Hi from Washington

[Hinotori]

Hi all,

I've been reading this forum for about 6 months and finally decided to register.

We just got our property last year so we are just really starting our journey for some self sufficiency. I have a few chickens and we are hoping to get some goats and sheep later.

 

[moolie]

 

[snapshot]

Hi and welcome from Mississippi!!!!!! You are at the point I am striving for!!!!!!! WooHoo!!!!!

 

[2dream]

 

[i_am2bz]

Welcome!

 

[Marianne]

Welcome from central Kansas!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

from Western Washington!

 

[bambi]

And Hello from Missouri

 

[Icu4dzs]

Greetings from South Dakota. Yes, it gets cold here. Washington state or D.C.?
Tell us all about what you are doing. You'll find we are doing it too and probably can give you some "lessons learned" to prevent having a problem.
We're glad you're here.
Trim Sends
//bt//

 

[Hinotori]

Washington state. We're WNW of Mt Rainier by about 30 miles or so.

Well my hubby retired in 2008 from the Navy so we moved from Virginia Beach back to Oregon where I grew up. Unfortunately there are just no jobs there, so with lots of searching we did find him a job but it's about 4 hours from my parents house. And it's wet here. Much different from the Columbia Basin high desert where they live. I do like the cooler temps in summer.

We bought this place last June. 18 acres to relax on with a tiny 1900 house. There is marsh on the land so can't use all the property, but that and the 20+ acre pond that just comes on from the neighbors puts us as a rural sensitive resource to help keep the developments away.

It's very hard to keep land clear here I've learned. Nature just takes back over. So we really need to get the fencing up because we NEED the goats now, not just want them. Hubby was always "ehhh" on animals until we went to the fair last year and he got to see some of the Nigerian dwarf goats that I'd been talking about. He likes those. I want to get a few Jacob sheep as well. I like their spots a lot.

Most my family is farmers and I grew up around animals. Chickens, goats, sheep and horses mostly. The smell of a barn isn't a bad smell to me. We always had a large garden growing up as well.

I've about picked out where I want my garden and need to till it. The soil here is very rocky as we are on glacial till. So I figure till as deep as I can then add on topsoil, compost and chicken litter. Then I'm going to try some roots and leafy stuff next year.

We got 12 easter egger chicks this last March and 4 little silkies. Then in June I picked up 6 barred rocks and 2 brahmas. Last month the 2 silkie pullets I got went broody and hatched out 8 chicks, half of which are silkie, the others are silkie/ee crosses. So we have quite a few birds running around, though only the first 12 are giving eggs. One of the two silkie boys turned out to be a jerk so we had to eat him. So we only have one known cockerel right now. He's a good boy and it looks like he's the father off the 8 chicks.

Ok, I think I'm rambling on now. I'll come back and chat more later.