So you're thinking of adding a goat to your farm or homestead, awesome! They are wonderful animals, with a lot to offer a small or large homestead. Before jumping in and bringing home your new goat, consider the following 10 facts we discovered in our first season of having goats on the homestead. 1. Goats are picky eaters. On T.V … [Read more...]
How We Trained Our Goats
This past spring I was on our local buy/sell site and saw an ad for two Nubian does. Without much forethought I replied to the ad, made an appointment to go and see them and came home the proud new owner of two goats. To say we were unprepared is an understatement, but the price was right and I've always wanted goats. Thankfully we live very … [Read more...]
Sharing a Garden – Part 2
Next, we are visiting my sister Lori's garden. Lori and I live very close (within walking distance) and we plan and plant our gardens together. Because Lori doesn't have a large area to plant in her yard we usually plant a large crop of potatoes, along with the vegetables that her family eats daily. Visiting Lori's farm is truly a unique … [Read more...]
Around the Homestead
New and exciting things are happening on the homestead. Last week was busy and we are still catching up from the few days that we were away (more on that in a future post). We have another set of eggs in the incubator, we are hoping for a better hatch rate this time around. Leighton finished the chicken tractor, it is awesome and already has … [Read more...]
Weekend Projects
Happy 4th of July to all of our American readers, we hope you are enjoying this beautiful day! We are busy this weekend working on getting some of our started projects done. Leighton is working on both the chicken tractor and the watering system in the duck/chicken pen. Here is a sneak peek of what he's been doing so … [Read more...]
More Ducklings on the Way
After waiting a few months, my ducks showed no signs of going broody. We ended up hatching ducklings using the incubator because I had given up on my Momma ducks. I went out the other morning and found three of my ducks had made nests and were sitting. They get very upset if I get close. This duck is all puffed up and she will … [Read more...]
Ducks in the Bathtub
This week has been busy and I haven't had a chance to write as much as I'd like, but life has been happening. We have been busy with commitments off the homestead, so our garden is in desperate need of some weeding, I hope to get to it this week. Everything is coming up well and we have spinach, chard, radishes and herbs ready to eat. The … [Read more...]
Mean Mother Hen
As of yesterday, one of our Dorking hens has decided to abandon her chicks. Her chicks aren't day old's that will not survive without her, they are more than a few weeks old. We have seen that they have slowly been wandering farther and farther from her during the day. It was still shocking to see yesterday that she wanted nothing to do with … [Read more...]
How We Used DE to Get Rid of Mites and Lice – Plus Giveaway
Recently I was examining one of our new chicks and noticed some bugs crawling under her wing. After taking a closer look I realized that she was infested with mites. Since we have never had mites or lice in our coop before I quickly did an online search for some natural remedies. The most common response to treating lice and mites naturally in a … [Read more...]
Project Update
We've been busy this week trying to get everything done that we had started over the past few weeks. The last roll of fence finally came in, so Leighton and I have been working on getting the last of the chicken/duck run enclosed. Just in time, we've seen raccoon tracks around. We do close them in at night, but one year we … [Read more...]