Friday, December 23, 2011
A White Christmas!
It finally snowed today, December 23. All of a sudden it seems much more festive. The kids were so excited to get out and build a snow fort. But the chickens were not impressed, they didn't want to leave the dry comfort of their coop. So Samantha took it upon herself to carry them all to the barn!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
CATCH-UP
Ok, I haven't posted since we have moved to the farm so I am going to try to remember everything!
We were very busy at first, mostly with fencing. We had to get something set up for the horses, and then we had to make that area bigger, and then bigger again.... We now have the whole pasture fenced with electric and the pony field done in pine rails.
The first new animals we added were the chickens. We bought a flock of laying hens and Rhode Island Red rooster (Archie!). The girls have been laying well for us and I love watching them wander the farm
Next came Ginger the Jersey cow. She is awesome! She is four years old and was a puppy in her previous life! She is sooo friendly and easy to handle. It took me about two weeks to get good at hand milking her. Even though she "only" gave two gallons of milk a day, it was plenty for us. I have just recently let her dry up for the winter, mostly because I don't feel like milking in the cold! Also, she is bred for next year (March?) so it will be better for her to stop as well.
And then we bought pigs! Out of the blue we went and picked up four Landrace piglets and put them in a stall in the barn. We had every intention of building them I large outdoor pen, but it just never happened. But they seemed happy enough in the barn, and once we set up the electric fence in the paddock, we put the pigs outdoors every day.
I have to say, the pigs were kind of fun to have around, other than cleaning out their stall -super nasty! But since they hit six months old and about 150lbs each, they have gone to the butcher shop. I was afraid I would have a hard time with it, but even when we dropped them off, they seemed ok about it all, so I felt better. We should be picking up our meat next week.
And we had more chickens. We raised a flock of broilers, Cornish-Rocks. We bought 100 and ended up with 84 at butchering time. We had some trouble at first with our brooder set-up at first. They were too crowded and we lost some to smothering. Once we moved them to a stall in the barn, they seemed better. We have since had them processed and they are in our freezer and a portion have been sold to friends and family.
Oh yes, the Highland cows! Again, kind of a whim, we bought an 11 yr old cow, her 5 mo bull calf at her side and bred back for the spring (Crystal and T-Bone). Also, a yearling heifer named Fiona. They are not as friendly as Ginger, but they are so cute! Ginger was happy to have some non-equine friends! We had a few issues with Fiona and the fences (she didn't believe in them!) but after adding more wire and a stronger electric charge, we have not had a single escape!
Well, we are now waiting for winter. Even though it is December, we are in the midst of a rainstorm. I think we are ready, but only time will tell. We are building a new stall in the barn so that the horses and Ginger each have their own, and I hope to get some straw bales for Diva's baby in February. I can't wait!
We were very busy at first, mostly with fencing. We had to get something set up for the horses, and then we had to make that area bigger, and then bigger again.... We now have the whole pasture fenced with electric and the pony field done in pine rails.
The first new animals we added were the chickens. We bought a flock of laying hens and Rhode Island Red rooster (Archie!). The girls have been laying well for us and I love watching them wander the farm
Next came Ginger the Jersey cow. She is awesome! She is four years old and was a puppy in her previous life! She is sooo friendly and easy to handle. It took me about two weeks to get good at hand milking her. Even though she "only" gave two gallons of milk a day, it was plenty for us. I have just recently let her dry up for the winter, mostly because I don't feel like milking in the cold! Also, she is bred for next year (March?) so it will be better for her to stop as well.
And then we bought pigs! Out of the blue we went and picked up four Landrace piglets and put them in a stall in the barn. We had every intention of building them I large outdoor pen, but it just never happened. But they seemed happy enough in the barn, and once we set up the electric fence in the paddock, we put the pigs outdoors every day.
I have to say, the pigs were kind of fun to have around, other than cleaning out their stall -super nasty! But since they hit six months old and about 150lbs each, they have gone to the butcher shop. I was afraid I would have a hard time with it, but even when we dropped them off, they seemed ok about it all, so I felt better. We should be picking up our meat next week.
And we had more chickens. We raised a flock of broilers, Cornish-Rocks. We bought 100 and ended up with 84 at butchering time. We had some trouble at first with our brooder set-up at first. They were too crowded and we lost some to smothering. Once we moved them to a stall in the barn, they seemed better. We have since had them processed and they are in our freezer and a portion have been sold to friends and family.
Oh yes, the Highland cows! Again, kind of a whim, we bought an 11 yr old cow, her 5 mo bull calf at her side and bred back for the spring (Crystal and T-Bone). Also, a yearling heifer named Fiona. They are not as friendly as Ginger, but they are so cute! Ginger was happy to have some non-equine friends! We had a few issues with Fiona and the fences (she didn't believe in them!) but after adding more wire and a stronger electric charge, we have not had a single escape!
Well, we are now waiting for winter. Even though it is December, we are in the midst of a rainstorm. I think we are ready, but only time will tell. We are building a new stall in the barn so that the horses and Ginger each have their own, and I hope to get some straw bales for Diva's baby in February. I can't wait!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)