New baby goats

The first baby goats of the spring arrived Wednesday...a boy and a girl. This is a sure sign that spring isn't far away! The mother is a nubian/saanen cross and the father was a lamancha cross. We like to bottle raise our baby goats. This makes for very friendly goats. Our other does will be kidding any time now so we should have a full barn soon!

The new chicks are here!

Friday, Jane picked up a batch of new chicks from Schlecht Hatchery in Miles, Iowa. This is the time of year that we order our replacement chicks. Schlecht's is not too far from us, so it is a convenient place for us to get chicks, and they are good people to deal with. Jane picked up 80 chicks of 8 different breeds. So far, all the birds are doing well.  Jane likes a lot of color in the flock so she gets a good assortment of breeds. Our egg customers seem to appreciate the variety of egg colors as well. Our son Nick will show some of our new girls at the county fair this summer. He will have a good selection of birds to choose from when deciding which ones to take to show. The breeds that we were able to get from Schlecht this year include White-laced Red Cornish, Blue-laced Red Wyndotte, Anconas, Golden-laced Wyndotte, Mille Fluer, Sex Link (Red Stars), Buff Orphington, and Americauna.These birds will spend the next couple of weeks in the house. It's just way too cold to move the fragile chicks outside. Once they are a little larger, have feathered out, and it's a little warmer out, they will go outdoors. By mid-summer, they should be laying eggs with the rest of the flock. It is then that they start to earn their keep. 

Anconas chick.

Snow Pigs

These two gilts were born July 25, 2010. The deep snow isn't slowing them down! They are pure breed registrable red wattle gilts that would be a great addition to anyone's breeding herd. We can't keep them all, and I would hate to see them go for meat, so if you are thinking about adding some new blood to your herd or just starting out, email us for more info at wickhamfarm@gmail.com. 

Groundhog Day Snowstorm!

The snowstorm of the winter hit last night. Just before the groundhog was suppose to come out and tell us if spring is coming sooner or later. My bet is on later. Besides, any groundhog with a smidgen of common sense is likely staying warm and secure in their den on a day like this. Do you think they really care about this weather predicting stuff anyway?

We received somewhere between 12 and 15 inches of new snow. Its hard to say exactly how much, because strong winds carried the snow off of the open fields and dropped it in other places like our driveway, animal pens, and the gravel road. We haven't seen the county snowplow yet. It's late enough now that we probably won't see it until sometime tomorrow. It's a good thing that we don't have anywhere to go today. The kids enjoyed the day off from school by playing in the snow and digging snow forts. 

The snow drifted to the top of the garage door. I guess I'll be entering the garage from the front instead of the side for a while!

Despite the cold and snow, I had a good time clearing the snow with the 1955 AC WD45 tractor. I had Jane, my wife, snap this picture. If you look close, you can see the ice hanging on my beard.Gotta love winter in Iowa!