Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been up to lately around the farm:
Moo's colorful shed out
My brother's visit- he drove 3000 miles to cut up some trees for us.
More of my brother's handy work. It's so much easier to see off the deck without that silly, overgrown arborvitae in the way! As you can see, it was also in an obnoxious place at the bottom of the stairs.
Peeps! Some for eating, some for laying.
More peeps! These are Black Jersey Giants. They remind me of pandas when they're little with their coloring, but will turn all black as grown ups. They are slower to mature and will be HUGE chickens, weighing on average as much as a small turkey. These are to be layers for now.
Birthday present for Bad Pants. 
Some of BP's handy work (and a Roxanne) to protect new grill from a certain nutty Aussie (coughCOPPERcough). The gate matches the decorative fanning on the deck. The carabiner clip is to keep Rox and Bear from opening the gate. It's located safely away from anywhere Bear could get his jaw stuck on it.
Hay net frustration and suspicion. Mwhahahahahaha! It took them a good 30 minutes to get over it the first time, 15 the second, and were old pros the third time.
In fact, Sugar had to show the other horses how it was done. Here, she pauses from eating to pose for her photo op.
Rox has a new playmate!
Her very own, wiggly, mini-me! That's right! We adopted a new pup from a kill shelter on Saturday. Lyra (puppy) is a Mastiff/Lab x pup, 4 mo old, very shy and under-socialized, with feet larger than Roxanne's, but very quickly coming out of her shell. She's not up for holding still for photo ops now that she realizes we won't eat her.
Beyond this, we’ve just been working on getting stuff done around here. You know, mowing our 2 acre lawn with a push mower because the riding mower that came with the house is really, actually broken. Rolling hay rounds, fixing things, etc.
That’s all that’s new here. How about with you? What’ve you been up to?
Wow – you guys have been busy! The place is looking good…
The new puppy is adorable – I’m sure she will do well in your care.
Thanks! We’re already head over heels in love with her! I’ll have to tell more of her story soon.
Great idea with the haybag – is it a normal one, or a special kind for turnout? Miss Dolly needs one of those for when she comes home.
It’s a slow feed hay net, so it takes them longer to go through it and they can’t get hooves stuck in it. I bought mine at Chick’s. http://www.chicksaddlery.com/page/CDS/PROD/SF1802 The other thing I did was take the string off and use a carabiner to close it up. It’s so easy to use this way!
I’ve been busy doing some overtime at work – which is good for some $$ and the rest of my time has been spent packing and decluttering the house.
Soon you will be done though! Then there will be unpacking, which you can take your time about. I sure have!
Wow so much to comment on! First, of course, Lyra is so sweet looking. I’m so happy she was lucky enough to become part of your family
Thanks! She seems to be an easy and awesome puppy. Now, to redirect her chewing needs to the RIGHT thing instead of paper, books and the coffee table…
Where Moo’s mane & forelock are orangey… that’s from the soil staining it right? I think that’s what we were talking about before.
Yep, her punk rock look is from the clay staining her.
Very generous of your brother to travel all that way, but WOW what a difference. You were right, those trees needed to get gone
Sometimes when people are planting trees, shrubs and larger plants they forget to figure in how they’ll look and effect an area when they’re bigger.
I think the tree was here first and the builder just chose poorly to leave it where it was. When I counted the rings, it looked to be about 16 years old. My house is only 6 years old.
Aw your chicks are so cute. Sadly I’ll miss that stage, we’re getting pullets so that we know we’ll have hens and no roos.
The BJG, are they a dual purpose breed? Just wondering if they’ll be destined for freezer camp one day, especially since they get so big. (hehehe but with ‘giant’ right in their name they better be big)
They are- potentially. But, not until they’re done laying. Most likely by then, I’ll just rehome them and pretend I don’t know anything. Any that we eat don’t get named, except for Stupid the duck, but that’s another story. I won’t be keeping my layers under lights, as I prefer to do things more naturally for them. So that means they’ll have more laying time ahead of them rather than just burning out at a young age. But speaking of young ages, these guys don’t lay until at least 9 months, and don’t fully mature until 18-24 months, as compared to my others that will start laying at 15 weeks and 20 weeks respectively and be fully mature by about 9 months. I do want a roo, so “Wickham” lives. He’ll help produce our next generation of dual purpose birds as well. They’ll be mutts, or yard birds, unless they hatch from an Ameraucana egg, but I don’t think that matters if they’re going to freezer camp.
Nice bday present for BP, but then again everyone benefits from that one
And nice handiwork BP, that gate looks really nice
Yes and yes! We’ve been wanting to get a grill since we moved to GA, but our last house was not really a place we could have safely left it out, if you know what I mean. We also went with a smaller one on purpose, as we don’t have a lot of parties. This one is just the right size so far!
We’ve started using slow feeder nets too. I LOVE them. We have a few of the hanging bags and a couple that fit square bales. When we first gave Appy, Rootbeer & George the square feeder bags it was SO funny. They were shocked and appalled that they could smell the hay but couldn’t get it!! Then Rootbeer figured they had to be good for SOMETHING and backed up to one, sat on it and started rubbing his butt on it. omg it was SO funny!
And they REALLY work. When I use the hanging bags what normally lasts about 1- 1 1/2 hours last 5 or more.
LOL @ Rootbeer! That’s awesome!
I know Casey and Flirt have used hay bags and hay nets before. After all, they’ve each traveled the country more than once! I just love that Sug got the chance to show them something. I like to make up stories about her past too, for entertainment. If she wasn’t lame, she’d have been the perfect kids horse too. Definitely a “been there, done that” girl.
I still can’t believe that the mower doesn’t work. That’s got to be frustrating as all get out!
Oh, there’s a gorgeous entertainment center downstairs that looks great, but will fall apart if we try to move it. It’s not in a usable location either, The cottage that’s open to the elements up top, the siding on it is only half done and we need to replace the chip board they used on the other two sides, the missing glass that never got put in the kitchen cabinets, the ratty extension cord that came with the blower, an ironing board that won’t stay up, patio set that needs new chair cushions and scratch filler to fill in the glass top… Hey, how about the flower bed that really isn’t? We pulled out the dead shrubs and started taking up the landscaping fabric to plant bulbs. Guess what? It’s hard packed clay underneath, no topsoil! I really could go on and on, but, BUT we own the house. We CAN and WILL make it better. It’s just frustrating to think we got something great that makes our lives easier and then BAM! Wrong! It’s really a hunk of junk they just didn’t want to haul away!
Oh, and I have to ask, rolling hay rounds??
I don’t have a tractor. How do you think I move rounds that get delivered? Rounds are the primo, #1 hay choice here in the South too, especially at this time of year.
Stupid the duck? Is that going to get its own post?
BTW if I were to name a duck it would be Howard. Horrible I know but I would just have to. lol
Oh, trust me, SHE deserves the name STUPID. There isn’t enough to make it a post. She just can’t figure out how to get into the coop at night, so I end up chasing her around. Doesn’t matter how many time she actually makes it up the ramp or the short hop up the stoop, she just can’t remember the next day. I suspect she’ll be tasty!
Wow there was a lot more wrong that at first glance hey? That makes me a little less jealous of your beautiful house. Mine may be small, especially in the kitchen, but its been lived in and held up.
You know, the first time you see a place, everything is great. The second, you might start noticing some minor flaws. The third, they start to appear. Our issue is that we were in a hurry and the people before us really trashed this place. I heard stories, but I think they were downplayed to be nice.
Love the deck and the view and the paddocks. I’m jealous! oh, to dream…
Thanks!
I have those same meat chicks! They have doubled in size since I got them and will double again in four weeks before heading to freezer camp.
I am seriously thinking of trying Freedom Rangers next. These guys were an experiment. I like them. BP pets them and they peck his toes. They waddle, but can run and are nice and strong. They also free range, and don’t just glutton themselves. Of course, I make them, so that might be the difference.
I’m off to FL tomorrow, back on Monday. I tried really hard to make a side trip work but it just wouldn’t.
Takes me 45 minutes to get to the airport from my house at midnight. I will be expecting a call!!
End of July is our CTR. If you can get here, I have a horse for you to ride.
Neat pictures. Thanks for the update, and congratulations on your newest addition…actually, additions including the hot chicks. I love the name Lyra, and your gate handiwork.
Good for you! I’m glad you have the new little pup…she deserves a fun life!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
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Congrats on the new puppy! Absolutely adorable.
Aw, thanks! She’s starting to act like a real dog now too! She likes to horde things in her crate- particularly paper and my clothes. And she’s finally got enough confidence to not have to leave all the doors open so she’ll follow me inside 20′ behind.