G'day All,

Another new flock has arrived and they have laid their first egg within a week! I am really happy with the new facilities and you can see by the pictures the hens are too. I've already trained them to roost at night in their new roosting sheds, except for one "loner" who always wants to roost in the nesting shed, there's always one! lol

Last week was crazy: we had the vet out to tend to a sick piglet; I switched to a new grain company and they delivered their first load of grain which is flowing much better through the feeders; "Don't Forget the Milk" magazine featuring a story on Wwoofing and my farm was published and I was also featured in a TV commercial promoting moving to the country that will be aired in May on Channel 7. All this on top of a crazy dash to get the new sheds ready for the new flock.

Checkout the pics of the new roosting and nesting sheds and Negro resting on the job.

The past couple of months I have attended the very well run Hurstbridge Farmers' Market which has been great.

Happy and healthy eating over Easter!

Cheers,

Dan

More sheds, more wwoofers, more hens on their way

G'day All,

Flock three have settled in well and are closing in on their target of 400 eggs per day! Flock four will be here in two weeks and construction of their new roosting sheds is almost complete (see pic attached), thanks the the amazing talents of Pommie carpenter Richard.

The two piglets are growing incredibly quickly, must be the great eggs they eat each day, and the previous pig is providing many delicious meals. We've also tried some of the hens and they taste great too. The puppies are still very immature and require constant supervision around the hens. In the piepline is plans to get fish into the dams and some cows, sheep and goats. Complete self sufficiency may not be possible but it is my dream to produce most of my own food (and trade with other like minded farmers), capture my own water (which I already do) and also create my own power. We've already enjoyed many meals where all the meat, vegetables, fruit and herbs were all produced on the property.

Hard at work in the grading shed you can see Risa and Indonesian novellist Rhino and don't they look happy!

Cheers,

Dan

New flock, New dog, new tractor!!!

G'day All,

The past few weeks have been extremely exciting! We have a new dog, Sol, a gorgeous two year old male maremma, 450 new pullets and four tiny eggs already, and a new Massey Ferguson tractor. All have settled in well and the tractor hooks nicely onto the slasher and forks, so I've been doing lots of slashing and can now fill the new feeders.

My current Wwoofer is a lovely lady from Japan named Risa. She is a vet nurse and has taught me a few medical procedures and has injected a great energy around the farm.

Sales are going very well with the CERES Cafe being my newest wholesale customer. CERES is an amazing organic farm in East Brunswick.

Cheers,

Dan