SA Farm's journal

[SA Farm]

We decided to start later than usual, last year we had horrible weather at kidding time and I swore I wouldn't breed for February kids again, so I'm keeping my promise to myself!

Barred rocks are so pretty I really love all my breeds, actually, but the Barred rocks are, I think the perfect middle breed between the Ams and the Specks. The Ams are prettier and I like being able to tell which one is which and there's nothing quite as fun as having blue eggs. The Specks are also very hard to tell apart, but they make great little brood hens and have just the sweetest temperaments.
And the barred rocks are right smack in between. They are less likely to go broody are a little less friendly - particularly with other chickens - and with less broodiness, they're better layers than the specks.
So apparently tonight is chicken assessments. Enjoy

 

[Southern by choice]

I love the Barreds! We tell all our customers that no flock is complete without them.

Never had a mean one but what I do like is they won't take any crap off anyone. The young cockerels that are a bit too eager learn real quick that a mature Barred hen will have none f their stuff.
All ours have always been curious. They peak in the windows to see what we are doig, they backtalk us and even curse us out if we are late getting the feed to them in the morning.

They are the bird with attitude! I love them,

We use to do 17 breeds, this year we really reduced. We are only doing 5 Standard Breeds and 2 Bantam breeds. The BR is one of our keeper breeds.

Love the Sussex too.This year we sold about 100 or so. The year before we put them out in a pen when customers would come for their birds, the Sussex weren't for sale but we showed them off. So many people had not seen them or ever heard of them. It was great exposure for the breed. So when we bred them this year they went out the door very quickly. We sold out pretty fast.

We discontinued our EE's. I like them a lot but the demand for them has been waning over the past 2 years.

 

[SA Farm]

EEs are decently common in my area, but not the pure Ams, and since I have some pure hens and a pure rooster, I'm hoping to have decent luck with them. The EEs I had previously sold just fine, though.
17 breeds! I have the 3 breeds of chickens and have maybe a total of 30 of them and I'm actually planning to sell some of them yet to cut back to about 6:1 ratio rather than the 9:1 or 9:2 that I've got now.
We also decided to discontinue the ducks since the interest in them was sporadic at best and, while I like the adults, the ducklings are just so crazy messy I find them too much work when they don't sell very well If they don't sell right away, I may keep a trio of the Rouens just for our own enjoyment, but the majority of them are definitely going to go
We've also had trouble with the pheasants. We lost 2 males in a row for no apparent reason, so we have to sell our last hen yet and then we'll be out of game birds as well. I'm disappointed, since I really liked them, but c'est la vie.
I'm going to miss Tiffany though

The turkeys, chickens, goats, and rabbits are all amazing, doing great, and have been totally worth the effort put into them and then some! We just got Gandalf the Pilgrim gander this year and are hoping to be able to get him a couple of girlfriends in the spring, so that will be our new journey

Today we got some pens cleaned up and got some little things repaired. Hubby is finally building me a goat stand, so that will be a huge bonus since up until now I've had to wrangle them on the ground for everything from milking to hoof trimmings, which has been a huge pain!
Looking forward to having them at the right height for me to handle them without wrecking my back and being able to actually see what I'm doing We put Granny up on it to decide how to make the stanchion part of it and she hopped up like she'd been doing it for years! Love my Gran I figured out today that she's almost 5 years old already!

 

[SA Farm]

It's been a yucky start to the week. Rain and fog. Everything is a mess since we had snow last week and it's supposed to go back to freezing later on this week, but it's still supposed to rain the next few days.
I really enjoy fall and spring and even summer, but the up and down and all around annoying winter weather drives me crazy.
Last year we started doing the deep litter method and it worked really well since it was a consistently cold winter, but this year things are going up and down again and the pens are becoming a bit of a mess already. I'm really considering taking a few days and just stripping every single pen and starting new.

I'm probably also a bit overly annoyed about it, actually, because I'm sad that my Pekins are gone now.
I'll miss them.

On a more positive note, Granny and I got another wall onto the hay barn. Yes, it's very sad that it's taken this long to get more than one side on it (the roof was the important part, right?). Granny helped by eating some of the hay and one of the chickens helped by assuming everything I was doing had to do with feeding her, so I almost stepped on her a few times
But it's getting there. DH needs to cut some pieces to size and put the door on it, and it'll finally be done!
If it ever gets to that point, I'll take pictures.

 

[SA Farm]

I am absolutely numb with cold! With Christmas busy season (family stuff) coming up over the next week or two, I decided to do a whole lot of work this week, so today I was already out there from about 10 this morning to about 2:15 or so. I know that's not really a lot of time, really, but it certainly is when it's freezing out and you're working hard, I'll tell you!
Got a lot done though! I moved a shed, tore down a fence that needs replaced. Fixed the corner so I can put up some new stuff. Built a very simple, but functional gate, fed and watered everybody, let the goaties out to play while I worked, worked a bit on the fence I'm making higher, and worked a bit on the hay manger and milk stand.
Whew.
Still a lot more to do today both inside and out, so I'm going to have a break, thaw out a bit, and maybe eat something, hmm, haven't done that yet Something hot, I think!
I also managed to snag a few pictures while I was out there I got one of Granny that shows off her big belly. She's due in March and is already looking big!

 

[Southern by choice]

So how cold is it there?

I don't like the cold but don't mind it if it is dry. If it is a wet damp cold... NO WAY. I am a lightweight...

Love the first pic! Bad goats!

 

[goatgurl]

Granny is a puggy girl for sure. are you sure its march? and I'm with you and Southern. i don't mind being wet and warm or dry and cold but i hate to be wet and cold and of course it has been wet and foggy and rainy here for the past two weeks. awwwww sunshine please

 

[SA Farm]

It was wet and cold for the first half of the week, then freezing for the other half. Got a lovely skim of
ice over the mud

 

[Southern by choice]

ok that is the worst!

So weird... it was snowing here this am! I got all excited... raining now

 

[SA Farm]

Granny is a puggy girl for sure. are you sure its march? and I'm with you and Southern. i don't mind being wet and warm or dry and cold but i hate to be wet and cold and of course it has been wet and foggy and rainy here for the past two weeks. awwwww sunshine please

Yep, had her with the buck for the month of October and she hasn't been in heat again, so, March it is. This'll be her 4th freshening and I'm speculating about her having more than twins this time around. We'll see.

@Southern by choice Yeah, not a lot of fun. Mostly because I have to wear my rubber boots, which aren't lined, so I get very cold toes