Here is Buttercup! After 3 weeks on the farm, some intense dental work, a visit with the blacksmith, vaccinations, and getting dewormed, he has gained about 100lbs and is feeling like a new man. He enjoys getting groomed, eating his high-fat rice bran mashes, going on short rides, and long walks in the pasture with his new friend Wellby.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Chicken Tractor....again!
Time to build another chicken tractor! We have had such success with our pastured poultry that we continue to increase the number of chickens we raise....which means we need more portable housing. Every time we build a chicken tractor, we strive to make it as lightweight and secure as possible. Because we move our birds onto fresh grass at least twice a day, the weight of their house is a major issue. At the same time, it needs to be secure enough to protect them from predators, as well as not blow away in a summer storm! This year, we were grateful to have Matt and Grace come help us build a Salatin-style tractor. We are looking forward to trying it out!
Efforts at Sustainability
This post, however, is pretty neat....
As mentioned earlier, we have a partially wooded property. We use that wood during the winter to heat our wonderfully efficient home....one fireplace heats the whole house all winter! The ashes and charcoal get collected throughout the winter. In the spring, we separate the charcoal and the ash. The charcoal is given to the pigs, who eat it, as a natural de-wormer. The ash gets spread on the fields, in areas where we have a lot of wild onions, which the cattle don't like. The ash changes the ph of the soil and deters them from growing. Not bad!
Lancaster
Working towards Silvopasture. Or, clearing the woods.
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About 12 of our 32+ acres are heavily wooded....great for privacy, but not ideal for pastured animals. For the past two years, we have been slowly working on turning the woods into a silvopasture environment......ideally, healthy mature trees, well spaced, with plenty of grass in between. The pigs from last year were very helpful in clearing the underbrush and turning the soil, and the cows have spent most of this winter in the woods, helping to clear as well. Of course, with all these scrub trees coming down, either by animal or chainsaw, we have gathered quite a pile. So, for the third time since starting the farm, we had to partake in possibly our least favorite activity: woodchipping. This time wasn't quite as bad as we got smart and did it in the winter. All said, it wasn't too bad, and now we have plenty of wood chips to use for composting, gardening, the chicken coop, etc. And we are another step closer to growing grass in the woods.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Buttercup the Mule
Guinea Hens from Friends
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