Saturday, January 30, 2010

Hoof Trimming Time







Here's what the goat hooves look like before & after having been trimmed.











Why did the chicken cross the road?













The rain has stopped, hopefully long enough for the animal pens to begin to dry out.

The good thing about after the rain is that it's easier to trim goat & horse hooves while they are soft. I really should take advantage of this opportunity. I already did "the girls" feet the other day when I was milking them. Now for everybody else, ugh.

Except the horse, I don't even think about attempting to touch his feet, I have a farrier for that. Although, he hasn't called me for our standing 2 month appointment. Maybe because I said I was going to try to sell my horse? But, that's another story for later.

I really must get to the straw today, at least in the chicken coop. And, it's time to clean out & refill the nesting boxes. The eggs stay cleaner that way, less egg scrubbing for me & the customers are happier.

We used to free-range our chickens & they were so happy. Unfortunately the predator problem became so bad that we went from 40 down to 12 chickens a couple years ago. We would let them run during the day & then lock them up at night. Sounds easy right? It was for awhile. But , then the coyotes got smart & would come by during the middle of the day when they were out & nobody was watching the flock. Not to mention the hawks, roaming neighborhood dogs, etc.

And then, we had a new problem. Some of the roosters decided they didn't want to be locked in the coop at night & began taking their harems of hens up into the trees to roost.

We tried to get them down & lock them up, but some would just move out of our reach up into the treetop. Those were the unlucky ones, because by morning they would usually have disappeared. At first I wasn't sure what was snatching them. Then one night I saw a HUGE owl perched & watching from my neighbor's place & I knew who the thief was. (These owls can get to be as much as 3 feet tall with a 5 foot wingspan.) Then just to be sure there was no confusion the owl(s) began leaving their calling cards. I would come out in the morning to find blood dripping down one of the telephone poles (corner posts for one of our goat pens), feathers on top of the pole & a chicken head on the ground. Not a sight for the faint of heart. It was even harder when it was one of our pet chickens.


Someday I hope to have a fence around our property to help cut back on the coyote problem. Then I would like a few more coops so the roosters will each have their own place to retire to every night & maybe that will help with the owls.


The chickens used to strut around & make us laugh. They are quite comical if you have ever taken the time to watch & observe them. The hens would walk across the driveway to get to the coop & lay their eggs, then back they'd go to taking their dust baths & sunning themselves. (that's why the chicken crossed the road- to lay an egg! LOL)

I would often sit outside in a lounge chair & read a book while the hens would peck the ground nearby, & some would even perch on me. I miss those days, the chickens were happier then.


I used to be able to say the eggs were from rang-free chickens when I sold them. We even tried buying the organic food for awhile but it was too expensive. Now I can only claim that the eggs are fresh, from cage free hens. The yolks aren't as orange anymore either, but they are still fresher than anything you can buy at the store.


Speaking of fresh....one day while I was gathering the eggs, I had reached under a hen to retrieve them. She stood up as though to let me get at them easier, & lo & behold she laid an egg right in my hand! Now that's fresh! ha ha


Another time, we found 2 tiny little eggs and upon cracking them open we discovered one had only yolk & the other had only white. Now, how did that happen?

And, had I documented it properly, I'm sure we would have had the second biggest chicken egg on record. It was huge! We never figured out which hen laid it, but I'm sure she was sore! That one was a triple yolker.


Anywhoo....Farm chores await. Even though it's Saturday & I'd love to sleep in. :0( Work, work, work. (I've decided God gave us the farm because He doesn't want me to be bored & lazy. Lol)

The farm is finally starting t turn a small profit for us, as God keeps sending customers our way. So, I guess I can't complain. Now, if we can just figure out this small business thing, hmm.


Toodles!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!

Here in AZ we really don't get alot of rain, so when we do receive some precipitation it's wonderful. Except, it either comes down in droves & washes everything away, like cars, trees, etc. (flash floods), or it sprinkles.
It has been sprinkling off & on for a couple weeks now & I am officially tired of it.

I really must go & track down another bale of straw for the critters again. It seems everyone is running low on straw as of late. My neighbors are out (we usually buy surplus supplies from each other in a pinch), and most of the feed stores are out too. I did find one that still had a few bales left last week (sure wish I had bought more than one bale), even though I dislike shopping there since they are often very RUDE to their customers. But, priorities, priorities.

The animals are tired of the rain too, I'm sure. Az dirt doesn't soak up the rain like other places, so we have muck & mire everywhere on the farm. Yuck.
The goats are managing to stay fairly mud-free, due to the fact that they are skilled hay wasters & are tromping around on their fodder. But the horse is muddy & wet, and most likely a little cold. I wish I had a barn!!

Ah....a barn. I love the idea of having a barn to shelter the animals in when the weather is unbearable. Well, mainly in the fall & winter.
But that is my dream for right now. To someday move to a place where they have 4 distinct seasons, a possibility of having a white Christmas, 5-10 acres of farm & pasture, an old farm house (hopefully not too run down), and....a BARN! A big beautiful old barn that smells of hay & straw, with a loft & stalls. Maybe someday, God willing.

I remember when I was younger, my dreams were different. I wanted to be a supermodel or a famous movie star.
Now, at 38, my dreams have changed. All I want now is to be warm & dry (in a barn) with my family (my hubby, our boys, & my animals of course) & know that God is working in our lives (in a barn). Lol
I guess I'm being selfish since I am putting my dreams before what God wants for us, but I can dream can't I? If I never achieve my dream, that's ok too. I have told God that I don't want a mansion when I get to Heaven, I want a big red barn! With all my animals there.

So, meanwhile back at the ranch.....I have to bundle up & get started on the farm chores, I'm already running late.
The "girls" have to be milked. The goats, horse, chickens, ducks & turkey have to be fed & watered. And eggs need to be gathered.
I have customers coming to buy eggs today & pick up their milk from the goats they lease from me. Not to mention I gotta get the boys off to school.
Whew! I'm already tired just thinking about it! But, I really do enjoy it. And, it's a wonderful feeling to be so close to your food source & to know it's healthier for you than the stuff at the store.

Toodles!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

How it all started....

I have always loved animals & children. Even as a small child of 3 or 4 I remember fervently hoping that santa would bring me a horse. A magnificent, tall, majestic, chestnut creature with it's mane blowing in the wind. Gender didn't matter. We lived on the 3rd story of our apartment building at the time, but I had it all planned out. Imagine my mom's surprise when I told her, rather matter-of-factly, that santa would be delivering my horse anytime now. "But where will we keep it?" she asked. "On the balcony, of course!" Wasn't it obvious?

What a dreamer! Ok, so I am a hopeless romantic. Always have been.
Over the years growing up I think I dreamed of a "farm life", among other fantastical ideas, as a way to escape my sometimes less than ideal childhood. And, Hoolywood (haha, typo, but I think I will keep it) didn't help to dispel my romantic visions, it only added to it. I could see myself riding bareback on a beautiful horse...on the beach?...in slow motion. I still dream of that.

But, let me tell you something honey, it ain't happenin'! It's HARD work. Nobody told me that part of it. The muck & the mud, the manure, getting your toes stepped on, getting bit really hard by an aggravated horse with dominance issues over his food! Wow, not to mention the sore derriere after a riding lesson.
Thanks alot "National Velvet" & "The Black Stallion".

Ok, so I have lived in the city, at one location or another most of my life. (mom SWEARS she must have gypsy blood in her) No farms anywhere.
Then 11 years ago my husband & I were blessed to be able to buy the 1&1/4 acre we now live on. I finally got a farm!
Mind you it's not your typical farm, as we live in "The Valley of the Sun" in Arizona. So, it's alot of desert & HEAT. There are places in the valley where they have irrigation & you would swear you have been transported elsewhere. But alas, such is not our case.
We are still in the city, but we are on the outskirts. We are in the desert where it's hot & dry, but it's still our "farm", nonetheless.

We didn't start a farm idea right away, it kind of grew on us. First, we got a dog, since we had always been in apartments & could never have one before. "Barney" was a german shepherd mix. Then later....another dog "Bubba" (yes, my husband is a redneck), a st. bernard mix.
We dabbled with the idea of buying real farm livestock, but we hadn't made the leap yet.

Then one day, my husband walks in the front door & hands me a large cardboard box. Inside were 5 almost grown chickens! I couldn't believe my eyes! I didn't know what to do!
"I'm going outside to build a chicken coop," he says as he disappears out the door again, leaving me holding the box of chickens. My eyes were as wide as saucers, mouth hanging open in disbelief.
I got on the internet & began researching chickens. And, my husband managed to craft a coop out of some old wall cribs that we had used as shelves. He painted it white with mauve trim to match our house. It even had painted on windows & curtains on the outside.

So began our "farm", all those years ago.
And to think, it all started with a spur of the moment idea of my husband's to stop at the feed store. The "poor, orphaned" chickens had been dropped off when the renaissance festival left town. Apparently they had been used in the petting zoo when they were chicks.

Now we have around 60 chickens, a turkey, 2 ducks, a horse, 10 goats, 5 dogs, 2 cats & a hermit crab. Sing it with me.....And, a partridge in a pear tree!

So on my blog I would like to share stories of our farm adventures, and whatever else comes to mind.
If anyone besides me is even paying attention, lol.

Toodles!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Welcome to the "Farm"!

This is my first post. Ever! I decided to start my own blog after watching the movie "Julie & Julia", they made it look so easy. I must admit, it was somewhat painless, lol.
So here I am, typing with one hand & holding my granddaughter. (Who, by the way, is absolutely adorable.)
More to come later....... :0)