tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66805459551673117522024-03-14T05:45:06.695-04:00on the Deckon the DeckDeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-12738896715346193982013-03-09T20:21:00.001-05:002013-03-09T20:21:37.925-05:00trialsThis is so tough. It's funny how hard farming can be when it wants to be. We just have a small farm. I think that makes the losses huge. Lily kidded this morning, finally. She had twin boys. One is tan with black and white markings while the other looked like her, and, unfortunately, like Betsy's kid, Sydney. Lily and Betsy don't get along the best. Lily and Betsy's kid got along even less. Lily has totally rejected her little white kid. She completely bonded with the tan one. And, oh, it gets worse. We have the white kid in the house in a box with a towel so he doesn't freeze to death as he starves to death. He refuses to eat anything. He will not take a bottle. I've tried some milk replacer. I even milked Lily, as she has the colostrum he would definitely need. He will not take a bottle. He's dying, and there isn't a thing I can do about it.<br />
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Betsy was even a little confused as to which kid was hers, so there is a lot of similarity between her kid and Lily. If there was any way I could help this little kid make it, I would. But if he won't eat, he won't even swallow when a large syringe is put down his throat, I can't do a thing but make him comfortable and let him die.<br />
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Sometimes I hate farming. Sometimes I feel like such a failure.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-79230821817270100872013-02-19T13:29:00.000-05:002013-02-19T13:29:18.604-05:00Out of Hibernation?Is it time to come out of hibernation yet? Nope. This morning brought freezing rain and near blizzard conditions. Basketball practice at my daughter's school has just been cancelled. I have to say, as much as I love the seasons, the onset of spring is really tugging at me. I need some warmer weather to butcher my ducks and start my gardening. I need to pull my little greenhouse indoors and plant some seeds to get them started, but I'm afraid I'm a little bit early. Well, perhaps I can get some tomatoes, peppers and brussel sprouts started ... we'll see. It's just tough. We have a warm-up where the weather gets above 40 degrees, and it will either be sunny or rain; then, the temperatures will drop, like they did this morning, and we'll have freezing rain followed by snow showers. Finally, however, the daylight hours are getting longer and doing evening chores is more enjoyable. Soon the time change will ruin that, but it will be lighter in the morning. I think I like longer daylight hours in the evening better. I think I'm just suffering through some seasonal depression ... but I think that I'll get through. I think this weekend I may have to purchase some seeds and get that started. I also need to yank nails and spackle and prime my bathroom. That's a job I really need to finish. I think I should be too busy to have spring fever???? Oh, February, literally the shortest month of the year, why are you so very long?!?!?!?!!!!???Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-77201890333424186112013-02-11T13:57:00.000-05:002013-02-11T13:57:20.223-05:00Winter Morning Chores<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The above is kind of a pictorial account of doing chores in the winter morning. First I visit the chickens and get their water, the usually the ducks and turkeys get a visit, but today the cows were ready for breakfast and I had to feed them. Then, of course, right on cue, the goats chime in so I need to take care of them. The ducks are usually ready to stretch their legs, so I let them out. When it's snowy, they like to run up the little hill and squat down and eat snow. The turkeys like the colder weather and do more strutting about and gobbling ... oh, wait, they strut and gobble all the time anyway. They do like the snow more than the chickens. Those birds won't even come out!</div>
Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-57366024861450697922013-01-21T15:16:00.000-05:002013-01-21T15:16:04.031-05:00New Baby Goat!So Ginger surprised us all Saturday evening by kidding! Saturday morning she looked as if she had another week. Her milk hadn't yet totally come in - her udder was not quite filled up. Chris and Alex did chores Saturday evening and then came in, and we ate pizza and played Risk. The kids went to bed, and because the temperature was dropping, Chris thought he'd go out and check on everyone. He called me from the barn saying that Ginger had her kid! The little doeling was already dry! And, as you can see she is adorable, as all pygmy kids are!<br />
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Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-54665866767989294232013-01-21T15:13:00.000-05:002013-01-21T15:13:04.865-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is Porterhouse standing up.<br />
Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-3881372957011681612013-01-14T15:23:00.000-05:002013-01-14T15:23:11.805-05:00He's Up!<span id="goog_286152573"></span>I had helped Porterhouse up to his feet, and we (Porterhouse & I) decided to take a turn around his pen. We'd done it once in the morning with him stumbling, but still making it all around the stall, but it was tough going. This time, he spent so much more time up, and as we got around the turn, he decided to stand up! And then he stayed up! He stumbled over to his feed with my help, but didn't go down. He stayed up! On his own! I didn't hold him up! It was fantastic! Then he took a few steps to his hay and started eating that, standing up! Then he took steps to where he'd been laying, then back to his feed! Then over to his hay! Oh, it was wonderful! He's got a ways to go, as we can now tell that his front right ankle has been injured. He favors it quite a bit. But standing on 3 legs is better than not standing at all!<br />
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I have pictures, but I can't upload them at the moment. Sorry!Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-36291273100956900592013-01-10T14:57:00.002-05:002013-01-10T14:57:58.334-05:00Getting about timeFirst of all, Porterhouse is doing much better. He can almost get himself all the way up. He's getting so much stronger! Since we have such a small farm, it's not as difficult for us to maintain turning him and keeping him warm and dry and keep his poop away from him. It will be awhile before we let him out of the barn, but he's got to get up first before I start counting those chickens.<br />
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Now, on to the goats! Ginger is getting ready for birthing. It's a good thing, too, because she's getting huge. Now, her udder is just starting to fill and her back end has swelled. It's just a matter of time. As soon as her udder totally swells, we'll know there's only about 24 - 48 hours before she gives birth. And here I thought Lily would be first! This is just insane!!! I'm so excited for kidding time. Those little things are just adorable when they are first born. It's funny, but most people think that pygmy goats are a bit standoffish and not liking much affection. I've found that if the kids are raised with lots of attention, that they just love to be handled and cuddled. My daughter loves that this is her best job - to love the little ones! Not a bad job for a 15 yr. old. Pygmy goats are great for the fair as well as you don't have to trim their coats. You can just leave them shaggy.<br />
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Finally, it's getting about time to butcher those doggone ducks ...Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-702443104197196782013-01-02T10:03:00.000-05:002013-01-02T10:03:00.904-05:00tough timesThe day after Christmas was a particularly tough day. Christmas night I had looked in on the chick that hatched in the morning. It was deformed. It's top beak curled over the bottom one, and it was missing an eye as everything in the head curled around toward one side leaving no room for it. It would never be able to eat or drink. I had heard of this sort of thing happening, but had never seen it. I was amazed that it even got out of the shell. Other than the deformity in the head, it was a healthy, robust little chick, and I was not looking forward to killing it. I've had to kill chicks before that were near the end, but I've never had to kill a healthy one. I didn't want this little guy to suffer slowly. So, Dec. 26, right before work, I took it outside in the cold and set it down in front of the cat. She showed absolutely no interest. This was the great hunter of wild chicks in the barn - swallows, sparrows - you name it, she's caught it, killed it and eaten it. However, this little deformed chick must not have posed much of a challenge, because she turned her nose up to it. This meant that I would HAVE to be the one to do the deed. I was running out of time, and I was having a hard time thinking of options. The weak chicks weren't that hard to suffocate, but this little guy would not be put down so easily. I settled on smashing it with a bucket that was full of ice. It would be quick and from what I could tell, only painful for a second, if that. I set the chick down on the driveway and prayed that it didn't move, which it didn't, and brought the bucket down on the chick with all my power. The ice in the bucket broke, and when I pulled it away, the chick was dead. It was awful. I hope I never have to do that again.<br />
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Later in the day, my daughter called and told me that Porterhouse, one of our dairy beef steers, was laying down on his side and wouldn't get up. He had slipped and fell on the ice. I called the vet. Kellie went to the neighbors who moved him off the ice. I was stuck at work, Chris was on his way home from getting Alex his driver's license. Later that evening, when the vet finally arrived, we got him in the barn. He had been jarred, and would probably lay for a few days. We needed to give him some grain and hay in the barn. We would need to turn him over so he spent time on each side. It was a horrible feeling thinking that he might die.<br />
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New Year's Eve wasn't that great either - Porterhouse had gotten himself laying flat on his side/back and was starting to bloat up. We called the vet again. As Chris was on the phone with the vet, I got him up on his side/belly and he belched and started eating hay. <br />
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Today, Porterhouse is still laying in the barn, but hopefully over the next few days he'll find the strength to get himself up. It's been tough to deal with because you can't just lift him to his feet as he weighs 300 lbs. The vet said it could take two weeks. Arg!Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-76888600768344604832012-11-19T21:57:00.003-05:002012-11-19T22:05:03.860-05:00Red Letter RevolutionI just finished reading the Red Letter Revolution by Shane Claiborne and
Tony Campolo courtesy of BookSneeze. I don't think I could say enough
good about this book. Every follower of Christ should read this. I grew
up thinking that God was a big judge up in the sky. I had to follow a
lot of rules and condemn all the sinners around me to go to heaven.
Since then, I've rebelled and came back to the church, but it is a far
different church that I attend now than I did when I was young. It's
been an insane journey. Today I attend a church that is very focused on
outreach and community. Reading this book really was like reading a
confirmation that I'm on the right track. It really wasn't like I was
learning anything new, but I felt convicted by the book as I am a
selfish person really. In pretty much everything involving our lives in
the world we live in today, we are to set ourselves up as lesser than
our neighbor. That's pretty much the gist of it all. I comes down to
Love God, Love Your Neighbor. So many of us don't do that today, and
here in America, we're all pretty guilty of thinking only of ourselves.
There are a few haves but a great number of have nots. They gave
examples of things they have done that have worked for them and helped
those that needed it. They advocated teaching and uplifting rather than
doing for or in place of those in need helping themselves. While reading
this book, I ended up having a great conversation with a gentleman who
asked what I was reading and what it was about while waiting for my
daughter's band concert to start. It really was quite amazing to get
into a conversation about Christ with a stranger at a public school, all
just because he asked what I was reading. My Facebook posts reflected
what I learned as I read this book. I can't say enough how much I
recommend this book.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-44931673181207263852012-11-04T20:15:00.003-05:002012-11-04T20:15:58.069-05:00It's been quite awhile since I posted here ... So I should give an update. I'll start with the cows. Sirloin is weighing in at a whopping 450 lbs. He is afraid of the weight tape, which is really quite funny. I think he just doesn't like getting his shots (wormer), and associates our sneaking up on him with the weight tape as if we were going to give him a poke. Tenderloin and Porterhouse both weigh about 375 lbs each. Porterhouse is the thinnest, and I think he's the most picky about what he eats. There's still quite a bit of edible grass out in their pasture, but we give them a square of hay in the morning and another in the evening. They sit there and bawl and bawl for it. They are worse than the goats.<br />
<br />
Speaking of ... the goats are doing well - better since we gave Joey to my brother and his family. The rut went smoothly in their pen. Joey is a whether, but he thought he was a buck and caused a lot of trouble for Freddie. And thanks to Freddie, I do believe that Lily, Betsy and Ginger are all pregnant. Lily is gigantic!<br />
<br />
We butchered about 8 roosters, 5 ducks and a couple of turkeys. The chickens have been tried, and I must say that they are quite tasty. I'm looking forward to trying the ducks and turkeys. We still have Lucy and Foreman and Quagmire and Georgie. We also have 38 hens, and I kept the pretty Wellsummer rooster. We're just not getting a good amount of eggs. I don't understand it! We get about 5 eggs a day. Tanto, the little Indian Runner duck lays an egg pretty much every day.<br />
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Henry is looking for a girlfriend. That poor peackock1 I can't believe how pretty he's getting!!! We do need to find him a lady friend.<br />
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That's all for now - even tho we got an extra hour, I'm beat - at 8:15!!!!!!Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-24694384243247772242012-10-01T14:46:00.000-04:002012-10-01T14:46:07.568-04:00Crazy Dangerous ReviewIt's been awhile since my last posting ... but I have another review to conduct, book courtesy of BookSneeze. I recently read Crazy Dangerous, by Andrew Klaven. This was just what I needed at the time. I'm not talking about the material, but about the adventure. The main character, Sam Hopkins, is pegged as a loser, an easy target for the bullies around him. Unfortunately, he pulls a stunt that lands him right in the thick of the bullies that really do stick him between a rock and a hard place. His new crowd, the guys that were really out to beat the tar out of him, are into some pretty bad stuff. However, Sam essentially has a great heart, allowing him to befriend someone he never thought would get under his skin. He finds himself defending her to the point of getting himself into a world of trouble. Also, in doing so, he learns just how odd she really is, but he learns that she knows the truth of what is really happening even if she can't articulate it in ways uneccentric, regular people just don't take the time to understand.<br />
<br />
This was an odd book, and easy read, and I could recommend it to those looking for a bit of suspense and action. It is geared toward young people, but does include violence and sketchy subject matter. As it is a "Christian" book, (and I say that loosely because there wasn't much on that subject but dealing with living essentially the right way versus giving in completely to living as a bully and not standing up for the weak), the points were pretty obvious. I was pretty sure that Sam would end up doing what was right. This book was pretty obvious.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-56991848287763171182012-05-31T14:25:00.002-04:002012-05-31T14:25:59.849-04:00Death on Deckers' AcresIt's been a rough couple of weeks. T-Bone came down with bloat and the vet eventually told us we shouldn't bother sinking any more money into these calves. He said that he most likely had an abcess on his lungs and probably wouldn't make it. Chuck had died the day prior to general poor health. He tried hard, but he just wasn't going to make it. I think he might have been sick from the get-go, but we'll never know. T-Bone died a couple days after the vet told us we shouldn't bother with him anymore. It was pretty sad. Sirloin is doing well, now weighing in at around 170 lbs. He's a nice big fella.<br />
<br />
23 pheasants hatched, but one by one, they died off. Now there is only one in the bin. I never saw signs of any fighting or pecking. I did have a bit of trouble with the lighting, and they'd crowd eachother. Perhaps we'll get the chance to buy another bunch of eggs in the near future.<br />
<br />
We did buy 2 more dairy beef cows. One is actually a cow! A girl! They are twins, which is why we got the girl. She's what they call freemartin, meaning she's a she most likely born with male parts. Her twin is a little bull, and when you have one of each sex in the womb they share the same placenta and the makings of their reproductive parts get mixed up. She'll be infertile, which is why we got her. Her name is Tenderloin. The little bull's name is Porterhouse.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHA29ewWnP9V5Vl_m8u2EaDVgPbT9OMDrSMSD-i3gXSLuZyDm8zmu438pHOqriMAnO1ecQlf6td2qb2eC8AicCyu-ev9AZOEXbyCei9sEGpfxh_WtEXxkZjyK7L7mdZnC3F-kEM0uFxqT/s1600/Tenderloin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHA29ewWnP9V5Vl_m8u2EaDVgPbT9OMDrSMSD-i3gXSLuZyDm8zmu438pHOqriMAnO1ecQlf6td2qb2eC8AicCyu-ev9AZOEXbyCei9sEGpfxh_WtEXxkZjyK7L7mdZnC3F-kEM0uFxqT/s320/Tenderloin.jpg" width="320" /></a>Tenderloin</div>Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-78500139188087666842012-05-14T14:57:00.002-04:002012-05-14T14:57:22.795-04:00Pheasant Mama?Saturday I was at the Ravenna auction waiting to bid on a dozen Maran eggs. They were a mix between blues and cuckoos, which I really didn't want, but I had to get them for a friend of mine. The eggs I gave her didn't work out. It looks like they only made it about 10 days before giving up and dying in the eggs. I say I didn't really want them because I was hoping for another breed of chicken like Americauans or Barred Rocks. I ended up buying Americauna chicks for 25 cents each and was sold some Campines (white egg layers, pretty chicken) for 25 cents each. It was a good day for buying chicks, not such a good day for selling them. There were quite a few people there, they just weren't buying the chicks. A man behind me was also bidding on the doggone eggs. The bid got up to $6.50, and I stopped. It was getting to be too much and I didn't know where the eggs came from. I wasn't 100% sure of the viability to go that high for chicken eggs. The only ones I would have gone higher for would have been black copper marans. I ended up losing on the eggs, but took home about 15 adorable chicks. I still had an egg problem. Someone reminded me I should call Randy, the guy who sells amazing chicks of all sorts, both at the auction and on Craigslist. So later that day I made the call and agreed to meet him at 6pm on Sunday.<br />
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Mother's Day went by pretty quick between church singing, the message and later the Hume Home service. Then it was back home for a quick lunch and the painting of the picnic tables. Kellie about turned green! I rototilled my garden until I nearly ran out of gas. Then I almost fell asleep in a chair in the sun. It was so beautiful.<br />
<br />
It was time to head over to the poultry farm. As it turns out, Randy has quite a nice setup. He has about 4 rows of bird housing with everything from rare green pheasants to polish chickens in them. He is very careful about his breeding, being interested in the best of the varieties he has. In other words, out of two roosters of a particular variety, he kept the larger one to breed with his hens. He also cross-breeds color varieties of chickens to get a larger, better bird of the color he wants. He has turkeys as well: royal palms, red bourbons, blue slates and bronzes. He has high quality birds, and any chicks I've purchased from him at the auction have a very high survival-ability rate. I was impressed with his set-up. His birds are happy, not at all overcrowded, and the pens are clean and well-kept. I'm looking forward to the eggs hatching for my friend.<br />
<br />
Chris informed me this morning that the pheasant eggs were cheeping and pecking holes in their eggs. We have 29 eggs that are getting ready to hatch. Just a minute ago, I learned that I'm a pheasant mama! I'm so excited! We're going to release them when they get bigger, and hopefully, we'll be able to see wild pheasants on the farm as well. Oh, the birds that Decker's Acres has been able to raise! Now if the calves would just get healthy and stay that way, I'd be happy!Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-64545585430000994062012-05-07T14:01:00.000-04:002012-05-07T14:01:32.477-04:00Dreary Weather and CalvesWhen you have sick calves, the dreary, damp weather isn't very helpful. The calves have been battling pneumonia for the past few weeks, and it's getting old real fast. They don't want to eat much with the weather being so icky. It's dark and dampy and drizzly, and they just don't want to eat. We've been trying to get them three bottles per day to get them healthy and bulked up a bit. The additional food was supposed to help them pump up their health so that they don't get the pneumonia again. Two of them had shots from the vet that were supposed to ward off the symptoms for two weeks. One didn't want to eat late last night, and the other didn't want much and had to be pretty much forced. This morning the one that didn't want food late last night ate fine, but the other one I tried to force feed, but he didn't take much. He did want to eat hay, however. That I could not figure out. We'll see how they are when I get home. Perhaps they'll be hungrier, or perhaps I'll find the hay manger is half empty.<br />
<br />
On a more pleasant note, during a cease in the rain yesterday, we let the ducks and turkeys out, mostly to get them out of their muddy, poopy pen and out in the grass for a bit, and also to see how the ducks liked the slugs. The ducks loved finding all those slugs. They have no idea just how many slugs they can have to eat, and all the better as well, because I don't want to lose any more goats to deerworm. Anyway, below are pictures of Kellie surrounded by small turkeys and holding little Leonard, and one picture of our lonely little turkey chick. I'll probably move him tonight.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf82H_JRw9yBZG3XgvIDNOoIds9gkbRBs-mDfr4oWIe-87XaSiTXLvBMmrUJ9LdNPFKpDJp9JzT11POtUz7lj4wpu7LTs4zikmt_lYHFO7AJ4GR2PXayQoozsU03ENiIfNRTufoih_eArA/s1600/IMAG1025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf82H_JRw9yBZG3XgvIDNOoIds9gkbRBs-mDfr4oWIe-87XaSiTXLvBMmrUJ9LdNPFKpDJp9JzT11POtUz7lj4wpu7LTs4zikmt_lYHFO7AJ4GR2PXayQoozsU03ENiIfNRTufoih_eArA/s320/IMAG1025.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-90992424491881265462012-05-01T08:56:00.001-04:002012-05-01T08:56:30.481-04:00yesterday ...Yesterday was bad enough being about 40 minutes late for work because I couldn't find my keys! How pathetic is that! I had to take Chris' truck and park way in the back. My umbrella was in MY car. When I walked into work it was downpouring rain, and I was drenched by the time I reached my desk. My jacket was still damp when I left to go home. The workday was busy, and it was a relief to pick Kellie up from school and head home. Unfortunately, my phone died on the way, and even more unfortunately, Chris had been trying to reach me because Chuck, one of the calves, was doing very poorly. He had his mom pick up some medication from the vet for the calf. I administered the shot, and by the time we went to bed he finally wanted to eat.<br />
<br />
The turkey egg with the chick pecking a hole in the wrong place finally hatched. Since it seemed to be taking this one so long, I told Chris that he could help it with the membrane part if he wanted to. The doggone thing is all wrong, however. It won't get off its back, even when you put it over on its stomach. Its feet are curled and won't straighten. Right now, we've just tried to keep it comfortable and have helped it get water, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to go against everything I stand for and put it out of its misery when I get home. There is one other egg laid at the same time that hasn't started to hatch yet. I don't know what the deal is. It doesn't smell yet. Then there are four other eggs that should start to hatch today or tomorrow. There are four more that should hatch tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Being a farmer is real hard sometimes. Animals get sick, some die and there's nothing you can do about it. Produce doesn't work out. I vowed the summer after we moved to this farm that I wouldn't ever do corn again because I had so much trouble, even with birds swooping down and snatching up the seedlings! For crying out loud, there's an entire field of corn at their disposal! I did corn again last year, after taking a year off, and it worked out! I was amazed! So even with plants, farming is hard. Last year I had amazing vines for my squash and pickles, but I didn't get much yeild. It's hard, but I wouldn't trade the lifestyle and the lessons my daughter and stepson are learning. There is a lot of hard work that goes into all this, but the payoff, when it works out, is huge. We pray for the calves to grow to be healthy and yummy. We pray for the goats to deliver their kids safely. We pray for the ducks to grow strong and love slugs. We pray for the chickens to lay great eggs, and we pray for happy healthy turkeys. Finally, we pray that our children learn and grow and do their best with their schoolwork and that they are a shining example of Christ.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-90377892294731822382012-04-30T14:34:00.003-04:002012-04-30T14:34:46.377-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last Thursday, April 26, was the birthdate of our newest little Pygmy goat - we'll call him Leonard for now. I went out to the barn to do chores early Thursday morning and found that Ginger had drastically changed from just being pudgy pregnant with a big, growing udder, to a more streamlined goat with the kid visibly not on her side anymore. It was obvious that the kid had moved up into the birth canal. There was definitely shape in that direction. She also wasn't interested in eating anything, which is completely unlike Ginger. She might be our smallest goat, but she is a voracious eater. It came time for me to get on my way to work; Chris had already left for his job. There would be no one home to help Ginger if she had trouble with the birthing. I worried and prayed all day. On the way home, God provided a verse for me to stop worrying - you know, the one about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, admonishing us not to worry. My first stop when I pulled into my property was to go out to the barn. William, our Nubian wether, is in the same pen with Ginger. We have a nesting pair of large hawks near our property. I thought that if Ginger kidded that he would help protect the youngster if those hawks got close. Well, William came walking into the barn when I did. Then Ginger stuck her head in her door. I couldn't tell if she was still big, and I didn't see a kid. I put some hay in their manger, and she walked all the way in and this little fella came in a moment after her. He was plump and dry and very healthy. She had to have had him within hours of me leaving for work. The front half of him looks like daddy Freddie. The back end of him doesn't look like either parent. Already, he's bouncing around and getting into mischief. Yesterday he was trying grass for the first time! At age 4 days!<br />
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Saturday we had three turkey chicks hatch. Sunday it looked like we were going to get a fourth and a fifth, but the fourth one died mid-hatch and the fifth has made his hole in the wrong place. He's still chipping away at it. Another egg was making pecking sounds last night. It would be a little early for that one to hatch, but I've learned that our turkeys, anyway, seem to hatch at around day 25 or 26 rather than 28. Also, turkeys have to be warm for their first week. I've found that the chicks I get from the auction, or even those that I've hatched, don't need to start their first couple days as warm as turkey chicks do. Turkey chicks also start to feather out much faster than chicken chicks. It is interesting. Right now, I have 29 pheasant eggs and 4 turkey eggs in the incubator. I have about 6 more turkey eggs in the hatching incubator which is in the bathroom. Also in the bathroom is a bin with a heat lamp for the young turkey chicks. We tried just a regular lightbulb overnight, and I'm amazed that didn't do the trick. They did need a heat lamp.<br />
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Also, we bought a kiddie pool for the ducks. They don't worship the washtub as much, now, but they have started to worship the pool! It's awful funny seeing four ducks laying around it with their bills hanging over the edge and three ducks swimming around in it, with one of the three being the Indian runner.<br />
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I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing my farm and spending time with my critters. I can't wait until I can tell if my 2-month-old turkeys are hens or toms. You'd think I'd be able to by now, but I can't. I did just think about checking for spurs, so I'll be doing that this evening.<br />
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The calves are sort of doing better. Two have been sickly with pneumonia and diarhea, but we might be getting over that. We're trying to feed them more, but we'll see. In a few weeks they'll have hit the 2-month mark, and we should be over these troubles. It will be a relief.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-21372075076076215562012-04-02T10:58:00.001-04:002012-04-02T10:58:33.721-04:00Book Review - Called to ControversyI read Called to Controversy by Ruth Rosen, the daughter of the founder of Jews for Jesus, Moishe Rosen, courtesy of BookSneeze. I really enjoyed it. The book inspiried me, and it also brought home the mysterious workings of God in our lives. It’s funny when you read about how something happens to someone else in their life that is dedicated to what God has in store for them, and you see parallels in your own life and the lives of others around you. My family has opportunities to serve God and often we follow right on through like Moishe and his wife did when they learned that Jesus really was the Messiah. It’s inspiring to see the entire plan of God laid out (this is something always clear after it all when you look back on things). Moishe Rosen and his family are amazing people. They are outspoken, firm believers in Jesus and willing to do anything to reach others so that they, too, know the love of Jesus. The networking involved in this entire journey is just amazing to see laid out before you, as is the entire learning process as far as what worked and what didn’t work so well. Moishe Rosen did a great job in his life learning through trial and error what worked and what didn’t. There are great evangelism examples in this book. I do highly recommend this read for someone who enjoys reading about the life journey of a person, for someone who would be interested in evangelism, for someone who just enjoys a good historical read or for someone looking to be inspired. It’s called "The Unlikely Story of Moishe Rosen and the Founding of Jews for Jesus." It is a very unlikely story indeed.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-45384003966138961452012-03-30T10:47:00.001-04:002012-03-30T10:47:38.652-04:00ok, better now!Amazing the changes this past week. Luke, our German Shepherd, is feeling much better. It was very strange. Last Thursday, he didn't get up all day, didn't drink anything, didn't eat anything, didn't even go to the bathroom. Friday morning, he was up and at 'em, drinking water, going to the bathroom, and for the first time last week wanting to eat something. He ate again later. Now, his only problem is that he can't bark and his back legs are too weak to get him up onto the bed. I still have to be careful about not leaving anything out on the counters because you just never know. It was a tough week last week. I do believe that Luke was the worst of it all.<br />
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The calves are all doing fine. Their poos are a little runny, but they are alert, playful and constantly hungry. This morning I realized that I left their bottles in the barn last night so I had to clean them out in the house before I could refill them. I went about and did all the regular chores first. They were not happy with their milk replacer mamma going around them and doing everything else without giving them a bottle first. They mooed and kept their eyes on me as I did everything.<br />
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Finally, Kellie is in a blue cast. Many of her friends have signed it already. She's happy to have it, but really annoyed that she still has to put bags on it before she can shower. It just can't get wet or by the end of four weeks it will be smelly and moldy. Ew!<br />
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Wednesday brought more trouble as one of our calves came down with scours and stopped drinking anything. We were afraid we would have to force fluid down him with a tube. Chris was home from work that day, and I was at work and called the vet who told us to tube him. I was so worried. I had so much work to do, and I was freaking out just a little. It wasn't pretty. Finally, Chris called me around 3pm and said he went into the pen to work on some of the wiring by the light fixture that's overhead and Chuck (the sick one) came up to him and starting to suck on his jeans. Chris tried the bottle and Chuck drank it right down. That made my day. I had been planning on stopping by TSC, purchasing the appropriate tubing kit and some medicated powder to ease the calf from scours, but Kellie and I were able to continue to church instead.<br />
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Kellie went to youth and had dinner, and I went to the sanctuary to practice the piano. I was going to play for the prayer meeting later on, and I wanted to be able to play and sing at the same time so I really needed to practice. We also have our Art Night happening on Saturday so I needed to go over the classical music I was going to start the night with. Around 7pm, Chris comes into the sanctuary with Kellie balling her eyes out following behind him. She had tripped backward over her own feet and landed full force on her left hand. We were afraid of a fracture so I took her to the hospital. Sure enough. After two hours, we found out that she did fracture her wrist in two places. After another half hour, she was fitted with a splint, and another half hour we left with instructions to see a specialist. Oh, what a fun week this has been.<br />
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Now that it is Friday, I'm happy to report that Chuck, the calf, is doing much better. He's not scouring and tonight he'll have his milk replacer. I have started all three calves on calf starter pellets as well. They LOVE the bottle, but they have to actually start eating solid food. I can't help but think of how we can be as new Christians, or young Christians. It's nice to get caught up with being fed a sermon and lessons (the calves' milk in a bottle), but we have to grow up and start making decisions about our lives and doing to help others as well. We have to learn to teach others. We have to latch on to the new, solid food and start eating that. It might not be as nice or as easy as the bottle that we eagerly suck down. It might be a little difficult to swallow, but we need to grow and move on to better food. The sweet alfafa and clover is next, and we don't want to miss out, but we will if we only have our eyes on that bottle.<br />
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Luke, also is rallying. I thought for sure he wouldn't make it through last night. I'm not saying he'll recover, but he was looking better. I'd really prefer he just die at peace at home rather than bring him to the vet to be put down. As long as he wants to live, I will not have him euthanized.<br />
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I'm still waiting for the scheduler to make the appointment for Kellie's wrist, but that, too will come.<br />
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Art Night is going to be a BLAST!!!Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-42723529528984507262012-03-19T14:31:00.002-04:002012-03-19T14:33:19.993-04:00The Farm GrowsWe have added 3 new additions to Decker's Acres! Meet Chuck, T-Bone and Sirloin! We had decided to purchase a couple of Jersey bull calves (they were only $25 apiece), but then a friend of ours decided he wanted a whole cow, so we purchased 3. Half a cow will remain ours while the other 3 halves will go to others who have joined our little cow-op.<br />
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The baby turkeys are growing fast and fine! I did try to put Miracle Max and the 2nd oldest in with the big birds, but Georgie and Lucy just chased them around pecking at them. I'll have to reintroduce again soon. They are getting big so fast. This behavior is very much not like those two big hens. I really don't know what has gotten into them.<br />
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On a sad note, our beloved German shepherd, Luke, is in his final stages of life. He started vomitting up saliva and foam yesterday and can't keep anything down today. He's 11 years old. He was a rescue. We took him when no one else wanted him and after he'd been wandering around for 3 months in Cascade. I can't say that he's been the best behaved dog I've ever had. He probably was the worst, but he loved big, too. When my Sam died, he took over and tried to fill my Sam's shoes. When Luke dies, there will be a big hole there. The silence of saying "Luke, quit!", "Luke, get out of the kitchen!", "Luke, lay down!", "Luke, get back here!", "Luke, stop itching!", "Luke, stop scratching!", "Luke, why do you have to poop all over!", "Luke, get that out of your mouth!" (get the idea?) will be deafening. When he was younger, he was always on patrol. As an older dog, he was always on patrol for something to eat. He ALWAYS just wanted love. So, when you are home, hug your dog. Give him/her a petting and let them sleep in your bed.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-10893649483254239342012-03-14T09:24:00.001-04:002012-03-14T09:24:10.794-04:00Little GingerWe weren't sure if any of our goats were pregnant, but it looks like little Ginger, our smallest goat that still looks like a kid herself, will kid sometime in the next couple of weeks. Her udder is just barely starting to swell, and her back end is swollen as well. She'll probably just have one. I do pray that all goes well!<br />
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Oh, and the early spring is fantastic! So much for that groundhog's predictions!Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-14187061228406205302012-03-06T13:23:00.000-05:002012-03-06T13:23:12.598-05:00Calves?Yes, we're expecting again ... We're on a list to purchase 2 Jersey bull calves from a farm around here as soon as they are born. I'm a little trepiditious about this whole experience, even though I grew up on a dairy farm. I'm terrified, actually, of losing one right off the bat. I watch our critters for signs of illness all the time. We'll have to bottle feed these calves colustrum for the first few days and then bottle feed them milk replacer after that. I know that all the calves born to my grandpa's farm were bottle and then pail fed milk replacer. He did not leave calves with their mommas at all. A few of them didn't make it including my beloved Albert. I'm also afraid of my husband becoming too attached to these bundles of beef. I'm just going to have to remind him that they are cute now, but they will be tasty later. Any advice on what I should do to keep them healthy the first few weeks? I do work full time so I can't stick around the farm every day, but I will be stepping up the doing of the chores, especially now that it's warming up - over 40 degrees F today!! In Michigan!!!!Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-67498082767458471632012-02-21T10:45:00.006-05:002012-02-21T10:45:50.307-05:00Growing TurkeysWe have one more egg to hatch! That will make twelve! This was a pretty productive process in all. We started out with around eighteen eggs, and through candling, we narrowed that number down to thirteen. One chick died (not Miracle Max - she's still growing strong!), and one egg didn't hatch. We have eleven chicks right now, the oldest being Miracle Max and the youngest being the two that hatched yesterday. Miracle Max is almost three times the size of the young chicks. All eleven chicks are in a bin on top of my dryer in the house. Even with the heat lamp, it's still too cold out for them to be outdoors. We clean the bin out every day. If we didn't my mud room would stink up the entire house!!!!<br />
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And finally, Camilla (one of three white Amercaunas<br />
we hatched last year - they are all named Camilla)<br />
checking out the view from the deck ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HctGShmIwtW9QDzut1Ji8mA4dc3vvcyCgeu0P_APR0EbPXFE31wAaygUN8YCb1jRIjBCtVfQ6QnX9ju6Kyr_ETAs5OfPOV2RrpyCKL9iv8IB3hMDCDj-3y3p5G94Hxg28XD6-oLV8pct/s1600/IMG_20120219_140800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HctGShmIwtW9QDzut1Ji8mA4dc3vvcyCgeu0P_APR0EbPXFE31wAaygUN8YCb1jRIjBCtVfQ6QnX9ju6Kyr_ETAs5OfPOV2RrpyCKL9iv8IB3hMDCDj-3y3p5G94Hxg28XD6-oLV8pct/s320/IMG_20120219_140800.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-65207734979646988912012-02-06T14:30:00.001-05:002012-02-06T14:30:57.374-05:00Miracle Max - a turkey storyThursday at around midnight our first turkey chick hatched. Friday morning we had a 2nd - we're calling him or her Miracle Max. See, Friday evening we went out to eat, celebrating accomplishments of our kids. When we got home, we plugged in the heat lamp in the chicken coop. The box we're using is a plastic bin with a hand-made wire top. We put the two chicks in the box and went to watch a movie. We checked on the chicks when the movie was over and Miracle Max was all flopped over, laying on its side. Its eyes were closed and it was barely breathing - and when I say barely breathing, I mean taking a gasping breath every couple of minutes. We brought the box into the house and cleared off the dryer in our mudroom. Water spilled over and puddled near the head of Miracle Max, making its situation look even more hopeless. I took hold of the first chick that hatched - Number 1 or Riker if you will (named after William Riker from Star Trek, the Next Generation) - and started taking out the paper towel from the bottom of the box. I started to mop up Miracle Max with the wet paper towel, but Chris asked for the limp chick. I was snapping at Chris as this was going on because I was so upset that I had single-handedly killed one of our first chicks. I had been so excited that we were at 100% for hatching so far. I also hate when one of our animals, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant the creature is on our farm (except pests), is ill, injured or dying. This chick looked like life was something that it would never experience. Anyway, Chris took the chick and placed it in the incubator. There was a 3rd chick in the incubator as well, and I hated that Chris was putting this dying chick in the incubator sucking all the hope of a good life out of the 3rd chick hatched. I ended up putting Riker in there as well because it was too hard to try to clean the box and hold a shivering chick at the same time. I got the box all dry and clean and went to get Riker. I noticed that Miracle Max was alternating between taking a gasping breath and a real chest-rising-and-falling breath and that the breaths were coming more frequently. I put Riker in the box and went to get a thermometer so I could better regulate the temperature. Once that was settled, I checked on Miracle Max. I couldn't believe my eyes. This chick was taking regular breaths, its chest rising and falling pretty regular. I told Chris that this chick was breathing better. I also said that I'd still be surprised if it made it through the night. About five to ten minutes later Chris told me that the chick was opening its eyes and moving around. Soon it was standing. By the next morning it joined the warm and toasty brooder box with Riker where it took its first drink and at a bit of food. It was truly a miracle - Miracle Max's miracle. See, while I was snapping at Chris, he was praying for the chick to live. I'm an idiot. God is not to be underestimated. He even cares for the smallest, insignificant little creature. Imagine how much he cares for me.Deckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17257292050359977917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680545955167311752.post-6680318650709660542012-02-03T08:42:00.001-05:002012-02-03T08:42:35.254-05:00First turkey hatchlingThis is the first bird that was laid at the farm that we hatched!<br />
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