Schaefer Manor and Herbs

We are adding to our animals again already, but this one was planned for this year! We have added Silver Appleyard DUCKLINGS!  So we now have chicks, bunnies, and ducklings - in addition to our previous 13 hens and 4 older rabbits, all on our tiny 1 acre homestead - while we are getting ready to move to our new homestead. These dozen little ducklings have been a delight for the past week! And they have LOVED bath time! Today they started diving in the water and we added a adolescent guppy to see what they would do. Youngest child started screaming at the duckling to give it back, and ducklings wanted to know how they get more! Yes, we are also working on being able to raise food for our animals as well. Give them the best do they can in turn give us better health as well. So what is next?!? Stay tuned for more! It is going to be a BIG year for us.

A little back story first... We got a couple of female New Zealand White rabbits last spring. In the fall we got a male. We set them in a colony setting. And a few months later, during a rain storm, while moving the rabbits to drier ground we saw something extra - It was a dirty, wet, little poof-ball. We called him Floof! He was the first animal to be born on our tiny starter homestead.  Well we figured out which of our girls was his momma - one we had named Vanilla. And he got bigger. Once he and daddy, Winter, started fighting we separated them. Winter and Vanilla stayed together and we put Floof with Snowball. Well the week before Easter Snowball was showing she had enough of Floof. And I had a feeling I knew why (but didn't tell my rabbit keeper just in case...). She went out to care for rabbits Easter morning and came in SQUEALING with delight! She had discovered -  6 baby bunnies!!! Momma Snowball, has done a great job and they are al...

We started with 6 chicks about 3 years ago, and have added a few every year since! We have currently have barnyard  mix, Easter Eggers, golden sex-linked, this spring we added olive Eggers! They are providing us with almost a dozen eggs a day of a beautiful rainbow of eggs! We have had some losses due to preditors as we have them on full pasture on our acreage. We have also  lost  one to  roosterism . (That means what we thought was a hen was a rooster, and man did we LOVE that " hen." ) Tessa the rooster - who because chicken noodle soup. This was the last of our Buff Orpington trio. The HOA and city will not allow us to have roosters so he became chicken noodle soup. And yes, I have learned to butcher and did this by myself with our Tessa. He had a good life with us and and in the end he provided for us. We have also added meat birds this year. The goal is to provide better for our food so that we have healthier food for us. Part...

The last couple years we have been "getting our hands dirty" and working on starter  homestead animals - chickens for eggs at first. We started with 6 chicks about 3 years ago. Then we added more chickens 2 years ago. And last year we added meat rabbits and more egg layers. My general rule has been one new animal type a year. Well that is being completely broken this year! I had planned to add ducks and a couple turkeys. But my family is now getting excited about this whole process and thinking with me... Ducks, turkeys, quail, mini cows, fish, geese, ... WOAH! HOLD ON HERE... Okay so NOT all happening this year, but we will be breaking our one new animal type per year rule for sure! Stay turned to see what we end up with! It will be a fun year no matter what!

 We have been researching, studying, and working toward this for several years now. Earlier this year Robert and I decided NOW IS THE TIME! We started looking for land our new Homestead! We are under contract for land outside Union City and can't wait to actually get started. It is about 8 acres and we should be closing in the next few weeks. We are getting a modular home and set up with contractor is already lined up. Hoping to be moving in a few weeks after closing on land!  Here is to new beginnings and working WITH the land to bring better health!