We've noticed the the Rex are breeding with very little difficulty, while the Cals will NOT cooperate at all. They are fed the same, the same amount of light in both sheds. What we are trying now, is to take all the Cals to the show barn, which is warmer than the meat barn. I think the warmth is going to make a huge difference. Now as long as the bucks quit being so lazy, and we get the does in the mood, we may actually have some young juniors for the National Cal show in April.

The last trio of Champagnes are sale pending. We are to deliver them to the Pekin show this weekend. We haven't decided yet if we will show anything or not.We may just deliver the Champagnes and visit a little and head for home. If we do take any, we have a nice Cal jr doe and Cal jr buck that may go.
It's so nice to stand back and look at the rabbits and realize how many of the herd is home grown. They are looking so nice, with beautiful fur. The jr Rex are growing nicely as well as the Cals. They should be awesome at the Feb. Pekin show.

Please check out the new page for CHANGING WINDS FARM. It is now separate from the rabbitry page.  changingwindsfarm.blogspot.com

Starting my calendar for next years craft fairs that I plan to attend. Ramping up production on my body products and soap. Feel free to contact me to see what I have available.

It stinks sometimes when things get so busy. Today is a "house cleaning" day. LOTS of empty cages at the end of the day. We are going through so much food for nothing....been to busy to butcher. We will be out of the mini rex breed too. They take to long to get to butcher size. We are very excited about getting lots of meat in the freezers too.

We had a fire in the pit a few nights ago and the smoke smelled so good. Its times like that when I really miss the rendezvous and the great people we used to hang out with. Life goes on and peoples lives change. Something that was once so fun and relaxing, now seems like so much work! We've had festival chairmen ask us if we would set up our rendezvous camp for a day....they are promptly told NO! It is WAY to much work to set things up for just one day.
Maybe this fall, we will have to make time to go camping with friends. John & Julie, are you up for that, lol! If so, let us know!

I finally got around to making some salsa today.

We have too many fat, lazy rabbits.....strict diet for everyone starts now!

We are now officially out of Creme d'Argents. Zippo and Iris, our last pair, went to their new home tonight.....they moved across town, lol.

The weekend work plans are going to be rearranging the birds in the barn. Switching things around, getting wire put up for protection, etc. This can't be done soon enough. I have one hen that is about to be put in a pot of noodles. She disappears through the day, then shows up in the late afternoon. I know she's going somewhere to lay an egg. I've searched for the last two days for her and can't find her. I walk the pasture, look under equipment, everything and can't find her. We clipped her wing before we turned her out, but she still flies just enough to get out of the pen. GRRR!

When she shows up tonight.....I'm putting her in a cage!

Selling out of our Creme d'Argents. We have a pair of proven Seniors, pedigreed. Must sell as a pair, $40

If you would like to see something new or different on the blog, let me know:)

Sometimes it's hard to wrap your mind around life and what it throws at you. Last Friday night, we found out that a very dear friend lost his father very unexpectedly. Tonight, we will be going to the visitation. It's times like this when you take a breath and really look at your own life and what needs to change or be improved. The biggest thing I know I need to work on is to spend more time with family. I feel I am very close to my parents and siblings. We just all need to take time out of our hectic schedules to make time for each other.

Last night we had an awesome supper of rabbit, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes and gravy...all produced right here on our farm. That's why we do what we do:)

Twenty-seven years ago today, I was walked down the aisle by my father to my high school sweetheart. I knew without a doubt that he was THE ONE. I knew the first time I saw him. The first day of high school, he got on that bus, I thought he was the best looking guy I had ever seen: broad shoulders and beautiful eyes.

We started "going together" in October of that year and have never looked back. I was not allowed to date until I was 16. He would come over to see me every Saturday. We would watch TV, go for a walk in the woods (my brother was with us) and just spend time together. We talked and talked. We discussed our future, what we wanted in life, what we thought about every topic under the sun, lol. We created a history, a foundation for our lives and a map for our future. Times were rough for us a lot. There never seemed to be enough money, still isn't. We've always worked together to get through everything that life throws at us: job layoffs, lost jobs, a miscarriage, accidents, health issues, etc, etc....And of course the most wonderful things in life: our sons, our grandchildren, our extended families, who have also always been there. We love all you guys so much!!

It seems like a long time ago, but at the same time, just like it was yesterday. I can't wait to see what the next 27+ years look like.

I had a busy day yesterday. I put up 5 quarts of green beans, 1 3/4 gallons of berries and 24 bags of shredded zucchini. Of course, also had housework and chores to do.

Today's agenda will be cleaning the rabbitries and barn. We have family coming this weekend for a potluck and family time. It's been a long time since we have "entertained". I'm looking forward to having everyone over. We are celebrating our 27th Anniversary and our granddaughter's first birthday.  Hopefully, I will remember to take pictures, lol.

It's a pickle makin', zucchini gratin' day:)

We've had a nice weekend here so far. Our youngest son Davy, camped out back in our woods with his friend, Jessee and we visited with them for a while. I saw my mom and step dad for a little while when they dropped off my nephew, Ethan. Then Ethan's dad (my brother) Scott visited for a few hours.

We also had a special birthday on Saturday. Our granddaughter, Cadence Jolene, turned one. She is growing up so fast!

We are taking a break from everything on the farm for the weekend. There's always so much to do, sometimes you can get overwhelmed. You seriously need to take a step back from it all and remember why you WANT to live this way. There should still be enjoyment in everything you do....not just work all the time.

This weather is still nuts. The last few days, I was checking critters to make sure they weren't getting too hot. Now, today I'm wearing a sweatshirt on JULY 2nd! Crazy!

We're looking forward to a weekend at home.  The boys are planning to camp out back in our woods Saturday night if they don't get rained out. We also have a lot of rabbit to get in the freezer. There are about 45 that we need to get done. Some will be done, some will get a reprieve until next weekend. We really need this meat!

I shredded up zucchini and sliced up the straight neck squash for the freezer, and canned 5 pints of relish yesterday. This was my first attempt at the relish. It took forever cutting it up since I don't have a food processor, but hopefully it will be worth it.

The garden is coming on nicely. We've been harvesting cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini and straight neck squash so far. It feels pretty good to know that the freezers are getting filled again. Tomorrow should be the first pickling day of the season. We've been eating the cucumbers as fast as we can pick them and now are getting too many.  I am actually looking forward to the canning, just not the dragging everything upstairs to pile in the kitchen.
Over the weekend, Dewayne suggested we turn our back patio in to an outdoor kitchen. I am totally and completely on board with that idea! I'm actually very excited about that. It may take a few years to be a reality though. Darn!

We had such an amazing supper tonight, if I do say so myself. Baked rabbit, mashed taters with chive blossoms, cucumber chunks--all from the garden of course, and green beans (canned from last year). To bad we don't have ripe tomatoes yet. The only thing that could have made it better would have been some gravy; made from goat milk.

We brought home the final member of the goat herd today. Abe is a very nice looking Nubian buck. He will be kept busy this fall with having five girlfriends.

You know, I really enjoy the farm life. Most days, I find the critters funny with all the little things they do. This past week though....I NEED A VACATION!! They seem to be driving me a bit crazy. The goats trying to run me over, beating each other up (getting their pecking order) and acting like they have not had a meal for a month....not so funny right now! I guess it's just like anything you do in life, you need to get away from it all to really put things in perspective and get back on track.

Just made some drawing salve. Hubby has a thorn or something stuck in his elbow. Time he finally gets it out:)

Infusing Olive Oil with Plantain and Calendula

I harvested some plantain yesterday. My darling hubby left a patch by the house that nobody walks in. I took some pictures to show how I infuse olive oil to make my salves.

As I picked the leaves, I cleaned each one, making sure to brush off any dirt that may have gotten on them the night before when we got a downpour.

Next, I put them in the crock pot and added some Calendula that we grew last year.

Then I covered them with olive oil.

I set the crock pot on low heat for a little while (maybe an hour?) We had to leave yesterday afternoon and I didn't want to leave the crock pot on, so I just shut it off and left it covered.

When we got home, I strained the plantain and Calendula out and this is what's left.

You can see the difference in the oil on the right and what has the infused oil on the left.

I plan to make several salves with this little bit of oil.

GOATS:
We started working with our new girls today, Zoe and Lilly. They are getting used to their collars and are leading on a leash real nice. They are still a bit scared but are settling in pretty quickly.

RABBITS:
We have a few new litters in the last couple of days. The mothers are still on watch, cause I'm not impressed with their mothering skills so far. Two of them will be culled if this litter doesn't work out.

We also have 23 less mouths to feed. Our freezer is empty and so is the pantry shelf. These will be a good start to filling both. I plan to freeze several for fryers and pressure can the rest.

Lucky I got some plantain harvested earlier before the monsoon started. I need to get some salves made

We brought home two new additions to the goat herd today. We now have Zoe and Lily. This will complete our future milkers. They are both Oberhasli/Sanaan mix and are very pretty. Pictures soon:)

I finally sat down and took the time to update the rabbit records. WOW....two hours later, I'm done. We've been keeping up with them in the barns, but I haven't been doing the computer work. We have a program that tracks everything: litters, breed dates, nest box dates, due dates, weaning time, breed back time....and keeps track of each individual rabbits performance. Love the program since my memory stinks and there are way to many rabbits to remember all the details about....Don't like sitting at the computer to catch up!

Changing Winds Farm suffered a tragic loss yesterday......we lost our sweet Sadie. Rest in peace little girl.

Lucky for Fred , I didn't see him in the barn this morning.

Fred and I met yesterday. I was just done milking Jess and I was sitting at the stanchion with her waiting for her to finish eating. We both heard something, but I thought maybe Dewayne had come out and was running the hose to start chores, or maybe Mudd was rubbing against the outside wall of the barn. Then I glanced toward the doorway, and there he was.....yep, a friggin' snake. Of course I jumped up and screached...loudly! Then I released Jess' head catch and started looking for something to chop of Fred's head. Knowing that I can't do it, I ran out the back of the barn to the house to get my hero. Dewayne was just starting to come outside. We got to the barn, saw where Fred was but couldn't get to him. Unfortunately for me, he got away to scare me another day.

I got some Sage harvested this morning and it is now in the dehydrator. We order a new spice grinder and it should be here in the next few days. Can't wait to try it out.

So what do you do when it's a holiday weekend, you want to go camping and you can't leave the farm? You pitch the tent in the yard! We have our rendezvous canvas tent set up and slept in it last night. It brings back a lot of memories and makes me miss a lot of old friends though.
Todays agenda will bring whatever we feel like doing. If we want to work we will, if we want to set around and be lazy we will:)
Enjoy the weekend and please don't forget why we are having a Holiday weekend in the first place.

Where o where can it be??

Do you ever wonder where something goes when you can't find it? Is there a black hole in this house? Do elves take it? Does the item grow legs and walk off to start a new life?

I've been stressing out for two days trying to find my battery charger for my camera. I've searched high and low, literally, crawling around and looking under furniture with a flash light. Nothing. I try to be organized, especially with important things like chargers. Guess that means I failed miserably.

I suppose I'll give up for now. Some day soon, I hope, I will be looking for something else (that I didn't put up right) and I will find the charger. For now, sorry, but no new pictures of the garden and critters, cause the camera is completely dead:(

We brought home a new little doe yesterday. She is about 2-3 months old and was a bottle baby, so she's very friendly already. Her name is Zeeva.

Hopefully getting our new milk goat tomorrow. She's already a milker, so no fighting her on the stanchion. That will be a huge blessing:) I'm actually getting excited about her.

We are selling all of our Nigerian Dwarf goats. We are realizing how much we miss our "big breeds" and really want to get some of those breeds back here to the farm.
We recently brought home our twin Toggenburg doelings and will be going this weekend to bring home a milking Alpine. I can't wait to get started milking her. We are also realizing how much we can really use the fresh milk. Cheese, soap, lotions, etc along with feeding it to the other critters. We're going to need a lot of milk:)

Cadence met the baby goats for the first time.

Another day changed for me....I should know not to actually make a plan on what I will do for the day as it changes before I can get things even started. 

We lost a doe (Californian rabbit) today. She had problems giving birth. She has a nest full of 7 healthy little fat babies but she didn't make it. We had a Creme d'Argent have a litter of 6 this morning so I have fostered 3 to her. We have a Rex doe due today so hoping she can foster the remaining Cal litter with her own. 

Good thing is, the Cal babies look like they were fed by the momma before she died, so that will give us time to wait for the Rex.

Fingers crossed.

The bunnies are getting big, the garden is growing nicely, the goats have full bellies and everyone is happy....can't ask for more than that:)

There's nothing quite like being covered in baby goat slobbers, milk, rabbit and goat fur...and sweat......I soooo need a shower:) Love it though!

We've had a nice, busy weekend here. Yesterday, we went to pick up our new addition to the barnyard, Sadie. She's a Toggenburg goat. We bought a few plants and came home and got them all planted and played with Sadie...instantly falling in love with her:) So, I called the lady we got her from, and today went to get her twin Sister, Maddie. Two additions to the barnyard. Goats...you can't have just one, lol.

Watermelon, spaghetti squash, straight neck squash and sugar pumpkins are in. We're planning to try to get the green beans and soldier beans in the ground in the next few days.

We got more of the garden planted tonight. So far, we've got tomatoes, radishes, spinach, potatoes, kale and lettuce growing. We now have the cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage and banana peppers planted. Still have several plants to get in the ground, hopefully tomorrow.

This past week will go down in Changing Winds Farm & Rabbitry's history book. We have had a baby explosion. Since last Tuesday, we have had a record amount of baby rabbits born all in one week. Live count as of this morning is 58! Add to that the one baby goat...that makes a LOT of babies:)
I LOVE FARM LIFE!!

PS......That is not counting the older 15 bunnies, of various ages still with their mothers:)

Today is the day. Eight does are due today. So far, nothing, but we have all day. A lot of first time mothers so I will be checking on them throughout the day. Let's get this day going!

Missy Parsano is the winner of the free lotion!! Thank you to those that entered.

Cami had one baby boy today. We've named him Changing Winds Snickers. He is healthy and has a splendid appetite:)

Cami, our Nigerian Dwarf goat, is getting closer to having her babies. She is getting her udder and looking sunk in on the sides. Kidding coming soon:)

We have a new litter of Minis this morning. First time mother Macy had six in a nice little nest. We have one Cal due that is also due today...still plenty of time for that.
We put in eight boxes today. We saw at least two does immediately start on their nests. Mouthfuls of hay never looked so beautiful!

Dewayne has developed a horrible, annoying cough. He was coughing so hard he was tasting blood...yuck. I looked up some home remedies. I mixed equal parts of honey and lemon juice. He takes a little every now and then and his coughing has gotten a little better. Cough drops did no good on this cough.
I am going to make a chest rub next. We'll see if that helps.

We tattooed and checked over a litter of our Cals today. This is the litter from our Klindt buck and doe. It is also the litter that the momma is fostering a Rex baby. We got a nice surprise to see that every one of these babies is a DOE.  Cool! So far, three of the Cals are keepers. We will see how the others develop.

The tulips look good this year. Ignore the weeds...they aren't supposed to be there, lol.

One of the projects we worked on before the rain today. We have a place by the patio that we are going to plant Calendula and Lavender in. I use both of these in my salves and body products. Last year we grew just a few plants in the garden. This year, there are plans for a lot more plants. I found out how much I actually use and just a few plants weren't producing enough. The far right is the "before".

This is about 2/3 of it done.

We scooped it on to the riddle to get the rocks and junk out.

This is the junk that we filled a hole in the yard with. 

This is the area done and waiting for the plants. I will post a picture when the plants are in.

Over 6,000 views on this blog.....NEAT:)

Be sure to check out the "IN THE NEST BOX" and "UPCOMING LITTERS" pages to see what's hoppin' around here:)

Beautiful day outside today. Finally got some work done in the garden. I cleaned out the marigold garden in front of the big garden. I also trimmed back several herbs and moved a few around. Can't wait to get the rest of the garden in.

Been a long day today. Had a lot of errands to run and met up with my mom, my younger sister, her daughters and her grandson. Nice visit but a short one.

Changing Winds Dupont. (REX)..just chill-laxing. 

Momma's wondering what I'm doing, while baby tries to make a run for it.

Our cute little odd ball. One of our Californian does raising a Black Otter Rex.

Can't see her too good, but this is Sara (Opal Mini Rex) under the pile of babies.

Back side of Sara and pile.

These little guys (broken Opal Mini Rex) are from Ice and Rowdy.

Planning on it being a soapmakin' day:) YIPPEEEE!!!

DRAWING FOR FREE LOTION

Make a comment to this post and you will be put in a drawing for a FREE 4 ounce bottle of Cucumber Melon Lotion. Drawing will be on April 30, 2014 at 7:00 pm.

Only one entry per person please:)

As I sit here and watch it snow, I am thinking back to the awesome weather we've had, even though it was a tease.

We got a lot done around here. We got our front fence fixed and one of the trees cleaned up out of the yard (both damaged due to the severe winter weather).

We got the front salad garden planted with lettuce and two kinds of kale. In the main garden we got the potatoes. radishes and spinach all planted. There was also some rabbitry cleaning and reorganizing, along with building and hanging new cages.

Daryle and his family came over for a little while and Davy was home too. It's nice to have everyone around at the same time. 

For the last few days, I've been going through my craft room. It has usually been just a storage room of sorts and a place to start our garden plants. Works well for all that, but now I am wanting to get more into my soapmaking and body products. I am sending a lot of craft stuff to my younger sister (crafter) and fabrics all go to my mom and older sister (quilters).

There is so much to do around here! I am so far behind in house cleaning it's pathetic. I have to get the Spring cleaning done very soon. As soon as the weather changes for good, I will be outside pretty much all day. The barn needs cleaned out from the winter and needs to be reorganized as well as the yard needing cleaned up and getting it ready to start mowing. 

For now, all the work that needs to be done yet is feeling overwhelming. I think I'll just watch it snow.

Why is it when you "Spring clean" you always make so much of a mess? I've been going through things to get rid of a lot of junk we haven't used in years and I am so sick of it being in the way. No more thinking, "Well, I'll use it for...." If it's junk, it's junk...GET IT OUT!!

The Rex doe that I was having a battle of wills with, bred yesterday....very willingly, I might add. Maybe my stern talking to straightened up her attitude:)

I had a very disagreeable day today with a Rex doe. We did not see eye to eye. I think she needs to breed....she has other ideas. Last time we finally got her to breed, it took about two months of trying.The battle has begun! If she wasn't normally such a good mother that has given us some awesome herd/show bucks, she would be tasting REAL good right now! We will soon see who will win....will keep you posted.

New litter of Champagne d'Argents this morning:)

New litter of Mini Rex were born today. One is Opal the other four in litter are broken Opals. These are to Ice (Broken Opal) and Rowdy (Opal).

Our plants for our garden are growing nicely. Not near as good as last years plants did though. Since we had to replace our furnace, we don't have the intense heat downstairs that we have always had in the past. Though it wasn't at all energy efficient, the old furnace was great for the plants, lol.

Last year we also ordered an organic seed starter from a gardening site. This year we just used Miracle Grow and it isn't doing as good as last year. For next years plant starting, it looks like we will order the seed starter and probably heat mats. Hopefully these plants do good enough to get what we need.

We have some critters going to new homes soon. Changing Winds Barney (Opal mini rex rabbit) will be heading to Chandlerville this weekend.  Changing Winds Jasper (Nigerian Dwarf goat) will be leaving for the Rushville area soon. Sad to see them go, but they are going to good homes.

We had a nice time at the show yesterday and met some new friends.

We came home to a nice litter of Californians too.

Well, that figures....Taking a last look at the rabbits for the show tomorrow and the Creme d'Argent looks like she ripped her nose open. Guess she doesn't go this time, dang it.

Very excited about tomorrow's show. We plan to take three jr. Champagnes, 1 intermediate Creme and 6 Mini Rex jrs.

WOW!! We're gonna be baby crazy in the rabbitry!
One box goes in today, six tomorrow, one the 20th and 3 more on the 21st. Babies, babies, babies....fingers crossed:)

Next week we have about ten nestboxes go in for our doe rabbits. I hope they all have nice big litters!! We have Rex, Mini Rex, Californians, Creme d'Argents and Champagne d'Argents all bred.

It appears that our Nigerian Dwarf goat, Cami is not pregnant since she is now in heat. We will be on the lookout for a Nigerian to breed her with. I am still thinking about keeping our Jasper for a few months as a buck to breed to Cami, then fix him. I'm just still trying to figure out how to make sure he doesn't also breed his mother and his twin.

Beautiful day today! I actually even turned the big water troughs over today and have started adding a little water to them. It will be so wonderful to not pack water several times a day out to the goats.

We got some long overdue things done around here today.

We also looked over several show potentials. Looks like we have three Champagnes, one Creme, one Rex and four Mini Rex that may be going to the next show. We shall soon see:)

Do you ever get the "to-do list" so long and overwhelming, you just don't even know where to start or what to do?? Blah!

I guess it will all be put on hold for awhile today, since our son Davy is visiting:)

The last two days have been full of running errands and being away from home. Tomorrow will be a catch up day around here for sure.

Poor little Jasmine got disbudded yesterday. She didn't seem to be too bothered though, because as soon as she was put back with her mom and brother, she started headbutting them both!

Making Fire Starters from Partially Used Candles

We like to reuse things around here and get as much use out of something that we can. I was getting tired of all of the mostly-used-up candles sitting in my way so I finally got around to making some fire starters.

We have an old muffin tin that we use just for making fire starters. I filled the tins with pine shavings.

Next, I got just a little bit of water hot. Just enough to sit the candle down in. 

As the wax started to melt, I could get it out of the container. Don't get the wax too hot at this point, since you will need to get the little metal piece and what's left of the wick out.

Then I melted the wax.

Pour the melted wax over the shavings in the pan. You can fill these as much or as little as you want to.

I then put more shavings on top and pressed a little. You want some of the shavings to stick in the wax but still be sticking out. (Be careful you don't get burned.)

Let the wax cool and pop them out of the tin. I cut these in fourths. When you need to start a fire, put one or two pieces under your kindling. The pine shavings will help hold the flame, melting the wax and help the fire get a good start.

We have some seeds started for the garden. So far we have cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, and zucchini. We will be planting lots more in the next several weeks. Can't wait for SPRING and gardening time.

We're in for another 7-9 inches of snow this weekend. ENOUGH!!!!

Got a few plants started tonight:. The house smells like dirt, lol!

Bunny Love:)Dupont and Scarlet

Their litter will be due on March 22

Dewayne got the rabbitry cleaned out today. Now we have a huge pile of black gold sitting in the garden waiting for Spring.

Bunny Berry Mountain

Jasmine and Jasper

Watching their mother

Looking at me, wondering what their mother is doing getting so far away from them (about 10 feet, lol)

McCabe's Glory, our Broken Blue Otter Mini Rex, is pulling fur and working on her nest today. Her due date is tomorrow so I guess we'll see what we get this time. Last time she had one baby, a blue otter. Nice baby but need more than one in a litter! That baby was fostered to one of our Champagne d'Argent does that also kindled that day.

I got some amazing smelling lotion made yesterday: Lemon Cake:)

Lots of breedings in the rabbitry today. Check out the Upcoming Litters: March page!!

The baby goats have discovered that they can jump up and stand on their mothers back while she is eating. They are getting very comical. When you talk to them they actually are paying attention. They are also learning their names.

We added to our Californian herd today. We brought home two more does from Jerry Hicks, one buck from Wayne Schafer and a buck from David & Sara Klindt. Very excited about these awesome rabbits!

Camden's first time meeting

Changing Winds Camden's Jasper

Peoria Area Rabbit Breeders Association show at the Avanti's Dome in Pekin, Illinois today.

One of the few times he was still...this is one tired Nuna!

He gets to start showing next month!

It was neat to hear the snow slid off the dome.

More snow today.....geez!

Well, I got the chores done late today, now everyone is mad at me. Didn't get no attention today. Everybody just got right at their food. Go figure! It'll be okay though. They will like me tomorrow morning when the chores are done WAY early.

We lost two litters in the last few days. The mothers didn't pull hardly any fur. One litter of 3 Rex and litter of 9 Champagnes. Very irritating! This is the biggest litter of Champagnes that we've gotten so far.

Jasper (new baby goat) got disbudded yesterday. It looks like the vet did a good job. He looks a little funny today of course, but acts perfectly fine. Still not sure if his sister, Jasmine is naturally polled or not. We think she is, but she may just be getting her horns slower than him. We'll keep an eye on her and see.

It is official now....CHANGING WINDS is our registered herd name with the American Dairy Goat Association. Woo hoo!

        I am very irritated at our Broken Black Otter Rex doe (Nibbles) this morning. When I did the chores, I saw that she had just had her litter. She did not pull any fur to cover them. They were still moving, but barely. They were very, very cold. I grabbed the whole box, went down to Flipper, our Champagne D'Argent doe that has a litter that's starting to get in and out of the box on their own, and grabbed several hand fulls of her nesting material and shoved it in Nibbles' nest box. Bringing it in the house I warmed up the babies, lined the little bit of nest that Nibbles had made with the material from Flippers box and put everyone in it, covering it with more Flipper material. They are now squirming around and making noise. I guess we will have some house guests for a few days. I will take the box to Nibbles a few times today for her to feed. As it was, it took two months for her to even lift for this breeding, and it wasn't for Scooter, our Rex buck. She finally lifted for Zippo, our Creme d'Argent. GRRRR.........Nibbles is very high on my watch list!

Watching and waiting.....waiting and watching.....still empty nest boxes....bummer!

Jasmine and Jasper...they are growing nicely. They were born last Friday. Their weights as of today are Jasmine: 3#10 oz and Jasper 5# 14 oz

We have officially made the decision that the new Nigerian Dwarf babies born to Kneehi last week will be staying here at Changing Winds Farm. Jasper will be trained as a pack goat, while Jasmine will be a momma and milker.

Here on our website, you'll see the rabbitry open at the bottom. We do this for ventilation for the summer time and nicer weather. It's great...not too much air, no drafts on the rabbits, usually. Since this winter is what it is, we stapled up gunny sacks all around the bottom. This still lets in air, but blocks the wind. When it's a nicer day, I will leave the door open and pull the gunny sacks back to allow air flow through the building. We have a few feed sacks that I put up only if the severe weather is coming, otherwise, that area is left open for ventilation. If you walk in to your barn or rabbitry and the ammonia smell smacks you in the face, you probably need to get things opened up somehow. That is NOT good for the critters.

We're supposed to get 6-8 inches of snow starting tomorrow afternoon with an additional amount this weekend. YUCK!

Unfortunately, we lost little Janey last night.

Kneehi's new kids

far side: Jasmine

Up close is Jasper

Janey

Jasper

Jasmine

Several nest boxes go in from now until the 9th. Let's go ladies!

As some of you know, Dewayne and I like to camp. We prefer to go to Rendezvous and dress in period attire, sleep in tents, cook over an open fire and just enjoy hanging out with great friends. Since we enjoy that, and we enjoy our farm and animals, we have decided to start a new venture. We plan to start working our goats as pack animals that we can take with us when we camp and as work animals for around the farm. We plan to start with our Boer/Nubian cross wether, Mudd. He will be 2 next month and already minds us (sometimes) We will be working with him to lead (hasn't had to since he was little, he's more of a free range goat)and teaching him the basic commands. I'm excited to see where this takes us. Just think of the faces of the other campers when we pull up to camp and get the goat out!

Last night we bought a real nice beautiful piece of property out in the country. It has a nice ranch style house, a commercial size rabbitry building for over 500 rabbits and a really cool goat barn to house our 24 milking Nigerians. The barn has a nursery, maternity ward and milking parlor and a huge room where I can make the soaps and lotions. There is plenty of room for huge gardens and has a willow lined driveway and a place for Dewayne's shooting range. Oh yeah, and we won the lottery so we can both stay home to enjoy the farm and rabbitry every day. This might not be just a dream some day, only I need to start playing the lottery for it to come true.

Just did the night check to the rabbitry and barn. Everyone is tucked in and doing wonderful, all things considered. Last night, we brought in a litter of Champagnes because they are right at that age where they can get out of the nest box but I wasn't sure if they knew how to get back in. When I took them back out to feed this morning, they hopped all over the place, including back in the box...Guess they are smarter than I gave them credit for.

We have our first LYNX MINI REX in the nestbox....Woo hoo!! Sara is doing a wonderful job with her litter......Very Very pleased with the new additions.

Our McCabes Glory was working on her nest this morning. So excited to see what she brings to our barn. She is our Mini Rex broken blue otter bred to our Hartstirns Turbo, our blue mini rex buck.

We welcome home our newest member of our rabbitry family: Klindt's X625. She is an amazing Californian doe.

I had some escapees today. They got out of the nest box and ended up crawling all over the rabbitry. I found them all and had to get them warmed back up. All are back with their momma tonight and doing well.

We ordered a new barn camera last night. It should be here in a week or so. Hopefully, it will help me keep an eye on the critters at night.

Everyone is doing great here, considering the record breaking horrible cold of -30 wind chill. We brought in three momma rabbits and their litters, just to be safe.
Kneehi, our Nigerian Dwarf goat, is holding off having her kids....so far. I really hope she waits a few more days. If she doesn't, we're ready for that too.

Six new Champagne d'Argent babies were born last night. First time momma, Moxie, did an awesome job.

I sent in my membership fees for the American Dairy Goat Association yesterday. Next up, registering the herd name:)

Getting ready for more extreme weather. I have to say, I am really ready for spring!

We spent some time out in our cabin yesterday. Wood stove putting off that awesome bone warming heat, along with the smell of fresh coffee and good conversation with Dewayne's parents, made for a nice relaxing afternoon.