So much going on around our place. I can't really call it a farm because we are only on one acre. So that would be a joke. Truly. But we do what we can on our property.
We currently have 22 hens. I purchased them through the mail for the first time ever and it has been a great experience so far. They were hatched on Feb 5th and shipped to us from Ideal hatchery. These seem like some of the nicest most friendly hens I've had. We ordered 10 Red sex link and 10 Rhode Island Reds. They sent us that and 1 additional of each breed. So we have 22. They all seem to be hens, but sometimes its hard to see a rooster until later (or until they start to crow) due to the large size of the flock.
We started them in our small greenhouse and after they had feathered out (and we couldn't stand the stink anymore) we put them outside with a light for heat. The have done well. They are growing at a surprising rate and we look forward to eggs around July.
I am trying something new this time around. We are trying chicken nipples. What are chicken nipples you ask? Well they are these neat doohickies that you put on the end of a bottle or other contraption that allow the chickens to drink. Almost like a baby nipple. Thus the strange name. The nice thing about these is that instead of an open bucket or waterer that chickens just love to poop in (and occasionally jump into if you are trying to catch them) these are closed, so the chickens get clean water instead of poopy waterers that are nearly impossible to keep clean. Right now, I'm using them on the end of a water bottle I've strapped onto the side of my coop. I will be going bigger with that, but since a redesign of the chicken coop will be happening soon, I am waiting.
They look like this
http://www.thegardencoop.com/images/chicken-drinking-waterer.jpg
Its the time of year to get cows if you are the kind who does that. In the past we have purchased them from a (somewhat) local auction. That was really hit or miss though. You would see the cows for a few minutes and then decide if they were what you wanted and bid and then pick them up in a few hours if you won your bid. The problem with this is that the cows are highly stressed. They are in a small arena and are highly uncomfortable. They tend not to act like themselves. That is how we ended up with crazy cows the past few years. Those cows got out a lot last year and one time we even had them get out in the middle of the night and had to spend the whole next day tracking them and thankfully found them (but that is a whole other story).
My husband has a buddy at work who raises way more cows than we do at a time (like 15-20) and then sells the beef when its slaughter time. People do this because unlike the stuff you buy at the supermarket, this stuff doesn't have all of that hormones or whatnot in it. This guy can tell you what shots (if any) he has given to the cows. He can tell you what he's been feeding the cows and where he got the feed. And I'm sure if he needed to, he could find out if that feed had been sprayed with anything, and what.
So, this buddy was nice enough to introduce us to his father. His father gets young cows in the summer/fall and feeds them all winter (which most people don't want to do, its a lot of work) and sells them for a profit in the spring.
He was willing to sell us 2 cows at the same price as what he would get at the auction. The benefit to us is that we were able to visit his place and choose the cows. My husband's buddy went with us and pointed out a few likely cows that he thought would get along well on our smaller property.
What we ended up with are 2 very nice cows. Almost to nice. One cow must have been a bottle baby (its mom wouldn't feed it or couldn't feed it and the cow was raised on a bottle with formula). It likes to have its ears scratched and in the beginning would come over and nudge you with its head to get you to scratch its ears. sounds fun right? Well, how would you like a cows slobbery nose on you? This has slowed down as the cow has gotten used to us. Now it will let you come close and scratch its nose, but it doesn't typically bother you. This could be because we opened up the larger pasture and now it has more space to roam, I don't know.
The other cow is nice enough. It doesn't like to get close. Even my 3 year old can scare it by walking more than 30 feet away. But the nice cow seems to be a calm influence and so far everyone is happy with no escapes.
We named them Bubba and Stinky. We usually go with names like T-bone and Hamburger (Hammy). This year we may have gone with names that are to pet-like. We'll see. We will have them until about Fall of 2015.
The garden is going well. My husband is doing a complete remodel that he started last year. It involves cinderblocks and a gated pipe. We are very excited to have it finished in the next few weeks. I'll have to put up pictures when it finally is done.
The greenhouse is full of all sorts of flowers and vegetables. they are all doing well. A few haven't come up yet, but I haven't given up hope.
We bought 2 bare root grape vines yesterday. We will be planting them in a few weeks. right now they are in a pot of dirt getting watered with the greenhouse.
I did something, unusual the other day. I bought 1,500 Quinalt strawberry plants. Yep 1,500. I plan on selling most and then planting the rest. We love strawberries at our house. They are supposed to arrive next week.
The nectarine tree will be blossoming soon, and it looks like the apricot trees have frozen yet again. I haven't checked on the peach tree yet this year...
The cherry tree that we planted last year looks good. I don't know if we will have a crop this year, but hopefully it will have enough blossoms that the older cherry tree will have a crop.
The adventure with the Honey Crisp apple trees is ongoing. We started out with 2 about 5 years ago. Got a crop 2 years later (small) and then lost one of the trees to a bore. We replaced the tree. Last year we lost the other tree to fire blight. We bought 2 trees this year (in hopes of ensuring an eventual crop) and planted those. We now have 3 trees. Here's hoping to a crop in a year or so!!
We are busy!
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