Ugh

This year had been hard homesteading in many ways. Some of them are due to my negligence and some completely out of my hands.

For awhile I felt like the black widow of homesteading.  We lost baby goats this year. We lost a pig. The most heartbreaking loss was Babe the cow. 

Clarabelle was lost without her twin brother. I was concerned I would end up losing her too but thankfully she has Hamberguesas to keep her company. She is mooing again letting me know when she wants more hay.

We have 2 big battles going on right now. A weasel has killed 80% of the chicken flock. The other battle is my Chiweenie has an infection and has not been using her back legs at all for almost 2 weeks until today.

To combat the weasel issue I bought some Rat Magic and between my geese and this it seems to be working.

The photo is a little blurry but you can see the geese do not like rodents either. 

I did not accomplish my goals this year for homesteading other than buttoning up the barn where the chickens are.

The top will be closed in more hopefully next summer. Since I took this photo we have added 2 solar lights to illuminate the door and we have electricity inside the barn now so I have lights. The water outside of the barn has been working great to fill buckets of water for the animals. 

I have a new notebook and am studying how to homestead for profit. The planning is in the early stages but at least writing it down helps me focus and break up goals into achievable steps. 

I'm looking forward to the new year to start fresh. I'm already thinking of gardening.  I did plant during flowers in my whiskey barrels. They will be beautiful when they pop up. I have a planner to help me keep track besides my phone.

We will have baby goats in the early spring. After Christmas we will be building a nursery for the goats to see if separation helps. 

The pigs are steadily growing. I love they eat all of the leftovers.

2022 will bring changes but they will be well worth it!