Just like with Murphys law when you plan something it does not always happen the way you want it to... or so I have learned. We had hoped to have the new coop up soon but with things being so busy and funds not always able to be there sometimes we have to wait. So I had to come up with a temporary solution for about 30+ birds  who were running out of room very quickly in the broader boxes. So yesterday I rolled up my sleeves and built a small shelter outside my coop for them. Now one good thing is the fact that it is summer so it is warm enough for them. My only concern is the rain , they do have some protection but depending on how they are in a few days I will either add sides, keep it the same, or male just a few minor fixes. But over all I am happy with it, for younger birds at least. More projects and pictures to come!!

Pictures of our goats :)

Once I had one I fell in love!!

Goat barn extention

So on the farm we have our two does that are now due any day. We had plans to put up a new separate in closure for the girls but with the weather and one thing after another we were delayed. Luckily I was able to get the help from my fiance and we are on our way to making the new section and  I am in hopes it won't take to long but at least with the basic frame up we are on a good start. I will be sure to post more pictures when we are done. I am in hopes the girls pen will be about a 8x14 and there pasture of corse but what idea I have in my head and the end product are usually close but different in some way so we will see what happens!!

This year's projects 2016

Things have been very crazy the past few weeks. Between battling the continuous changing weather I ended up in the hospital sick for a few days. It set me back some but I still have so much to work on before summer is creeping around the corner.

Aside from all the chicken stuff we have planned, the new coop, a new garden this year, and fixing the goat area. I have my hands full to say the least. But the key thing is to figure out what is our priorities and what can wait. To be honest everything is all falling on the same time line. But I think putting our heads together we can figure out the best plan to have a successful year.

On my list for this summer of what I need completed are

Gardening boxes
New coop (big big job)
Redesign horse and goat area
Prepare for kids this spring
Make room for new birds
Excavate kennels
Keeping fingers crossed on starting our underground green house
As well as a few other small jobs!!!

Most of the supply I have been collecting over the past few months. Some I am still saving for little by little. But my goal is that all the waiting the past two years will start to pay off this year. I hope :-)

More projects more pictures to come. Any questions or comments feel free to ask. HAPPY SPRING!!

Merphys law on the farm

Around this time of year I have learned that I should expect everything to go wrong. Water building up where you don't want it. The water lines freezing and unfreezing because of crazy weather changes. And mud so much mud. I believe that when working on a farm you need to expect everything to go wrong and do your best to be prepared for anything that could happen. Not being prepared can cause you to not only fall behind but in some cases can become very expensive fixes. Trust me on that one!!

Recently we have run into some problems ourselves and they will cause some issues and major rethinking on the property. 

The barn... We have an old tractor barn we turned into a horse barn which I then turned into a horse/goat barn 😊. I have been making plans to dig out the horses side and to lay down gravel and sand to help with water collection areas on the horses side. Great plan 👍. Until a section of the roof collapsed leaving me with only one bay ... We had the wood everything for me to build up the barn and fix it. Now I weigh two options. The wood that fell is to damaged to put back up so either way the roof would have to be replaced. So the only other option if I don't fix that section would be to fix it to leave the one bay and just build a smaller barn/shed for the girls. Either way in the end it will cost more than originally expected. It's just about figuring out what the best option will be in the end. I will post pictures once we decide.

In my eyes I try to look at everything as "it happens for a reason". Maybe the goats and the horse together would have turned out bad, so it's life's way of pushing me into a different direction, even it if ends up being a little more work. Even the worst catastrophes can bring to light a problem that you didn't even think of. I have said it before water collection is our biggest problem, so it's just a matter of creating drainage fields to help keep the property cleaner and less muddy. 

You can't think of everything but if it could happen expect that it might and try to fix it before the problem ever happens. Chickens hatching early, goats kidding early,

animal dies, what ever the issue try to think of a before hand "what would you do?"

The Farm Is Busy Busy Busy

There has been so much going on with the farm it can be hard at times to keep up. This past month we had ordered our new baby chicks for the new additions, we lost a few during shipping but for the most part they did very well. Since we had lost a few I ordered a few more and the new babies are set to arrive this week. I am excited for the new additions! When I started with chickens I had laying hens off the bat. I have had baby chicks, but only ones that I have hatched myself. But the new chickens will include

Jersey Giants

Black Polish

Bringing back White Leghorns

Columbian Wyandotte

I did order some of the same breeds that I already have to add a few hens to my flocks and add pairs for each breed. If I am lucky I can work towards the new coop by the end of the summer. It is basic but separates the birds so I can monitor breeding better. Ultimately I hope to have all boys and girls where they belong, making hating much easier when it comes to breed identification.

Along with the new expecting babies I usually have some in the incubator and they started hatching yesterday. They were a little early, well I should say one was because according to my counter it should have only been day 19. This can happen, if it absorbs completely and I hadn’t checked it before most likely would have not noticed. It’s not a bad thing, as long as they stay in the incubator until they are ready. It was hatched and walking around but I did notice that its sack was not fully absorbed, most likely due to hatching early. But I am leaving it in the brooder o give it some time and hopefully it will absorb as normal and be able to go in the brooder with the rest. The main thing is to not feed them until the sack is absorbed. Doing so will stop the absorption process there for killing the poor baby. Their best chance is in the incubator.

Lots of things to do so many new hatchlings. We are quickly working our way to plenty of almost layer for people’s homes in the spring. My biggest obstacle right now is the weather, its hot, its cold, its warm, then it’s a blizzard, now today its warm and now it’s raining. All I can say is mud mud and more mud. Building on the goat barn will be put on hold because with part of the roof the snow was not the roofs friend. That’s honestly the way that things can go the first few years when your starting up, things break, more things to build, more things to fix. But it keeps me busy, on my toes, and never lazy. More updates and pictures to come of the new hatch!!

How to select bedding for your coop

 One of the decisions that we have to think of when starting our flock, is what kind of bedding will be the right choice for you. There are many different options from pine chips, straw, leaves, sand, dirt, etc. I honestly feel it depends on how many birds you have, how often you want to clean, and time of the year due to smell. I will go over a few different types I have used, what I have thought, and my advice for you.

Being new to farming, when we started with our coop I used hay. As a city girl that's what I would have associated with bedding for an animal. When we only had the one hen it honestly wasn't that bad and I continued to use hay for a while.... That is till I added more birds. The hay became wet very easily and the smell was almost unbearable at times. I cleaned on a regular basis but keeping up with the smell was the hardest part. So hay in our coop was very short lived. If it is your only option and you only have a few birds you may be able to get away with it, but again I would not personally recommend it.

The next type we tired was pine bedding. I have to say this was not only the most visually appealing especially the first few days after lying it. But the smell and the absorption of previous smell made the coop smell very fresh. BUT.... When it did get wet it was HEAVY.. I actually continued to use the pine for over a year and even was using deep litter method especially with so many birds. But overall the clean-up and the loss of bedding during clean-up is what ultimately made me steer away from it in the coop. I still use it for the baby chicks and in the brooder box, but because the smell would become so bad at times I had to find another avenue that would work better for us. The one benefit that I do have to say from using it was composting, using the pine bedding helps with the carbon ration in your compost pile. So using this method you can weigh your options and how you plan to use the bedding after its removed from the coop.

The next and current option we have chosen is sand.... I have not been using the sand long enough to say how much I fully hate or love using it. But the smell is not as bad as it was before and the poop can be easily raked up. The only concern I have had more so in these colder months is the fact that the sand can dump together or become stuck and so I am not completely sold on sticking to it. I can and will continuously update how we feel about bedding and what I personally recommend for you.

Ultimately the options depend on the size of your flock and how often you are wanting to maintain the bedding. Just keep in mind the importance of keeping the bedding clean and dry for your girls. Disease and parasites can spread quickly and be very harmful to your flock and potentially costly to replace the flock.

Have a suggestion for a future post?? Feel free to ask!!