January Baby Goats

We had goats loose last fall.  We keep the billies separate from the girls until November, so we plan for March babies.  This year...  looks like we are going to have quite a few early births.

Yesterday twin girls, to one of my best moms.  They are doing great -
 They are up, running around, and adorable in the snow today.  (we lined the inside of this shelter with hay bales yesterday, knowing the temps would drop, and it would be windy, last night.  It was 2 degrees when I got up this morning)

Then this morning - 
This little girl is more of a concern for us.  Some of our Boers are born with their front legs not working well right away.  Nutradrench takes care of the problem in a day or two.  This one was born with this, in the snow, and her mom is skittish.  Doesn't seem as interested in standing still for the baby to nurse.  We'll have to watch carefully to make sure she is eating.  We put a calf shelter in the pasture and moved the baby in there so she's separate from the others and less likely to get trampled.  

Our Sheep

 I either need to find a local shearer, or learn to shear, this year!
Daughter with Mom.  Lamb on the left was born last spring.  Mom is a Jacobs, Father was a Suffolk
All three of our sheep- our new ram is a Jacobs too.

Recipe - Anniversary Chicken

Boneless chicken breasts marinated in Teriyaki sauce, 
then topped with ranch dressing, bacon, and thick slices of cheese

  • Boneless Chicken
  • Teriyaki Sauce
  • Ranch Dressing
  • Cheese (Cheddar was on the original recipe, but I often use colby jack)
  • Bacon or bacon bits
Marinate the chicken in teriyaki sauce.

Place in a baking pan, top with a tsp or so of ranch dressing, cheese, and bacon or bacon bits. (Maple smoked bacon from Sam's club is fabulous on this)  Thinly sliced green onions on top are optional too.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbly on top.

It's a weird combination of ingredients, but trust me - it's good!  A favorite here.  This is also a great meal to make a lot of in advance, flash freeze, and cook later.

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Chicken Enchilada Soup


Chicken (cut up or shredded)
onion 
garlic
Chicken broth
can of enchilada sauce (I used the big can, two regular cans, for one crockpot)
8 oz Cheese (cheddar, or montery jack - I used montery jack last time)
sour cream (about 2 cups for the crockpot full)
corn tortillas

Optional - I have added corn, leftover salsa, diced tomatoes with chilies..  whatever I have on hand that I think will go ok in this.  :-)
Put enchilada sauce in the crockpot.   Add chicken broth and water until the crockpot is about half full.
saute the chicken in a little oil or butter.  Remove, put in the crockpot.
 add onion and garlic to pan, saute.  Add sour cream and  the cheese (shredded or cut up small) until cheese is melted.   Mix a little flour and cold water (like making gravy) and stir into the cheese mixture to thicken it. 
mix cheese mixture into the crockpot.
Cut the corn tortillas into small strips, add to the crockpot.

Peabody's Tail


Each year our peacock loses his tail.  I have a LOT of peacock feathers.  I saved one tail separate from the other feathers, so this swag is one complete peacock tail.  :-)  It looks so simple, but you would not believe how long it took me to sort those feathers and get them all pointed in the right direction!

Today On The Farm 6/11/2010

Moved the goats to the maternity pen.  The grass in there is so high you can barely see Lucy (the sheep) when she walks in the one section!  The goats are loving it today.   It's full of the woody weeds and thistle that goats love. 
 
Red (my horse) got his feet trimmed again today, and I talked with Lindsey about taking him to Cornell.   It's not as expensive as I had thought, but it's a 3 hour drive, with Red in a trailer...  so that takes some thought.  (the other three horses were trimmed recently, Red just needed a touch up visit)
 
Moved the horses to the front pasture, since the goats are not in there.  The ram, two billies, and Fred the llama are all in with the horses.
 
The baby chicks are all doing great!  I'm getting read to move them to the arcauna pen here this afternoon.  That will open the tractor pen up for the turkeys, who are getting big!
 
The arcaunas, all but the one nesting, will move with the other hens for summer.  The roosters will be put out to free range, so the girls can concentrate on laying eggs without being bothered by the boys.  For winter we'll put them all in together I think, then early spring I'll separate the arcaunas back out, so that I get a batch of straight arcauna chicks again next year. 
 
The two peahens have been fighting over the nest, and have the eggs all over.  I need to go in and put all the eggs on one nest, and hope one of them sits on them.
 
Gary is baling hay beside our upper shed, Nate is helping.  Luke is in the dairy barn for afternoon milking.  Dan is in the shed tinkering with the hay rake, making sure everything is ready for Monday. 
 
The timothy is high and thick, the rye is starting to go to head, and the wheat is starting to turn golden..  busy days ahead!