Wow! Has it really been so long since our last update? Where has the time gone? Coincidentally, today is my (the owner) birthday! Happy birthday to me! No, it's not so special, but I have no complaints. So what has changed in a year? Well, let me tell you.
Let's start with the fowl, shall we? I have sold chickens and went down to 18, bought chickens and went up to around 40, and sold chickens yet again and have gone down to an even dozen chickens. We suspect the most recent addition infected my flock with mycoplasma gallisepticum infection, which is highly contagious. It is with this that we have decided to close the flock, and no new chickens (either hatched or bought) will be bought, and no chickens will be offered for sale. The flock will be closed until all chickens go in their own time. Sadly, four of my girls have the motherly instinct, and they will be disappointed they will not be hatching clutches any more. I will miss it, but it is necessary.
We were given another calf last December. We named her Hallie (stands for Hallelujah). She came from the same herd Oreo came from, and sadly for the same circumstances. She is a beautiful beef girl, and will be bred next year to offer her first calf to our freezer. Speaking of beef in the freezer, T-Bone is ripe for the picking. We plan to take him to the processor in August to become our first home-grown beef. We will also be breeding Annabelle in the next month or two. We'll either have a heifer for sale or we'll be raising another steer for butcher. For now, we do not need any more than the two girls, and though it is very difficult for me to say "no more," I will have to let her go if we get a heifer.
We no longer have any turkeys. We are down to 1 doe (Kittie), 2 geese (Peyton and 'Live), and 1 duck (Milla).
I am pleased to be where we are. I feel as though we have grown a lot since last year, and our progress is becoming increasingly substantial and less of a dream. It is turning into my reality, and with it, I have lots of pride.
We decided not to have a garden this year. We will be working the land into a beautiful working space rather than just tilling up a large plot to let it become overrun by weeds. We plan on creating raised beds to make it more manageable for me (since I do the majority of the work). We'll post pictures when finished. I have been neglecting the blog recently since we have decided to do away with our Internet service, it makes it difficult to make posts.
