Back at it...

Well it's been a long time since the blog has been updated. We lost our webmaster and she's moved on to bigger and better things, and I haven't had much time to be online and update anything. Now that it's cold out (19 degrees Fahrenheit as I write this), I can spend some time getting everything up to date. :)

There have been a lot of changes and upgrades to the property and animals since the last post. The old barn has been completely dismantled and the area cleaned up. I saved a lot of the wood from the barn to be used on other projects.

We acquired several new to us (used) pieces of equipment to help around the farm. The largest is a MASSIVE Ford 750 Tractor Loader Backhoe. This machine is big. If I can't get a job done with this machine, then I shouldn't be doing it. It is the excavator of backhoes weighing in around 18,000 lbs with a max digging depth of around 17 1/2 feet. The four cylinder turbo diesel still has a ton of power.

We also acquired a dump truck, which has proven to be priceless. From mulch to firewood to topsoil to debris, the truck has hauled it all and then some. Even though I've had to do quite a bit of work to the truck, it is well worth it. I recently rebuilt the entire plow (controls, motor frame, hydraulics) and have been making repair panels by hand for the bed and welding them in place.

The chicken coop area has changed dramatically. We've had quite a few chickens arrive and leave the farm since we started. Right now, we have a nice assortment of chickens and guinea hens. The chickens are producing eggs at a high rate. I've fenced off the entire chicken coop area and installed netting over the top to keep them in. Tartan used to love to herd the chickens, but I grew tired of chasing hens every day to get them back in the coop. I used as many materials as possible from the property to create the coop area. I cut down several cedar trees and used them to create a one of kind chicken enclosure. The main expense was the netting for the top.

I am forever indebted to the people that have helped me accomplish so much this year. As I get time, I will elaborate on everything that's been accomplished and future goals including a new champion disc dog in training. :)

Take care..

Chicks

The five chicks are very active and seem to be growing bigger everyday. Because they are still light and aren't full grown, they are good at flying and like to perch on top of the dog houses! I think I finally figured out that they are....3 Gold Laced Wyandottes and 2 Easter Eggers/Americaunas. At least two of the Wyandottes are roosters, and the two Easter Eggers are pullets (girls). Hopefully they will grow up and lay blue/green eggs like Violet!

New Addition!

There's been a very exciting addition to the BC Farms family...NEBCR's Larkspur! He is a red and white border collie and so far has enjoyed life on the farm! He will be renamed to fit the theme of the Scottish names soon. He loves to play and chase his new siblings and to follow Ian around the farm.

Ian picked him up from his foster family on Sunday after going to a beekeeping course in Cornell. So it looks like we have a new disc dog and maybe some of our own honey coming soon! (Depending on bee package availability).

Ian's mother came over and helped with farm chores and planted some flowers. It will be very exciting to see all the new plants growing on the farm. It has made such a transformation already in less than a year.

Disc dog season has begun, and BC Farms paws and humans will be at an event on Saturday!

Updates!

Spring has been very busy so far!

The new piece of heavy machinery is....a backhoe! It has been used several times so far and has helped a lot with completely taking down the broken barn and some dead trees and their stumps. What will go in the barn's place is yet to be determined, but a vegetable garden will be going nearby.

There are also more animal additions to the farm! 5 baby chicks, over a month old! We aren't sure what they are, or what sex they are, but they sure are cute and busy! I think we have 3 Gold Laced Wyandottes and 2 Buttercups or Easter Eggers. Will post pics of them soon!

We also bought our first guinea hens! They are unfortunately as obnoxious as everyone has said, but they are still kind of cool. The guineas are about 6 months old, and have been held "captive" in the upstairs aviary to give them a sort of homing instinct to come back to the poultry area. They will probably be let go in a couple of weeks to start free ranging and getting rid of ticks!!

Going green and barn demolition

It's been busy at BC Farms lately. The weather has been crazy and Ian has been dismantling a barn on the property that was collapsed prior to the purchase of the property. The process is long and drawn out. The prior owners decided to leave us with the barn full of garbage.

It has been a process of demolition, cleaning and salvaging. Ian has been salvaging as many boards as possible. The good wood is being de-nailed and stored, while the bad rotted wood is disposed of. We hope to construct another barn in it's place in the future. For now, some of the wood may be used to build a chicken tractor and shed. This was Momma cats favorite place to hang out, but she is going to have to find a new hangout soon!

First Egg!

Everyone mark your calendars! BC Farms' first egg was laid yesterday! Ian found it after he came home from work in one of the nest boxes. Good job ladies!

Food for Thought

It's cold out now, but soon spring would be here, and that means for anyone who lives on a farm or has enough patio space to sneak a few planters on now is the time to plan out this year's garden (if you were really on top of thing though you would have started planning in the fall and perhaps started some plantings then).

BC Farms hopes to produce some serious food this year, from some delicious chicken dinners to fresh salsa, and apples that aren't deformed. In the fall I'm hoping for a glorious pumpkin patch fwith sugar pumpkins for pies to Connecticut's for jack-o-lanterns, to huge pumpkins just to say "In 2010 we grew these huge pumpkins and we would've brought them to the Big E but they broke the forklift...".

If you thought about raising some livestock or growing some veggies this year (mmmm fresh string beans), this may help sway your decision: "If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week" (-Steven L. Hopp, Oily Food)...that's 46,200,000 gallons of oil. Which is a lot.

Locally and organically raised meats and produce lower oil usage because they don't use as much fuel to transport, and there aren't any fossil fuels used in their fertilizers or pesticides. Going to your backyard uses no fuel (and burns calories instead of gas!), and local farmer's markets allow you to buy your produce for the week, along with goodies like goat milk soap and free range eggs, at one stop away from the craziness of the super market, and not only do you know where your food is coming from, but you get to meet the person who grew it. Not a bad deal.

If eating an entire meal made up of local produce makes you panic, I think it's more than acceptable to work it in through the whole week. Fresh berries on your cereal in the morning, a salad with fresh greens for lunch, and a chicken pot pie with the odds and ends in it seems pretty good to me!

In one of the books I read, it said that vegetable gardening should be based around your current diet, so if you don't eat carrots and Swiss chard then don't plant them. However, I think the opposite is true and that it is worth the 49 cents at The Christmas Tree Shop (I didn't make that number up, their seeds are on sale from .49-1.29) to try something outrageous...and if you don't like it, feed it to the chickens.

Elusive Barn Cat

Mama Cat spotting yesterday on the farm! She was hunting mice in the back field. Usually she hangs around the fallen down barn, and every now and then when see her going in or out of her little "den" in the smaller barn where we feed her.

Chickens' New House!

Ian bought a chicken coop at the Petrowsky auction last weekend. It's pretty fancy!

Home on the Range

The past two weeks on the farm have been pretty busy from doing the regular farm chores (taking care of the animals, cutting wood and not our legs...) to house projects. The new windows are in, the kitchen ceiling is down, and the basement is still wet.

All of the people I've talked to or contacted have been really helpful and kind. Jeremy from the Red Coop Co in Willington has been an amazing source of information, and we met with Keely from Dancing Frog Farm, also in Chaplin CT at a local bagel shop to go over some farm things and ask some questions. It's nice to know we aren't the only ones trying to start a new lifestyle in Chaplin!

We didn't make it to the NE Poultry Congress show this year unfortunately, but maybe we'll make it to the sheep and alpaca shows :).


The dogs are still having a great time playing in the fields and going on walks on the utility trail around the property. Tartan and Nessie have been practicing their sweet frisbee moves for the spring competitions too.

Unfortunately, farm life can take a toll on the body and usually results in a group nap :) (notice Nessie's leg on poor Sporran's head!)