Sunday, March 24, 2013

grooming day!!

Today is going to be stressful. Its grooming day for the critters.  Orchid, my bottle baby angora goat, is due to kid any day now and needs a hair cut. Shes pretty easy. I can do her with scissors.

Her mama, Lily, has always been a stress case. Her fleece grows twice as long/thick as her daughters. It takes me usually two different days because she starts stressing half way through and i have to stop.

Ive got to do everyones feet, give a vitamin bolus. Brush the winter coats from the horse and my new aquisition Miss Diana.

Who is this Miss Diana?? well, you have to wait for that post!!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sprouted Fodder systems

Most everyone has heard of eating sprouts. I never really considered this a viable option for livestock but apparently it is. Ive been  experimenting with sprouting for the critters for about a month, give or take.

Grassfed animals/livestock are healthier happier critters. My problem? i live in the desert-ergo, no grassy pastures.

I started out my experiment by purchasing a 20lb bag of wild bird seed. it contained black oil sunflower seeds, millet, sorghum, and wheat. I soaked two pounds of seed in a gallon of water with a tablespoon of bleach mixed in.

After 24 hours I drained and rinsed these seeds and poured them into two garden trays, watering 3 times a day for about a week.

By the end of the week i had a tray full of wheatgrass and sunflower sprouts. The millet and sorghum hadnt sprouted yet. It has been sprouting npw the the temps have gone up.

I also tried feed barley from the local feed store and bought clover to mix in with both.

So far the chickens,ducks amd pigs *LOVE* it. I do have one goat who also loves it but the other two only eat the root mat off of the bottom.

I had pics of the root mass but ive deleted it like a dodo. I wont have any harvestable trays for about 4 more days.

I will add more details in a second post, as this is a lengthy topic to cover in one sitting. Enjoy some bad photography of my ghetto system!




Monday, March 11, 2013

The Negectful blogger

Sorry!!! Winter is a slow time . Animals are pregnant but not birthing. Plants are all dead. And its too damn cold to do anything outside.

But i have been a busy little bee the past 8 weeks or so so I guess its time to play Catch Up!

At present we have three gardens going. One in the backyard,one on the front porch and one over by the critters.

For the most part they are empty right now but not for long. The seeds i started will be ready to transition outside in a couple more weeks.

Im going to be blogging about tje fodder system ive finally gotten around to setting up, the hay shed i built amd a few new additions to.the homestead so stay tuned!!

in the meantime here are some baby plants that are coming along :

pumpkins,broccoli,Armenian cucumbers, several varieties of squash, swiss chard, beats, and some lettuces.