-15 deg F this morning and the forecast isn't looking too promising either. Looks like these three chaps get to hang out in the house a bit longer!
We aren't really the kind of family that enjoys indoor pets/animals. When we first moved here, we tried raising our kitten as an indoor cat. He hated it and wanted so badly to live outside. We caved and outside he went. So, besides allowing newly hatched ducks/chicks to adjust to their life outside a shell for a day or two, we don't have any indoor pets. Until this week.
Enel, Tata, Imin have joined our family, in the house, since the night of their birth (their mother refuses to care for them) last weekend. Overall, they are pretty fun(ny) to have around. While there is the occasional accident (from a loose diaper) that we get to clean up and the nibbling and nudging at your legs when they are hungry, I think it has been a memorable week for our children.
Maybe for the goats too! This is the three of them, all piled up under the kitchen sink after I turned on the blender to make up a smoothie for breakfast! Poor things were terrified.. No puddles though!
Not to mention the air compressor and miter saw I am using upstairs while trying to complete some more attic progress. When I first started, they started maa'ing like little babies every time the compressor kicked in.
Then there is their favorite hangout spot next to one of our forced-air heat vents.. If they are quiet and out of site, that is probably where you'll find them.
Unless, of course, they are sleeping by the heat vent in the kitchen...
-Jeremy
Blog: http://mnhomesteader.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mnhomesteader
Fantastic post, much enjoyed seeing these cuties. Thank you for sharing
Thanks @gardengirlcanada!!
They are so cute
Thank you @pumpkinsandcats!
Baby Goats, So damn cute! They are just wearing regular diapers?
Thanks! Yeah, we had regular diapers laying around so we used them around their midsection to prevent unwanted puddles.
Soooooo sweet! Gah, im dying of cuteness overload over here! How beautiful are those babies!!!
Thank you for sharing @mnhomesteader,
All smiles over here this morning
Take care,
@amymya
Thank you @amymya!! Glad they made you smile!
They are adorable @mnhomesteader! We plan on adding some goats soon. Is there a breed you prefer?
Thanks @hopfarmnc!! They are great additions to any farm, assuming you have good fences to secure any valuable vegetation. I have heard a lot of good things about Nigerian Dwarfs. If you don't mind larger and very vocal goats that still produce great quality milk, then the Nubian (what we have) is a great choice. It was sort of hard for my wife and I to resist those large floppy ears!!
Awesome.
-15 degrees? You wouldn’t happen to be in the valley would you?
On the edge of the Red River Valley if that counts? :)
We’re probably decently close then!
That's awesome! I thought I was the only steemian homesteader in these parts! I went for engineering at UND in Grand Forks and then moved back home to the Perham MN area.
Ok, you are a ways south then. But still a lot closer than any steemian I'm friends with! We want to do chickens but how do they fair during the winter time? Does it get too cold for them here?
The chickens do just fine in the cold. A few tips we have learned: Supplement light a little in the morning/evening with an LED bulb to keep egg production going through the winter. Keeping their feet dry is important, so as long as you get a waterer that prevents them from stepping in the water, then they should be fine. They do seem to roost longer and lay a little less when it is -20 and colder for longer periods. You also need to check on eggs frequently as they freeze and crack quickly. They eat a bit more feed than the rest of the year because they cannot forage through the snow and they burn more calories to stay warm. Don't use a heat lamp, unless you want a barn/coop fire and a high electric bill. Feel to message me or my wife anytime if you have questions!
Thank you for all the information! And thank you, I will keep that in mind next time I have a question!