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Not everyone wants to live in the country. We had our first reaction from our realtor of all people. I have to interject that she was not up to speed on interacting well with people we came to find out. That’s not something you can determine up front when you are working with a realtor. But you don’t have to stick with that person if no contract was signed. She happened to be the realtor who showed us the property we decided on buying. Most realtors will be positive about the property and point out the good things; she seemed to be just the opposite. She just had not been in the business long enough, although she was a “mature” woman. Her reaction to living in the country on 104 acres was “won’t you be scared at night all the way out here”. My comment as I recall was “heavens, no”.
So, can you expect everyone you know to be enthusiastic of your decision to live rural? Probably not. If they don’t like dirt, bugs, snakes, spiders, coyotes, skunks, racoons, mice, and the myriad wildlife the country brings, as well as the seclusion and distance from the city, then your friends may not visit often. Be prepared to accept that you may have to trek to their houses in the city for a visit.
And if you have children, take into consideration the inconvenience to activities, friends and their parents, who may not like driving all the way to your house to drop them off for a sleepover. Our kids were in Select Soccer clubs, baseball and basketball all through high school, so we really had to stay in the city so trips to practices and games were not lengthy.
Will your kids be happy? It would be my advice to wait to move until the kids are older, maybe after high school, which would give you more freedom to move from the city, unless they are willing to drop all their activities and start anew in their new community. Going cold turkey on good friendships is harder for kids unless the move must improve THEIR education and opportunities.
When looking for a rural property it is easy to get too anxious. Do a little checking out the community and surroundings.
One area we were interested in and we did not buy, we found out later was heavily into some litigation with an area cement plant processor that apparently was in trouble for emissions and other stuff floating into the air and being environmentally unfriendly. There was also a problem with water quality in the area and citizens were up in arms. We had no clue. A little homework would have possibly shown us those issues if we had decided to buy there.
Once again, go to the city hall and see their master plan and future projects. If you want peace and quiet, make sure you will have it for a long time.
If it is fate or just good luck, we have found that being patient pays off. If you don’t have to hurry and buy something, whether it’s a new car or a piece of land, sometimes fate gives you what you want, and more.
Ten years ago our van was on the brink of falling apart. We had driven it well for ten years and it was a good investment. Now it was time to replace it. We looked and looked at vehicles. We even almost signed paperwork on a vehicle but the salesman was just not consistent in the final numbers; they kept changing along with the interest rate. We walked out, papers not signed. A week later I got a call that I had won a Saturn LS in a contest and I have had that car now for ten years and it is still wonderful and looks like new. I was able to choose what I wanted and got the superdeluxe with leather, sunroof, sound system, etc., etc. It has exceeded all my expectations with great gas mileage to boot, usually around 30 mpg. My daughter bought herself a sporty Saturn 3-door coupe a year after I got mine and also has had an excellent experience.
It is sometimes mind boggling to think about ever moving to the country. It was for us. We didn’t know anything about it. I started to write here about how we found ours, and it turned into a minibook. So next week I will break out the steps, one each day, to talk about. My-husband-the-architect thankfully has knowledge about what it takes to design and build a great house, we designed and built our last one. However, we didn’t know anything about buying land to raise animals on or maintain pasture. There are some important considerations before buying.
We have found that patience, research, and “needs” lists, help make a wise and lasting purchase decision. In these economic times, spending wisely is so important. Next week I will try to outline some considerations, as well as some handy resources. It is not impossible to find your place.
I loooooove my chickens. I’m not personally attached to any, but I just love hearing them clucking, the silkie bantam rooster crowing, the guineas squawking when they see something unfamiliar, and drinking out of the alpaca’s water buckets. (The chickens have their own water fonts, but for some reason they like to hop up on the old tire that sits around the 5 gal. Tractor Supply buckets and swig away).
I was absolutely petrified about keeping them but then decided what have I got to lose (except maybe a few if I was a real klutz about it). I did my research to see what kinds I should have, and that went out the window when Ideal Poultry had a special on rare breed chickens package (all pullets). I love my rare breed chickens. I also love, love, love the Partridge Silkie bantams. They were a risk as they were straight runs (not sexed, you could end up with all males), but I was extremely lucky and had only one male. Of course you don’t know until they are full grown what you have.
I got a total of 30 (10 Silkies, 10 rare breed, 10 guineas). From zero to 30 is quite a leap but I wanted to have enough that if some did die I would have some left. I lost 3 after several weeks had gone by just because I think they were not thrifty. The others graduated into the coops just fine. Then, recently, with warm evenings, I was keeping the chicken hatch doors open on the coops and that’s when disaster struck. I found one guinea and one chicken dead on separate days (headless, the birds were apparently too big for the hunter to carry off). Then I started counting and found 4 of my Silkies missing (no scattered feathers, so I assume they were small enough the hunter could quickly snatch at night and carry off). Now I do close them up and everything has been fine.
We designed our own coops (very simple A-frames to economically utilize materials and enable good air flow from low venting up and out the top screened vent gables). If you would like more info on the design, let me know. If you need any support in getting started, I have some books and hints that can help you. You can contact me. The only thing is to first check your zoning laws if you are in the city limits, and also your homeowner assocation laws or property deed restrictions.
I advertised on LocalHarvest and got 2 regular egg customers that ends up paying for the feed which is just fine. I’m not looking to get rich, but if it helps pay for something it helps. I sell them for less than the store and one buyer has a co-worker who puts in an order and she takes to her. Local Harvest is the best place to advertise. Selling at farmer’s markets requires some paperwork and I am not quite ready to get out that early and sell yet. You can also find chickens to buy if you don’t want to go through the dependent chick stage. Get a chicken breed that fits you best; do some internet research. Ideal Poultry has a section on breeds descriptions. Give it a try and you will love it
Lovey dovey
Where'd the milk bar go?
Here I am!
There just isn’t anything cuter than new babies of any kind. We were not expecting any so soon! Sunday, Father’s Day and the first day of Summer, we walked out into the pasture to check on a couple of new chicks our broody hens had hatched. Some movement in the pasture made us look and there was a little alpaca! Where did that come from? It was from our pregnant girl, Dash of Flash (Dash for short) who we thought was due sometime in late fall. We were shocked and amazed that she gave us no clues she was ready. These animals are really hard to observe as being in a pregnant form. They just don’t get really bulky. Her baby girl weighed in at 17 lbs. and we surmise that she was only an hour or so old. We discovered them about 6 p.m. hanging out in the pasture. Dad is in the pasture next to them, Hershey Surprise.
A little background: first of all, it’s a good thing I didn’t know she was due now or I would have been really nervous since this is our first on-site birth. Her first cria a couple years back at another farm had been a stillbirth with difficulty and Dash almost did not survive but she did and we gave her a long rest, not breeding her until last year. Their gestation is 11-12 months. We did not think her first breeding to our herdsire last spring was successful (we are novices at this and they were not real thrilled to be in a pen together).
We then decided to pasture them together for a week. We thought this was not successful, but apparently at some point it was. We tried them together again in the fall and they did not like each other so we pastured them again (again, novices. We were not aware at that time she was probably pregnant). We started back into the breeding again this spring with all 3 girls and Dash was spitting off the male immediately so we knew then probably she was pregnant from the fall breeding, and it would be a fall birth. The other 2 girls bred with Hershey just fine.
Our herdsire looks to have the ability of one breeding equals success, as our other two girls appear to be pregnant for next spring births. I am keeping more precise records now and know when he was successful with the girls. We also have gotten 2 10×10 catch pens (one for the girls side and one for the boys) since last Fall which is much better keeping them in a more confined space for a short time while breeding. And we also know if they don’t get together pretty quick, try another day and relieve them of the additional stress of being together when they are not interested. Dash can be rebred 2-3 weeks after birth, so we will have hopefully 3 new crias next spring.
Summer Surprise is gaining weight and running around, has learned to use the poop pile (they have a communal dung pile; easy to keep the pasture cleaned up), and she is so curious she will drift away from mom to investigate the wandering chickens or wild rabbits running through the pasture. An occasional burst of energy sends her bucking around the pasture. Her dad, Hershey Surprise, is a stunning mahogany brown with dense fleece and I hope she will have his good fleece qualities. My original goal was to have grey as a color emphasis, so all of our animals do have strong grey backgrounds. Hard to know what color she will end up as they tend to change a little from the color they are born with, but right now she has medium brown with smoky grey tipping all over and more around her face and neck.
The temps are reaching 100 this week so making sure they have cool clean water and hose down their bellies makes them happy. The big barn has good cross breezes and the fans are running during the day to help move the air around.
http://www.alpacanation.com/alpacaspiritranch.asp
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