Hi, all!
It seems that every time I search the web for answers to my homesteading questions, the best answers come from BYC. So today I finally signed up.
Just married and started out homesteading last summer. Now we're working on building our flocks and herds.
We started with some feed store "sexlink" hens and a black and white rooster that someone caught terrorizing the local small town and dropped off here. Now we have 4 breeding age muscovies, 3 Welsh harlequins, half a dozen Rhode Island red laying hens, and more roosters than you can shake a stick at.
We also have two incubators going full time, from which we've hatched and are currently brooding 15 day-old Rouen ducklings, 11 muscovy ducklings, and a handful of little chicks. We've got 2 dozen khaki Campbell eggs due to hatch March 9, and will put 3 dozen more in this week.
We got a young alpine/boer buck and doe last summer, and she just surprised us with a kid less than a month ago, so we're jumping in the deep end with the dairy goat routine. So far I think we're doing all right. Our other doe should kid around the first of June, so we should be swimming in the milk soon enough.
We also started raising California/New Zealand bunnies last summer, and all of our does kindled the first of the year. So, we have about 23 kits in various colors ready to be rehomed as soon as this week.
We're looking to flock build, find trading partners for drakes and ganders, and would like to expand into geese (for sure) and possibly other types of birds. We're still in the research and materials gathering phase, but are planning to undertake cheesemaking, soapmaking, and other handy home crafts with the milk products, and plan to sell hatching eggs, ducklings, and goslings as soon as we are able. We'd love to find some people to network and have been happy do discover many who are willing to share their wisdom with us as we jump head first into the craziness.
We'll have chicks, ducks, and bunnies all ready to go just in time for Easter! Here's hoping the weather gets better before then.
Thanks all!
DaisyMeadow
It seems that every time I search the web for answers to my homesteading questions, the best answers come from BYC. So today I finally signed up.
Just married and started out homesteading last summer. Now we're working on building our flocks and herds.
We started with some feed store "sexlink" hens and a black and white rooster that someone caught terrorizing the local small town and dropped off here. Now we have 4 breeding age muscovies, 3 Welsh harlequins, half a dozen Rhode Island red laying hens, and more roosters than you can shake a stick at.
We also have two incubators going full time, from which we've hatched and are currently brooding 15 day-old Rouen ducklings, 11 muscovy ducklings, and a handful of little chicks. We've got 2 dozen khaki Campbell eggs due to hatch March 9, and will put 3 dozen more in this week.
We got a young alpine/boer buck and doe last summer, and she just surprised us with a kid less than a month ago, so we're jumping in the deep end with the dairy goat routine. So far I think we're doing all right. Our other doe should kid around the first of June, so we should be swimming in the milk soon enough.
We also started raising California/New Zealand bunnies last summer, and all of our does kindled the first of the year. So, we have about 23 kits in various colors ready to be rehomed as soon as this week.
We're looking to flock build, find trading partners for drakes and ganders, and would like to expand into geese (for sure) and possibly other types of birds. We're still in the research and materials gathering phase, but are planning to undertake cheesemaking, soapmaking, and other handy home crafts with the milk products, and plan to sell hatching eggs, ducklings, and goslings as soon as we are able. We'd love to find some people to network and have been happy do discover many who are willing to share their wisdom with us as we jump head first into the craziness.
We'll have chicks, ducks, and bunnies all ready to go just in time for Easter! Here's hoping the weather gets better before then.
Thanks all!
DaisyMeadow
