Babies and Bellies

Spring is around the corner! I'm so excited too!  This was a cold winter, even if there wasn't much snow.  Spring on the farm means many things...gardening, projects that have been waiting for warmer weather, and...babies.  It also mans Girl Scout cookies but that's not blogworthy.

I've been chomping at the bit waiting for the chicks to arrive at the feed stores.  I plan to send many birds to freezer camp this spring.  I also plan to order a few more ducks to replace some we lost last summer, mostly due to my own lack of knowledge and experience.  Since we have to start somewhere....

Here is our first batch of herb-roasted chickens.  They may be nuggets now but they will be cornish hens (or rooasters) later.

I'm anxious for my next adventure, kids.  Not my five kitchen raiders but goat kids.  We have some very big bellies around here.  

When I say anxious I really mean I am worried.  Ginger had her date this past fall and settled (goat raisers terminology for becoming pregnant) but had stillborn twin does.  It was our first freshening (goat raisers terminology for goats giving birth---actually refers to freshening the milk supply) and hers so not only were we heartbroken but it left us worried about future deliveries as well.  Next up....

Heidi!  Goat bellies don't get much bigger than that!  (Ignore the laundry basket.  No, I was not doing laundry in the goat pen.  It has been repurposed for holding hay.)  She's due about March 12 and I'm hoping for twins.  I'm afraid of what a single kid that large would do to her.  Every time I look at her I am reminded of when I was nine months pregnant....ugh.  Poor girl.  

Now, Moonpie was never supposed to be bred.  We woke up with the buck in the pen one morning and ever since we have wondered whether or not she settled.  There has been no blood test to confirm but.....what do y'all think?  That's an awfully big belly for someone who hasn't settled but then, sometimes goats really do look like that.  Especially does who have freshened a few times and Moonpie has freshened three times prior to this.

As soon as we have kids on the ground I will post some pictures.  It's also safe to bet that I'll be posting more pictures of adorable baby chickens, ducks, and with any luck....geese! (we have eggs in the incubator but that's something else I'm new at and it seems somewhat complicated.)