New addition

Almost forgot! This is Dot (on the left). She is Freckles' sister. The girl we bought Freckles from called & offered to give us Dot for free, simply because Dot was so depressed without her sister. I see what she means... If you separate them for even a minute they both start yelling for each other! Silly girls... Hope they get along this well with the baby goat we're getting in about a month!

Worms

So apparently I'm not as well read on chickens as I thought I was... Had no idea I was supposed to be worming them! Luckily I had a friend tell me about Ivermectin (works on horses, cows & goats too!). It comes in pour-on, injectable & paste. I read online that you should only use a pea-sized amount for chickens.

 Took me awhile, but I was able to catch one chicken at a time and feed them a small piece of bread with the paste on it. The only downside is that you have to discard their eggs for 7 days following the medicine. You can also use the pour-on ivermectin to treat mites. Just put a few drops behind their neck (just like you would with cat or dog flea drops). Sounds a lot easier than dusting them with diatomaceous earth! 

Goat update

Well, she hasn't "cried" as much as we thought she would. Which is nice! She likes to be walked (I'm sure my neighbors are amused!), & she loves molasses horse treats. Why didn't we get a goat years ago?!

Oops...

Well, not exactly how I wanted her first day to turn out! We got the goat pen put together, went to get the goat & then after spending about 15 minutes with her, we had to rush off to a surprise birthday party for my husband's aunt. While at dinner, I get a text from my neighbor:

"Goats gone"...

Luckily, I have awesome neighbors (including my grandparents who live next door). Even my dad came over to help look for her. They got her caught while I sped home. Crisis averted! Always be nice to your neighbors! :)

We're back!

Wow, I can't believe it's been 3 years since I posted! I went back to work full time in 2013, so I've been busy! I was trying to juggle too much at once: Gir Scout troop leader, full time job, and Box Tops Coordinator (& 1st grade AR prize wagon) for our school's PTO. That's a lot! I've learned my lesson, though. I'm slowly cutting back so I'll have more time for my kids, my garden & my animals. We still have chickens (& a beautiful new rooster named Leroy),

plus 4 cats (& a tomcat that hangs around), and 2 goldfish (& an ant farm, but that doesn't really count, does it?). We are taking on a NEW animal today! We are about to throw together a pen & go pick up our first goat! She's a year old & her owner is downsizing. Her name is Freckles & she's so cute.

 We'll be adding another female to the mix once she's weaned (about 2 months from now). I've decided to put her in the garden we don't use, since it's completely grown over with weeds (I figure the goat will clear it in no time!). I'm including a pic of what the garden looks like now so I can compare it later.

I'll post pics of what the pen looks like when we're finished!