Timber Rose Homestead

We have always gotten lots of eggs from our hens! Sometimes we've had eggs running out our ears! Which is always nice, cause we have been able to share with family and friends! Most of our chickens even laid eggs in the winter months. Of course they may have slowed down some, but generally we would still get some eggs in the colder months. We usually go to our local farm store and buy Rhode Island Reds, Sex Links, Buff Orphingtons and we have even had some Easter Eggers (not sure which breeds on those). Recently we bought Light Brahma hens. We haven't gotten any eggs from them yet, but we are going through the winter months, so I will update on that when they start laying and I can write on how they lay. So for now, I'll go ahead and go through the list of the breeds we have had and the pros and cons to each one. *Rhode Island Reds: These hens are always very nice. They are extremely good at laying and we always got tons of eggs from them. They do very well in the hot a

We have pretty much always had chickens. Got them from chicks from our local farm store, raise them up and if we didn't make sure to get pullets, well ending up with a rooster or two was basically the norm. I love hearing a rooster crow! Especially in the morning! Though our roosters have never seemed to have a good internal clock, cause they crow all the time, lol :) We have had lots of different types of roosters. We have had Rhode Island Reds. And those hens were incredible layers and always nice,.... but the roosters! One time we bought chicks, grew them up and out of the bunch we ended up with FOUR roosters. The meanest things on the planet! Any time we walked outside, we feared for our lives! lol Ok, we feared of being chased and you better be fast! They would run after us, comin' to flog us, we would be streaming our heads off. You could try to kick them away, you could grab a stick, wouldn't matter, there was no way to scare them off and personally I just wanted

These dog treats are so simple and easy, you'll be able to make them in seconds! And your furry friend will absolutely love them! Things you'll need: *Banana (I used 2) *Peanut Butter (Roughly 1 cup) *1 cup plain yogurt (You can make more or less depending on how many treats you want) You will also need some kind of mold. I used a cookie container. All you need to do is mash everything together, plop it into the mold and freeze it for about 4 hours then serve! These will last up to 8 weeks in the freezer, but are sure to be eaten up well before then :)

                                                 Let's talk Chickens!!! When we moved to a farm when I was younger, I think chickens were first on the list of farm animals we wanted to get! And we have never looked back! Chickens are a wonderful thing to have on your farm or homestead! We love having chickens! Mainly because we have our own farm fresh eggs! There is nothing like going to the coop to gather up a bunch of your very own farm fresh eggs! We usually get chicks from our local farm store and raise them up ourselves. That way we know how old they are and they can get used to us and their home from the start. You can also find chickens that are already grown as well, if you don't want to go through the chick stage.         We allow our chickens to free range around the farm during the day and coop them up at night. I love seeing them taking dirt baths and rummaging around through the grass. They aren't only just fun to watch though, there are also benefits to

I LOVE my Dairy Goats! Not only do we love having goats milk for drinking, making goat cheese and goat soap, but they are a lot of fun to have around the farm! The Dairy goat breeds we have had include: Nubian, Lamancha and Saanen. All have been wonderful goats and good milkers! We had the Nubians when I was pretty young. But I remember that they were very sweet goats! The Lamancha goats are very good milkers and also have a wonderful personality. We have had a white Lamancha doe for a couple years now. She has kidded two sets of bucks and is a good momma. We have made a lot of goat milk soap and delicious goat cheese! I love having milk goats on the farm. When I was younger I remember having a Saanen Milk Goat. She was such a good girl! She was always ready to jump onto the milk stand and would milk so nicely. My experience with her made me want another Saanen to have on our farm, as I was wanting another milk goat. I found a really nice Saanen at a sale we had gone to and she has b

Can you keep goats and hair sheep together? We haven't had our hair sheep for very long, but they are doing so well out in their big fenced area, I decided it was time to go ahead and turn my dairy goat Firefly and her doeling Tilly out into the pasture with the sheep, so they could graze as well. I went in with them at first and sat in the pasture for a few minutes, to make sure they would be okay together, as firefly can be protective of her doeling and I wanted to make sure she wouldn't but the sheep. The sheep just kinda stayed off to the side all on their own and Firefly and Tilly stayed together. They didn't even intermingle very much at first, except for when tilly went nose to nose with a ewe and the ewe was very sweet with her. I went back out at the end of the day to bring the goats back to the barn and it seemed they were all doing wonderfully together. I plan to turn Firefly and Tilly out with the sheep during the day and bring them back in at night since the

       It's a good idea to have some form of shelter for small livestock and the good news is you don't have to spend a lot of money building a barn! You can make a nice shelter that is budget friendly! The shelter you see above can fit up to 11 sheep/goats in it! All it consists of is: 2 12ft 4x6's, 2 2x6's, 3 cattle panels, some screws and u nails, a tarp and some zip ties! It was quick to make, probably took an hour give or take and then we just drug it out to the pasture with the tractor, but depending on the size of the one you make, you could even pull it by hand or with a vehicle. You could also attach wheels onto the shelter. This shelter is open at both ends, which works great for us. We turn the closed side to the north for wind protection and in the summer they will get a nice breeze. Super handy and you may even have everything to make one already!

We have had goats off and on through the years.  But, recently I have been hearing a lot of really good thing about raising Hair sheep. I looked into it and did a lot of research. To me personally it seemed that Hair Sheep would be easier to raise in some ways than goats. I still have 2 dairy goats and a Boar buck, so we can milk, but the hair sheep really caught my eye, as far as for profit. So after some discussion, we decided to jump into it. We found a breeder and purchased ten Katahdin Hair Sheep ewes that are all going to lamb any day. We already have 3 ewe lambs on the ground! Ok, so why did the hair sheep catch my eye? #1 They are virtually parasite resistant (Rotational Grazing is basically key) #2 They can lamb 3 times in 2 years and each ewe can have 1 to 3 lambs each lambing #3 They can live off good pasture grass with little to no grain #4 They are hardy and you don't have to shear them #5 You don't have to trim their feet as often or at all depending on

 We have lived on a farm for about 14 years give and take a little. We have really enjoyed the farm life, the farm animals, walks through the field, growing vegetables from the garden, raising baby chickens, gathering farm fresh eggs and watching baby goats play. Our farm dogs are one animal on our farm that I can't imagine life without! Not only are they great protectors of our farm, but they are always happy to see us every morning when we head out the door to feed and usually proceed to come with us to help with chores. They are part of our family and love us unconditionally! Most of our dogs have been dumped on us. Each one of them is a blessing!

                                            Welcome to Timber Rose Homestead!                 Follow us as we go about our daily journey into Homesteading on our farm!