One Year Anniversary

View of Blue Knob on a misty morning.

On 1st March it was 12 months to the day that we moved into our piece of serenity, Seven Springs.  Looking back over the last year, there have been a lot of 'firsts'.....

First time keeping chickens:

...and clipping their wings...

The hardest part of this was actually catching them first.  Luckily Ian is a very capable chook catcher (must add that to the resume).

...and dealing with a broody chook...

Things can go wrong, and not all chooks are created equal - some are good mothers and some are not.  Luckily the hen that went broody has turned out to be an excellent mum, and we had invaluable information from a blogger in the US that we discovered online:  http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/

...and teaching new hens how to act like hens and roost at night.

We have some new hens - 8 Australorps.  We purchased them at point of lay, anticipating that our existing flock would moult and then perhaps not lay well over Winter.  Strangely, when the Australorps arrived home, they didn't really know how to act like hens.  They didn't clamour to be let out in the morning, they didn't answer to calls of "chook chook chook" or know what to do with food scraps (just looking at them), and they didn't roost on a perch at night, preferring to sleep in the nest boxes.  Our conclusion is that they had been raised in an incubator, then a brooder, then a larger cage, and had never had a "mum" to teach them proper hen behaviour.

The majority of the new additions.

Seven weeks on and they have now got the swing of things, learning from the other hens.  Although we did need to lift them up to the perches at night for a few days.  It is still a source of wonderment that what is supposedly 'normal' and 'natural' hen behaviour is actually learned from their mother.

First time keeping cows:

...and welcoming new calves...

Rosie and Nile seem to grow before our eyes.  One more calf to go, should be any day now.

Foxy with Rosie (right) and Nile (background).

...and steering a bull calf...

Poor Ian cringed the whole way through.  As usual, catching the calf was the hardest part, but once we had him on the ground it was quite easy to manipulate the device that places a rubber ring over the testes, the idea being that it restricts blood flow and eventually the testes simply fall off.   On the whole a fairly simple and painless exercise.  But no photos, as a sign of respect for our male readers.

...and milking...

well, it will be, new calf due any day now and milkery is almost finished.

First time selling our produce and preserves at the local market.

What fun this has turned out to be.  As you might have guessed we're not in it for the money, but we earn enough to pay for our groceries and we get to keep up with the local news and events.

Nothing to do with the market, just wanted to include this photo of Dr Who.

First time being reliant on rain water for our household needs.

How full are the tanks, can we fill the bath tub today? or will it just be a quick shower. Luckily we have  2 rainwater tanks with combined capacity of 56,000 litres and they never reached below 70% capacity over last 12 months.

And over the past year we've learnt a few things too...

...a tree struck by lightning might seem like a ready source of firewood, but the lightning affects the sap in the tree, hardens it, which blunts the chainsaw real quick.

...animals are not dumb...

It may not be our kind of intelligence, but it is intelligence of a kind nevertheless.  You might recall the tick incident with Rosie a few months ago (see blog post of Dec 2013).

Here's another example.  When we separated Nile to emasculate him, he called out once or twice while we were trying to catch him - within seconds all the other cows were at the fence to see what was wrong.  Then Nile's mum, Yellow, started mooing and trying to get to Nile (lucky the yard fencing is secure).  The others knew something was wrong and stampeded out of the yards, presumably to keep Rosie safe.  Once we actually had Nile, he didn't make a sound, but his mum wouldn't shift her attention from us until he was up and back by her side.

Foxy sits on command next to her mates.

One more example.  Foxy has learned to open the sliding screen doors, by leaning against it and taking 1/2 step backwards, which opens the door just enough to get her nose in the gap and push it open completely so she can get in (or out).  Recently she was caught with a chew toy in her mouth which she took to the door, put down, opened the door, went out, then turned around to retrieve the toy so she could chew on it outside.  Not so silly huh?

...to have healthy livestock, you need healthy land...  

This is akin to the gardening adage of feeding the soil, rather than the plants.  Seems simple, and logical, but many farmers and producers rely on chemical fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides which is considered 'normal' but may not be beneficial for the soil or the pastures or the livestock.  We are raising our livestock as chemical free as practical, so far so good, and plans are forming to cell graze the cows and create a new area for the chooks.  Stay tuned to future blog posts.

...most importantly, we've learnt to pace ourselves to the seasons and weather conditions, and gained a connection with the land and nature that we didn't have or appreciate until recently.  We are no longer working to a corporate agenda and timeline which we may not understand or agree with, and where the outcomes have no direct relevance to us as individuals.  We now rely largely on the fruits of our own labour, and have a direct link between the effort we put in and the benefits we receive.  We literally reap what we sow. 

Michelle neither reaping nor sowing.

An aspect of this more natural way of living, is the continual search to either make or grow things ourselves.  I keep thinking "how can I reduce the spend at the supermarket, can I make an equivalent or an alternative, or do without all together?"  Things like toothpaste, softdrink, laundry liquid.  Look out for our next blog post...