Boys Don’t Play With Your Food

A “hobby farm” is defined as going broke playing with animals therefore you have to learn to cut costs where you can.  Last week I stopped by tractor supply to pick up a couple of things and found a mineral feeder marked down from $150 to $100.  Now you ask what is a mineral feeder; well it is a cattle feeder for minerals to be left in the pasture.  So what is so neat about a mineral feeder it is designed to turn in the wind where the rain will not fill it with water and destroy the minerals. 

Now I know you are wanting to know why a guy with no cattle needs a mineral feeder.  Because goats need to eat and they don’t mind playing with their food.  Because they are short they can’t stand and eat out of it like a cow could.  They have to stand on their back legs and place their front legs feet in it.  This causes it to spin and watching them learn to use it while it was turning was quiet comical but they quickly figured it out.  The last picture shows Romeo head butting the top after it hit him when it turned.  Today I was out with no camera around and Romeo was standing and eating while Maestro was standing in it to eat.

 

It was a good deal and their feed stays dry. 

Kids with Kids …

No, this post is not about teen pregnancy, it is about Kids (children, of all ages) playing with my kids (young goats) and other animals.  While my farm is really small compared to many, it is mine and I enjoy playing working on it and also sharing it with others. 

Lauren and Alyssa petting Mr. Darcey














Brad acting goofy with a RIR hen.
Brad with Big Dawg 
 
Close up with Big Dawg
 
Maddie with a young chick
 
Kenzie-Grace with a new chick

Lauren petting Lilly (she was more timid than Alyssa)
 
Brad and Maddie picking up a shipment of chicks at the post office
Kenzie-Grace with a new born beagle pup (our first litter)
  
Kiera (my niece)cooking an egg from her chicken.

Me with Duke

Romeo and Kenzie-Grace

Romeo begging me to be petted

Alyssa and Romeo

Brad and Maestro

Me and Hamlet
 
Me and Hamlet

Brad and a young turkey

   




Odessa (my grandmother) and a baby rabbit
  
The smiles on the faces explain why I love this so much. 
And one last picture which was not taken on my farm.  me and Bill the Nave Mascot, at the Army vs. Navy pep rally last year.
 

Sequatchie Cove Farm

For the few of you that actually read my blog, I would like to give you a tour of Sequatchie Cove Farm from the guy's perspective.  If you want the Southern Belle’s perspective check out Jen’s version. 

Before we get into the tour, we invited friends family to accompany us.  Connie, my mother-in-law, Lauren a young lady who attends church with us and Alyssa her 2-1/2 year old little girl.  As Jen so eloquently put it I looked like a grandfather with Alyssa, hummmm well I do love her like she is mine.

Believe it or not this is where they grow shitake mushrooms, It has to be Oak or a similar hardwood.  They are stacked, drilled with holes stuffed with sawdust infested with the mold spores.  The log is soaked in water to boost the spores growth.  These were in a well shaded area.  I thought this was really interesting I had seen mushroom hunting (on TV) in the northwest, but never really though about farming them.



While my photographer only captured one there were about 6 beehives.  The bees are very useful in the production of their flowers (see the photo below) and Mr. Keener said the honey “wasn’t bad either”.

 

We have seriously considered honey bees.  We sometimes get fresh honey from my brother-in-law in Nashville however, he sells so much getting ample free sample jars is getting harder.
They had a large flock of chickens, of various breeds, which are purchased locally.  They get about 3 dozen eggs (mostly brown, a few white and some green/blue) a day but they have the same problem I do.  If you let chickens free range the will not always lay their eggs in nesting boxes.  I had chicken hiding her eggs in the end of a fallen tree, when I found them there were 17 eggs.  Because of this I get 12-15 if the coop is closed, when I let them free range I get 9-12.




Pictured above are many of their hens.  Below is Mr. Keener and I walking, he is carrying egg baskets.



Here is a quick peek at my eggs and basket.




Next we found the cattle.

 

A couple of young cows, These are Jersey/Devon crosses.  The Devon is an interesting breed, the cows (female) have horns as do the bulls (male).  Sorry, my photographer failed to capture this interesting fact. Jersey is known to be a milk cow, Devons are multipurpose (meat, milk, working).



While we were there it was milking time, while they do not milk by hand, they have to express some milk after cleaning the teat before attaching the vacuum.



Here is the milk in the vacuum chamber just below the cows udders before it goes into the tank.  Now if they do not sell milk where does it all go.  The creamery (cheese factory) of course.  Because it is a clean room, we could not go in but here is a photo.

 

He are the sheep, they are one of the meats they provide.  



If you have never had lamb, I strongly encourage you to try a recipe from Fiddle Dee Dee; Braised Lamb Shanks. 




This recipe can cause fights between siblings and could even lead to spousal abuse, if there are not enough pieces.  Jen and the kids almost ripped my are off one night because I wanted the last piece.
I really hope you enjoyed the farm tour and encourage you to check out Sequatchie Cove Farm online or in person.

Quick Update on Lilly

At the end of July I posted on Lilly being attacked, She was in really bad shape but I use a really bizarre method of doctoring on her.  I let nature take care of most of it.  I just wanted to give a brief photo update of her now that all is well.



You know she is all better when you pick her up and hear “wracccccccck” that really weird squawk she makes.  Then she just sits there and lets you pet her, loving every minute of it.  Alyssa (a little angel from church) petted a chicken for the first time you can see Alyssa was concerned and needed help deciding to really touch her.  Lilly was herself and let everyone pet her, you can even touch her beak and she just sits there. 
She takes the fear out of petting a chicken for the first time.

How do you know if you are accepted as a farmer?

Growing up when I went to the co-op with my Uncle Hooley, he was treated as a regular there.  That told me they recognized him as a farmer; it was only a hobby for him, he was a welder for DuPont.  He passed away earlier and in his eulogy, in addition to be being a grandfather, dad, etc, he was called a farmer.  Again showing me he was accepted as others as a farmer.
1-1/2 years ago, when I began Rosebriar Farm I purchased my first feed and supplies at Tractor Supply because of their location.  I asked another hobby farmer at work if there was a local store to get cheaper supplies.  He referred me to Cagle’s, it is in Bryant but I pass it on my way home but had never really paid attention to the store.
On a much smaller scale than my Uncle Hooley, I had that first accepted farmer feeling a little while ago.  I stopped by the local feed store. 

Cagle's Feed & Farm Inc

31245 Al Highway 71

Bryant, AL 35958

256-597-3372

As I parked a young man asked what I needed, I told him and my truck was loaded before I made it into the store.  Since I do not carry cash, I handed the gentleman a debit card, and believe it or not, I actually had money in the bank.  He asked debit and I said Yes.  The card would not run, he asked if he could run it as credit because they had been having trouble with the machine.  When he ran the card as credit it still would not work.  He then opened a ticket book and began writing, as he explained the machine must not be working and he would just put the feed on a ticket.  He said you can just pay it the next time you are in here.  I told him several times how much I appreciated it.  His only response was that is how we take care of our customers.
Like a little child, as soon as I was far enough away to get cell reception, I call Jen and said “I believe I have been accepted as a farmer”.

What a handsome fellow

 
 


I would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to Mr. Darcy; he is a Japanese Black tail Bantam. Not only is he beautiful, but so sweet. All of the other roosters are jealous of his tail.  He seems quite proud of it himself.

Unlike most of my chickens he is very photogenic.  He will sit wherever you want him for a picture.  Here are a few photos from a photo shoot we had the other day.

The picture below is an example of how wonderful he is he sat there and looked straight into the camera. 


 


My wife has convinced me to step out and join a "linky" party and signed me up.  My house isn't full of barnyard decorations, but you don't need it when you have the real thing.  I am joining the "Barnyard Bash" @ Happier than A Pig in Mud.