Nothing wants to go right. :(

[HansenHomestead]

I wasn't sure where to put this since it is a mix of a rant, and complaining of every animal we have, and what's going on, lol.

So I shall start with the chickens, it has been 2 months now, and we haven't gotten any eggs. Myself, and a few other chicken herders I've spoken with think that since this is their first real molt, it's really hard them which is why we've lost eggs for the time being, and it's taking so long. Along with that, their not as hefty as I would like, so they're no good for meat right now either. :evil:

Then comes the rabbits. As much I love them, and their grow rate is very nice, I have been trying like hell to breed, and get kits so we can stock out freezer for winter. Yet, I swear my does are allergic to getting pregnant, lmao. All the does were due early last week from the first breeding, none popped. I did rebreed the does 20 days after that first breeding as no one was showing any signs of pregnancy, so I'm once again waiting to see if any magic happened. "with doubt in the back of my mind." My only Cal doe I really thought was pregnant, because she had gained so much weight so quickly, and her stomach sticks out the sides, and is still rather firm to the touch. She was the only doe to flat out refuse the buck, she'll grunt at him big time, and go into this.... Sneezing fit? And she ONLY does it when he tries to mount her, and she firmly plants her behind to the floor of the cage, and WILL NOT lift for any reason. So I honestly have no idea what is going on with her. The other does will give the bucks a good chase, but will surrender in the end.

The quail are not laying yet, but yesterday I did hear one of the males start crowing. So hopefully they will start mating, and laying soon so I can get the incubator full. The incubator is starting to tick me off as well. The first 10 days of running it did fine. Held the temp at 38.2 C (hate that it's in C, but I learned the conversion so that's ok,) and the humidity settled itself within a few days. Then around day 11 the temp started to drop for no reason at all. I tried everything I could personally think of to up the temp, but each day it wants to drop more little by little. Today is day 14 so I need to remove the egg turner, and up the temp, and humidity, and I am not sure how well that is going to go. Quail eggs only take 17-18 days to hatch. I only have 3 eggs in there, with one that I know for sure is developing. The other 2 I am not so sure about.

For the last week my husband, and I can't seem to get along. I don't know if it's due to stress over the animals, or something else, but he seems rather distant, and I seem to be very distracted with all of the animal issues. We're constantly butting heads, and irritated with each other over the tiniest of things. He is also not at all happy with my cat who is 13 years old, and (no one understands) is my best friend. *in the animal sense.* She's a great cat, but this last week she started pooping on the floor near her litter box. No urine, nothing runny, but normal poops, and I can't figure out why.

I've been feeling very swamped, and out of my mind lately. Meaning that I feel like I am just going through the daily motions, but that's about it. At night when everything is said, and done I WANT to just cuddle with J (my husband,) and watch TV, but my mind wants to drag me to 900 different places at once.

Sorry for the drawn out post, just needed to get somethings out, and HOPE that this will all calm down soon, and we can get back to enjoying the homestead, and each other soon!

 

[macksmom98]

Well I am sorry to hear how things have been going. I will say that it's very likely to get better soon! That's usually how things cycle around here anyway. And it's good that you are able to keep going thru the challenges. I was in a place of feeling overwhelmed about a month ago. I sold 2 rabbits, our chicks got bigger, and one of my college classes ended. Now things are enjoyable again. Still a responsibility, but enjoyable. Have you and can you tell your husband how you are feeling? Is the idea to have the animals and be more self sustaining both of yours, or is it more you than him? My husband is easily frustrated with animals, and would totally feel irritated by the cat pooping thing. I feel like when you take on an animal, you assume the responsibility of caring for that animal either until death or if it's not a good fit in the beginning, until you can rehome it. But old age and the changes that come with it aren't an excuse, and as they age it's so much more stressful to move them even if it was a good option. So hopefully Kitty will start behaving normally again! Anyway, hang in there! Also, with the rabbits, you can always try breeding even more often.

 

[Ramjet]

Seems like when it rains it pours .... but it could be worse.

My wife got rid of my cat ....

And probably wants to get rid of me too! :?


Hope things get better.

 

[HansenHomestead]

Thank you hun. I'm trying to hang in there, haha. Yes I told J about how I was feeling, and he said for him there is nothing wrong. There's just a lot going on right now. (I am really good at overthinking everything, haha.) As far as the cat goes I will NEVER rehome her. She has been there for so long through a lot of VERY hard times. I will do the best I can to correct the issue however I can.

With all the animals, it was both of our thing we wanted. He wants the animal to be more self sufficient, and I agreed, because I do want the same thing, but I also love animals, and taking care of animals. So it works out for the both of us, lol. He buys the feed, builds, and butchers, and I do everything else in between. About a year ago when we first got the chickens I let it slip that it had always been a dream of mine to run a homestead, and start a business with it. Saturday night on the way home were talking about it again, and he had said that the business would be mine. Income, and everything would be mine. What he meant by that is, since he has a full time job at an HVAC company, and my source of "income" right now is saving a lot of money on meats, and what I bring in from the garden, but when we start selling things, and become a real business the income from it would be mine. Nothing would really change as far what we're doing, and whose doing what work. It just means I would see some actual money, lmao. Not Oh 7 kits, that's $50 in meat saved, and $100 out to feed them. :lol: Which when he told me it would be mine, I admit I smiled a little inside.

I upped the temp for the incubator, and wrapped it in bath towels, leaving the vents in covered, and slowly, but surely the temp is rising. *crosses fingers*

@Ramjet.

I honestly would lose myself a little if I came home, and Ella was gone. We used to have a husky that he had, had for six years before we met, and she was a great dog, but when we bought this house, and moved she just snapped! and we had no idea why, messing all over the house on purpose. Literally she would run the yard for 3 hours, and as soon as she came in she would go all over the house, I even checked outside where she was on her lead, and there was no poop at all. Then our daughter was walking, and fell, and she bit her in the face. She didn't leave any marks, but it was not okay for her to do that. That's when J decided we needed to find her a new home. I was in charge of finding her home, because (I am super picky that she went to a very good home.) It took about six months, but we found her a very great place!

Now in that time that I was "looking for a new home." I "lied" to my husband about not getting any callers, or emails. I actually had gotten several, and some of them seemed like great places for her to go, but I did not want him to have to get rid of his best friend. In those 6 months I was retraining her, working with her as much as I could, but she did not stop, and once again bit our daughter not drawing any blood, but this time leaving good sized red marks, and I really felt like I couldn't try any longer. She went to a house with 4 older children, and a 2 year old male husky. They lived about an hour away, and we still get pictures often, and they said that we can come see her any time we like. Although my husband loved the offer, he said it would hurt him too much. The day they came to get her was very hard. She had acted like she had always been with them, or that is where she really belonged, and I remember that moment she hopped in their car so happily I burst into tears, and silently begged for her not to go. Even J had tears in his eyes. (He's emotional, but puts up a very big wall,) so to see him cry I knew he was hurting, and that killed me even more.

 

[Zinnia]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I have experienced a doe that refused to lift and when upset would have a sneezing fit. This came on only when she was faced with being with the buck, which she resented. I am sorry to say that it became clear to me that this doe did have an underlying respiratory issue and needed to be culled. It's just like a when a human is stressed - underlying health issues surface.

 

[HansenHomestead]

That's going to really suck if she has to be culled. =/ I just put her back in with the buck, and she again started her sneezing fit, but it did nit last as long as usual, and we got 3 fall offs. She is my only Cal doe, and I am really hoping to get a litter out of her before it came down to culling her. I had noticed a bit of labored breathing, but at the time I really thought she was pregnant, and well I know I had a hard time breathing at 9 months pregnant, haha.

If she did have a respiratory issue, and we culled her, would she still be good to eat?

I have a feeling she's just really fat, but that is what confuses me. All the rabbits get the same amount of food, feed at the same time, and the same brand of food, but she just got huge out of nowhere!

 

[macksmom98]

I swear all of mine we bigger and chunkier when I thought they were pregnant the last couple of weeks, but still no babies. I do know that one pulled fur, and the other haystached, so I am wondering if they reabsorbed the kits or had a false pregnancy, and if this happened if their bellys actually did swell. I have no idea if that's possible or if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I swear they were bigger! Now they really haven't changed a whole lot, maybe gone down a little, and all rebred last week. I think I may have also wanted it so badly that I imagined it!

I am glad you are both on the same page with things, and I bet it is just a busy time. Keep on keepin on and see if you can carve out some time for a date night sometime soon! That always helps us, even if we do talk about the animals, kids, work, etc...its nice to go for a walk or sit down un interrupted and just have that time together

 

[Zinnia]

If she did have a respiratory issue, and we culled her, would she still be good to eat?

We eat the ones we cull when we catch health issues at the start.

 

[MaggieJ]

Becca, sorry you're going through such a rough spell. Hang in there!

Someone else had a doe that sneezed when she didn't want the buck's attention. If it only happens when you try to breed her, I'd write it off as a protest.

- - -

I just had a thought about your cat, Becca.

I'm assuming you keep the box nice and clean. Some cats will not reliably use a less than clean litterbox.

Litter box avoidance is sometimes due to discomfort. She wants to use her box like a good kitty, but she knows it's going to hurt and she blames the box for it.

Once when my cat Marilla was constipated (a little too much turkey at Christmas and a lot of stress from visitors) she pooped outside the box. Right next to it. Once the problem cleared up, she reverted to her usual immaculate habits.

Just a thought, but I wanted to mention it. A urinary tract infection is another possibility, even though the immediate problem is poop.