Livestock
Best Dairy Doe in Show at the 2018 Albion Fair!
This was our third year showing our goats at the Albion Fair. It turned out to be a year of ups and downs. We had some great wins with our goats, but also ended up being sick and missing half…
Raising Thanksgiving Dinner
Say hello to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Lunchmeat. (Yes. Those are their names. Excuse our oddball sense of humor.) They are eight-week-old Broad Breasted Whites and Broad Breasted Bronzes. In the last three summers on our farm, we’ve raised a variety…
Just One More
Our little yearling, Maizey, gave us a surprise blue-eyed buckling today just after noon. It was very nice of her to decide to birth her little boy on a day I was working from home, conveniently during my lunch hour.…
Baby Goats, 2018
I had intended to post this sooner, but I was exhausted. Mama goat Candy started showing signs of being ready to give birth late in the evening on March 28th: her udder was filling, her ligaments were soft, her back…
Spring Chicks
Every year, we usually add a few hens to our laying flock, just to keep productive young hens coming up as older hens slow down their laying. This winter, we lost about 6 hens and one much-loved rooster to a…
Kidding Season: 2018 Preview
I don’t know about you, but I have some serious spring fever. Northwestern Pennsylvania had a pretty harsh winter this year with record breaking snowfall. Recent days have been mercifully milder though. Our snow has melted and temperatures are gradually climbing.…
The Truth About Backyard Chickens: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
I recently shared a post on the @littleredfarmstead Instagram feed and asked my followers what they’d like to read about here on the blog. One question that came up was asking about the pros and cons of keeping backyard chickens.…
2017 Albion Fair, Goat Show Results & More
This year, the Albion Fair ran from September 12-16th and it was our second year showing (read about our first year here). I was fortunate to be able to take the entire week off work so I could enjoy it…
Transporting Goats
In 2005, I was fresh out of college and bought my first car that was truly MINE — a bright orange Honda Element EX. I got a lot of side-eye when I bought my toaster-on-wheels, but it has been the most…
4-H Roundup and Counting Down to Fair Season
As summer approaches its end, the busy season for 4-H begins. Now is the time the kids are perfecting their project books, fitting their animals, and honing their showmanship skills. Fair season is almost upon us. Ben has been practicing…
The Bucklings are Here
My little goat herd is complete, at least for the foreseeable future. On Tuesday evening, we drove an hour and a half to West Sunbury, Pennsylvania to get our little bucklings from Hills of Highland Farm. I wish I would…
Building a Buck Barn
Exciting news–yes, even more exciting than a new load of hay for the goatie-goats. (Though they may disagree; they were pretty psyched about the fresh hay!) We are getting a Nigerian Dwarf buck. Actually, we’re getting 2 unrelated bucks —…
