Follow me as I navigate this crazy, insane life with my husband, two girls, two dogs and 20 chickens! Laugh and cry with me as I figure out how to manage my mini farm, while having tiny fists rule my life.
Who isn't, right? I'm not someone who hates winter. I've lived in WNY my entire life, hell, I went to school in Buffalo! So I'm not afraid of a little snow.
I know it could be much worse.
I'd rather deal with a ton of snow, than deal with hurricanes, mudslides, earthquakes, etc. If I'm home and "snowed in" it's not a huge deal.
However, I'm DONE with winter by February.
Every February.
By this time every single year, I'm just dragging along.
I'm ready for warmth.
I'm ready for it to be light out when I get home from work (had to search the house for 15 minutes last night looking for the flashlight so I could go out and feed the chickens).
I'm ready for greenery.
I'm ready for all of us to be able to be OUTSIDE.
It's been a long week.
A very long, wintry, windy, snowy week.
We had the much anticipated wind storm over the weekend, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. We got some huge gusts, but our trampoline and playset stayed standing, and that's all I can hope for. School was closed Monday, due to the wind - it was howling most of the day and didn't die down until after dinner time.
I worked from home, in our new office space on Monday, so I could stay home with the kids.
Every time I heard a gust, I'd lean over to look out the window to see if the playset was still standing. (Thankfully it stayed upright).
So after that windy mess (many people were left without power for hours - we never lost power, a few flickers, but we never lost it), we are now in a "Winter Weather Advisory" today. We are expecting 4" - 8" by tonight.
I'm excited to take Bella on her first REAL hike through our woods.
I can't wait until I can take everyone to the lake!
Probably one of my favorite shots of Ava
We love the lake!
I bought 5 Morning Glory plants from a cute little old man at the
Farmer's Market in the parking lot of my work. They grew beautifully!
I love summer on the Farm!
My Aunt Lili (my mom's sister) came for a visit last summer.
When we started this whole "I think I want a farm" thing, we knew we'd start with something easy: chickens.
I had heard and read that roosters can be mean. Aggressive. But, that with handling and the right amount of human interaction, they could be decent pets.
We didn't have a rooster in our first flock. It's a guessing game - we got 6 chicks and we had to wait for them to grow before knowing if they were females/males.
Steve said it'd be a good idea to have one rooster in our flock. They protect the hens. Steve also likes the idea of waking up to a rooster cock-a-doodle-doing.
Our friend ended up with two roosters, so offered one to us to adopt. He wasn't very old at the time (6-8 months?) but we knew his father Cogburn was an asshole.
A big asshole.
Abu, as Mila affectionately called him (we have a Disney Movie theme going on...) was pretty good in the beginning.
Then he matured.
It was over the summer and I was wearing shorts and my muck boots (they up almost up to my knees). I headed out to the coop to water/feed, etc.
Before I knew it, Abu was attacking me from behind. Rooster Spurs are a real thing. I didn't know it at the time, but I learned quickly.
Roosters attack with their feet. They fly up and literally come at you with their crazy sharp claws/spurs.
I was hit.
Badly.
I was bleeding in 3 areas and he was not backing down.
I was screaming.
It is NO JOKE being attacked by a rooster.
So, I learned to take something with me to keep him at bay. I have a large stick that I've had for years (fire poker stick) that I now use to keep Abu away from me.
I always have to keep one eye on him. Which isn't always easy when I have two buckets full of food/grains, a stick, trying to FILL the food, removing the waterer and filling the waterer. It can be a handful sometimes.
He's attacked me several times, each time drawing blood.
He's even attacked me so badly that he went through my PANTS (when I smartened up) and drew blood.
He's even gone after the girls (let me be clear: I do NOT let the girls go where roosters are free-ranging - the incident where he PECKED HER FACE happened when Steve was on the mower and not paying attention as he should have been!!! We talked about it!)
So now I arm myself with a stick, a pitchfork, a large bucket, anything - just to keep distance between me and him. If Steve is out, he is less likely to attack me.
Steve has heard me screaming and has "come to the rescue" only to laugh at me while I'm running and flailing and yelling expletives, while a ferocious rooster is at my heels.
Thankfully I have two other roosters who don't seem to have the same mean streak.
We took the dogs for a quick hike while the girls snuggled in for some tablet time.
Bella is NOT fond of the cold weather. First, she is a West Virginia stray, so she was down south and likely didn't experience snow or anything too cold. Second, she has very short fur and her underside is basically bald.
It's funny because I swear, when she hears us talking about going outside, she suddenly won't make eye contact with us. As if to say "nope, not me, don't look at me"
We got her a fleece sweater to wear and then I also went and got her a new harness. Since she has to be leashed at all times, I wanted something more comfortable since she likes to run - then get choked up when she gets to the end of the 30 ft lead. I also started using a retractable leash, which I normally hate (people don't seem to understand that they should still be in control of their pets with these leashes - I've across some people whose dogs have run into the street or jump on people). Anyway, I figured since we're out on our property, it's fine and we'll get less tangled in the bushes. She did pull me into a huge thorn bush, but I also wasn't paying attention.
We're expecting some crazy weather over the weekend - winds up to like 70mph! We experienced a bad wind storm in 2017 as well and some people were without power for weeks. We didn't get hit that badly, but it did tear shingles off our roof, so we ended up getting a whole new roof last year.
Figured we'd take a quick hike through the woods before the weather got too nutty.
Bella is still getting used to everything and sniffing around and while she does not love the cold weather, it was like 40 degrees when we got out there.
Stopped to visit the chickens. Bella is not interested, while MR would love to eat one.
My beautiful Brahma
My girl Hei-Hei! She always comes right over.
We got the chickens ready for the storm too; made sure their water was full and plugged in, food was full. Eggs were gathered.
As of recently, we've made it a "thing" to try to hit up a few concerts each summer. We're super lucky that we have a performing arts center close to our house. (It takes about 15 minutes to get there with no traffic).
We have a larger venue about an hour away, but that venue...is gross. I mean, it's big, so I get it. But the last concert I went to there (Luke Bryan) was the summer of 2014. I was pregnant (so I was sober), and it rained. A lot. The entire night.
We had lawn seats. If anyone has been to Darien Lake Amphitheater, you'll know that the lawn there...is questionable at best.
The first time I got lawn seats was when I was 13 years old and it was a Dave Matthews concert. That was an interesting night. Let's just say a lot changed since I was 13.
Anyway, being on the lawn at Darien, in the rain, while pregnant, was the last straw. Too many DRUNK AS FUCK girls (wearing NOTHING - pouring rain here girls!) vomiting all over the place, falling down drunk.
It was not fun.
At all.
Some drunk girl was totally flirting with Steve and then looked at me.
Me: hi, I'm his pregnant wife
Drunk girl: he's cute, BYYYYYYYEEEEE
Me:.....
I spent the night sloshing through muddy vomit, having people fall around me left and right. People visibly puking their brains out right next to me.
I was lucky that one of Steve's friends offered me his poncho. Of course I took it.
We left before the concert was even over.
Steve's friend went out of the gates for something, wasn't allowed back in and had to spend pretty much the entire concert in the bed of his own truck. Alone.
Anyway, it was after that that I decided I wouldn't go to another concert unless we had seats. Or unless it was at CMAC (near our house). That lawn is actually NICE. People actually put blankets down and sit to watch the concert.
2015:
Kenny Chesney (Jake Owen and Chase Rice opened)
2016:
Kenny Chesney (Old Dominion opened)
Keith Urban (Little Big Town opened)
2017:
Keith Urban (Brett Eldredge opened) Steve actually slapped them both up when they walked past him.
Luke Bryan (Maren Morris opened, I think)
2018:
Keith Urban (Kelsea Ballerini opened) I touched him. Twice. NBD.
Alan Jackson - I didn't think this would be a crazy concerts, but man, definitely one of my favorites! He's amazing live!
What's coming up this year: Jerry Seinfeld (Steve's favorite TV show of all time) Jason Aldean (Kane Brown opening)
When we started our research into chickens, we looked for certain breeds that would do well in our climate, are family (kid) friendly, and who produce good eggs. (Ironically, me and my two girls are allergic to eggs!)
We went to our local Runnings to check out the different breeds they carry. They probably had about 15 different breeds, but could also special order anything we wanted. We could also purchase online, but I was a little hesitant to order something alive and have it shipped. The poor baby chicks!
We started our flock with Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, and Black Sex Links.
Rhode Island Reds: good for beginners, cold-hardy, dual purpose (meat + egg laying). We started with 3 of these guys and adopted 12 last year. So we have a bunch of these girls.
Barred Rocks: these are also good for beginners, cold-hardy, dual purpose and friendly! We started out with 3, and then I think I lost 2 along the way.
Buff Orpingtons: same as above - and these are big chickens! Again, we started out with more than 1 of these guys, but I lost one to a fox that fateful night 2 years ago. I watched a fox take away one of these guys. It was horrible. We've only got Buffy left! She's an interesting bird. For the longest time, she would not leave the coop. She'd hang out in the hen house, or chill in the covered coop, but refused to go outside. Not sure why! As of late last fall/early winter, she finally decided to head outside and enjoy nature with the other birds.
Black Sex Links: we had 3, but only Hei-Hei is left. Sex linked chickens are hybrids - a cross between two standard breeds (in our case, likely a Rhode Island red rooster and a Barred rock hen). These guys are super hardy and good foragers. Hei-Hei is super social and has been since she was a chick. She was the first and only chick to be SUPER interested in us whenever we interacted with them. She jumped on our hands and will eat out of our hands now. She likes to be picked up and petted! I never knew chickens could have personalities, or that I'd ever love a chicken.
This was our initial flock. Year two we tried different breeds - we welcomed Brahmas, Silver-laced wyandotte (sadly, they liked to leave the safety of our fenced in area and were likely taken/eaten by a fox) and New Jersey Giants to our flock.
Brahmas: we have a rooster and a hen. They are both big. The rooster is huge. He's much bigger than Abu. They are generally friendly, docile and calm birds. We've had no issues with aggression.
Silverlaced Wyandotte: these guys are gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. We had 3 and lost them all to the damn fox (we think). These birds liked to leave the fenced area and we found lots of feathers.
New Jersey Giants: Amongst the heaviest of all birds. My rooster is HUGE! He does not seem to be a jerk, either. They are known as docile and gentle birds, who are kid-friendly. I'm hoping to add some silkiesto our flock this year. They are the long-haired kinds. They look hilarious. There's also a breed of chicken that has super long legs and looks like they are on stilts. I would love a couple of those guys! I would also like the very "traditional" Leghorn. Think of Looney Toons' Foghorn Leghorn character. They look similar to my New Jersey Giant, but I read that they are "nervous and flighty" so perhaps they are not a good breed for our farm. Here is a good link that lists the breeds and if they are a good fit for your family. Just like with any other pet you bring into your home, it's YOUR responsibility to make sure it will fit into your family. We have never brought a pet into our home and then rehomed it. We research and then we commit. Once the pet is ours, it's ours and we do our best to give it the best home.
Before our grand idea to build a hall tree/mud room, we needed a coat rack of some sort. We never come in through the front door, because, well, there is no front walkway (another one of those "he must have run out of money" thoughts about the original owner/builder). We have 2 front closets, which are really convenient - Steve and I each have our own. But, we come in through the garage and right into a hallway that leads to our kitchen.
There was no good spot to put our stuff.
And with kids, there's just so. much. stuff.
I mentioned to Steve that a simple coat rack/hook thing would be great in that hallway.
So this man decides to chop down a tree in our woods and make me one.
No shit. Ok.
I think I had mentioned in a previous post that Steve's maternal grandfather "Teenie" had given Steve ALL of his carpentry tools when he passed away.
He has every kind of saw. And probably multiples.
He has 10 of the exact same nail guns.
He has a portable air compressor.
He has a full sized, ginormous air compressor.
He has a band saw, a mitre saw, a table saw, a circular saw, seriously, every single carpentry tool, he has it.
I'm really glad he enjoys building things and using all these tools. Grandpa would be so proud.
I wanted it to have a "natural" edge on it, so that's why he cut down his own tree to do this.
He left it outside to get "weathered."
He bought a "welcome to our home" sign for it.
There's even a bullet fragment in it, that adds just a bit of character.
Sorry for the terrible cell phone pic and bad lighting
I absolutely love this. I love that Steve hand made this for me. (And, this is for those people who know me IRL - look at the coat hangers - don't they look like little wieners? Haha!)
The natural bark edge that he kept.
I told him he should start an ETSY shop and start selling :)
I know. I KNOW. My life is pretty much always insane. So why did I decide to add yet one more thing to my plate?
I have no idea.
But, something just struck me and I had to help.
It was a few weeks before the Christmas holiday, last year (2018). I was on facebook and saw a local article posted about an Afghani man and his son, who just landed in my area to settle into a new life, here in the United States. He was an interpreter for the U.S. Army and the Taliban was after him and his family. During their trip over, his wife and other children did not make it. He and his son were rescued when their boat overturned.
No One Left Behind is a non-profit organization to help America’s Wartime Allies with Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) resettle safely in the United States. Read about their mission here. You can follow them on facebook as well.
I decided to sign up as a volunteer.
My first assignment was simple. There was a family coming here and they have a one year old baby girl. I offered to gather clothing, diapers and a car seat for the baby. I was so happy that I was able to help. Lots of people helped me too! Our daycare provider gave me all of the diapers you see below. She has a lot of connections and people were so generous! We were also able to provide lots of winter clothing for the baby as well.
My involvement includes being a part of a "Caring Circle" which is a group of volunteers (there are 5-6 in my group) who takes on certain responsibilities to help a certain family.
The family we are helping is a man and his 30 week pregnant wife. They just arrived last Wednesday and unfortunately, I missed the first meeting due to being out of town.
My contributions are no more than a few hours each month. Completely doable. And most of it is online (email) correspondence. Although, I'm hoping to actually meet this family and help them in a more personal manner.
Types of support we provide:
- Just having a group of people who are there for them is a huge benefit
- We help them go to Department of Social Security and the Department of Human Services to get the appropriate paperwork that is needed
- We help get them settled into an apartment and coordinate rent, utilities, etc.
- Help with registration with OACES (Office of Adult and Career Education Services)
- Get an employment evaluation done so they can get employed ASAP
- Help with necessities - baby gear, maternity gear, etc.
- The goal is to help these SIV families become independent here and to be able to be self-sufficient
Not only am I volunteering, but I somehow got Steve involved :)
One of the emails I received was about 3 Afghan men who are currently enrolled in school and are looking for help in the automotive world. They had (or one of them have) worked in auto mechanics in Afghanistan, AND for the U.S. Army on those vehicles. One of the organizers was asking for anyone who could potentially help these men learn English as it relates to auto mechanics. Well, Steve is perfect for that.
He's super patient.
He's super smart.
He's a wonderful teacher.
So, now he has been in contact with that group, hoping to get them settled and on their feet as well!
I'm so grateful that I'm able to provide support in this manner. Not only is it so beneficial for these families, but it's good for my soul.
This post will take you back. Back to when I was 15 (Steve was 14) and met Steve for the first time. We were hanging out in the backyard of a mutual friend and an immature Steve decided to throw a football into a crowd of people and it hit the back of my head.
I went off on him (for those of you who know me IRL, this should not come as a shock to any of you).
And then we just kind of hit it off, I guess you could say.
I spent countless hours in his driveway with all of our friends.
When all our friends would leave, it'd just be me and him sitting in the Adirondack chairs his Grandpa Teenie made.
We remained very close all throughout high school. I gave him girl advice; he gave me boy advice.
He was even my Junior Prom date.
Circa 1998
We both went off to college after high school.
He went to Chicago to attend a technical institute to learn about auto mechanics.
I headed an hour and a half west to go to college.
We stayed in touch, but we both did fully enjoy the experience of being on "our own" and making new friends. I'd say we talked every couple of months.
I'm also so old that this was JUST the beginning of IM-ing and texting and such. So yes, we talked on the PHONE every couple of months.
Then when I was in my 3rd year of college, my then-boyfriend broke my heart by cheating on me.
I booked a flight to Chicago to see Steve.
The visit was platonic. We went to the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower) and did some sight seeing. He took me down Miracle Mile to see the lights.
It was a nice 3 day getaway for me.
The one memory that is burned into my brain is when he met me at the Midway Airport. I came down the escalators and he was just standing there at the bottom. I'm not sure why it warms my heart the way it does, because we were not a couple at that time.
Maybe because it reminds me of a scene in one of my all time favorite movies "Cruel Intentions" when Sebastian meets Annette at the train station before she leaves. She's also riding an escalator (only going up, I was going down).
Maybe it's because I absolutely love the song that plays during this part of the movie.
Anyway, after we both graduated and became "grown ups" we still remained very close.
Then one drunken night, playing Kings Cup (anyone remember that game?! OMG I drank entirely too much) and we shared a drunken kiss.
My college friends warned me NOT to get into a relationship with a friend. We'd ruin what we had.
My hometown friends said "he's loved you for 8 years, give him a chance."
So, I did.
The rest, they say, is history.
Circa 2004 (this was after he broke his nose)
I ended up with Ruple. Back then, I never would've thought I'd end up with him.
And now, I can't imagine my life without him.
I'm grateful that we didn't get together during the dramatic high school years. I feel like we would've been too immature and broken up and then who knows what would have happened?
I married my legit best friend.
I'm about 15 pounds heavier on my wedding day than today. (sigh)
Check out this handsome guy
One of my fave pics. This is just us.
Here's the quote I found that I thought would be perfect for our wedding. Steve's sister Lisa read it during the ceremony:
It is often said that it is love that makes the world go round. However, without doubt, it is friendship which keeps our spinning existence on an even keel. True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy life — it is the foundation on which to build an enduring relationship, it is the mortar which bonds us together in harmony, and it is the calm, warm protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic. True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without destroying our sense of worthiness. True friendship nurtures our hopes, supports us in our disappointments, and encourages us to grow to our best potential. Steve and Lesley came together as friends. Today, they pledge to each other not only their love, but also the strength, warmth and, most importantly, the fun of true friendship.
by Judy Bielicki
With his automotive technician degree/certification (I'm not sure of the formal name) and about 6 months spent at Ford Racing, Steve now works as a Shop Foreman at a local Ford dealership in our area. He was an auto technician for about 7-8 years (only!!) before being promoted to Team Leader (he lead a team of techs and got bonuses each time a team member hit bonus), and then that led to his most current position, as one of two Shop Foremen (there are two shifts).
We're lucky because now he's the "boss" of the shop, and is salaried. I can't tell you how hard it is to do a family budget when one person's income is "Flat Rate" - meaning, if a job pays 20 hours for the repair, if the technician completes it in less than 20 hours, he/she still gets paid for the 20 hours. Sounds great right?
Except when it goes the other way.
A job pays 20 hours. But you've spent 40 on it. You'll only get paid for 20 hours. If there's no work, techs could theoretically stand around at work, but not get paid.
I remember many winter months when Steve's paycheck was less than ideal. That being said, he had some crazy awesome weeks in the summer that made up for it.
But, now that he's salary, we're good. He still gets bonuses based on how well the shop does.
I, on the other hand, went to a 4 year SUNY school for my undergraduate degree. I did an internship at an ad agency my senior year of college and I was hooked!
I'm now an Account Supervisor working at my 4th ad agency. I love marketing, I love advertising, I love understanding what makes people tick and what makes them purchase a product or service. I work a traditional Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm, but I'm very lucky in that my place of employment is extremely flexible and casual.
So that's what we do when we're not managing our mini-farm!
If you know me or Steve IRL, you'll know that we've tossed this idea around forever. Do we want a camp in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains (a place we absolutely LOOOOVE) or do we want to try to invest in a waterfront house? (Lake/Ocean?)
Let me be clear: we have no money. Ha! Well, that's not entirely true. We have no money at the moment. Almost every penny we save goes back into the house or the kids. But, BUT! The goal is to one day have money! And what we want to do with that, we're not sure.
DUH - we are obviously putting aside the "traditional" items we have to save for: college tuition for two kids, make sure our 401Ks are good and we put as much away in that, as much as we can stand (while still trying to live a life). Let's hope when I revisit this blog in 15 years, we will have a camp :)
Steve and I are on Zillow probably every week, just perusing the options. Seeing what's out there. Seeing what we could potentially afford in say, 15 years.
We kept going back and forth (hypothetically, ha!) on whether we wanted to be close to water or not. We're leaning towards not.
For starters, anything that is waterfront will cost an arm and a leg and will require us to sign over our first-born child.
Secondly, we currently live near the lake. Not ON the lake, but damn close to it (about a 5 minute drive).
Thirdly, we want land. True, we could try to purchase property that backs to state land, but after talking it over with Steve, realized that we will need our own property, so we can cut down trees and whatnot. Steve is thinking upwards of 20 acres. (!!!) Maybe he'll settle for 10.
So we created a new account that will be used specifically for this. We will put whatever extra funds we have each month (after our other savings account and kids accounts and 401K are dealt with) and see where it takes us.
A few things we need to take into account:
- Proximity - since we want to actually use this camp as a vacation home, and use it on weekends in the summer and in the winter, we want to be able to get to the camp in less than 3 hours (2 - 2.5 hours would be ideal). Steve will need to be able to get to the camp easily to check on it. But, we also want to be near a certain location for snowmobiling in the winter. It needs to be "up north" enough and near the trails.
- If this actually comes to fruition, how will we remove snow up there? In theory, it sounds fun to get a shit-ton of snow and bring toys up there. But if you can't even get up your own driveway....well that would suck. So we'd have to invest in some sort of snow removal equipment. But it'd be nice if it had more than one purpose, so it looks like Steve just might get his tractor some day.
- Acreage - I'd be fine with less acreage than Steve, but in the long run, it does make sense to buy as much property as we can afford. It'll just go up in value and it'd be so nice to own our own paradise.
- The camp itself - let's just say this: I'm all for roughing it, but having asthma, two kids (one who will be diagnosed with asthma), two dogs, etc. I'm hoping for something more along the lines of GLAMPING. I'd love for it to have electricity (via generator) and running water (I doubt this will happen). We stayed at a beautiful log cabin the summer of 2013 and it was absolutely glorious. The cabin was new, well maintained and simply gorgeous. If we're lucky, we can find a camp that has been started (frame/shell) but that we could finish up. At the same time, I think it'll be fun to build a tiny home. I actually think we could do it, too.
Steve and I went back and forth for a bit when we were deciding on chickens.
Are we sure we want this lifestyle? Can we handle it? We both have full time jobs outside of the home that keep us busy.
We have friends who started their homestead before we did, so I asked "what does it REALLY take to take care of chickens?"
I wanted to know if I was in over my head.
My friend told me he went out a few times a week to check water/food levels, gather eggs and do maintenance. Relatively low key and easy. Not a huge time suck.
That's all the chickens needed for the first few months of life (before they got feathers and could go outside to the big coop).
This is after we moved them out to the coop for the first time.
And here's my girl He-Hei!
I replaced the pine shavings probably every 2-3 days from the tub.
Food and water was refilled every day or so.
It wasn't nearly as complicated as I had thought. Or as expensive. And it does not take up a huge amount of time.
Now, I probably spend 20-30 minutes every 1-2 days on chicken maintenance (I could likely go to every 2-3 days). We do not remove their pine shavings or hay everyday or even every week. We turn it over every few weeks and place new on top. Read about the Deep Litter Method here.
Each spring we will dig out the old shit and replace with all new.
This spring we plan on getting at least 6 more chicks. We have lost a few recently so we have plenty of room for more.
I'm telling you. Things happen to me. Thankfully I can look back and laugh at myself.
This happened on a normal weekday.
Steve's at work by the time the girls and I get up to start our morning routine.
I get the girls settled in for breakfast and decide to run out and throw some leftovers to the chickens in their run (this was before we had the fence).
So I go into their run and carefully close the door - closed enough they won't run out (no time to chase chickens this morning), but not so hard that it latches (and locks me in).
Welp. Guess what happened.
Yup.
It latched.
I was locked in.
Legitimately locked in.
Fuck.
FUCK FUCK FUCK
Yelling is no good - the girls cannot hear me.
We have no neighbors.
I am grateful I have my car keys on me - I try to use my house key to get in between the wire mesh and the wood, so I can try to pry it open enough to squeeze my hand through and unlatch.
The key broke in half.
My hand is bleeding.
I'm sweating at this point.
I have 30 minutes until the bus comes.
I start crying, in a frustrating manner, trying desperately to get this wire bent so I can squeeze my hand in.
I'm able to get a FINGER in and use everything that I have to pull it open and I do it (after about 20 minutes of struggling).
THANK GOD.
Now I'm running back to the house - I need to change my clothes because I've sweat through the first outfit.
Bandage my hand.
We missed the bus.
I take Ava to daycare.
I drive Mila to school.
Then I go to work.
We decided to attach a line to the lever on the INSIDE of the coop, so if it latches again on us, we can easily unlatch it and open the door from the inside.
Our barn was supposed to go up in 2018. That was the plan, after we successfully put our fence up.
But then we got a pool.
So the barn plan got pushed back.
It's supposed to happen this year - well, at least started this year.
All this time has allowed us to research what kind of barn would suit our needs.
My initial research indicated that I only needed to provide a 3 sided shelter for the goats, to keep them out of the wind, rain, and/or extreme weather.
They need about 15-20 sq ft of indoor space, per goat. They need about 150-200 sq ft of outdoor space, per goat.
Of course this also depends on the breed of goat. Nigerians or Pygmys are small and don't need as much space. Larger breeds like Nubians (I love their big, flat ears!) would require what I state above.
If anyone knows me IRL, knows that this minimum is unacceptable.
And, if you've been following me, you will likely know by now that my husband is incapable of building anything on a "small scale".
See my posts on the how he built the mudroom and the chicken coop to see how he is an overachiever.
Since a goat needs a friend (they do not do well as solitary animals - they get lonely) we will need to accommodate more than one. My goal is to have two goats, a donkey and a mini horse. So I will need roughly 1,000 sq ft of pasture (assuming donkeys and mini horses require the same amount of space - will need to do more research on that).
Luckily for us, our pasture is around 4,500 sq. ft.
My pets will get the best that I can afford. So they will get a barn with stalls that can be enclosed all the way in case of bad weather. They will have a comfy place to lay down and sleep. I will make sure to clean out their areas as much as necessary.
A concrete floor would make sense for the storage area, so things don't get mucky and gross. But it's not good for goats to lay or jump on (so hard they could potentially break a leg by jumping on concrete).
Wood isn't a terrible option, but can absorb bacteria and get gross after a while.
Dirt with a layer of straw on top is likely the way to go.
We chose the location of the barn based on a couple of things - we wanted to make sure the area was not too wet. The middle portion of our yard can get very swampy in the spring and when it rains, and we didn't want to deal with that with goats and other livestock.
We cleared a huge area that was once covered in trees, shrubs, miscellaneous plant life.
You can just barely see the shed through all the brush here. The trampoline was also moved.
Still clearing
Making progress!
Finally cleared!
And it's done! We fenced in an area that is 50ft x 90ft.
Here is the finished product, later that same year.
The Barn will go directly opposite the chicken coop, on the other (left) side of the pasture.
I love that we didn't eat into our yard at all to have this pasture. We have enough land on that side of our property, that were able to clear away so much stuff and have land just for our livestock. The amount of green grass yard we have is the same as we always have had (roughly 5 acres).
My new garden will need to go somewhere over here as well. That will likely eat up some yard space, but not too much.
Our hope is to start the barn in June/July, after finishing up the pool deck. Let's hope things go smoothly so that I have a barn up by the end of the year!
We use predominantly wood (pine) shavings for our chicken coop and for their bedding. We use large wood shavings because anything too fine can be dusty and damp. I've read that people use dried leaves, sticks, even paper as a base to start. Cedar pine shavings have an oil that can be harmful and even toxic to chickens, so make sure to use pine. Again, we are not the fancy type, so we use a generic kind. It's cheap - around $6 for a 35lb compressed cube.
When we first started, we had about 4-6 inches of shavings on the floor of the coop. It provides a nice soft surface for the chickens to walk on, absorbs their poop and odor so it isn't super stinky.
The high carbon content of wood shavings balances out the high nitrogen in chicken shit. Shavings are also easy to clean up with a shovel and easy to loosen and fluff with a pitchfork. A healthy bedding will provide a carbon/nitrogen balance and host beneficial bacteria along with your chicken poop.
We use the Deep Litter Method. Instead of scooping out and replacing chicken coop litter frequently, we allow the shit and bedding material to accumulate and decompose inside the coop. As with composting, beneficial microbes actually help control pathogens, so chickens are less susceptible to diseases. Our chickens have a dry, fluffy and absorbent floor and we have less maintenance. It's a win/win.
Every so often we will go turn the coop litter with a pitch fork. The chickens turn it over for us, by scratching and foraging, but we give it a good once over to introduce oxygen and make sure there are no big hard clumps. If there are, we break them up or scoop them out.
Since the weather was decent over the weekend (freezing, but dry and sunny), we decided we'd add more shavings and freshen up the coop.
We got 15 eggs in one day! (There are only 12 in the above pic,
we gathered 3 from earlier in the morning).
That the most we've EVER gotten in one day.
We also realized when we were out there that it seems that we have a few chickens missing. We counted 22. Just because we didn't count them, doesn't always mean they are gone for good. I've found that some of my chickens will "run away" (I've been very sad about this), only to realize that they've come back after a day or two.
Since their coop is close to the edge of our wooded area, a couple of chickens will roost in the trees at night and then come back down in the morning.
But, it looks like we're going to need some new chicks in the spring! Baby chickens are the cutest. And it allows us another chance to try out a different breed. I want a chicken that lays BLUE eggs!
