Wet Pastures

We have been plagued the past 2 winters with a wet pasture. Not damp - wet. Wet as in 3-4 inches of mud. This is the main reason the Red pasture is not used in the winter. Once the ground gets soggy, the goats just tear it up and turn it to mud. It's a shame, because the rest of the year, it is a beautiful place. Last winter, we found a springhead had developed in the middle of the field. We never got a chance to dig it out or do anything with it because of the snow and frozen ground. By the time we could address it, the groundwater had receeded and the spring went away. It did, of course, pop up again this winter and is putting out almost 5 gallon a minute. We believe it is the primary culprit in turning the majority of the Red pasture into a muddy, mucky mess. But this has been a very mild winter and the weekend was rather warm. So, we took the opportunity to address the spring. The Blue pasture also has a very active spring which pumps 10-15 gallons a minute or more depending on precipitation. But that spring feeds into a little stream which runs down to the creek and thus the pasture stays dry. We decided to see if the same fix would work on the smaller spring. We dug a 1 foot deep, 60' long trench to connect the little spring to the stream. Tough work in heavy mud. So far, the standing water has drained away. The ground is still muddy, but it seems a bit better. With the anticipated rain and snow, it's going to be difficult to really judge the success of this project until next winter. But we should be able to see more improvement as the winter wears on, particularly on the standing water problem. If it is helping, we'll dig it out a little deeper and line it with rocks and gravel.

Step two in pasture draining - we have another rather large stream bed that fills when there is a lot of precipitation in the winter/spring. It just kind of comes to an end in the back corner of the Red pasture and floods the area we want to put a new pasture in this summer. We need to extend that steam bed to connect to the other and stop all the water from pooling in that location. Or maybe route it down to the pond. Plus, I think there is another springhead in that area. Lots more work. But once it is done, we will have a very nice new grazing area.

Due dates

We have 5 goats well into their pregnancies. Gestation for a goat is approximately 150 days, or 5 months. There is an excellent chance they will have twins, and a possibility of triplets. Of course, last year Gigi had twins and Harriet had a single. So, we shall wait and see.

Rochelle (LaMancha)- March 21

Gigi (Fainter) - Apr. 6

Cookie (Fainter)- Apr. 7 (maybe, if she took from the first time she was in with the bucks)

Harriet (Fainter)- June 3 (that's from the last time we saw them breed, could be sooner if she took earlier though)

Selena (LaMancha) - May 2

We have buck on the farm for the Fainting Goats (Frank). When the time comes, we just put them in the same pasture as Franl and let nature take its course.

Our LaManchas are taken off the farm to be bred when them come into heat. That is a major chore in itself, especially trying to time their cycles to get them bred at just the right time. Rochelle took just one breeding, Selena took three, which is why their due dates are so far apart.

With a little luck, come Spring we will have at least 10 new kids running about the farm.


Below is a picture of Harriet giving birth to Geraldine last Spring. That's Cookie standing up in the front. Geraldine is of course named for Geraldine Granger, the lead character on one of our favorite britcoms - The Vicar of Dibley. Harriet and Gigi are named in honor of our Uncle Harry and Aunt Genevieve.

Busy Weekend

We took advatage of the warm and mostly dry weekend to get some major projects done around the farm. First was a new hayrack for the small buck pasture. The buck pasture actually has our fainting goat buck Frank, plus Harriet and Cookie - both of whom should be well into pregnancies by now.

The big project, which took both days, was fencing in the road front. We have quite a bit of hedgerow along the road, but in the winter, the hedge is less secure and the hens wander much more. Over the last month, the hens have been wandering up the hill and ranging up along the road. So, to keep them secure and to be certain that Lucy the devil puppy does not go out to the road, we decided to run 4' high field fencing all along the front of the farm and tie into the field fencing that runs along the sides. We finished just as the sun was setting on Sunday. Now the road is seperated by solid fencing and gates and we feel much better. Only drawback - having to get in and out of the car to open and close the gate. We may have to look at automating that.

Hens and Eggs.

We are being blessed with an abundance of eggs at the moment. Usually egg production declines sharply thru the winter months as there is less sun for the chickens to frolick in. But, after giving them a 2 month rest periods, we have started lighting the chicken coop for a few hours every night. Does it work? Well, we went from about 30% production to 85%. So we are rolling in eggs. In addition to the usual free-range brown eggs we produce, our Marans and Americanas have started laying. The marans give a beautiful very dark brown egg. The americanas, also known as easter-eggers, are producing eggs with various pastel colored shells. So far we have gotten several green, a few tan and one blue egg. Every day is a surprise. Several of the newer hens have created a challange by using places other than the coop's laying boxes. Their favorite places are the haybales in the barn and the hayfeeder in the summer pasture. But they have established their favorite places and use them every day, so we know just where to look. That's what you get with free-range hens and eggs.

Farm Journal

Welcome to the Hurry Burry Farm journal. It is our plan to keep up-to-date information on the farm in this location. For our customers, we will have product availablity and schedules. For the curious, we will be posting our activities, work and plans. As well as just general thoughts and goings on. Enjoy.

Jim