Filed under: Farm
The ‘Camelia’ Daffodil bulbs that my Mum gave us are now into their 2nd year. The bulbs have divided up and it is looking like a great crop. The first ones were ready for sale on the first day of daylight savings.
Filed under: Farm
Another successful lambing this year, a solid 200% again.
The mums did well again, both delivering a healthy set of twins, all by themselves and they are looking after them and feeding them well. They also chose a couple of lovely warm spring days to deliver them. There are 3 boys and one girl. This weekend we will put the rings on the tails, and the slightly more distressing job of putting rings on the boys bits.
We did have to take the girl for a quick visit to the vet as she had a lame foot and it seems she had an infection or injury. It wasn’t too bad and a quick jab from the vet has seen her right.
The mums are getting on a bit in years so there is a chance that these will be their last lambs. They have done a great job, the main thing that will decide if they visit the ram next year is the state of their teeth, as they need a good set to be able to eat enough grass to produce plenty of milk.
Filed under: Farm
After the loss of our last lot of chooks we took the chance to give the chicken coop a really good clean out. With the help of some HelpXers we got it all cleaned out, scrubbed with disinfectant, laying boxes painted, and even some insulation and lining added to a couple of walls. After a new load of wood shavings on the floor it was all ready for some new occupants, and so the new girls arrived yesterday. Five are here at the moment, with one more to join them on Monday. They are 21 weeks old and just starting to lay, we got 2 (small) eggs this morning so that is a great start.
Filed under: Farm
We had the grand opening of our new sheep yards yesterday. The weather was warm but overcast, and we were pleased that many of our friends were able to join us for the occasion.
After a short introduction by myself, our sheep mentor Wally gave a short speech before cutting the ribbon. 
I then gave a quick demonstration of the sheep going through the race before getting the bbq fired up. 
On the menu was sausages made from a sheep who had been one of our first lambs born when we moved here.
Also on offer was a selection of cakes and biscuits on the baking table which were very popular. Perhaps the biggest attraction of the day was the ute rides. 
There were several lap made of the paddocks with some good loads carried. Thank you very much to everyone who was able to make it along, we all had a lovely afternoon. Some people said it was the best sheep yard opening that they had ever been to.
A bit of a flurry of activity around the place lately. Spring is starting to show itself but there is no doubt plenty of winter left.
With the first daffodils starting to show, we needed to get onto the construction of our roadside stall. My handy friend Clayton came out and in no time we had one whipped up, I just need to get a roof on it and then get it painted. It is anticipated that we will be selling other goods such as walnuts and quinces from it as well. There will be a picture when it is finished up.
Earlier in the morning of the stall making we had a spreader truck come around and put a bit over a tonne of lime over the paddocks. Unfortunately no picture of this as he was pretty quick and I was busy making sure stock were out of the way as well as opening and closing gates. We don’t think our paddocks have had anything put on them for many years, so we had a soil test done and the advice we got was to raise the pH a bit and that might unlock some of the nutrients in the soil. So this was a first step and we’ll have to see how it goes.
There has also been another set of twins born. Their mother doesn’t seem to be quite as maternal as the other ewe but the lambs seem to be doing ok despite this. The four lambs have had rings put on their tails and the one boy has had one around another part of his anatomy. I certainly feel for the poor bugger, can’t be nice, but they seem to get over it pretty quick. The sheep have been eating much more hay and lucerne this season, we were getting a bit low so Noah and I went and picked up 10 bales from a neighbour who owed us some in exchange for the help I gave him bringing it in last summer.
I am also hoping we have more success with our vegetable garden this year as I believe I have made it Toby proof! A gate has been installed at either end which will hopefully do the job.
The other thing we finally got done was getting the sheep shorn. The plan had been for them to be done before lambing, but due to a combination of early arrivals and some bad weather, it didn’t get done until this weekend. A friendly neighbour came round to do it and did a fine job.
So now we just have to wait for the wool cheque to arrive! One thing that the shearer did point out to us that the matriarch of our flock probably doesn’t have a lot of years left on the property. Her teeth are getting pretty worn, so we probably won’t put her out to the ram again as she may not be able to eat enough to sustain a couple of lambs. That news was a bit sad, but she will be left to live to a good age even if she isn’t breeding.
We think we are getting organised, still plenty to be done though. I’ll leave you with a picture of our neighbour going past our place in the weekend.
Filed under: Farm
Our barn that was seen in a previous post has been improved. The barn is in one of the sheep paddocks, so we need to be able to stop the sheep eating the hay whenever they want, it used to be done by creating a barricade of old wooden chests of drawers, posts and an old wheelbarrow.
As well as this not being very effective at keeping the sheep out it was a real hassle for us to get to when we did want to give the sheep some hay. So in order to make life better for all concerned a new gate was purchased.
I guess I have now double the value of the haybarn.
I hired a rotary hoe yesterday from Smiths Hire a place with many great machines. After throwing a trailer load of well-rotted horse manure over it I gave the north end of the vege garden a good going over.
I then took our first step towards becoming flower merchants. My mum has given us a couple of sacks of daffodil bulbs and it is now time to get them in the ground. The ground is very hard due to the lack of rain, so it took quite a few goes to make any progress, but eventually we made some rows in the house paddock in preparation for planting. I also mixed in manure and some blood and bone.
This is more for my own record, but today I had a sort out of our hay stocks. The people who use a couple of our paddocks for their horses will take 32 bales that we don’t need, and so at the start of Autumn we have 13 bales of lucerne and 11 bales of hay. Should be plenty. A good mornings work and certainly sparked up my hay fever.
Filed under: Farm
Good progress on the beekeeping front. The top honey super was full of honey, so it was time to get it off, and give the bees some more room. I had to wait a few days longer than planned due to the beekeeping supply place being closed for Christmas, but as soon as they opened I went and got some more timber for making boxes, as well as more frames and a bee trap. I got the boxes made up ok, they haven’t been painted yet just because I wanted to get them on quickly. The new boxes went on top of the brood boxes, then the bee trap, and then the full honey super on top of that. The bee trap is a one way door so the bees can get out of the full box of honey, but can’t get back in. That means when we extract the honey we don’t have to worry about bees being everywhere.
That evening I went and had a sneaky look in the top of the hive to make sure all was well. I was just wearing shorts and tee shirt as it was a spur of the moment thing. All was fine until I knocked the hive as I was leaving and a heap of bees flew out to see what was going on. As I result I got my first sting from my bees. Only myself to blame!
Today I have taken off the full honey box, it’s all up weight is 28kg, so it will be interesting to see how much honey I end up with.
Filed under: Farm
Here it is, the much-anticipated Chicken report.
When we moved in there was a chook house and run attached to the barn.
Obviously it looks a bit ramshackle but I have replaced some of the roofing iron and reclad the main wall and I believe it is weather proof.
We started off with 4 ten week old brown shavers, and as soon as we got them they started firing out eggs, they hardly missed a day. We decided that we would let them completely free range around the place, and this worked fairly well for a while, except for the odd scratching frenzy in the vege garden. However they started to get a bit bolder and going further afield. One day on my way home I found one of them on the roadside and so I picked it up and brought it back in the car with me.
One sad day one of the chickens didn’t come home. Despite much looking around and contacting neighbours it has never been seen again. Since then we haven’t really let them out much, and they are confined to their coop and run.
So we now have 3 hens, no names for them but all well-loved. They eat layers mash with a bit of maize added to it, this goes into the metal feeder which hangs from the roof beside the water dispenser. I normally add some apple cider vinegar to their water as an organic wormer. They also get some scraps and also some weeds from the garden occasionally to scratch through. There are about 6 laying boxes to choose from, but they always lay in the same one as each other, normally the 2nd one along. On the floor is untreated wood shavings that we get from the nearby sawmill. I just replaced the wood shavings yesterday. They do have a perch to sleep on, but they refuse to use this, and instead huddle together on the floor by the door. When we first got them I would go out each night and lift each one onto the perch as I thought they just needed a bit of teaching. They would stay up there ok, but have never slept their on their own accord.
I have been asked by friends who are looking at getting some hens, how much room they need each. I consulted the book that my Mum used to have at home about poultry to find the answer to this, and was shocked that it is not the right thing to do to have an outside run like ours. The book was published in 1980 and says that this has been known for a long time! It is untidy and unhygienic apparently! I will now do some more research to find out what to do. The short answer to the question seems to be 60 sq cm. Surely that can’t be right? Also only one laying box per 5 hens is needed, not 2 each as ours have. So some more reading to be done, in the meantime our hens seem happy and healthy, and they continue to lay an egg each day, so things can’t be too bad for them.
