Merry Fencemas

Winter time is a pretty crazy time in Texas. It's warm enough into January to work all day, but the sun disagrees with that. I suppose it's nice not to push till 8pm every day. We tend to celebrate family Christmas before the actual event so that we can get the most attendance from far off relatives, so the actual day is fairly low key. Banana pancakes, coffee, pig ears (for the dogs) proceed a small gift exchange. I got a spare tire carrier for my trailer, and Laura got some pottery tools.

In a few days, I'm taking a mini-trip down to Hog Trap Ranch to get a little bit of dairy goat training as well as some general info on the little ones we'll be getting in January. I'm a little nervous of goats to be honest. I'd like to extend calf sharing to goats, but I'm not sure how to do it. I think we'll have some time to figure this out though, as I believe we're getting babies and I'd like to keep them a year before breeding them. That will give me at least some time to get ready for that.

Chickens are also on the way, though I'm debating pullets or straight run. It's a wonderful thought to go get a young rooster for dinner out of your excess, but then you have to have a little rooster pen for them. Maybe I could do a little front yard a-frame on wheels. Also, I kind of feel Cornish cross can easily provide all the meat you need and are significantly cheaper to produce. But that provides a pretty sterile situation, where I have to replenish the flock with chicks.

The garden fence I have set up will provide me with a quarter acre for layers and garden. I'm gonna pick up some cheap tunnel houses to put in there too. I'm planning on having it be nearly 50% birds, to ensure we basically always have pasture for them. The garden will be two 40x100 foot plots, 10 rows each. The fence today is strictly for cattle control, and I'll be putting in small mesh at the base (burial) and electric off the side for deer/hog control at a later time. The tarps need two freaking years to effectively deal with bermuda grass according to the scientists, so that's plenty of time to bolster the fence. If it ends up being not enough garden, I can always add another row below it and effectively duplicate the system at a later time, with only tears shed for more fencing. At some point I need to figure out how to run electric and water to the beds/chickens

My sister in law got me some neat woodworking equipment for Christmas from Nick Offerman's shop, and I am very excited to put that to use. In true Offerman style, it's a block of wood that you whittle into a spokeshave and hatchet, so it will take some time to get together. I put together a mini work bench. Next is a small vise for a sharpening station (when it arrives).

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