Nomibear:
The adjustment is a big one. The place isn't large enough to make a good living on, but it's certainly big enough to work you to death! LIL. I'd have to get the tax papers to be sure, but I think it's 38 acres. the back part is well fenced for goats to graze some though with the drought, there's not much there. We put them inside the barn in the horse stalls at night as the fence is only 48" and not predator proof. She put them in pens with feed at night after milking, and turned them out on pasture after milking every morning. I'm sure Bryan will do the same. The front part is what has the cement footer and 6' chain link fencing. This is where she kept the chickens, rabbits, kid goats etc. That part may be 4 or 5 acres. Plenty big enough for all the chickens to have separate runs/coops/free range areas. All of that part has water sprinklers as well, and we can plant and water forage for the chickens. This land will grow anything if you can just get water to it! Just behind the barn is 1 acre that is fenced off with a big pond in the middle of it, which is fenced into quarters. This is where she kept her geese, and where I will keep my ducks when I get some.
Bryan has taken a job well testing which is long, long hours away from home, so I will have to learn how to milk a goat (I can just picture THIS!!!) and will have to hold down the fort. I was a medical transcriptionist at Brooke Army Medical Center, and am planning on a home-based transcription service. The need is tremendous since all doctor's offices and medical centers are to be fully computerized by 2013. I can take care of this when the kids are at school and at night, and get paid by the line, so that'll help. Right now, tho, we are still unpacking and trying to get the house/grounds set up. Quite a job! But we are all up for it, and looking forward to our new lives here. I must say, it is nice not to be driving in horrible traffic to work every morning, and wondering if the bus that carries my children to their schools is safe. The chronic pain between my shoulders is already gone! Ha! Ha!
We are anxiously awaiting our poultry so we can get started. I have made two pens like Beekissed's out of 2 cattle panels each, and will cover half of them this evening with my mother in law's favorite R-panel and just set a re-purposed rabbit hutch inside each one for their coop. That'll have to do until we get a couple of paychecks under our belts. They are secure with two rows of cinder blocks buried around the peremiter, as per BJ's instruction, to keep something from digging under. By the way: if you want to cut a cattle panel, a side arm grinder w/ a metal wheel on it is WORTH IT'S WEIGHT IN GOLD! I didn't get any tickets for the sparks that flew, and I didn't set any fires, but I had the water hose handy! LOL!
The adjustment is a big one. The place isn't large enough to make a good living on, but it's certainly big enough to work you to death! LIL. I'd have to get the tax papers to be sure, but I think it's 38 acres. the back part is well fenced for goats to graze some though with the drought, there's not much there. We put them inside the barn in the horse stalls at night as the fence is only 48" and not predator proof. She put them in pens with feed at night after milking, and turned them out on pasture after milking every morning. I'm sure Bryan will do the same. The front part is what has the cement footer and 6' chain link fencing. This is where she kept the chickens, rabbits, kid goats etc. That part may be 4 or 5 acres. Plenty big enough for all the chickens to have separate runs/coops/free range areas. All of that part has water sprinklers as well, and we can plant and water forage for the chickens. This land will grow anything if you can just get water to it! Just behind the barn is 1 acre that is fenced off with a big pond in the middle of it, which is fenced into quarters. This is where she kept her geese, and where I will keep my ducks when I get some.
Bryan has taken a job well testing which is long, long hours away from home, so I will have to learn how to milk a goat (I can just picture THIS!!!) and will have to hold down the fort. I was a medical transcriptionist at Brooke Army Medical Center, and am planning on a home-based transcription service. The need is tremendous since all doctor's offices and medical centers are to be fully computerized by 2013. I can take care of this when the kids are at school and at night, and get paid by the line, so that'll help. Right now, tho, we are still unpacking and trying to get the house/grounds set up. Quite a job! But we are all up for it, and looking forward to our new lives here. I must say, it is nice not to be driving in horrible traffic to work every morning, and wondering if the bus that carries my children to their schools is safe. The chronic pain between my shoulders is already gone! Ha! Ha!
We are anxiously awaiting our poultry so we can get started. I have made two pens like Beekissed's out of 2 cattle panels each, and will cover half of them this evening with my mother in law's favorite R-panel and just set a re-purposed rabbit hutch inside each one for their coop. That'll have to do until we get a couple of paychecks under our belts. They are secure with two rows of cinder blocks buried around the peremiter, as per BJ's instruction, to keep something from digging under. By the way: if you want to cut a cattle panel, a side arm grinder w/ a metal wheel on it is WORTH IT'S WEIGHT IN GOLD! I didn't get any tickets for the sparks that flew, and I didn't set any fires, but I had the water hose handy! LOL!
My neighbor came over tonight and told me if his wife ever kicks him out, he's moving in with my chickens. Oddly enough, it wasn't meant to be so nice. My husband is disabled and can't do much carpentry. We have to depend on family and hate to bother them. So, we purchased a shed (last years model and much cheaper than a coop) and added a few things. I have a problem with my back, so everything is made so I don't have to bend so much.
