Hillaire gets back to his roots

[Hillaire]

Hey all,
My name is JK and I will keep it simple and fill out the questionnaire. On here I plan to update everything going on on our "farm" as it happens… you can also check out my youtube page Hillaire Farming

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? My fiancé and I live in the hudson valley of NY. We are about an hour and a half away from the city. We love it here as it has all 4 seasons, cold winters and hot summers.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? It's just my fiancé and I but we also take care of her grandfather who lives with us.
3. How would you define your farm? We are small time.. we both have full time jobs and have our farm as a hobby. We are ever growing though.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I would probably farm full time..
5. Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to? I built our chicken coop and run, duck coop and run, and the goat stall.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? I can weld but not that well… work in progress
7. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer? I started with cochin bantam chickens.. my grandfather passed away a year ago and I decided to raise the same kind of chicken that he did… He was a dairy farmer back in the day, it's in my blood so we kinda grew from there.
8 Is it a hobby or an occupation? hobby for now
9. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more? I'm pretty knowledgeable when it comes to plants and animals… I wish I was more mechanical though
10. In what types of farming will you never choose to do? I don't think I could go dairy cows, I come from a dairy background and it takes a lot of dedication and time..
11. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply? we do our own veggies and eggs the rest will come I'm sure
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? usually out in the woods hunting or just collecting my thoughts
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? haha I do okay on a tractor never have driven a semi...
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I'm not crafty
15. Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? yes, we have cochin bantams and silkies, runner ducks and mallards, and soon to be goat owners
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? I've never had to
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? yeah it's okay I hate weeding though lol… this year we have green beans, eggplant, swiss char, red leaf lettuce, green peppers, watermelon, carrots, squash etc
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? huh… I don't fish often but I do hunt
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country? I believe we are over 15 acres
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, degreed? Novice
21. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? we specialize in chickens breed and sell them, soon we will be big into dairy goats.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? not sure
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? I feel like this was already asked if I have to I can
24. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine? not really
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? probably a farm in dutchess county ny
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? nope
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? Probably a batmanesque superhero
28. Are your family or friends also interested in animals? I come from a family of 5 and one of my sisters does chickens for eggs.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? I love to cook we eat whatever we have we don't mind raw mill and love our farm fresh eggs
30. What was your best animal experience? Worst? best is hatching out my own chickens or helping deliver calves back in the day… worst… I don't really have a bad experience (knock on wood)
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? I hunt small game and big game
32. What skills do you have that help you be more a self sufficient farm? probably that I can dabble in just about anything
33. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve? Any time I get a deer I process it 100% myself
34. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to? We use solar in our coops.
35 What is on your to do list? build a portable goat shelter for the goats to use in their fencing. Build a turkey coop for next year… I'm sure there is more
36. Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to? No, I wouldn't mind to but it isn't a goal as of right now.
37. In what do you trust? I trust in spirituality I am not overly religious but I trust in myself and those that I surround myself with.
38. Do you make and fix things yourself to save money?
39. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits?

 

[Hens and Roos]

Welcome , we started with chickens, then added rabbits and then goats!(chicken math works for all )

 

[Hillaire]

yeah it's the natural progression for anyone that has the land for it lol. We started with 22 cochins and one silkie from murray mcmurray (that's where my gramp always got his). Now we have over 40 chickens… about 20 are chicks that we are selling… 8 ducks and now getting 2 Oberhasli goats in 2 weeks.. one doeling one buckling (wether). I was doing turkeys this year I had 10 bourbon reds but then I was surprised with the purchase of the goats so I put off building a turkey coop and raising the turkeys until next year… I plan to get 2 more doelings next year can't decide between Saanens or Oberhaslis I will probably stick to Oberhaslis though.. My fiancé thinks I'm nuts as we will just be married by then and thinks we will never be able to go on vacation

 

[Hillaire]

I have wednesdays and thursdays off from work… Yesterday I got the premier one charger set up to charge for three days before I hook it up to the fence. I set up the fence (we got the electric goat netting) in the spot we will have them for the first week or two. I set it up next to the barn so it will be an easy in and out. I built a hay feeder for them today and got the water buckets set up in the stall for them as well. I picked up probios bloat medication and blue kite for them as well. I have to still pick up some baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and various minerals for them… The woman who has the goats is being a great mentor. Two more weeks and we get to pick them up luckily it will be at a goat show at the state fair grounds so we get to see others as well

 

[CntryBoy777]

Welcome from NW Mississippi!.....
We have chickens, ducks, goats and cats here on our 20acres. Your plans sound really good and hope ya are able to "Realize" them, too. We are in the process of planning for expansion here at the Lazy A** Acres also. There are some really Great people here with tons of experience and advice, so don't be afraid to ask or discuss most any topic.
Again.....

 

[Baymule]

Welcome! Chickens are the "gateway drug" to farm animals, so just prepare yourself for the herds coming your way.

 

[Hillaire]

We've been fighting a cold in the household the last couple of days... of course I got it the evening of Thursday (Fridays are my Mondays at work) So I've been suffering at work... this hot cold hot cold weather definitely contributed to the cold. Just been doing chores for the chickens and ducks and making sure everything is ok and then going to bed. My incubator of 30 cochin bantam eggs started hatching yesterday if everyone is hatched and fluffed up I will be running them to the local chicken store to sell so far looks like 20 of 30 have hatched. Hopefully this passes so I can get the barn doors installed on the goat barn so by then we will be 100% ready for our goats to be picked up next Saturday.

 

[Baymule]

Sorry you are feeling bad. @Devonviolet makes some flu/cold killer elderberry syrup. She ordered European elderberry plants and they are blooming for her now! I took cuttings from some on the side of the road and they are growing roots, need to get them planted. But anyway, her syrup really works, plus it is tasty too! Devonviolet, will you post the recipe for Hillaire?

 

[Latestarter]

Hope you get to feeling better soon. summer colds are the worst.

 

[Devonviolet]

Geez Hillaire, I'm so sorry you are sick! You have too much going on to be sick.

A couple years ago, I got really sick, with the flu, and since I prefer herbal/natural remedies to convential medicine, I started looking for something that would clear up my virus. I learned that Elderberries caused the cell wall, do the virus to break down. If taken before one got sick, it prevented the,cold. If taken,after the cold starts, the virus dies, and,the cold goes away faster. So, I made some Elderberry syrup, and it worked! @Baymule talked about growing our own Elderberries. But, in the beginning, I bought them on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Viva-Natural...97&sr=8-2&keywords=Dried+Elderberries+1+pound

Elderberry Honey Syrup

2 cups dried Elderberries
6 cups Filtered Water
2 oz sliced, peeled ginger root, cut into small pieces
36 oz (Net Wt) Raw/Unfiltered Honey (Local honey is best)

Combine Elderberries, ginger and water.

On stovetop heat until boiling. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

While hot, use immersion blender to remove fruit from seeds (approximately 5 minutes).

Pour into large fine screen strainer over a large bowl. Using large spoon, stir, scrape, mash berries until most of the fruit is off seed and moisture is squeezed out. Rinse strainer with an additional 1/2 to 1 cup more of filtered water, to get all the residual goodness of the berries.

Cool to body temp and add honey. Heating raw honey destroys the enzymes, that give honey it's healing qualities.

Pour into 1/2 gallon canning jar or 2 quart canning jars and refrigerate. I put some in a used honey bottle for easier dispensing.

To minimize risk of getting the cold/flu virus, take 1 Tablespoon of this syrup daily, during cold season, or when you suspect you might get a cold. If you do get a cold, start taking 1 Tbsp three times daily for the duration of the illness plus 3-4 days.