1/24/2026
Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well in our new year. I know some of you have had harsher weather this winter than others. For us it has been very mild. I’ve only had to plow our driveway around three times this winter. Currently we have very little snow and mostly bare ground. It’s been in the teens here but everyone is doing well including all the animals. Our barn is finally buttoned up. The upstairs walls were finished getting insulation and OSB boards on in December. It is a lot warmer in there and should not have any water freezing this winter. We also had a wood stove installed for those really cold nights we occasionally get here. Last winter we did get into the minus 30’s.
Mark is still working at the ranch in Pollock. Pollock still doesn’t have any snow either. It’s been a huge blessing having that extra income to pay our contractor for his work on the barn. Winter isn’t over yet though and I suspect we’ll see snow in February and March. Fortunately, this year our kidding time will be in April. You might remember that our first kid last year was born in February and it was very cold. We named him Winter. Winter is our buck’s companion now as a wether and is almost as big as his momma. He will continue to grow for a few more years so you may see me riding him someday. Ha, just kidding.
Mark did some last of the year milling from our Ponderosa pine logs. He turned the wood into 1-inch boards and used them to be the decking/ceiling above the small apartment in the second story of the barn. That area above the apartment will be used to store drip lines for the garden and other random equipment.
Our young hens started laying really well in December. I am most pleased with the Rhode Island Red hens. They are laying really well and large to extra-large eggs. They are very friendly. Even the Rhode Island Red roosters are friendly and not spooky. We should have gone with Rhode Island Reds from the very beginning. In the next year or two we will gradually change our flock into primarily Rhode Island Reds and get rid of the Black Australorpe. At least now we don’t have to buy anymore chickens. We currently have about 92 hens and five roosters. We were given five chickens, three roosters and two hens in December. The roosters were big beautiful birds but I didn’t need more roosters in our flock. Plus, I want to get our flock to be mostly Rhode Island Reds. Two of the three roosters I gave to a friend of ours who turned one of them into a week of meals. The other one got loose on his property and seems quite content hanging around free ranging. Of the three I kept the Buff Orpington rooster. We have a couple of Buff Orpington hens and this guy seemed to be the less spooky and non-aggressive of the three roosters given to us. He’s a very beautiful bird.
In this cold weather I’ve been staying inside and doing a lot of beading. I’ve been working on my horse tapestry again and will hopefully have it finished in February. I started this tapestry back in 2015. Once done it will be roughly 19inches by 15inches. I’d like to frame it as a way to display and protect it. I am looking forward to finally showing it off.
2025 was a good year for us. Our business expanded by adding more goats, chickens, ducks as well as produce. I had more customers this year and made double the income in sales. We still had way more expenses than profit yet, being that we were paying someone to finish the barn and build a duck house. However, I anticipate that this year will be much more productive and less expense. Mark will be here for the summer instead of going back to Alaska. His ranch job will keep him busy with a steady income. We anticipate having goat kids to sell this year and if the hatching goes well maybe even ducklings. I’ve even been kicking around the idea of taking Tyomi and Talia to the County fair in August. It would be a great way to make connections with other goat people. In this part of Idaho most people have meat goats or the smaller milk goat breeds. I’m hoping I can introduce my Saanens as a way to generate more business. We plan to register our future kids we keep and maybe even get involved in the 4H club. We have a lot to learn but it will be a fun road to traverse.
Always glad to hear from you and hope everyone is doing well.
Many Blessings,