Posted in Homestead Barnyard
Springtime Plans at Ash Lane Farm
This is the time of the year that I had been hoping to start fencing so that we could get two Dexter cows this spring, have beef cattle and hopefully,do a little milking. Dexters are dual purpose; small beef cattle and milking cows. But that plan will have to wait.
However, the chicken coop is still on the menu for this spring. We are going to have a neighbor help us finish it in exchange for eggs; he also wants to join in on our meat chicken operation, and that will come later this spring or summer.
My sister and I have plans for goats. Not milking ones, yet. Her new place, called Anniversary Grove and my place have the windbreaks or groves, as we romantically call them, that have not been cared for in years. Our plan is simple; I will purchase four young weathers; two for her and two for me. She will “rent” two of them from me and I will keep the others.
The plan is that we will make small-ish yards that are movable, for humans, not goats. with a shelter and water bucket. We will put these yards out in the groves in the worst burdock and thistle areas and let them graze. We will supplement with hay or grass because we donÂ’t want to have them totally dependent on the weeds. When they have cleaned an area and fertilized it, we will move the yard to another place. Depending on weather, we could bring them into the barn at night or leave them outside. We have only raccoons and possums for critters and once they are fully grown, we wonÂ’t need to worry about them being attacked by those critters!
The reason for the “renting” is that neither she nor my brother-in-law want to have animal responsibilities in the winter because of their physical disabilities. So I will take them back in the winter and she will take them back in the spring. She will help pay for the animals and the feed as well.
We are planning two each so they donÂ’t get lonesome. Sounds like a good plan to us, and (for once) our husbands are in accord! CanÂ’t get any better than that! Now to find the goats!!
