Our power was out for three days. We lost 100+ eggs in the cabinet incubator for pre-orders, so we have been hit pretty hard. We have a generator but the power went off overnight without us knowing it was off for several hours. The temperature in there was 60°f by the time I checked on it. That was on Friday and the power was off until Sunday night.

Several sections of fencing have fallen over letting chickens intermingle, leaving my garden exposed and two long sections around our strawberry patch are flopped over. Rouge roosters mean no purebred eggs for a few weeks further setting back our spring chick orders. Sometimes I feel like I just can’t win. Gates and fence posts are all crooked and much work must be done to fix them all. The only good day to work outdoors is Tuesday and that day still calls for high winds.

We probably received a foot of heavy snow from the big nor’easter. Heavy wind and rain here today—not fence repairing weather. 

Goat kids are doing well. We did lose one, very sad. Now we have seven. We had a bad BAD mom butt him really hard when he went looking for his first meal under her. We bought him in and he lasted the day but we found him curled up with his brother the next morning dead. On the flip side, the others are growing rapidly. Each doe had twins so far the kidding season. Three are reserved and I expect the others to sell quickly.

I have listed two pregnant does for sale. They are instigators and the last two due to kid in June. I listed them high and will stay firm on the price. I’m in no rush to see them gone. It may be best for me to wait until they kid then sell them as milkers and keep the kids.

We sold 16 laying hens and sold out of what chicks we had from our most recent hatch last Saturday. I have been meeting people all on the same day and time and leave a money jar and let them self-service by getting their own chicks and hens out of cages. It’s much safer that way. 

We are picking up KuneKune pigs this weekend (OMG YESSS) which we intend to feed bread scraps we get from the local Salvation Army soup kitchen and surplus goat’s milk.

STAY SAFE. STAY HOME. And when you do need to go out, take great care to protect yourself and your family.