Alright, so there has been a lot going on in the world and a lot of changes to daily routine. The best part about having your homestead is your routine is yours. It does not change. The only real change in that aspect is when you decide to do such. This is where we are at.
Now, keep in mind, I have a small property… a very small property. I have .11 acre, and this includes the houses footprint as well. I had my property surveyed around 6-8 months ago and now we put up our fence. That being said, I called the township office on every change to confirm that I was completely legal. When I built my fence, the township office let me know that there is no standoff on the property line, for which I payed a lot of money to get assessed.
Our chickens have gotten old. They are 5 years, and laying eggs have slowed to a crawl. Our plan is to allow our chickens to free-roam our goat pens. We have ordered from a local hatchery 15 Barred Rock pullets. I pick them up in 2 weeks. There will certainly be a period of time without eggs, but things will certainly become better in the fall.
Next, in the fenced in area, we tilled up a good portion of the land. This is done for a feed plot for the goats we will be getting. Yup, we are getting dairy goats. We are getting some Nigerian Dwarfs does that are registered with the ADGA (American Dairy Goat Association.) The benefit of getting registered goats and keeping an account with the ADGA means your goats have a genetic history and milk production history. This allows the kids in the future to sell for a higher rate as well as historical milk production.
Anyhow, we are on the waiting list for 2 does. There is 1 person ahead of me, and they are in for 2 does. They have 12 on the way in the next 3 weeks, and we have 8 weeks after birth, so we have 2 to 3 months between now and getting the goats. This gives us a plan and time. This time let’s us set up the grass food plot and some bushes to grow and fill out. We have cemented some posts for a milking area and hay storage, and need to build that out when the weather warms up again.
Lastly is the gardening and raised beds while also running a goat control as well. We have to protect our garden areas to increase production while benefiting the goat pen area. We are doing well with all the set-ups, and have some interesting plans going forward that we already have in place. We are looking at glassing eggs, using goat milk for cheese, butter and some other stuff. 2 Nigerian Dwarf goats, each can produce up to half a gallon a day, can give you the opportunity to make quite a bit of cheese.
This is what we are putting together right now, and over the next couple of weeks. This is in addition to our preps and continued prepping. We have managed to get a little pantry going, and some additional food stores as well over the last couple of months.
Please plan ahead, and see what you can to do benefit yourself and your family. My wife actually decided on getting the goats after seeing how fast things have changed throughout the last 4-5 months. Our current micro-homestead is actually like a trial run for when we move. We can do what we can here, and are doing rather well. The best part is that we can transport everything we do here to our next homestead which will be a lot bigger.
Cogito Aprendo Prepping and Views 