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Ordering We fill our freezer every year with 25 roaster chickens. We order rustic rangers in early January from a hatchery for a pickup in mid-May. By then the worst of the cold weather is gone and I can be sure the brooder in the barn will be able to keep the baby chicks warm enough. The brooder setup We set up the brooder in one of our empty stalls but a garage or shed with electricity will work. We use 12-inch corrugated paper to make a circle of about 3 feet diameter to s

First coop Soon after we had our country property we decided to get a few laying hens to have fresh eggs. We ordered 6 layer chickens and built a small raised coop, 4' x 8' and only 4 ft tall. we put in a roosting bar and feed and water buckets. This worked well for us for a few years but when we wanted a few more chickens we had to build bigger. First small coop 2nd coop This time we wanted a walk-in coop which is easier to clean and has lots of windows to let in the sunshin

When we decided to move to the country, a large reason for this move was to bring our 2 boarded horses home. We had boarded our horses where we took riding lessons and it was expensive. After 4 years of learning all we could about horsemanship and taking care of the animals, we took the first step by finding a country property. Why we call it a hobby farm We consider our little place a hobby farm because having horses for us is a hobby! We compare our hobby to other hobbies l

Our most recent acquisition of farm animals has been a gaggle of geese. We wanted something that would graze the grass and weeds around our small pond. We had previously raised muscovy ducks but they are not grazers and the area became a small jungle. Buy from a reputable breeder We got five goslings that were 1 day old from a breeder that was close to us. We ordered them in early winter and we had a choice of four breeds, Brown Chinese, Embden, Saddleback Pomeranian and Toul

We were a little slow to put in our orchard. We started this in our third year of ownership. we did have one fully grown apple tree from previous owners but it needed to be renovated slowly although we did get apples from it. Planning and research First, check your growing zone. It's no sense trying to grow something that doesn't work in your area like lemons in the north although that would be great to have! Find a reputable nursery to buy your plants from, either online or