Half Way There!

     Spring teased us last week. GORGEOUS skies and temps in the 70s made it hard not to jump the gun and plant the vegetables. But Texas natives know: February is always a tease. It seems like in most of the years we have had big snow storms, they come in February. Good thing we waited, because Winter came back last night. We just keep telling ourselves - and the dogs, and the goats, and the chickens - that we're half-way to Spring. Soon the sun will stay out and the mud will dry up.
     We're also half way to the arrival of kids (the goat kind). The whole family is impatient to know who's pregnant, but not impatient enough to pay for pregnancy tests. Belle and Tiny seem to be showing...enough that if Farmgirl were a betting woman, she would lay down a large sum that they have at least twins tucked up in there. Socks and Bailey are normally fat to begin with, so it's a little harder to tell if that extra bulge is hay or babies. It appears Farmgirl was right about Princess Shadow not liking other goats anymore than she does humans. She looks awfully skinny to have any buns in the oven. It's probably a good thing, too. Everyone else remembered how to get up on the milk stand, and Bailey seemed to learn how to do it by watching the others, so they all got shots. Shadow, however, wouldn't even come out of the pasture, much less get on the stand. Farmgirl can't seem to catch the the little speed demon, either. So she is full of worms and germs, and will be until someone can manage to corner her.
     Finally, we are over half way to getting eggs out of our new pullets. We are expecting to reap that benefit in mid-March. Farmgirl couldn't believe her luck...she managed to sell those three roosters for $5 each! She can't imagine why anyone would PAY for a rooster, let alone pay that much for three and not even try to negotiate. This old guy didn't want to eat them, though. He was looking for boyfriends and protectors for his flock. So that leaves Farmgirl with 5 hens, and these ladies will be living in the coop ALL the time. Hawk from Hell still shows her face around here every now and then, just to see if Farmgirl has let her guard down and given in to the free-range temptation. Maybe if these girls never experience the free-range lifestyle, they won't know what they're missing. Farmgirl plans to be very diligent about moving the coop every two days to help them keep the boredom and the bugs at bay.