Meaning Behind The Name

Family and friends are asking how I came to name our little farm name of Alligator Valley Farm?  Specially since we live in snowy New Hampshire and there aren't many alligators.  

Well, years ago my husband's grandfather lived in town here and some how, for some reason brought alligators to his farm.  Had them in the river and in the barn.  Not sure how many or for how long.  I'm sure they didn't like the New Hampshire winters.  I know my husband has talked about the stuffed alligator in the attic of his grandfather's house.

While going through my mother-in-law's estate, we came across some stationery for Alligator Valley Farm.  There were bill heads and envelopes.  

My husband and I thought it would be neat to carry on the family name.

It was moving day today!  The goats are out of my basement and in the barn!  It was a bit of a struggle for my husband while trying to carry mom down.  He finally put her on the ground, with a leash on, and tried getting her to walk.  Of course the babies were screaming.  Now all is well and they are happy with the new goat apartment as my husband calls it.  😀

That is their hay "igloo" to sleep in.  We went and bought new Plexiglas for the windows.  Already a chicken attempted to fly out the window when we went down.  lol  Didn't work so well for her.  

The babies are having a blast with their much bigger apartment.  

Dog Gone Days

It's hard to do laundry when you have a helper like this....

Silly dog. 
Fresh out of the dryer, nice and warm.
I am getting eggs again.  Yesterday I got 8 and today I got 14!!  I was even able to sell 4 dozen to the store. 
It has been a hard cold winter for the girls but they are finally thawing out and producing again.  My best layers seem to be the White Leghorns.  Not a fancy bird but a productive one. 

It was a long day at the barn today.  It started around 9:30 when my granddaughter and I went down to feed.  Then we cleaned the stalls.  Just as we were finishing up my husband came and we started working on the stall for the goats.  It needed a door.  Then we built an "igloo" out of hay so they could stay snugly warm at night.   I can't wait to get them out of my basement and down to the barn.  They will be happier too, more room for jumping and running.  LOL  Oh my goodness they are so cute.
Finally, up to the house to sit.  Then I look at the time, it was 4 PM, time to feed.  Ugh, wish I had known how late it was before I left the barn.  Back to the barn I went to feed.

Of course while we were at the barn all day, we had to get kisses! 

Because we finished up so late in the afternoon, we decided to wait till morning to bring the babies and Momma to the barn.  Figured we'd wait in case it cooled down too much on their first night.  Nope, as I'm typing this up at midnight, it is still 40*.  In the morning....down they go!  😉🐐

A Sea of Glass

I was able to go catch some blue skies and icy trees this afternoon while doing my errands.  I had to get out early before the sun melted it all.  Everything was so sparkly.  :-)

Even the turkeys were walking around in the ice, leaving their marks behind.

This was actually made the day before but the prints were there to meet me this morning when I went out to feed.

I took a scoop of feed out for the chickens, threw it out to them and when I come back to get more, this is what I find in the grain bucket.  A very impatient chicken.  I have learned to look in the bucket now before I put the cover on.  My granddaughter fed a few days ago for me in the morning before school and that evening when I went to feed some more, there was a chicken in the bucket.  She had been in there all day!  lol  Poor thing.  At least she had plenty to eat.

Everything was quiet on the critter front today.  Spent more time with all the goats.  Goats at the barn and in my basement.
My husband and I spent some time planning what we will do at the barn in the stall for the new goat "nursery".  I believe we are going to build a little den out of hay bales inside the stall.  Something to keep them warm inside and then they can play and jump all over the top of it.  I just have to go purchase some hinges to make a door, we have everything else needed.

I'm excited.  I was filling up water buckets for the critters when I noticed my Morning Glory plant had left me some wonderful seeds to collect and store for next year.  I have never collected flower seeds before, unless you want to count sunflower seeds.  I have a great place in mind for some of them.  There is a fence pole that is much taller than all the others.  It's at the gate entrance.  I have wanted to put a bird house at the top for a while now.  I just keep forgetting.  So, I will get the bird house installed and then plant some seeds at the bottom.  If it grows right, it will be very pretty.

I am including a website that has great directions for planting your own Morning Glory seeds.
https://m.wikihow.com/Grow-Morning-Glories 

Soggy Chickens, Happy Ducks and Icy Trees

We had a bit of an ice storm today.  The other day it was reported to get close to 50* today.  No such luck.  It stayed right around 33* all day.  The rain turned to ice quite quickly.  I love the after effects of ice on the trees.  It can be so beautiful.
I did manage to go outside with my camera for a few minutes.  It was still drizzling so I didn't stay out to long.  Long enough to get a few photos and check on the ducks, chickens and turkeys.

The ducks haven't had that much water to play in since fall, before the water hoses were packed away for the winter.  They were so happy to be splashing around in that huge puddle.  The chickens on the other hand looked like soggy drowned rats while outside in the rain.
Must be due to warmer weather, but I have gotten a few more eggs than usual the last couple of days.  I think I actually have 2 dozen on the counter.
I have one customer that asks for eggs every week. I have been having a hard time to get him those eggs.  That arctic cold really put a damper on my egg supply.  There is no way I could get enough together to take to the store I supply eggs to.  I'm used to getting between 2-3 dozen a day. Now I'm lucky if I get 6 a day and most of those were frozen.

I love a good storm.  Whether it be ice or snow.  If there is any sun tomorrow, it should be a beautiful sight!

I went down and spent about 30 minutes with the goats today after I fed them.  There were some happy boys getting lots of lovings.  At one point I had 4 wanting me to pat them all at the same time.  Bo would nibble and grab the sleeve of my jacket until I would pat him.  Scooby would just stand there with sad puppy dog eyes till I would pat him again.  Luke kept jumping up in my lap and Duke was nibbling on my hat strings and pulling my hat off to the point I put my hat inside out so the tassels were in the hat and he couldn't reach them.  Next thing I knew Luke was on my back/shoulders.  lol  I was sitting on the round bale (half gone)  I was leaning forward, backwards, sideways trying to get him off me but they have pretty good balance!  Finally, I got him down and decided it was time to go once he tried twice to jump back up on my shoulders while he was in front of me!  I pushed a goat out of the way just before he was on my face!  And of course my cell phone battery was dead so no photos.  Do you see a theme with those names for the goats?  Bo, Luke, Duke, Daisy and Lou Lou.  :-)  Was going to name the other two boys Boss and Jesse but my granddaughter insisted on Scooby and Shaggy.

Mamma and babies are doing well.  Baby goats have got to be the cutest things to watch.  The little girl was hopping around like a rabbit today.  She was trying to climb on mom while I was feeding graham crackers to her.
I think I like the name Luna for the little girl.  She has an all black body with frosting on the ears and a white pole on her head(white on ears and head) and one brown moon spot on her side.  Thought Luna was fitting.  My daughter has a horse named Luna so I asked her if she minded if I stole the name.
I'm hoping this week my husband will help me put a door on one of the horse stalls.  We've always just used stall guards for the horses but now I need a door for the goats. The basement has worked out perfectly for the babies when they were first born, wet and slimy but now that they are all fuzzy and active, they need a bigger area.  Mamma has started crying some during the days.  I think she's missing her sister and the boys.  We'll make the stall as cozy as possible for them.  The basement pen will stay ready for Daisy in case she needs it when her babies arrive.

Took a break today

Finally, my husband and I were able to get away for the day.  Just the two of us.  No dogs, no customers, no phones, no granddaughter, just the two of us cruising the back roads in New Hampshire.

First stop, he wanted to show me his new toy.  He swapped a truck for a roller.  It's like a pavement roller.  I was expecting it to be larger but he said if it were any bigger than this one, it would be too hard to move from job site to job site.  He already has people who want to rent it from him.
My husband is self employed.  He has a garage here on the property but he also does lots of plowing and sanding in the winter months.  In the summer he has lots of equipment that he does earth moving with.  He is so very handy, creative, frugal and knowledgeable.  He makes it possible for me to do all my little projects.

We drove up through the White Mountains.  It is not a place we tend to go in the winter months so I guess that's why we decided to go that way.  There actually wasn't all that much snow.  We had so much rain a bit ago. There was a bit of evidence of roads that had washed out.
We made one stop at the covered bridge on the Swift River.  I don't know why but I love being at that bridge.  I think part of it is the history.  I love visiting historical places.

Then off to lunch and driving more back roads.  Nothing too exciting.  Just enough to recharge us and let us enjoy each other's company with out all the distractions.  And of course home just in time to feed all the critters.  Back to the grind. 

Spring fever!

Boy oh boy do I have spring fever today!  That thermometer that has been reading single digits and even negative digits was reading in the 60*s today.  Plus add on the new baby goats in my basement and the 3 seed catalogs that have come in recently, I am itching for spring!  This is rather unusual since I am a winter person.  I love a big snow storm. But now I'm looking forward to new adventures this spring.  Time to start planning!

I added a log from our wood pile into the goat pen.  Oh my goodness they are having a blast jumping and climbing on that little log.  I was able to get a few photos but with my cell so they aren't the best quality. 

They are getting so stinking cute. 
I am pretty sure I have another doe, Daisy, that is expecting but she is only about 2.5/3 months pregnant.  The "boys" broke through the fence and I actually saw her bred.  Lou Lou was a surprise. 
At least we will be more prepared with Daisy.

Garden:
There are so many seed catalogs out right now.  I am the person that snuggles up in a chair with a cup of coffee and reads those catalogs front to back.  Multiple times. I only buy heirloom seeds so I love to learn where they come from, the history on the seeds.
I did save some pumpkin seeds the other day.  I had one more pumpkin saved from Halloween to give to the chickens.  I forgot to save the seeds with the other two.

I'm hoping to grow some this year for the goats and chickens.  They say they are a natural de-wormer for them.   I'm all about trying natural remedies.  Less chemicals the better.  I'm growing garlic also but we eat so much I'm not sure there will be enough for the animals.  😊

My husband and I stopped down at our lower garden the other day.  We had some flooding a bit ago so we were checking out the damage.  There will be a lot of cleaning up to do before we can till in the spring. 

The river was flowing over the whole garden.  This doesn't happen too often but the town nor the state have cleaned all the brush and logs out of the large culverts that goes under the main road so it backed up some.

Chicken Coop:
Turkeys are some of the dumbest animals.  lol  I had to help two today.  The first one I had noticed was on the perch most of the day yesterday and again today.  So I'm thinking that the Tom was stuck up there.  I had to cut down another perch in front of the one he was on so he had room to jump off.  I have no idea how he got up there in the first place. 
The second one was outside of the shed/coop and in the fenced in yard.  I haven't been using the yard's gate because of the amount of snow so the birds all go out the main coop door when I open it in the mornings.  After lunch I went out and sure enough the turkey was still standing at the gate to come out.  All the other birds went back into the coop and out the main door.  I had to finagle the gate open so he could join the others. 
I finally got about 6 eggs today.  With the arctic cold we had and the lack of light I have not gotten many eggs.  The eggs that have been laid have frozen solid and cracked.  I was getting over 2 dozen eggs a day.
The ducks and turkey have not laid in quite some time.  The white leg horns seem to be the best layers.  Hopefully now that the cold spell is over, more will come. 

Growing well and pony for sale

The babies are doing well.  They sure are tiny little things.  In a few days I'll let my granddaughter in to play a little bit with them.  They need the socialization so that they become friendlier then Momma. 
I still can't get over how good Momma, Lou Lou, is doing for such an unsocial butterfly.  She still doesn't like us real close and she has to be the one to touch us.
My daughter came over today to check on them.  Being my first time with babies, it's nice to have some support.
My daughter went down to the barn to visit her horse, Summer, and I watched my 7 month old grandson....such a rough task to do.  💕😊 I was wondering what she was doing down there for so long.  I figured it out when I went down later to feed the goats.  She cleaned the barn for me!  What a wonderful surprise.  It had gotten quite messy, specially in this cold weather we had.  None of us wanted to be down there any longer then we had to be.  I will try to do a better job.

We are once again trying to sell my granddaughter's pony, Sonny.  Sonny and my granddaughter do not get along very well.  Poor kid.  She wants to love that pony but Sonny just doesn't want it.  She has kicked her, tried biting her and tried double barrel kicking my husband.  One day we were feeding and I grabbed my granddaughter's snow suit and flung her across the paddock.  lol  My GD looked at me and said "Grammy, why did you do that?!"  I said, "cause Sonny was getting ready to kick you!"  With training I think she would be a great little pony.  I just don't have the time or knowledge needed to train her and my granddaughter is a tad bit too timid to get after her.

We had a death in the chicken coop today too.  Bertha, the lone meat bird, passed away.  A friend of mine bought her along with 5 other chickens.  We were kind of hoping that she would be able to live a longer life.  My friend was going to process her but again with this COLD snap we had, it just wasn't possible.  This past fall we processed 12 meat birds.  My freezer is full.  We actually just cooked one up last week.  Amazing how good fresh meat tastes and the knowledge of where that meat came from is worth it.  We also have fresh pork and beef in the freezers. 
 Fresh and local is best! 

Welcome. New babies arrive on the farm.

Welcome to Alligator Valley Farm.  This is a page about daily living on a small but growing hobby farm. 
I wish I had started this little farm many moons ago.  I'm working on 49 years old.  Things seem to be getting heavier and harder to do.  :-)  Water buckets are heavier, hay bales are heavier and those bags of grain! 
Of course we had lots of different animals when the kids were younger.  We had the horses, dogs, chickens, rabbits, cats, hamsters, mice and fish.  But I was never trying to make any type of income way back then. 
Flash 25+ years later. Four grandchildren later. A few gray hairs later and now I'm trying to make a little income with the farm. 
What do we have on the farm now?  Three noisy dogs, 10 ducks, 3 turkeys (we ate one, 38 pounds for thanksgiving) chickens, 4 guinea hens, 2 horses and 9 goats!  Two of these goats are NEW yesterday.  We had twins born unexpectedly yesterday.  A little buckling and a doeling. 

They are now nice and warm in our basement.  It's 16* outside right now. Fortunately, they were born in the morning on a warmer, than it has been, day at 25*. 
My granddaughter and I went down to feed the animals and momma, LouLou, did not come out for her breakfast.  She was in her stall and she was crying.  She ran around outside for a few minutes and then darted back into her stall.  I had my granddaughter, 6, sit in front of the little door so the other goats would stay out.  I was working on getting the other goats locked up and out of the way.  My granddaughter said "Grammy, she's pushing".  I said "no, she can't be".  Then I hear "Grammy! there's a baby"!  I was quite surprised to say the least.  I heard my husband plowing the driveway, of course a snow storm, so I called him and he came straight down to help.  In the mean time I'm looking around for something warm to wrap the babies in.  Nothing there.  Oh, there was one thing I could use...my jacket!  It was nice and warm, since it was keeping me warm.  Off came the jacket to keep them warm. 
My husband and I were trying to figure out where we were going to put them in the house.  Finally, we decided on the wood room in the basement.  Warmest room in the house, about 20 feet away from the wood stove.
I have to give BIG kudos to my husband.  He is so supportive and helpful with my crazy shenanigans.  He stopped what he was doing and built a spur of the moment nursing pad for the kids. 
I believe the buckling (brown one) is spoken for.  I will probably sell the doeling also.  I have not decided yet.  My bucks are all registered Nigerian Dwarfs.  I have two does and they are Pygmy ND crosses.  I am thinking I will purchase two registered ND does and sell these two does.  My plan is to raise and sell the goats at a cheaper price than most people.  I find the prices around this area in NH are crazy. 
Other avenues I am working will be my egg sales.  The numbers are down quite low this winter.  My husband and I are going to go look at an incubator, an older large wooden one, that a customer of his would like to sell/barter.  I believe it holds around 200 eggs!  I can have a LOT of fun with that!  :-) 
I would like to sell chicks, guinea keets, ducklings and eggs.  Eventually, turkeys.
Then my newest adventure is a 14 x 40 foot greenhouse that we purchased this fall.  I'm hoping to grow enough that I can sell veggies and maybe eventually flowers.
I have just started getting serious about canning for my family also.  I so wish I had started canning long ago!  Better late then never I guess.
So there are a few areas I'll be exploring this year. 
I'm glad you have stopped by and hope you'll come back again and see what crazy things are happening here on the farm.

My bucks, Duke, Scooby and Shaggy.  Summer, our old lady horse at about 35 years old.  She was my daughter's first horse we bought her when my daughter was 10.  My daughter is now 26.