Bulgaria

	Bulgaria Expats, Diary - Renovating a House - Becoming Self Sufficient  May - June 2010
	Kingsley's Peachery - Shadbags Corner

Dear Me!!! Where did May go, a blink ago it was April, I was planning what I should grow and getting used to keeping goats, this morning we are just one day from June WOW!!  

Almost as I promised myself, everything has been planted, just a second sowing of brassicas and some spring onion plants purchased from Sredets Pazar to go in, lettuces, radishes are now ready to pick.  Good job too as temperatures are now 30 plus and getting hotter each day, so once these plants go in that’s it for this year.  Time to sit back and watch them grow, along with the weeds!!! All the potatoes I planted in the traditional way are now being earthed up.  The first experiment of the potatoes which I cut a small eye from and planted have been earthed up to 8 inches so they will now be allowed to grow on and hopefully produce some lovely new potatoes, yummy.  Not sure what will happen with my experiment of growing straw potatoes as they have still not yet come thru, though they are producing lots and lots of eyes, so still hope there. 
  

What’s changed this month?  Did I say I was going to wait a while before adding meat production to my list of self sufficiency things to do, I’m sure I did, then that’s what changed.  At the end of the month I purchased 10 one day old chicks and the same day agreed to take on a baby goat that would need bottle feeding yep the real fun begins.

My baby goat is ready to be weaned from mum and as mum is still producing enough milk to feed the new baby so it’s time to learn how to milk and to bottle feed.  The cheese and yogurt will have to wait. 

Easy you may think but after several attempts to milk, lots of advice and retry’s, not a drop did mum let me have so I will now have a lesson or two.  I watched how to milk goats on YouTube and even watched a video of a toddler milking her goat with great ease, but as much as I try I can’t do it.

  
These 3 goats are not being kept for meat but as my stock herd that will produce next year’s meat. Bearing that in mind they have now been named, buttercup, lola and bonnie.

It’s the first days of June now, the kid was delivered and I did hope to be able to put her in the same pen as my kid but being a few weeks younger and a little smaller my beautiful lovely little Lolla has become a real nasty bully so the newbie has had to be put into a temporary pen until I feel they are able to be penned together.  Maybe a few walks together thru the forest will help them to bond a little. If I thought milking was difficult, well trying to get a baby to take her milk from a bottle instead of mum is just as bad.  Last night she would only drink a small amount however this morning after 30mins of gentle persuasion I managed to get her to drink a whole bottle in about 5 sessions.

After my milking lesson last night, tonight will be the first time that I will milk my doe without help so its  fingers crossed for me and what by then will be a hungry kid.  Just in case things go wrong I have just received some very fresh cow’s milk, straight from the cow to my fridge so, I do have a backup.

06 June and I am having real problems bottle feeding as the baby will only take a small amount and that’s with having to fight her to do so.  Just tried again and this time she totally refuses, cut some branches of sliven and she is chomping away happily.  She is grazing so we will allow her to  graze and keep trying milk maybe from a pan.

The Doe is milking well and what I do is to milk her in the evening and put her back with her kid so that her kid can feed thru the night (yes had my lessons and am now confident milking her).  Although my doe’s kid is big and strong enough now to be fully weaned I don’t want to add any stress to them so this seems the best way forward and stops me having worries that she is eating enough hay and trees.  Bring on the cheese.

Snakes alive, we have seen on our patio a rather large snake but was not too concerned until yesterday when I went down to the cellar to feed my young chickens,  as I pushed open the door a noise and movement alerted me to the snakes that were also in the cellar.  A family of caspian whip snakes.  Beautiful, highly coloured but nether the less after my young chicks. Caspian whip snakes are not venomous but will bite quickly without warning.  Was that good timing or what, half hour later and I might not have any chicks to feed.  Took them their cage straight out and placed them in the hens pen.  My hens look totally confused, they laid 3 eggs this morning and within hours must have thought the 3 eggs had hatched into 9 large chicks!!!  Cleaning out during the early evening had my cockerel watching anxiously at what I did with the chicks, one false move and I felt sure he would be ready to tell me off and I know what that’s like, oh well at least he’s doing his job.

Hobby Farm I think it’s more like animal crackers farm lol.

Writing this blog has helped me to realize, I hope, the answer to another small problem.  In the mornings I walk my doe up to the village goat pen where they are collected and taken out to graze by the shepherd.  I have always had a problem when I get to the crossroads in the road, which is just before the forest path, my goat wants to go one way and me the other.  Gentle persuasion and off we go.  The past 4 days buttercup has seriously refused to enter the forest and walk the path.  It’s taken a lot more than gentle persuasion to get up to the pen (pulling and pushing a heavy goat is no joke).  Could this be her natural survival instinct coming into play, has she seen snakes and with the forest growth dense now does this make her dubious of walking a narrow path surrounded by foliage?

 11 June  just when I think I’ve got it sussed something else happens.   My doe will not let me milk her whilst she is sleeping with her kid.  The new kid needs some company so Gary has built a large pen for us to house the 2 kids and to leave mum where she has always slept. Success the kids have settled in together this time and although a few butts (goat play) they have spent their first night together.  Just one thing left to sort and that’s the milking, oh no she still won’t have it, what should I do stress her trying or take her up to graze and try again this evening when she will be very full and fingers crossed will be only too happy for me to milk.

That was my choice and up to the goat pen we went, her as stubborn as ever wanting to go her way and refusing the path, eventually we got there, my way.  When we arrived there were two of the women there who keep goats and know what they’re doing, unlike me.  They looked at her and told me she had to be milked, so out of the village pen she came, one lady holding her collar and the other milking her with ease, so that’s it this evening she will have to  be milked whatever she thinks.  Help!!! Jumping goats I don’t need lol.

     
On checking and feeding I noticed the baby chicks have grown overnight and really need new housing so that’s the next job for today, told you, last night I thought I had it sussed and would have a least a week to get on with other jobs but as normal, this morning it’s all changed again.  Will get there one day.  For the meantime however I think I should wait a while before asking for anymore pens to be built!!!

20th June, Just taking a quick break from the storm and what a storm, the garden is now well watered and my tomato plants laying down on the ground, will check the damage in the morning as there’s not enough time now.  In between the thunder bolts and the rain I'm sweeping out the rain from the animal pens and at one stage it looked as though the baby goats would have to go without supper but managed to get them their feed so at least they’re not hungry.

Have you wondered how we managed with the milking, well, a few more lessons by different goat keepers, and experienced village goat keepers being kind enough to empty buttercup in the field by the goat pen, but think we have licked it now.  I wipe and massage buttercups udders then get the milk started and from there hubby takes over the milking whilst I hold and talk to buttercup.  Success hubby has made two goat cheeses this week and we still have 6 litres of milk still in the fridge.  Don't know what this evening will bring with this storm but we will take her into the cellar to milk so fingers crossed for no real problems.

Checking the next 8 days forecast and this weathers is in for the long haul, best purchase that ark now, we can always keep it on the village river ready waiting just in case lol well for now.