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).
Well, we decided to crack open the eggs to see what, if anything, was inside.
Click through to see what we found.
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.
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.
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 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.
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:
We bought a tractor! You can’t have a real farm without at least one 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.
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.
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.
Earlier this month, we received what some astrologists may view as a good sign.
According to Wikipedia, a sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. I believe the sign we received meets that criteria.
The sign we received was …
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)
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.
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 enjoying a nap with her dinosaur blanket.
Penny napping in one of her dog beds – a cozy cave.
Penny curled up on her chair.
Thanks for reading and check back regularly for updates and new stories!
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.
Click through for more… Continue reading