Spring is HERE!

Birds are chirping, buds are peeping, and the air is finally heady with the scent of spring! We are so excited to welcome it this year.... what a long, arduous winter it was. Not only are our bodies and minds rejoicing that spring has finally arrived, but it is also the start of our very first growing season at Crow's Run! There is an infinite amount of work to occupy us, and so many projects it has been rough knowing where to start... so far, we have kind of taken the "grab the bull by the horns" approach, throwing ourselves into unknown territory and learning our lessons in the process.

Our creature count is on the up! Since my last blog, Crow's Run has added a couple of new inhabitants... let's get busy introducing them!


Our first new face is Panda.

Our first bit of goat's milk!

She is a two year old Nigerian Dwarf, and the mother of Buttercup, our first ill-fated bottle doeling (her story is here). She has been a blessing and a learning experience for me! Part of our plan here is to develop a herd of dairy goats, and Panda, being in milk when we picked her up, has taught me much of what I need to know about milking (Editor's Note: That sounds pretty optimistic to me...).
 


Stated lightly, Panda is a drama queen. The first couple of weeks on the milking stand she ran me through my paces; yelling, kicking, squawking, and laughing at my tears as she squashed my hands between her udder and the milking bucket.  Since then, we've developed a trust and understanding and I was getting a little less than a quart of fresh, tasty goat's milk from her a day.






Buuuut... that's all changed now thanks to this feller!

Huckleberry is actually Panda's son and Buttercup's brother. So, he's a Nigerian Dwarf/Nubian mix, and he's been wethered (castrated). He was a gift from Lynn, the breeder (and now friend) that we got Buttercup and Panda from. He had been bottle fed since we took Panda, but upon reuniting, he's begun to nurse again. That's okay with us, because he's going to wean soon, and we don't have to worry about bottle feeding him while he's nursing. Trust me when I exclaim that there are plenty of other things to worry about!

Also, joining our trio of horses, are two miniature donkeys!

Pancho!

Lefty!

 Pancho and Lefty were an unanticipated, but very welcome, surprise addition. One phone call and a couple of hours later we were dragging these two little dudes into our back pasture, where they were greeted by much running and snorting from Jewel, Bear, and Misty, our current resident horses.






These guys pack a lot of attitude into a little package! I never knew how smart they were, or how rewarding a donkey's bray could be first thing in the morning. It is very rewarding, very loud, and very funny.







Our latest addition is Starlite, a 18+ year old draft-cross mare that we are fostering for the horse rescue I volunteer at, Horse Rescue South, Inc. (a link to their website is here). Starlite is foundered. Foundering, or laminitis, is when the lamina that "hammock" the horses coffin bone inside the hoof deteriorate due most commonly to a high sugar/high carbohydrate diet, and the coffin bone begins to rotate downward and grow through the sole of the hoof. It is extremely painful, and we are doing our best to get her where she needs to be....

Our treatment regimen, for the curious reader, keeps her in a semi-isolated run-in area with super soft and well maintained bedding. Being insulin intolerant, she cannot have ANY grain what-so-ever, so she gets a quarter-scoop of low-starch rice bran (we have had great results with Manna-Pro's Max-E-Glo meal) with Remission and Hoof Medic supplements from AniMed twice a day and "low" quality hay (no alfalfa!) soaked overnight to remove the sugars, along with plenty of fresh water. We are firm believers that lots of love and pets help heal, too!

(Shameless plug: Money helps, too... Any donations for Starlite and horses in need like her can be mailed to Horse Rescue South, Inc. P.O. Box 103 Cannelton, IN 47520)
 

Not an accurate portrayal of how disgusting chicks are...

As far as projects go, our biggest one right now is the chicken coop. We have been quite busy converting an old building that came with the property to a coop for our chicks, which have quickly outgrown their bins in the guest bedroom. It's not difficult to raise them, but if I never have to grow a chick again without a hen, I will be ecstatic. They are MESSY... (Editor's Note: Understatement). We have 18 of them; 12 egg-layers and six meat chickens.. for now. I have a sneaking suspicion that this number may grow as time goes on.

In my next blog I hope to detail a "How-To" on how we decided to build our coop. I also have great aspirations for a floating duck-house!!

Must remember, repeat mantra: "Build enclosure before buying super-cute-baby-what-evers."

We cannot fail to mention the daunting task that faces every self-sufficient homestead to be, the Garden! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the time has arrived to work the land, plant our seedlings, and weed, weed, weed, while we literally grow MONEY from the ground. I believe an upcoming blog on our crop and garden plans will be in order, as well! I've started seedlings inside, and I'm prepping some small beds for cool weather crops like lettuce, radish, and onion. Yay! A big thank-you to the awesome neighbor who is helping us to till up the 50 by 100 foot space!

Well, that's all folks... more to come as time allows. Thanks for reading! Your comments and questions are welcome. :)