Homesteading with animals...post a pic!

[FarmerChick]

LOL Ticks---it is alot in reality but I don't work a "real" job now. I had my daughter 3 yrs. ago and quit real work and we upped the farm income.

Tony works a real job also. 12 hr. shift work, 4 on, then 4 off. Poor guy is feeling the strain now. Too much, as we are getting older and the old body sure feels it..HA HA

We started with land and wanting a lifestyle more grounded, love animals and farming and more own personal control.....then it snowballed..HA HA

Next thing you know you are up to your eyeballs in customers. Once customers want more and more, you try to provide....then it gets out of hand.

I stopped dreaming of new ways to make money on the farm. For years that is all I thought about, I can make, we can breed, we can sell, we can......Nope, we can't. We are at our limit..LOL

There are days I talk to myself wondering what I got into..HA HA...but most days I smile cause I am doing what so many others would love to do and I have what I love...farm, animals, open land, income, togetherness with working with the family, etc. Good thing we all work together welll...or someone would be dead by now..HA HA

It's all good

 

[FarmerChick]

Funny thing is I manage to work it all thru the day

Nicole is sleeping and I am making a batch of soap in my computer/soap room, (while I chat on the 'puter in between) I have eggs in the kitchen (about 40 doz to wash) and I go inbetween.....might wander down in a minute and feed goats and dogs/cats before Nicole wakes up.......so it all gets done, but at least the way I want to plan it thru the day. No boss but me..HA HA

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Sounds like so far there is a lot of hard working going on. To me though, it's all hard work whether you have 1 acre or 100 acres. If you are making the land work for you, it's hard. My family and I here in Southside Virginia only have 1 1/4 acres so we are considered a small farm. This is our first year so there will be more $ fork-outs than $ profit.

We have invested in several chickens, RIR - Golden Reds - Black Stars - 1 White Leghorn Roo and 1 RIR Roo. We plan to sell the eggs, starting soon, people here love fresh eggs. And once the hens stop laying we will then process the hen into meat for the family. Myself and 2 friends are planning to purchase 100 Cornish X Broilers to process for our families.

We have a few ducks that were given to us by a couple and I have come to find that people love little ducks. They also love duck eggs. So, we are also planning to sell some of those.

We have invested in 2 turkeys in hopes to have a tom and a hen so that we can sell turkeys for the holiday seasons. I, myself, invested in 2 Guineas to help protect the flock of turkeys and chickens. They do their job, seriously.

We also have 2 goats. Pygmy. Male and female. Will breed to sell kids from them. Also to use milk for drinking and making soap. Neighbors also have 2 Pygmy females so I might rent out male to them.

We grow a small garden for us and family. I can (preserve) all that I get. I love to be outside doing something. Always trying to improve on the things we have. We are a one income family. I have cut so many corners now I am going in a circle. LOL Love trying to help provide for my family. Love teaching my girls all they will need when they are older.

Just trying to get going. It's hard work, as mentioned before. Will pay off in the end.

Have added a few pics of our place. Hope you enjoy the tour..............................................

First off..... some of the views here are magnificent

Here are a couple pics of our chickens..............not all are in the pic................

Here are 2 of the ducks...........

Here's the 2 Turkeys and 2 Guineas................

Here's Clyde...............

Here's Bonnie...............

Here is the brooder I use for the chicks that I buy form farm stores. After the above chickens start to get broody I may be selling it.

Here is a few pics of the set-up we have..........

Hope you enjoyed it. My day starts at 5:30 a.m. with getting the hubby off to work. I have my quiet time before waking the kids. I get breakfast ready. Feed and Water the animals. Kids do school until 1:00 and then we start with the chores. Our day usually doesn't end until around 7:00 pm. Except on Sundays.

I wish many, many blessings to all who work hard each and every day to provide for their families. God bless.

 

[Beekissed]

Guys, I just love the pics and the run down on the chores and your day! Now, that is the kind of information that all of us, who aspire to do what you are doing, really need.

Farmerchick, you are truly blessed and you ARE doing what so many of us always wanted to do...so when you feel wore out, think of all the girls who wanted to be a farmer's wife and never made it! What a blessing to get to stay home with your child...you will never know how many of us wanted to and never could.

Thechickcrew, lovely pics of all your flocks! Thank you for the descriptions of your place and what you are doing.

You all don't know how much this helps encourage those who think it can't be done or it will never happen....thank you!

 

[FarmerChick]

What a blessing to get to stay home with your child...you will never know how many of us wanted to and never could.

*********you said it right there. a monster plus to making some income from the farm. it means I don't have to work outside the home to bring in real income. I love it...well said!!!

 

[ticks]

nice pics thechickcrew!

 

[Beekissed]

I live on approx 1.5 acres that I rent. It has 16 apples trees of different varieties. I have a small flock of 10 chickens, but just added 26 heavy breed layer chicks to that for next years egg production.

This year the boys and I plowed up a good sized garden and tried out some raised bed, mulched gardening. This is my experimental year with different types of gardening and plants. Also planting herbs, perennials and cut flowers for selling, drying for dried flower arrangements, herbs for my soaps and salves, etc. Next year I plan to start selling vegetables and fruit in a big way. This year I will sell my excess and some of the apples at roadside.

Next spring I will be getting honeybees. I wanted to do so this year but the financial flow was a trickle! I will sell the honey, beeswax candles, salves and lip balms from the bees at the roadside....well, out of my little ramshackle garage. I'm fixing it up for the quaintness facture...those city folks like old and cute!

Next year I will try to have the following items for sale in my roadside farmstand:

Eggs
Honey
Vegetables
Perennials in pots
Cut flowers
Dried and fresh herbs
Dried flower wreaths and baskets
Soaps, lotions, lip balms, bath salts, sugar scrubs.
Apples (Apple butter, apple sauce, dried apples, apple head dolls)
Pumpkins
Handcrafted windchimes, miniature quilts (I call them "baby" quilts...can be used for baby, wall hanging, throws, etc. They will have the usual quilt patterns and colors), homemade bread, spicey popcorn, hot pepper butter.

I hope to get a hair sheep in the spring also, to keep down the orchard and lawn and to sell offspring at market. Hope to milk her some also, just to experiment with some soft cheeses, covered in my herbs. Thinking about getting a pair of geese for down harvest, for making my small quilts into down throws.

After I have all that organized and going, I hope to do small tours or walk throughs with local school children or tourists. I think its important to keep people interested in farming, growing and the end product.

This is my garden early this spring, with the first row of apple trees in the background.

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My LGD watching my free rangers.

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Some of my raised beds...they aren't real deep but I plan to add on to them later.

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The start of my egg production unit...

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Its all a work in progress and we've just got started, so it will take a while to get up and running, but I am excited about all the possibilities. I already had someone stop and ask if we were selling beans...wouldn't you know it, I only planted a few and got them out late because I was waiting on the seed to come!

Next year.....

 

[ticks]

Those are really nice pics. I would like to have honey next year too.

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Thanks for the compliments ticks and Beekissed.

Beekissed -- nice place you have there. You can do a whole lot with only an acre or so, so use what you have to work for you. I myself would love to have some honey bees but I am highly allergic to any type of bee, so I can't do that.

I do hope to have new kids from our goats, poults from our turkeys, ducklings from our ducks and chicks from our chickens next year. This is our year of beginnings, next year will tell us how we are doing.

For all of you here that cannot own a farm animal for certain reasons, please visit my website. Click on the link under my avatar. I have a sponsor a pet program for those who would love to have a farm animal. E mail me for more information.

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks for the compliments ticks and Beekissed.

Beekissed -- nice place you have there. You can do a whole lot with only an acre or so, so use what you have to work for you. I myself would love to have some honey bees but I am highly allergic to any type of bee, so I can't do that.

I do hope to have new kids from our goats, poults from our turkeys, ducklings from our ducks and chicks from our chickens next year. This is our year of beginnings, next year will tell us how we are doing.

For all of you here that cannot own a farm animal for certain reasons, please visit my website. Click on the link under my avatar. I have a sponsor a pet program for those who would love to have a farm animal. E mail me for more information.

Isn't it exciting to plan for next year? You know, I notice a strange phenomenon here in the local classifieds publication. I've been here for 2 years and maybe saw a few adds for chickens and other poultry and none about bees.....until now. Just when I can't afford anything at all, there have been several such ads in the last few months! They are even advertising a pair of Embden geese for $12 a pair! That's the exact breed I'm wanting for down production....wouldn't you know it? And honeybees....$140 for a full hive!!!! Good price!

TCC: I will email you for the link to your website, would love to check it out!