Far Better Farmstead

Wow! has it been another week already?  The chicks are fully feathered now and we will be moving them to a "tractor" pen tomorrow. I have little bands to put around the roosters' legs so we can keep them identified - some of them may become meals before they mature. They have consumed a total of 1 bag of feed in 4 weeks - I think the Cornish x Rocks had consumed more than 2 bags at 4 weeks - and of course they were much bigger.

Sorry for not posting much this week. We are trying to get the chicken lot reconfigured after the raccoon attacks, clear some brush in preparation of fencing, clean up the garden area, and attend a revival meeting at our church. And on top of that it is getting dark earlier every day! Anyway, here are pics of the chicks at 3 weeks. They are so much smaller than the Cornish Rock's we raised that it is unbelievable!

     Vermin! That's what I call them.  Whether it be deer, bears or raccoons, they all cause problems for the homesteader.  This past summer we had the prettiest patch of sweet corn that we had raised in years and in three days it was mowed down by, you guessed it, VERMIN!  Now that made me mad!  The kids and I sweated many days over that corn and we only got to eat two meals out of it.  Discouraging? You bet.  But the other night these little pests crossed the line.

It's that time of year again! Every year about mid-October we fire up the wood furnace and it stays lit until April or so, depending on the weather. This will be our 5th winter with this stove, so we have plenty of experience with an outdoor wood furnace in case anyone is interested. I know what the advertising says and I know what the reality is. So let's get started! Purchased in 2008, our wood furnace keeps us really warm!

We have a really nice '54 Chevy Bel-Air. The only place we have to keep it is in the wood shed. Tonight I moved it out into the yard so we can stack wood tomorrow. The only thing wrong with the car is that it has a very thick layer of saw dust and dirt on it. Also, I sometimes wish it was a truck so we could use it to haul wood instead of just gather dust........ We bought the car in 1999 and had it painted then. Not bad for a 13 year old paint job.  Engine is original (with lots of mods) and runs well, but very dirty!

This is the third post about the chicks. They are now 2 weeks old. You can see their wings are getting feathered pretty well. Also starting to get feathers on their back. They are outgrowing the 1 quart waterer. We have lost 1, so we are down to 29. These buff orpingtons are much smaller at this age than the Cornish X Rocks we raised off this summer. 

We raised our first crop of meat chickens this summer. 21 Cornish X Rocks from Welp Hatchery made it to 8 weeks of age out of the 25 shipped. These birds grow fast - I mean really fast! We kept them on pasture for the last 4 weeks of their lives, but they still managed to wolf down 7 bags of feed in 8 weeks time overall. I hope to raise a little corn to offset some of the feed next year, and  we plan on raising 3 sets for a total of 75 meat chickens. Anyway, I (Dad) want to share with you our slaughter set up so you can see how simple it can be. No actual slaughter will be shown so you can comfortably show this post to anyone. First, you see our Chicken Tractor. It is made from split 1x6, PVC, and lots of chicken wire and gorilla glue.

Our buff orpingtons are now 1 week old. We will try to get a picture every week as they grow.

     As summer has turned into fall I am reminded that winter is just around the corner.  I think about the winters past and I remember one word,  COLD.  Do you ever remember a time when it was about 20 degrees outside and the power went out?  I do.  Cold, that is the only thing I can say.  When you get cold to the bones and all you can do is shiver, nothing seems to warm you except a nice hot fire.      Blessed we are that we have a nice fire place in the middle of our living room.  The only way it could be better is if a fire would start itself.  Now that would be something!  Since that's not going to happen, it is often up to me to start a fire since the power usually goes out when hubby is at work.  They did not teach fire starting at the school I attended and probably not the one you went to either.  Fortunately for me, my mom and dad heated with wood so I have had a little experience.

We don't have a big barn to store hay in and we want to make better use of the small shed that we do have. Looking around the internet I found a neat little hay storage solution at  this site . That site ( One Scythe Revolution ) got me to thinking seriously about buying a scythe since we don't have a hay mower and only use a small amount of hay. Anyway, here's how to make my version of Botan Anderson's hay rack: