Dry Winds Homestead

28/07/2022

The chicks are not looking so chick-like anymore! Our mama hen, Eleanor, has gone back with her flock and has left her offspring to fend for themselves now. She did a great job of teaching them everything they needed to know to survive on their own. They’re great foragers, dust bathers, and are working out their own pecking order now. Soon, they’ll be off to their new home! So far, we’ve only been able to pick out two cockerels among the 9 hatched. That’s a great ratio! Only time will tell if we were correct though.

05/04/2022

We have both washed and unwashed.

19/03/2022

We’re down to one rooster now and that’s this big boy right here. Ratch is our accidental Buff Orpington roo and we’re so happy one of our pullets ended up being a boy. We can’t wait to hatch out some little orps this spring! If you’re local and interested in some chicks, let us know to get on our wait list.
Our Orpington girls are great layers and Ratch is the most well-behaved rooster we’ve had so far! 🙂

23/02/2022

A bundle of beauties! So blessed that our girls haven’t slowed down this winter!❄️

04/01/2022

What’s been going on here at the homestead? Well, with the absence of goats, we somehow immediately filled those empty houses with…puppies?
Our uncle’s health has been slowly declining for some time and his dog situation has gotten out of hand. With all his dogs being unfixed and unsupervised, it’s become a hoarding situation.
We can’t do much, but we’re doing our best to help him find homes for most of his dogs. We started by pulling this litter of 6 puppies out, they’re at least 7 weeks old and they needed a safe space.
Being the smallest of the pack meant they weren’t eating enough and getting picked on. They’re going to need new homes very soon!

We also pulled out a pregnant mama dog, Darla, and kept her inside during the freeze. She ended up giving birth just yesterday to 4 healthy little pups!
Darla will be staying with us until her babies are weaned and ready for homes.
We’ve got busy times ahead!

18/12/2021

And just like that, friends, we are no longer a goat and chicken farm. We plan to just focus on birds for a little while and, maybe one day, get back into the goat world.
Watching Dahlia & Maggie leave yesterday was so hard for us. We raised those girls from little 8 week old kids to these beautiful does who already had kids of their own. It was a bittersweet moment because we know their new home is so much better suited for them but, we’ll miss them so much.

Here’s to the future of our little homestead though. With all the goats in their new homes, we can put a lot more focus into our flocks and a bigger garden next year. We’re really excited about it.
🙂🙂🙂

04/12/2021

It’s with a heavy heart that I share this post today. With much consideration, we have decided to close the goat chapter on our lives. As much as we love having goats, we just can’t give them the time, attention, and care that these animals truly need. At least, not right now.
Today, all of our bucks have left the homestead. Soon, our does will be leaving as well and going to a great farm. We will miss these stinky bucks more than we care to admit and we hope that they have lots more years left to do what they love doing.
🐐🐐🐐

03/11/2021

One thing that is really important to us about processing or culling birds is that we use as much of the bird as possible.
We collected as many pretty feathers as we could from the roosters we culled. We soaked them, cleaned them, and left them out to dry. We’ll be using these for decorative pieces around the house for fall time.

I also wanted to point out that we would never kill an animal simply for aesthetics or sport. That is not what we believe.

28/10/2021

We culled a couple of roosters the other day that just weren’t working out with our flocks.
One was extremely aggressive towards us and eventually was becoming too aggressive with his hens. Aggression towards us, we can handle. Aggression towards the hens he’s supposed to protect is not allowed. We tried to ‘rehabilitate’ him for a few months with no success.
The second was a young rooster that was too big for his britches. Again, major aggression towards the hens during mating time. Ripping out head feathers and scratching up backs is unnecessary and not allowed.
We never want to cull simply because of an inconvenience. Only for food or for the safety of the other hens.
It’s a hard and messy job but sometimes it’s necessary for the good of all our animals and us.

25/10/2021

(SOLD)

Our flock of Crested Cream Legbars is looking for a new coop!
One rooster and seven girls. Four of the girls are already laying, the other three shouldn’t be far behind.
We love their beautiful blue eggs. We’re just downsizing the mouths we feed!

Please PM us for more information.

19/10/2021

Look at this BEAUTIFUL egg we got the other day. A very light pink with white speckles🤍🤍🤍

13/10/2021

New blog post is LIVE! If you're not up to the extra work to save and prep your own eggshells, we'll have a couple bags up for grabs at the Wolfforth Farmers Market this Saturday!
https://drywindshomestead.com/?p=401

There are so many ways to use crushed eggshells in your backyard! Here's a few of those reasons along with the proper way to prep your eggshells for use!

06/10/2021

New blog post explaining why we LOVE our Nigerian Dwarf Goats is live!🐐

https://drywindshomestead.com/?p=374

03/10/2021

She’s stronger too. 💪

29/09/2021

Coop cleaning day doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming! Here’s how we keep our coops clean the easy way!
🐓🐓🐓
https://drywindshomestead.com/?p=193

https://drywindshomestead.com/

22/09/2021

Our newest blog post is LIVE! If you have a goat that's about to give birth soon or you're in the breeding stages, it's important to make sure you're prepared! This is The Ultimate Supplies List for an Autumn Goat Birth!
https://drywindshomestead.com/?p=262

https://drywindshomestead.com/

16/09/2021

asked us to share a picture of a goat companionship here on our homestead so I thought it’d be perfect time to show our bucks. A bond like no other, brothers til the end…unless there’s a doe in heat involved…😂🐐

15/09/2021

Newest blog post is LIVE! Everything you need to know about getting started with baby chicks. It's a whole new ball-game if you're used to just having adult chickens! Give it a read and let us know if you have any questions!

https://drywindshomestead.com/?p=174

https://drywindshomestead.com/

03/09/2021

We’ve been saving our egg shells around here lately! We bake them and crush them up and store them in a glass canister. Why?
There are so many good uses for egg shells! One of them being a chicken calcium supplement! While your layer feed should have enough calcium for your laying hens, sometimes you’ll get one of those girls that needs an extra boost! If you don’t have oyster shell on hand, using egg shells is a good backup. Be sure to bake them though; it changes the taste and texture of the shell so that your girls aren’t tempted to eat their eggs right out of the chamber!🤭🤣

24/08/2021

An adorable picture of Shadowfax before he decided he’d apply his ‘cologne’ every single day multiple times a day🙃
His face isn’t even white anymore! Silently debating if I should try and clean him up or just leave him be. Does anyone else need to clean up their stinky bucks or do you just let the boys be boys?🤣

22/08/2021

(S O L D)
Our two doelings that we planned to retain this year are now looking for a new pasture. We’re just downsizing a bit and trying not to overdo ourselves.

They’re ready to go today if need be!
Daisy (the darker doeling) was born 04/03/21. Lyla (the white doeling) was born 03/29/21.

Please message us or comment below if interested!

16/08/2021

Y’all! One of our young Leghorns just laid their first egg today! It came just at the right time too. Lately, Sally and I have been feeling discouraged with our chickens. With so much work, money, and time going into them, it was disheartening that they hadn’t started to lay yet. But, God heard our prayers and gave us a little egg of hope. Hope to hold on to that the rest of them won’t be far behind!

(Second picture is the size comparison of our adult Leghorn egg and the new egg!)

14/08/2021

For a while I wasn’t sure but now I’m pretty positive that Dusty, one of our bucklings from this year, has a very large moonspot on his face. He’s such a handsome little buck, I can’t believe he’s still with us!
So, if anyone is interested, Dusty is available! If he doesn’t ever get claimed, we definitely don’t mind adding him into our breeding plans for next year. 😍

04/08/2021

Something we hadn’t mentioned yet on this page is that we’re planning to open up a farm stand here on our homestead to supply goodies that are either homemade, homegrown, or homeraised by us! Until we have a physical building, we’ll be setting up a table and a tent almost every Saturday (as long as the weather permits)!
This Saturday will be our first open day! We’ll have things like our Vengee’s Pantry specialty dried fruits, these brand new Peachy Apple Leather Rolls made with peaches locally sourced from Noble Farms Texas and so much more! If you’re local, come check us out! We’ll be open 8am-12pm. So stop by here before you head out to the other Farmer’s markets around town! Please message us for an exact address, can’t wait to see y’all!

03/08/2021

Meet our next rooster in training! This is Blade, he’s our Crested Cream Legbar cockerel and he’s so handsome! We ordered him along with 3 other girls from and they’re all doing great! He’s been super sweet with us and is doing a great job as a little rooster. He’s already tried standing up to our adult hens but he hasn’t won those stand-offs yet. He’ll get there. I could stare at him forever, he’s so pretty!

30/07/2021

Our very first kid that was born here on the homestead went to his new home today. A bitter sweet moment because he was truly the sweetest kid out of the four that were born this year. We’re going to miss him but we know he’s going to make a beautiful buck and will be a great addition to the farm he went home to.
Here’s a picture of this sleepy one day old buckling and a picture of him from last week. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun with animals💕

19/07/2021

Meet Ratchet, one of our roosters in training😂
Among 4 little Buff Orpingtons from a bin at Tractor Supply labeled “Orpington Pullets” we lucked out and got a cockerel.
Considering we were planning to give them their own coop anyway, we weren’t upset about it.
Ratchet was so named because, as a chick, he struggled to grow his feathers in like the girls in his flock. The 3 pullets were growing up and filling in nicely and he was just a puff. He looked awful🤣 he’s very spunky and has lots of character. We’ve been forcing lots of affection and love on him since we realized he’s a little roo and it’s paid off. He back talks a lot but he secretly loves the attention.
We can’t wait to see what this kid looks like all grown!

14/07/2021

The new coop is DONE! It got finished last night with just enough time for us to move our Cream Legbars out to spend the night in their new home!
Yes, you’re correct in thinking these guys look way older than 4-6 weeks old. There have been so many life problems keeping us from finishing this coop so these chicks have been living inside this whole time🤭
We’re happy they’re finally out though and living life in this new home!
We have 4 more girls that are a bit older in the big Hen House that need to be moved over here eventually, we’ll get to it.

Anyway, what do y’all think of the new coop? My dad did a really great job on it, we’re so impressed!😊

11/07/2021

This is our potato harvest and a few onions.
🥔🧅
First thoughts: We failed. These potatoes are too puny, not enough. How are we supposed to eat these? We failed. Why didn’t they grow?
Second thoughts: Wow, we’ve never grown anything before. Sure, the rewards are small but at least there are REWARDS! I looked to my mom and said, “Ma, this was our first time to grow anything! We managed to not only keep these plants alive but they gave us something! We actually did it, we grew something!”

Big smiles and high-fives because there’s no way to be 100% successful on your first try. I almost didn’t share this picture because I feel like we’re behind so many of you amazing homesteaders and farmers. But, we’re beginners! We’re still learning and part of that learning is being transparent. I’m hoping that, in sharing this picture of our tiny little harvest, that some of you will feel inspiration to start your own garden without the fear of failure.
Just start and see where you end up!😊

07/07/2021

Koda: family companion and…that’s about it. Possibly a guard dog? He’s too goofy and friendly to know for sure. He keeps smiles on our mouth and our palms on our faces. Would rather bonk a chicken on the head with his big paws and chase around a goat. He thinks our rooster trying to fight him is actually the rooster trying to play. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body but I’m pretty sure they’re all funny bones.
Do you have a farm dog that’s actually not a farm dog?😂

05/07/2021

Our first zinnia bloom! Seeds from took so well! Our first year growing zinnias for the mere purpose of adding some color to our lives. So pretty!💕

03/07/2021

Just a picture of our farm cat, Ollie, that everyone loves. He’s a sweet boy who loves to give kisses and be held like a baby while getting belly rubs. He’s definitely more dog than cat and we love him that way.
We’re also not sure he even knows how to hunt but, we’ve accepted as he is😂

02/07/2021

Here you get to see the baby goats play fighting. You can clearly see how much more rough the bucklings are than the doelings. You also get to see why we keep onesies on these boys. We could keep them separated but they just have too much fun together so we keep onesies on them instead. The little flap that would go under a human baby’s bottom, hangs just long enough to block any potential mating from the bucklings. Their sisters are too young to get pregnant but there’s always a chance for injury so we choose to be safe!
Both these boys will be getting banded soon, and as soon as it’s successful, they won’t have to wear these onesies anymore and they get to freely hang out with the does.
Let me know if you’d like to see longer videos like these of the goats just being goats!😊

29/06/2021

We have struggled for years to grow grass on our property. We always felt it was flawed and that we’d never have those pretty green views outside our homes. But, one thing we’ve always had an abundance of is WEEDS! We hated it and felt like it made our land ugly.
Until very recently, we realized what a gift we have. Our goats LOVE all the weeds our land provides and they enjoy browsing through the variety. It’s helped cut down feed costs for us and the goats get to enjoy their days eating their fill.

Moral of the story, you have more than what you think! One man’s trash is one goat’s treasure😂

19/06/2021

The teen girls got to forage with our big girls last night for the first time! Everyone had lots of fun and all our big girls played nicely and left the teenagers alone for the most part.

The only ones that don’t play nice are Little Red and Hazel. Every evening, they get into a scuffle when let out to forage. We don’t leave them alone anymore for this reason and we have to constantly make sure they don’t go near each other.
Both girls are literally great with every other chicken on this farm, just not with each other. 🤦🏻‍♀️

17/06/2021

Meet Little Red! She’s one of our original girls that we raised from a chick last year. She’s quickly become more of a pet than just livestock these past couple of months and I’ll tell you why.
A few months ago, we noticed something wrong with her eye. It was inflamed, swollen, and she wouldn’t open it.
We quickly separated her and brought her inside. We applied an antibiotic cream to it daily and kept it clean. She’s recovered but she’s now blind in that eye.
We thought maybe she’d gotten sick but we soon realized that was not the case.
After she was well enough to spend some time outside, we caught another one of our hens, Hazel, attacking her. Our rooster did his best to keep the peace but she was relentless. Not your normal pecking order stuff, she was out for blood. Hazel isn’t a top hen, in fact she used to be lower than Little Red and, suddenly, she decided she had a personal vendetta against her. We believe that Hazel must have pecked Red’s eye and that’s what caused her injury.
It wasn’t safe to leave Little Red with her flock with Hazel there.
So, she’s now enjoying life with the teenagers in the Hen House. She gets to be top hen with them and she gets so many more privileges.
Before we took her in, she wasn’t the friendliest. We never touched her or held her, but now, she lets us be very hands on with her. My mom even gets to hug her sometimes. She hangs out with us (and Bear) when we’re outside and she gets so much more foraging time than any of the other hens.
She’s a special girl now and she’s earned a special place in our hearts❤️