This morning we put in an offer on a house, and the sellers accepted. Of course all is contingent upon our financing, so it's not a totally done deal yet. The house is decent; we'll need to add on in a few years if not earlier. However, it sits on 21 acres of beautiful land, up on a hill. It actually has a barn and fencing. The people who live there now keep horses. I'm envisioning chickens and lots of kitties for the barn.
space opera
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
<---- jealous!
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
YAY!!!!
(I'll be happy to ship over a few chickens and kitties to get you started!))
Farmgirl
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Yeah, but do you think Farm Girl will sue for name infringement?
-Trevor
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Pre-grats, Space Opera! I hope it works out for you! My mother would be INSANELY jealous; she's wanted a farm as long as I can remember.
Will you also have other animals than chickens and kitties? I hear pygmy goats are cute... Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Hmm. I think eventually we might get some other animals. What do you do with goats, though? I thought chickens would be good because of eggs. Oh, and just so no one thinks we're rolling in the dough - this property was at an insanely low price. We'll have to leave our current school district to move, but we think it will be worth it. It's funny how much property values differ.
space opera
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
Goats are good grazers. My grandma used them as living lawnmowers. She also milked and butchered them. I drank a lot of goat’s milk and had to choke down a lot of the meat. I don’t care how it was prepared; it always had that “goat” taste to me.
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
*In my best Eddie Albert voice*
Farm living is the life for me...
Wishing you the best of luck.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
yay for farm girls! farm girls are HOT!
(says a farm boy)...
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
No, Trevor -- but I might bean you for making it into two words.... j/k
I also have a thoroughbred horse that would look great on your new place, Nicole! (and I'm getting really fed up with him!)
Farmgirl
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
plaid!
(plaid always makes my day......)
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
A horse, Farmgirl? Hmm. If you're getting so fed up with him that you want him to die, sure...just send him on down. I don't know anything about taking care of horses, but perhaps I should learn. 'Course, I don't know anything about chickens either. Now that I've found out that goats are lawnmowers, Mr. Opera might be voting for some of them too.!
space opera
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
That's ok Farmgirl - at least the joke wasn't in vine.
I realize I've bean funnier, but what you seed is what you get.
-Trevor
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
(sings) Farm girl, get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line Better run, girl You're much too... um... farm?... girl...
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Congrats, Spacey! Yay!
*crosses fingers for finance*
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
Space Opera, I'll come down and we'll go horse shopping. I've always wanted to look at horses for salein kentucky, never really had a chance though.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Ah, such unbridled passion. I hated to saddle another thread with puns, so insteed this will be my last en-canter with the punning experience.
-Trevor
[ September 27, 2004, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: TMedina ]
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
One nice thing is that goats prefer eating noxioux weeds over hay, clover, and other grasses. So you can grow fodder for feeding cows/sheep/horses while the goats keep the weeds from overrunning the pasture. As far as keeping your around-the-house lawn area trimmed and weeded, a couple of sheep (sheep are extremely social animals) in addition to your goat will probably be better.
Having a few goats and sheep around is also good for making some excellent cheeses.
And if you decide upon growing clover as your overwinter feed stock, a family-sized vegetable/etc garden, and/or a few fruit/nut trees, keeping your own beehive for pollination and honey would be nice. If you hate using pesticides, maybe you'll want a few predatory wasp nests to take care of common garden pests.
[ September 27, 2004, 06:26 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by IvyGirl (Member # 6252) on :
Congrats Space Opera! But under no circumstances are we sending any kitties to you, at least from our house! *Glares at Farmgirl* However, you can have the thoroughbred, because much as I love him, he and my grandmother don't get along. He's really sweet, so I have a hard time seeing why, besides the fact that she's scared of him because he's so big. I think he's fun though because he's like a big baby. Ah well, to each his (or her) own I guess.
Ivygirl
Posted by J T Stryker (Member # 6300) on :
quote: I hear pygmy goats are cute..
Pygmy goats are the work of the devil, they are smart, strong, fast, and small enough that you can't just tackle them. Good luck keeping them were you want them.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
I'm going to do some reading on both goats and sheep. There are plenty of weeds for a goat, so that should be no problem!
We walked the entirety of the property tonight. Oh my gosh!!! It's like a state park in your own backyard. The land is rolling, and has tons of trees. There is also a creek in which we saw tons of frogs - obviously the kids' favorite part. There are several nice paths due to the horses that were on the property. I'm going to kick myself if for some reason our financing doesn't go through.
space opera
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
I really hope your financing comes through, that sounds super!!!
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
Wow - that sounds amazing Space Opera!
I really hope your finance comes through....
Oh, what fun for you and your family. *Wildly jealous*
Oooh, I know a book you should get - chock full of information on how to use land (including stocking your own trout farm...). Back to Basics I have it and find it fascinating. Sure, some bits are slightly silly (home made coon skin caps, anyone?) but overall I love it!
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
I worked on a farm with goats once... they're fun (they've got lots of personality)... but they can be a pain, too, most important thing being to have REALLY good fences for them (that they can't crawl under nor jump over)...
One thing about having animals = different fences work for different animals. So a barbed wire fence that's fine for cattle probably won't work for goats, an electric fence that's strong enough for goats won't work for sheep, etc., so when you put in your fences, keep in mind the different sorts of animals you'll eventually have, and you'll save yourself a LOT of $ and work...
[edit: cows and goats aren't the same thing]
[ September 27, 2004, 10:08 PM: Message edited by: plaid ]
Posted by Lost Ashes (Member # 6745) on :
Word to the wise... get the barn cats spayed or neutered.
Trust me, thirty-seven cats is too many for one barn. My Dad and Step-mom didn't spay the first cat and then couldn't catch all of the ones from the first litter. And on and on...
Disease took most of the cats a few years later, it wasn't pretty.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
What L.A. said... and don't worry about how many cats you need to start -- if you're tender-hearted, you'll soon be adopting all the stray cats that flock to your farm...
Posted by Lost Ashes (Member # 6745) on :
Space, I sure hope it works out for you. I really, really want to get back out the country.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
You need an attack llama to guard the place.
Posted by ctm (Member # 6525) on :
Congrats, Space Opera! Country living is good! Chickens are pretty easy to raise, and goats are fun.
We had some borrowed goats for a while, and since we don't have the right fencing we just kept them on picket lines, and moved them on to the next patch of weeds every few days. The had a bucket of water near them, and we checked them s few times a day to make sure they weren't tangled. They were pygmy goats. Super cute, my daughter adored them!
ctm
Posted by Anthro (Member # 6087) on :
Greeeeeeeeeeen acres is the place to be!
I'll be your llama!
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Oh, cool! I did exactly the same thing in 1990. We now have a total of 88 acres, a dozen cows, a bull and a duck. I never want to live anywhere else.
Posted by Toretha (Member # 2233) on :
or attack geese. Smaller and cheaper than Llamas AND they lay eggs!
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I have that Back to Basics book, Imogen -- and I LOVE it!
I personally prefer sheep over goats. I know that goats eat things that even sheep won't, but there just isn't much purpose to goats -- I mean, I've eaten goat meat (didn't care for it) and had goat milk -- and neither was enough to make me want to raise them.
Sheep, on the other hand, I grew up raising and showing in 4-H and that is really good eating! (I'm talking lamb, here, not the older "mutton" which isn't as good. Some people have eaten mutton instead of lamb when ordering lamb in restuarants and stores, and it sours them on the taste of sheep meat for life).
But I advise you to start slowly, SO -- don't overwhelm yourself with learning a bunch of new livestock information all at once. Do the chickens and get comfortable with them, then slowly add other things.
Farmgirl
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Thanks for the advice, Farmgirl. I'm thinking that we'll start with chickens and once we get used to caring for them then we can think about adding a couple of goats. Since we'll be moving right before Thanksgiving, I'm wondering if I'll even have time to get a chicken coop and everything set up before it gets cold. I might have to wait till spring.
space opera
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
You are missing one crucial ingreedient: For all the stock you need a stock dog.
I'd reccomend an Australian Shepherd though a Corgi would do. And they'll keep your other dog entertained too. <Grin>
AJ
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
That's right, SO -- you will probably have to wait until spring -- that is the normal time to add to a chicken flock, because that is when new chicks are available.
Unless you know someone that has extra grown chickens, wanting to get rid of them.
But that gives you all winter to take inventory of what you need, what you have, and get it ready.
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plaid!![[Wink]](wink.gif)
I don't know anything about taking care of horses, but perhaps I should learn. 'Course, I don't know anything about chickens either. Now that I've found out that goats are lawnmowers, Mr. Opera might be voting for some of them too.!![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)