I know this post is late.......I've been busy. Anyway the results of the fodder were pretty good. After about 8 days. I fed it to the animals. The chickens loved it the most. The goats not at all and the bunnies kinda liked it. I've decided since it's finally Spring and mowing/weeding season that I will only grow fodder in the Winter. I will give the chickens grass from mowing and weeds from the garden. It will be a lot easier and less time consuming since we have to do those chores anyway and we all know how busy this season is. So less time on one thing means more time for gardening :)
We butchered four of our roosters. My hens are still bald and missing feathers on their backs. I have four roosters left. I'm contemplating getting rid of all of them since I have several young cockerel babies. I might keep one rooster, I would miss the crowing :)
We finally butchered our first rabbits. They were 13 weeks old. I don't think I will wait that long again. The feed bill was getting up there. It was very emotional for me. I'm pretty sure the hubs didn't know what to do or say when I'm asking him to dispatch a bun and bawling the whole time. The second one was a little less emotional. I'm hoping with time that it will get easier. I'm learning to tan the hides. The first one was an utter disaster and now looks like holey road kill. I found a better way to do the second one. I'm hoping it's a success. I want to make a purse, it's weird I know but I love making purses that no one else could ever have :)
My goat Mrs. Lady is due in one week. Starting Friday I will be doing middle of the night checks just in case she goes a little early. This year having a due date was such a relief. My anxiety last year was unreal plus I didn't know what to expect when your goat is expecting so every little burp, fart, or stretch was labor, lol!
I've been harvesting asparagus like crazy. Love that stuff but hate the way it makes my pee smell. My strawberry patch has beautiful blossoms all in it. Now that (fingers crossed) our last freeze has passed I'm going to get to work on the big garden :)
I've been gathering dandelions to make some wine. I've wanted to make this wine for a couple of years and I'm finally going to do it :) I still have wonderberries frozen from last years harvest to make a red wine. The berries were nutty so I bet with a little age that will be tasty.
I went to a bee club dinner last week (I keep crashing these events, lol) and they said I should get my traps up ASAP so I did. So far the wasps like them :/ My lemon balm is the only herb to survive the Winter and is back in full force so I'm going to put a couple leaves inside of the traps today. While gathering dandelions I was surrounded by bees. I tried to tell them to check my traps out but they didn't listen, lol. Monday I missed the bee club meeting. I really need to go next month. It seems the more I show up to these events the more willing the people are to give me some bee's :)
The little one is doing great playing softball. I had no idea how much time a sport takes up. It makes life a little crazy!
Have a great week ya'll!
