On hobby farming.

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featureless wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 11:41 am
cooper wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 11:32 am Yeah, chickens are a better subject. We got rid of ours this year. They were fun, but a lot of damn work in the winter with very little return. Seriously, I think the sheep are easier. I think you're someplace warm, though, so checking on the chickens in winter probably isn't too bad. Every other day we want to get rid of the goats, they're from Hell. And yet they crack me up...
Our winters can get coldish, lows in the 30s and sometimes 20 or less (coldish being relative to California!). I'd love to know what you ended up settling on for a coup/run (perhaps another thread?) We're lousy with predators around here--foxes, racoons, coyotes, primarily. I do want sheep for their lawn mowing prowess (haven't decided if I could eat them). Also haven't determined if goats are worth the effort. But then I look at 20 acres of raw land covered in brush below the oaks...
This is picking up on a less pleasant thread elsewhere, that took a more pleasant turn thanks to Featureless--thanks for changing the subject to something a little more fun (to me anyway).

Chickens are fun--we just got rid of them because we're trying to cut back on chores. When we moved to our land a few years ago we sort of went all in: chickens, turkeys, geese, goats, sheep, and llamas. And daughter was going through a horse phase, so we had 2 horses and a donkey. Also, 2 barn cats and our 3 dogs. And we lease the back 70 acres to a guy for grazing cattle. Yeah, it's a zoo. We bit off more than we could chew for a while there.

Keeping chickens safe from predators involves a lot of up front work. But then it's not too bad after that. We built an enclosed coop and yard all in one. We only had like 6 birds at a time so it wasn't huge. So, coop built out of exterior siding (the large boards like plywood with vertical grooves) that we stained. Ventilate it, etc., but make sure every hole is covered with welded wire (I think like quarter inch squares). The real trick was keeping predators from burrowing in. To do this, attach more welded wire all around and bury it. And here's where you outsmart the predators--you don't have to bury it deep, but you need to run it out from the structure about a foot or so. They will always try to dig at the base of the structure. It won't occur to them to back up a foot and try digging more. At least that was our experience. Also, cover the "yard" with chicken wire as well. Threats from above are real.

We had another larger yard around the coop/yard that we could let them out in so they could have a better life. During the summer, we'd actually let them run pretty free outside of that too. They always come back to their roosts at dusk and you can close them up. I think the main danger is during the night. We have a ton of predators around, including a huge pack of coyotes. Chickens stayed safe in this.

Lot of words. I'll see if I can find a picture and/or original plans for the coop/yard.

Daughter aged out of horses, and they are gone--thank God. Got the donkey to keep the horse company when we only had one horse. Donkey was pregnant (we knew that when we got her), so horses are gone but we have 2 donkeys. They are my favorite animals on the farm. By far. We've worked with them a lot and they are super friendly.

Sheep are pretty easy keepers--if you get the right breed. If you have ANY doubts about goats--wait. They are fun, but a pain in the ass sometimes (but they do a nice job on thorny bushes). The sheep, goats and llamas run as a big flock and do a nice job of keeping things eaten down. The goats are pets, the llamas are guardians, but we breed the sheep to sell and/or eat. (There's no money in that--cheaper to find a small farm like us and buy good grass-fed free range lamb for a fraction of the cost.) It's a true hobby--we're just trying to raise healthy robust sheep. It's not a big operation. We're breeding 10 ewes this year. That should yield approximately 20 lambs.

Re: On hobby farming.

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Oh yeah. This is a gun forum, so I should mention. We really don't need to shoot predators here. We do a lot of work up front to make secure pastures and enclosures and have guardian animals. I did have to shoot some groundhogs that were destroying a pasture, and that wasn't super pleasant.

Re: On hobby farming.

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Great info! And far more pleasant topic!

I'd love some pics (and plans for the coop, if you've got them).

On predators, I'm not really in to shooting them, but will do so. We've had some racoons that are a concern. I've shot at one but missed (he was scurrying). I passed on blasting two out of a tree a night ago. I'm concerned they will get our little dog who thinks she's a big dog and chases them I suppose she'll have earned the ass kicking if it happens. And I've seen them kill one of our feral kittens that we feed. So... I guess they should be concerned if the time aligned when I have a gun and see them. Or maybe not. :)

Re: On hobby farming.

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I'm an urban hobby gardener. Next door neighbors have chickens, who make happy sounds. My garden is just for fresh veggies and herbs.

Start a compost pile today, featureless. It will be ready when you need it.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: On hobby farming.

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Wish I had sdme good bottom land instead of being on the rocky hill. But we do raised beds. Fall and winter/spring are growing times out here in the southwest. After May it gets too hot.
Lately I've been planting trees to replace some that died. Planted three mesquites, a Meyer Lemon and a Navel Orange.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: On hobby farming.

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Meyer Lemon and Navel Orange. We haz 'em. Meyer's pretty young, like five years, but the Navel was here when we bought the house in 92. They're starting to get yellow now. Come due in March.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: On hobby farming.

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CDFingers wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:51 pm Meyer Lemon and Navel Orange. We haz 'em. Meyer's pretty young, like five years, but the Navel was here when we bought the house in 92. They're starting to get yellow now. Come due in March.

CDFingers
Yeah moms got a huge navel orange at her house. The things a good ten ft high. Tons of juicy oranges.

I'm kind of a cactus succulent freak. Especially agave, got about twenty varieties.
I have this flat spot down below the house on the north forty that I've now planted 30 blue agaves in rows. I pull the pups from older ones and stick them in a pot for awhile till they get some good roots, then stick them in a row. Pretty small now but when they get big it's gonna look cool.
Tequila Farming!
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: On hobby farming.

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It rained enough last weekend that burn permits are being issued again. We have a lot of brush piles that my father in law was accumulating during last year's fire prep. He burned a couple yesterday.

Today, our little dog thought it would be great fun to go snuffle about in the ash. She left a yelping. Fortunately, no serious damage to her paw pads, but she definitely singed her foot fur and the tip of her tail. Glad she's ok and betting she doesn't do it again. And I blasted a gopher with a 20 gauge. Quite the eventful country afternoon.

To add, no, I didn't eat the gopher, but I'll bet a dollar it's not still there in the morning. The last one I blasted with a 22 didn't even last past dusk before some critter ate it.

Re: On hobby farming.

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Revisiting this thread, as it may help me (and others).

Over the last year, my spouse and I sold our house and her folks' house and moved the four of us into a larger house. To maintain some semblance of sanity, I have to look at it as a whole cluster of opportunities to reconfigure my modest prepper stuff and build on my meager successes and regroup from my "not successes."

I didn't inherit my paternal grandfather's green thumb, but at "a certain age," I'm choosing to work at it a bit. The current house is on a bit over half an acre (of mostly yellow clay). We have a fence to contain the dogs, and are working on some raised beds made from IBC totes as a starter this year. I don't expect huge successes, but we hope to grow at least some tomatoes and cucumbers and kale and some other veggies this year.

My in-laws are both dealing with "age-related memory problems," but my MIL likes to pull weeds. The raised beds will have suitable walkways on either side to enable people who aren't as able bodied as any of us were forty years ago to get to the good stuff. I'm resigned to the possibility that my FIL will eat all the tomatoes before I get to them--he already likes to "mine sweep" to pick up dog poop, so I know he'll be out in the yard a lot in nice weather.

Encouragement encouraged!
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: On hobby farming.

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featureless wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 9:27 pm Sounds really great, Paws! We moved to family land 1.5 years ago. The land needs a lot of time. And we're remodeling. And I work full time. And I'm fucking exhausted. But it is so worth it.
I totally get that. My wife and I both work full-time (and her twelve-hour shifts often become thirteen- or fourteen-hour shifts). It's a LOT to do that AND build on preparing for conceivable natural disasters AND take care of her parents AND do a garden AND so many other things to keep the house going, but I don't see that I have the option to let it all "go to seed," as it were.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: On hobby farming.

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We grow Serrano and Jalapeno peppers, green onions, tomatoes, lemons, and pomegranates.

And chickens, too. 5 new babies just this month.

It's only taxing when it gets down to freezing here, a few weeks in January.

Tasty stuff.
Last edited by SubRosa on Fri Feb 24, 2023 1:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way around the floor."

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