New Animal Housing

Post Hole digging is not one of my favorite things.

We are in the process of building a new pen with a small barn.  This will be Stella's place until she and Steve get acquainted.   We are using posts cut from our land and scrap wood and fence boards that we have on hand.

We are building this one extra strong so that when we are ready, it will hold a bull calf for feeding prior to butchering.  Speaking of butchering, we just picked up our first butchered calf topping out at 760 lbs dressed weight.  That is a lot of beef!  We have filled 3 freezers with it.  I'm looking forward to getting another calf and also looking at getting a couple of pigs.

Steve has been frisky and playful lately.  He loves his red ball and investigating everything I have.  Including my camera. 

 It will be good when Stella gets here.  Hopefully it will be this weekend.

Poultry Housing and The Teachings from Raccoons

I started to fancy myself a decent builder of animal housing until this July when a raccoon taught me otherwise.

If you look at the door to this chicken coop you'll notice I left it a wire door, for optimum air flow, as I did the higher sides.  A raccoon took full advantage of my design and just opened the door one night and removed one of my grown ducks.  So I fixed him and went to work securing the door down better. The next time, he/she raccoon found an easy gap in my fence sides and swiped another duck.  I went from five ducks to three in two days.  More hard work went into closing up the gaps and I was even able to trap the raccoon and dispatch it. Problem solved.  

I moved my remaining three ducks into their newly built home with major wire all the way around, including flared out at the bottom and buried under the dirt .

The chickens moved into the old duck house and all was well until John found two chickens with their necks sticking through the fenced door...no heads.  I then put up a solid door and, after trapping several opossums first, trapped and dispatched yet another raccoon. 

I now felt secure with my chickens and ducks.  Fast forward to the day after the "Farm Visit" from my daughter's home school group.  Thank God, it was the day after.  On this particular day, I ventured out to find Alice and Trixie with their necks through the wire sides of their house...no heads and each missing a wing.  REALLY???  My two quiet ducks.  This now leaves me with Burgy, who sounds like Burgess Meredith as The Penguin all...the...time now because she constantly calls to the other two who are no longer there. Sadly, I can't buy anymore ducks until next spring.


Post raccoon attack, I put up solid walls around my duck pen.  Why oh why didn't they just stay in the middle of their pen?  Why didn't they go in their house inside the pen?  Ducks are definitely not the smartest animals on the farm, nor is the farmer.  The raccoon is.

I go through all of this and still feel that my poultry is vulnerable, yet when I go into town there is a flock of chickens that just run all over the place.  There was even a cat sitting amongst them today.  Is this fair?  I think not.


Good news: My chickens, who are all named are Chicky Mama except for one who is named Flat Mama, have started to lay eggs.  Actually it is Flat Mama who is laying.  I call her that because when I go near her she doesn't run away she just flattens herself.  A lot of people name their chickens but mine all look the same, so when they are chicks they are Chicky Babe and then they become Chicky Mama unless a rooster sneaks in and he is called Papa Roost.

The Chicky Mamas

Flat Mama

We have eggs!

I was beginning to get nervous because my chickens weren't laying yet, and some of the ones I had given away were.  This would be my luck!  So John built me a bigger nesting box for them and it worked!

I also found 15 eggs in Burgy's nest.  I have been peeping in for a couple of weeks and nothing was seen because apparently she likes to bury them in the hay.

Good job ladies!!!

Shower Toads and The Blessing of Great Neighbors

John and I purchased a Jayco travel trailer when we bought our land so that we would have shelter during land improvements.  At the time, we were living a one and a half hour drive from the land and in the heat of Texas summer we wanted to be able to have some semblance of civility.  This would buy us time to do improvements slowly and build a house on the land, then we would sell our house in Round Rock.  Well, that was the plan.  It hasn't gone quite that way.  I have decided travel trailers should not be "lived" in, they should be weekend only retreats.



During our first couple of weeks with the trailer we had it wedged into the front 200 feet of the property, because that's as far as we were able to clear given that the early July temperatures were in the triple digits.  We went every weekend but still didn't spend the night because there was no electricity for A/C or water, until one weekend our neighbor Charlie offered to let us use his driveway to get to the one clearing that existed in the middle of our property and his driveway led right to it. This would give us some security and Charlie said that we could hook onto his electricity and water until we got our own.

So, taking him up on this very generous offer, we successfully backed the trailer 200 feet into the cleared opening of our property. We also successfully managed to get it trapped in a ditch, with it sticking three fourths of the way into the road.  It wouldn't go forward, it wouldn't go backward.  Ok,  it's a country road with no traffic--that is, until you wedge a trailer into it.  As Charlie went to get his tractor, my very frustrated husband tried to direct this older woman around the trailer but she declined and said she would wait (obviously enjoying the scene in front of her).  This upset my husband even more.  Yes, hi, we're your new neighbors, oh and this is our ... house. Charlie managed to get us unstuck and we were able to relocate to the middle of the property.

One of the first things my husband did was to set up the outdoor shower that is attached to our trailer.  By "set up" I mean he threw down a piece of plastic and insisted that we could shower in the dark.  I swear I could hear the raccoons laughing at the show.  It was then that I embarked on my first building project and constructed a shower stall complete with towel hooks, a shelf, a seat...and a small tree.  Every shower should have a tree.

Outdoor showers became one of my favorite things.  The toads would show up out of nowhere and hop around in the water as my shower enclosure would fill with steam when the cool nights finally came.  It seemed so natural to have them there that it didn't bother me.  It wasn't until real cold weather came along that I retreated to the small, cramped indoor shower of the trailer.

            

I'm happy to report we now have our own electric pole and water well, but it's fall again and I will miss my outdoor shower until late spring.  Goodnight toads, see you next season.

Thank you Charlie for all your generosity!!!



Next:  Poultry Housing and Raccoons...grrrrrrrr!

Is Mesquite Really a Tree?

Mesquite is one of the banes of my existence.

Previously, my only knowledge of mesquite was that it was something desirable in my charcoal.  I didn't know, for instance, that it has thorns that rival the ones Jesus had thrust into his head.  John and I called it a Jesus bush for lack of knowing what it was at first.  Most of the mesquite on my land are thorny bushes that tear at your skin and clothes. No matter how many times you cut them and rip them from the ground, 1 month later they are back.  

If you should have the bad luck of getting one of the thorns stuck in an appendage you will quickly discover that they have some kind of chemical defense that will swell a finger or toe to twice its size for at least a week or two.

Mesquite will also produce bean pods in the spring.  I am told by the locals that settlers would grind them for use with coffee and flour as an additive or substitute.  I'm not that brave or desperate...yet.

Never, and I mean never, send mesquite through a chipper.  The thorns don't chip, they scatter, and you will cease to have a lawnmower, go-cart, wheel barrow, or utility cart with air in the tires.  Even "green goo" can't keep them inflated.  I need mesquite proof tires.

I do have mature mesquite "trees" on the property topping out between 12 and 15 feet, but all they are to me are water mongering monsters waiting to stick you.  This fall/winter project is to begin mass removal to save our oaks.  We are praying for rain for many reasons and mesquite burning is one of them.

next:  "Shower Toads", "The Blessing of Great Neighbors", and "Shifting Attitudes with Nature"

Picking Out Land

Choosing your land site can be very time consuming, but, if done right it is very rewarding.  


There seem to be plenty of 10-15 acre lots that leave you still within a stones throw of your neighbor.  Long and thin is not ideal unless you plan on city-type living, as you will still hear all that your neighbors say and do.  Width is a good thing as it is easier to keep septic tanks, water tanks, neighbors, and their animals well away from each other. 


You also want to check the water supply.  I have a very deep well that feeds off of an aquifer coming from East Texas.  I have a better water source than most of the cities and towns that surround me, but I have only one small wet weather pond.  If you're going to have livestock a pond is a must, and if I were to do this over I would seek out a spring fed pond.


Speaking of wet weather, it is good to look at your land when it is wet if possible.  John and I purchased during a drought and then the next fall, winter, and spring we received lots of rain.  All of our chosen possible building sites flooded very quickly leaving us with very few choices and still needing to bring in soil to build.
   
Having utilities already present is definitely a big plus.  Water wells run about $10k,  septics $6-9k, and electricity $2-5K depending on how close the nearest transformer and existing poles are.  We had none of these and let me tell you it adds up very quickly and can prolong the building process.
   
Driveways are very expensive too, but I feel that a farm house should be back off the road at least 500 to 600 feet.  Just putting road base down on 650 feet cost us $4000 and that was with a $1000 discount for starting the job immediately.
   
Other things to consider are hospital, gas station and grocery store proximity.  We have everything within 8 miles of us and for me that is close enough. Also find out what permits will be required.  We only needed a septic permit because we live in a "county" and not a town.


John and I both agree that if we were to start over with a new piece of land we would choose one that had an existing farm house and LOTS more acreage because we now suffer from acreage envy.  It happens.




Coming up next: Is Mesquite Really a Tree?

Unlikely

My name is Mary Alice.  I grew up in a small town in upstate New York, went to the city of Syracuse, New York for business school, moved west to Los Angeles, California at 19, and moved to Round Rock, Texas (a city of approximately 100,000) with my husband 15 years ago.  City living is what I know.  I have lived in apartments, rode mass transit, banged on walls and ceilings to quiet my neighbors, and had all shopping at my fingertips.

Never did I imagine I would wake up to a spoiled miniature donkey's brea, a crazy duck whose constant quacking sounds like Burgess Meredith (Burgy is her name), and chickens waiting to break out of confinement.

Now, I was raised with visiting my aunts, uncles and cousins who lived in rural New York--a place and time I cherish with all my heart.  The combined smell of apple orchards and wood stoves is my favorite.  However, I prided myself on my ability to survive and manipulate city living.

I currently live 8 miles south of Smithville, Texas.  I don't actually live in any town so I'm told, I just live in a county.  Hmmmm,  I never knew that was possible.  I drove the county tax office crazy trying to get them to tell me. "Yes, but what TOWN do I live in?" They just shook their heads and said I would get used to it.  My husband, John, and I searched for 8 months looking for a property that was heavily wooded, at least 10 acres, and had a little space between our lot and the next.  Our diligence paid off and on June 1, 2009 we had 11 heavily wooded acres to call ours.  It is not as wide as we would like, but, we are blessed with amazing neighbors on both sides of us.

So, now I am blogging to share my learning experiences-- everything from my aha! moments to my ughs!  I have learned a lot of what not to do and when you should actually listen to your husband's advice.  My goal is to have a self sufficient farm with greenhouses for Aquaponics and more gardens and animals.

Stay tuned for "Choosing Your Land", "Is Mesquite Really A Tree?" and "Shower Toads"