MrsDieselEngineer's Herd Journal

MrsDieselEngineer

The Goat Lady
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Hello All! I decided to start a Journal ;)

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
We live in New Hampshre, and we have 4 seasons up here. Tourist (summer), Foliage (fall), Ski (winter), and Mud (spring). And yes we do actually call them that!

2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
MrDieselEngineer and I have been married for a little over a year, no kids yet (other than the 4 legged kind).

3. How would you define your farm?
A work in progress :p

4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Working on becoming more self reliant.

5. Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to?
Nope

6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
Hubby can!

7. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
The animals of course ;) I've always had a love for them.

8 Is it a hobby or an occupation?
Slowly turning it from a hobby to an occupation :cool:

13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
I can drive a tractor (and do almost everyday), skidsteer (when we rent one), and it would be fun to try driving a semi, but have never done so.

14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
Once in a while, don't normally have time.

15. Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
Yes. We have Boer goats, one pygmy doe, chickens, and turkeys and ducks now and then.

16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
I can operate a wood lathe, hubby can operate a metal lathe.

17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
I don't really enjoy gardening but do grow one for fresh veggies.

18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?
For fun now and then, using bait.

19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country?
We have 5 acres of mostly sand in the country. And yes we do own it :)

24. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine?
Yes, and try to use herbs in place of synthetic drugs.

26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?
We use a wood stove to heat the house all winter. And I have cooked on it before.

29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
Yes! And I like using things we've produced on our farm :)

We currently have 10 Boer goats, 9 does and 1 buck (soon to add another buck to the herd though). One pymgy doe, who hopefully took with her breeding to LivinWrightFarm's Marly. We also have 3 turkeys, who will be going in the freezer soon, along with the two muscovy ducks. As far as chickens go we have a wide variety of breeds and mixed breeds and vary between 10-60 chickens during the year. Right now we're down to around 15 for the winter.

MrDieselEngineer works for Military Sealift Command, and is a Chief Engineer. He's gone for 4-5 months at a time keeping the Navy supply ships in working order :cool: He loves his job and gives me a pretty free rein with the farm. :love

We also have an Australian Cattle dog who used to help keep the goats in line. He's only 4 but has hip dysplasia so he's mostly retired. We're on the search for a puppy to train to help around the farm.

Oh, we can't forget Levi although he's not ours, I'm training him for my niece. He's a 4 year old POA mix pony, stands 12 hands high and is a lovable although mischievous fellow. And of course our new guard Donkey, Hunter. He's a very sweet donkey and is very good with the goats. We have tons of coyotes coming through here and we needed something to help deter them. Our "pasture" is about two acres of woods that the goats have cleared, they can come and go from the barn as they please. That's about it!
 

Livinwright Farm

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Ahh, you sure have the dream life with how your hubby is with you and the farm! Hmm.... does your hubby have an unmarried brother who is the same way? :lol:

Do you still plan on getting that Ober doe? or have you decided against getting 7 cups of milk per day from one goat? :p
 

Ms. Research

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Enjoyed reading your journal. Thank your DH for his service. I'm really glad he loves his job. :thumbsup

Wishing you success with your plans to self sufficient. :)
 

MrsDieselEngineer

The Goat Lady
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Thanks Ms. Research :)

LOL, No unmarried brothers, sorry ;) They sold the Ober doe on me even after I had told them I was coming up for her... :( Aargh... keeping an eye out for another one.

Brrr, it's getting chilly at night. A few of the goats look borderline shivering. They better get going with hair growth! I heard a rumor that we might see some snowflakes by the end of this week... I sure hope not!
 

77Herford

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Yeah, my Goats and Sheep don't have alot of hair yet and we should be getting near freezing at night by the end of the week.
 

Ms. Research

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MrsDieselEngineer said:
Thanks Ms. Research :)

LOL, No unmarried brothers, sorry ;) They sold the Ober doe on me even after I had told them I was coming up for her... :( Aargh... keeping an eye out for another one.

Brrr, it's getting chilly at night. A few of the goats look borderline shivering. They better get going with hair growth! I heard a rumor that we might see some snowflakes by the end of this week... I sure hope not!
Sorry to hear about the miscommunication with the Ober. Hope your successful in obtaining another.

Season is coming fast here too. Getting darker faster at night. Waking up with a chill in the air from cooler nights. Hoping the snow holds off until your goats are ready. :)
 

Livinwright Farm

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Yeah, we made the mistake of shaving our adults back in August when we had that big heat wave... Momma has only grown back about 1/2 of the coat she had before.... not going to be shaving our herd again. I will comb out their winter coats when spring starts getting warmer, but that is the most I will do. I can always moisten their horns in really hot weather to help cool them down.

This talking about the cooler weather reminded me, I need to bring you back your goat fashion coat ;)
 

MrsDieselEngineer

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No hurry to bring back the coat, they don't really fit the boers anyways...

The woodstove is going full blast this afternoon and tonight, and it sure feels good :) It's our only source of heat and it does a great job!
 

77Herford

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MrsDieselEngineer said:
No hurry to bring back the coat, they don't really fit the boers anyways...

The woodstove is going full blast this afternoon and tonight, and it sure feels good :) It's our only source of heat and it does a great job!
Hey, looking for a nice Wood stove for a Christmas present for my friend. Are the ones at Lehman's any good or do you recommend any.
It will be a rustic Log Cabin with 1 1/2 story's and the wood stove will be used for cooking as well.
 

MrsDieselEngineer

The Goat Lady
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The Hearthstone soapstove stoves are wonderful, we have the Mansfield and it heats a 2400 sq ft house.

Ruger's doe kid is doing well, eating very well and looks like she's grown even from this morning! Also picked up two new does today!! Boer mixes, possibly nubian? The doe with spots is looking like she needs to be wormed so that will happen tomorrow.

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We're having terrible mud problems down by the barn, I'm almost wishing it would freeze so it would be solid ground again.... it's cold and very wet out so the goats are all looking very miserable.
 

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