Some of you may remember when I posted about getting my very first chickens this spring (9 hens and then a rooster). I posted some time later about our venture into turkeys (Giblets and Gobbles, may he rest in peace). Then one of my hens hatched 4 chicks, bringing us up to 14 chickens. We built a bigger, better coop capable of housing up to 30. Yesterday, we went to go add 12 more chickens, and came home with 15, because chicken math is real, yo. Then we traded a hen I didn't like for another rooster for the new ladies.

Last night, we, uh, did a thing. Baaa.

We're up to 29 chickens, 1 turkey, and 2 goats, guys. Help. I think I have a problem!

that is not a problem that is great news! We used to have goats and they brought a lot of joy and also chewed through a lot of things >_<

Now i am living in a suburban area and I have limits on what pets i can have and I am so jealous!!!

I have transferred my collection abilities to indoor plants! 14 and counting.

Cuties! I have guinea pigs but can't really afford any more animals than them. Haha, to be surrounded by a ridiculous amount of animals in my home, that'd be the dream I think! :D

Anyway, good luck with your goats and I hope they have a lovely life!

We also have 2 cats and 2 dogs as our indoor pets, haha. We are constantly broke, but the chickens basically pay for themselves, or close to it, because we get eggs from them and our extra eggs sell for a great price. The turkey doesn't require much upkeep, just a little bit of feed and water in his buckets now and then. The goats, well, that's another matter. But they are Nigerian Dwarf goats, so they are small and very efficient with their feed. I plan on starting up a barley sprouter soon so that we can get barley (it's only $10 for a 50-pound bag) and sprout it as feed to supplement all the farm critters with. 2 pounds of barley can sprout into 8 pounds of fodder and it's 80% more digestible and chock full of even more nutrients because of the greens. Can't beat that! And we'll hopefully start getting milk from the goats in the spring after we've bred them and they've had their babies. :D

Alas, our hens only lay eggs. Only one chick since last I mentioned. Our geese are as hectic, but I'm making a separate enclosure for them. I used to raise goats, but ended settling debts with them.

I know where I'm going for Thanksgiving... ;)

JK. It's cold and snowy enough here!

Oh I do remember your chickens! But AHHH goats that is amazing! I agree with , this isn't a problem at all!

We already ate one, and it was so incredibly delicious. Hubby went from saying "no more turkeys ever again" to saying we need to get a bunch next spring! Of course, I'm the one stuck with the processing.

I've got two roosters, possibly 3 (one from my last hatching, he's beautiful but I can't keep him), so it should be a pretty self-perpetuating flock as long as I let them do their thing! We're at capacity right now (29 chickens in a 30-chicken coop) so we'll have to cull or sell some of the older ladies come springtime if nobody passes during the winter.

The goats are so funny, too! Billie-Jean is super friendly and enjoys being pet and scratched. Annie is definitely more skittish, so I think it'll take some food bribes to get her to warm up a bit more.

And that would be the downside.. but I can only imagine how fresh it was! XD

It was easier than I expected, but I had to learn very quickly because the death was sudden and unexpected (the idiot fell and broke his neck, and I found him shortly thereafter). I have never eaten more delicious turkey in my life. The previous holder of that title was the very expensive "never frozen" turkey that my stepmother-in-law got for last year's Thanksgiving dinner, but Gobbles was amazing. I really need to get around to processing Giblets, but I feel a bit bad for him because he's been so lonely since Gobbles passed and now I've bonded with him a bit. But I can't keep him, he is a meat breed and would only suffer painfully if I let him live another year. So Thanksgiving dinner he will be. The complicating factor there is that we are doing it with my folks this year, and my mom refuses to eat him.

Awww, poor guy. At least you can bond with the goat? I'm guessing he's not for the eating?

Both goats are female -- they're for milk. :)

I'm also failing in chicken-keeping in that a member of the new flock I brought home (our newest 15 birds) is an old lady. She's over 4 years old, and the gal I bought them all from said that she was one of her very first hens and she didn't have the heart to cull her with her other old chickens. I feel bad for the old girl. I don't have room or money to keep freeloaders, and already have a somewhat older hen who is my flock mom (she does a wonderful job hatching eggs and raising chicks). She has to go, but I'm not sure I have the heart to do it!

I had sold my excess roosters, rather then make soup. My fighting hen has a rival now.

Oh dear! I had a hen who was dominant in my flock and generally pretty unfriendly towards me and the other hens. I traded her for my newest rooster, and it's crazy how much she changed after just a day in her new home. She is happily sitting on laps and letting their daughter pet her!

GOATS!

But seriously they're adorable.

Billie-Jean is so friendly! Annie is a little more skittish, but I'm hoping she'll come around with plenty of treats.

Billie Jean is not my lover. Assuming you named said goat after MJ's Billie Jean

But awww!

Hubby named her, and then I figured we may as well stick with the theme (Annie are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?)

Omfg, that picture with the goat headtilt, I am dying.

I laugh every time I see it! That's Annie, and she's a goofball.