Buttercup, 3 weeks later

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.

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

We work hard to be as sustainable as possible, but there are still many instances where I think we could do much better.....

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

We took a trip down to Lancaster County hoping to find some animal powered farming equipment at at auction. These photos show the contrast between the "English" and Amish parking areas!

Working towards Silvopasture. Or, clearing the woods.

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.

Buttercup the Mule

This week we were lucky to bring home a new friend, Buttercup. Buttercup is a Belgian Draft mule who was slated to go for slaughter after being sold at the New Holland auction last week. Instead, he has come to Hickory Field Farm to help us out with our efforts to become more sustainable by reducing our use of the tractor. First, he will have some much needed R&R. He has already become a stoic guardian of the laying hens, and is especially watchful of the new pullets we added this month.

Guinea Hens from Friends

Last weekend our friends Erin and Eric gave us four Guinea Hens that they could no longer keep. We had been interested in them for a while as they are known to keep the tick population down on their property.....apparently 1 Guinea Hen can keep 1 acre tick-free. After locking them in their coop for the week to establish their roosting instinct at their new home we let them out for the first time today. They immediately took off and disappeared, despite our efforts to track them with the dogs and on horseback. Luckily, later in the afternoon we heard them come squawking down the driveway and go straight into their coop. Hopefully they stay a little closer to home in the future!