Aaannnd...

Just like that the year is almost over! I'm not sure where the past couple of months went! As I look back on the year I am amazed at all that we accomplished and the things that didn't seem to work out at all.

Adding poultry went very well!  We didn't lose any as chicks from the original 10 chicks to illness. One cockerel was cannibalized later after they were relocated to the great outdoors. We added six more pullets since our original 10 ended up being half pullets and half cockerels. Early last month one of them decided to run away from home. Not  long after getting the first chickies we we brought home the duck and the goose. They are quite the characters and we love that we decided to add them to the flock!

They didn't seem to mind the snow. Although before I took this photo they were
huddled in their little shelter next to the coop.

We successfully processed three cockerels on Labor Day. They were about 19 weeks old and about 10 weeks past their prime as far as being considered broilers. They were excellent stewing chickens though. Labor Day morning was interesting go HERE to read that experience.

So we know that we can raise chickens and waterfowl!

What didn't go as well would be the garden. Hardly anything worked. I decided to try growing the tomatoes in the big garden this year and they did okay, but not great. We hardly had anything to harvest that wasn't affected by the blossom end rot which. We did have a few that we brought in ate with a few meals which were good, but not enough to actually make sauces to save for later. The two hoodlums (duck & goose) enjoyed most of the tomatoes since I pretty much gave up on them.

The tomatoes will go back into the hoop house in 2018.

I did get greens, carrots, peas and loads of potatoes. However, no beans - thanks to hungry bunnies - one of the easiest things to grow and we didn't get enough to make a meal. I had direct sowed over my seeds and had over 20 little seedlings pop up only to have almost each one nipped off a few weeks later. I'm blaming the deer for that. And the bunnies for keeping the plants trimmed to almost nothing. No flowers except for some really late germinating Cosmos and even later blooming. Tom's pumpkins worked out pretty well, but with them being planted in the front yard - they were shaded by the tree that is smack-dab in the middle. There were a few decent pie pumpkins and a few carving pumpkins. They more than likely cross pollinated so they turned out slightly off from what they should have been. To say the least the garden was very disappointing.

The plan for 2018:

1. Add a few more pullets - at the neighborhood holiday party we connected with several people who are interested in buying eggs.
2. Add a half dozen or so of little girl ducks for Mr. Shelly. It would be nice for Sheldon to have some of his own kind to boss around and not the chickens. Plus, duck eggs are fantastic!
3. Meat Chickens - processing our extra cockerels was not a terrible experience. It was nice to have a little extra food that we grew in the freezer! 
4.  Pigs - Maybe a breeding pair...maybe a couple of piglets for meat. We could raise the offspring for meat or sell the piglets...this will be a totally new learning experience!

A little ambitious? Maybe, but we know that we can raise poultry from chicks so that won't be too much of an issue. We got our feet wet by processing three of our own chickens already and I know where we can rent the equipment - so I'm not freaked out about that. The other thing that we'll need to do is build that Chicken Tractor for the broilers. Also, I have the idea to modify a small room on one end of the parking shed that would be perfect for the little chickies. They will be spending a few weeks in the brooder in the garden garage. They will grow out of that box fast though, so we gotta start  thinking about what needs to be done to make the modification. More on that later...

The one thing that I am concerned about is the pigs. The only other mammals I have been responsible for keeping alive have been cats and dogs. So, this will be quite the learning experience. After some research (not much, but enough to make a decision) we have decided that the American Guinea Hog would be ideal for our mini-farm. The basics of these little guys is that they top out at around 200 lbs for males and 150 for females. Other breeds would be slaughtered AT 250 - 300 pounds...that's a lot of pig!! So, in my quick research I have figured out that these guys would be a great addition to our mini-farm. They don't root around, but are more of a forager. They are pretty friendly and on the smaller side. Also, there is a YouTube channel we have been following, Art & Bri, they recently added pigs to their homestead and they are American Guinea Hogs. Coincidence? Perhaps...but it will be another place to observe the habits of these swine. Another help will be the farm that specializes in these guinea hogs and they are located not terribly far from us. I hope to schedule a time to visit and take a look at their operation and get more information on raising these pigs.

So as this year quickly comes to an end I look back and see more success than failure. We have to fail in order to learn...so really, this year has been one learning experience after another.

Here's looking forward to 2018!!