What the???

As you saw in the last post, we lost a hand full of chickens to the fox.  A few nights ago we lost 5 more to an owl that broke through the roof of their house.  Yesterday, we lost another in broad daylight, which must have been a fox.  They know the dogs routine and they wait until Remus and Rowen lay down to nap, then they come through the fence.
Poor James is out there every night with a spotlight and a shotgun, but no luck.  He needs a gun with longer range and a scope.
Animals need to feed their babies, I understand, but not with my pets!!
On a lighter note, I ordered 25 Plymouth Rock chicks that should be here this week.  They are good for eggs and for meat.  The majority of these 25 will be meat chickens, but I will save a rooster and 3-4 hens for egg production and baby chick production for more meat chickens.
All the veggies and fruits are in the ground and sprouting.  The llamas and dogs have yet to be groomed...  The pig is in the freezer, now I'm shopping for a breeding pair of Tamworth pigs.  I'm having a tough time finding them.
I am looking out the window at the rain that has just started, we've had a couple of hot, dry weeks.  We have a chance of rain for the next few days.  it will nourish the farm and give us a few days to not do much :)

Not a good morning on the farm

Spring is here and the foxes are back in full force.  We lost three chickens last night...  Queenie was my oldest rooster, a docile silkie bantam dissappeared two nights ago.  I should have locked the door last night.  A Mary and Red Sonja are gone.  All of my hens that look alike are Marys.  I have mary Agnes, Mary Magdalene, Mary Katherine, and so on.  Red Sonja was my favorite chicken.  This Rhoade Island Red was the type of hen that would jump up in your lap to get some love.  She would stand there and let Stella walk up and pet her.
I let Sonja and the rest down.
My two Pyrenees are great watch dogs, but they are not fast.  This is why we need a small dog, Corgi or Terrier on the farm.

planting begins

Cherry tree in, check
Asparagus in, check
planter of peas, check

Today
Another planter of peas
Another grape vine

As soon as the garden dries out, I will plow one more time and plant everything else.  The garlic in the lower garden is looking great!! 

This little piggy went to market, and this little piggy stayed home

This morning was the morning that every piggy dreads.  James backed the trailer up to their pen last night so there wasn't too much activity at once.  Both pigs had a magnificent feast this morning!  They each had a five gallon pickle bucket full of fresh orange slices, jasmine rice, cumin-spiced black beans, grilled beef, fresh dill, the list goes on and on, plus their corn and soy meal mixture of hog feed.  The last supper.
After a few hours we went back down to the pen with a plan in place.  Open the doors to the trailer, place the ramp in front of the pen gate, remove the gate, place food in the trailer, James would be in the pen pushing the pigs toward the trailer, I would close the trailer doors behind them.  We knew it was not going to be that easy.  The pigs were scared and leary of the trailer and the ramp.  It has been raining for a week so James was trying to herd these pigs while he was up to his knees in poopy mud.  The pigs were getting stressed.  James came out and we walked away for a minute to see what they would do.  I couldn't leave James alone down there, but the baby is applying more pressure to my bladder so I had to squat and pee.    The smaller pig edged her way into the trailer to the bucket of food.  The big one got close, nibbling on the kernels of food that had blown down the ramp.  She would not go into the trailer.  We had to make a decision before the first pig walked back out of the trailer.  We decided to shut the doors.
A short 20 minute drive to Vaughn's Processing Plant in the next town over is where she is until Monday morning.  There was one other pig dropped off this morning so she has a room mate for the weekend.  The people seemed really nice there.  We backed the trailer up and she took her time walking out into the holding area where she will have shade, food, and water.
Vaughn's is a strange little place.  The shop area has reach-in freezers with all kinds of meat for sale and a bunch of odd amenities.  Toblerone, Pedia-lax, Stirrings margarita mix, and giant cans of baked beans to name a few.  I had to pee, again, so I got to walk through the back.  Not where the slaughter takes place, but the butchering.  It was clean and organized which put my mind at a little more ease.
What do we do with the piggy who stayed home you ask?  Not sure right now.  We will either get her in the trailer on another day, or find a male Tamworth to breed her with.  We planned to get a breeding pair this Summer anyway.  I put a wanted ad on Craigslist and we will see if we find a pig.  Tamworth is a heritage breed so they can be tough to find.

I handled it all much better than I thought I would.  They are not my pets, but I have gotten to know them over the past 7 months.  I know they had a nice life, they are feeding my family, etc.  I think we all get all of that.  It is still hard.  The next time will be easier.  Thank you my little piggy, for giving your life for my family...

Spring is here

The weather is in the 70's and we are finally starting to get some things done outside.  I got 1000 red wriggler worms that I dropped in our new garden spot.  Stella and I already planted our first seeds, just a few peas in a planter outside the sunroom.  I can't wait for Stella to be able to sit right outside and eat peas in the yard!  The rest of the seeds will go in towards the second half of April.  We plan to do corn, zucchini, sweet potatoes, asparagus plants (really excited about these), peas, watermelons, pumpkins, tomatoes, purple onions, and some hot pepper varieties.  My strawberry plants are popping out of the ground and the blueberry bushes are getting full of green leaves and buds.
James has built us a firepit in the backyard, something I have always wanted!!
Tomorrow I will start working on a ramp to get those pigs in the horse trailer.  We plan to take them to slaughter next week, while Grandma is in town from La.  I can load a horse blindfolded, a pig, not so much.  I think it's going to be a lot more difficult than we'd like.  With Sandy here, we won't have to worry about Stella and can concentrate on the task at hand.
We have two llamas that need sheared, another difficult task, especially when I'm pregnant.  They are such intelligent animals, you'd think they would just give in by now.  Not a chance!
Tonight, I am drawing up blueprints for the chicken tractors.  We are going to try raising some chickens for meat.  Just a few to begin with, enough for family and friends.  Then we will see how it goes.  I've never killed, cleaned, or dressed an animal.  James used to duck hunt a lot in Louisiana so he feels more comfortable than me right now.
The dogs need brushed and bathed.  Once they are clean I can shave their bellies, butts, and the backs of their legs.  Summer in SC is really tough on Great Pyrenees :(
Well, there is our To Do list, the first half at least.  Can't wait to give you more details on the broiler chicken adventure!

Seasons Changing

Recently I've been looking at the pigs and visualizing pork chops.  For the past few months, I think the pigs have been looking at me and visualizing pork chops as well!  Anyway, they are atleast 300lbs a piece right now and due to be slaughtered in a few weeks.  I bought a deep freezer for the basement and pulled out my Kitchen Aid to practice the delicious art of sausage making.  Mom was in town and we bought a pork shoulder and chicken and made about 10 lbs of sausage.  It turned out ok.  I just bought some basic casing online and wasn't 100% satisfied. 
James has been working hard on a firepit in the backyard.  I have wanted one since we moved here and we finally got to it on the ENDLESS TO DO LIST.  I can't wait to cook on it this Summer!
The weather is warming quickly, but there is still no grass.  The llamas are still on hay and searching for that first blade of beautiful green.  The chickens tend to lay less when the weather is cold, snowy, windy, etc.  So they have been laying twice as many eggs this last week.  Stella loves her scrambled eggs in the morning.
We are trying to get as much done as possible on the ENDLESS TO DO LIST before I get any bigger.  I am pretty tough but things do get a little hard when you have an extra 15 lbs and are having to watch what you lift.
So as Spring approaches I will have more stories and pictures of gardening, building, buying animals, processing animals, and whatever else may go on at Black Opal Farm.  By the way, Opals birthday is 21 February.  Happy Birthday to the best dog and best friend, you're always in my thoughts, your box is in our bedroom, and your picture sits in the living room.  Love you.

Is Spring here yet?

I love wintertime.  The trees are beautiful when they lose their leaves and sleeping through the cold days of Winter.  Apple and peach trees have those long, undulating limbs.  The only green I can see is the magnolia across the road and some pine trees.  Winter can be a tough time of year having to fight the weather each day, but it doesn't make me like it any less.
Then the day comes when the best part of Winter is planning for Spring!!  That day came yesterday for James and me.  I really started thinking about it a few weeks ago when some little green lemons started to emerge on my Meyer lemon tree.  Up til now, I have only grown house plants and carnivorous plants in my sunroom except for the lemon tree.  I have had it for about 18 months and these are the first lemons!
James is going out to scoop poop today, start tilling up the gardens, mix the compost in.  This will wake up the dormant soil a little and get some oxygen flowing under the surface.  He will also get all the nitrogen rich chicken poop out of their house for the garden as well.  Pig poop is rich in phosphate and we need to clean their pen out too, but we will save that for another day.  We still have plenty of time while Spring is still two months away...