Chicken Scraps Blog

Born 3/25/18 This beautiful little doeling is Mayberry's first kid, and is absolutely gorgeous!  She is lilac  and white, with roaning, moonspots, and frosted ears/ muzzle.   Mayberry had a good delivery, though I almost messed it up, and is turning out to be a great mother.  Lilac was up and nursing within 10 minutes of birth and Mayberry cleaned her up perfectly and let her nurse with no issues at all. I think I'm going to be happy with Mayberry's production, but I'll have to wait until I separate Lilac to see how much milk Mayberry is giving.  I've milked her twice (last night and this morning) and both times she did fine on the stanchion.  Last night she was a little upset because she could hear Lilac crying for her in the stall and because I had to do a few things to her, but once I got settled down to milk, she behaved reasonably well for the first time.  This morning was much better.  Her udder is absolutely ...

It's that time of year again - spring!  Kidding season has begun and the nights are still cold, so now is the time to consider purchasing sweaters to keep them warm.  I have a lot of inventory sitting around, so I'm offering most of the sweaters on my shop for 30% off the usual prices.  This sale only lasts until Saturday, April 4th. Shop now!

It is with mixed feelings I write this blog post; partly I know we are making the right decision for our farm, but partly I will miss Blossom when she leaves.  Yes, it's time for old Blossy to find a new home.  She has been a great milk cow for almost nine years, but I want to keep her daughter from last year in addition to Buttercup (her daughter from 2012), so someone needed to go. AJCA Registered (grade) Jersey Milk Cow, exposed to to A2/A2, polled Jersey bull Asking $1,000 Video at bottom of page.   Blossom is an excellent example of the old-fashioned Jersey cow.  She is well-built, medium sized, and has a perfectly even, very strong udder.  Her feet are (and always have been) excellent.  Temperament is fairly calm and steady, though she is the top cow in the herd and will put the others in their place if necessary.  Usually very easy to handle; always submits to people.  Stands perfectly for milking.  Has nice long...

We have PUPPIES!!! For pricing, more pictures, puppy contract, and other details, please visit Sandspur Ranch Border Collies I am ecstatic, excited, overjoyed, delighted and thrilled to introduce our first litter of purebred Border collie puppies!  Sorry for the crossed out list of adjectives...  They all came to mind when making this announcement.  :)

Antique Lafter Rose I am happy to announce that I am now offering live Lemongrass and antique rose plants on my Etsy shop!  Currently I only have a couple of Lafter roses available, but I am going to try to get around to rooting some Thousand Beauties (a light pink climbing rose) and Rev d'Or (a light yellow climber); possibly also some Old Blush.  These are all antique roses, which means they are old, hardy varieties which are disease resistant and grow on their own roots. I also hope to add mint in the near future. Visit my shop to purchase or for more information! CCShop Live Plants

In breeding Border collies, my first goal is to produce quality puppies, rather than quantity.  Thus I chose my two dogs from reputable breeders who breed healthy working dogs.  To make entirely sure though that Cleone and Duncan are free from the dreaded collie eye anomaly , I sent in blood samples last week to a lab in Tallahassee. Today I got the test results and they are both normal, non-carriers! To view results, click here .

Have you ever tried to herd a 16 m/o dairy bull?  It can be interesting, even when he is comparatively mellow, like Barbacoa.  Any bull that is sexually mature is potentially dangerous, and the closer they get to 18 months or two years, the more dangerous they are. Now, if you have to somehow move that beast from one pasture, past a 5 month old heifer, through the yard, into another pasture, what is the easiest way to do it? You call a high drive Border collie! Yesterday I tattooed our bull for permanent ID before we sell him, and had to get him into the milking stanchion.  While we didn't get the dragging him into the stanchion adventure on video, my 10 year old brother, Justice, did get some neat footage of Cleone moving him.  As you can see in the video, she is no expert, but that is my fault, not hers.  I simply don't know how to train a herding dog to the high level of skill that many reach, so while she is a great helper for me around the farm, ...

Feldman Family Pansy Pansy is a beautiful heifer with a great temperament.  She is well built, and in perfect condition.  She has been very healthy her entire life, and has been kept on a good regimen of milk, free choice kelp based minerals, grass, and alfalfa hay.  We do not practice feeding grain to our cows, as we feel that grass is their natural food, and the milk is much  healthier if they are fed exclusively grass. Pansy is used to having her udder handled quite a bit, and allows me to "milk" her without much fuss at all, if any.  She also picks up her feet, and leads okay.  (I am working on improving her leading training, and also teaching her to tether.)

As of May 2nd, Fenella is now officially a yearling! She is a very pretty little horse with a great temperament.  Spirited, yet very friendly and easy to train, she will make a great horse someday.  Recently my brother has been doing a lot of shooting in the back pasture, and she has become quite desensitized to the sound of firearms- to the point that she either ignores his invasion of her pasture, or comes over to fellowship with him and observe his target practice.  This has been encouraging to me, since I have considered training her for mounted shooting, or at least laying the groundwork for someone else to do so.

I have news:  We now have a Border Collie stud! Dandie Duncan, a beautiful black and white ABCA registered Border Collie, will be coming to our farm in July. Sired by Gage, out of Sunday, both owned by Dawn Boyce, an excellent breeder in northern Georgia. I had pick of the litter among the males, and can hardly wait to pick him up. Duncan in center. I'm looking forward to when he and Cleone can play together, and of course, to the time when they have puppies.  He is from great herding lines, and I expect him to be beautiful, hardworking, and most importantly, have a great personality.

I just finished building another goat milking stand, and now it is for sale! This one was particularly fun because I stained the wood a beautiful Provincial brown, and then varnished it, making for a stanchion that is very pretty (at least, to me!) as well as sturdy and functional. Price:  $150

Over the last few years, I have been hearing more and more about A2/A2 cattle, and the health benefits of the milk, but I always kind of passed it over as rather silly; I mean, seriously, how can a genetic difference in the cow make a difference in how healthy the milk is?  I also did not like that the company who tests cattle for this gene was also the one doing the research.  But then recently, some friends who run an excellent natural farm in Lake City have started talking about it.  Apparently, a customer interested in buying a heifer asked if any of their cows were A2/A2, and when they tested, they discovered that 5 out of 6 of their cows were. Now, the interesting thing about this, is that quite a few people who have reactions to cow's milk, even raw cow's milk, have told them that they can drink milk from their cows with no problems.  I always assumed that this was because of the high level of cleanliness, and the good quality grass/ minerals they f...

Well, spring has sprung here in Florida, and I am trying to move out some of my inventory.  Now through March 31st, all ready to ship items are on sale! I have a fairly large selection of fleece sweaters for sheep or goats in stock and ready to ship.  These sweaters are the ones made from remnants, or custom ordered fleece that I don't keep in stock, and they are already discounted $2 off the original price. Now take an additional 25% off this discounted price!

I have found that riding horses in skirts can  be fun and comfortable, as well as modest and pretty.  However, finding skirts suitable for riding is not fun or easy, so I am now offering my favorite style riding skirt for sale on my shop. Check it out over at Chicken Scraps Shop, and email me or order direct through Etsy to get your own customized skirt! From my Etsy listing: This lovely tiered skirt is perfect for almost any occasion. It is very full, spreading out to a complete circle when laid flat, sturdy, yet comfortable. 100% cotton (unless otherwise requested). A waistband with 3/4" elastic fits comfortably and snugly, made to just your measurements, and you choose your own preferred length. Available in standard blue denim, and black denim/ bottomweight (2% spandex). Sizing below is as follows according to waist measurement: Size 2= 24" Size 4= 26" Size 6= 28" Size 8= 30" Size 10= 32" Size 12= 34" Size 14= 36...

Chip is a really great little POA gelding.  Actually, he's not so little- 13+ hh, which makes him the perfect size for both children and small adults. Visit our farm website for more info about Chip:   feldmanfamilyfarm.weebly.com Here is a video (taken 11/27/15) of me riding Chip, in the pasture at home, and on the trail to a friend's house.

Recently, Savana went out to the pasture with me to take some (much overdue) pictures of Fenella.  She is growing "like a weed", and progressing well on her training.  She is rather mouthy, and will sometimes nip, but I never let her get away with this, as I detest nippiness. She is so sweet and easy to train.  I am beginning to want to keep her for myself, as Fannie is getting older.  Maybe there is some way to grow more grass...

The first anniversary for Chicken Scraps Shop is coming up soon! From now through November 30th, take 25% off your total purchase to celebrate! I am also now offering free shipping on all my items.  Cold weather is coming, so hurry and order your animal sweaters now. I have also added a new section to my shop- modest clothing for ladies and girls.  I currently only offer a few items, but plan to continue expanding this section.  Visit this link to check it out: Chicken Scraps Shop Modest Clothing Use coupon code:  1ANNIVERSARY1 to take 25% off your total purchase, now through November 30th!

 Fenella de Festina Lente is a very special filly, with lots of spirit and character.  Her bloodlines include Capuchino and Plebeyo.  I was able to begin handling her within 20 minutes of birth, and have continued her training since then.  She is very friendly, and not skittish, though she is very alert to her surroundings.

I had a surprise this morning:  Mabel delivered two beautiful doelings last night! They are strong, healthy, and have lovely udders and markings. D.O.B:  May 1st, 2015 Sire:  Boer buck  (pictured below Dam:  Mabel   (pictured below) CAE free by parentage. We will be holding one of the doelings with a deposit until mid July; the other is for sale now as a bottle baby. Bottle doeling:  $175 Weaned doeling:  $225 If you are interested in purchasing either doeling, please contact me via chickenscrapsblog@gmail.com or call/ text 352-745-3576   Doeling 1: Doeling 2:

Due to upcoming changes on our little farm, I will no longer be raising goats.  I have been looking forward to breeding and milking Honeysuckle, but it just isn't going to work out for us. Honeysuckle is a Boer/ Nubian dual-purpose doeling.  She is very friendly, healthy, and has good conformation.  She has been raised with children all her life, and is good with them.  Her udder already looks very nice, and I think she will be a fair milker, with the rich Nubian milk, and yet producing hefty, fast growing kids when bred to a meat buck.