First Litter of Rabbits of 2025

It always amazes me just how quickly rabbits prepare and give birth to their babies. This vidwo was taken at 11:43 a.m. this morning, she had just started pulling hair a few minutes before the video started. By 11:56 a.m. she had finished giving birth to 11 kits and was out of the nestbox.

   I took some time off and now I'm going to attempt to get back to this. To say many things have changed in the last 3 years would be an understatement!
   I got married, took my older boys out of the public school they were in and started them in an online cyber school, downsized our 'livestock' to just a few animals and had another baby boy. Of course there has been a lot of other thing, good and bad, that have happened but I'll stick to the basics for now.
   After a hiatus it's time to start again. I'm sure I've lost most of my followers during the time I've been gone but maybe there are a few of you who are still around and interested in what is going on here at Seldom Seen Acres.
   Last fall and early into the winter we lost all but one hen and one rooster to predators. We decided to restock and get 30 new hens. We had decided to buy the chicks through our local Tractor Supply instead of ordering them through the mail for because the weather is still so unpredictable and I didn't want babies in the mail during freezing temperatures. When we called to see when TSC would be getting their first shipment of chicks they said they would be getting them starting the last week of February. I'd already decided that I wanted to get breeds of chickens that will lay a variety of egg colors. Not sure why but I love when I get a mix of browns, white, and blue or green eggs. Thinking we were only getting 15 chicks this week and 15 next week - depending on the breeds the store had available, I spent Thursday afternoon setting up my little makeshift brooder. When we got to TSC, much to my surprise,  there were nine different breeds of chicks there, including Ameraucana and Leghorns. So I could get all three colors of egg laying chicks TODAY!!! What?? that is not what were had in mind when we left the house, Hubby and I agreed to just get all of them today instead of splitting up the orders. Okay that's settled. Now which breeds besides the Ameraucana and Leghorns do I want? The options were Amber-link, Black sex-linked, Black Jersey Giant, and Isa Brown (all pullets) and there were also Buff Orpington, Barred Rock and Cornish Rock straight run chicks. Oh my! If you know me you know I have a hard time with snap decisions, I need time to think. While I was thinking Hubby wandered off to find some other things that we needed. When he came back I told him that I had decided to get 5 of each of the pullets. That would be the 30 we agreed on. But.... they have Orpington and I know we love that breed. Since we only have one rooster we decided it wouldn't be a bad thing if we ended up with at least a couple more so we got 5 of each of the Orpington and Barred Rock as well as the others... Yes, that is 40 baby chicks! When we left the house we had agree on 15 for today... oops. Needless to say, I had to revise the brooder when I got home. Instead of the little brooder box I had set up we had to use the small stock tank.
   The store also had ducklings and I didn't bring any of them home so I think I'm did good.

   

Craziness...

Almost four months, and you'd think I'd have something to write about... or not?
Wow. I don't even know where to begin, really.
Daisy had boy/girl twins on March 5th. *K* named the babies Dana and Dexter.

Bubbles had twin bucks the next day (March 6th) so in three days we had three sets of twins.

Of course both does had their babies at night so no good pictures or video could be taken right away. The lighting in the barn is horrible even in the daytime.

I bought *K* another copper satin doe rabbit to replace the one that died a few months before. Her name is Cindy. She is much larger now but this picture is from the day I bought her.

I bought another milk goat. Her name is Willow and she a half sister to Bubbles.

Then this happened on April 4th! Yeah, crazy, right? But such is life here in North Central Pennsylvania.

... and did I mention that this happened at some point? No, probably not! Kittens! They are cute but I really could have done without.

... and then there was more of this on April 9th...

We had baby bunnies!

The baby goats played in the yard...

Buttercup had a baby boy that *Z* named Buddy, on April 16th.

   So, as you can see there is a whole lot of nothing going on here. Oh, and we built more garden boxes and got the garden area fenced in. YAY! Sounds really nice but I still haven't gotten anything planted in the boxes.
   Life just isn't turning out the way I had planned it, so long ago. It has taken a detour recently. As much as I've always felt I am raising my boys alone, even with their father living here, it is real now. I've known it was coming for at least the last two to three years so it isn't too much of a shock. I can honestly say it doesn't feel much different because he was never present anyhow. He wasn't really interested in any of the projects I was working on or even anything the boys wanted to show him or do with him. Financially things are going to be a little more stressed until I figure something out, but that department has always been stressful anyhow. At least now I know I'm the only one who will be spending, so it'll be easier to save for something, instead of hoping that he didn't spend all of the money I was trying to set aside for something we needed. Its going to take some getting used to but we (the boys and I) will be okay. If any of you have any suggestion on things I can do to make money from home, please let me know.  

The full circle of life here on the farm today...

   This morning I started the day mentally preparing myself to send the last of our pigs to the butcher. All the other times that we've sent pigs to be processed, I haven't really thought too much about it because the intended purpose for raising those pigs was for meat. This time, we are sending two sows that we kept for the purpose of raising babies. The thought of eating them never crossed my mind until recently when our financial situation, unexpectedly, changed. Red is three years old and Peaches (out of Red's first litter) is one and a half years old. They were both really good moms and had big litters (13 to 16 piglets each), so my heart is heavy today as I prepared to send them off to be processed. Once they are loaded onto the trailer and off the property, I will be okay. I will enjoy the meat just as much as I have any other pigs we've raised.

Peaches sharing her last meal with the ducks and chickens.

   Soon after starting my morning chores my heart lightened a little because I realized that Shay (one of *Z*'s goats) was definitely in labor and we would have new babies in a few hours. 

Shay cleaning her new babies.

Shay cleaning her babies.

   Actually it didn't even take two hours. Within an hour of me noticing that she was in labor she delivered a set of twins. A buck and a doe.

   When it came time to load the pigs, Red decided she really didn't want to go for a ride. She squeezed through between the barn door and the trailer and went for a walk about!

Red on her last walk around the farm.

Yep there she goes back the other way!! I was half expecting to see *T* following along behind her with a bucket of feed...

   I was not helping but was told that Red did NOT want to get in that trailer, and it took quite a lot of convincing before she finally did get in.

 

Red finally on the trailer.

I guess Peaches wasn't nearly as hard to load.

Peaches on the trailer.

So, with the pigs on their way down the road, it is time to focus on the new additions. Meet Sage and Sarah!

Sage and Sarah - Shay's twins.

The one and only baby goat for the year...

I was not expecting him until around the 21st and until the 16th at the very earliest. He was born on April 10th. According to the breeding date he was born at 139 days gestation. The gestation period for goats is generally from 145 to 155 days with an average of 150 days.

This little fella is small but otherwise doing okay. He needed a little help eating for the first couple of days but he's becoming a pro now and I believe he will do fine. His Mama (Bubbles) is very protective and wont let him out of her sight. If by chance he is out of her sight, she makes quite a fuss, and is she ever noisy.... if I didn't know better I'd think she was full nubian, not just part nubian. I've lovingly nicknamed her Bellering Bubbles. (Is bellering or should it be bellowing?... hmmm.. I pronounce it beller so that is what I'm going with.)
So, here is a picture of the new baby, only minutes old.

 As soon as my 5 year old saw him he said he was going to name him Happy Feet. That seem appropiate for a baby goat, their feet are always on the move.

The baby pigs have arrived!

I haven't been sharing much here but I will make an effort to try harder... I know, I know.... I keep saying that and I can understand if you are all like "Yeah, whatever. We've heard that before!" I'm truly sorry but life seems to get in the way of my best laid plans. Then I get so far behind that I don't even know where to start updating... does that ever happen to you? I mean like when it has been a long time since you've seen a good friend then one day you do see them and you have so much to say to that person you just can't find a good place to start. Well that is the way I feel right now, so I'm just going to start blurting out whatever comes to mind..... you've been warned. [wink]

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of recent things that have happened here on the farm is Red (the pig) had babies. This is the fist litter of pigs that have been born here since 2002. Yes, twelve years ago, that is a long time. Especially when you are trying to prepare for a new litter and can't remember the details of how to calculate the due date (yes I remember now it's three months, three weeks, and three days), the first signs of labor, etc. I really had to delve into the recessed of my brain to answer some of the questions that *T* had about pigs having babies. This is the first litter he has ever seen born or had any part in raising.... it has been quite an experience for him .... and for me trying to reassure him everything will be fine.... I really think he was as nervous about these baby pigs' delivery as he was when I was in labor for our two boys. He'll never admit to it but it's true!

So, here is a picture of Red a little over a year ago on April 14th. We had just brought her and her sister (Patches) home. They were about eight weeks old at the time.

 

Here they are the day we put them in the outside pen. They looked so small in that huge outside pen... but they loved it!

 

 

In mid November we helped my mom, who lives across the road, clean out her garden and the boys hauled some of the 'leftovers' home to give to Red. Yes, just Red, by then we had sold Patches and Red was our only pig. She had no problem cleaning up the garden leftovers by herself. I'm thinking she was kind of glad she didn't have to share her "goodies" with anyone.

 

She was one happy little (okay, big) piggie!

I almost forgot... I was going to tell you about our baby pigs... sorry I get sidetracked A LOT!!!

On January 1st a friend of ours brought his boar to visit Red for a couple of months. She was in heat the day he brought the boar but we wanted to make sure he was still here if she cycled again. We never noticed her in heat again, so we figured she should be due to farrow around the 25th of April. Well, I should say "I figured" because *T* counted the days differently than I did and came up with May 1st.... I'm not sure how he counted 115 days (three months, three weeks, and three days) from Jan. 1st and came up with May 1st. Either way, by April 24th she was getting pretty uncomfortable and couldn't lay still and didn't seem to know what to do with herself. While *T* was at work I moved her into a bigger pen, hoping she would be able to find a more comfortable position to have her babies.

The first one was born Friday, April 25th around 5pm

 

The boys thought this was great entertainment...

 

 After having seven babies she seemed to take a little break and I was thinking that she might be done. Seven is a nice size litter for a fist time mama pig.

 

 This was number twelve!!!! YES, TWELVE!!!
By this point it was like watching clowns get out of a VW.... how many more could there be in there?

 

After number thirteen Red got up and was walking around in her pen looking at the babies like "what are those things and how did they get here?" I will admit I was a little bit nervous that she wasn't going to want them at first. We stayed with her until after she laid back down, we wanted to make sure she didn't smoosh any of them.We were all getting tired and hungry so we left Red and went to the house to eat some dinner (it was close to 8pm) and get the boys ready for bed. After getting the boys settled into bed I went back to the barn to see if Red had passed the placenta..... she sure did.... and another baby! WHAT? I counted and recounted those wiggly little piggies almost a dozen times to make sure I was not mistaken.... sure enough, there were fourteen piglets! WOW. That is a lot of piglets for a first time mom.
Then when we were cleaning up and taking the placenta out we found one more that was dead. So she had actually had 15 babies. WOW.... I'm still in shock. I can not believe she had that many babies!
The next morning we found one of the babies dead, it looked like she had laid on it, but the other 13 were still doing good.



 

 Here they are at 6 days old.... look how much they have grown. All 13 are still going strong.



 

On Sunday they were two weeks and two day old. We moved them to the big outside pen and here is a video showing hem out for the first time. They were so curious about everything, yet still a little scared to be too far from Mama for a while.

*** And before anyone fusses about me not being too concerned when my child screamed bloody murder.... he was fine! I could see him and he was playing on the slide. Later he told me that "that is our scream slide. So we have to scream every time we slide down it." So no hate mail, or anyone saying I was more into filming piggies than I was checking to see if my kids were hurt..... They were happily playing on the other side of the yard, within sight of me the whole time. :) ***

 

 After being outside for a few hours they got brave, and also found a hole under the fence....

There really isn't anything much cuter than a baby pig.... unless of course you can find a rare moment like this one...

 

They were so excited that they finally got their hands on one of the piglets! I thought *Z* was going to drop it because it got to squirming around so much but he didn't. Of course my memory card ran out of memory so I couldn't continue to film, but we put the baby back in with Red and the rest of the piglets.





Wordless Wednesday

Where have I been.....?

I've been here, just not blogging.

Can't even remember everything that has happened since last June but one thing that happened that I haven't told you about is:

Keith Elliott

He was born February 9th, weighing 7lbs 4oz.

He is 9 weeks old today and is nearly 13 pounds and 22 inches long. Such a sweet baby boy

*Z* is 27 months old now and is as adorable and sweet as ever. Here is a picture of him from last week.

*Z* is so excited about his new baby pigs that we got a couple of weeks ago. I'm thinking it is a good thing we decided to get two females as they will most likely stay and become brood sows instead of ham and bacon.



Yesterday the pigs got out of their pen and outside the barn. I tried for a while to get them to go back into the barn, I figured if I got them in the barn they would eventually go back in their pen and I could shutt them in. I had no luck with that plan. So decided just to leave them out and wait until *T* got home to help me, the boys were napping in the house so I didn't want to be outside too long. So I went back in and kept an eye on the pigs so I knew they hadn't run off somewhere. Most of the time they spent just wandering around the yard and rutting around in the puddles of water down behind the barn. When the boys woke up I took them out to feed the animals. While I was feeding the goats the pigs followed *Z* into the barn, so I closed the big door, and breathed a sigh of relief. At least they were back in the barn we'd figure out how to get them into their pen later. *Z* was following them around clapping his hands and jabbering at them when I went out to the other part of the barn to get feed for the chickens and when I came back the pigs were in their pen and *Z* was closing the gate. OMGosh, he is truely a farmer at heart. Here I had tried for a good half hour or forty five minutes to get them into the barn (let alone their pen) with no luck and *Z* is out there for a total of fifteen minutes and they were in the barn AND in their pen with the gate closed. All I could do was shake my head and tell him he did a great job. He was so excited too, the first thing he told his Dad when he got home was "pigs....pen.....gate!" nodding his head the whole time. He isn't talking much but he gets his point across.



New Baby Goats

Here are the newest additions to Seldom Seen Acres. They were waiting for me when I got home from work today.
The darker one is a girl and the lighter on is a boy.

Five Years Ago Today

Not much to report.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot to report this time of year ... I guess I could start keeping a log of the weather and temps, but even that would becouse boring after about a week of 20* weather.

Saturday evening *T* and I went to the Old Timer's Banquet at the firehall. They put on a nice dinner and gave out awards to some of the members. Mom watched *Z* while we were out. I got back to Mom's at about 9pm and home at about an hour later, after chatting with Mom and getting *Z* ready to go out in the cold again. Mom and I were laughing about how it would take longer to get *Z* bundled up than he would be outside ... remember Mom lives just across the road from me.
After coming home I just got *Z* nicely snuggled into bed and was about to check my emails when there was a knock on the door... I knew who it would be before I even got close to the door. Seeing how it was one of the coldest nights of the year and the night after the full moon, I knew the person at the door would be *D* or one of her sons telling me that Molly (their huge suffolk ewe) was in labor. Sure enough *A* was at the door and Molly was in labor and they wanted my opinion on what was going on. I called Mom to see if she could come sit with *Z* while I went to check on the ewe ... about two miles up the road. I gave Mom a choice of checking on Molly or watching *Z* ... she chose *Z*...LOL.
I had talked to *D* just that afternoon when she brought me a load of feed and she said that Molly seemed to be getting closer to delivering. I mentioned that it was the full moon and I'd probably see her about midnight. Molly has always delivered around midnight every year. I'd like to think it is because she knows I'll be home to help in case there is a problem again, but I'm sure I have nothing to do with it. I got to *D*'s barn at around 11pm and Molly delivered a healthy baby boy at about 11:50pm with no problems at all. I got home at around 12:15am. A couple hours later *D* emailed me and said that she went back up to check on Molly at 1am and she had had another baby boy. They are all doing well despite the -10* temp that night.

Did I mention that same evening *T* and I did not have any water here at the house due to frozen pipes? Actually they froze sometime Friday night and we were not able to get them running again until Sunday morning. It is amazing to me the things I think I want to do when I don't have water. I mean I rarely get the earge to wash dishes, do laundry, clean, etc. until we don't have water ... or electric for that matter. And of course now that it is back I really don't want to do it. Today I am forcing myself to do some cleaning ... in spurts of 10 to 15 minutes at a time. I've got to get this house back in order!

Seemed like we had a heat wave today... the temperature got all the way up to 26* with sunshine most of the day. Right now at 8pm it is 22*, it was 17* this morning.

Well I have to get back to cleaning again, so I must close this for now.

One year and a week ago!

I can't believe it has been one year and a week since my son was born, where did the time go. He is such a joy in my life. I thank God for him everyday!
January 3rd, 2009: 6# 10 1/2 oz. , 20 inches long.
January 10th, 2010: 23# 11oz. , 31 inches tall.

We woke up this morning to -13*F. I'm just thankful that the wind is not blowing. Looks like it'll be clear and sunny again today.

Our Lamancha/Boer cross lost a set of twins on the 7th. Not sure when she was due but the babies looked to be about a month or maybe a month and a half early. I believe that she was getting ruffed up by her "cell" mates. Poor girl, I feel bad for her, it looked likt she had even cleaned them up and everything so I'm wondering if they were still alive when they were born.

One Year Ago Today

I never got a chance to post these pictures when I took them.... someone keeps interupting my blogging time (could it be the little *Z*?).
These are pictures of a cloth book that I made for him last summer. He still loves it... as do I because it cost me nothing to make, I just used scraps of material from my sewing cabinet.

Teething Biscuits from Baby Cereal

I was looking for a way to use up the extr boxes of baby cereal that I have and after doing an online seach I found this recipe.

Teething Biscuit Recipe

2 Tbs Shortening
1/2 C. sugar
1 egg
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water
1 1/2 C. baby cereal

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and water. Mix until well blended. Gradually stir in cereal. Knead until smooth. Pat into rectangle. Cut into 12 1" bars, smooth edges so they will not be sharp. Place on ungreased sheet. Bake 20-30 min or until dry. Store in uncovered container overnight.