No gruesome photos today.
Here is the breakdown on the costs of raising this batch of chickens, and my thoughts on whether it is worth it or not. If I didn’t stretch these chickens so far, getting 5 days of lunch meat for DH, 2 family meals and a fair amount of broth per week, raising [...]
Posts Tagged ‘pastured poultry’
Not for the squeamish…
Posted in agriculture, compost, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, lost skills, pastured poultry, sustainability, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, butchering, farm dogs, farm life, homesteading, lost skills, pastured poultry, stocking up, winter stores on June 28, 2008 | 23 Comments »
WARNING - LOTS OF BLOOD AND BODY PARTS WILL BE SHOWN AFTER THE SERENE VIDEO and the first 5 pictures.
Last supper - really it is last lunch.
Here is what those adorable chicks I showed you 8 weeks ago, turned into. Grass and grain eating and pooping fertilizing fools. I’ve just moved them to fresh grass, [...]
Trying to avoid chore time burnout
Posted in agriculture, cattle, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, pastured poultry, rotational grazing, sustainability, zero mile foodshed, tagged pastured poultry, homesteading, farm life, sustainability, pigs, daily farm life, clean water for the farm, farm chores, chore savers on June 26, 2008 | 10 Comments »
Chores on the farm can seem never ending. Trying to decide where to take shortcuts involves many factors, depending on what the task is. Joel Salatin says to try to keep daily chores per person to less than 4 hours. That is hard to do - but that 4 hours does seem like the magic [...]
Sick as a dog
Posted in agriculture, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, pastured poultry, rotational grazing, sustainability, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, farm life, pastured poultry, rotational grazing, Salatin-style farming, self-sufficiency, sustainability, zero mile foodshed on June 18, 2008 | 16 Comments »
I have been sick - actually we have all been sick. DH and DD were sick with some kind of gastro trouble 2 weeks ago, and of course, me of cast iron stomach just scoffed. My turn came last Friday, and I have been sick ever since. Of course the weather breaks and I have [...]
Trying not to be wasteful
Posted in agriculture, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, greenhouse, lost skills, pastured poultry, seed saving, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, wildlife, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, locavore, pastured poultry, seed saving, self-sufficiency, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on June 3, 2008 | 10 Comments »
I always feel guilty if I waste food. Whether from over planting, or being over zealous in my harvesting. I try to ask myself, “Is this better on the vine, in the ground, … , OR in the refrigerator?” The refrigerator is usually the most wasteful place for me, it costs money to run, and [...]
Jetta is going into therapy
Posted in agriculture, cattle, easily amused, family cow, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, milk cow, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, wildlife, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, family cow, farm dogs, farm life, greenhouse, pastured poultry, vegetable gardening, wildlife, zero mile foodshed on May 23, 2008 | 6 Comments »
She has to - she can’t deal with her owner anymore! I broke down and called the vet yesterday, and he gave me several reasons that I shouldn’t worry about the calf.
• The first baby can come at anytime.
• The bull, (whom we only know as Willy) may throw late calves.
• The owner can’t [...]
New stuff, but no baby Jetta
Posted in cattle, farm as desired, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, pastured poultry, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, zero mile foodshed, tagged beef cattle, farm life, greenhouse, pastured poultry, self-sufficiency, vegetable gardening, wildlife, zero mile foodshed on May 15, 2008 | 7 Comments »
We moved the cows from the Coyote (here we pronounce it Ki-yo-tee) field and through Cougar Heaven with no mishaps. One calf was born in the woods, but his mom bedded (told) him in the field we were moving them to. Smart Cow - she’s Jetta’s aunt, one of my mutts!
The road to Cougar Heaven.
I [...]
I’ve given up…, and chicken cheese!
Posted in cattle, easily amused, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, frugal living, milk cow, pastured poultry, sustainability, zero mile foodshed, tagged chickens, easily amused, family cow, farm life, frugal living, pastured poultry, zero mile foodshed on May 13, 2008 | 6 Comments »
This part of waiting for the family cow to freshen, drives my family crazy! I have given up, I will not check or look out the window and exclaim when I see Jetta peeing or looking at the ground at that imaginary calf. Hopefully, if I relax, she will, and something will happen. Cows that [...]
First calf, not Jetta’s :), :(
Posted in canning, cattle, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, pastured poultry, recipes, sustainability, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, beef cattle, cattle, chickens, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, pastured poultry, scratch cooking, self-sufficiency on May 9, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Jetta update: Nothing! Next Tuesday???
First calf of the season.
I was glad to see this guy, he the first. This cow had twins last year, she did as good a job as possible, but they were considerably smaller than the singletons. When fall came I sold them at auction since they were smaller, and always hungry. Since [...]
A little nature and a whole lotta nurture.
Posted in farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, pastured poultry, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, chickens, farm dogs, farm life, greenhouse, pastured poultry, Salatin-style farming on May 2, 2008 | 10 Comments »
Cornish Cross chicks in brooder - day 5. “Are we in the forest?”
I’m not a PC chicken farmer. By this I mean I don’t let my chickens free-range. There I said it! The F-word of the pastured poultry world. But, I know raising these chickens for part of our meat supply is an un-natural task. [...]
Sticker shock
Posted in farm life, frugal living, pastured poultry, scratch cooking, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged pastured poultry, zero mile foodshed, farm life, frugal living, chicks on April 29, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Chicks are here!
These guys and gals were hatched yesterday in Walla Walla and were here by 5:30 am this morning. It’s hard to believe in 8 weeks they’ll be in our freezer. They will still be peeping, just babes, a product of science. Short on feathers and looks, but long on meat. They will be [...]
It’s not chicken feed
Posted in cattle, compost, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, frugal living, milk cow, pastured poultry, redneck moments, zero mile foodshed, tagged family cow, farm life, pastured poultry on April 8, 2008 | 4 Comments »
My meat chicks are scheduled to arrive April 29th, so I had to order their food today. The feed mill that makes our chicken mash wanted 2 weeks notice. He is hanging on by a thread, with the current grain prices. Last year, our old feedmill went out of business, and sent us scrambling to [...]
Family cow III
Posted in Belly Acres (rant), cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, food preservation, pastured poultry, zero mile foodshed, tagged Guernsey family cow, pastured poultry, Salatin-style farming, zero mile foodshed on March 21, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Every farm and farm family is unique, due to location, expectations for the farm, etc. I’m hoping to convey how keeping a family cow fits into our lifestyle. In my farming life, I have only been without a family cow for months, never years. My methods are my methods, and suit my needs, which have changed [...]
Puppy training ( aka an excuse to work outside)
Posted in food preservation, greenhouse, pastured poultry, recipes, tagged Australian Shepherds, greenhouse, pastured poultry, scratch cooking on February 17, 2008 | No Comments »
We’ve been blessed with 50 degree weather for two days now, so blogging is only in my head. I hope to finish “TAKING STOCK” tomorrow… but the weather is saying 62 degrees - so please be patient.
The last two pups we’ve brought into the family were purchased in the fall. This has turned out perfect [...]
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