Horse Tales

Summer is flying by !

As we gear up for school, we have been thinking about what a great summer we have had on the farm. We have picked blackberries...and Ryan even learned how to can blackberry jelly and jam ! We now collect approx. 15 fresh eggs per day from the laying hens. We have Black Australorps that lay brown eggs, and Araucana/Americana's that lay colored eggs. Earlier in the summer we learned how to process our own meat chickens. We have been milking our Jersey cow...getting approx. 2 gallons of fresh milk per day. We have made butter, and attempted to make mozzarella cheese. Our first try at making the cheese didn't turn out, so after we start milking Lucy again we'll try again. Lucy (the cow) is now resting and not being milked until after she has her calf in September.

We have learned something new everyday...some good, some bad. We have had to learn some things the hard way. We learned not to put a strange baby pig in with an adult sow. Claire did not want Maggie Mae (the baby pig ) in with her and hurt her very badly. We moved Maggie Mae in with Fainting goats to recouperate. She is doing good now, and she's starting to think that she's a goat !

We have also had land cleared for a new house that we will start building soon. Every day continues to be an adventure here !

Red Wattles are here

5 Red Wattle pigs have been added to the farm. We will have piglets on the farm in August !

We also have 2 new fainting goat's who are bucks.

Dog Days of Summer

Hank has now joined us on the farm. He is a registered Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD). Hank is 7 weeks old, and he shows great potential ! Sarah, our LGD who is a Great Pryenees X Anatholian Shephard, has been patrolling the farm by herself. She does a great job...we have never seen anything like it. We have always had "indoor" dogs that were pets. Sarah doesn't need to be on a leash. She knows the boundaries of the farm, and when she hears or sees anything strange she gives warning barks. Otherwise, she is totally silent. Our Golden Retriever's bark MUCH more than Sarah does ! Sarah just ignores them...she has a job to do.
Sarah also is familiar with all of our farm animals, and protects them.
Last night, Sarah saw some deer . She ran towards them, stopped at the property line, barked and they ran away.
Hank goes outside for a few hours with us as we do farm chores. He is still a puppy, so he needs lots of breaks for puppy naps !

Working hard !

Every day brings something wonderful and interesting on the farm. We stay outside until about 9 p.m. at night working. We have put in a very big garden, and we've added lots of animals. We now have Lucy , our Jersey milk cow. She is pregnant and expecting in September. We have her on a schedule to milk her once a day - which is perfect for us right now. We get about 1 1/2 gallons of milk from her each time. I've made butter with the extra cream.

Our Freedom Ranger Poulet Rouge chickens are almost ready to be processed. We are looking forward to that....it will be a learning experience.

We have Bourbon Red turkeys, Black Australorpe (brown eggs) and Araucana/Americana (rainbow colored eggs) eggs layers, and fainting goats.

Red Wattle pigs are coming to the farm in a few weeks, and our first Murray Grey cattle will arrive soon, too.

We have more guinea's (that are still very young), and we are getting another Great Pyrenees dog - Hank. He is 5 weeks old, and we should be able to get him soon.

I've learned to use the tractor, and how to bush hog. We have had a lot of people laugh at what goes on here.....it really is fun, and we all love it here !

We've moved to the farm !

We have finally moved to the farm ! Mark went to Nature's Harmony Farm in Georgia to buy Sarah, our first Livestock Guardian dog. She is a Great Pyrenees X Anatolian Shephard. We have also ordered our laying hens, along with a few cute Bantam Silkies. We are getting another Great Pyrenees LGD, because Sarah will need help patroling the farm !

Buckhorn Creek Farm

We've all just returned from Virginia. Buckhorn Creek Farm is now ours ! It's in a small town in southern Virginia, and it's 165 acres. The sky was blue, it was peaceful, and at night the stars were brilliant. There were also fireflies ! We discovered chiggers, ticks, a snake, a swarm of bees, and a bunch of turkeys.

We worked all week on the house that we will be living in until we build a house. But first things first...we need to put up a fence and build a barn. Mark leaves for Virginia October 3rd, and starts his new job on October 5th. The horses will arrive some time in October, so there is a lot to do to get ready for them. Mark is also bringing our dogs and the guinea pigs.
So much to do !