Adventures of Farming

Well, we have been farm owners for 3 weeks now.  It’s been a learning experience the entire time!  Bill and I have slowly been unpacking boxes and deciding where everything is going to go.  We’ve pretty much got the house squared away and are working on the finishing touches.  There is a lot to do but we are enjoying it.

 Click below to read more about our fun times.  

On Saturday we asked our neighbor down on the blacktop road to come and mow our inner yard. (He used to do it for the previous owners.) Even working with a large John Deere tractor and a 5 foot wide bush hog, it took him an hour.  We need to get a mower/tractor soon before the grass gets out of control again!  Any suggestions?  I’m looking at a 42” or 46” Troy Bilt.  We have not touched the outer pastures yet but they sure do need to be mowed – I wonder if we wait until autumn if the stuff will die back?  Then we can burn it? 

We have the following critters at Buckley Acres: 

Hens	Description/Breed
Thelma	large off-white, lays greenish eggs; follows us around
Betty Lou	medium black, white/gray eggs (I think)
Beulah	large black, lays brown eggs
Henny Penny	small skinny black, unknown eggs; very flighty
Opal	small skinny tan, unknown eggs; very flighty
Someone lays pink eggs…who is it?
Rooster	Description/Breed
Roscoe	crows, large and colorful; unknown breed
Cats	Description/Breed
Boots	gray tabby/white, mom of Snowball
Snowball	female, more black than white (daughter of Boots and Oreo)
Oreo	male, more white than black
Dog	Description/Breed
Mocha	tan/black Shepherd mix
Goats	Description/Breed
Gertie	Nubian doe, foster mom of twins
Gus	Nubian buck, kid, dark brown fur and deeper voice; more outgoing
Gracie	Nubian doe, kid, light tan fur; more timid
Pullets, born 4/22/15	Description/Breed
Ruby	Rhode Island Red
Rhoda	Rhode Island Red
Ruth	Rhode Island Red
Marina	Cuckoo Maran
Maryanne	Cuckoo Maran
Myrtle	Cuckoo Maran
At this writing, they are 8 weeks old
Chicks, born 5/20, 6/3	Description/Breed
Wynonna	Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
Wilma	Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
Elsa	Swedish Flower
Olga	Swedish Flower
At this writing, the first 2 are 4 weeks old and the 2nd two are 2 weeks old

You should see it, when we pull up to the gate after work, all but the caged pullets and chicks come running to greet us!  Mocha runs circles around everyone and steamrolls and scatters the cats.  They seem to expect it and don’t mind.  It is a sight to see.  Everyone is clamoring for our attention and hollering to be fed (like we don’t feed them in the morning and after all, they forage all day!) They know it’s dinnertime!  Of course, the very inquisitive goats try to get into our vehicle and they’ll grab anything we don’t have a hold on, usually mail or a paper napkin from the door pocket.  They think they are “helping” like when Gertie grabbed a package of hamburger buns and left a distinct bite in it! 

After we do a quick change of clothes, we head back out and first rinse and refill all of the water dishes and then everyone gets their turn being fed.  I feed the goats goat feed and I feed the chickens chicken feed but the goats used to  eat the chicken feed (now I put it in the locked coop) and the chickens would eat the goat feed!  It’s funny to see 3 goats, a rooster, and 5 hens all trying to get the goat feed in the trough.  I think the chickens like the cracked corn, so now when I put out the goat feed, I call the chickens away with some scratch so the goats can scarf their feed in peace. 

I learned an important lesson yesterday.  After work I stopped and bought a new bag of goat feed, and when I got home, I noticed that NO animal came to greet me.  Mocha was laying in the shade and didn’t get up and the goats weren’t in sight. Since the feed was in the back of my van, I backed it up to the barn.  When I got level with the rear of the house, I looked over to the back porch where I saw Gertie standing on her back feet, crying to get out!  She had apparently locked herself in.  I raced over to the porch but the door was still locked!  I think she tried to push on the door and it opened, and when the kids followed her in, somehow the door closed.  As soon as I opened the door, they barreled past me and went straight to the water trough … poor babies, who knows how long they were locked up?  Then … I turned back to the porch.  And I saw a formerly full, now EMPTY bag of prunes.  And poop.  Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of poop pellets!  Soooo.  After feeding and watering everyone, I got out the broom and dustpan, then the push broom, then the garden hose, then a scrub brush and pine-sol!! Two hours later, it was finally clean, LOL! 

The lesson is, when you turn the lock on the door, PUSH on the door to make sure it firmly clicks into place!  Oh, thank goodness the deadbolt to the inside door of the house was locked!  The 10’ x 10’ porch was enough to clean up! 

We are up to 45 eggs as of yesterday (20 days), an average of 2 eggs a day.  I’ve also milked 20.5 quarts, or a little over 5 gallons of milk from Gertie.  I just received rennet and cheese cultures in the mail, and I got us an ice cream maker.  Time to start experimenting!  The kids will be with us this weekend, and both sets of grandparents are joining us for lunch on Sunday. 

Stay tuned for the next amazing adventure. :P