The Laughter Herd

A&M Gets to Saw Em Off

2009-06-27T09:58:00.000-05:00

Mator our newest goat, a pygmy, has horns! And he knows how to use them! So we have an appointment with Dr. Hooper on Thursday to have them removed. I intend to use this post to chronicle his recovery as a learning tool.. So Mater has a long story...His story...he wandered to a friend's house, who kept him all afternoon trying to find his owner with no luck. He brought him to us knowing we would know how to care for him better. Chad fell in love with the little guy, just adored him!! Almost as much as he loves Daisy (maybe a little more...he is a boy!) When it seemed like he had been dumped we decided we would keep him....well about 10 minutes after deciding to keep him we get a call from the friend that found him saying the owners called him and would be over shortly. Boo Hoo so we had to let him go...this was March 8th that they came to get him. About 3 weeks ago I was browsing craigslist when I saw a $100 Pygmy goat that looked like our little guy, so I called the lady and asked her if her goats name was Mater, she said yes, I asked where she was, she said Tomball. My heart dropped...I knew it was him, but I wasn't about to pay $100 for a Pygmy goat! She asked how I knew his name, so I told her the story of how we just loved the little booger. She asked if I wanted him...I told her I would have to discuss the price with my husband and she asked why...and said she would give him to us. She only put a price so he would get a home and not become food or neglected! So we got Mater back! Only problem he had horns! Last Thursday I took him to A&M to get them removed. $72 to dehorn a Pygmy and there are gaping holes in his head! Dr. Hooper is WONDERFUL.

1st pic. Mater when he visited us.

Mater when we got him as our own

Mater the day of surgery...poor baby cried the whole way home!

1 Week later....swelling has gone down, no bleeding. No discharge from his nose (like was warned) We were told to keep him away from other goats, but he just wouldn't crazy little bugger jumps every fence we have to get to his herd. Only had one issue...that was his first feeding time with a headache. He tried to butt Duke out of his food and cried as he did it. Hasn't butted anyone else! Go figure!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

baby pics

2009-05-01T14:59:00.002-05:00

Elvis

Cassia and Duke (Cassia is Elvis' sister, they were born April 1st)

Duke thinks he can fly!

Duke yet again

Scratch Scratch Scratch

First Kid of the Season

2009-03-07T10:51:00.002-06:00

Lily kidded yesterday (3/6/09) a single buckling. AND I MISSED IT! LOL

Interesting Trip

2009-02-24T06:52:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon I set out to go to a friends house to pick up red top tubes to draw blood on the goats, then the bank and the grocery store. Routine stuff, so I thought! After seeing all the babies, it is kidding season afterall, my friend mentioned needing to disbud some of them, having never seen it I offered to help. I watched as they did two kids, I think I'll be paying to have mine done! While we werw disbudding, one of my friends two legged kids was checking a pregnant goat that appeared to be close to kidding, the determination was that this doe had an upside down kid and needed assistance! We were done disbudding despite the kids that hadn't been done yet! I observed as the oldest of my friend's kids went in an decided the kid was no longer upside down, the cervix wasn't quite open all the way, and mom should be fine on her own. After many pushes and much waiting, she went in again to find the cervix open and 2 feet with what felt like a HUGE head. After some medicine to help with momma's energy and contractions the baby, a huge buck, was delivered! It was decided that going back in to check for more babies was needed. My friend's oldest went back in and felt something "gross and creepy". It was bones, this momma had twins, but one had died very young.I got there in the afternoon and didn't leave until after 9PM!

And I didn't forget the tunes I went there to get!

Meet Cinnamon!

2009-02-17T21:24:00.001-06:00

I am looking at buying this new doe....(Feb 16th) As of 4-5pm (2/17) she was paid for and in the truck on her way home! Around 7pm she decided she was comfortable and NOT getting out of the truck!! Took until almost 8pm to get her out and into her isolation pen. Tomorrow she gets the joy of blood drawn, vaccines, worming, and hooves trimmed!! Poor girl!

Her "pending" name is "Sun" Hill Acres Sassi's Cinnamon.

Her mom's name is "Sun" Hill Acres Sassifrass.....she will be added to the website in the not to distant future.

More info later

Who knew a broke down truck could get you a job...

2009-01-29T13:41:00.002-06:00

My truck decided to hate me on Saturday (1/24) and later that evening I got a call from my neighbor offering me 4 hours a day milking her 10 goats and 4 cows, cleaning the equipment, and feeding the animals. (She has bad arthritis and just can't keep doing it by herself). She has a milk machine for the cows and the goats, so I pretty much get paid to wait! Wait for the milker to finish that cow (or pair of goats) until I am finished with all of them, then I filter the milk (which is waiting for the milk to strain through the filter!) I play the waiting game from 8am to around noon! I love it. I can't wait until my goats are back in milk...I need to save to buy my own milk machine...it is SOOOOOO nice! After using one for 4 days now I can't imagine milking with out one!!!

Happy New Year

2009-01-05T12:51:00.003-06:00

Welcome to the new year with the Laughter Herd. My goals for this year are to have healthy, happy goat kids and mommas, a dozen eggs a day (laid in the coop, not the hay), have some Serama or banty babies, have the goat barn complete and maybe the horse stalls started on! We shall see!!!

My main goal this year is to have 5 does in milk and to help with that we purchased a buckling in Dec. Four of the girls (Ginger, Rosey, Lily, and Chouli) were all bred in October, November, and maybe December to some lovely boys from Swede Farm. We decided Daisy hadn't quite grown enough to be bred, so are hoping when Luke is old enough, Daisy will be big enough. In March, we should have registered 4th generation (tiny) Mini Lamancha kids and registered (recorded grade) Lamancha kids. In April, we should have registered (Purebred) Nubian kids. Ginger was taken to be bred in October, but looked like she didn't take so was taken back in December. She could be due in March or May...she will be having 3/4 Lamancha and 1/4 Nubian kids. These kids will not be able to be registered as Ginger and her daddy aren't.

Chickens....the laying flock consists of 1 Golden Comet rooster, 3 Buff Orpington hens, 2 Barred Rock hens, 2 Ameraucan hens, 1 Rhode Island Red hen, 1 Golden Laced Wyandotte hen, 1 Golden Laced Polish hen (not laying yet), and 1 mixed breed hen that likes tp go broody far to often! I figure with 11 hens...I won't be getting a dozen eggs a day, but I can hope for eggs laid in the coop!! This spring I will order 10 replacement chicks to raise for next year's laying season. The 3 Buff Orpingtons, 1 Barred Rock, and the mixed breed hen will all be looking for new homes or stew pots by the time the replacement chicks are old enough to lay. That will leave me with 6 hens and 10 chicks....Maybe I can get a dozen eggs a day out of 16 hens next year!!!

The replacement chicks will consist of Ameraucanas for green eggs, brown egg layers, and maybe a white egg layer or 2.

The dogs had a great year in 08 and I hope to get Jesse CGC tested (Canine Good Citizen) and get him tested through the Temperment Test Society.

My NUMBER 1 goal for 2009 is to get the messy little buck out of my house...I am checking now to see if it is too cold to try to move him to the barn, he will have a stall next to the big girls with a hay floor to keep him warm......he pees forever!!!!!!!! He is the cutest thing until he chews on the computer cord or the couch pillows, or jumps on the couch, or pees!! lol

Hope you have a safe and happy 09!

Introducing The Gramen Farm Saint Luke (Luke for short)

2008-12-28T20:08:00.004-06:00

I bought a new buckling tonight. He was born Dec 14th. Enjoy!

Isn't he cute!!

"Moooommmmmaaaaa, where are you"

Here are some pictures added this morning....after I tried to get him to take a bottle....guess he wasn't hungry enough!

"Hey, that's MY blanket!"

"What are you?"

"Where did it go?"

"Hmmmm, your a little big!"

The Banty Coop

2008-12-18T09:47:00.007-06:00

My banty coop began with a FREE Serama Hen ad on craigslist. Shelby and I went to get her and on the way home decided her name should be Miranda (Lambert).

With Miranda being so tiny (and not yet having a Banty Coop in mind I put Tina (Turner) in with Miranda and they became the best of buds!)

I soon decided Miranda needed a boyfriend and since the real Miranda is dating Blake Shelton, I decided it would only be right to give my Miranda her own Blake (Shelton)!

Blake is a Serama roo with Silkie feathering. (Miranda soon decided he wasn't to bad!)

The three became inseparable!

Not too long after getting Blake I saw an add on Craigslist for three banty hens that needed a new home. It was obvious Tina missed her big friends and Blake would like more girlfriends! So I called on the hens, they were already spoken for. :( After talking with the lady more we discovered that we were both members of the Pet Chickens of Texas site and she decided she knew they would have a good home with me and so here they are! These three do not have names yet, but I am working on it.!!

She looks like a Japanese Bantam to me?!? Maybe

After their quarantine period they were turned loose with Blake, Miranda, and Tina. Blake and Miranda took to them quickly, but Tina was very aggressive with the Black hen, so Tina got evicted and is now back in with the layer flock. She seems happier with the big flock! Here she is pestering me because I was taking pictures of these new girls instead of her!!

Blake and two of his girls!

Blake and his OTHER two girls!

Johnny and June

2008-10-10T10:44:00.003-05:00

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Cash

June is the Buff Silkie in the back and Johnny is the Splash Silkie in the front.

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Cash!

Poor Lonely Batman!!

2008-09-28T08:41:00.006-05:00

I helped Brad and Shana sell the Longhorn mamas last week and the guy came to get them yesterday. That was quite a fun ordeal! Wish I would have grabbed the camera and a saddle! Working cows bareback is kinda hard...would have been harder trying to document! We had thought we would pull the hay trailer out of the barn and get the cows in there to load them....NO GO The mommas wanted nothing to do with that barn...no matter how much feed and coaxing we did. Batman would go in and out (maybe he knew what was going on!) So we ran them into our rather large pen with trees and stuff for them to hide around, but the only place that would work. We need a working pen with chutes! So we block any opening and back the trailer up to a small opening. Shana in the Gator, me on Apache (what a good old man), and Chad on foot. We try for Dottie first. This was not a real big trailer and probably shouldn't have had all three in there. In our many attempts to get Dottie we decided the front of the trailer was slightly larger than the back half and that 2 would go in front (original plan was Dottie and Winnie, because poor Red is our fav and she gets picked on) and Red would go in the back. So after many failed attempts at Dottie, Emily came out with feed and coaxed Winnie into a small corral type area Chad and the buyer made in front of the trailer. Well with feed involved Red had to check it out! We get Winnie up front and shut that gate, the we get Red in the back. We attempt to open the middle gate and put her up front with Winnie...there is no room for her to turn and open the gate! What to do what to do! So the buyer has a rope (none of us can rope by the way...so we didn't use it for its intended use!) that we put around Red's horns and around a large pole in the ground and back her out. Chad goes in and gets Winnie by the horns and they come out and stand in a corner until we can get Red up front. We tie Red to the front so Chad can get Winnie back in. While getting Winnie back in she feels the urge to poop (when stressed cattle get the runs) and turn at the same time flinging nice runny poo on all around! Chad man handles Winnie back in! While working with Red and Winnie, Shana and Emily work on getting Dottie closer to the area. We have the buyer's wife hold a bag of feed outside the trailer, since nobody can get close to the back of the trailer with Dottie checking things out! We don't want to scare her! Dottie walks right in to check things out! So the guy got there at 8:30 am and we were trying to convince the girls to go in the barn! No luck! We got back to the house to wash poo off and get to work with other projects for the day (Shana laying tile in her house, she moves in by Thursday! Chad working on the back deck of Shana's house) at 10:15ish so not even 2 hours to load 3 longhorns into a rather small trailer without a working pen and chutes! Not to bad!

So in memory here are some pictures of the Longhorns and their past calves!

Dottie

Winnie

Red

Socrates, Dottie's first calf

pic coming soon

Dottie and her 2nd calf

Sir Cornwallis, Winnie's first calf

pic coming soon

Winnie and her second calf

pic coming soon

Batman, Red's first calf

pic coming soon

Red and her second calf (the only heifer!)

Our House

2008-09-24T20:13:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures of the house now that it is done.

Kitchen (please excuse my countertops...not enough storage for goat milking supplies, egg gathering, and soap making!)

Again excuse the box of milk jars!
Livingroom as seen from couch. Bathroom door is out of view to the left and "bedroom" is out of view to the right, altough you can see a tiny bit of the comforter.
Livingroom from front door
From laundry room looking through kitchen and livingroom into "bedroom"
Messy desk in laundry room
"closet" in laundry room
Don't mind the mess on top of the washer and dryer (not enough storage space for all my soapmaking stuff!)
"bedroom" originally we had the bed turned with the headboard against the windows and you could walk along both sides, but the foot stuck out into the livingroom area, so we turned it and it fits perfect and there is room between the bed and the wall to have a small nightstand (you can see my lampshade over there) and to make the bed.
Here is my little bathroom!

So here are the few construction pics I have of our house.

Here is the wall Chad built up to cover the open loft, the kitchen, and the bathroom door.

This is a view from the frontdoor

Here is Chad working on the wall of the loft area above the porch, his ladder is in our "bedroom"

Here is Chad putting the metal on top of the laundry room

Meet Miranda

2008-09-23T13:57:00.002-05:00

Say hello to Miranda the Serama.

And here she is with the giant Tina!

Getting a Serama Hen

2008-09-22T09:41:00.003-05:00

I am hoping to go sometime this week and pick her up....more to come when I get her!

Bye Bye Dottie, Winnie, and Red

2008-09-22T09:36:00.002-05:00

Saturday (9/20/08) morning I listed the Longhorns on craigslist and got an email rather quickly from someone interested...wanted to know if the papers went with them and their ages. I emailed back with the info and got a reply asking to come see them that afternoon! So I said of course and left a phone number. Half not expecting a call....I have listed them in the past and got nothing, but this time...he called, came out, and wrote a check! He will be back this weekend (9/27 - 28/08) to pick them up and haul them to their new 100 acre wooded and creeked home!!

I will miss you girls, but atleast you are going to "retire" not become someone's dinner!!

Ike Ike Baby

2008-09-16T07:56:00.001-05:00

Yo, TX, Let's kick it!

Ike Ike Baby, Ike Ike Baby
All right stop, evacuate and listen
Ike is here with some big ambition
People, close your homes up tightly
It’s blowing like a hurricane daily and nightly
Where will it stop? Yo-I don't know
Turn off the lights and let’s go
To the coastline Ike rocks like a vandal
Start up the car and watch me drive like an animal

Dang, hardware store sales boom
Ike’s killing my plans like a poisonous mushroom
Deadly, evacuate they tell me
Anyone left will be charged with a felony
Love it or hate it, you better get away
Ike will hit the bull's eye, the storm don't play
If you’re on vacation, Yo, Ike stalled it
Check out the eye while the bands revolve it

Hurricane Ike Ike Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby
Hurricane Ike Ike Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby

Now that the people are jumpin’
With their stuff packed up and the gas done pumpin'
Quick to the road, to the road no fakin’
Pass McD’s get a burger with bacon
Burnin’ ‘em and follow the symbol
I go crazy when I hear some imbecile
Revving, in a souped up Pinto
Now I can roll, it's time to crack the window
Rollin’ in my Chevy Tahoe
With my window down, I can feel Ike blow
My laptop’s on standby, Waiting for some Wi-fi
This spot hot? No – and I gotta fly
Kept on pursuing to the next block
I busted a left and I'm beating the clock
The light was red

Yo -- so I continued to I-37 to San Antonio
Wish I was there in a blink like a jeanie
How I’d love to be sippin’ a martini
Jealous 'cause my girl’s living fine
She left yesterday and was there by nine
Ready to give my homies a call
My homies acting ill because their car just stalled
Humidity, the air is sticky as hell
Ike’s on his way, the weatherman yells
Moving toward the gulf coast real fast
I’m in my car, can’t give it no gas
Bumper to bumper the interstate’s packed
I'm trying to get away before Ike attacks
Police on the scene, what can it mean?
They hooked me up, now there’s another lane free
If you’re on vacation, Yo, Ike stalled it
Check out the eye while the bands revolve it

Hurricane Ike Ike Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby
Hurricane Ike Ike Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby

Yo man, let's get out of here! Word to your mother!

Pretty Posing

2008-09-03T09:26:00.003-05:00

So these are just random pictures! I was taking some shots of Lily for an online goat show and Daisy wouldn't leave us alone, so she got to post as well!!

Daisy's Hiney

Daisy eating the camera cord!

Chouli trying to look like a 2 legged kid! Almost Chouli, but I think they have 2 legs in back, not 2 left legs! (Ok I know her front right is down to, but it is almost perfectly lined up with the other so that it almost disappears)

Lily's profile

Temporary Goat Barn

2008-09-03T09:09:00.004-05:00

In preparation for Hurricane Gustav's winds and rain we decided the goats needed to be able to get out of the rain. Prior they had a small plywood covered area and the 2 dog houses you can see in the middle of the left side of this picture. Here is a view from one corner of the pen, showing 95% of the pen, the covered area where their water is (the plywood), their climbing tub (cement water trough turned on end) and the barn. The tarp isn't attached at the bottom, it was pinned up, but you will see later what happened there!

Here is Chouli and Rosey checking out their new digs. The ladder isn't staying.
Lily exploring the tunnel...see why the tarp isn't penned up anymore! lol I have yet to have the camera with me to catch it, but I have come out to find Daisy, Ginger, and Lily sleeping in their "tent"

Dinner time! Even with 5 buckets, Chouli and Rosey still eat out of one!

Lily a little upset that I woke her up.Ginger snoozin against the barn door

2 MORE goats

2008-08-20T17:31:00.005-05:00

Here are my 2 newest goats! They are a Lamancha and a Nubian. They are both 18 months old and bred. They are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association.
Meet the girls: Rose is the white Lamancha (she was born on Valentine's day last year and when I looked up Love related baby names, Rose jumped out at me and my MIL joked about when I was going to name an ol goat Rose!) The Nubian, doesn't have a name yet...the naming committee is still out on that one! She was born on Shelby's birthdat last year, so I was going to give her Shelby's nickname, Fluffy, but decided to let Shelby pick a name for her!

Bella snoozin by the girls!

Bella and her Charges! She isn't real happy about not being with the horses, but she better get used to it...there are 3 more moving in in the future!!

Poor girl doesn't have a name, she was going to be Fluffy...still might?!?!

Rose seems to be the boss of the little 2 goat herd!
She gets between the Nubian and anything else!

My first attempt at making bread!!

2008-08-02T14:09:00.002-05:00

So here is my first attempt at making my own bread!
Here you have the doe in the loaf pan Here is the dough in the oven
Here is the doe with the first slice (I need to work on my slicing!)
And here is the finished product!!!

The herds dinner rations

2008-07-27T18:32:00.002-05:00

Chickens - Free range on grass for anything they can find, including leftover(spilled) horse, cow, and goat grain. Free choice layer pellets to keep eggs nice and healthy. (although with all they eat in the pasture they rarely touch the pellets!) A sprinkling of scratch grains in the morning.

Cows - Whole oats, alfalfa pellets, and a handful of black oil sunflower seeds with free range pasture, supplemented with Bermuda hay when needed. Free choice Bluebonnet Tech Master loose minerals.

Horses - Whole oats, alfalfa pellets, and a handful of black oil sunflower seeds with free range pasture, supplemented with Bermuda hay when needed. Free choice Bluebonnet Tech Master loose minerals.

Goats - Free choice bermuda hay, Bluebonnet Tech Master loose minerals, weighed daily amount of alfalfa pellets. On the milkstand the girls get whole oats with a handful of black oil sunflower seeds.

Dogs - Nutro Max adult dog food (had a hard time finding a quality dog food without sunflower oil (Jesse is allergic to it!) Didn't want to go the Max route, but can't pay twice the amount for half the feed!!

New Milkstand

2008-07-26T12:10:00.005-05:00

So I was using an upside down dog crate up against a fence and a pole with a rope around it to tie to Lily's collar when I would milk her. We got two more goats (only one in milk right now) and I decided I needed a real milkstand. So I printed directions from the internet and had Chad get to work building me a stand!

Chad decided instead of making legs for it, he would use an old garden cart we had that we probably aren't likely to use. So here is the pre-milkstand cart
(seeing if it would be big enough for Ginger)

I forgot to get pictures of it when it was just the base. Basically it is very tightly set into the wagon, so if we wanted to (with some work) we could get it off and put it on legs. This picture is Chad working on the headgate, but also shows the base.

Finished product! (We plan to put a rubber mat on top, as our chickens like to walk on it and a rubber mat would be much easier to clean poop and spilled milk off of!)

Lily giving it a go!

Ginger

2008-07-23T08:20:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Ginger. More to come as I get them.

Here she is just checking out her new home.

"Hey, what are you looking at?"
Here she is watching Chad unload hay.

Crazy Daisy Mae

2008-07-23T08:13:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Daisy. More to come as I get them.

Here she is checking things out and standing funny in this picture!

Here she is eating alfalfa pellets. I know ideally the new girls and Lily shouldn't be able to nose each other, but I have no way of doing that.

Here she is watching Chad unload hay!

What a day!!!!!!!

2008-07-22T22:53:00.003-05:00

Here is Daisy checking things out
Here is Ginger resting her head on the gate, watching Chad unload hay!

So today was quite an adventure!! Started out fairly normally...got up fed animals, milked Lily. Then I headed to the bank and on to Waller to pick up Ginger and Daisy. While in Waller, I met a bunch of great people and saw some gorgeous goats! I met Lily's new boyfriend (the one she will be bred to in September or October) Then came home, got the goats settled in...or so I thought until I turn around and Daisy was following me outside the pen!! WHAT...I didn't take in to consideration her age would mean small size! She is the same size as Lily and could get out of the pen for her and Ginger, so I had to put her in Lily's pen to fix the other so she would stay put. While fixing things I noticed one of the neighbor's young goats on our property...apparently I wasn't the only one...My landlord's Chocolate Lab noticed her too. He is an attempted goat killer (he tried to drown one goat already-same neighbor!!) He ran her toward her fence, she tried to jump, but didn't make it. He caught hold of her and she go away. She made her way to the pond, I knew what was coming. I was running as fast as my out of shape butt could go, but it still seemed like they were miles away. She ran off into the pond and so did he and the landlord's Black Lab (she was just following). I pulled my phone and credit card out of my pocket and tossed them up on the banks and went in after them. I swam out toward the goat and the dog (while the other dog is trying to swim ON me...I swat her off and she swims away to get a stick I threw in while running to try to get their attention) The whole time I am watching the other dog bite at her head, pushing her head under with each attempt to bite. I finally reach her and as I am reaching to grab her I feel his face on me (he didn't bite me, his jaw ran across my arm...we were both reaching for the doe) I get her and swim back to the shore. Which isn't far, but with boots on (next time those will come off) she and I were not making it very quickly. It felt like we were swimming in place. I get her out of the water and let her rest a little so I can rest a little! All the while swatting the dogs away. I like the dogs, but had I had a gun I might have shot the chocolate lab (and regretted it, but not in the moment) Finally I feel like I have a little energy and get up, she is NOT going to walk with the dogs nearby so I pick her up and carry back to the barn to get the landlord to call the neighbor to tell her. (forgot my phone and card on the bank) We finally get her situated where she needs to go. This is the 2nd time she has been over here. If she ends up here a third time I might have to keep her. She is a really pretty reddish with white Nubian.

Here is Ginger watching the Black Lab (not the wannabe goat killer) after the incident!!

Lily's Dye Job

2008-07-21T16:47:00.003-05:00

Here Lily is asking why I am letting that old fart eat her grain! Poor little girl! And you can see her pink beard here!!

Here's her pink tail and the spot where a accidentally got her cheek trying to get her beard!!!

This was done June 28th...

Temporary Goat Pens

2008-07-21T10:36:00.003-05:00

Since the new girls come home tomorrow (7/22/08) we spend yesterday moving the pen panels around (mainly making a drive thru on the hay barn, but setting up the pen for the new girls). So we have a 20X20 pen for the new girls (should be fine during quarantine) and Lily has a pen that is 20 deep, 20 wide in front and about 14 wide in back. So here are some pictures of the temporary pens. I hadn't moved things around in the new girls pen yet in these pictures. And I hadn't put up the plywood between the 2 so they can't nose each other.
Doesn't show much, just figured a distant picture is better than none at all!!!

Here is LilyBell sharing her hay with WinnieBell!! Took the picture then moved the hay to the side between the two pens!

The flock has grown!!!!!!!!

2008-07-21T07:16:00.003-05:00

All the babies from my 2 hens and rooster either died or were eaten by something. So prior to yesterday (7/20/08) we had 2 hens, 5 pullets, and 1 rooster. I bought 4 Buff Orpington hens, 3 Barred Rock Hens, and a Golden Laced Polish pullet. I didn't intend to get the pullet, but she was too cute to pass up. (she really isn't cute...kinda ugly right now...somebody ate her tail...all but one feather!)

Here is Tina Turner (unless you can think of a country singer name for her!!)

This brings our bird total up to 9 hens, 6 pullets and 1 rooster = 16 Chickens.

Here are the 4 Buff Orpingtons and the 3 Barred Rocks!

Now to name the critters....
4 Buff Orpington hens - need names
3 Barred Rock hens - need names
The Polish is named Tina Turner.

Please add suggestions. I would like to stick with the country singer theme for these girls.
Names so far on the birds I have are:
Dolly (Parton)
Patsy (Cline)
Reba (McEntire)
Crystal (Gayle)
Wynona (Judd)
Naomi (Judd)
Mrs. Elvis (was the straight run chick that could have been a roo, but isn't)
Oh and Heff (formerly Sir Buffington...I figured with 15 girls, he needed a more suitable name)

Coop Building 102

2008-07-03T14:16:00.004-05:00

So we started out with 4 adult chickens and 5 chicks. So we built a coop big enough for 10 chickens. Then decided we would like to produce about a dozen eggs a day...we have 7 hens...I think we need more!! So now in order to house 1 roo and 14 hens...we need to go bigger. So here is the construction process of our new 10X10 walk in coop!!

We are getting 2 new goats

2008-06-19T11:06:00.003-05:00

We are buying a young doeling and a doe from a lady in NE Texas. She will be delivering them around the end of July. She has to come down here to buy a doe and they are waiting for the doe to kid.

GINGER
Dam - VICKIE RAE GL001257221
Sire - NUBIAN
born 05
milking 4-5lbs
freshened 2x - 06 buckling 9lbs, 07 - bred to young buck didn't take, 08 - preemie buck doa
Bred to THE SWEDE FARM DOBIE'S ANSON - L001388125 (PB Buck)

Stella
Dam - Gypsy (GL1201796)
Sire - THE SWEDE FARM DOBIE'S ANSON - L001388125 (PB Buck)
born 1/14/08 ((one of twin doelings)
weaned
NOT registered, but easy to do

Poor Chicky

2008-06-10T09:14:00.003-05:00

One of the baby chicks was attacked by the hens and the rooster. Normally I leave the chicken door on the coop open (bad idea I know), but I didn't last night and when I went out to let them out this morning there was only 1 of the 3 babies in the coop and it was sitting in the nest with a bloody back.

Luckily yesterday we found a duckling wandering our property. I made it a brooder and put it in with chick starter and water.

So the brooder is now a duck brooder and a chick sick bay

Meet Lilly

2008-06-09T12:12:00.003-05:00

Saturday (June 7th) we purchased a Lamancha/Nigerian Dwarf cross dairy doe. She was cheap and will make a nice Guinea Pig for learning this whole dairy goat thing! And I felt bad for her and couldn't let her stay where she was! She had 4 goat kids nursing her and you could tell she was not happy about them! I will post pictures when I get them!!

Here she is the day we got her.

Here is her "alien" head. Chad calls her an alien!

She isn't to fond of looking at you when you try to take pictures!

Here she is munching on the hay we were loading into the barn

Here she is Tuesday (6/10/08) morning.

Meet Daffy the Duckling!

2008-05-27T12:01:00.004-05:00

Last night we aquired a duckling! Not knowing what to do with him so I could clean out his temporary house...I decided to run him a bath and put him in the tub so I could clean his cage! He was not so easy to get out of his house! He didn't know me, nor did he want to go along with anything I was doing!! After his bath I sat and held him in my lap, then put him back in his cage to introduce the dogs to him. After a while of sniffing like crazy the dogs ignored him, so I opened the door and he came to the edge and kinda perched there for a while...then out of no where he came walking out and snuggled up to me. Enough chit chat here are his pictures!

I didn't think to grab the camera until after the water had drained most of the way out of the tub.
(Our tub doesn't hold water!! It was either water that drains from a bath or water that doesn't drain during a shower!!)

Isn't he just the most adorable thing?!?!?

URGENT UPDATE

Daffy went missing Saturday night (6/7) or Sunday morning (6/8) There is no way for him to get out of the pen he was in and nothing had been knocked down. Chad and I searched the whole property Sunday morning looking for him. I fear a night bird may have got him?!!? I keep praying he will turn up! I know its just a duck, but he was my little buddy! We took daily walks to the pond to swim, not to mention he thought he was one of the dogs! He loved to follow them around and swim after them into the pond!

Momma and Chicks

2008-05-27T11:56:00.004-05:00

Dolly has been taking her 3 babies out all day for about 5 days now. She scratches around and finds tasty bugs to share with them and they practice scratching around.

New Babies!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-10T21:04:00.002-05:00

The broody hen (Dolly) hatched out 3 chicks! 1 chipmunk looking one and 1 yellow one on Thursday or Friday and a second yellow one Friday or Saturday. The first three chicks hatched by Saturday, it is now Wednesday...I don't think the other egg is going to hatch, but either way 3 out of 4 ain't bad!! Now on to the pics!

Here is Momma (Dolly) and the first chick!

Here is Momma with her first 2 chicks and that 5th egg! We are waiting for our pink camo chick!!

This was taken on Mother's Day! I Love You Momma!

Another Mother's Day I Love You!!

I will try to get pics of the third chick as soon as I can! It is an illusive little fluffy butt!!

10 Months!!!!!!!

2008-05-08T14:48:00.002-05:00

Ok so this was supposed to have been posted yesterday, but I forgot!! Whoops!
Chad and I have been married 10 months (and a day)!!!!

Sarah

Hen or Rooster??

2008-05-02T17:33:00.003-05:00

Here are some shots of Crystal's face that show the size of her/his comb and wattles as well as the color...You can see the color and size of some of the other chicks, but none that have the same type of comb...so I am sure it doesn't help!!

What do we think?? Hen or Rooster???

Hoof Trimming Day

2008-05-02T17:30:00.002-05:00

Today the horses got their hooves trimmed. They were about 3 weeks overdue, but the extra 3 weeks seemed to give them some extra heel growth which did them some good!

Here are Apache's Before and After

Here are Bella's Before and After
Here are Britt's Before and After
Here are Lindy's Before and After
And here are Wyatt's Before and After

Happy Trails!

Broody Hen

2008-05-01T14:39:00.001-05:00

I now have a broody hen! Basically broody means she laid eggs and decided to sit on them...they typically sit around 3 weeks....so hers are scheduled to hatch around Mother's Day (if they make it) She has come off them twice for extended periods of time...not sure if she spent to much time off them! They usually come off the nest once a day to eat, drink, and poop....then they go back to the nest! Hopefully she knows best! I don't have any pictures of her on the nest (don't want to disturb her and give her reason to decide to leave the nest!), but I do have a picture of my other broody hen and her eggs!

Isn't she beautiful!!

See her hatching chick!!!

I will try to get atleast one picture of the mommy and her chicks (if any hatch!) Pray for the babies!!

Chicks (don't seem like chicks anymore!)

2008-05-01T14:37:00.001-05:00

The chicks are now 2 months old!! Sorry no pics! I don't have my computer at the moment, but when I do I will try to update this with a page for each chick and newer pictures! They no longer live in the house (and haven't for a while) they now live in a 2 horse trailer outside! They love it because they can roost in the manger area and they hear me coming and jump up there to look at me through the windows! They don't get as much outside time because they are much harder to catch (namely Wynona and Elvis!) and the older chickens pick on them!

More to come later!!

Yet another new herd member

2008-05-01T14:08:00.005-05:00

Meet Frank (named after Frank James...you know Frank and Jesse!)

Frank decided he wanted to check out the dog kennel!

He can't decide if he is a goat or a chicken...now we can add grease monkey to the mix...as he spends so much time under the tractors that he is covered in grease!!

I guess he likes the cool bathroom floor...Jack wasn't to happy about posing with the new "dog""What do you mean goats don't belong in the kitchen???"

Frank's first experience with and ice cream cone! Did he like it???

Chicks are a month old

2008-04-04T13:08:00.004-05:00

As of April 2nd (my Brother's birthday) the chicks are now a month old!! They have changed so much!! Not just in appearance, but also in behavior. The moved outside into a partially enclosed horse trailer where they can see the other chickens, the horses, the donkey, and the cows. Prior to moving outside, they didn't really like to be handled much. Crystal and Reba would jump up on the side of the brooder box and then jump on my arms, but they didn't care to be picked up, Naomi would be the third to jump up on the side and would get on my hand, but would not come to me the way Reba and Crystal did, and Elvis and Wynona wanted nothing to do with people at all!! Now as soon as I walk into the trailer Crystal is on my lap or arms or head! Then Naomi and Reba follow her! Wynona and Elvis still don't care much for attention, they will come sit on my lap, but they still avoid me when I reach for them!!

Here is Elvis...his coloring is so neat!!
You can't see it, but he has white on the tips of his feathers!

Here is Naomi..her color is changing so much also!!

Here is Wynona..I love how similar her pattern is to Naomi

Here is Crystal...her coloring is coming in nicely!!

Here is Reba...her color will be gorgeous, but right now she has weird patches that almost look like she is bald because of how light they are!!

Elvis

2008-04-01T15:02:00.005-05:00

Here is Elvis at a week old.

Here is a view of his back about a week and a half old

Here is Elvis at about 2 and a half weeks old.

Here is another 2 and a half weeks old picture

Here he is at 3 weeks old

The rest are from today (4/1/08) almost 4 weeks old (tomorrow)

Chicks are 3 weeks old today

2008-03-26T18:01:00.002-05:00

So it would seem that I had forgotten about this blog thing, but I haven't. Having crappy internet I am barely able to load pictures on anything so I check my email and my message boards and that is all. Since I can't post pictures at the moment I find this slightly boring!! So here is an update. The chicks are starting to get so big!! They are getting such lovely colored feathers!! Crystal and Reba (the Barred Rock and the Rhode Island Red) are starting to develop rather large combs compared to Naomi, Wynona, and Elvis/Ashley (the Ameraucanas or Easter Eggers), but they have combs that are called Pea Combs and are rather small compared to a stand up single comb like the other 2 have. If I open the top to change feed or water Crystal immediately jumps up onto the edge of the pen followed by Reba . Today I was on the computer and left the top off (the dogs were in their crates) Crystal and Reba proceeded to jump on the edge, then onto me...about 3 feet!! After they were on me, Wynona decided to jump up on the edge and then onto me, leaving Naomi and Elvis in the pen by themselves!! Eventually Naomi jumped on the edge and out...to the floor and Elvis chirped very loudly to let us know he was VERY unhappy!! So I went and picked him up and picked Naomi up off the floor. We sat for about 5 minutes with everyone either on my head, shoulders, or lap!!
Hopefully next week I can move them outside to a new pen.

Crystal - Barred Plymouth Rock

2008-03-14T07:59:00.006-05:00

I decided all the chicks need their own page! So here is Crystal, the Barred Plymouth Rock.

Day 1

Day 7

Day 7 again (how do I get back in there)

First chick to perch on the dowel rod!!

"If you don't quit taking pictures of me, I AM going to EAT that thing!!!"

Stay tuned to watch her as she grows!!

Sir Buffington (the Buff Rooster)

2008-03-12T10:50:00.003-05:00

So I have been wondering what this big rooster might be. I was flipping through a catalog from a hatchery and found a picture of a Rooster and Hen that are called Golden Buff (they are a hybrid for brown egg laying) They are also called Golden Comet, Golden Sex Link (because the chicks can be sexed based on color), Cinnamon Queen, and Red Star. Here is a picture of my rooster:

I have searched for pictures online of roosters under these names and have come up with:

Week 1

2008-03-11T16:52:00.014-05:00

The four girls on their first day here!! They were so little and didn't move around much...now they flap and run and chirp all the time!
The babies snoozin'The babies snoozin yet again...notice Naomi with her head over the roost bar!
Elvis stretching!!
Reba
Wynona
Naomi
Elvis
Crystal

Another new chick!!

2008-03-08T20:53:00.004-06:00

I went into the Tractor Supply in Katy to return a light bulb we didn't need and had to go see the chicks they had, in case they had something different than my Tractor Supply in Tomball. They happened to have their straight run chicks separate from their pullets, so I decided to get another Ameraucana in hopes of it turning out to be male. The new chick spent the day in a mini brooder at my parents house (I was there to help clean out some storage units). After being there with him for about an hour he would not stop chirping unless I was messing with him, so during a work break I put him on my chest while I laid back and he crawled up onto my shoulder and nestled in my hair. I got up and walked to his brooder to put him up so I could help some more, but as soon as I walked away he chirped again, so I picked him up and put him on my shoulder under my sweater and he spent most of the day on my shoulder!! I hope this helps make him a nice tame bird!! The girls still act like I am going to eat them when they see me near the brooder...maybe him being calm with calm them...or them being crazy will make him crazy!!

His name is Elvis if he is a boy, but if he turns out to be a girl her name will be Ashley. I figure since the other two Ameraucana are Naomi and Wynona, after the Judds it would only make sense for her to be Ashley Judd (if she is indeed a she).

Cheep Cheep Cheep Cheep

2008-03-05T14:41:00.010-06:00

I bought chicks today!!! I went to Tractor Supply and the feed store with intentions of only getting what I would need to get chicks...not actually get the chicks. When I went to TS they had chicks and I tried my hardest not to buy them. I was successful, mainly because they didn't have the breeds I wanted. I then proceeded to the feed store to be won over by the Cheep Cheep Cheeping!! They had one of the two breeds I went for. I bought 2 Ameraucaunas (green egg layers), 1 Rhode Island Red, and 1 Barred Rock. All four are girls.

This is the Barred Rock named Crystal, named after Crystal Gayle (Crystal Gayle has dark hair!)
This is one of the Ameraucaunas named Naomi

This is Wynona the other Ameraucauna.

This is Reba the Rhode Island Red.

Sorry for the bad pics...will post better ones after the camera batteries charge!!

Might as well introduce the rest of the herd!

2008-03-04T10:22:00.000-06:00

Well I figured, since the name of this is the Laughter Herd...I might as well introduce the herd!

First we have Chad and Sarah (The Laughters)

Next we have Just Jack. He is a 20lb Standard Rat Terrier
Jack pretending to be a Gargoyle!

This is Shelby, my second cousin (more like a sister...I have known her, her whole life) working with Outlaw Jesse James on some agility! Who says a Pittie can't do agility??

Jesse showing off his cart harness...we need to cut the excess off the straps!
This is my old man! This is Apache...is probably the same age as I am and we have known each other since I was 10 years old! Here's to 15 great year's together old man!!
"Are you taking MY picture? Did I tell you that you could take MY picture??"

When I first met him!! Man I was short! Either I have grown or he has shrunk!!

This is Chad and his horse Wyatt

Wyatt has the coolest eyes EVER!!!

This is Bella, I was standing on her hill!
"Excuse me, are you on MY hill??"
I think she would love to come in for some bread, but hubby says no!!This is Britt and her filly Lindy. They belong to friends, but live with us!
This is Dottie, Batman, and Winnie. They belong to the same friends as Britt and Lindy and they also live with us

This is Red, she is Batman's momma! Again a friend's but lives with us!

Well, I have to sell Junior

2008-03-04T08:28:00.000-06:00

We planned to lock the chickens in their coop for 48 hours (was offered as a way to teach them that it is where they go at night). Went to check on food and water levels this morning to find Junior all bloody...decided to let them out. I really like him, I think he is gorgeous, but I am less afraid of the big Buff! (I know what a wuss!!)

By Junior I will miss you!!

EGGcellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-03T11:27:00.000-06:00

I was so anxious to have eggs I checked the nest basket as soon as I let them out of their old "coop" (Dog Crate) Nothing!!! We finally got our first eggs (while we were building the coop) (Sunday March 2nd, 2008)

Here are the girls that laid them:

Here are the eggs:

And again, this time me trying to keep Jesse from eating them!! I am sure he is thinking Mmmmmm Hard Boiled Eggs!!!

Coop Building 101

2008-03-03T09:35:00.002-06:00

After being woke up at 5am, getting back to sleep only to be awoken again at 6am, we decided Sunday that the chickens would need to spend the night somewhere besides the shed next to our house. So in the extra 2 hours we had before getting ready to go to church Chad decided to start on the coop...unfortunately I was not awake enough to think to grab the camera for documenting purposes!! So the pictures start after church. Prior to church, Chad built the frame for the floor, put the floor on the frame, and attached the 6 legs and braces to support the legs and floor.

Here is the start of the second half of the project:
Chad had already attached the frame for the back and was working on attaching a frame for one side before I made it out with the camera!

Chad making the middle beams that would support what was going to be two doors on the front that became one door and a side of screen.

New coop Now with backside included!

All three sides on, working on putting the solid door on.

Door is on and cut to fit, now screening in the opening above the chicken door (originally we were going to have the ramp close up all the way, but decided to just make a small door and leave the ramps stationary. Don't mind the little head in the corner that is Sasha, our friends Black Lab...she is a camera hog!!
Attaching the door latch.

Almost done...just needs a ramp, litter, and chickens!!

The chickens in their new home the next morning! It may have been more work trying to catch them and put them in their new home that building it(or in my case documenting the building of it!!!)

UPDATE!!!!!!!! We now have a roost, nests, and a ramp that doesn't get knocked over by the cows!

Here is the big buff in front of the 4' roost (we will ad d more roost space once the little guys move out)

The nests, Chad decided since we had the room to use it and made 3 nests. We will only have 6 or 7 hens...so they should have plenty of room to lay plenty of eggs!!
Here are the waterer and feeder

Finished product! Stake added beside the ramp to help keep the cows from knocking it off. It is also screwed down.

Floor Plan

The new herd members

2008-03-02T07:32:00.001-06:00

Well, the newest members of our herd, are actually members of their own flock! We aquired 4 chickens last night, 2 rooster and 2 hens. 5am this morning the roosters reminded me why I didn't want roosters, but when they are a free package deal you take what ya get!! Here they are:

And here are the hens (Dolly and Patsy):

Here is the Buff courting one of the hens!
Here is Junior, the young rooster:

I am not sure what breed(s) they are...so if you know or have an idea...please let me know!!!