4H projects

Our boys (ages 5 and 6) have only been in 4H for a short amount of time, but the amount of things they have been able to participate in and learn have been amazing. They went from being too shy to introduce themselves at the first meeting to leading the pledge and presenting projects in under 6 months.

Both boys chose Poultry as their main project and they set out on a mission to acquire breeds of chickens that would lay a rainbow of eggs. We started with the white egg layers - Silkies, Polish, and D'uccles.

Next up was tan layers. The boys chose 2 pretty little Red Sex Link hens, who were quickly adopted by little sister.

Now we were able to move on to the more fun colors. We met a local friend who was willing to sell the boys some of her beautiful Easter Eggers. They are ended up laying the most perfect olive colored eggs.

So, what was left? Aaron really wanted a true blue egg and Hunter was on a mission to add a chocolate color to the egg basket. After some searching on Craigslist and within the local chicken groups on Facebook, we came across a man selling out of his Crested Cream Legbars. We made the drive to south Arkansas to pick up a trio and they proved to lay perfect light blue eggs. We also added 2 black Ameraucana hens to the flock. We were now up to 4 blue egg layers.
The search for our chocolate colored eggs has proved to be the hardest. Lucky for us, the local farm store happened to have a couple of Cuckoo Marans mixed in with their chicks. We bought them both and ended up with one hen. Her eggs are a nice deep brown, but we are still searching for that true chocolate. We do have a Black Copper Maran hen also, but she hasnt started to lay yet. Finger crossed.

The kids have enjoyed learning about the genetics that goes into breeding, but the best side effect of this project has been the eggs!

Building a cheap and easy chicken run

We were at Lowes a few days ago looking at fencing when I spotted these 20 foot PEX pipes marked down from $15 to 37cents. After Jason went to find an employee and make sure the pricing wasnt a mistake (it wasnt) we decided to take all they had left.$15.00 later we made our way home with a load of pex, some screws, conduit clips, zip ties, and an idea for building simple hoop coops for our chickens and ducks who are in between brooder size and big coop size. 

 

We already has some scrap wood and chicken wire at home and the kiddos were with their Nana for the day - so we got to work. We decided to go with 8 ft long and 3.5 ft wide so we could run the coops down the rows in the garden. This would help keep weeds and bugs down in the garden while giving the littles fresh ground every few days.

The frame was pretty basic - just make sure you reenforce it well if you plan on moving yours around like we did.

 And then came the pipes....

Our chicken wire was 2ft wide so we spaced our pipes at just under 2ft to make it as secure as possible.

Now, Im sure there is a better way to do this part, but we went with zip ties. They are easy to put on while fighting with the wire and they are super cheap.

For one end of the run, we added a solid sheet of wood. We will be cutting the door out of this end. One the other end, we just added wire. I plan on making some removable nest boxes to go on this end for when I need a place for my mama hens. We did end up adding some extra cross support on the end that would be used to lift the run.
Other things that will be added are wheels and a roll of hardware cloth around the bottom to keep critters out.

For now, Peaches the guard kitten is on duty watching over everything while we test the run out with some of the baby ducks, Jap chicks, and a bunny who thinks she is a chicken.

Welcome to Crow Mountain Farm

“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” 
- Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

This blog is just our little spot in the online world to share stories and pictures from our farm and everyday life. We are in year 5 of our adventure in homesteading and creating a sustainable organic farm for our family.
We are currently raising chickens, goats, ducks, rabbits, a garden, the beginnings of a vineyard and orchard, and 3 curious kiddos.

We have many other hobbies and interests, most of which support or encourage our goal of a natural lifestyle. As a family we love to geocache, kayak, camp, and hike. We cloth diaper and babywear our little ones to cut down on our carbon footprint. I make our own soaps, candles, and cleaning products while my husband is working on getting us set up for beekeeping.

We are glad to have you all along on our adventure.