Goals

It's good to have goals. And I realized I haven't formally written down any goals for this mini farm of ours, so it was time. Ran it by the hubby, and he liked it, so we're in business. Here's what the plan is, assuming we're here for another year or two (see previous post for explanation):

Mini Farm Goals

Our mini farm consists of 0.84 acres, including 2 small pasture areas (largest is ~0.5 ac, 2^nd pasture area is  ~0.16  ac and a homesite acreage of approx.. 0.25 ac.), a 2000 sq ft, 4 stall large livestock barn + sheep/goat barn/tack room and goat shed. All areas can be farmed to some extent and used for gardening, but animal husbandry will occur solely on the back 2/3 of the property. Gardening areas will be located behind barn (largest garden area with full sun exposure for entirety of day), along with small garden plots in the front pasture with full southern exposure, backyard and front yard where growing conditions would be favorable.

Goals: 
1)  Produce at least 50% of our food in the next 2 years and increasing production in subsequent years to ultimately produce 75%+ of our food for a family of 8+. 
2)    Raise chickens for meat and eggs (can have comfortably 20 birds in current coop. Can add an additional 12-15 meat bird coop to chicken stall).
3) Keep goats for milk (maybe 4-6?)
4)Grow fodder for our animals in the winter (late Nov-early May) 
5) Start with beekeeping. Sell honey, beeswax & value added products (lip balms, salves, lotions, etc.)

How will we meet these goals?

To meet Goal #1 –

Employ bio-intensive gardening techniques using straw bale gardening. Also learn to extend growing season to grow greens and hardier vegetables through the winter months. Planting a small orchard, grape vines and berry bushes would also help to increase our self sufficiency (depends on timeframe for us staying in this home). Set up greenhouse ASAP. Begin seriously composting to recycle chicken manure, bedding and garden/household green matter. 

To meet Goal #2 –

Already in progress. We have 14 hens and 4 roosters. Have been raising egg layers since April 2012. Started with 11 hens, 1 rooster. Would need to add another coop specifically for the meat birds. Have squeamishness about butchering chickens myself. Would need someone to train me or hire someone to do it. Local mobile slaughterers have a 25 bird min. and charge $2-3/bird.  Sell eggs to offset costs OR start making our own feed from scratch/growing food for chickens. Latter would be easier to accomplish as our family goes through eggs quickly. Ideally need a 30+ layer flock to keep up with egg needs for 8 people. 

To meet Goal #3 –

Would need to upgrade fencing/repair existing fencing AND install at least 2 levels of electric fence wire. Would need to buy/build milking stanchion.  Multiple local goat dairies to purchase quality dairy stock – la mancha, saanan, alpine or nubian

To meet Goal #4 –

Find a local supplier for bulk unhulled livestock grain. Would need a relatively heated area to sprout grasses; trays; soaker hoses. Unlikely to happen in the house we’re in bc of space issues. Maybe a greenhouse? 

To meet Goal #5 –

Order hive and bee nuc. Get registered with state as a licensed apiary. Order books about how to keep bees. Get over fear of stinging insects. :)

What a year!

I've always been terrible at keeping up on writing. I was a terrible penpal. And now I'm a terrible blogger. I do have a good reason though - I'm BUSY! Hard to believe it's been nearly a year since I updated this blog. Ouch. My bad. It's been a very, very busy year.

Family News:

The babies are getting huge. Everyone is walking, semi-talking and getting into everything. My big baby is nearly fully potty trained, which is a huge accomplishment. She's very proud of herself and I think we're all relieved that she is no longer in diapers (she was getting a bit big for diapies...). Hubby is staying really, really ridiculously busy with the business and he's been great at keeping up with everything. It's looking like next year will be busier than this year as far as bookings go, so I don't know how that's going to go. This year was already extraordinarily busy, so I'll just have to become wonder woman on steroids to keep up with it all.

Oh, and the big news -

I'm pregnant again. And...IT'S A BOY!

Yup. Prego. With child. The first 4 months sucked big time. I was sicker than a dog. Not so much throwing up, but nausea. I think never-ending nausea is exponentially worse than throwing up all day. It finally subsided and since then I've felt pretty good, although I'm the size of a small planet already and losing stamina fast. I'm only 22 weeks. Yikes.

Let's see...

Farm News:

Not a whole lot is going on now, being colder than hell outside does that. We have about 8 inches of blanketed snow on the ground, icicles in abundance and temps dipping down into the negatives (or near negatives) at night routinely. It's supposed to get warmer this week, only to dip down into the single digits again at night. So, that means ICE. And a lot of it. I'd rather have snow. At least it stays warmer. I haven't been able to get a whole lot done this year because of babies and prengnacy, so things are a little helter skelter out there. We did manage to get a few garden things done, but it was not very productive. I  planted some tomato plants, squash, herbs, etc. but most of them died in the heat because our secondary water was very hard to access (and was very limited) this year. Sprinkler system died. All 0.84 acres of our property had to be hand watered with a sprinkler or hose and had time limits. It was miserable. Next year, we're trying something different and starting earlier!

Cow News:

We sold the cow. I still miss her, but it was for the best. Selling her was a chore, but she finally went to a family who planned to use her as a dairy cow and picked her up quickly. She's probably very pregnant right now and hopefully living high on alfalfa.

Out of everyone in the house, we have at least 3 kids who are a little dairy intolerant. They drink milk, but get upset tummies from it or constipated if they drink/eat too much of it. So far we've had success with sheep's milk and goat milk, but cow milk and products (specifically cheese and butter) not so much.

Chicken News:

Over the summer we lost 1 chicken. Not quite sure how, as we found her literally belly up without a mark on her. The theory is she was scared to death. She was otherwise a big, healthy Brahma chicken who was one of my better layers. Bummer. I had a close encounter with a skunk in the coop. One night I went out to close them up and there was a skunk hovering over the uncollected eggs. Scared the hell outta me. And the skunk! Since then we've been much, much better about collecting eggs and closing everyone in early. We had a skunk kill one of our birds the summer before, but didn't think we still had so many around. Guess we were wrong.

We were down to 9 chickens this year, including the rooster and I had plans to buy more chicks in the spring to bring our numbers back up to around 15 or so. However, our neighbor across the street came over the other day asking if we'd like to take her chickens. Her and her husband were moving to Rock Springs, WY and SLC, UT, respectively (I think they're divorcing, but I didn't ask) and they needed them gone in a hurry. I came over to look at them and decided to take them. They were so happy we took them that they even paid for a bag of feed and gave us some nest boxes. Score! They're younger birds, probably around a year or so, 6 hens and 3 roosters. One of the hens is terribly skinny, but bright eyed and otherwise healthy. She seems to be eating well and everything, so I think she was just not getting enough food. The flock of birds included: 2 RIR hens, 2 beautiful big Buff Orpington hens, 1 skinny partridge colored hen and 1 black/white speckled hen (a common breed, but I can't remember it right now). Of the roosters, we have a huge Buff Orpington boy I named Henry; a black and white speckled roo (handsome boy!), completely chill rooster I've named Wickham; and a cute, tiny little bantam Amerucana I've named Napoleon. Two of the roosters have frostbitten combs, which is pretty common in the area when we get a cold snap fast. The neighbors didn't put the heat lamp in the coop in time to prevent it, so we're treating one rooster for it. It got very, very cold here really fast so it took everyone by surprise. I'm hoping his comb will survive the winter, but we'll see. The frostbite wasn't terribly bad, so there's a chance it'll be ok. So, now we're up to 14 hens and 4 roosters. The Buff hens tend to be broody, so maybe we'll get some chicks in the spring!

Sheep News:

We still have the sheep. I was planning on sending them to freezer camp, but decided to keep them around solely as grass eaters, at least until we can get the fences fixed. The plan right now is to get milk goats, but we can't do that until our fencing situation is fixed. The cow did a serious number on our already flimsy fences. The sheep are very, very easy to keep penned (they don't challenge fences AT ALL), so it's not a problem. They eat the grass and I don't have to mow it. They don't eat a ton of food or require much in the way of maintenance. Hard to justify butchering them when they are providing me a service. :)

Other News:

Also there's a slight problem of a big, gigantic freeway that the state is planning to build way too close for comfort. So, depending on what is decided on that, we may be moving sooner than we had planned.  Though it won't be going through our house, like they had initially planned, it will be going in 5 houses down and we may possibly have an on/off ramp literally right next to our house. The traffic on this little country road is already too heavy/fast for comfort, and adding another big road onto it will only increase the traffic. If that happens, we're definitely gone. The environmental studies are being held up right now by the Dept of Interior because of  environmentalist concerns over migratory birds (THANK YOU ENVIRONMENTALISTS!), so it may delay the road going in indefinitely. Though, there was a similar thing that happened on the Legacy Highway here and it just delayed the road by about 10 years. Bummer. I do like my little home and land. Having something like this happen puts a serious damper on any long term plans I may have for this place. I guess only time will tell.

Ok, that's all the highlights! Merry Christmas!

-Nat

So here's the story...

Things have been crazy over the past few months. So much has happened I don't know where to begin. For one, the hubby has been crazy busy. Like 16-18 hour workday busy. And what happens when the hubby is away? The kids know. They can almost smell the moment that he walks out the door and...then all hell breaks loose. So mommy here has been going mildly insane and losing all of what's left of her hearing. Nothing big. Who needs to hear? I'll be thankful for this partial hearing loss when they're all toddlers. :)

Our hens decided to stop laying and went through a mini-moult. We couldn't figure out what was going on until one day the yard looked like a chicken exploded. Feathers EVERYWHERE! Since they had just started laying it made absolutely NO SENSE that they started a moult...I mean, come on, they were only BARELY 5 months old. Then, one night, I noticed we were one hen short. My favorite hen, to boot. The only Rhode Island Red who followed me around the yard and had a very lop-sided crop. The ONLY hen that was still consistently laying one egg a day. I noticed the rooster acting funny and all of the hens lingering around the coop after sunset - they never do that. Ever. They usually march into the coop one-by-one, settle in and it's lights out. So, when I saw that I had to investigate. After a head count I noticed who was missing and went looking. I found something I didn't want to - my poor girl drug into the middle of our pasture and literally eaten to the bone by some wild animal. I was sick to my stomach. My poor girl. Turns out skunks are more deadly (and prolific in this area) than we realized. The poor girls were scared into a moult. :( We have since moved them into a more secure spot, given them lots of TLC and extra lighting and we're now getting eggs again. And when I say eggs, I mean super JUMBO sized beauties. These babies are almost too big to fit in our egg cartons. I'm in egg heaven again. And they are spared the stew pot (when we didn't know what was going on we..or I had...contemplated making them dinner), at least for now.

The cow is being a stinker. I didn't ever understand why you'd see old TV shows where they nicknamed their cows "Bossy". I finally understand it. This cow has more gumption than any animal I've ever known. When Honey cow wants something, she gets it. If you're outside, you better watch it. If she's in heat, you're likely to get mounted. If she wants a scratch, you better not be otherwise occupied. She wants what she wants, and she wants it right NOW. Good grief.

She has taken to breaking into the hay room and helping herself. The other night I opened up the barn only to find her staring me down, followed by an enormous belch. Well, hello to you too...sheesh. Cows. I'm not complaining. I love the darn bovine to bits. I didn't think I'd love cows more than sheep. I always envisioned myself as a quiet, docile sheep person. The soft 'baaaing' was endearing, afterall. Who wouldn't love it? And the thought of lamb chops on the table regularly was also quite motivating too...But cows are just, well, addictive. Once you have a good one, you start thinking about getting another one. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we don't have enough land or $$$ to support another one on our small property, so we'll be a one cow farm. Maybe one day when we're moved onto 10+ acres in the boonies I can have my herd of ol' bossies, but for now she'll do.

The sheep are still...sheep. They're more like little ghosts. You don't really know they're there unless they sneak up on you. They are remarkably easy keepers because of their size and don't seem to get phased by much, including the cold, snowy weather we're having. As long as they have a dry place and some hay, they're happy. And they don't even need that much hay. Seriously, they are the perfect homestead animal. Now, if we could catch them they'd be even more perfect, but I'm not gonna get carried away here...

Hen fruit x 3!

Over the past week we've been getting more eggs! Our hens are starting to lay more and more, which is, as you know, completely and utterly fan-freekin'-tastic! Now both of our AustraWhites are laying everyday, one egg a day. One of our brown egg layers has been laying one nice, rosy brown egg a day and today...one more started laying! Whoever it was, I feel sorry for her. The egg was HUGE! OUCH! It had been broken by one of the hens stepping on it (it was in the middle of the coop floor, so understandable) and had a double yolk. Not something you see everyday! I'm thinking it is probably one of our partridge Brahma girls, but it may take some stakeout time to figure out exactly who is laying what. I'll keep ya posted. This is exciting!

My girls haven't let me down!

Lately, I've had the feeling these hens were holding out on me. I was nearly convinced they were stashing their eggs away in some secret nest and one day I'd find about 100 of them in some cubby-hole somewhere. Today I even reorganized our catch-all goat shed in hopes that I'd find something. The shed now looks 100% better, and I even discovered we have goat hay mangers & a couple of tiki torches stashed in there...but, alas, no eggs. The entire time those nosy hens were nonchalantly watching me, while casually scratching away at the ground 5 feet away. I thought I was onto something. One of our Rhode Island Red hens was looking very guilty yesterday when I walked by and saw her on the wood pile. Turns out, my paranoia was unjustified. Two more of our hens started laying today in the cow manger. When I went out to collect one egg I was surprised with 2 more - one brown speckled and one dove brown egg. Aren't they glorious?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Our hens would say it's the latter. Our Rooster, Mr. Roo (creative, I know), says it's downright awesome. A barnyard full of single ladies, and they're all his! My poor girls. He won't leave them alone. It's all crowing, chest beating (if he had a chest to beat, I'm certain he would, in a heartbeat) and mounting our hens. He's downright mean about it sometimes. Our hens will be missing their back feathers after a few months of this. Geesh. He is quite good at keeping the hens all within his line-of-sight. He is doing his job with keeping them in line and safe quite well. He escorts them into the coop at night, too. His vigilance actually came in handy the other day when a gigantic barn owl decided she wanted chicken dinner. No chickens were lost, and all were safely rounded up and escorted into their coop for the night. At least we'll get chicks out of it in the spring, but seriously. Our yard is now a chicken sex den. I guess it could be worse.

Hen fruit!

One of our hens FINALLY started laying - one of our AustraWhite girls. I was starting to get worried. We don't check the inside of their coop more than a couple of times a week, mostly just to check their big food trough. They are out from the morning when we open the coop, to dusk when the rooster shoos them all in for the night. The entire day they're roaming around our property eating bugs, seeds 'n grass to their little clucking delights! So, one night I opened the their coop to do a head-count, and WOWIE! 2 eggs sitting neatly on the floor bedding. The next day, nothing. She changed where she wanted to lay her eggs. I guess that's one of the downsides of having pastured, free-range hens. For over a week I looked and looked, only to find her hunkered down in the cow's manger, of all places. 8 eggs in her little straw nest! All of them were still good (there's a simple way of checking them that involves the egg, a cup of water and seeing whether it floats/doesn't float). She lays one egg a day and man...they are delicious! I feel rich eating these eggs. The yolks are so golden that it's almost a burnt golden orange color, instead of the supermarket yellow yolks. Definitely worth the wait! Now we're just waiting on our other hens to start laying! I saw one of the black star hens staking out a nest box today, so I'm thinkin' she's getting ready to start laying any day now. We really need all of them to get started on the laying...we go through A LOT of eggs here in our house. At least 3-6 a day. Come on girls, momma wants a quiche!

On a rainy day...

...the sheep and chickens play!

A girl's castle is her coop

You'd think that finding a chicken coop on a budget for a dozen birds would be an easy thing, right? Yeah, that's what I thought...until I started looking. I think I've missed a calling as  a builder of custom chicken coops.We're talkin' $400 for a small coop that'd fit half a dozen hens, and that's for a no-frills, bargain basement, economy model coop at the local feed store. The kind that we need (a 4X8 sized coop) runs anywhere from $1200 to $2000! And man oh man, these coops are pretty sweet.  They look like something that'd be sitting on Martha Stewart's lawn, with chicken sweater wearing diapered hens gracing the nest boxes and runs - basically nothing that has any business anywhere outside of a HOA neighborhood near actual livestock. Call me crazy, but I just have a problem spending a small fortune on something that will quickly be covered in feathers, bedding and poop in a few days. It just seems like a waste. So, since we have some pullets that seriously need to get out of my laundry room and eating some bugs, my hubby and I found a suitable, quick and easy to clean alternative at the local warehouse store - a vented garden shed - that we'll be retrofitting for the girls this week. Since neither of us has skill with a hammer, nor a fearlessness around power tools (yet), any latent carpentry gene will remain untapped for now. We don't have a whole lot of free time to learn how to build something at this point,  so something pre-made and just needing a lil' bit of retrofitting is our best bet!

 The requirements for our girls at this point is pretty simple - a place for food that's easy for them to get to, but out of reach for potential pests (i.e. rodents, skunks, or bigger critters attracted to the feed, but later more interested in THEM as dinner), a water source that's fresh and easily accessible, a roof over their heads and secure from predators day & night, a roost to sleep on and a sheltered run for them to peck around during the daytime. Once they're bigger we'll be letting them free-range, but since they're prime McMeals at this point for foxes, coyotes and hawks, they're better off in a run!

Meet the girls!

Here at Saudafell we have a few new residents...12 to be exact. Meet the girls! This is the look chickens give when thinking: 'What in the &*%!$ is THAT?!'. Yeah, they weren't too enthused about having a big silver camera stuck in their cage.

We have 2 Austra Whites, 2 Buff Brahmas, 1 Light Brahma, 1 Black Langshan, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 Delaware and 2 Black Sex Link (aka Black Star) chicks.

The Brahmas, Langshan, Orpingtons and Delaware are heirloom breeds that have 'threatened' and 'watch' status according to the ALBC - American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. With fewer people raising these wonderful birds on family farms, and with the introduction of production breeds in commercial chicken operations, many of these old-timey chicken breeds are in danger of extinction. Yes, extinction. Crazy, huh? If the work of countless numbers of old farmers in developing these breeds is lost, we're facing a bigger problem as human beings on this planet. The genetics these birds bring with them were developed through methodical selection for various factors over long periods of time (sometimes hundreds of years) including hardiness in heat/cold, laying ability, activity in foraging, calmness and even ability to resist frost bite. Just like the threat of monocultures in modern agriculture, the threat of bottlenecking genetics in animal species is also clear and present. We are happy to do our part in keeping these breeds around and thriving on our little piece of the world, and look forward to lots of eggs this summer! And quiche...and custard...and omelets..and..well,you get the idea. As you can tell, I'm pretty excited about the food part of their contributions!