it's so easy to scoop up the poo and use it in the garden. hehe
We had considered a cow, too. But they produce too much milk even for our family of 5. And they do tend to destroy pasture with eating and manure.
Maybe if you can do rotation of pastures it will work well, though.
We are still planning on getting a dairy goat for our milk needs. Just not sure when.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
Hi Mell,
Thanks for stopping by and all your nice comments! :o)
Thanks for the plug Lisa, it had been a while since I visited and I am always blessed when I do!!!
It's nice to know someone loves your soaps and while we are trying to create a steady customer base any free advertising helps - I should give you a free bar of soap for that!!!!
Deanna
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