Build a barn and I’ll fill it! We have had a handful of new animals to our homestead and I thought it would be fun to give you a little bit of an update. Recently I stepped back and took in the little farm life we are creating. It’s always been a dream. What started with six chickens has grown over the past three years.
I don’t really write posts like this on the blog but hey it’s summer things are crazy and this is a fun way to share with you what’s up on the homestead.
A friend of mine had an unforeseen situation come up and wasn’t able to keep her animals. She had a six month old mini pig– which you know is my heart!
Yes I’m wearing this shirt from Amazon from now on when people come over for the first time.
Her name is Piper. She’s adjusted well and we’ve had her here for about three weeks now. This week she went over to the pig pen. The introduction was NOTHING like our first pigs meeting. Her size she is able to run fast away from Bently who is the dominant pig.
She is being harnessed train to walk on a leash and learn how to go out to the pasture. If you need harness training tips watch my video or read the articles here.
She quickly came to be my bestie and doesn’t squeal when I pick her up. I enjoy picking her up while I can. It won’t be long and she’ll be too heavy and too big. They don’t stay small.
But before Piper I scoured craigslist for baby goats. Man do baby goats in July go quickly. I was on top of it and found the cutest ones. I was really intrigued by fainting goats and I still hope to have a purebred fainter. For now I’ll gladly settle for a 50/50 cross of Fainting and Nigerian Dwarf.
We aren’t the type of people who care all about the paperwork and blood lines. I care about getting animals that will fit our homestead, which is to enjoy and love. Of course I’ll give it a whirl to try and milk our female Willow at some point.
For now they are enjoying life here and we are oh so enjoying having them.
DUCKS!
Well if you’ve read about our major mistakes with our fist batch of Ducks, then you will know I’m a little hesitant to get ducks again. We lost ALL our five ducks to coyotes and it was tough. Life as you know with animals on the homestead is hard. And life and death is part of the deal.
I truly love watching ducks they are special. Although very messy they are sweet and gentle. This time I would keep them in our free awesome pallet animal fence!
And it’s been almost three weeks and they haven’t tried to escape! Before our ducks would mosey on over to our 1/2 acre pond but this time I refill their pond up daily instead.
The one with the most coloring is the friendliest and lets the girls pick him right up!
We have an indoor mini rex bunny my oldest daughter got a year ago. These bunnies are cute and friendly. At this point I suppose we can show them in the fair but what’s a few more rabbits anyways! This is our first time with Lion heads and can’t wait to share everything we are learning.
The brown one is a boy- Fluffy and the white one is a girl- Marshmallow.
We also got meat birds at Tractor supply a week ago because there was a sale! All birds were only $1 each. Who can pass that up? Last year we did a Cornish Rock Cross and I found they were less smelly and not as lazy.
The ones left at Tractor supply were Cornish Rocks and I remember why these ones are easy to let go. They are messy, smelly, and lazy.
But the point is they taste good, they are treated good and we enjoy the homesteading process of raising our own meat birds. We did a video on how to gut and process your chickens here.
With the addition of new animals my morning routine is taking a little longer but it is all worth it. Having animals has always been a dream of mine and waking up and seeing it unfold before my eyes is a blessing. One I’m thankful for everyday.
How Does Having Many Animals = Frugal
For those wondering why I would bring in more animals if I hate spending money, it’s simple. They bring us joy and they don’t cost us much. We do everything as minimal as possible. I constantly watch prices and price compare for the cheapest feed. The goats now have access to a big pasture and we bale our own hay. We won’t get enough hay to last for a year but it cuts down on cost in the summer/fall.
The bunnies we feed lots of scraps from the garden and the same goes the the chicks. The pigs have enough apples, pears and things from the garden and they eat a very minimal amount of food.
I love weeding the gardens and everything goes to the animals. The money we save on feed in the summer goes to the feed for the winter.