Even though I'm late, I still wanted to share some pictures with everyone. Here you go--seven small moments from our week.
Sunday, September 28
The cats are faster than my camera finger! There were three of them snuggled up in my tomato plant container on the porch when I went out to milk, but only one stuck around for a mug shot.
Freedom! Our chicken coop is located right next to the pig pen. And I lost a few chickens to the pigs earlier in the season. My new little hens--I didn't want to lose, and I knew they'd wander in the pig pen. So they were contained for longer than I would have liked, but were let free as soon as the butcher left. They like their new free ranging status, though I haven't yet gotten them to sleep up on a perch in the coop--they prefer to huddle on the floor.
A gentle reminder that winter is on the way. Look close and you can see it--the hail that very much resembled a very early snow fall.
My little mountain goat has apparently connected the remote control with power and prestige or something. He just can't quite figure out how to make it work!
We've recently added an individual project time to our school day. Jeff decided to make a shelf for his room for his first project. He had to use things from around the farm, and this is what he came up with. He sanded and painted by himself, using spray paint left over from Ellie's birthday tire see-saw. I think he would have preferred different colors, but he was excited just to be building something.
Note to self...taking pictures when the sun is high is not a good idea unless you're going for shadows everywhere...
In an effort to reduce waste on the homestead, I recently moved the cows to where I can feed them utilizing the old mangers instead of just dumping hay in their pen for them to soil. They are still getting used to it, but I think they'll have it figured out before the winter locks them in permanently.
See the small gate on the edge of the picture? It's important to close that tightly, and I now have it tied with bailing twine! Care to guess how we learned that lesson?
Chicken butcher day, take 2.
I managed to slice my thumb on a very sharp knife (they were dull last time around--sharp ones work MUCH better!)
We also butchered out one of the turkeys. Yup, only one. This is why...it was under 8 pounds. WAY too skinny. This is taken inside the butcher trailer, right after I dressed him all out. It was just like doing a chicken, only the organs were WAY bigger.
Why do you think the turkeys (turkies?) were so scrawny? You'd think they'd be fat like most of the chickens were.
ReplyDeleteI think the breed had a lot to do with it. While the chickens we do are designed for maximum feed conversion, these turkeys are a heritage breed, and much more similar to the wild turkeys. They just need a lot of time to get big.
DeleteThey also are running the property all day. The chickens are content to stay within the general area as their food, so they aren't burning as many calories.
So long story short, if we do turkeys again, I want to get a breed that has a faster growth rate, and put poultry netting or something up so they can't fly out of the fenced area and run all over.