Homestead Hardships

Love, loss, and chaos pretty much sums up this last week. Life is full of hard lessons and homesteading can definitely throw some serious curve balls. When we bought Sparky, I jokingly told Chelsea he was her boyfriend for the next 10 years. I didn't realize he would teach her the most valuable lesson she will ever learn...you can love something (or someone) that isn't right for you but if it isn't the right fit, you have to let it go. We adore Sparky. He is a kind and loving pony with LOADS of potential but unfortunately we are beginner beginners and he just needs someone with more experience. So many tears have been cried but we have to do what's best for him and for us. I've done everything humanly possible to make this work, including taking riding lessons, but he is just much further ahead than where we need to start. We are going to find him a great home and after taking a breather get back in the saddle (pun intended).

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We need a horse that can come directly to our farm, be loved on by our family, and rode by the amateur riders we are. This is NOT how I wanted Chelsea's first horse ownership experience to go but we learned a lot in the process. Chelsea showed a lot of resilience and maturity through all of this and has continued to prove she wants to be a "horse woman." It's only failing if we quit and we aren't quitters. We are both continuing to take lessons to become better riders and patiently waiting for the right horse to become available. If nothing else, this process has taught us both a lot of patience.

Cock-A-Doodle-Doo

About a week ago, we kept hearing a weird noise every morning. We couldn't figure out what in the world it was until finally we discovered it was our heritage meat chickens learning to crow! It's been a funny morning wake up each day because it doesn't sound like a full grown rooster crow...more like when teenage boys' voices start to change...or a sick cat 😂 Life on the farm is always full of unexpected surprises.

Predator Trouble

Speaking of surprises, we had a not so happy surprise a few nights ago. Dave went over to move the meat chickens and discovered all 6 of our chicks had been eaten by something. We had moved them to the dog kennel in the barn as we always do but something figured out how to stick it's tiny hand in the dog kennel holes and snag every single bird. We won't ever know for sure but the likely culprits could have been a weasel, fisher, or racoon. More tears from Emily because that was the last of our barred rock (ie freckles) chicks. Our current barred rock hens are still laying decently well so we are going to keep them until the fall and then process them with our second batch of Cornish Cross. I don't have the energy for another round of chicks right now but we still need a few chicks to replenish the hens we will be losing in the fall. I'm planning to start the chick process over again in late August after our vacation...and I'll be getting quite a few "freckles" this round.

Happy Hen House

We moved our pullets in with our existing laying flock about a week ago. Thankfully, that has been drama free. We left them all out to free range during the day and removed the blockade separating the pullet run from the rest of the flock. The pullets took a couple nights to force their way into the main coop but overall it's one big happy family.

When moving pullets in with a laying flock you have to adjust the type of feed you give. Pullets need lower calcium than laying hens because excess calcium can build up in their kidneys and cause a slew of health issues. To avoid this, we feed ALL of our flocks (including meat chickens) 18% protein feed with lower calcium amounts. To supplement our laying flock, we allow them to free choice oyster shell calcium in a separate bowl. Chickens are amazing at self regulating because they will eat as much of the oyster shell calcium as they need and not eat it if they don't!

Overall, the last week has been busy figuring out our horse situation and not losing my mind. Dave and I managed to plant the remainder of our seed potatoes while our kids napped (it was ALMOST like a 30 minute mini date for us), I made some really delicious soup out of Smokey (I did NOT feel bad about eating this mean old bird!), and Dave finished the horse stall door.

It's been pretty wild and crazy but homestead life is about taking chances and working through the hardships. See yinz next week for more life on the farm!