Frosty, Cold Morning on the Farm...

Cold morning

Well, now that it's November, I guess I need to get a new mindset.  It WILL be cold when I do chores in the morning, afternoon and evening.  I WILL need to wear gloves so my fingers don't freeze off, and a winter coat is a must!  I cannot be late anymore to the barn, because this time of year, our grass fed animals need to have some hay too....   And if they don't get their adequate amount of hay, they MAY just escape on you.  I found THAT out on Thursday morning with our cows! 

Frost on the Grass

But there is still so much going on, on our farm right now! 

First, you may remember I told you last Thursday I went about 2 1/2 hours away and got a new ram Jacob!  Well, here he is!  Calvin!

Calvin

He is a very pretty boy, he is still very scared.  But I think he is getting more used to me and my incessant talking and hanging over his gate, trying to be friends!  :)  Yesterday, we moved our little female, Myst, in with him.  It was love at first site for him, but for her, I still think she needs to get to know him more... maybe a ring on her finger  hoof.

Speaking of which, we also moved the other 2 female Jacobs in with our other ram.  It is that time of year!  And this is our FIRST time of putting together pairs to breed.  So we are totally hoping nature takes it's course.  Because we would LOVE to have some pretty little Jacob babies in March/ April! 

Our 2 females moved in with our male Jacob

We also moved out little broiler chicks outside again, just in time for the frost!  We moved them into a little hut that we had out for the animals in one pasture that never got used.  We lined it with straw and some pine shavings, and got a heat lamp.  They are getting so large, so fast that they needed more room than I could give them in our basement!  They seemed to be pretty warm when I went down at 8 am this morning, and there was one under the lamp but the rest were away from it a bit, and they seemed pretty warm in there.  I am going to keep sprinkling it with the pine shavings so they keep nice and toasty.

Our baby broilers in their new outside home.

Cows peeking into the broiler chicks home, trying to figure out how they can get that grain!

This week (or maybe the coming weekend) we are going to be getting our 3 female goats back.  SO we should be expecting babies from them in February or March!  We will also be getting more additions to our farm this week!  I will tell you all about that tomorrow!  Until then, have a beautiful day, and stay warm!

Sunrise this morning

Beautiful Fall Morning...

This morning was absolutely beautiful.  As the past few have been...  Fall is truly beautiful.

I enjoy going to the barn in the mornings, less in the deep Winter snow, more in the warm months.  Today was no exception.

Most mornings are the same, I have a welcome crew who walk me down to the barn, all the while telling me about their need for breakfast...  It really IS the sweetest thing.  Maybe some morning soon, I will video it.

This morning was a busy morning already, and as I am stepping into the chicken coop, I noticed I hadn't slipped on my boots, but was wearing my cute shoes...  Oh well, not the first time, definitely not the last.

Broiler chicks seem to be doing alright, I think we have a few that aren't doing well though, which is to be expected.  I just hope we don't have too many that way.  We moved them outside in the brooder on Sunday, and they have been keeping toasty in there!

Being Fall, the grasses are dying off and we are having to start give some hay to our cows, sheep and goats.  We are trying to keep them as "grass-fed" so hay will be their food through the Winter, into the Spring.  They seem to be getting bigger and we DID figure their weight the other day, and on average they have been gaining 2 pounds a day, all on pasture!

Well, time to keep moving on the day!  Hope yours is beautiful too!

Fall is Settling In...

Though I wasn't ready for a DROP in temps like has happened here in Indiana lately, I DO love the Fall.  We love the changing leaves and apples, apple cider, apple crisp, caramel apples, well pretty much anything apple...  We are also getting ready for a trip "Up North".  You will hear more about that next week! 

It's beginning to look a lot like Fall!

But for now, things have slowed down on the Homestead. 

Sophie munching on some food...

I have stopped milking Sophie.  She wasn't giving a great deal of milk (as the seller had told me) when we purchased her, and her milk continued to decrease to the point where it wasn't worth my time to go out there and milk her daily!  So, after I give her a good "worming" (nothing crazy- just giving her an "organic herb" wormer from Fias Co. Farm and Molly's Herbals.), hopefully she will be ready to breed!  Then end of February beginning of March we should have our first batch of babies on the Farm!  :)  Don't worry, we have a nice warm place to be at that time!  :)

Speaking of goats,we will be not only taking Sophie to be bred in the next week, but also having our new goat (maybe 2!) bred as well.  The new goat's name is Iris, and we were going to go and pick her up but figured since we have to take her back in a few weeks, we should just leave her there and have her bred early...  And my son also might be purchasing a goat to breed for 4H...  I will let you know!  :)

Here are the boys!  Goats and sheep!

 We have been having a time with our layers...  trying to get them to lay eggs.  But I think I found a pretty good recipe for them to try out...  I will let you know if it works!  It is INSTEAD of the commercial bags of feed...

Waiting to bust out!

Chow time!

 Our bulls are getting bigger!  So far as I can tell anyways...  Looking to butcher them sometime next year!

It's tough being a bull...

 We will be looking to breed our little Jacob ladies in mid-October!  So we could expect babies from them any where from the end of March to beginning of April!  Can't wait!  These guys are the CUTEST when they are born!  We also got them a new little "hut" (as well as the boys, in their pasture).  So far they just haven't figured out what it's for!  They may just think that is where I drop off treats for them!  :)

Our little Charlotte born this Spring.

Our female Jacobs and their new home...

Puck... he's a big boy!

 Like I said the seasons are changing quickly around here, and before we know it, it's gonna do the "S" word.... (snow) I'm NOT ready for THAT!

Changing colors!

Pond is still dry..

 Ah, hot apple cider while I "work"... 

What's happening on YOUR homestead?

Winds of Change...

Right now, we are in the beginning stages of harvesting from our garden, and already I am thinking about all of the things that I am going to change for the next year! Improvements and such...

And I am not just having those thoughts about the garden. I am having those thoughts about goats, chickens, sheep- OH! The many possibilities!

First of all, I am a stay-at-home wife and mother. I LOVE it. Though I don't get to sit in front of the television all day (no channels!) and eat bon-bons (can't afford it!), I do keep busy and I love everything that I do. Seriously. (Summer break IS a test for me, BUT most days are just peachy)

Second, being a stay-at-home, I have given myself the responsibility to help save more of my hubby's hard earned paycheck. Being a one income family isn't easy, and it CERTAINLY isn't the norm. But we manage, heck, we do pretty good. My grocery bills stay below $70 each week (this week it was below $50!), for a family of 6. I do a lot to make sure we eat healthy, AND that it doesn't break the bank. BUT we also have a farm, and our animals cost about the same as WE do each week.

So, in staying home, I have been trying to figure out how I can help by using my "skills" as a farmer...

After reading the book "You Can Farm" by Joel Salatin, I am pumped up... :) It is putting wings to the ideas that float around in my brain. And with many discussions between the hubby and I, we think the way for me to be able to help...

So here are the changes I am making next year!

• Bigger Garden- This year our rows are all crowded together and hard to get down with everything being all big and green. I am going to AT LEAST double my garden size, so I can have wider rows, AND plant more produce.
• BIGGER Garden- (did I already say that?) Besides wanting to plant more for ourselves, part of making a LITTLE more money is to sell our organic and heirloom produce. This isn't going to be a HUGE income, but it will still help!
• More Layer Chickens- Another way to make income is to sell natural, free-ranged eggs. We are able to sell them to people we know, and can't keep them around for long at all, so now we need more chickens! The plan is to keep at least 40 layers going all the time...
• Raise Meat Chickens- We just started to do this, this year, and the meat is wonderful. These are also natural, free-range chickens. Right now, our chickens are going on 2 weeks PAST their "Expiration date" and they are walking around with no problems at all. PLUS, I had never read the these meat chickens would like to scratch around, and pick at bugs, but ours are! It's amazing how when given what nature calls for, these animals have instincts we never thought they would have! These meat chicken, down the road, may also be something that we offer along with eggs and produce.
• Dairy Goats- GET MORE GOATS! Right now, I am addicted. I am addicted to the fact the I can go to the barn and get milk! FRESH, SUPER HEALTHY milk!!! Our plan is probably get at least 2 more goats for next year. I don't want to buy milk from the store. I want to make soap (which COULD be another income). I want to make cheese. And ice cream. And all of it could come from our pasture raised goats. LOVE. IT.
• Turkeys- This is one thing I have wanted to raise for the past 2 years. This year, I do have ONE turkey, but I would LOVE to raise some heritage breeds that can reproduce so I can have a bunch of them! I love turkeys!
• Cattle- We have 2 right now, one for us and one for our sis-in-law and her family. This was a "test year" to see if we would kill them or if they would actually grow and thrive. So far, so good! We've learned lots, and will be butchering either this Fall or next, but that means next year we will be getting MORE! We are grass-feeding them, and they have been so awesome to have around. I really am going to enjoy not having to buy the crappy meat at the grocery store! This could also be somewhat of an income for us also, MAYBE, eventually...
• Jacob Sheep- We hope to continue to build our flock of heritage breed sheep. Next year, maybe I will take the wool in to have yarn made! It is so beautiful! I can't wait! This will hopefully be another income for us, selling sheep and MAYBE the wool...
• Bees- Geez... At least help them to live so I can get some honey! Maybe one day sell it. AFTER I get MY share! :)
  

Oh gosh... that probably isn't it. In fact, I'm sure that isn't it. I have WAY more ideas than that! But for now, that is our thoughts for our farm! I think I am going to become a "full-time farmer"! :) That makes me laugh. NEVER would I have saw myself doing the thing I am doing today....

But I LOVE it...

How about you? What changes are YOU looking to make for next year??? I want to hear!

Cows & Chickens- Organic Farming!

Every since we got our beef cows, I was excited about the possibilities of these being completely grass-fed, and NEARLY organic.

But during the summer, what do you do with flies???

Hubby actually bought some chemical stuff to spray on them, but then we read Apple Cider Vinegar might work. So we tried it, and I can still say it MIGHT work, can't really tell a huge difference though.

I tell you what works, and we found this on accident:


Chickens!

Click on any of these pics and look at the chickens eating the flies right off the faces of the cows! Not only beneficial for the cows but also for the chickens!


It's amazing how nature works when you let it!

Keeping Track of All Things FARM...

I told you last week about how I have started this year to keep track of our produce from the garden. I also started at the beginning of this year to keep track of everything going on here on our little farm.

It may seem a little silly to some, and some of you just may not care to even do such a thing. But I have found it VERY helpful so far, and I have a feeling I will be glad in the years to come, that I was keeping track of everything- from food we are feeding each animal to what they have produced (eggs, milk, etc), and how much. I keep track of everything in my Farm Notebook.

Here is a 10 minute video walking you through my Farm Notebook:







I have so far been able to look back at when we got our bees, when we got our 2 female goats, the actual production of eggs, and much more. I have used this for a reference quite often. And I am sure I will be glad to have it for years to come.

One thing I have added since I made this video last week, is a Canning Page under Gardening. I picked some strawberries from a U-Pick Farm, and I canned some Strawberry Jam, and now I can add how much I picked, how much it cost me, and how much I was able to can from that.

I am not a hyper-organized person, but I could see the need for this in the future. If you see the need, start with a simple 1 subject notebook. That's how I started. Then as I got too many pages I expanded.

If any of you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments. Do any of you do something like this? How has it worked for you? DO you think you would LIKE to try something like this?

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Parts of Farm Life

Living on a small farm with a bunch of animals can be an animal lover's dream. That's me, the animal lover who, is learning there is much more than a happy life on a farm. As happy and healthy as you try to keep your animals, there is always nature taking it's course.

Don't worry, this isn't going to be a TOTAL downer post. I promise!

On Friday, I went to the barn and found 4 turkeys missing. Don't know what happened to them. Just gone.

This morning, my son goes down to the barn and finds one of the turkeys on it's back and still chirping. So I went down, and without being able to see real well in the morning light, I helped him back to his feed and figured he got chilled overnight (he was wet from his water). I got out the heat lamp, and found out what the REAL problem was. One of our cats, Peter the Great, crawled under the chicken wire and started to make little turkey his lunch. Now the little thing is missing his wings and in shock. I don't think he will make it.

I hate the uncontrollable parts of farm life. But you have to take the good with the bad, I guess. And you just have to learn, it's GOING TO happen. Nature will do it's thing, whether you want it to or not.

Now that we have the bad AND the ugly out of the way, now the good. We have cows! We went yesterday, and got us 2 big cows. Now these bulls will be dinner. Their names are Chuck and Porter. (Gaff's- You can choose which cow- Porter or Chuck- that you like!) And this is our first time at raising cows!

Here they are in the morning on the homestead:


Click on the pic above and you can see Porter is white faced, Chuck has brown and white on his face. Here is Porter:

They are, for now, sharing a field with Puck our male Jacob sheep. Puck isn't too sure, but I have actually seen the cows chase after him a few times when he got too close. We will move them from this field of dandelions soon, and then they will have a field of luscious grass. Little at a time. For now, we can be happy in the fact that we have veggies growing in the garden, eggs in the coop, and meat in the field.

Thank you God, for your blessings!

This crazy farm tale isn't over. We will daily have interesting, new things going on, good, bad AND ugly. We will just praise God for all of the experiences and learning, and pray we get better at all of this. Well, got to go for now, I see a cat in my house (barn cat!) and hear the baby goat at the back door crying for some attention. I need to get some clothes hung out before it starts to rain again this afternoon, and fight of the pain of this sunburn on my back and get back out there and mow.

Nature controls a lot with farm life. Rain, sunshine, predator, prey... I just hope we can keep up! :)