This week not much has happened. It's been kind of a maintenance week. We have already gotten all of our new animals this Spring and our last goat has kidded. So this week we have been refining all of our chores and getting a handle on the new schedule with all the new animals.

On the homestead, we are experimenting with our new electric fence for our goats. We have gotten them out to pasture and I believe this electric fence is going to be a game-changer for us! Last year and from the time we got our first goats we have used 16 foot by 4 foot cattle panels. We only had two or three and so we would set up four of these panels in a square and move those around the yard and pasture. Our fences were and still are not set up for our goats to just run free! If you know goats they like to escape! I have found the best fence for a goat is actually a “State of Mind” There really is not a fence that will keep a goat in but if you keep them happy they will stay in because they like being happy! As our herd increased we added more panels and connected it to our existing fence and as long as we kept them content, things worked great. We would move the pen every night after putting them in the barn for the night. In the morning their pen would be ready for the next day.

This new electric fencing is 164 ft long and so it's lightweight, one person can lift it and move it. Before it would take all five of us to get things moved. We also had to place steel posts in the ground so that the fence was secure! Our goats would stick their heads through and just pull the whole pen along with them,wherever they wished! I think this new fencing is going to work great for us! We've already had three moves this week!

I'm not putting them out on full grass yet, I don't want any upset tummies yet. But this fence has been great and I would recommend it! I don't get paid for this recommendation but I got the netting from Premier 1. It was the SS Electro Stop 10/42/12. But remember this system only works if you have an electric charger that will give the goats the correct amount of jolt. I also would never use this fencing without a charger. In fact I will not put them out until the fence is on and ready to go! Goats are quick learners!

We are also using the chicken poultry net also by Premier 1 and it's working great. The meat chickens are growing a little slower than normally this year. I am not sure if it is our new system or the temperature. We are raising them earlier than usual. In our old system we used a large chicken tractor. If you want to learn more about our new and improved chicken tractor that we are currently using with our new electric fencing, you can check out this post, How to Build a Truck Topper Chicken Tractor.

Currently we are keeping the chicken in the tractor at night and turning on the electric fence for predator control. Then in the morning I just lift the end of the chicken tractor and they have free range in the poultry net. I haven't been electrifying it during the day. We don't seem to have the pressure of predators during the day and they haven't been getting out. The only time they push hard on the fences is when we're about to feed them. They know where their food comes from! These guys are dinosaurs! I wouldn't accidentally fall in their pen. I am just sayin! They have more area to run around which may be the reason their gain has slowed down a little bit. I think it may add a week before we need to start butchering. Which to me a healthier bird is a bird that is moving and enjoying life so we'll wait that extra week!

The laying chicks that we just got are doing great! Murray McMurray is, again I'm not getting paid for this recommendation, amazing. The chicks they sent us have been thriving and are doing awesome. We have had no losses! Want to know what type of chicks we ordered this year, I have a post on our 2020 Chick Order !

Back to the goat, the babies are growing great! They are thriving and we did get the Mama's out on the grass. We have a couple side pastures that I don't have to use an electric fence for. We did have to pull a triplet from a mom because the smallest was not gaining as expected. Luckily, she is a dairy mom so we just milk her in the morning and that milk is given to the baby from a bottle, morning and night. It was not that mom was not producing enough milk but that with three babies and only two teats one baby was always being left out!

In the garden, we do have a few spring vegetables planted out in the garden,peas, cauliflower, and other spring veggies. They're doing great!It has snowed on them a couple of times but they're still thriving. I always have to remind myself I live in Wyoming! I love living in Wyoming and therefore I have to live with Wyoming weather! I usually plant all our summer veggies outside after Mother's Day. This year our weather has been a bit chilly. I may hold off on getting the tomatoes and pumpkins planted. I do have plans to put up our mobile greenhouse and I will bring you along on that Journey.

All the plants I started inside last week are doing great. The pumpkins are out growing their soil blocks. I will probably be potting them up since I can't get them out quite yet. I love Wyoming! I will never leave Wyoming! I just need to learn to embrace the Wyoming weather because it's unpredictable. there's a saying, “ if you don't like it now just wait five minutes and it'll change.”

In the kitchen we're still just clicking along. I am getting a little behind on dishes! Well, maybe a lot behind. As the homestead becomes more busy, I find things like dishes and laundry tend to be put to the side. The Lord made me to be a nurturer first then a housekeeper. I will tell you right now if I had a choice between cleaning my house or the barn. I would choose the barn, first! Just sayin!

Lord God, I thank you for this week and thank you for the time with family. I ask you to lay your hands on the sick, on the scared! Lord, guide our leaders. Help them see the path that needs to be followed. Protect our freedoms. In your name I pray, Jesus Christ, Amen

Pray, Just Plant!