Farm Happenings

It feels like winter outside and frozen water tubs prove it. This is the time of year that farming and keeping livestock sucks. You have to make sure everyone handles the freezing temps and that they have access to fresh water all day. Not a lot of fun trying to handle cold water with numb fingers. This is when we fantasize about Spring and pray that it shows up quickly. I know that since we are in Arkansas we don't have to deal with extreme snow falls and blizzards. I thank God for that and pray for those that do, I honestly can't imagine raising livestock and dealing with that type of harsh environment.
Out of the animals here on the farm, most handle it without any issues, in fact our Chows and LGDs love the cooler temps. Our youngest daughter has a small three pound chihuahua and when I set her outside the other morning she immediately turned around and said to heck with this. I think that is the fastest she has ever done her business. She doesn't even mind the sweaters our youngest places on her so I guess she knows they help.
We having been working on our bull pasture and extending a couple of pig pens, got a lot done yesterday and a lot closer to finishing. Now we are prepping for the arrival of lambs over the next couple of months. Praying for a great lamb crop as last year's wasn't so great. That is the part of raising livestock that no one likes. Losses..... Last year we had issues with aborting and even lost a couple of older ewes to unknown reasons. We have done our best this year getting our ewes prepped for lambing including vaccination to help prevent abortions.
Time will tell.

Hope everyone is surviving the winter and looking forward to Spring and the babies it brings.

Winter Blues

Most places this time of year are cold and nasty. Not a good time of year to be taking care of livestock. Busting water, worrying about newborns in the cold, and just plain freezing!
It's this time of year that we get the winter blues. What do you do about it? I like to pour over websites and catalogs and plan for the upcoming months. For example, what type of chickens I want to add and then of course all the different possibilities of vegetable I can plant.
That's when I get excited about the upcoming months and look forward to them. I hope you and yours are staying warm where ever you may be during the winter months.

What are some of your favorite places to find poultry and seeds?