Author Archives: Dan

A New Goat Feeder

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The goats have had free run of the 3 biggest pastures since late September – able to go in and out of the pastures whenever they felt like it.  When the new tenant cows arrive this spring, we will need to rotate the goats into different pastures opposite the cows. While this isn’t a problem in terms of the amount of grass they will have available to eat, it does present an issue with trying to feed them a little bit of hay over the summer while the cows are here.

The outer barn has ample space to spread out hay in various locations so all of the goats can feed at once without fighting over it.  Once the goats are rotated off of the pasture with the barn to the other pastures, there are many fewer places to spread out the hay.  We decided to design and build a new homemade goat feeder to feed them their hay.

Here is a video of the goats testing out the new goat feeder:

Unfortunately, the first test was only partially successful. The goats successfully ate some hay from it and were not able to knock it over or lift up the roof. However, they began to eat pieces of the wood off of the feeder itself around the corners. We had to remove the feeder from service until we can make some small tweaks before trying again.

Click through for a more detailed description of the goat feeder.

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Subscribe for New Post Notifications by Email

Following a recent reader request, I have added a new subscribe feature to the blog that may be of interest to those readers who don’t visit every day checking for a new post.

You can now subscribe to the blog on the right side of the main page by entering your email address to receive an email each time a new post is published.

Note that when you enter your email address, it will send a confirmation email that you need to click on before you are subscribed – check your spam folder as the subscribe confirmation may get put in your spam folder.

Baby Chicks!

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We have some new baby chicks!

A close-up of our baby white bantam cochin chicks.

A close-up of our baby white bantam cochin chicks.

We are currently raising 3 bantam white cochin hens to add to our flock. Bantams are smaller breeds than typical hens – usually about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of a regular hen. White Cochins are a breed of chicken that has fluffy feathers including feathered legs and feet.

Here is a video of the baby chicks shortly after they arrived home:

Click through for more pictures and information about the baby chicks.

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Spring flowers!

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Although there was a cold spell earlier in the week that saw temperatures dip below freezing several nights in a row – spring has mostly arrived!

The clover is in full bloom – see all of the little purple flowers in the fields.

Clover in bloom in the fields

Clover in bloom in the fields.

In addition, the chickens are venturing further out to check for delicious bugs around the property. Two of our hens, Mindy and Sindy, along with our rooster Pineapple recently ventured out of the pastures to the front yard to help dig up the front flower beds in front of the barn.

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Building a Sign Post

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A few months ago, we purchased a Lucky Penny Acres sign. Last week, with the help of some visiting family, we were able to build a sign post and mount the sign in our front yard.

Here is a picture of the almost completed project with the sign mounted. We still need to paint the bare wood at some point and add a couple of lights, but it is otherwise complete.

Penny in front of the completed sign.

Penny in front of the completed sign with our tractor in the background.

Now visitors can find us that much easier!

Click through to see how it was made.

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April Showers

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April showers bring May flowers is the phrase. I think that phrase usually refers to spring rain showers.

Temperatures reached into the 60’s and even the 70’s in February and March.  However, winter wasn’t over quite yet.

This past weekend we received around 6 to 8 inches of snow over 2 days – the largest single snow storm of the whole season!

And now temperatures are back into the low teens overnight. The high temperatures are expected to be back above freezing later this week and a lot of the snow will likely melt pretty soon, but a little more snow is forecast for this coming weekend.

 

Snow covered yard and pastures in April.

Snow covered yard and pastures in April.

Snow in the front yard in April.

Snow in the front yard in April.

Snow accumulation on a tree in April.

Snow accumulation on a tree in April.

With the previous warm weather, we were considering putting away the snow equipment for the summer. Luckily we hadn’t gotten around to putting it away just yet.

Egg Mystery Solved

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A couple of weeks ago, at least one of our hens was laying some odd sized eggs, from tiny to extra large.

Here is a picture of the different sized eggs to help refresh your memory:

Different size eggs (likely from the same hen).

Different size eggs (likely from the same hen).

Well, we decided to crack open the eggs to see what, if anything, was inside.

Click through to see what we found.

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Waterfall in the Spring

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With the recent warm spell, all of our snow and ice melted in a few days. We decided to hike up to our 35 foot tall waterfall and see what it looked like with what may be the highest water flow rate of the year (and to preemptively answer a question we get asked a lot: yes, the waterfall is on our property).

Our waterfall in the spring.

Our waterfall in the spring.

There was more water coming over the falls than at any of our prior visits to the falls, but even with temperatures having reached over 70 degrees in early March, there was still some ice around the falls.

Click through to see more pictures and a video of the falls.

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Mid-Winter Chicken Update

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It is now early March and the weather is very warm.  The high temperature was over 70 degrees earlier this week. The average high temperature normally doesn’t reach the 70s until June. Even the deepest snow piles have almost completely disappeared. Instead of mid-winter, maybe this is really an early-summer update.

How have the chickens fared over the winter?

Like the goats, the chickens are doing well! On the coldest days, the chickens remained inside the chicken coop with a space heater to help them keep warm. On days at or above freezing, the chickens would usually venture outside as long as the snow wasn’t too deep. During the recent warm spell, the chickens spend most of their day outside.

The chickens out in the field enjoying the early warm weather.

The chickens out in the field enjoying the early warm weather.

The chickens are venturing out into the pastures during the warm weather and enjoying the longer days.

Click through for more pictures, including an interesting egg phenomenon.

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