Our Urban Farm

I once read that chickens are the gateway animal for urban farmers.  Well in our case that is true.  What started out as just a couple of chickens has turned into nine chickens, one rabbit, and two goats.  It has been quite an adventure over the past year.
Meet the Goats
Chloe and Sophie are Pygora goat does.  They are a cross of Angora/Pygmy/Cashmere.  I bought them for their fiber, they have very soft fiber that makes beautiful yarn.  I am still learning a lot about fiber and I believe that Sophie has more mohair type fiber and Chloe has more cashmere fiber.  I sheared them at the end of February and am slowly processing their fiber (I wanted to do this myself to have full appreciation of the process).  Sophie is my sweet goat, Chloe is my feisty goat.  They were very timid when I first got them and it has taken a lot of treats and handling to tame them.  I hope to breed Chloe next year.

Chloe (left) and Sophie (right)

Sophie helps clear a spot for their new house

One down, one to go

Shearing complete

The original "Goat House," which was declared unfit by the girls, so construction began on a "proper" goat house. (Please excuse the ugly fence, that is the next project)






Chloe and Sophie enjoying the view of the snow from their new goat house.

The goat/chicken pen on a snowy spring morning

Meet Benjamin Bunny

I fell in love with Angora fiber this summer and decided that I had to have my own rabbit.  So after some searching on craigslist I found my dear Benjamin.  It has been a learning process for me and Benny.  He has quite the personality and I am working on becoming a rabbit whisperer!  He has beautiful fiber and I am looking forward to blending it with the goat fiber.  The breeder said his coloring was "blue pearl".  Benny will be joining the goats and chickens in the pen once I build his hutch.  He currently lives in our sunroom but come summer it will be much too hot for the fuzzy bunny.

Benjamin Bunny

The Peeps

You may have read the original story of the Peep on their page.  Unfortunately, five of the original six turned out to be roosters.  So they had to be rehomed.  It was a sad day but rooster are not allowed in the city.  Their replacements were a Blue Wyandotte named Hazy, an Easter Egger named Luna, a Buff Orpington named Ginger, and a Barred Rock named Hattie.  Weeble was the only hen out of the classroom chicks.  The girls all began laying right around Christmas.  I cheated a little and used a light to increase daylight to get them started.  Hattie unfortunately never layed and passed away from an unknown illness/injury.  I tried to nurse her back to health but was unsuccessful and she now rests in our garden.  The coop seemed a little empty without Hattie so I bought two hens around the same age as my girls, one is an Easter Egger named Ana and the other is a Mottled Java named Dottie.  They integrated perfectly into the flock and now I get 5-6 eggs a day!  Of course I couldn't stop there, chick season is upon us and I thought this would be a great time to complete my flock with three chicks.  I have aways wanted a Buff Brahma, so I now have Queenie.  To keep her company I got a Cuckoo Maran (who will lay a chocolate colored egg) named Coco, and a Partridge Rock named Shirley (Jay thought she had to be named after someone from the Partridge Family).  You can see their pictures on The Peeps page.

The Garden

Flagstone Path

A new fence

Growing

2012 Crop