First Meat Chickens of the Year

We purchased 20 Cornish Rock Cross chicks at our local Tractor Supply 4 weeks ago. They have been in the brooder but it is time for them to go out into the portable coop. The only disadvantage I see of buying TSC chicks is that they only sell straight run.

I used to keep an electric light (powered with a really long extension cord) in the pen to discourage predators. At Christmas, I found a set of solar lights and added them to the pen. So now our pastured poultry pen is officially "off-grid"!

In about 4 weeks, we will harvest these chickens. If you haven't watched our chicken plucker video from last year, see it below. We hope to be plucking this first batch of 2013 really soon!

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David Bradley Walk Behind Tractor and Engine Swap

"A scythe is great for your back but very hard on your patience" - Patrick at Far Better Farmstead It all started when it rained 80 inches this summer. Yes, I said 80 inches! Needless to say, I didn't get to put up much hay with my scythe and rake. I did do one good cutting, but should have got 2 or 3 and even the one cutting didn't cover the whole field. As much as I like the scythe, I started wanting a quicker way to cut a small amount of hay. My fantasy rig is my old 600 Ford tractor with a sickle bar, rake, and old square baler. I sold the 600 several years ago and have regretted it every since. My second fantasy was a BCS or Grillo walk behind tarctor. You can get a sickle for them and many other implements as well. Both options are out of reach of our budget right now, so that's why I call them fantasies rather than options! As I searched around the web, I found out that Sears used to sell a walk-behind tractor called the David Bradley. ...

Whizbang Wheel Hoe After a Full Garden Season

Is summer already gone? It is so hard to believe that September is half gone. Despite lots of hard rain, about 75 inches here, our gardens did very well. I have been planning a post on the gardens (and lots of other posts, too) but we have been very busy just enjoying life here on the homestead. Anyway, the one new tool we used this year that really stands out is the Whizbang Wheel Hoe. The picture above was taken after a full garden season of almost daily use. The handles darkened a little from our dirty hands and the blued finish on the blade wore off with use, but the hoe held up wonderfully. How did it perform? Superbly! If you "stir" the dirt with it every other day or so, there will be no weeds. There were times we didn't do that, even for a full week when we went on vacation, and our garden was the most weed free that we've ever had. We still had to use a regular hoe between the plants, but this thing is very quick and easy down the rows. Herr...

Outdoor Wood Furnace

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!

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