Wehner Homestead

[Wehner Homestead]

I also got some pics of the newer does. Diamond is the black with white overlay and due Jan 20. I'd love to hear how many you think are in there!! (Triplet does her first time.) Snowflake is the light gold. Does she look bred to you? Caramel is the gold/white that I'm milking.

 

[Latestarter]

I'm terrible at guessing numbers. They all look bred to me. I'd say no less than 2 each... Cute little goats

 

[Pastor Dave]

Pretty similar temps here today too. Had to thaw some water bottle nozzles.

 

[Bruce]

Also, Sephie's breeder had named her "Persephone." I felt that this was bit much for my kids to pronounce so we shortened her name to Sephie.

We have a 5.5 Y/O Easter Egger my DD1 (now almost 25) named Persephone, she calls her Sephie as well.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Updated pics of the two pregnant Does. I'm also including some funny pics of our chicks. They are almost five weeks old and their crests are cracking me up! I also candled the eggs in the incubator. We went from 16 to 8. I'm not sure how reliable the fertility was so we will see. I'm also trying dry hatch this time. Humidity is between 20&22%. It's been much less stressful for me!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

I also felt and could see Diamond's kid(S) moving last night!!!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

I realized just now that there is a guide to starting a journal...I figured t wouldn't hurt to tell y'all a little more about us and why we do what we do.
1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? Southern Indiana. Our weather can do everything in one day and can be crazy over a week.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? DH (Anniversary 12/20/08), Me, DD1 (6), DS (3), DD2 (2).
3. How would you define your farm? Rolling, creek with waterfall, 2 springs, 100+ year old farmhouse
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I want to quilt! There's just something so comforting about covering up with a quilt! My goal is to make each of my children one...
5. Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to? No. We built toy barns that are 4'x2'x2' with open fronts and big enough for the John Deere big farm equipment. We'd love to add a barn/shop and an oversized detached garage.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, ? No
7. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer? Long story short: parents of both of us were first generation to not farm, both involved in 4-H and FFA, met showing livestock, wanted that life for our children.
8 Is it a hobby or an occupation? Hobby. Wish it was an occupation. DH is an electrical engineer and I'm an ICU RN to support our hobby.
9. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more? I know Cattle and pigs pretty well. I had Boer goats so knew meat but switched to dairy this year as our youngest daughter has medical issues and the goat milk is better for her. We love our Nigees so far! I'm learning chickens and dual purpose at that. I really want an orchard, honeybees, and to be more self sufficient with gardening and herbs. We are looking at adding heritage turkeys next year.
10. In what types of farming will you never choose to do? I won't ever do aquaponics. I also don't think I could farm rabbits (meaning eat them!)
11. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply? Of course! I love knowing where our food comes from. We raise our own beef, pork, eggs, and some chicken and working on raising all chicken we eat.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? In a good book (historical romance though G-rated, pretty conservative for my age), praying, reading my Bible.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? I can do basics on the tractor. Not much chance to practice with all these littlest that are my responsibility. Hoping to get in more time and experience as they get older.
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I don't have time for crafts. I can do some basic things and pull ideas from Pinterest to do seasonal things with my kids. I love to cook though!
15. Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? I'm not sure. I've considered quail but haven't looked into the legalities. We have Cattle, pigs, Nigees, chickens, dogs, cats, and 2 guinea pigs. We are getting two horses soon.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? No. It would be neat to learn though.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? Yes! Between weather, pregnancy, and newborns my gardens have flopped the last few years but I'm looking forward to next year. We always have pumpkins and zucchini. I freeze zucchini to use all winter. I've also frozen corn and green beans in the past.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? No. I've taken the kids but boring to me. I'd rather read a book. I will fry it and love to eat it though!
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country? 42 acres. Semi-Rural. About 1.5 miles from a 2000 person town.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, degreed? Bachelors in Nursing
21. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? Our cattle are show cattle. We are moving toward the Nigees too. I'm looking forward to replacing DD2 diet with goat milk products instead of cow's milk products. I look forward to cheeses and ice cream.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? I wish there was a way to reach you how to be efficient and survive in the current world. If you weren't born with farming knowledge and an "in" it's hard to get your feet off the ground.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? I've refinished a few pieces. I started on four chairs more than two years ago. None of them are done...
24. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine? Yes! I've recently been learning about flax as a replacement for copper blouses in goats.
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? Somewhere the temperature is more mild and regulated year-round without horrible humidity or freezes.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? No
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? Someone that saves suffering animals/people
28. Are your family or friends also interested in animals? Yes
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? I LOVE to cook! I prefer using our own food from the farm when possible!
30. What was your best animal experience? Worst? Birthing animals, especially when we get to share it with our kids. Birthing has also been our worst experience too...sometimes nature has its own way!
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? DH never had time to hunt. Our land doesn't lend to foraging but we'd like to add an orchard, herb garden, and berry bushes.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more a self sufficient farm? I like to plan and I worked for a vet for a number of years and my grandfather rarely called a vet and taught me lots of things. Being a nurse doesn't hurt either!
33. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve? No, we use a local butcher. I do freeze some things but look forward to learning to can.
34. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to? We don't have any now but would like to add geothermal and solar panels.
35 What is on your to do list? Moving toward rotational grazing and getting our chickens in a "real" set-up. We have several tractors and dog pens with chickens right now. It was a trial of 8. Chicken math happened and now there's 40 and increasing!
36. Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to? No but that would be a dream come true.
37. In what do you trust? God. DH. My parents. My children. A few very close friends.
38. Do you make and fix things yourself to save money? Whenever possible, meaning parts available and we have time.
39. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits? I've always had animals and can't imagine my life without them.

I'd like to add since I haven't worked this in yet...our youngest daughter (now 2) was born with Spina Bifida or SB. She has multiple medical issues related to this, making her considered "medically fragile." She requires around the clock care and we try to make life as "normal" as possible for her and her siblings. To keep it short, we were told to expect severe brain damage and no movement below the waist. She scored a 25/10 (yes, I did that right!) on a cognitive study in August for her age and can walk with braces (numerous pieces) and a walker. All of our children are miracles but she's definitely been proven to be a WALKING miracle over and over again!

 

[Latestarter]

wow... Thanks for taking the time. It's really more of a "guide" to help folks get started and no need to answer all of the Qs... Thanks for being a nurse. There are actually a LOT of nurses here on BYH. I'm beginning to think that "farming" kinda "calls" to nurses as mental therapy... Though a lot of work, it is definitely calming/relaxing in most cases.

 

[Pastor Dave]

@Wehner Homestead, Thanks for answering the survey. I noticed you skipped the last 10, and I wanted to know the answer to #30. Just kidding.

You and I were going to have to part ways for your answer to #10, but when you answered #12, you went and totally redeemed yourself (in the words of Jeff Daniels' character from Dumb and Dumber)

Sounds like you have a great place and I would love to live in an old farm house.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

I answered those! Edit coming.