Pasty Butt

I learn something new everyday. Especially on the farm. Today, I learned one of my chicks has a case of pasty butt. According to online, sometimes chicks plug up their hole and get extremely bloated. I'm hoping we caught it in time! I feel bad for her, she was waddling around like she had a two by four up there. Rob unplugged it and tomorrow we're hoping she'll be all better. 

Different things can cause pasty butt, but I'm thinking it's the extreme temperature changes we've had the last couple of days that did it. Ninety degrees one day dropped down to rainy and cool the next. She doesn't have all her feathers yet, once she does this won't be a problem. 

Rob also saw the first snake of the season on the farm today. It was a grass snake which is funny because we don't have any grass. I'm petrified of snakes, but like my pasty butt girl, I'm hoping to get past that. 😊

Well Well Well

One thing about living on a farm, you've got to have a well. We were fortunate to already have a plumbed well on the land, but now we're seeing some unpleasant issues. At first, we were getting brownish water that smelled of copper. Imagine bathing yourself in pennies. Trust me, it can be worse. 

Two weeks ago, we noticed a slight off smell starting to appear. It only happened when we showered, and more robust when I showered which made us believe the RV's water tank needed to be flushed out. I'm the one that takes hotter showers and our thinking was it was the water heater needing a little spring cleaning. We may have been half right, it really didn't matter. After cleaning out the water heater and then later filling up the goats water from a totally different faucet we realized, it's our well. 

In the two weeks we've been waiting for the well people to service us (we're out a ways and they're doing the best they can) the smell has taken on a thousand century-old rotten eggs. You cannot fathom the amount of odor these water molecules can produce! Now, we shower when we absolutely must and we don vapor rub on our nostrils, use cold water, and bathe like we're in an Olympic sport. The smell doesn't linger on us, thank goodness, but don't get too close just in case. 😊

Summation To Date

As it's nearing the end of March 2022, I wanted to put into record all we have done thus far with Fur Real Farms. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask and I'll do my best to answer! We're currently working on the website and soon, you'll be able to contact us directly. 

The Land:

We've gotten about a quarter of our acreage mowed down just to be able to move around more easily.

We installed electricity to our RV and to the barn along with water from the well. 

We installed a front gate and a perimeter fence around the front of the barn to include the barn. 

The Animals:

To keep our ag exemption, we're primarily going to be a goat dairy farm. In December 2021, we started with Cocoa and Butterscotch

This month, we've added Hot Fudge Sundae and ten baby chicks (5 Rhode Island Reds and 5 Plymouth Rocks all girls)

The Homestead:

Lastly, we're working with an architect and builder to build us a barndominium. Hopefully this process will go quickly as RV living isn't for the weak!

In The Beginning

In November 2021, Rob and I began our dream of moving from the burbs to the country. We purchased a thirty acre tract near a town with the population of 900. There was a well, an open air barn, and an electrical pole and not much else. We got the land for a good deal and began our work. Join us as we begin our next chapter in life as farmers!