StephenAnnie Miller

thanks for the ideas everyone, i'll have to see about finding some rocks, and see what it looks like when i dig down.  we'll see what happens.  i appreciate everyone's feedback

Michael Helmersson wrote:

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Michael, that's a pretty cool little shack. It looks like you framed it with wood and than added dirt and sod -- is that correct? I'll bet the steep slope helped a lot with rain. Do you have a sense of how deep the "wet" layer went?

The OP specified "only materials found on site." That's the big challenge here, I think. If (for example) sections of steel from discarded appliances could be used as shingles, or as a secondary water shedding layer, it would be easier to keep the inside dry.

Thanks Douglas. I framed and sheathed it all with 2x10" rough lumber that was needing utilization. There are several inches of styrofoam over the top and walls which I got free from a hospital roof renovation, and for water repellancy I covered it with an old vinyl-coated transport tarp. I think this violates the "no plastic" criteria.

thank you, i'm not completely against foraging scrap here and there.  mostly curious if it's possible with a stick and daub situation.  thanks!! cool shack, i appreciate the pics

i'm looking to dig a small sleeping house into the side of a hill using 100% materials just laying around.  anyone done this before?  i never have.  my two main concerns are: 1. turning the house into a swimming pool because i don't know how to direct the water properly, and 2. going through all this effort only to have my roof melt away in the first storm.  i don't want to use a plastic liner on my roof.  there's got to be a way to make a roof just last.  i don't have a lot of grasses here, for thatch, but i have almost unlimited scrubby saplings that are pretty straight.  and clay.  lots of clay.  i'm wondering if i can just construct it, and put some grass/plant sod onto it. then when the grass takes hold the water will wick off?  is this a pipe dream?

James Freyr wrote:

May I suggest checking out the cattle BCS or body conditioning score, for dairy. There's a couple things going on here with evaluating body condition. Beef cattle and dairy are two entirely different looking animals. Beef cattle are blocky, dairy cattle look boney, even skinny depending on who is asked, though they can be in perfect health. Holsteins are one of the largest, if not the largest breed of bovine out there. They are towering animals as adults and their frame will appear kinda boney in prime health condition. Just keep an eye on them, and if they look like their losing weight, perhaps consider adding a protein tub for them to lick during the winter. I suggest carefully reading the ingredient label on a protein tub if you decide to look into these, they aren't created equal. Some contain animal by-products and feather meal - we know cows are herbivores not omnivores. Some have their minerals in sulfate form, I suggest finding ones that have minerals as proteates.

Here's an article I found about a guy doing pastured 100% grass holsteins: https://www.grazeonline.com/nograinholstns

thank you so much, very informative answer to all my questions!!

Carla Burke wrote: I'm going to guess you've already got a vet on board, since you're already going that route with the sheep.

hey, i don't have a regular vet because i feel like its harder to find one that won't just worry about what we're doing, and we can probably find one in an emergency. are you from ky? do you have any suggestions on how to find someone on board and knowledgeable about more natural farming?

thank you all, yes they are only a couple weeks old, both recieved a round of antibiotics before i got them. i bottle feed them twice a day with formula, and they are out on pasture with the sheep the rest of the time. at night they come into their shelter that i keep dry and draft free. they seem really lively and happy, and I'm fairly confident they are not going to just drop dead one day because of the "things in the ground" :). and they might catch something, and they very well might die, but we're just going to take that risk. as long as they can be grass fed, genetically capable of being grass fed, we will do that. thanks again!!!

new to cattle farming here. picked up some holstein calves by accident recently, we are familiar with sheep. of course, our neighbors say we need to get them on calf grower, vaccines, etc, bless their heart. I'm thinking we want to just do grass fed, with minimal intrusion, like our sheep.  but i saw some article somewhere that their dairy cow almost died from not getting grain. I'm no pasture expert, so i don't know if my pasture has the right mix of legumes, etc to support these little heifers. would i just know, by them not gaining stature, manure problems, etc, of they need grain? I'm in ky, with acreage, so they can pretty much have access to pasture year round. does that seem like a bad idea to anyone who's maybe more familiar with cattle, specifically holsteins? is there something I'm missing? we have the 2 calves and 5 sheep.

a word about sheep and copper, we leave straight copper mineral out (it's blue, and cant get wet, bought it on Amazon) as per pat colbys book, natural sheep care. they don't ever take more than they need. i bet if you leave out the separate minerals they will just take what they need, both cattle and sheep. we're going to try this in about 2 weeks when our calves go out with the sheep

Alida Selim wrote:Where specifically are you located? My family is relocating to KY this winter and we are very interested in joining a community there! My husband will be working in Lexington but I homeschool our daughters (8, 5, and 7 months) and am hoping to expand the little homesteading operation I started here in Iowa (gardening, chickens, and rabbits). If the location works for commuting to Lexington and you would be interested in a family with young children, maybe we can get to know each other?

you might be interested in this as well

ic.org/directory/oakhill-tiny-farms

yes, we are in south central ky, its about 2 hours away.  it might be too far?  my children are 13, 5, 2, and 7 months.  we'd be interested in getting to know you  feel free to email me at decarboxylate@gmail.com