Wednesday January 23, 2013

Lots of researching today.

Actually, lots of researching the whole week.

We plan to get goats. We have also planned for a few cows and a pig or two a year. We're also looking at buying the two acres behind our farm to expand our space. So I was researching whether goats and cows can pasture together when I found a site called Keeping a Family Cow.  If you're ever looking for information on cows, that place is the place to go.

I got to reading there about sprouting for feed. Of course, they are sprouting for cows, but then I went to Backyard Chickens to see if anyone was sprouting for the chickens. Yes. Also, if you're ever looking for information on chickens, that place is the place to go.

But I digress.

I tend to do that.

In reading the almost 100 pages of posts on sprouting at KFC, I learned that cows are not easy creatures to manage. Their digestive systems are pesky little things, and certain percentages of nutrients must be maintained. Cows are apparently hard to feed.

I don't want hard.

Homesteading is hard enough. The never ending fence building and repairing. Building soil for a decent garden to feed the family. Escapee chickens who still aren't laying yet. Our dogs. The neighbor's dogs. The last thing I need to worry about is calculating the proper percentage of green food to grain or whatever I need to calculate for a cow's sensitive stomach.

I sound like I'm whining. Yes, I'm whining. I asked for this life. I made sacrifices for this life. I love it. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But it's hard.

So I'm saying we're not getting a cow. We'll have goats for milk and cheese. I will trade or sell chickens for beef and pork. Yeah, no pig either. They are apparently master escape artists, and I've got enough of those on my hands.

So what to do with the farm? No cows means we won't be completely self sufficient, because we'll need more meat protein sources than chicken. But I can, can years worth of beef and pork, so I'm not overly concerned there. We can use the chickens to barter for other sources of meat. I have neighbors fairly close by that run 1000 or more head of cattle. I bet we can make some kind of deal.

So therein lies the plan. To add goats, turkeys, and, over time, expand the number of chickens we have. Our acreage can easily support 200 chickens, free ranging (but fenced out of the garden). Not that we'll have 200 chickens tomorrow, but we will let our flock grow as our completed fence line grows. We'll butcher the roosters at 8 weeks and maybe let some of the pullets go longer to get some eggs out of them. We can do two cycles per summer, if the land can support it.

Maybe.

We're in the process of researching whether we can legally butcher the chickens. I'm getting conflicting information buried in legalese. If we have to transport them to a certified butcher, then they will become cost prohibitive. There seems to be an exemption if you would do less than 1000 per year, but again, that is questionable. So we'll see.

Certainly it's nothing that will happen this year. If any of the hens go broody this year, their chicks will mostly go to the freezer.

Our focus this year is fence and the garden. If we're going to free range the chickens, that means 6 ft fence, all the way around 3 acres. Or 5. And another acreish fenced in for the garden. Sure...

On a lighter note, went to go get straw for the chicken coop and paid almost half what I paid in the fall. I am hoping the prices will be the same when we get the tax refund. I'm going to get 20 bales if so. That will last me a year at my current rate of use, although I will need more for growing potatoes. I got a bale of the straw down in the chicken coop, and a good amount in the nesting boxes. They always get so excited when I put new straw down. They all had to come in and scratch around. On the plus side, the hens are digging out nest type areas, so I'm hoping we'll have eggs soon.

I got the plastic off the coop windows, and they seemed confused by the brighter coop. The plastic wasn't completely covering the windows but it's been warm enough I still took it down. I can always put it back up if it gets cold again.

I worked with Bellatrix the puppy for about an hour on the leash. She's still pulling a lot, but there were no wild jumps and attempts to take off today, so it's a step in the right direction. I've never had a dog so hard to train!

Dinner tonight was goulash, corn, garlic bread and cottage cheese. The chickens will enjoy the leftovers.