TanksHill
Super Self-Sufficient
Wow Bee could you imagine just picking up and moving to Wv to homestead and farm with total strangers? Please don't tempt me. That would be an amazing adventure.
Bee~ Journal of then...
- Thread starter Beekissed
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Beekissed
Mountain Sage
I think they were just Suffolk ewes but I would have had to climb UP to mount one to ride....and I stand at a whopping 5'4".dragonlaurel said:
The farm share would even be tempting to me had I been looking for a place to live like I was when I first moved here. This Keyser, WV is only a short ways from me....about 65-70 miles..and very pretty country. They have a TSC, Walmart and all the other essentials....
dragonlaurel
Improvising a more SS life
I'm just really missing my old garden. Not being able to grow more is frustrating. Having a chance to be on a working farm really appealed to me. Hubby would never go to live on a stranger's farm though, so we'll be waiting a little longer.
I could give you a boost to ride that Suffolk sheep, Bee. We can rig up a saddle if that helps.
I could give you a boost to ride that Suffolk sheep, Bee. We can rig up a saddle if that helps.
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Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Tempting.......but...NO!
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Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Well, got 12 Red Star giveaways yesterday. They are 10 months old and just finishing their moult, debeaked (sadly~why in the world do people not feel like that is a monstrous thing to do to a bird?) and healthy looking.
Got them from a couple of displaced city folks who live in one of the most gorgeous old farm houses and on a beautiful farm! They get 50 Red Star pullets from the hatcheries at one time...they are 6 months old...can you imagine the cost? But then, if you were to see this place, these folks don't have to worry about cost. They keep these chickens in a barn at all times. I don't really know why but I think they sell the eggs at farmer's markets in VA.
These poor chickens don't know how to go to the coop at night, don't know how to get on a roost, don't know how to forage and scratch. Very sad to watch!
Before long my girls will show them the proper way to live as a chicken in the real world...but pitiful to watch them just stand huddled by the buildings, afraid to move out into the garden or orchard. Last night I had to go and collect them off the ground along the edges of the building and place them on the roosts...at least the ones I could find in the dark.
No, I don't quarantine new birds. I don't have a place to do that and it doesn't matter anyway. Any animal can be a carrier and not have any physical evidence or an active virus at that time or any other time. Plus, I'm very confident in my flock's immune systems. I'm of the belief that what does not kill them will only make them stronger.....
It will be interesting to see how these girls adapt to free ranging in the fresh open air, roosting on natural roosts made of saplings, eating a non-formulated diet and laying eggs in a nest...one of them laid right outside the coop door yesterday! Didn't even look for a nesty place in which to do it...didn't know how!
Sad what folks will do to an animal and call it the proper way. These folks said they were protecting these birds from coyotes but they have a huge GP dog and no near tree lines. I think they just didn't want chicken poo in their lovely yard! They were sure nice folks but citified, ya know?
Got them from a couple of displaced city folks who live in one of the most gorgeous old farm houses and on a beautiful farm! They get 50 Red Star pullets from the hatcheries at one time...they are 6 months old...can you imagine the cost? But then, if you were to see this place, these folks don't have to worry about cost. They keep these chickens in a barn at all times. I don't really know why but I think they sell the eggs at farmer's markets in VA.
These poor chickens don't know how to go to the coop at night, don't know how to get on a roost, don't know how to forage and scratch. Very sad to watch!
Before long my girls will show them the proper way to live as a chicken in the real world...but pitiful to watch them just stand huddled by the buildings, afraid to move out into the garden or orchard. Last night I had to go and collect them off the ground along the edges of the building and place them on the roosts...at least the ones I could find in the dark.
No, I don't quarantine new birds. I don't have a place to do that and it doesn't matter anyway. Any animal can be a carrier and not have any physical evidence or an active virus at that time or any other time. Plus, I'm very confident in my flock's immune systems. I'm of the belief that what does not kill them will only make them stronger.....
It will be interesting to see how these girls adapt to free ranging in the fresh open air, roosting on natural roosts made of saplings, eating a non-formulated diet and laying eggs in a nest...one of them laid right outside the coop door yesterday! Didn't even look for a nesty place in which to do it...didn't know how!
Sad what folks will do to an animal and call it the proper way. These folks said they were protecting these birds from coyotes but they have a huge GP dog and no near tree lines. I think they just didn't want chicken poo in their lovely yard!
They were sure nice folks but citified, ya know? 
Quail_Antwerp
Cold is on the Right, Hot is on The Left
Do you think they would consider us a small family???Beekissed said:
Hey....all you folks who don't know where to move and are looking for just the right place.....wanna really homestead on a farm share? This ad came out in our local free ads this week:
FARM TO SHARE:Work off rent helping us restore and utilize our 140 acre homestead in a hollow of the Allegheny Mt. Quiet, secluded 1890's farmhouse available with restoration already underway(new electric and plumbing). Some construction and remodeling skills needed, farming and mechanical skills a plus. Just outside Keyser, WV, with better than average small-town jobs, stores and services. Must be honest and reliable. Prefer non-smoker, non-drinker couple or small family. Call anytime (304)788-9090.
Wanna move to my mountains???
Do you think they'd let me bring my chickens?
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Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Aly, I would say they would work with anyone and a farm is meant for animals. In the same publication they also had a small rental house in town with the same offer...working off the rent by doing repairs.
You could call and see if they are nice, reasonable folks. Wouldn't it be wonderful to live closer to each other? Keyser is a wonderful little town and just up the road from me.
I would have went for this when I first moved here, but these kind of deals aren't often offered to single women...they usually want a man around to do the mechanical stuff. That really irks me at times, as my mother and I are pretty darn handy folks and can out-handy most men! Plus I have a great work crew with these boys...but stupid menfolk just do not see the potential.
If I were to try any of this kind of deal, I would want a hard and fast contract including what is allowed, how long, and what they expect. It would be awful to do a lot of work, make the place pretty and sweet, get settled in for the long haul...and then them kick you out and put one of their family members in your place after all the work is done!
I do a lot of extras here that are not included in my rent contract. But...people are watching. I've been told time and again that they wished THEY had a tenant like me.
When I first moved here, I couldn't find a place that would rent to an "outsider". Now, all those folks who wouldn't chance it are kicking themselves. Several people have told me they drive past my house on purpose because they like to see how it looks and how fascinated they are with my animals and gardening methods.
I figure...if this place is no longer available one day, my work here is my rental reference. My point is this....hard work never killed anyone, it is a learning experience and it is an adventure. And perhaps someone else would see and hear about your industrious family and offer you a caretaking position on another farm, if this one doesn't work out.
Life is all about change....and leaps of faith. Yeah, it's not considered safe to live one's life this way, but, by golly, it's never boring and there is always something to plan and do. I have grown so much since leaving the "safety" of my home town and all my familiars. I love it here!
You could call and see if they are nice, reasonable folks. Wouldn't it be wonderful to live closer to each other? Keyser is a wonderful little town and just up the road from me.
I would have went for this when I first moved here, but these kind of deals aren't often offered to single women...they usually want a man around to do the mechanical stuff. That really irks me at times, as my mother and I are pretty darn handy folks and can out-handy most men! Plus I have a great work crew with these boys...but stupid menfolk just do not see the potential.
If I were to try any of this kind of deal, I would want a hard and fast contract including what is allowed, how long, and what they expect. It would be awful to do a lot of work, make the place pretty and sweet, get settled in for the long haul...and then them kick you out and put one of their family members in your place after all the work is done!
I do a lot of extras here that are not included in my rent contract. But...people are watching. I've been told time and again that they wished THEY had a tenant like me.
When I first moved here, I couldn't find a place that would rent to an "outsider". Now, all those folks who wouldn't chance it are kicking themselves. Several people have told me they drive past my house on purpose because they like to see how it looks and how fascinated they are with my animals and gardening methods.
I figure...if this place is no longer available one day, my work here is my rental reference. My point is this....hard work never killed anyone, it is a learning experience and it is an adventure. And perhaps someone else would see and hear about your industrious family and offer you a caretaking position on another farm, if this one doesn't work out.
Life is all about change....and leaps of faith. Yeah, it's not considered safe to live one's life this way, but, by golly, it's never boring and there is always something to plan and do. I have grown so much since leaving the "safety" of my home town and all my familiars. I love it here!
Farmfresh
City Biddy
I sold some started pullets to a young couple two years ago. Then they had lost most of the original birds that I sold them to predators before they got a secure enough pen built. They had bought some hens ready to lay to replace the ones I sold them... sex-links with mutilated beaks.
This spring they came back to get some more pullets from me - they liked them better, because they "seemed healthier". After questioning them about their other chickens and finding out that most of them were the de-beaked birds, I tried to explain why I did not de-beak my birds. I explained that the de-beaked birds have a harder time eating, can barely forage, can't properly maintain their feathers and other things. She was shocked. She had been told by the other poultry person that de-beaking was "perfectly painless and harmless" and that it really should be done to "keep the flock healthier". She had never been told HOW it was done either!
The good old modern ways...
disillusioning new homesteaders everyday! It makes our work teaching self-sufficiency SO much harder.
This spring they came back to get some more pullets from me - they liked them better, because they "seemed healthier". After questioning them about their other chickens and finding out that most of them were the de-beaked birds, I tried to explain why I did not de-beak my birds. I explained that the de-beaked birds have a harder time eating, can barely forage, can't properly maintain their feathers and other things. She was shocked. She had been told by the other poultry person that de-beaking was "perfectly painless and harmless" and that it really should be done to "keep the flock healthier". She had never been told HOW it was done either!
The good old modern ways...
disillusioning new homesteaders everyday! It makes our work teaching self-sufficiency SO much harder.
MorelCabin
Quilting Extraordinaire
Bee your sheep are awesome! Congrats on the new chickens, they will adapt quicker than you think and will run the place I'm sure LOL!
And you are so right, life IS all about leaps of faith!
And you are so right, life IS all about leaps of faith!
FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
It's amazing the stuff people have been told and then believe. After all, debeaking is only neccessary in crowded conditions in order to prevent the chickens pecking each other to death. That is not an issue in a small backyard flock, that has ample room to roam and a caretaker, who notices and deals with problems as they come up on an individual basis.
I had to remind my mother yesterday that the reason we can no longer get raw milk, is not because the raw milk was unsafe; but that the big dairy agribusinesses were trying to squeeze out the small farmer. Which they did.
That the big e coli outbreak in spinach a few years ago, was not from a small farmer, but from a big agribusiness farm in California. Every time there is a food related health scare, it is from agribusiness, not the small farmer!!!
Yet the regulations that get imposed are applied to the small farmer and are usually financially impossible to be met by the small farmer.
That ad sound very tempting. Next time SO gets out of line, I'll check the ads in your neighborhood
I had to remind my mother yesterday that the reason we can no longer get raw milk, is not because the raw milk was unsafe; but that the big dairy agribusinesses were trying to squeeze out the small farmer. Which they did.
That the big e coli outbreak in spinach a few years ago, was not from a small farmer, but from a big agribusiness farm in California. Every time there is a food related health scare, it is from agribusiness, not the small farmer!!!
Yet the regulations that get imposed are applied to the small farmer and are usually financially impossible to be met by the small farmer.
That ad sound very tempting. Next time SO gets out of line, I'll check the ads in your neighborhood
