Tawny Crawford

Our Chickens, geese, and ducks all share a common coop. The chickens mostly lay up high in nesting boxes or in duck/geese nest basically on the ground of the coop. We have a Buff goose trying to sit. Unfortunately we have a young pup who has discovered just how yummy those eggs can be! I have seen many put cattle panels in the door to the coop to keep dogs and bigger animals out, But I am not sure my geese could fit. Any ideas on ways to keep the pup out of our eggs?

Help! We recently started selling eggs and our egg cartons must be labeled. If we are going to all that trouble, We might as well have a name for our farm. And as we grow, we will need the name even more!

We are in Texas. On a small 'farm' on top of the hill. We have a pasture and tank out from and wooded area in the back with another tank. Right now we have goats, ducks, geese, chickens, quail, hogs, horses, and all sorts of birds, dogs, and a barn cat. We currently only sell eggs. We have only been here two years and it's a work in progress! We plan to sell any abundance from our garden this summer. Hopefully our fruit trees will thrive as well. We want to be a small diversified family farm selling what we have extra. We are also looking into bees! And I hope to sell herbs, teas, and homemade bath/beauty products! (I do have a side blog/bussiness called Tawny's Thriving Home and a Home Day Care called Wee Ones PreSchool)

We want a name that is creative and fun, that sticks with you and is also classy. Something related to the bible would be good. Or classic literature. Or alluding to my husband's Scottish heritage. I would *Really* like something related to family. Or home. But really family. Kinda a way to pay to tribute to the distant family member who practically took me in as a daughter and taught me the love of farming! A love my husband and I hope to pass down to our children some day! My husband also found country living interesting but learned to love farming from me!

Here is what we have came up with... But none of it clicks!

Oak Hill Farm
Turkey Creek Family Farm
{Last name} Castle Acres
{Last Name) Acres
Second Noah Farm (People joke and say my husband thinks he's Noah)
Cotton Wood Farm (Cotton Wood Tree at entrance)
Next Generation Family Farm

I would Love to hear your ideas!

Hi!
We are considering purchasing a diary cow/heifer. This is totally new territory for us. I raised 'show cattle' as a teen, but dairy is a new world for me! We plan on drinking raw milk. What should we look for in a good dairy cow/heifier? What type of testing does she need to have done? Does the milk need to be tested for anything for it to be safe to drink? (I assume it's much like a goat. You milk into a cup, make sure it looks good, and go on. Filter milk and get it COLD! Make sure clean teets and healthy animal etc) We have littles in the house, some very young, who will be drinking the milk and want it as safe as possible!

Thanks you so much in advanced for you knowledge and help!

Thank You so very much for the info!

Bleach, borax, soaps, etc I have not problem using when necessary. So I think that will defiantly work for us!

Thanks Again!

Thank You so much!! We are total newbies at milking! I think it may be the most intimidating part of homesteading!!

R Scott wrote:
Get the milk COLD FAST. Friends with a bucket milking machine actually set the bucket in ice water WHILE MILKING. We raced it to the house to filter and then set in an icewater bath as soon as possible. We keep a small cooler on the counter and two sets of gatorade bottles of ice in the freezer (one for morning, one for night). Set the milk jars in the icewater and spin them after 15-30 minutes.

I have also heard to place the jar in the freezer for 1 hour...Would that be as effective as an ice bath? (Also, in the off chance we were to not have ice on hand, or we had no electricity, Is there any alternate ways to cool the milk?)

Do we need to periodically test for any type of bacteria? Or just use common sense and make sure there is no blood, puss, infection, dirt etc in the milk? Should we test the goat for anything? Or just be sure she is doing lots of grazing along with supplemental grains and appears to be in good health?

I was curious of any natural products/recipes for dip and wipes? We'd prefer to use as few chemicals as possible. Seems those chemicals could easily get into the milk.

So clean & cold are key! Thank You!

Hi All!
This is my first post here at permies!

We are about to get out first dairy goat. A sweet nubian who freshened in November.

My question is: What is the proper procedure for milking to ensure raw milk is as safe as possible? Wee Ones will be consuming this milk, so I want to ensure it is as safe as possible while still retaining all the raw goodness.

Thanks!