Meet the Newest Members of SS Farm!!

Yesterday, my neighbor and I went to Tractor Supply and picked up 12 Cornish Cross Chicks.  Yes, I decided to go with the cornish cross chicks this time.  Our freezer is empty and we need some meat!  So, for the sake of time, I went ahead with them.  In the future, I will be using heritage breeds for our meat.  I much prefer nature doing the natural thing to hybrids. 

Currently, we have 21 3 week old Australorp hens, 2 Cuckoo Maran hens (Pretty Lady and Pretty Penny) and 2 Americauna hens (Idiot and Freaky) - a year old, 5 Golden Comets and 2 Rhode Island Reds - 6 months old as well as 6 Freedom Ranger hens (one named Snotty) and a Freedom Ranger Rooster (Little Man) which are 11 months old and one hen I have no idea her breed or age.  There are also 6 Pets of varying ages (Mumbo - Cochin, Adonis - Bantam Cochin, Poof and Pugly - Silkies, Otter - Silkie/Polish mix, and Maci - Australorp).  Once the Australorps are laying, the Freedom Ranger hens will be processed.  As the others turn approximately 2 years old, they'll be processed.  The Pets will NOT be processed.  They will live out their lives being spoiled. 

Since I sell eggs at the Lake City Farmers Market, you can see why I am keeping the Freedom Ranger hens longer than the intended 12 - 16 weeks in which they were supposed to have been harvested. 

The babies are currently in a dog crate on the front porch!  Tomorrow, we will begin working on a tractor to place them into so they will have more room to run around and be able to eat grass and bugs like the big chickens do.

Bullseye Watching Over The New Babies

As well, today we worked in the gardens.  Hubby harrowed and leveled the new garden.  It is going to be BIG!  Before we start on the chicken tractor, tomorrow, he is going to work on some rows for me so I can start planting over the weekend.  I worked in the small garden (my original "test" garden), weeding and doing a bit of bed repair.  I'll add some seeds in there as well this weekend.  

 Small Side Garden

The chickens greatly appreciate my weeding!  Too bad I can't teach them to weed around the plants.  Sure would make my work in the gardens a bit less hectic.

Changes - they can be good

I have been reading lots of blogs lately.  In doing so, I have learned a lot.  Simply put, a business is not an entity all by itself.  It is made up of people and places.  Mine, particularly, occurs on SS Farm (owned by myself and my husband) and is generated by our love and ideas.  My friends and family are as much a part of the farm and business as we are.  The support, ideas and critiques from them encourage us each and every day. 

With that said, I am incorporating what happens around here, on the farm and in our lives with the business.  I hope you like the changes. 

Why Don't The "Best" Ideas Crop Up BEFORE You Do A Project?

Monday, February 25, 2013

Hubby and I finished our mini-chicken-coop/run yesterday.  We have 21 three week old Australorps that have outgrown their dog crate.  Since we've had a huge problem with dogs lately (us and our neighbor both have lost birds (as well as rabbits for the neighbor) to roaming dogs) I took down the old chicken nursery (which aforementioned dogs got into) and modified the coop and added an above ground run - IN the big chicken pen.  They are now doubly secure.

It was a process.

1st - cut the old coop in half, add a wall on the cut side 
2nd - add a roost
3rd - add legs to the new coop
4th - frame a run (eyeballing everything instead of going and getting the level to ensure it was straight - where's the fun in straight, right?)
5th - run wire
6th - add roof
7th - take the roof back off because I forgot to measure the height of the door - AND take into account placing it in it's track (hmmmm)
8th - add a door to the run area so I can access the chicks in there as well as their coop (which I hadn't done in the first nursery I made thus making maintenance much more difficult
9th -  add lock for the doors and pulley thingee for the coop door

Whew! Best part of the project, though - it was ALL free - aside from $3 in staples.  Everything came from my "no, honey, don't throw that out, I'll use it for something" pile.  :-)

Once we had moved the babies over (right before it started raining - woo-hoo!), hubby says "You know, I just had an idea for a permanent chicken nursery".  ARGH!!!  Worst part?  It's a FABULOUS idea!  So, perhaps over the summer, we'll implement it?

It started raining yesterday afternoon and pretty much hasn't quit yet.  I'm not complaining as I'm quite satisfied with the fact that it's packing down the dirt we moved in to help level out the yard and the garden hubby has harrowed for me.  It's great for the goat and horse pasture as well as the grass in the chicken pen.  However, it has made for a very grey and dismal day.  So, I decided I would at least do "something" productive.  I took all the seedlings I had started and potted them up.  I also started some more seeds.  I'm trying to get a jump on spring.  I should have had my seed orders in a long time ago so my seeds could have been started weeks ago, but - this is somewhat new to me.  Oh, I've started seeds before, but not as many as I'm starting now.  I've never grown a full blown eating garden, one where I will be able to feed us w/out going to the grocery store except for essentials.  :-)  It's a very good thing.