State of the Property Address

So Here is a rundown of current projects/stuff going on at our house.

We recently purchased 3 Angus cows. All Steers. 2 black angus, 1 red angus. We bought them down at the livestock auction. If you are ever bored on a Saturday, go down there and sit in the front row. Its lots of fun!!!

The red Angus is blind in one eye. These boys have been given names like Hammy (short for Hamburger), Sir Loin, some other meat related name. I try not to remember names or get attached to these guys since they will be food in a bout a year.

they are currently over at Mom and Dad's pasture eating it down and getting fat.

In our pasture we have the sheep. They were sheared about 2 weeks ago. Imagine our surprise when after shearing we realized they were pot bellied. Last year I wasn't certain I was feeding them enough. But after shearing they looked ok. This year I fed them more just to make sure. I guess I went a little overboard because they are REALLY FAT. So I'll be cutting them back to the normal winter rations this winter.

The chickens are fun as always. We've got our normal hatching egg laying crew around. This consists of 6 hens and 1 rooster. When hatched out, their eggs lead to sex link chicks. This is my passion. Anyway, in the next pen we have the silkie and 10 chicks that I purchased from the feed store for A's preschool class to have as class pets. I promised them chicks and the ones the silkie sat on never hatched. So what was at the feed store was what I ended up with. 5 White Astra's and 5 black Austrolorp. Both breeds I've never owned and never really wanted to own. So I'm not sure what will happen with them. There are at least 3 roosters so far. Maybe more. With straight run chicks they aren't sexed before you buy them so you really never know.

In the other coop I have 2 Cochins. One is raising 12 chicks that I bought from the hatchery to replace my current laying chickens. Those chickens will be ready to retire by next spring and these chicks will be old enough to take their place at that time.

The other cochin in that coop is getting ready to go broody. I hope anyway. Silkies and cochins follow a pattern. They lay for about 2 months and then go broody (meaning they want to sit on eggs and raise some chicks) for a while and then they take a break for about 6-8 weeks.

This cochin should go broody soon. If everything works out right, she'll be able to raise the 21 turkey chicks I have coming in late June!

The garden is doing well. Most everything is planted and the greenhouse is nearly empty. I ordered 110 more strawberry plants and am in the process of cleaning out the beds that my strawberries use to be in. I sold about 175 plants this year. But still have at least that many left. So next year maybe we'll get enough strawberries to make jam.

Everything else is waking up slowly due to the rainy cold weather we've been having.