New Addition to the Homestead

I would like to introduce everyone to Coconut. We bought him from the same farmer where we bought Cecilia.
We put him in the barn with the goats and am hoping Oreo adjusts to him.
 Cecilia and Oreo were already in bed for the night when we put Coconut in the barn with them. When I checked on them an hour later it was quiet in there. Cecilia was with Coconut before so they will be fine.
 We are going to seperate their fencing for now, to give Oreo time to adjust during the day.
I am impressed with how soft Coconut is as this is my first time really petting a sheep. Tomorrow I need to go get a comb for him.
Here he is!

Farming is NOT always cuteness and fun

This past week has been a VERY hard week here at the homestead. I have learned no matter how hard you try saving an animal's life, sometimes saving them means putting them down. I learned my area has NO vet that cares for livestock but I am very thankful for Exeter Vet for calling me back and explaining how to try and save a life over the phone.
I'm also thankful for Melissa Kearns and her husband Jimmy. Melissa help for 6 hours with Milkshake and her husband Jimmy put Milkshake down for me when we were unsuccessful in helping her.
My goat Milkshake had delivered a baby Thursday morning.  She was still in labor during the day so I had kept checking on her. I had noticed the new baby girl wasnt up moving around much so i brought her inside thinking maybe it's too chilly for a kid. Around 3 I went back outside with one of my boys to check on Milkshake. This time i noticed only 1 hoof was out so I knew something must be wrong. I thought maybe the kid was breach. I washed up and tried finding the other hoof and couldnt. I called Melissa and asked her to come help Milkshakr seemed under distress. We phoned A LOT of vets and found out I have 2 options Exeter Vet (which I had called and was waiting for a call back) as well as Foxcroft Vet. Meanwhile, the new kid was not doing well so Mel and I drove to Blue Seal to get Colostrum supplement and a bottle. The Vet had called and explained tobus how to try and get the kid out that he knew had already died.
Earlier I had phoned my cousin and even video chatted with her on Messenger and she told me it didnt look good and what she thought was wrong. The kid's head was all the way back and not facing forward. The vet had the same conclusion.
I even had a nice woman from Louisiana talking Mel and I through how to get this kid out and save Milkshake.
In the process we figured out there were 2 kids in there and they were tangled together. At 10:30 thursday night I decided to have Mel's husband Jimmy put Milkshake down. That has to be the hardest decision I have ever made. Milkshake typically wasnt the type to let you get too close but Thursday I held her in my arms and said goodbye to her. We all did everything we could to save her.
For 2 days Oreo was completly lost without his girl. He would not stay in the barn. He kept kicking the door open to stay in the fence and cried. I think I cried as much as he did.
Friday and Saturday i searched like crazy for a new friend for Oreo. I was going to get a wether for him but there were mixed reviews how he would do with another male. The females I found were 2 - 2 1/2 hours away from me. I messaged one of my aunts and she out me in touch with one of my Great Uncle's relatives in Kingman and we found a new wife for Oreo. My friend Hannah was sweet enough to drive me to Kingman to the Lancaster's farm. I gave her the honor of naming our new gal and her name is Cecilia. Oreo is one happy gent and Cecilia is adjusting well here. So far she enjoys watching traffic go by on Stillwater Ave and if a bird is singing loudly or fly over Cecilia is sure to talk to them.
Below is the pic of the baby that didnt make it and my last photo of Milkshake and her new baby. Also you will see Cecilia with Oreo.

Cute Pics

Know your Code Laws in Your town

So yesterday we had the town Code Enforcement Officer call telling me we could only have 6 hens, no roosters and we needed a permit to have those chickens.
Well as you know, I have way more than that here on my homestead. Supposedly our local pd "observed" we had chickens running around here. Well seems we habe had chickens here 3 years and goats 2, I have a feeling it was someone local who has nothing better to do but be a busy body.
Before we purchased the goats I had checked the code and thought we were in the clear.
After many tears and phone calls Code Officer called me back letting us know he was wrong and we can have whatever we want for animals but we had to purchase a $50 farm permit and the chickens have to be fenced in. Which neither is a big deal. For now the chickens need to stay in the coopuntil spring when we can build a big run for them.  If we add onto our barn we will need a construction permit.
I'm ver thankful I do NOT need to get rid of any of them and even added pigs to our permit with hopes of getting some in the spring.

House Update in Photos

We have finished the flooring in our house! It looks amazing.

Excuse the piles of sorted laundry!! We have a wall of shiplap we will stain a gray color.
I added a hanging scale to the kitchen.

Today I started making a coffee bar on top of the buffet. I'm hoping to finish that tomorrow.