Sunny Morning

Today was really sunny which was really nice! Even if it is freezy cold! The animals are beginning to look much better with the warmer temperatures, and also getting a bit of Spring fever. Funny how a little sun can make you feel so much better! Wilbur is settling in nicely, and he is even having quite a bit of interest in Charlotte. (Ahem). lol She is not quite ready to make things facebook official yet, and is giving him a bit of the cold shoulder. I imagine if things go well, and Wilbur can manage to woo Charlotte successfully, we will have piglets by August at the latest. Cross your fingers!
Here they were at breakfast waiting for me to serve it up! He was chasing her around when we arrived, but nothing like a bowl of corn to postpone romance! As you can see, they were not as gentle on their feed bowl as I would have liked. Getting in their pen and fixing their pan twice a day is getting old! Especially when you have to go in with two rather massive piggies. Let me tell you, when they were named LARGE Blacks, they were not kidding, lol

Flossie was all itchy from all her winter hair coming off. She decided to have a scratch on her hay roll! Can we say eww! Who wants hair in their hay? Not me! Right now she looks all splotchy and almost mangy! I brushed and brushed her yesterday, so maybe soon she will be all sleek and smooth.

You also get a pic of Ellies booty! Darn calf, should have cropped that out, but such is farm life. :) The rest of the cows come up and visit with Flossie and Eleanor every day. I would let Flossie out in the pasture, but I am worried that Ellie might be a booger to catch, and Twist might not be too welcoming either. Hopefully we will have a pen for Ellie when it is time to separate her from Flossie, and then we can start training her to be a calm and obedient milker when she grows up! She sure is looking lovely, all stocky and full of energy. I must say, she is one of the prettiest calves we have had here on the farm. I am quite proud of Flossie and Mr. MooGurgles, they made a fine little baby! Here the others are visiting.

Here is Ellie in her Cameo, all vogue and glamorous! Hasn't she grown!

Porter was out of the family picture this morning, he was busy getting a big drink of water. He has really come out of the winter looking fine and fit. I was a bit worried this last winter when it was so darn cold. He was only about 5-6 months old when winter started, and the other cows were not as accommodating as they could have been. He was basically the outcast,:( Now he is one of the herd and is growing quite fast!

Pud'nin and I also had some big helpers this morning, or should I say some new livestock! Here they are looking of of the trailer.

 

Look out, they can be wild!!

Payton looking through a piece of ice that was on the water trough, Cool!

Kaelis face when Grandpa was telling her that all the straw in the compost pile was what they made Mini Wheats out of...Really Grandpa?!

Here are a couple more pictures of my helpers. Even Blu thought he would get in on the action! But I will say, he was probably hoping for a bowl of milk. But, these days Eleanor is getting the bulk of that, so he will just have to wait until this afternoon! Jayne was off chasing squirrels, so I will have to try and snap a picture of her today too, but let me tell you, the camera has to be fast to capture that girl! She is a fireball!
I know that I am really enjoying this sunny weather! Stay tuned, before you know it I will be starting the garden and getting the new chicken pens ready for our new projects! I know I can't wait!

Charlotte Has a Boyfriend!!

Earlier in the year our new sow Charlotte lost her babies. For some reason, cold weather, the move to come live on the farm, or just something unknown, she went into labor early and her babies were gone..We were sad that we were not going to have spring babies. But, as luck would have it while I was perusing the sale pages on facebook, which just happens to be the same place I found Charlotte, I saw that the same person was selling Wilbur. I was really excited! I had been wanting to ask her if she might be interested in selling Wilbur, but I really hated to ask such a question!
After talking to Dawn, who I had found out before belonged to a cow forum that I love love love, we set up a pick up date. Dawn and I were actually excited, as silly as it was, that Wilbur and Charlotte would be reunited. He was actually the daddy of the babies that she lost, so they really were old friends, lol
 Here they are getting to know each other again. As you can see, Wilbur made himself at home taking a mud bath first thing!

I am not too sure that the Donkeys were too impressed. They probably figured that one pig was stinky enough, and two was just unacceptable!
Both piggies are Large Black pigs. The Large Blacks are a heritage breed, which awesome since way too many animals are forgotten as society mistakenly thinks that it needs to reinvent the wheel. The Large Black hogs are a very docile breed, known for being hardy and easy to raise. They forage well, and have excellent meat. They also have large litters, 13 piglets is not uncommon, and are wonderful mothers. Since they are black, they even do better in the hot summer without worrying about sunburn!These guys are just an all around good choice for our farm.
As you can tell, I am pretty thrilled with Charlotte and Wilbur. They really are very calm and sweet pigs, which since I have had a long time fear of pigs, it pretty nice! I can actually skritch and rub them both and they love the attention.
We won't be eating these two, but  they will have plenty of babies to go to freezer camp and also to hopefully bring a bit of money to the farm.This year we are going to try and get back to the way we were a few years ago. The farm was bringing in enough to support itself, and we have not been as diligent as we should have with all the things that have been going on in our lives. But we have a plan, and we are going to have a great year!
Another new thing on the farm is baby chicks! We picked up a couple that we are not sure of the breed, a few topknot polish, and also 7 Silkies from a local feed store. Here is a pick of the silkies on the way home to the farm.

The weird colors on their head is the marks the store put on them so I could tell them apart, lol There is 4 white Silkies, and 3 Splash Silkies. These guys are just too darn cute as they look like they are covered in long silky hair instead of feathers when they are grown!
Now if this weather would just co-operate I could get the garden started too! Pud'nin did try to till me a small strip to plant a few cool weather crops, but the ground was just too wet. Grrrr! I also got a small greenhouse, and I am very impatient to get a few things started in that as well, but low temps at night of 21 is NOT making that possible. I am so ready for Spring, to behave like Spring!

Jenny Girl, the Loss of a Donkey

Day before yesterday Pud'nin and I were filling the water trough in all the ice and snow when we noticed something very saddening in the side shed. Our mama donkey was dead...laying there frozen to the ground. I was heartbroken! I know she was old, probably 22 years old at least. But I was not prepared for her to leave, and certainly not in such a manner! I have beat myself up over and over again for not doing "something" to prevent this from happening. Maybe if she were warmer, in a stall, something..But I know in my heart that we have done all that is possible to make these animals as safe and comfortable in this horrid weather. But it is still sad, and I still feel that I let her down. She was one of the first animals we had here on the farm, living here for close to 10 years. I thought I would share a bit about how she came to be here on the Backwards Homestead. Here she is with her last baby, Stilts!

Way back in the day we used to go to a guys little roadside animal sale. He had goats, ponies, donkeys, well, at one time or another he had just about every animal you can imagine. Sadly, most of the animals he had were living in pretty bad conditions. So whenever we could we would bring one home, but many times we just could not...and it was hard. But one day we went there was the cutest little pony, white with blue eyes. Lee just had to have her, so home she came to live here on the farm. So, we now had a pony, how does that explain the donkey? Well, when we brought Princess home, we had to leave a donkey, and it was hard. So, after talking about it we had to go back and get her. She was not as happy as I would have imagined to be going to a new home. Loading her was an ordeal! She kicked, flapped and had to be forced into the trailer. I was a nervous wreck along with her! We barely had fences,no barn and had not been here all that long, but now we had 2 donkeys, and a pony! Let the games begin!
Little did we know, Jenny was pregnant, but that was not to be..She lost a little colt within a week of being here on the farm. Maybe from the move, combined with her bad physical condition.Either way, it was not meant to be! But, before too long she has added several little long ears to the farm. She was the bestest mommy, always keeping her little ones safe from harm!
The years passed and she went from black to gray, kinda like me. But she never failed to be the same sweet Jenny. Here are a few of the last pictures I have of her, she will be missed!

Here she is with her little family.