Author Archives: Dan

Cutting Down Trees (Take 2)

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After a winter storm, we had 2 pine trees snap part way up their trunks and fall over.  Here is a picture a few days after they came down.

Two trees down during a winter storm.

Two trees down during a winter storm.

Long-time readers may recall that last time a tree came down, we were unable to handle it ourselves and instead we hired a tree service for assistance.  This time the trees were not immediately threatening to fall on any of the fences and the trees were a little smaller in diameter, so we decided to try to handle it ourselves.

This was made possible by a new tool we received as a holiday gift..

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Mid-Winter Goat Update

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It is now mid-February and we are approximately half-way through our first winter on the farm.  The first part of the winter was very mild with limited snow and high temperatures through the holidays. Late January and early February have been much colder and snowier than the early part of winter. The actual temperature hit -23 degrees a few days ago and it was closer to -30 with the wind chill!

How are the goats doing? The goats are doing well! While they generally don’t mind the normal winter temperatures (as they have thick mohair coats), they usually stay inside while it is snowing or if there is a strong wind.

As the fields are now covered in snow and the goats are unable to graze, we have been providing them with more grain than we do in the summer.

We spread the grain around into multiple feeding bins so each goat can get some grain without having to fight for it or wait their turn. The goats typically spread out to separate bins at the beginning. After a minute or so, one goat will decide that another feeding bin is a better option and attempt to move. This often sets off a chain reaction where the goats switch bins to find the best grains.  Here is a video of the goats in action:

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Tracking Local Wildlife

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Winter has finally arrived. We have been receiving regular lake effect snow fall of an inch or two (or more) just about every day for the last week.

The snow has made it relatively easy to track movements of some of the local wildlife through the snow.

Can you identify the animals based on their tracks in the snow?

Rabbit Tracks Close-Up

Rodent Tracks

Click through for the answers and some additional information.

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A Tractor!

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We bought a tractor! You can’t have a real farm without at least one tractor.

Our First Tractor!

Our First Tractor!

We recently bought a 1967 Massey Ferguson 2200 industrial tractor.  The tractor has a 39 hp gas engine. This particular one came with an attached front end loader (with a rated lift capacity of 3,300 lbs) and a partial cab. It also came with a heavily used brush hog (which is basically a powerful mower to cut through brush and dense weeds).

Click through for more pictures and information on the tractor.

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Building a Goat Feeding Bin

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We normally use rubber feed bins to feed the goats their grain and minerals.  The rubber bins normally just sit right on the ground. The goats sometimes step in the bins and flip them over, spilling out any grain or minerals onto the ground. This wastes food as the goats typically refuse to eat most food that has touched the ground (except of course for live grass or other plants that they graze on…).

Rosebud using a rubber feeding bin on the ground.

Rosebud using a rubber feeding bin on the ground.

I wanted to build a better feeding bin for the goats, but without having to spend a lot of money.

Click through for a more detailed guide to build an elevated goat feeding bin.

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Annual Farming Costs and Socks Update

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Several readers have asked how much it costs to care for the animals.

All 5 goats hang out in the pasture (with the cows in the background)

All 5 goats hang out in the pasture (with the cows in the background)

I did not keep very close track of the specific recurring expenses for just the animals since we moved in so I do not currently have a very good estimate.  However, starting from January 1, 2016 I am going to keep close track of all of the normal recurring expenses for the animals and post the total costs periodically for those interested.

For those who are interested in such details, these costs won’t include any allocation of the cost of the land, property taxes, electricity to run the well pumps, costs of the farm sitter during trips or our time, but rather just straight out of pocket expenses of a recurring nature that are easily identifiable as connected to the animals. This also won’t include one-time infrastructure spending like the materials needed to build a feeding station or pen.

Click through for the current total and an update on the fiber processing.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Lucky Penny Acres!

The new year will surely bring many new challenges and stories that we will be glad to share with you over the coming year.

It is finally turning cold and the first heavier snows are beginning to fall.  The temperature is now just below 0 degrees and even colder with the wind chill.

Our dogs have the right idea – curl up under some warm blankets for the winter!

Shaffron with Dinosaur Blanket

Shaffron enjoying a nap with her dinosaur blanket.

Penny in Cozy Cave

Penny napping in one of her dog beds – a cozy cave.

Penny curled up on her chair.

Penny curled up on her chair.

 

Thanks for reading and check back regularly for updates and new stories!

Farm Chores – Chipping Ice

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A recurring early winter farm chore is chipping ice out of the outdoor water buckets.

While the winter has been very mild so far (it was in the mid-60s on Thanksgiving and the forecast is for around 60 on Christmas) and we have so far avoided any significant snow fall, the temperatures have still occasionally dipped below freezing overnight.  While the goats and chickens can handle temperatures below freezing without much of a problem, they still need access to water.

This means having to chip the ice out of their water buckets to give them access to liquid water.

Here is a solid piece of inch-thick ice removed from one of the water buckets – I managed to remove almost the entire ice block from the top of the bucket in one piece.

Inch thick ice from the water buckets.

Inch thick ice from the water buckets.

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Goat Emergency: Elf Breaks a Horn

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One morning while tending to the flock, I noticed that Elf’s head was covered with blood. He had broken his horn and was bleeding from the wound in his head.

Goat’s horns are actually a living part of their skulls. As a part of the skull, the horns contain blood vessels and usually bleed when broken.  A broken horn can cause significant blood loss, and even death in some cases.

Luckily, Elf’s horns had mostly already been removed earlier in his life and he only had a small scur on his head that broke off. It was a small break so while there was a decent amount of blood on his head, the active bleeding had mostly clotted on its own.

I managed to separate Elf partially from the main herd. By the time I got him separated from the others, the bleeding had stopped. I sprayed his head with a veterinarian antiseptic spray called Blu-Kote. The spray helps prevent infections. It also turns everything very blue to help you tell where it has been applied.

As you can see in the below video, Elf’s head is now blue!

Click continue to see more pictures of Elf’s recovery.

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