We must be crazy…

Pretty sure we have lost it. Yesterday we placed an order for more Rhode Island Red chicks. We had another one fly into the backyard (two total) to meet her end. We have debated on clipping their wings, putting chicken wire of the back of their yard, and some other ideas. We want them to be able roam free for a couple of reasons. The cost of feed would kill us if we had to feed them 100% of their food intake, the eggs are healthier due to their foraging, and it is healthier for our sheep when they forage and eat larvae so the sheep don’t pick it up. We will see what kind of winter project we come up with to keep the chickens and dogs separate. In the meantime we will be preparing to have babies on our farm once again. We have been roofing our house the past two weekends. I will post pictures once it is presentable. We did dark green shingles and they look so good. I love it! We had our first big freeze early Monday morning, so the tomatoes are history. It wasn’t the greatest gardening year, but financially we did just as well as the previous year (thanks to supply not meeting demand which enable us to raise our prices some). Now we are relying on our eggs for some cash flow. Not only is the number of hens slowly dwindling due to lack of brainpower, but the onset of winter and shorter days will begin to take its toll on the girls laying ability. By spring, if the girls stay out of the backyard, we should have a nice sized flock again and be able to meet the demand we suddenly have. Hope everyone is doing well. We are keeping busy and enjoying our little Eden Pure heater to keep us warm on these cold evenings. We still haven’t turned on our heat and with the price of propane hope to hold out awhile longer. We couldn’t make it without our little heater.