Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Menagerie

A little of our home/farm life.

A rabbit that appears in our household from time to time! This picture shows the rabbit at line dancing classes! A few weeks back the rabbit ran into Landmark (rural supplies store) and gave lunch to one of our friends working there, this was at 8am in the morning and the staff couldn't stop laughing, it really made their day to have the bunny visit!
My son, Mr Z, breeds rabbits for pets and to eat; but we won't be eating this one!
These are geese that potter about, usually making loud noises when they see me on the telephone! Theylay lovely BIG eggs around Oct-Nov, one egg fills the fry pan!

Our two ducks, Henry and Jemima. We also have some younger ones about 2 months old, they grow really quickly adn the younger ones are almost identical to the older ones now! These are Peking ducks and we are breeding these to produce eggs and meat - I love duck in plum sauce! We also have a number of chooks too.
 

 The pigs have names like Pork Chop, Nibbles, Roast, Bacon and Crackling.
We have kept two sows and a boar to breed from; can't wait till we have piglets again they are lots of fun!

Miss Busy is gluten and dairy intolerant, to the point that it has had a terrible effect on her health. She is 8 yrs old but is the size of 4-5 yr old. Over the years we have visited many Dr's and had many tests done, showing up nothing. Late last year we visited a nautropath who picked up a multitude of problems with Miss Busy. The first thing was to cut dairy and gluten from her diet and supplement her with priobiotics and enzymes to aid her digestion. Six weeks later ALL of her problems cleared up, everything was caused by her body trying to cope with the gluten and dairy. Miss Busy is growing at a fast rate now, isn't lethargic, sleeps less, has a more cheerful/happier disposition, is having less memory problems and generally looks allot healthier.
She was drinking rice milk but when I found out she could have goats milk we bought a pair of milking goats. We have milked house cows here for about 8 years so adding a goat wasn't that big a deal, it made sense. I never thought I would have goats or milk them but they are fantastic pets, rather like dogs in temperament. Milking them is quicker and easier than milking a cow, currently in their low milk production time we are getting approx 1.7L a day, in two milkings from one goat (the other one hasn't had a kid yet). They don't consume alot and if you make sure they have copper sulfate in their diet your trees should be safe from being ring barked.
Dolly is on the left and Katy is on the right.

Around the time we bought the milking goats we also bought two new house cows, Jersey's this time; we already have two Friesans. This is one of the calves, gorgeous!

This is Doris, one of the Jersey cows. While they had alot of milk we had to milk daily with the calves on them 24/7, but now that the calves are a few months old we have to separate the cows from the calves  overnight or during the day to be able to milk anything. Between the thre cows we are currently milking we are getting approx 20L a milking.

A few months back I did a cheesemaking course and loved it!
At the course I learnt how to make; greek yoghurt, fetta, camembert, ricotta, marscapone, quarg (cream cheese), blue vein, havarti, haloumi and cheddar.
This is some of the yoghurt that I have made withJersey milk that wasn't separated, you can see the rich creamy layer on top, yum yum! We add honey to sweeten it a little and often add stewed berries. I also make yoghurt from the goats milk.

Our 10kwh grid connect solar system that is on our shed.

That isn't all of our menagerie, by a long shot, but a little glimpse of what keeps us company (and busy) here.
(don't ask about the garden)

10 comments:

Nicky said...

Fabulous post Bec, it's great to see someone elses farm life. Gorgeous Jersey cow and calf, I'm a little biased though as we had pedigree Jerseys when I was a kid. And you can't beat the Jersey cream off the top of the milk jug for your porridge! Yum. All your animals are sweet, esp that rabbit. lol

Jo in TAS said...

I love the glimpse into your farm life and it's so wonderful you can make your own yoghurts and cheeses, yummo! Fresh is always best!!

Kris Meares - Tag Along Teddies said...

Hey Bec! OK ... envious now cos it looks like you have a similar managerie to my 'one day when we buy some acreage ...' dream. Would love to learn how to make cheese, yoghurt etc one day ... guess it goes on that "one day ..." list, too! :0) Thanks for the tour of your farm - loved it! Bear Hugs! KRIS

SarDee said...

I don't normally post but I couldn't let the opportunity pass to tell you how much I love the farm photos! I am in the states, Ohio to be exact, and we are just building our "farm", which is a loose term here since we only have a half acre. So far we have bunnies and chickens. However, the plan is to add milking goats and honey bees. Some day we hope to add acres so we can be more self-sufficient. I would also love to utilize solar but it's cost prohibitive for a small hobby farm. My garden is also piddly (tiny!) but it supplies enough for a few winter months if I get the canning done.
I loved the tour and your quilting!! Thanks for sharing and God bless your family...

Amanda said...

What a fun glimpse into your life and menagerie, especially the rabbit. I'm so glad to hear that you managed to sort out your daughter's problems so early in life. I too am dairy and gluten free, and have been ill all my life. It wasn't until I was into my 50s that I discovered what was causing all of the problems, and it has changed my life beyond measure. It was a homeopathic doctor who eventually worked out the culprits.

Sarah said...

That was a great post!

I am SO pleased you have found the answer to your daughters health issues. It is a shame that medical doctors and natropaths cannot work together more. They could learn so much from each other...

De said...

and you still have time to sew? You are amazing!

Anita said...

Thanks for the little stroll around your farm!! Glad you got your daughters health issues sorted!

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

Love your menagerie, some things eerily similar, some thing DH wont let me have!!
That little rabbit is one...too cute! Tracey

judy said...

thanks for sharing your life Bec. I dont know how you fit everything into one day! good on you